Unit 8, Ch 8 Cognition and Language

Our friend Hank on cognition



and... Hank on language

Unit 7, Ch 6 Learning

Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for his work... This website has simulations and lots of great info on him. 

Classical Conditioning on the show, "The Office" 

What is the UCS, the UCR, the NS, the CS and the CR? 

Classical Conditioning of of emotions by John Watson ... the birth of Behaviorism...poor Little Albert

Operant Conditioning: 

Operant Conditioning - B.F. Skinner the ultimate Behaviorist

Observational Learning:

Observational Learning / Social Learning - Can you learn just by watching? Alfred Bandura

Children See - Children Do... PSA about Observational Learning

Insight Learning: 

Insight Learning... a sudden inspiration - no trial and error, no reinforcement.

And... our friend Hank explains with two great videos. 

Unit 06 Ch.05 Perception

Hank explains the distinction between sensation and perception... Thanks Hank!



See how top-down processing affects perception... Can you count how many passes the white-shirted players make in this basketball video? (It's on YouTube, so it may not work in school. You can get to it at home on this link http://youtu.be/IGQmdoK_ZfY if the embedded video doesn't work)




Which way is this dancer spinning?



Clockwise or counter clockwise?
This site shows you how the illusion works http://ofb.net/~whuang/imgs/spin/

Which is the front and which is the back of the Necker Cube? It gets really interesting when you add a dog and a scuba diver... (click here)
http://dogfeathers.com/java/necker.html

Subliminal messages? How effective are they?
Democrats accused Republicans of putting a subliminal message into this Bush campaign commercial? Do you think it was intentional? Do you think it would have an effect? Click here if the embedded video isn't working http://youtu.be/2NPKxhfFQMs



The incredible Color Constancy Illusion... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvgOOKBvyQU


These "TED Talks" can give us great insights into attention and color perception.

Cognitive Scientist Beau Lotto studies color perception in humans and bees.
Here is the link if the embedded video isn't working for you. http://www.ted.com/talks/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html



Apollo Robbins is a skilled pick-pocket who shows us a thing or two about attention.
Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection.html 

Unit 5 Ch. 4 (Part 2) The auditory system

Nobel Prize Website - Games, animations, the story of how the cochlea was unraveled...

The organization that gives out the Nobel Prize has a great website about the ear and how it works.

If you're having trouble understanding the accessory structures and the cochlea this site is for you.

Animations and interactives that explain the ear.

The Sumanas inc. video goes into great detail about the inner ear.
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/soundtransduction.html

Another video on YouTube is great 3D animation that takes you into the ear as if you are a sound wave... it demonstrates the movements in the middle and inner ear with classical music... fantastic piece. The link is at http://youtu.be/PeTriGTENoc - since it's YouTube it may not work at school... 

Hearing Test: You need over-the-ear headphones and a decent computer to use this (not medically accurate) hearing test, but it's interesting to check out even if you don't have the right set-up.   http://youtu.be/h5l4Rt4Ol7M  It is a YouTube video, so it may not work at school. 

Mr. Cantor who was born in 1964 can hear sounds below roughly 14,000 Hz. How about you? 

Unit 5 Ch. 4 (part 1) The Visual System

Fantastic animations about the eye, visual processing in the retina and the pathways that visual information travels in the brain.

This beautiful hand painted animation is a great overview.   https://youtu.be/EskTnxBoPoI

Pay close attention to the "center-surround" aspects of retinal processing in this Web Animation below. The narrator's voice is a bit boring, but it's a great video that explains the whole "center-surround" opponent process thing. 

This animation shows how the photoreceptors, bipolar and ganglion cells of the retina are organized in "center-surround" arrangements that allow "bottom up" processing of visual information to begin in the retina. 

http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/receptivefields.html

If a picture is worth a thousand words, an animation is worth way more. This animation really shows the visual pathway very well. Pay attention to how visual information is split in the Optic Chiasm and how it routs through the LGN of the thalamus as well as other areas specifically related to eye movement and the "biological clock" which controls circadian rhythms.

This excellent animation really explains how the visual information from the left and right visual fields makes its way to the right and left occipital lobes via the LGN of the thalamus. 

http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/visualpathways.html

Check out this amazingly comprehensive video that covers the visual system in about 10 minutes. It's on YouTube, so it may be hard to watch at school. Link: http://youtu.be/AuLR0kzfwBU

What do you see in the circle?

This site sells glasses that are supposed to correct for some color blindness. I don't know how well they work, but they do have a really nice color blindness test. http://enchroma.com/test/instructions/ 

Do you have "SuperVision? Are you a tetrachromat - a person with 4 

types of cones rather than 3? This website has a test for you. 

Ever wonder what those little blobs floating around your visual field are? They'r caused by shadows of little chunks of debris floating around in the vitreous fluid inside your eye-ball.  This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6e_m9iq-4Q

And Hank's Crash Course Psychology is always good... 

https://youtu.be/unWnZvXJH2o

The Zimbardo "Discovering Psychology" video on Sensation and Perception can be found at this link. 

http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html?pop=yes&pid=1504

Unit 4 - Ch. 3 Biological Basis of Behavior

Everything psychological is biological...

Mind is what brain does...

Unit Quiz on Mon, Nov 2

Notes check (10 pts): Due: Mon. Oct. 26^th

Coloring Packet (10 pts)  on Wed. Oct. 28^th

Flash Cards (10 pts) Due: Fri. Oct. 30^th

Superhero assignment due Mon. Nov 2

Objectives (think about these as you read):

1. Describe the general structure, organization and function of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

2. Describe the structure and function of neurons and other cells in the nervous system.

            3. How and why do neurons communicate with each other?

            4. What are “action potentials,” and how do they work?

5. Compare the somatic and autonomic parts of the peripheral nervous system.

6. Compare the important neurotransmitters.

7. Describe the endocrine system. What does it do?

8. Describe the various parts of the limbic system and what they do.

9. Describe the various parts of the cerebral cortex and what they do.

            10. Be able to explain how damage to a part of the brain may affect the organism.

Flash-Cards

1.     Key Term Flashcards: There are 63 Key Terms highlighted in the textbook. Do at least 45. Do 5 to 7 per day and you’ll be fine.

2.      Pictures/diagrams are important to this unit!

3.     Don’t freak out. I know it’s a lot of flashcards. It will be worth memorizing and understanding the key terms. You will need to review the flashcards before quizzes and exams in class and as you study for the AP exam.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


This site has some very easy to read descriptions of parts of the brain. Use it to help you understand what's between your ears if our book gets too confusing.  http://brainmadesimple.com/index.html

Our friend Hank discusses the chemistry of our brain...

Try this EdPuzzle link which asks you some questions as the video plays to check to see if you are understanding important points. It was developed by AP Psych teacher Mr. Mcentar. 

And Hank discusses the overall structure of the brain... from phrenology to Phineas to the old brain and the new brain.



Here is the EdPuzzle link for this video... try it out! Remember, quizzing yourself and connecting new information to old is the best way to learn new content.

Shoe Size, Height, Hair Length: Do They Correlate? Due Mon. 10/19 Before Class.

In a comment to this post, please discuss each of the graphs below. Be sure to address the questions under each graph. Please don't copy the questions or number your answers, rather, you should write a paragraph or two in complete sentences so your reader knows what you are talking about. Be sure to sign in as "anonymous" but put your first name and last initial in the post so I know to whom to give the credit. If you have any questions please e-mail me. Review the "how to e-mail a teacher" post on my blog before you send your e-mail.(click on the graphs to enlarge)

I strongly suggest you write the comment in Word or another program and then copy and paste it into the comment section below. This way, if the comment doesn't go through or is accidentally deleted you'll have a record of your work. Please also remember that I have to approve all comments, so it may take a while for it to show up on the blog. You don't need to resubmit it over and over. 

Click on graphs to enlarge. 

Hair Length vs. Height
Correlation Coefficient -0.58 

What can we see from the above scatter plot of hair length vs. height? Is there a correlation? How strong is it? If so, is it positive or negative; strong or weak?

What information about the students in our class does this graph give you? Are there a few "outliers" or extreme data points that seem unusual? If you throw them out of the data set what does the correlation look like? What other information would be helpful to interpret the data? FYI - I eliminated the 5 serious outliers which had heights between 16 and 52 cm.. These were clearly mistakes and they skewed our data severely. 

Height vs. Shoe Size

Correlation Coefficient 0.72

Above is the data we collected about our shoe sizes vs our heights. Can you see a relationship? Is there a correlation? If so, is it positive or negative? How strong is it?  Does shoe size cause height to change? Does height cause shoe size to change? What about the foot that's 38 cm long? 

Shoe Size vs. Hair Length
Correlation Coefficient -0.49

Finally, the above graph shows the relationship between shoe size and hair length. Is there a correlation?  If so, is it positive or negative? How strong is it? The points clustered in an interesting way. What third variable which is not shown on any of the graphs might be causing the relationship between shoe size and hair length?  Does correlation imply causation? Why or why not? How about that high value for Shoe Size? 

And a video about ice cream and polio... 

Hair Length, Shoe Size, Height Correlation Data

Enter your data from today's activity into this form. Bring your  index card to class os if there are any errors, we can trace them back to the source.

Unit 2 - History of Psychology Chapter 1

If you're ready to have your big brain explode, our friend Hank Green does a great job of laying out the basics of the history of psych too... be ready for some rapid-fire knowledge with this one.



You can watch it directly on Youtube too.

Some timelines of the history of psychology:

http://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsychology/history/history_nonflash.html

http://allpsych.com/timeline/#.VgioYGRViko

http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/psychistory.htm

And... a sample from a comic called Action Philosophers
http://www.actionphilosophers.com/eviltwin_actionphilosophers_preview.pdf 

Unit 1 - Chapter 7: Memory - How we remember, why we forget.

Unit 1 Chapter 7 Memory

Key ideas from Memory Unit:

Encoding, episodic vs. semantic and procedural memory, explicit vs. implicit memory, maintenance and rehearsal strategies to improve memory, various models of how memory works such as PDP and Info Processing, understand the difference between sensory, short term, and long term memory, compare recency and primacy effects, understand what affects memory retrieval, understand the limits of eye-witness testimony, Herman Ebbinghauss , compare retroactive and proactive interference,  compare retrograde and anterograde amnesia,

*****Use mnemonics and distributed practice to learn all this stuff and know why you are remembering and forgetting.

Good overview of basic memory concepts.

http://allpsych.com/psychology101/memory.html

A whole site dedicated to human memory... very helpful. It has this very complete concept map. 
http://www.human-memory.net/types.html

Crash Course Psychology with our friend Hank!
How we make memories...

Remembering and Forgetting 
 

Some fun memory games you can do online

http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/dont_forget/index.html

Elizabeth Loftus's Ted Talk - The Fiction of Memory... the rape conviction of an innocent man... 

NOVA: How Memory Works

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/how-memory-works.html 

Article - What Science Says about Ferguson: Hacked memory.  We may all be working from different sets of "facts" about the same event.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/fayeflam/2014/12/01/what-science-says-about-the-ferguson-case-memory-can-be-hacked/

This is not specifically about memory, but about implicit associations we make about people.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/ You can take some of the Implicit Association Tests to see what some of your implicit associations about people and groups are. I’m putting it with this unit as an example of implicit vs. explicit thought processes.

Story from National Public Radio (NPR) about H.M., the man who had the bilateral removal of his hippocampus (What is the plural of hippocampus?) and ended up with the nearly complete inability to form new memories. Find out why he had his hippocampus removed and learn about this amazing case study of anterograde amnesia. 

 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970

And an article from Psychology Today about H.M.

This video clip was made based on 2000 slices that were made of H.M.'s brain after he died in 2008. 

The movie Memento was the first feature film by star director Christopher Nolan who went on to direct The Dark Night and Inception. It is a fictional film about a character who, like H.M.,  loses the ability to create any new memories, but still tries to solve a horrible crime.

It is rated R due to some very violent content and adult language. If that sort of film is acceptable to you and your parents, you can stream it on Netflix or rent it. It's definitely not appropriate for younger siblings. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/

Summer Assignment Parts 3 and 4 - Due on Tuesday 9/8

Part 3 Due the FIRST day of class Complete all the study-guide questions for “Phineas Gage” by John Fleischman in your AP Psych Notebook. 

Part 4. Due the First day of class:  Read AND take Cornell Notes and make Flash-Cards for chapter 7, MEMORY, in the Bernstein psychology textbook. You will keep these notes and flashcards all year and use them as you study for the AP Exam, so have a good notebook or binder that will last all year. The main thing to do when you take notes is ORGANIZE the information in such a way that it makes sense to you. Write questions and your own thoughts about the material as well as headings and subheadings in the left column of your notes. The more you can connect this material to information you already know or experiences you’ve had, the better you will learn and understand the material.

We’re reading Ch7 first because many students have said that it helped them learn to memorize new terms and concepts. This knowledge will help you all year and beyond. Review the Key Ideas listed below to be sure they’re in your notes, flashcards and brain.

Key ideas from Memory Unit / Chapter 7:

Encoding, episodic vs. semantic and procedural memory, explicit vs. implicit memory, maintenance and rehearsal strategies to improve memory, various models of how memory works such as PDP and Info Processing, understand the difference between sensory, short term, and long term memory, compare recency and primacy effects, understand what affects memory retrieval, understand the limits of eye-witness testimony, Herman Ebbinghauss , compare retroactive and proactive interference,  compare retrograde and anterograde amnesia,

*****Use mnemonics and distributed practice to learn all this stuff and know why you are remembering and forgetting.

It’s also a great idea to skim through the textbook to familiarize yourself with the topics we’ll be learning all year. Jot down questions you have on sticky-notes and put them in your book so you remember to ask them when we get to the unit.

On the first day of class be prepared to discuss the Phineas Gage book as well as Chapter 7 of the Bernstein text.