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.