In this chapter, one of our activities dealt with illusions that your eyes see. I found this interesting because it brought back memories for me.
When I was little, my brother would pull up different optical illusions on the internet, and we would spend hours -yes really hours- looking at these types of things. Because my brother is 15 years older than me, we didn't always do a lot of things together, and this is one of the things that I remember him doing with me.. even though I was an annoying little kid.
I know that sounds geeky, but I really did always like to do it... sometimes I even look them up and go through them on my own, so I was glad when I opened that assignment this week.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Illusions blog
For this activity I went through 8 different illusions: stepping feet, stromboscopic artefacts, flash-lag effect, enigma, stereokinetic phenomenon, van der Helm's "Kaleidoscope Motion", "breathing square" illusion, and pyramid illusion.
This activity showed me that 'there's more than what meets the eye'. I know it's cliche, but really, it showed me that you may be seeing things that aren't really there, or seeing something that is there as something completely different than what it really is.
I didn't really get surprised by these illusions. I have always liked looking at these types of things. I guess this is why I didn't get surprised, I have been looking at them for so long that rather than just looking at it, I try to figure out what the catch is...
I think that what it teaches you is "there's more than what meets the eye', as I said before. This can be used through out peoples' lives on a day to day basis because it teaches you don't always know what you're seeing, so you shouldn't judge something by first glance.
This activity showed me that 'there's more than what meets the eye'. I know it's cliche, but really, it showed me that you may be seeing things that aren't really there, or seeing something that is there as something completely different than what it really is.
I didn't really get surprised by these illusions. I have always liked looking at these types of things. I guess this is why I didn't get surprised, I have been looking at them for so long that rather than just looking at it, I try to figure out what the catch is...
I think that what it teaches you is "there's more than what meets the eye', as I said before. This can be used through out peoples' lives on a day to day basis because it teaches you don't always know what you're seeing, so you shouldn't judge something by first glance.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Chapter 5 - Developing Through the Life Span
There were a few things that I found interesting in this chapter. The first was Piaget's theory about developement. He proposed that there were four stages of developement through the lifetime: sonsorimotor- from birth to age two, preoperational- from ages two to six or seven, concrete operational- from ages about seven to eleven, and formal operational- from about twelve through adult hood.
Another thing that interested me in this chapter was the expirament with the babies and mobiles. Babies can obviously learn, they learn to crawl, walk, talk... but I thought these things were just developed over time, not really tought. This expirament was interesting because it showed that not everything in infancy is developed, and babies can remember things.
Lastly I found it interesting that babies like looking in mirrors at age 6 months, but they don't actually recognize that it is themselves until 18 months. However, this confuses me because I have babysat little kids -younger than 18 months- who looked in the mirror and seemed to know it was themselves. I guess there is no way to prove that they did know it was them, because they couldn't talk yet, but their reaction when I asked 'who is that?' seemed to show they did know it was themselves.
Another thing that interested me in this chapter was the expirament with the babies and mobiles. Babies can obviously learn, they learn to crawl, walk, talk... but I thought these things were just developed over time, not really tought. This expirament was interesting because it showed that not everything in infancy is developed, and babies can remember things.
Lastly I found it interesting that babies like looking in mirrors at age 6 months, but they don't actually recognize that it is themselves until 18 months. However, this confuses me because I have babysat little kids -younger than 18 months- who looked in the mirror and seemed to know it was themselves. I guess there is no way to prove that they did know it was them, because they couldn't talk yet, but their reaction when I asked 'who is that?' seemed to show they did know it was themselves.
Chapter 5 - Developing Through the Life Span
There were a few things that I found interesting in this chapter. The first was Piaget's theory about developement. He proposed that there were four stages of developement through the lifetime: sonsorimotor- from birth to age two, preoperational- from ages two to six or seven, concrete operational- from ages about seven to eleven, and formal operational- from about twelve through adult hood.
Another thing that interested me in this chapter was the expirament with the babies and mobiles. Babies can obviously learn, they learn to crawl, walk, talk... but I thought these things were just developed over time, not really tought. This expirament was interesting because it showed that not everything in infancy is developed, and babies can remember things.
Lastly I found it interesting that babies like looking in mirrors at age 6 months, but they don't actually recognize that it is themselves until 18 months. However, this confuses me because I have babysat little kids -younger than 18 months- who looked in the mirror and seemed to know it was themselves. I guess there is no way to prove that they did know it was them, because they couldn't talk yet, but their reaction when I asked 'who is that?' seemed to show they did know it was themselves.
Another thing that interested me in this chapter was the expirament with the babies and mobiles. Babies can obviously learn, they learn to crawl, walk, talk... but I thought these things were just developed over time, not really tought. This expirament was interesting because it showed that not everything in infancy is developed, and babies can remember things.
Lastly I found it interesting that babies like looking in mirrors at age 6 months, but they don't actually recognize that it is themselves until 18 months. However, this confuses me because I have babysat little kids -younger than 18 months- who looked in the mirror and seemed to know it was themselves. I guess there is no way to prove that they did know it was them, because they couldn't talk yet, but their reaction when I asked 'who is that?' seemed to show they did know it was themselves.
Current Events #4
In this chapter, it talked about the 3 different parenting styles: Authoritarian, Permissive, and Authoritative. And it made me realize how lucky I am because my parents are Authoritative.
Authoritative parents are the ones that provide rules and punishments, but they aren't completely dictatorial about what you can and can't do. My parents have always been very understanding. I have to tell them where I am going and what I am doing, but most of the time they will let me do whatever it is. However, they do have some rules, such as no drinking or smoking. I don't think this is much to ask of me, especially considering these things are illegal for me to do right now anyway.
I have friends whose parents try to control every part of their lives, and I also have friends whose parents let them do what ever they want with out punishment. I look at both sides and think I am in a good place with the parents I have... I guess I should go home and tell them thank you!
Authoritative parents are the ones that provide rules and punishments, but they aren't completely dictatorial about what you can and can't do. My parents have always been very understanding. I have to tell them where I am going and what I am doing, but most of the time they will let me do whatever it is. However, they do have some rules, such as no drinking or smoking. I don't think this is much to ask of me, especially considering these things are illegal for me to do right now anyway.
I have friends whose parents try to control every part of their lives, and I also have friends whose parents let them do what ever they want with out punishment. I look at both sides and think I am in a good place with the parents I have... I guess I should go home and tell them thank you!
Essentials of Group Psychology
I read the article 'Essentials of Group Psychology' on psyblog.
I didn't really like this article because it pretty much said groups take away your creativity and make you conform to their decisions, rather than forming your own. In a way I guess this could be true, sometime groups are formed because of the same beliefs, so rather than conforming decisions you already have the same ideas.
But then I think about the groups I am involved in in school (clubs, sports, etc.) and I tend to make my own decisions here. Most of the time, if it's an important issue, and I don't agree with one of my friends I tell them... Over all I thought the article had an interesting view point, but I disagreed with it.
I didn't really like this article because it pretty much said groups take away your creativity and make you conform to their decisions, rather than forming your own. In a way I guess this could be true, sometime groups are formed because of the same beliefs, so rather than conforming decisions you already have the same ideas.
But then I think about the groups I am involved in in school (clubs, sports, etc.) and I tend to make my own decisions here. Most of the time, if it's an important issue, and I don't agree with one of my friends I tell them... Over all I thought the article had an interesting view point, but I disagreed with it.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity
Something in this chapter that suprised me was in the twin section.. about twins seperated at birth. I've seen "The Parent Trap" but I guess I didn't believe that it could happen in real life. What I found more interesting were the extreme similarities between the twins. Like the first two were both named Jim, and both named their dog Toy. And then there was Oskar and Jack.. one was a Christian Nazi, and the other was a Jew. Yet they were also very similar, right down to dipping buttered toast in coffee. Who does that?
I also thought it was interesting was when they were talking about brain development. On the side of the page, there was a picture of a little girl playing a violin, and the caption said that children that start playing string instruments before 12 years old have more complex neural ciruits controling their left hand fingers (the ones that make the notes) than those that started after age 12. I found this interesting because I had heard that some things are easier to learn at earlier ages, but I had never seen proof.
Lastly, I found the cultural influences section interesting. It was probably the part of the reading that made the most sense to me because I have realized cultural differences before. For instance, in some native African cultures it is totally exceptable to walk around with next to no clothes on, while in Muslim cultures women are suppose to be COMPLETELY covered at all times.
I also thought it was interesting was when they were talking about brain development. On the side of the page, there was a picture of a little girl playing a violin, and the caption said that children that start playing string instruments before 12 years old have more complex neural ciruits controling their left hand fingers (the ones that make the notes) than those that started after age 12. I found this interesting because I had heard that some things are easier to learn at earlier ages, but I had never seen proof.
Lastly, I found the cultural influences section interesting. It was probably the part of the reading that made the most sense to me because I have realized cultural differences before. For instance, in some native African cultures it is totally exceptable to walk around with next to no clothes on, while in Muslim cultures women are suppose to be COMPLETELY covered at all times.
'How Rewards Can Backfire and Reduce Motivation' -Psyblog
This article was about the reward process which we are all accustom to, and how it can possibly reduce people's motivation towards doing certain tasks.
The experiment took a group of children that liked drawing and split them into three groups: 1. expected a reward, 2. got a surprise reward, and 3. didn't get a reward. After they were all given their rewards (or not given) they were observed for a couple of days. The study showed that the children that had expected to get the reward wouldn't draw spontaniously much anymore, while the children that were suprised about the reward, or didn't get one at all still liked to draw for fun.
The article explained this well for me comparing it to adults. It said that often, adults see getting paid for something as work, and work is 'ALWAYS' painful and tiresome. In this case it shows that adults see anything they may get paid for as painful and tiresome, even if it is something they liked to do in the past. The same can be said for the experiment with the children... all of the children started out liking to draw, yet when a reward was expected, these children didn't want to draw voluntarily anymore.
However, I don't really agree with the article. For instance, I get paid for babysitting, but I still like to do it.. I don't just do it for the money. But if the article were right, I would see babysitting as a painful event that I MUST complete in order to make money...
The experiment took a group of children that liked drawing and split them into three groups: 1. expected a reward, 2. got a surprise reward, and 3. didn't get a reward. After they were all given their rewards (or not given) they were observed for a couple of days. The study showed that the children that had expected to get the reward wouldn't draw spontaniously much anymore, while the children that were suprised about the reward, or didn't get one at all still liked to draw for fun.
The article explained this well for me comparing it to adults. It said that often, adults see getting paid for something as work, and work is 'ALWAYS' painful and tiresome. In this case it shows that adults see anything they may get paid for as painful and tiresome, even if it is something they liked to do in the past. The same can be said for the experiment with the children... all of the children started out liking to draw, yet when a reward was expected, these children didn't want to draw voluntarily anymore.
However, I don't really agree with the article. For instance, I get paid for babysitting, but I still like to do it.. I don't just do it for the money. But if the article were right, I would see babysitting as a painful event that I MUST complete in order to make money...
Current Events #3
In this chapter it talks about heritability, and it made me wonder why my brothers and sisters differ so much. There are 5 of us, and we all have some similar and different interests. What I can't figure out is how we all got these differences, the similarities I understand, but whether we inherit things from our parents, or acquire them through our environment, we all have the same parents and grew up in the same environment... So is there another factor here that I am missing?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Current Events #2
This week's chapter talks a lot about sleep and dreaming so I thought I would talk about one of my recent dreams.
About a week ago I was having dreams that I could remember nearly everynight (go figure, once I started my dream journal I couldn't remember any of them). The one that sticks in my mind the most however also kind of scares me.
To start with, you have to know one thing about me. A little over a year ago I tore my left ACL playing summer basketball, and I was out for the next seven months... In my dream I ended up tearing my ACL again, but it was on the opposite leg. I had surgery on it and was once again in the full-leg knee brace, only this time it was on my right leg. The weird part was that all the pain I felt was still in my left knee...
It kind of scared me because I took it literal, to mean that I was going to tear my ACL again. We talked in class how most dreams usually don't mean what they seem to, so that makes me feel a little better, but I still can't figure out why I had the dream in the first place. The only thing I can figure would be that my knee had been bugging me in volleyball practice a couple days before.
About a week ago I was having dreams that I could remember nearly everynight (go figure, once I started my dream journal I couldn't remember any of them). The one that sticks in my mind the most however also kind of scares me.
To start with, you have to know one thing about me. A little over a year ago I tore my left ACL playing summer basketball, and I was out for the next seven months... In my dream I ended up tearing my ACL again, but it was on the opposite leg. I had surgery on it and was once again in the full-leg knee brace, only this time it was on my right leg. The weird part was that all the pain I felt was still in my left knee...
It kind of scared me because I took it literal, to mean that I was going to tear my ACL again. We talked in class how most dreams usually don't mean what they seem to, so that makes me feel a little better, but I still can't figure out why I had the dream in the first place. The only thing I can figure would be that my knee had been bugging me in volleyball practice a couple days before.
Chapter 3 -Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind
In this chapter I learned that dream theorists propose many explinations for dreaming. These reasons are as follows: to sitisfy our own wishes, to file away memories, to develop and preserve neural pathways, to make sense of neural static, and to reflect cognitive development. Reading this made me try to think of where some of my most memorable dreams would fit in and I think many of them are to satisfy my own wishes and to file away memories... But it also made me wonder why we have bad dreams and where they fit in.
Another thing that I learned was that we go through different stages of sleep throughout the night. The only stage I had ever heard of before was REM sleep, so this fact suprised me. However, I did know that we didn't experience REM sleep all night, so I had often wondered what we did the rest of the time. I was glad to finally find out.
I really agree with the sleep deprivation part. As I read the statistics I felt they also applied to me which makes sense, considering the work load I have this semester. The scariest part of this for me is the thought of all the consequences that can come with sleep deprivation. I am not being effected in these ways yet and I'm not part of the 28% of high school students that falls asleep in class once a week, but I'm afraid I may be getting close.
Another thing that I learned was that we go through different stages of sleep throughout the night. The only stage I had ever heard of before was REM sleep, so this fact suprised me. However, I did know that we didn't experience REM sleep all night, so I had often wondered what we did the rest of the time. I was glad to finally find out.
I really agree with the sleep deprivation part. As I read the statistics I felt they also applied to me which makes sense, considering the work load I have this semester. The scariest part of this for me is the thought of all the consequences that can come with sleep deprivation. I am not being effected in these ways yet and I'm not part of the 28% of high school students that falls asleep in class once a week, but I'm afraid I may be getting close.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
'Are You a Liar?' -Psyblog
In this article they test the statistic 'people lie three times within the first 10 minutes of meeting someone'. They preformed an experiment to see how many times people would lie when talking to someone new for ten minutes. They videotaped these conversations, and then played them back to the person, asking them to count how many lies they told while watching the tape. 40% of people claimed to not have lied at all, the other 60% did however report just under 3 lies in the ten minutes, somewhat proving the statistic correct.
What I don't agree with here is what they considered lies. For instance, if one was asked how they were doing and they responded fine, when really they weren't feeling well, they were to count it. Although it is technically a lie, I don't agree that it necessarily should be counted. It's not like within the first ten minutes of meeting someone you're going to want to share what a crappy day you are having. This point was discussed in the article, and another point was made. If we did tell the exact truth all the time, our social lives would be disturbed. The little lies we tell could possibly just be because we are nice, well-adjusted people.
What I don't agree with here is what they considered lies. For instance, if one was asked how they were doing and they responded fine, when really they weren't feeling well, they were to count it. Although it is technically a lie, I don't agree that it necessarily should be counted. It's not like within the first ten minutes of meeting someone you're going to want to share what a crappy day you are having. This point was discussed in the article, and another point was made. If we did tell the exact truth all the time, our social lives would be disturbed. The little lies we tell could possibly just be because we are nice, well-adjusted people.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Chapter 2 - The Biology of Mind
In this chapter I learned a lot about the parts of the human mind and what they are responsible for. I found it interesting how all the many different parts coincide to make things work. You never have only one part of your brain doing something, there is always many parts working together. Sometimes these things are working together and you don't even realize that part of your brain is responsible for the actions, like your heart beating and breathing. Because you don't need to think about these things, you don't always realize that it's your brain responsible for the functions.
In another part of the chapter I learned that scientists are able to stimulate a rat's movement with a remote control. I liked the idea that this technology could be used in search and rescue missions at some point, but I'm not sure how. I mean, rats can't really rescue people, so are they going to use the technology on humans? And if they can use it on humans, what else will that lead to?
Lastly, at the beginning of the chapter it talked about falling in love, and that it is psychological, and doesn't take place in the heart. But this fact upsets the history of falling in love. If it is all in a persons' mind, then we should be able to make ourselves love someone, yet we can't. And if by some chance we can control who we love, then that takes away the saying "you can't help who you're in love with". I personally believe that love isn't in the heart, but in the soul. Although people often associate these two together, is the soul possibly part of our mind instead?
In another part of the chapter I learned that scientists are able to stimulate a rat's movement with a remote control. I liked the idea that this technology could be used in search and rescue missions at some point, but I'm not sure how. I mean, rats can't really rescue people, so are they going to use the technology on humans? And if they can use it on humans, what else will that lead to?
Lastly, at the beginning of the chapter it talked about falling in love, and that it is psychological, and doesn't take place in the heart. But this fact upsets the history of falling in love. If it is all in a persons' mind, then we should be able to make ourselves love someone, yet we can't. And if by some chance we can control who we love, then that takes away the saying "you can't help who you're in love with". I personally believe that love isn't in the heart, but in the soul. Although people often associate these two together, is the soul possibly part of our mind instead?
The Brain and Behavior
On the serendip site I played 4 games, like we were supposed to. I played Hofstadter's Road Sign, Seeing More Than Your Eye Does, The Game of Life, and Prisoners' Dilemma. However, the only one I really understood was 'Seeing More Than Your Eye Does'. Maybe this is because the experiment gave me hard evidence that it was right, where as with the others you had to figure out the objective yourself. I also kind of enjoyed playing the 'Prisoners' Dilemma' one, but although I used a strategy while playing it, I didn't get the point and how it related to psychology.
I was suprised to learn that we have quite a large blind spot in our eyes. Drivers Ed teachers teach us about 'checking your blindspot' but that blind spot is different, it is created between your eyes and your mirrors. This blind spot is real, but we never notice it because our minds fill in what we are missing. It really makes me wonder about all the other crazy things our brains do without us knowing.
I don't know how this can be applied to everyday life. Because our minds do fill in what we don't see, we don't really miss anything at all most of the time. And if I have been missing things because of my blindspot, I've been missing them my entire life and I don't think it's a big deal. In the same respect it doesn't change the way I think about the world.
I was suprised to learn that we have quite a large blind spot in our eyes. Drivers Ed teachers teach us about 'checking your blindspot' but that blind spot is different, it is created between your eyes and your mirrors. This blind spot is real, but we never notice it because our minds fill in what we are missing. It really makes me wonder about all the other crazy things our brains do without us knowing.
I don't know how this can be applied to everyday life. Because our minds do fill in what we don't see, we don't really miss anything at all most of the time. And if I have been missing things because of my blindspot, I've been missing them my entire life and I don't think it's a big deal. In the same respect it doesn't change the way I think about the world.
Current Events #1
Currently in my life I have been very stressed out, as have many of my peers, but I have begun to wonder if it is really just an attitude.
What made me start thinking about stress being an attitude was my volleyball coach. He is always telling us that when we play excited, we play well, and when we get frustrated, we take our heads out of the game and don't play as well. So is how we play a psychological thing along with being physical? And if it is, how many other parts of our lives can we control with our attitudes?
Thinking positively doesn't change how much work I have to do, and it doesn't get me to bed any earlier on nights I have a ton of homework. However, it does help me get through the next day when I'm only running on 6 hours of sleep.
What made me start thinking about stress being an attitude was my volleyball coach. He is always telling us that when we play excited, we play well, and when we get frustrated, we take our heads out of the game and don't play as well. So is how we play a psychological thing along with being physical? And if it is, how many other parts of our lives can we control with our attitudes?
Thinking positively doesn't change how much work I have to do, and it doesn't get me to bed any earlier on nights I have a ton of homework. However, it does help me get through the next day when I'm only running on 6 hours of sleep.
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