TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Dan Reisel: The neuroscience of restorative justice

Unscramble the Blue Letters

After some time, however, we had a tentative asnwer. These ivididnluas were not just the vmitcis of a troubled childhood. There was something else. People like Joe have a deficit in a brain area called the amygdala. The amygdala is an almond-shaped organ deep within each of the hsiphemrees of the brain. It is thought to be key to the eniexcpree of empathy. Normally, the more empathic a person is, the larger and more active their amygdala is. Our population of inmates had a deficient amygdala, which likely led to their lack of eamthpy and to their immoral bevoaihr.

So let's take a step back. Normally, acquiring moral behavior is smiply part of growing up, like learning to speak. At the age of six months, virtually every one of us is able to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects. At the age of 12 months, most children are able to imitate the purposeful actions of others. So for example, your mother raises her hands to stretch, and you imitate her behavior. At first, this isn't perfect. I remember my cousin Sasha, two years old at the time, looking through a picture book and licking one fegnir and flicking the page with the other hand, licking one finger and fnilickg the page with the other hand. (Laughter) Bit by bit, we build the fniooutndas of the social bairn so that by the time we're three, four years old, most children, not all, have arqiuced the ability to usnnadterd the intentions of others, another prerequisite for empathy. The fact that this denaltmpeveol progression is universal, irrespective of where you live in the wlord or which culture you inhabit, strongly suggests that the foundations of moral behavior are inborn. If you doubt this, try, as I've done, to renege on a promise you've made to a four-year-old. You will find that the mind of a four-year old is not naïve in the slightest. It is more akin to a Swiss army knife with fixed mental meoudls finely honed during dpmonvleeet and a sharp sense of fairness. The early years are crucial. There seems to be a wiondw of opportunity, after which mastering maorl questions becomes more difficult, like adults linareng a foreign language. That's not to say it's impossible. A recent, wonderful study from Stanford University showed that people who have played a virtual reality game in which they took on the role of a good and helpful superhero actually became more caring and helpful towards others afterwards. Now I'm not suggesting we endow criminals with superpowers, but I am ssigenutgg that we need to find ways to get Joe and plepoe like him to change their brains and their behavior, for their bfienet and for the benefit of the rest of us.

Open Cloze

After some time, however, we had a tentative ______. These ___________ were not just the _______ of a troubled childhood. There was something else. People like Joe have a deficit in a brain area called the amygdala. The amygdala is an almond-shaped organ deep within each of the ___________ of the brain. It is thought to be key to the __________ of empathy. Normally, the more empathic a person is, the larger and more active their amygdala is. Our population of inmates had a deficient amygdala, which likely led to their lack of _______ and to their immoral ________.

So let's take a step back. Normally, acquiring moral behavior is ______ part of growing up, like learning to speak. At the age of six months, virtually every one of us is able to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects. At the age of 12 months, most children are able to imitate the purposeful actions of others. So for example, your mother raises her hands to stretch, and you imitate her behavior. At first, this isn't perfect. I remember my cousin Sasha, two years old at the time, looking through a picture book and licking one ______ and flicking the page with the other hand, licking one finger and ________ the page with the other hand. (Laughter) Bit by bit, we build the ___________ of the social _____ so that by the time we're three, four years old, most children, not all, have ________ the ability to __________ the intentions of others, another prerequisite for empathy. The fact that this _____________ progression is universal, irrespective of where you live in the _____ or which culture you inhabit, strongly suggests that the foundations of moral behavior are inborn. If you doubt this, try, as I've done, to renege on a promise you've made to a four-year-old. You will find that the mind of a four-year old is not naïve in the slightest. It is more akin to a Swiss army knife with fixed mental _______ finely honed during ___________ and a sharp sense of fairness. The early years are crucial. There seems to be a ______ of opportunity, after which mastering _____ questions becomes more difficult, like adults ________ a foreign language. That's not to say it's impossible. A recent, wonderful study from Stanford University showed that people who have played a virtual reality game in which they took on the role of a good and helpful superhero actually became more caring and helpful towards others afterwards. Now I'm not suggesting we endow criminals with superpowers, but I am __________ that we need to find ways to get Joe and ______ like him to change their brains and their behavior, for their _______ and for the benefit of the rest of us.

Solution

behavior
acquired
suggesting
people
empathy
individuals
benefit
answer
experience
victims
brain
foundations
developmental
simply
understand
modules
hemispheres
world
window
flicking
development
learning
finger
moral

Original Text

After some time, however, we had a tentative answer. These individuals were not just the victims of a troubled childhood. There was something else. People like Joe have a deficit in a brain area called the amygdala. The amygdala is an almond-shaped organ deep within each of the hemispheres of the brain. It is thought to be key to the experience of empathy. Normally, the more empathic a person is, the larger and more active their amygdala is. Our population of inmates had a deficient amygdala, which likely led to their lack of empathy and to their immoral behavior.

So let's take a step back. Normally, acquiring moral behavior is simply part of growing up, like learning to speak. At the age of six months, virtually every one of us is able to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects. At the age of 12 months, most children are able to imitate the purposeful actions of others. So for example, your mother raises her hands to stretch, and you imitate her behavior. At first, this isn't perfect. I remember my cousin Sasha, two years old at the time, looking through a picture book and licking one finger and flicking the page with the other hand, licking one finger and flicking the page with the other hand. (Laughter) Bit by bit, we build the foundations of the social brain so that by the time we're three, four years old, most children, not all, have acquired the ability to understand the intentions of others, another prerequisite for empathy. The fact that this developmental progression is universal, irrespective of where you live in the world or which culture you inhabit, strongly suggests that the foundations of moral behavior are inborn. If you doubt this, try, as I've done, to renege on a promise you've made to a four-year-old. You will find that the mind of a four-year old is not naïve in the slightest. It is more akin to a Swiss army knife with fixed mental modules finely honed during development and a sharp sense of fairness. The early years are crucial. There seems to be a window of opportunity, after which mastering moral questions becomes more difficult, like adults learning a foreign language. That's not to say it's impossible. A recent, wonderful study from Stanford University showed that people who have played a virtual reality game in which they took on the role of a good and helpful superhero actually became more caring and helpful towards others afterwards. Now I'm not suggesting we endow criminals with superpowers, but I am suggesting that we need to find ways to get Joe and people like him to change their brains and their behavior, for their benefit and for the benefit of the rest of us.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
wormwood scrubs	5
brain cells	3
physical response	2
moral behavior	2
mice reared	2

Important Words

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