~Illusions blog~

I looked at the following illusions:

Hidden Bird

Hidden Figures – Dalmatian Dog

Adelson’s “Checker-shadow illusion”

Pyramid Illusion

Simultaneous Contrast (dynamic)

Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet Illusion

Café Wall Illusion

Fraser’s Spiral

I learned that your eyes can play tricks when looking at these illusions; our perception is misunderstood. For example, one illusion I looked at was lines of black and white squares which appeared to be slanted when really all the lines were parallel. I was really surprised by some of the illusions like Fraser’s Spiral. The picture appeared to me as if it were a spiral, but actually it was just circles. All these illusions illustrated to me that we actually see things that are not there in real life. Our perception of some objects are wrong at times too. I think that these experiences may affect me on a day to day basis by making me realize that what I’m looking at may be an illusion in some sort. However, I don’t think I see very many illusions on a day to day basis. Overall, I thought this illusion assignment was pretty cool.

Are Boys Better Than Girls At Maths?

Wow, I believe this article is very true! Throughout this article it was debated whether or not boys are better at math than girls. Looking at data from the 1990s, the results from SAT scores showed that yes, boys are better at math than girls. However, one of the main reasons for this is stereotyping girls as bad at math. When girls are literally told that they are bad at math and that boys are always better, it will lower their confidence and the result will show that they are in fact bad at math. BUT now there is new data showing that the boys had better look out because the girls are showing major improvement. Evidence provided by many, many schools of different grades showed that there was little difference between boys and girls performance in math.

I don’t normally hear about this subject anymore, but when I was younger I remember the phrase that guys are smarter when it come to math. I certainty do not agree that boys are smarter than girls. In my school, the advanced math class is pretty much equal when it comes to boys and girls.

How Beliefs and Values Influence What Tastes Good

This was a very intriguing article to read about food. This article was all about how one’s belief could influence the choice of foods they like. In one experiment, participants were given sausage rolls, some with real beef and some with a vegetarian alternative. However, if some participants were told they were eating real beef, they were actually eating the vegetarian alternative and those told they were eating the vegetarian alternative were actually eating real beef. The results showed that a majority of them couldn’t tell much of a difference. But along with this experiment they did find that those high in social power preferred the real beef, while those low in social power preferred the vegetarian alternative. Much like the sausage rolls experiment, there was a Pepsi challenge which showed that a majority of people actually preferred the store brand cola over Pepsi.

Overall, I thought this article was interesting. It’s funny how we always want the best brands of food like Pepsi, but when we don’t know that we aren’t drinking actual Pepsi we like it better. In the end I think its all in our head whether or not we like a certain food or not.

Happiness Could Add 10 Years to Your Life

Well, I read this short article about happiness and how it could add 10 years to my life. Although, it clearly says that this is has not been proven yet. Some studies on this have shown a positive, neutral, and even negative affects of happiness on life. The studies of people who were ill showed neutral and negative effects of happiness actually. On the other hand, those that were healthy showed positive effects. Another study on nuns showed that the happiest nuns lived 10 years longer than those who were unhappy. What do I think about this? I think this all malarkey. Of course those who were ill were going to show no effect of happiness… they’re sick! I also look around and know that some of the happiest people become ill and have died at a young age. Sure happiness makes a person feel better about themselves, but I don’t think it can contribute to 10 more years of life.

Why Loud Music in Bars Increases Alcohol Consumption

AWESOME! This was one of the most interesting articles I have read. This article was all about how loud music in bars can make a person drink more. According to some studies by a few different groups, it really is true that the louder the music is in a bar, the more a person will drink. To make sure that this was a true experiment they kept the music at its normal volume or it ranged from 72dB to 88dB. On average when the music was at its normal volume, it took a bar-goer 14.5 minutes to drink a 8 oz glass of beer. However, when the music was turned up louder, it only took 11.5 minutes. On average when the music is turned up louder, a bar-goer usually has one more drink. So why do you think most bars play loud music? Well, after reading this article I definitely understand why. I guess I never really paid that much attention to the relation between music and bars. This article didn’t really have a solid reason as to why a person would drink more if the music was loud, but it did come to a conclusion that the louder the music, the less a person talks. And the less a person talks, the more a person drinks. I thought this article was very entertaining compared to the articles I have read so far. Go read it!

http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/09/why-loud-music-in-bars-increases.php

~Chapter 5 Blog~

I really enjoyed this chapter compared to the last chapter. It was great reading about adolescence, which all of us in this class seem to be going through right now, including myself.
One thing I learned in this chapter was that what the conscious mind does not know and cannot express in words, the nervous system somehow remembers. This was really intriguing to me, but according to the study we really do remember things through our nervous system.
Another thing I found surprising in this chapter was one of the phrases in this chapter. “Forty years ago I had a great memory, but I was a fool.” I love this phrase actually. Its so interesting that even though a person grows old, they are gaining wisdom as well.
I also learned that moral action feeds moral attitude. This means that by actually doing good deeds as morals we gain a moral attitude. I just thought that this was really interesting because I do realize that when I do good deeds, I feel more like an adult and it forms my moral attitude.
I really enjoyed watching the video on learner.org. It was interesting to view experiments of children developing skills and how they process certain problems. It was really cool to see how one little girl couldn’t find the big Snoopy, but at 3 years of age another girl could find Snoopy easily. I just found the movie really intriguing to watch. The other video was great as well. I liked how it simply put it that teenagers go through times when we may not seem like we want to talk and that it’s normal.

Blog Time!!!

I thought this was interesting chapter overall I thought. One of my favorite things I learned in this chapter was learning about how parents shape our lives. I learned that parents influence how their children act, religious beliefs, and their political views. What really surprised me was learning that parents don’t have any influence on personality.
Another thing I found interesting in this chapter was how nature and nurture works together to form our gender. I learned how the mother and fathers chromosomes contribute to make either a male or female baby. I just thought that this was a key aspect to knowing how our gender is developed.
Then I really thought that the twin studies were really cool. Its interesting how separated twins can share some similarities. These studies show the results of our genetic influences. The twin studies assignment really helped me understand how twin studies can attribute to us learning about similarities in genes.
I thought the Evolutionary Psychology and Sexual Attitudes Resource was a very interesting video to watch. The video went through many different explanations as to why men desire sex more often than women do.
Oh yeah I actually really enjoyed doing the nature/nurture assignment too. It was a great way to compare how my lifestyle would change if I were raised by different parents.

Mondays Are Not As Depressing As You Think

　This article was fun to read for many reasons. Many people despise Mondays, especially high school people. We tend to think that we are always unhappy on Mondays because its only the first day of the long week ahead. According to this article Mondays are stereotypically depressing, when a survey actually showed that Monday was not anymore depressing than any other day. These surveys actually showed that Friday and Saturdays are stereotypically the most exciting days of the week, but according to these results they are no different than most of the other days of the week. Through these surveys they did find that Wednesdays are the most depressing days of the week.
Ok now this really made me think about my week… waking up on Monday morning I always feel tired and usually the first words out of my mouth are, “I hate Mondays.” Wednesdays are always busy for me, I guess I’ve never really realized a difference in that day. Friday at school is usually boring for me, so I would have to agree with the survey that Fridays are not as exciting as many people believe them to be. Overall, our mood throughout the days of the week do not fluctuate as much as people think they do. On the contrary the mood throughout days are similar throughout the week.

Weather Has Little Effect On Mood

This was one of my favorite articles that I have read so far. It talked about how the weather affects our positive and negative moods. Many people, including myself, thought that if it were a beautiful, sunny day that we would have a positive mood. According to researchers however, the weather has no influence on a person’s positive attitude. But when it came to negative moods, the research did show that weather has impact our negative feelings. Like when there is little sunlight we feel more tired during the day. Once again though, the results of weather actually effecting our negative mood is very little as well. The only downfall of these researches was that it didn’t measure the amount of time spent outside by each individual.
Before I read this article I thought that weather had a large impact on my mood. Then again, after I thought about it I still had negative moods on clear and sunny days. I prefer the summer over winter all the time because I feel like there’s not much I can do when there is snow on the ground. Overall, there is a slight chance that weather can affect our mood, but really it’s how we picture the day.

Memory Improved 20% by Nature Walk

So this article was all about how nature affects our cognitive function. In an experiment participants were given a task, which involved repeating numbers they heard in reverse. After about 35 minutes of this the participants took a break. Some went to a busy street while the others went to an arboretum (a place where there are a lot of trees). When they returned and continued with the tests, those that went to an arboretum improved by 20% while those that went to the busy streets didn’t improve at all. In another experiment the participants didn’t leave the room at all; instead they looked at pictures. Those that stared at pictures of nature had improvements, but not as great as actually walking through nature. The other participants that looked at pictures of urban environments had no improvement.
So does nature really help us? I definitely think that taking a walk outside in a peaceful area can help a person relax and concentrate on something for a longer time period. Nature helps our minds by easing the tension and thinking about stuff we like. I mean think about, if you lived in a city and were walking on the streets you would always have to watch out for cars and other people. While on the other hand in nature you rarely have to keep watch out for something. Overall, I believe that nature does improve our memory because of the fact that many people improve after spending a little time with nature.

Why Don't We Help Others: Bystander Apathy

Why is it that when a person is in need no one seems to be willing to help? A study showed that the presence of other people inhibits our own helping behaviors in an emergency. What really shocked me was the report of a murder that 38 people had heard and seen the attack, but nobody did anything. One experiment that took place had participants talking over an intercom so they didn’t see one another. During this experiment one of the participants appeared as if having an epileptic seizure. Through this experiment they found that with more people involved in the discussion, the longer it took for them to realize the situation.

This article was a real shocker at first to read, but once I thought about it I realized that it actually wasn’t. One incident I see very often is when a person drops an item while their hands are full of other things, no one is wiling to pick it up. I wonder why that is. It’s not like a person should be ashamed of helping one another. However, I probably do the same thing even though I try not to. Overall, interesting article; go check it out!

~Consciousness and the two track mind~

My favorite thing I learned in this chapter was about the circadian rhythms, which are the regular bodily rhythms. This affects me because if I were to pull an all-nighter it would affect my circadian rhythm. I also learned that I go through 5 sleep stages in about 90 minutes. This is interesting to know because now I know what I go through in each stage of sleeping. So now I know which stage dreaming occurs, which is usually the fifth stage.
I found that hypnosis can help relieve pain, which surprised me. I never realized that hypnosis could help a person. Also, I was surprised to learn that not very many people have dreams of sexual content. I just thought that a lot of people have dreams like this, especially guys.
I definitely agree that a decrease of sleep can cause fatigue and impairs concentration due to the fact that I have experienced this myself. On days at school when I slept very little the night before, I am very tired and can barely concentrate on any of my homework. Then I usually end up taking a nap in class. So I also agree that a good night’s sleep promotes creative problem-solving the next day due to the fact that when I’ve had enough sleep I can think faster and more creative as well. However, I disagree with the functions of dreams stated in this chapter. I simply do not think that dreams mean a whole lot. Yeah sure I have dreams and they make me wonder about why I had those dreams, but I don’t think they have any special meaning to them. To put it bluntly, I do not believe that dreams mean something special or that dreams come true.

Women's Makeup Draws 33% More Men

Wow, this article is true! An experiment showed that guys tend to hit on the girls wearing makeup versus those not wearing makeup. In this experiment they placed 2 women in a bar, one wearing makeup and one not wearing any. During the time the women were sitting there, the woman wearing makeup had more men hitting on her. In fact, within the forst 17 minutes at the bar she had been confronted by a man. The woman not wearing makeup didn't draw any attention until about 23 minutes and after that was asked on a average 1.5 times per hour. Wow, obviously the woman wearing makeup received more attention from men. Some people think that wearing makeup gives a person confidence. This article was great to read. I definitely believe that women wearing makeup gain more confidence and draw more guys attention. It's just kind of discouraging to know that guys prefer women with makeup though.

Are You A Liar?

This was a really interesting article to read! Do people really tell the average of 3 lies within 10 minutes of meeting someone? Well, a researcher composed an experiment to test this theory. He placed 121 people, split into 3 groups in a room and told them that they were going to have a converation for 10 minutes. While they were discussing each group would either have a goal of: competence, likable, and control. They were all videotaped and later pointed out the lies they told. 40% of the people claimed to have told no lies, while the other 60% reported some lies averaging to 3 lies during the 10 minute conversation. These lies were either subtle, exaggerations or outright lies. The most popular lie was feelings, like emotions and opinions. So overall, some people do lie an average of 3 lies in 10 minutes, but it doesn't mean everyone does. I liked how at the end of this article it states that without lies our social life would be a lot more painful and lieing shows what nice and well-adjusted people we are. This really made me think about lieing. I realized that yes, sometimes lieing might be better in some cases.

Blog- The Brain and Behavior

Well, one of the activities I did was the Contrast/Color "Illusions." I learned that my brain makes informed guesses about intesity and wavelengths of light coming from other things. This activity surprised me when I realized that I was trying to see one consistent picture. I can apply this by looking at a simple object and note the intesity and color of light changes. This does change the way I look at at an object and think about the way my brain makes its conclusions.
While doing the Ambiguous Figures activity I learned that these figures are actually present throughout all of life. I originally thought a person had to create these figures. I was surprised byt the fact that all input is ambiguous. Well, now I can look at many different scenes and have multiple interpretations that I am aware of. This changes the way I perceive the worls in a way due to knowing that there are more than one constructions from one input.
In the Can You See What You Don't See? activity I learned about my blindspot. It surprised me that even if I didn't see the spot, my guess of where it is is quite acurate. I can apply this to my everyday lifeby simply doing activities quickly. This activity made me think about the way people tend to do their chores everyday. Some people do simple tasks so fast that they are sometimes not aware of it.
Then in the Free Will activity I learned that my actions were determined by nothing else; it was all really controlled by me. I wasn't expecting the results I received about my action I took, which was free will! I can apply this to life by simply understanding what I see in different ways, This changed the way I perceive free will in the world due to the observation of inputs from different parts of my brain.

In this unit I learned that neurons are the body's information system, which handle many tasks. This was important to me because knowing that neurons are the building block of my nervous systems is intriguing, plus it's a good thing to understand about my body. Learing about the neurotransmitters was one of my favorite parts of this unit. I've heard of neurotransmitters on TV shows, but I never inderstood them. I learned what these neurotransmitters are, so now the next time I hear one of them on the TV I can understand what they are talking about. I also learned that 90% of people are right-handed and 10% are left-handed. I have friends that are left-handed and I have to put up with elbowing at tables, but really left-handed people are no different than the right-handed. Left-handed people don't have any unusual problems, only the everyday conflicts of elbowing and scissors, which most are made for right-handed people.
I thought the Man with Two Brains video was really intriguing. It was interesting to watch someone with a split brain draw 2 figures at the same time. It really made me think of the brain itself.