Phobias, Alzheimer's Disease & Memory

#1

Phobias

Introduction: Your best friend has just called you with some great news! The president of the company that your friend works for has asked your friend to make a speech at the next stockholder's meeting. When you congratulate your friend, however, your friend tells you that a terrible fear of public speaking may make such a speech impossible. Since you have read the chapter on learning, you realize that your friend has one of the most common types of social phobia - the fear of public speaking. You (because you are such a good friend) feel the need to help out by researching phobias and gathering together information that might help your friend make this important speech. You also realize, of course, that if your friend makes the speech and impresses the president of the company, you may get a free dinner out of it!

Task: You will need to search the Internet sources listed below to learn all that you can about social phobias -- what they are, what are the symptoms that individuals experience, etc. You also want to find out if there are any treatments available for this condition. Because there are many, many different kinds of phobias that you may find interesting, your one page paper may also include (if you wish) information about other types of phobias.

Information Sources:

? You will want to begin by scanning a list of various kinds of phobias.
? Go to this link for an overview of all phobias.
? Then examine what exactly is social anxiety
? Look at this site for an idea of the terrifying symptoms of a panic attack, then look at a panic attack support site
? This site gives information about curing ones fear of public speaking.
? Finally, go to the site of the National Institute on Mental Health and read not only a description of social phobias and their symptoms, but also a brief discussion of treatment options

Assignment:

Review your notes from the information sources, then write your friend a page letter describing your findings. Be sure that you e-mail me a copy of this letter so that I may give you credit for your work!

#2

Alzheimer's Disease

Introduction:

You are sitting in your living room, watching TV, when you think about a book that you want to find to lend to a friend. You are certain that the book is in the bookcase in the bedroom, so during the commercial break you get up and start out to locate the book. When you get to your bedroom, however, you suddenly realize that you don't remember what you came to look for! Standing in the middle of the room, scanning objects to try to help you remember, you start to wonder if you are experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Since knowledge is power, you decide to learn all that you can about this condition that affects over 5% of people who are over the age of 65. This WebQuest will point you in the right direction!

Task:

You will need to search the Internet links provided below, to gather information about Alzheimer's disease. After surveying the reports, your task is to write a one to two page paper on the topic. You will want to begin with a brief definition of the disorder, and describe what damage occurs in the brain. You will also want to discuss treatments that are available. Be sure to include in your report the risk factors, both genetic and environmental. Some interesting perspectives from caregivers outside the United States will add flavor to your report. You may, of course, include other information in your report as you think appropriate, including personal experiences if you have a family member or friend who has Alzheimer's disease.

Information sources:
o This site gives an interesting audio mini-lecture; scroll down the page to the section titled Educational Audio & Video and select "Animation: "Alzheimer's Disease Progress" (select the appropriate modem for your computer).
o Select this site for a description of the disease, and scroll down to the text.
o Look at a site from the United Kingdom,
o For a look at the magnitude of the problem of Alzheimer's around the world, read a personal account by a caregiver in Japan and South Africa
o This site describes some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's.
o Finally, take this memory test and see how you do!
Guidelines: Now that you have all the information, put together an interesting one to two page paper.

#3

Some have memories of things that happened when they were very, very young; others don't remember anything before the age of 10 or even later. What is your earliest memory, and are you certain that it is really a memory or is it something that someone, perhaps your parents, may have told you about? Four or five sentences!