Your Brain: Who's In Control? [PBS NOVA]

Questions to accompany Your Brain: Who’s In Control?, PBS NOVA season 50, episode 10. The video is available through PBS, iTunes, and Amazon Prime. At the time of publication, it also streams on YouTube. [YouTube link embedded in the episode title on Google Docs files.] Not sure how long PBS will keep the YouTube post active.

YOUR BRAIN: WHO’S IN CONTROL? (43 questions)

Are you in control, or is your brain controlling you? Dive into the latest research on the subconscious with neuroscientist Heather Berlin. Sleepwalking, anesthesia, game theory, and more reveal surprising insights in this eye-opening journey to discover what’s really driving the decisions you make.

Participants include Joe, Mahzarin Banaji, Heather Berlin, Emery Brown, Luke Chang, Emmanuel During, Michael Gazzaniga, Bianca Jones Marlin, Nancy Kanwisher, Narayanan Kasthuri, Charles Limb, Uri Maoz, Susana Martinez-Conde, Michael Miller, Rebecca Saxe, Daniela Schiller, Anil Seth, and Thalia Wheatley.

To amaze your students (in a manner similar to what Uri Maoz does in this episode), visit my Skepticism in the Classroom page and find instructions for the Three-color Mind Control trick.

NOVA aired this program as a companion to Your Brain: Perception Deception (NOVA S50E09). Here’s the question set for that episode.

For more brainy goodness, check out The Brain, a six-part PBS docuseries hosted by neuroscientist David Eagleman.

Bonus NOVA content: What Illusions Tell Us About Our Brains

If you have ever encountered an utterly bewildering illusion, you know the powerful effect such images have on the mind. If we can't trust what we see, then what is reality? In this virtual field trip, Professors. Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik will present a smorgasbord of mystifying illusions selected from their Best Illusion of the Year Contest. Martinez-Conde and Macknik, who study the intersection of neuroscience, illusions, and stage magic, will explain just why we think we see the things we see.

Lessons of Phyz advantages:

• A heavy font ensures high legibility even in dim lighting
• Questions are designed to be answered while the video plays—quick, simple responses keep students engaged without requiring deep reflection that would take them out of the presentation
• Question types are mixed: fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, check lists, and short answer are common; in some cases, matching or list-making.
• Certain moments in a documentary merit undivided attention. No questions have been placed in those moments.
• "Play to the buzzer": Whenever possible, the last question in the set is answered during the last seconds of the video.
• I am a classroom teacher; these resources were designed to be used in my classroom.
• If you find competing products online, by all means check them out. They may be cheaper; they may be free. None of them will be as professional, polished, or classroom-ready as this one.

The Google Docs files provided in this product are suitable for use online for remote instruction and make-up work and/or for printing and photocopying for in-person instruction. They are ready to use whichever way you need to use them.