1.

Watch a 4-minute video ‘Why do we feel nostalgia’ and answer the questions:

1) Modern scientific research indicates that nostalgia: 

a Causes anxiety 
b Improves psychological health 
c Has no observable psychological effects 
d Increases feelings of loneliness

2) The term nostalgia was coined: 

a In the 17th century 
b In the late 20th century 
c By a social psychologist 
d By a marketing company

3) People are particularly likely to feel nostalgic when they are: 

a Younger 
b Older 
c Experiencing negative emotional states 
d Experiencing positive emotional states

4) Nostalgia has been shown by research to: 

a Increase a sense of meaning in life 
b Increase feelings of loneliness 
c Make people feel old 
d Make people feel hopeless

5) Nostalgic memories: 
a Are typically sad 
b Differ depending on culture 
c Are usually only experienced by older adults 
d Typically focus on social relationships

6) How scholars conceptualize nostalgia has changed over the centuries. What factors
explain these changing views on nostalgia?

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7) How might nostalgia serve to increase wellbeing when people experience
distressing states such as loneliness?
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8) Nostalgia has been shown to increase self-esteem, feelings of belongingness, and

perceptions of meaning in life. How might nostalgia be used to help people find the
motivation to take on new challenges and goals?

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2. Explain the words and phrases using the context:

 Disturbance –
 Affliction –
 Vulnerable to –
 Longing for something –
 To indicate –
 Poignant experience –
 Sensory associations –
 To shift away from something –
 To boost our well-being –
 Distress –

3. Watch the TED talk ‘How reliable is your memory?’ by Elizabeth Loftus and answer
the following questions:

1) What happened to Steve Titus? Summarize his story.

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2)  How is our memory like a Wikipedia page?
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3) What does Loftus mean when she says that memory is “constructive,” or
“reconstructive?”
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4)  How are memories manipulated when a simulated accident is shown? Explain
the car accident study. How was memory affected by the wording of a question
to the viewer? And what about memory of broken glass?
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5) Explain what happened when subjects were shown a slide show with a stop
sign and then asked to say what happened at the yield sign.
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6) U.S. Military study – What happened when they were given descriptions of the
interrogator that did not match the real interrogator?
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7) What was happening in therapy in the 1990s? Why did people remember
horrible things that never happened?
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8)  List the false memories that were planted in other experiments.
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9) How did they use false memory to get people to decrease their consumption of
certain foods?
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10) Does confidence, level of detail, or level of emotion help us determine whether
or not a memory is true?
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11) How are false memories hurtful?
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12) How can false memories be used in a positive way?
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13) What is the significance of her work?
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14) Can you think of a time in your life when memory has failed you or a family
member. Describe the situation and explain why you think it happened.
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