I watched the video titled "The Mind Awake and Asleep." I don't really like the video because it seems like an old movie and also it is kinda boring. The video talks about how the conscious part of our brain processes the information that we take in and sort it into groups. In the videos words it imposes order in our brains. The video also describes how our brains are constantly making complex computations that are essential to our survival even when we sleep. The video primarily talks about our consciousness and how it affects our lives. Our consciousness is unique to us and is also constantly changing and adapting. Our consciousness can also act as a type of filter. It filters the constantly bombargement of stimuli and only takes the information that is relevant to us.
The part of the video that was most relevant and interesting to me was the section on attention. I myself can not pay attention when something is boring or if I just don't want to pay attention. I am easily distracted by things that look more fun or exciting. Everybody has a certain attention span, some longer than others. Eventually you can become bored and your mind wonders. It is human nature. Also the video explained that day dreaming was good for us. I happen to day dream quite often so I guess I am just doing my body some good.
Another thing that I learned from this section is how sleep loss can affect us in a variety of ways. A loss of sleep can affect our immune systems and causes us to make more mistakes that usual. Also sleep loss can make us more vulnerable to obesity. Also adults that sleep more tend to live longer than their sleep-deprived counterparts.
The thing that surprised me the most in this section was how much drugs can affect your life in such a short period of time. The picture of the woman on page 117 and how she changed over 4 years was very shocking. She doesn't look anything like she did 4 years ago. Also the drugs she took not only affected her looks but severely affected her mind. Certain drugs can damage your brain cells and cause you to lose memory, important processers, etc.
I agree with the idea of selective attention. Most people can only focus and do one thing well at a time. Most of our brains can not focus one two different things at the same time. Our attention shifts back and forth between the two and cau be bad. If you are trying to talk on the phone and drive at the same time, your attention may be on the phone conversation and you could get in an accident. I totally agree with the fact that we can not focus on two things at once. Often times people get stressed when they are trying to focus on two different things. We should take on one tasks at at time and get that task done before starting another.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog Post 3
The first activity I did was called "Seeing more than your eye does." The activity was called a blindspot activity and was actually very cool. It required you to close your left eye and look at a crosshairs on the computer screen. There was a dot on the screen a few inches to the right of the cross hairs. As you got closer to your screen the dot suddenly disappeared. The second activity I did was called "Contrast/Color 'Illusions'." In this activity the squares that were shown looked different colors in the pictures because of shadows around them, but they were actually the same exact color.
Through the activities I learned that our brain can in a sense play tricks on us. Also shadows can affect what colors our brain sees. The thing that surprised me was in the "Seeing more than your eye does" activity. I found it weird that at a certain distance from the screen the dot just disappeared and then reappeared when I got closer to the screen. I never would have guess that this would have happened.
I am not quite sure how what I learned in the activities can be applied to my everyday life. The two activities don't really apply to anything in real life. I guess the blindspot activity could apply to your life. Don't walk around with one eye closed because you might miss something because you can't even see it.
These activities don't really change the way I think we perceive or interact with the world. I guess it makes me think about the way we see colors and how the same color can look different in different lighting conditions. Other than that the activities do not really make me think differently about how we interact with the world around us. I just think that the two activities were pretty cool and I never realized that we had a built in blindspot.
One other thing I learned in this unit was how certain neurotransmitters can affect how we feel and how our body acts. For example if our brain does not receive enough dopamine we can exhibit symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease. Another thing I learned in this unit is that scientist can make some animals act different by stimulating their brain with electricity. They can control a rat like it is a robot by hooking its brain up to electrodes. I find this rather interesting and a little weird.
The "Man with Two Brains" was a very interesting video. I found it cool how he could draw two different objects at the same time while a normal human finds doing the same thing nearly impossible. I also find it weird how the man didn't feel any different after his surgery. He felt the exact same as before he had the surgery but he acted different in some ways. If he was shown two words that a normal person would connect as one word his mind would register them seperately. I would really like to meet this man in real life and see some of the amazing things he can do.
Through the activities I learned that our brain can in a sense play tricks on us. Also shadows can affect what colors our brain sees. The thing that surprised me was in the "Seeing more than your eye does" activity. I found it weird that at a certain distance from the screen the dot just disappeared and then reappeared when I got closer to the screen. I never would have guess that this would have happened.
I am not quite sure how what I learned in the activities can be applied to my everyday life. The two activities don't really apply to anything in real life. I guess the blindspot activity could apply to your life. Don't walk around with one eye closed because you might miss something because you can't even see it.
These activities don't really change the way I think we perceive or interact with the world. I guess it makes me think about the way we see colors and how the same color can look different in different lighting conditions. Other than that the activities do not really make me think differently about how we interact with the world around us. I just think that the two activities were pretty cool and I never realized that we had a built in blindspot.
One other thing I learned in this unit was how certain neurotransmitters can affect how we feel and how our body acts. For example if our brain does not receive enough dopamine we can exhibit symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease. Another thing I learned in this unit is that scientist can make some animals act different by stimulating their brain with electricity. They can control a rat like it is a robot by hooking its brain up to electrodes. I find this rather interesting and a little weird.
The "Man with Two Brains" was a very interesting video. I found it cool how he could draw two different objects at the same time while a normal human finds doing the same thing nearly impossible. I also find it weird how the man didn't feel any different after his surgery. He felt the exact same as before he had the surgery but he acted different in some ways. If he was shown two words that a normal person would connect as one word his mind would register them seperately. I would really like to meet this man in real life and see some of the amazing things he can do.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blog Post 2 - "Thinking Critically"
Research is very important to our lives. Scientists use research to learn and understand things in order to make our lives better. They can use research to develop new technologies, teaching techniques, etc. With psychology, scientists research individuals different behaviors and how exposure to certain elements can effect the individual. So many things can be the result of research.
An example of research I found dealt with how groups of people form and how they form so easily. This research is relevant to my life because I see groups everyday. Everyone has seen how groups form. Just look around high school. Everywhere you go you see groups of peopel that seem to hang out often. There are groups that are lifelong friends, groups that are students in the sam class, etc. The research showed that groups can form in seconds and even if the people in that group don't know each other they still favor the group over others. Research has shown that this behavior is due to the fact that we form our own identities from our group memberships. It is natural for us to want to feel that we are of a high status and to have a positive image. For this reason people in groups often put down other groups in order to make their group seem better, thus making them seem better.
Some other things I learned while reading were all the different ways scientist can collect data. They can do case studies, surveys, observe peope, and do experiments. I also learned that we often see patterns in random sequences. I guess I never actually thought about it in depth. When you play cards it always seems like it is so hard to get a good hand, when in reality it is just as likely as getting a bad hand. Another thing I read that I feel connects to my own life is the placebo effect. When I think about it parents use this all the time on their kids. They can persuade their kids to feel better or happier by giving them something that doesn't actually do anything, but they think it does.
An example of research I found dealt with how groups of people form and how they form so easily. This research is relevant to my life because I see groups everyday. Everyone has seen how groups form. Just look around high school. Everywhere you go you see groups of peopel that seem to hang out often. There are groups that are lifelong friends, groups that are students in the sam class, etc. The research showed that groups can form in seconds and even if the people in that group don't know each other they still favor the group over others. Research has shown that this behavior is due to the fact that we form our own identities from our group memberships. It is natural for us to want to feel that we are of a high status and to have a positive image. For this reason people in groups often put down other groups in order to make their group seem better, thus making them seem better.
Some other things I learned while reading were all the different ways scientist can collect data. They can do case studies, surveys, observe peope, and do experiments. I also learned that we often see patterns in random sequences. I guess I never actually thought about it in depth. When you play cards it always seems like it is so hard to get a good hand, when in reality it is just as likely as getting a bad hand. Another thing I read that I feel connects to my own life is the placebo effect. When I think about it parents use this all the time on their kids. They can persuade their kids to feel better or happier by giving them something that doesn't actually do anything, but they think it does.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
formal blog 1
Before I read chapter one I thought psychology was just the study of how people react to a stimulus or how different things affect their behaviors. After reading the chapter I realize that it is much more than that. There are many different types of psychology and each of them are different. Some study how a person's mind develops from womb to tomb while others study how a person's environment can affect their mind. Also psychologist use many different techniques to study people. Some study their subjects without interfering while other introduce a stimulus to see how it affects the subject.
I believe psychology affects my life in a variety of ways. Through study scientists have come up with ways to help people develop certain skills that can benefit them in life. These skills can be applied to help myself become a better leader, friend, student, ect. Also psychology can affect how others are around me, and by affecting the people around me it can affect me as well. If i were surrounded by a bunch of depressed people, I would more than likely feel depressed too.
One thing i learned is that people look for order all the time. We see patterns in sequences that are completely random. It seems like the odds of flipping a coin six times and getting all heads is nearly impossible, when in reality it is just as likely as flipping HTHHTH. Another intriguing thing i learned is just because two things correlate does not mean that they cause each other. It only shows the possibility of the cause-effect relationship. It does not prove that one thing causes another.
I believe psychology affects my life in a variety of ways. Through study scientists have come up with ways to help people develop certain skills that can benefit them in life. These skills can be applied to help myself become a better leader, friend, student, ect. Also psychology can affect how others are around me, and by affecting the people around me it can affect me as well. If i were surrounded by a bunch of depressed people, I would more than likely feel depressed too.
One thing i learned is that people look for order all the time. We see patterns in sequences that are completely random. It seems like the odds of flipping a coin six times and getting all heads is nearly impossible, when in reality it is just as likely as flipping HTHHTH. Another intriguing thing i learned is just because two things correlate does not mean that they cause each other. It only shows the possibility of the cause-effect relationship. It does not prove that one thing causes another.
intro blog
My name is Indy Spindler and I attend Stratford HS. I am 17 years old and am a senior in high school. I believe that the sport of football has shaped me as a person. It has taught me how to work hard and work to achieve my goals. It has also taught me how to work as a team to achieve a common goal. I believe that the study psychology is important because it is important to understand how the human mind works. It can help you to make yourself better and to help yourself think positively. Doctors may also use it to help people with depression or other mental disorders. I believe psychology is defined as the study of the human brain and how it works. You can study how people's minds and thinking strategies differ and what makes their minds unique.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
