Spinoza claimed that to understand a proposition is already to accept it as true; rejecting a falsehood requires a second, separate effort that can be disrupted. Descartes denied this — for him, comprehension and assent are independent.
Gilbert et al.'s Study 1 set out to decide between them. You will play the role of their subject: learn a small fragment of an invented “Hopi” vocabulary, occasionally have your processing interrupted by a tone, and then sit a memory test.
Your anonymous responses will be added to the class aggregate for in-class discussion.