AP Seminar: Understanding Stimulus Materials – Part 2

Summary

In this AP Seminar lesson, teacher Gerardo Gonzalez guides students through analyzing three stimulus materials to understand happiness from various perspectives. The first study, by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, suggests a saturation point in happiness linked to income. The second explores genetic influences on well-being, indicating a happiness baseline set by genes. Lastly, a New York Times piece critiques the commercialization of happiness, represented by Disneyland. The lesson aims to teach students how to summarize texts, interpret data, and synthesize information to build arguments, preparing them for future research topics.

Takeaways

• 📚 The lesson's objective is to understand how to summarize and explain a text's main idea without oversimplifying or making faulty generalizations.
• 🧠 The importance of incorporating stimulus materials accurately into papers to support arguments, especially with peer-reviewed academic works as evidence.
• 📈 Understanding and interpreting both qualitative and quantitative data from various sources is crucial for developing an argument in the paper.
• 🔍 The significance of identifying the main idea of the source material and incorporating it into the overall research topic and argument.
• 🏆 Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, is highlighted for his influential work on the impact of behavior on economic decision making.
• 💰 The study by Kahneman and others suggests that high income improves life satisfaction but not necessarily emotional well-being, with $75,000 identified as a threshold for emotional well-being.
• 🧬 Another study explores the genetic influence on subjective well-being, indicating that about 33% of life satisfaction variation can be explained by genetic variation.
• 🌟 The Happiness Project article from The New York Times Style magazine discusses happiness as a creation and criticizes the notion that happiness can be bought.
• 🤔 The script encourages students to consider the implications of the sources, such as the policy goal of reducing suffering and the role of money in achieving happiness.
• 🔗 The lesson emphasizes the need to review stimulus materials to identify areas for further inquiry and to find potential research topics.
• 💡 Lastly, the script reminds students to think beyond the literal interpretations of sources like Disneyland and consider the broader metaphorical implications on happiness and materialism.

Q & A

What is the main objective of the lesson presented by Gerardo Gonzalez?

The main objective of the lesson is to understand how to summarize and explain a text's main idea or aim while avoiding faulty generalizations or oversimplification, and to interpret, use, and synthesize qualitative and quantitative data from various perspectives to develop and support an argument.

What is the significance of incorporating stimulus materials into academic papers according to the lesson?

Incorporating stimulus materials is significant because it helps to progress the argument or contribute to the narrative of the response. It is necessary to earn points in the first rubric row and ensures that the paper is not just referencing the materials but using them meaningfully to support the argument.

What does the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences conclude about the relationship between high income and happiness?

The study concludes that high income improves life evaluation but not emotional well-being. It suggests that there is a threshold around $75,000, beyond which further increases in income do not improve emotional well-being.

Who is Daniel Kahneman and what is his contribution to the study discussed in the lesson?

Daniel Kahneman is an influential economist and Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences. His work focuses on how behavior impacts economic decision-making. In the study mentioned, Kahneman, along with his co-author, aimed to find out if money can buy happiness.

What is the concept of 'emotional well-being' as defined in the study by Kahneman and Eaton?

Emotional well-being is defined as the emotional quality of an individual's everyday experience, which includes how often and how strongly one experiences feelings such as joy, anxiety, sadness, anger, and affection, and their overall impact on life.

What is the Happiness Project and how does it relate to the concept of happiness discussed in the lesson?

The Happiness Project is a piece published in The New York Times Style magazine that explores happiness from a cultural and literary perspective. It serves as a counterpoint to the more quantitative and scientific studies discussed in the lesson, offering narrative insights into the pursuit and experience of happiness.

What does the study in the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics suggest about the genetic influence on happiness?

The study suggests that about 33% of the variation in life satisfaction is explained by genetic variation. It explores the relationship between a functional polymorphism on the serotonin transporter gene and life satisfaction, indicating that certain genetic variants may be associated with greater life satisfaction.

What is the implication of the study's findings on policy-making regarding happiness?

The implication is that policy goals might need to consider reducing suffering and improving happiness. However, the study raises questions about how to define suffering and the feasibility of creating programs to address it, considering the cost and efficiency of such initiatives.

How does the Happiness Project challenge the idea that money can buy happiness?

The Happiness Project challenges this idea by suggesting that happiness is not something that can be purchased or inherited but rather something that is created. It critiques the notion that materialistic means can lead to happiness, highlighting the limitations of places like Disneyland in providing a genuine sense of happiness.

What is the overarching theme that connects all the sources discussed in the lesson?

The overarching theme is the exploration of happiness, examining it from various angles including economic, psychological, genetic, and cultural perspectives to understand what contributes to an individual's sense of happiness and well-being.

What advice does the instructor give for approaching sources that may seem intimidating or complex?

The instructor advises students to focus on the introduction, discussion, and conclusion sections of a source if they find the content intimidating or complex. This approach can help students gain a firm understanding of the research and its implications without getting overwhelmed by the details.

How does the instructor suggest students should review the stimulus materials to prepare for future lessons?

The instructor suggests that students should review the stimulus materials to identify the two or three sources that interest them the most. They should then give a close read to each of these sources, looking for connections that can guide them in a potential direction for their research topic.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Lesson Introduction and Objectives

The video begins with an introduction by Gerardo Gonzales, a teacher at Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. He outlines the goals for this AP Seminar lesson on understanding stimulus materials, focusing on summarizing and explaining a text's main idea without oversimplification. The lesson also aims to teach students how to interpret and synthesize qualitative and quantitative data from various sources to support an argument, incorporating peer-reviewed academic works into their essays. The importance of accurately using stimulus materials in writing is emphasized, with an explanation of the rubric for scoring these materials in students' papers.

05:02

💼 Review of Stimulus Materials and Studies on Happiness

The instructor proceeds to review three stimulus materials related to the theme of happiness. The first study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines whether high income improves life evaluation but not emotional well-being. The second study, from the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, titled 'Genes, Economics, and Happiness,' explores the genetic influence on subjective well-being. Lastly, 'The Happiness Project,' a piece from The New York Times Style magazine, is mentioned as a cultural perspective on happiness. The teacher advises students to read the abstracts of academic papers to understand the purpose, methodology, and findings before delving into full articles.

10:03

🏅 Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman's Study on Income and Happiness

The video delves into a study by Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, which investigates the relationship between income and happiness. Kahneman, along with co-author Dr. Angus Deaton, concludes that while higher income does lead to increased life satisfaction, it does not necessarily improve emotional well-being. The study suggests a threshold of $75,000, beyond which additional income does not significantly enhance emotional well-being and may even increase stress levels. The instructor highlights the importance of understanding the authors' backgrounds and their focus on how emotions influence economic behavior.

15:04

🧬 Genetic Influence on Happiness and Life Satisfaction

The instructor discusses a study that explores the genetic basis of happiness, specifically focusing on the serotonin transporter gene and its variants. The study, which uses a twin design and genetic association, finds that individuals with certain genetic variations report higher life satisfaction. However, the results are not conclusive, indicating a need for further research. The video emphasizes the complexity of determining happiness, suggesting that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in an individual's overall well-being.

20:09

🤔 Policy Implications and the Nature of Suffering

The video raises questions about the policy implications of the research findings, particularly whether reducing suffering should be a policy goal. It discusses the challenges of defining suffering and the potential for policymakers to address it through programs and initiatives. The instructor encourages students to consider the broader implications of the research, such as the balance between the cost of implementing policies and their potential benefits.

25:09

🧬 Genetics, Environment, and the Complexity of Happiness

Continuing the discussion on the genetic influence on happiness, the instructor highlights the study's findings that genetic variation can account for about 33% of the differences in life satisfaction. The study also suggests that the relationship between a specific genetic polymorphism and life satisfaction requires further investigation. The instructor emphasizes the importance of not being intimidated by scientific sources and encourages students to focus on the introduction, discussion, and conclusion sections to grasp the research's significance.

30:11

🎢 Disneyland as a Metaphor for the Pursuit of Happiness

The video presents 'The Happiness Project' as a narrative exploration of happiness, using Disneyland as a metaphor for society's attempt to create and purchase happiness. The instructor poses questions about whether Disneyland represents a genuine pursuit of happiness and whether all individuals can experience happiness equally. The piece critiques the idea that happiness can be bought and suggests that materialism may influence how people seek happiness.

35:12

💭 Reflecting on Perspectives of Happiness and Research Topics

In the final part of the video, the instructor encourages students to reflect on the different perspectives on happiness presented in the sources and to consider which viewpoint aligns with their own beliefs. The goal is to identify areas of interest for potential research topics. The instructor also addresses the issue of student access to resources and invites those in need to reach out to the College Board for support.

Keywords

💡Summarize

Summarize refers to the process of condensing a larger piece of text into a shorter form while retaining the main points or ideas. In the context of the video, it is one of the key skills students are expected to develop, particularly in relation to understanding and explaining the main idea of a text. For example, the script mentions that the first objective is to understand how to summarize and explain a text's main idea while avoiding oversimplification.

💡Stimulus Materials

Stimulus Materials are the sources provided to students for analysis and incorporation into their essays or research. The video discusses the importance of accurately understanding and using these materials to support arguments. The script refers to 'the remaining three stimulus materials' and emphasizes the need to incorporate them effectively into students' papers.

💡Generalizations

Generalizations are broad statements that may not account for all the details or exceptions within a set of data or a topic. The script warns against making faulty generalizations or oversimplification when summarizing and explaining texts, highlighting the need for nuanced understanding and argumentation.

💡Quantitative Evidence

Quantitative evidence refers to data that is numerical and can be measured and quantified. The video mentions the importance of understanding and interpreting quantitative data, particularly in the context of the sources that lean heavily on such evidence. For instance, the script discusses a study that uses quantitative evidence to explore the relationship between income and life satisfaction.

💡Qualitative Data

Qualitative data provides a deeper understanding of a phenomenon through non-numerical information, such as observations, interviews, and narratives. The video encourages students to interpret and synthesize both qualitative and quantitative data from various perspectives to develop and support an argument.

💡Life Evaluation

Life evaluation pertains to an individual's overall assessment of their life, often influenced by factors such as income, emotional well-being, and personal satisfaction. The script uses the term in the context of a study that differentiates between life evaluation and emotional well-being, suggesting that high income improves life evaluation but not necessarily emotional well-being.

💡Emotional Well-being

Emotional well-being refers to the emotional quality of an individual's everyday experience, including the presence of positive emotions and the absence of negative ones. The video discusses a study that suggests emotional well-being may not be significantly improved by income beyond a certain threshold.

💡Synthesize

To synthesize means to combine different ideas or pieces of information to create something new or to form a coherent whole. In the video, students are encouraged to synthesize qualitative and quantitative data from various sources to develop a robust argument, indicating the need for critical thinking and integration of diverse perspectives.

💡Peer-reviewed Academic Works

Peer-reviewed academic works are scholarly articles that have been evaluated and approved by other experts in the same field before publication. The script emphasizes the importance of incorporating such works into students' essays as evidence to support their arguments, indicating the value placed on credible and rigorous research.

💡Happiness

Happiness is a central theme of the video, as it explores various aspects related to achieving and understanding happiness through different studies and perspectives. The script discusses happiness in relation to income, genetics, and cultural narratives, such as the representation of happiness in Disneyland.

💡Disneyland

Disneyland is used metaphorically in the video to represent the pursuit of happiness through materialistic means and the cultural ideals of happiness. The script critiques the idea that happiness can be purchased or experienced equally by all, using Disneyland as an example of a place that promises happiness but is accessible only to those who can afford it.

💡Policy Goal

A policy goal refers to an objective that a government or organization aims to achieve through the implementation of policies or programs. The script mentions the question of whether reducing suffering should be a policy goal, suggesting that the findings from happiness research could have implications for how societies approach well-being.

💡Serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in regulating mood, and it is often referred to as the 'happy hormone'. The video discusses a study that examines the relationship between genetic variations affecting serotonin production and life satisfaction, suggesting a biological component to happiness.

💡Twin Design

Twin design is a research method often used in genetic studies, where twins (especially identical and fraternal pairs) are compared to understand the influence of genetics versus environment on various traits. The script refers to the use of twin design in a study exploring the genetic basis of subjective well-being.

💡Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system and the brain. The video mentions a study published in the 'Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics', indicating an interdisciplinary approach to understanding happiness that includes insights from neuroscience.

Highlights

Understanding how to summarize and explain a text's main idea while avoiding faulty generalizations or oversimplification is the first lesson objective.

Incorporating stimulus sources accurately into papers is crucial for developing arguments and earning points in the rubric.

Interpreting and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data from various sources is key to supporting an argument.

Quantitative evidence from sources requires understanding to avoid misinterpretation.

The importance of accurately incorporating stimulus materials into essays for earning points on the rubric.

The concept that high income improves life evaluation but not emotional well-being, as per a study published in PNAS.

Daniel Kahneman's influential work on the relationship between behavior and economic decision-making.

Emotional well-being and life evaluation are distinct measures of happiness with different responses to income levels.

A potential threshold of $75,000 income beyond which emotional well-being does not significantly increase.

The idea that policy goals could include reducing suffering, as suggested by the study's findings on income and well-being.

The study's exploration of genetic variation's influence on subjective well-being and its implications for economic utility.

The Happiness Project piece from The New York Times Style magazine offers a cultural perspective on happiness.

Disneyland as a metaphor for the pursuit of happiness through materialistic means.

The critique of Disneyland as a place accessible only to those who can afford it, challenging the idea of universal happiness.

The importance of not being intimidated by scientific sources and focusing on the introduction, discussion, and conclusion.

The need to review stimulus materials to identify areas of interest for potential research topics.

The guidance provided for students without internet access or devices to reach out to the College Board for support.

Transcripts

good morning everybody welcome to lesson

three of AP seminar understanding the

stimulus materials part two my name is

Gerardo gonzales I teach at Lane tech

college prep in Chicago Illinois and so

today what we're gonna be looking at is

the remaining three stimulus materials

and I'll go into those in a second I

want to give a quick overview as far as

what our goals are for today's lesson

our first objective is to understand how

to summarize and explain a text main

idea or aim while avoiding faulty

generalizations or oversimplification as

you know from the previous two lessons

right now when we're taking a look at

the stimulus materials we want to make

sure that we can accurately incorporate

the stimulus sources into our papers

once we begin writing so this is a very

very important skill for us to have we

also want to take take a look at

understanding how to interpret use and

synthesize qualitative and quantitative

data and information from various

perspectives and sources to develop and

support an argument we want to make sure

that we're able to do this since the

paper requires that we incorporate peer

reviewed academic works and as evidence

into our essay we want to make sure that

we are developing an understanding for

some of the skills needed to incorporate

that into our paper and to of the

sources specifically that we're looking

at today lean heavily heavily on

quantitative evidence so we want to make

sure we have an understanding of what's

being presented to us and I'll walk you

through some of those heavier data

pieces in a little bit as a big picture

goal we want to make sure we want to

develop an understanding of the

individual sources within the stimulus

materials to identify areas for further

inquiry in future videos we'll be

building heavily on the content

presented throughout the first three

lessons so let's review a little bit

of that noun in the first lesson miss

mrs. Molloy walked you through the

different components of the rubric row

to review right now I have up the first

rubric row incorporating the stimulus

material as part of your response is

necessary to earn points in the first

rubric row and I've highlighted on your

screen where you can see how that how

you can earn points for that so it's not

enough to simply make a reference to the

stimulus materials into your paper if it

doesn't contribute to the argument

that's being made which you can see on

the right-hand side zero points are

going to be earned for your paper so

this is a very very important rubric row

it's five points you either earn zero

points which is on the left or five

points which is on the right and so I

want to go into that a little bit more

deeply in the extended part of the

rubric the primary question that we ask

ourselves concerning the incorporation

of the stimulus materials is does the

stimulus material help to progress the

argument or contribute to the narrative

of the response so the response being

your paper so if you can if you say no

so let's say you have written your paper

and you're reviewing your paper you're

having someone peer-review your paper

and you say no if you delete the

reference with little or no effect on

the on your response you're not going to

earn any points in this row additionally

if you just incorporate it as a

jumping-off point for the through your

argument and just kind of just give it

like a brief mention or a tangential

reference meaning like it's just kind of

like a cursory reference to your to the

stimulus materials you're also probably

not going to earn any points for this

rubric row so we want to make sure that

we move into the right-hand side of the

category here if we delete the reference

to the stimulus material and if that

deletion would change or weaken the

argument so your argument that you're

making

if the way in which you use the stimulus

source reflects an accurate

understanding of the source material

then that's how you're earning points so

we want to make sure that today that

you're understanding the critical the

main idea of the source and helping to

incorporate that main idea into the

overall present into the overall

research topic and argument that you end

up writing so today we're gonna discuss

three of the sources the other three

sources in the stimulus packet we'll be

looking at high income improves

evaluation of life but not emotional

well-being which is a study published in

the Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences after that we'll be

reviewing a study published in the

journal Journal of Neuroscience

psychology and economics which is

entitled genes economics and happiness

and then finally we'll be taking a look

at the Happiness Project which is a

piece published in The New York Times

Style magazine so two peer-reviewed

journals and then one more cultural

literary piece

ok so we're sort of on two ends of the

spectrum here but I think that they tie

in nicely which is why we're grouping

them together just as a review if you

haven't watched the previous video from

mrs. Molloy she goes over the other four

stimulus with stimulus sources so you

you'll probably want to check those out

as well so let's take a look a little

bit into what you need to know here

there's a lot of text on the screen and

if I was giving a presentation to my

students I probably would not have all

of this text on the screen but since

you're in front of your screen right now

I've put up the abstract of this source

so depending on your level of experience

reading academic journals if you're not

familiar with what an abstract is an

abstract is a summary of what the source

what the study is about typically they

tell you what the purpose of the study

is

how they conducted their study and then

their main findings so I always

encourage my students before you read

the source before you read a twenty page

source you want to make sure that you

take a look at the abstract to see if

the source is is going to be of some

value to you and reading the abstract is

going to give us a little bit of an

understanding a little bit of a heads up

as far as what it is that we're about to

read and so if you don't have a lot of

experience or if maybe you feel a little

intimidated reading some of these longer

quantitative pieces starting off with

the abstract is a great strategy for you

to take so I have the abstract up here I

have color coded some of the key words

that I want you to pay attention to and

I will continue color coding it with the

same colors throughout the sources so

that you can see connections that you

can possibly be making some of the key

words that I want you to take a look at

before we go into reading this are

subjective well-being motional

well-being life evaluation and then life

satisfaction of course were the the

major theme connecting all of the

sources is happiness right and so in in

this case we want to see sort of like

whether or not money buys happiness so

let's take a look at this abstract I'm

gonna take a minute here there'll be a

little bit of quiet time please go

through this abstract on your own

you

you

you

you

you

okay so I want to point out two

different things here that I've

underlined so the major question that

this study is going to to seek to answer

is whether or not money buys happiness

okay and so that is the basis for this

study and you may

we've probably asked ourselves this

question many many different times right

whether having more money or not would

would lead us to truly finding happiness

and I'll get into that a little bit and

then we also want to see they they

conclude high income buys life

satisfaction but not happiness and that

low income is associated with having a

low life evaluation and low emotional

well-being okay so I'm gonna go into

those two main conclusion goals and

conclusions in a bit but before I go

into the specific findings of the study

I want to make sure that you understand

who is who the author of this pieces so

this piece is the primary author of this

piece is Daniel Kahneman dr. Daniel

Kahneman is one of the most influential

economists of the twentieth century

and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in

Economic Sciences in 2002 much of the

work that this economist focuses on is

how our behavior impacts our economic

decision making so if we are happy do we

behave differently in terms of like how

we purchase things or how we work then

if we are sad or if there are other

emotional factors that influence how we

behave in terms of economics in this

particular study Khanna men and Eaton

aim to find if the opposite also holds

true so mainly does money buy happiness

and so I'll go into that in a second so

just always remember and I'm sure that

you've been doing this throughout the

year you want to make sure that you

understand who your authors are okay and

so now that we know Daniel Kahneman

as an influential economists this this

author is also going to be cited in the

other study that we're looking at never

at all so just make sure that you're on

the lookout for that name so three

things that I want to focus on

throughout the throughout the passage

there are two main terms that the

authors seek to evaluate the first is

emotional well-being which is defined as

the emotional quality of an individual's

everyday experience and this can be seen

in how often and how strongly you

experience feelings such as joy anxiety

sadness anger and affection and their

overall impact on your life so these

feelings generally determine whether you

view your life as pleasant or unpleasant

the opinion that you have on your life

is called your life evaluation okay so

in Survey Research

this is typifies by the question of how

satisfied are you with your life as a

whole these days note that your answer

may vary greatly depending on when the

question is asked especially the current

situation that we're living in right so

right now many people are stuck in their

homes we're not able to go out we're not

able to visit stores restaurants things

like that and so right now if

researchers were looking to evaluate

like conduct Studies on our current life

evaluation they may be a little bit

lower than what normal levels may be but

what this source attempts to seek is to

provide by the question does money buy

happiness

aim so does money buy happiness this is

an inherently debatable question that

could receive hundreds of different

responses if you asked a hundred

different people you might get a hundred

different reasons for why it does or

doesn't buy happiness

some people might say yes because it

allows us to buy the things that we that

would make us happy so a big house the

ability to travel or the ability to

provide for your family right other

people might say no because they may not

value they may not see those material

things that we want to buy with money as

bringing us happiness and so what this

study aim to achieve was to determine if

money actually makes people happier and

so what they found was that not

necessarily it doesn't necessarily the

more money that you have does not

necessarily equate to having more actual

happiness and so the research State the

researcher stated that perhaps $75,000

is a threshold which further increases

in income no longer improve individuals

abilities to do what matters most of

their emotional well-being so $75,000 so

if you ask yourself you know $75,000 is

that a lot of money or is that a little

bit of money depending on where you live

$75,000 may be a lot of money but in

other places it may not it may just be

enough to get you by and so when we look

at that $75,000 number that number is

going to be super relative to where a

person lives and what other factors are

impacting their lives there this this

figure right here is going to be what

best typifies the source as a whole and

so if you notice we have four different

measures here we have a positive effect

which is the top line not blue we have

this dashed ladder here and then we have

stress-free on the bottom and so on the

left-hand side you can see the fraction

of the population who would study

experiencing each of these things and so

a positive effect blue effect and so

right now I'm reading underneath of the

figure positive effect blue effect

stress and life evaluation in relation

to household income so each of these

measures compared to how much money they

are making

now blue is the is one minus the average

of the fractions of the population

reporting worry and sadness stress-free

is the fraction of the population who

did not report stress for the previous

day so if you if I ask you were you

stressed yesterday if you answered no

that's kind of how we're getting that

and then these three hedonic measures

are marked on the left-hand scale the

latter is the average reported on the

number scale okay so how are you with

your life basically is what this latter

measure is taking a look at so I've

highlighted in blue the the area where

each of the lines tends to taper off so

what these researchers found was that

the numbers do not the the scale does

not continue to increase with more money

after a while so right around the

$75,000 mark each of your positive

feelings tends to taper off so you're

not gonna continue to get happier with

more money in fact if you take a look

down at the stress-free mark they're the

more money that you have actually over

time ends up leading to more stress and

so you might be asking yourself well why

how would having more money how would

having more of an ability to purchase

things lead to you being more stressed

out well if you think about it having

more money might end up making you feel

like you need to purchase higher-end

Goods more luxury items to sort of keep

up with the Joneses to make sure that

you are showing off your your level of

wealth but you may not actually have

that amount of money to be showing off

so the classic more money more problems

right so we want to make sure that in

this case

is there a easier that sweet spot and so

the author's so let's talk about some of

those questions and some of those

big-picture connections to how we can

make those connect to our other sources

one of the critical elements of any

passage that you should read should be

like what are the implications of this

source so implications are the

consequences of the argument that the

source is making so you could think of

that as the so what of the argument

although we usually associate the word

consequence with being something

negative implications can be either

positive or negative okay so if I ask

you what are the implications of this

argument you don't necessarily need to

look at it in a negative way we can have

positive implications so on page 19 of

the source the authors posed the

following question they asked us whether

or not it should be policy goal to

reduce suffering okay so should

lawmakers be responsible for reducing

the suffering of people and so in this

case what they're saying is if I go back

to the previous screen the people people

who are making less money over here on

the left-hand side we're gonna see that

they tend to have higher levels of

stress and lower levels of positive

effect so what the what the authors

based off of their findings there they

asked a big question of should it be a

policy goal for us to reduce these but

the issue with this question is how we

define suffering to be sure there are

many issues that plague every community

around the world we don't need to look

much further than the current pandemic

to realize that there are issues that

should definitely be addressed and

tackled by policymakers but what are the

limits right to create programs to

create many sort of these programs that

seek to reduce the suffering many

policymakers are gonna be against that

because it's gonna cost a lot of money

or it may not be run as efficiently or

it may just be very difficult to begin

with and to go along with this what are

some of the other

factors discuss in the present study

that could impact emotional well-being

or life evaluation how might these same

factors be seen or connect with the

other stimulus sources so by this point

we've seen the concept of utilitarianism

we've seen the concept of like

renouncing pleasure and so think about

that right if we can see like if is

there a greater good in this aim to

reduce suffering so as we're reading

more and more sources we want to start

thinking about some of those potential

connections that we can make so I

strongly encourage with that very very

brief overview take a look at that

source with those big picture questions

in mind the second source said I want to

take a look at is this the Nev source

and so full disclosure before going into

this my personal strength is not in the

sciences I'm a history teacher and these

types of sources have always been

intimidating to me so if you if you've

taken a look at this source and if you

also felt intimidated with me I'm 100%

with you on that I'm not gonna spend too

much time digging around into the

biological foundation of this source

because I just don't feel that

comfortable with that and I strong so

for everyone whether you feel

comfortable with this source or not I

strongly encourage everyone to read the

introduction discussion and conclusion

sections of this piece to get a firm

understanding of the need for this kind

of research

so please just because you're a little

you might be a little bit intimidated

with how this source looks you should

still take a look at this because a lot

there's a lot of stuff here that you can

use for your potential research topic if

you are someone who has an interest in

learning about this please take a deep

dive into the source there are many many

many different connections that my

current students have made with this

source by looking at the science behind

behind the study

so let's take a look at this at this

abstract again so I'll read this one we

explored the influence of genetic

variation on the subjective well-being

by employing the twin design and genetic

Association study in a nationally

representative twin sample we first

showed that about 33% of the variation

in life satisfaction is explained by

genetic variation although previous

studies have shown that baseline

happiness is significantly heritable

little research has considered the

molecular genetic associations with

subjective well-being we study the

relationship between a functional

polymorphism on the serotonin

transporter gene and life satisfaction

we initially find that individuals with

the longer more efficient variants of

this genotype reported greater life

satisfaction however our replication

attempts on independent samples produce

mixed results indicating that more work

needs to be done to better understand

the relationship between this genotype

and subjective well-being this work has

implications for how economists think

about the determinants of utility and

the extent to which exogenous shocks

might affect individual well-being

okay so a lot of scientific terms here

being being raised and so I just want to

walk back a little bit so take a look at

the color coding here um so if you

decide to go back I'm gonna point you to

this color coding here okay so similar

terms are being coded with the similar

color go for your reference there okay

so what does a lot of this stuff mean so

a lot one of the key findings of this

study can be seen in these two figures

okay so I'm gonna start with the one on

the left the basis of the breath present

study was to see if there's a genetic

variation that might lead to people

having different levels of happiness

okay so is are we born with our

happiness gene okay so our

is happiness a genetic function or is it

something that's environmental right so

that that is sort of this nature versus

nurture debate on happiness figure one

which is the image on the left best

represents what the what the researchers

aim to study using a nationally

representative twin sample which means

that the participants generally reflect

the population of the country in terms

of gender race income etc the

researchers looked at sets of twins to

see variants of a specific gene so in

this case this gene is this 5-htt gene

and how that gene could impact how

satisfied someone is with their life so

looking at that more closely take a look

at the items inside of the yellow box

okay so the researchers cited past

studies in there sort of like in their

litters in their introduction and in

their literature review that found that

this gene can have two different

variants a short variant which is the

darker cylinder with an S in it or a

long variant which is the lighter

cylinder with an L inside of it so prior

research has found that the longer

variant is able to more efficiently

produce a neurotransmitter known as

serotonin okay so this sera if you've

taken ap psychology you've probably

learned that serotonin is often referred

to as the happy hormone

okay so serotonin is what is is sort of

what can best regulate our mood each of

us has the possibility to either have to

store alleles one short and one long

allele or two long alleles okay so if

I'm looking still looking in this yellow

box we can either have two L's two S's

or one s and one L as is represented

currently on the screen compared to the

with two short variants so those who had

to two of these s alleles those with one

long allele and one short allele were

8.5 percent more likely to indicate

being very satisfied with their lives

which is sort of what is reflected in

Figure 2 on the right hand side so if

you have the representation that's

currently on the screen compared to

having two short alleles you were 8.5

percent more likely to indicate being

very satisfied with your life so if I

asked you that question how how

satisfied are you with your life and if

you said very satisfied

you were 8.5 percent more likely to have

this one short allele and one long

allele there was an even larger increase

for those four people who had two long

alleles so if you had two longer leo's

if you had two long alleles you there

was a 17 point 3 percent increase in the

likelihood of being very satisfied with

your life so if you take a look on the

again within that yellow box if we move

from having one one short and one long

to just too long you were there was a

17.3 increase in the likelihood of being

very satisfied so this is important

right because if the quote if the

author's seek to ask is happiness a

heritable genetic quality so are we born

with our Mac our maximum level of

happiness

the authors find maybe okay so what they

what they say is that genes can provide

a baseline for our happiness and that

our genes impact us differently

throughout our lives and they they say

this with this key quote genes and

environment can play different differing

roles in explaining experience at

different points of our life course so

when we're in our teenage and early

adult years our genes may not have as

large of an impact on our lives as

they may have later on in life to major

implications here that the authors

discuss the first is the concept of

utility so thank you til atte

utilitarianism it's an economic term

referring to the total satisfaction

received from consuming a good or

service and then what they say about

life satisfaction it's impacted by both

environmental and biological factors

some big just some some other takeaways

please don't be intimidated by the

source make sure that you're focusing on

the introduction discussion and

conclusion if you're struggling with the

science behind this study and of course

I want to make make sure that you're

thinking about how these how this source

connects to the other stimulus materials

and then furthermore is happiness of

subjective concept the final piece that

we want to take a look at is the

Happiness Project from the New York

Times Style magazine in this case this

is not a very quantitative piece it's

not very data heavy there is a lot more

narrative here and so the type of

evidence that we're gonna see here is a

lot different than the previous two

sources so with that I want to ask you

two major questions and these these two

questions are what I want you to think

about as you're reading the source the

first is how does a Disneyland serve as

a representation of our attempt to

create happiness and the second is are

all individuals able to experience

happiness to the same extent and so what

I did here was take a look at try to

pull two key quotes here for each of the

questions that I asked for the first

question of how Disney Land serves as a

representation of our attempt to find

happiness the first quote is in the

world of Disney we feel homesick for a

home that never really existed yet

everything we care about whether being

loved they're feeling right or having

fun or looking good stems from a set of

narcissistic compulsions that Disney

embraced and built - graphic completion

that is his contribution and however

foolish however impossible in the end

it gives life to the notion that

happiness is a creation something made

rather than inherited a beautiful

necessary lie so this this kind of goes

against the previous source that we were

just talking about and the second sort

second quote that I wanted to point out

to you it's if you ask a young Russian

or an Iranian who loves them who love

America why they love it they believe

that it is happiness more they believe

that you can pay your way to being

anything you fancy and that it

represents a kind of genius possessed

and managed by corporations so in this

case Disneyland is is representing our

pursuit to really purchase our happiness

to seek our happiness through more

materialistic means then the second

major question that I want to ask is are

all individuals able to experience

happiness to the same extent and this is

where the author o'hagan is pretty

critical he says the idea of Disneyland

is a simple one it would be a place in

in quoting Disney he says the idea of

Disneyland is a simple one it will be a

place for people to find happiness and

knowledge will be a place for parents

and children to share pleasant times

together

a place for a teacher and pupils to

discover greater ways of understanding

and education here the older generation

can recapture the nostalgia of days gone

by and the younger generation can savor

the challenge of the future so in

quoting Disney O'Hagan is really seeking

to highlight how Disney felt that

Disneyland would be this positive

experience for for people to go to and

experience and but he he's pretty

critical of this quote he says

Disneyland is only a democracy for those

who can afford to get in and even then

your spending power will continue to put

pressure on your sense of freedom and he

uses the example of the wristbands that

had Disneyland currently offers and how

children can go and purchase anything

that they want simply by tapping the

wristband on something and so

can't according to Hagen can everyone

experience happiness not really because

you need money to buy happiness so

that's a major question that you should

ask yourself does once again does money

buy happiness and so some key takeaways

and questions to consider for this

source

how does Disney function as a metaphor

for other institutions and so here's

where I really want to highlight

something that could lead to a

misconception these sources have many

many different applications and don't

need to be taken in the most literal

form so just because the source is about

Disney and Disneyland doesn't mean that

you necessarily have to do your research

topic on Disneyland okay so there are

the context of this of this piece is key

and it's aiming to get at more than just

what Disneyland is actually doing it's

it's meant to serve as a representation

for for how our materialism impacts how

we gain happiness so now that we've

looked at all of the sources I want you

to think about which perspective of

happiness do you agree with the most and

which of the sources agree with each

other and which of the sources would

disagree with one another putting some

answers to these questions will help to

find a potential research topic which is

something that we'll be taking a look at

in future lessons so to review our goal

today was to summarize and explain a

text main idea to avoid faulty

generalizations and oversimplifications

for that oversimplification piece that's

really I want you to be careful with

that did with that last Disney source to

make sure that you're not just looking

at it in the most literal sense we also

wanted to interpret use and synthesize

our qualitative and quantitative

evidence from various perspectives to

develop and support an argument and then

our big a big picture goal was to

develop an understanding of each of the

individual sources within the stimulus

materials to identify areas for

their inquiry so now that we've looked

at all of those different sources now

it's sort of your job you should before

going on to the next sources review the

stimulus materials to identify the two

or three sources that you're most

interested in and once you do that you

should give a close read to each of

those sources

looking for connections among the

different sources that can guide you in

a potential direction for your topic in

future videos we'll be looking at how to

actually use the videos use the sources

to identify a potential topic so be on

the lookout for those as well one final

note we know that not all students have

access to the Internet or a device and

so we're working on solutions to help

students get what they need to show best

show their work and so if you need

mobile tools or connectivity or know

someone that does please reach out to

the College Board at CBI org slash tech

that's all for now

thanks for watching