End of Year Course Evaluation

Please fill out this evaluation to help Mr. Cantor adjust the course and his own teaching. Responses are anonymous.

The survey can be found at this link.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PR0ugpUVlUF2l4PeIfrq7__GoLf6eZAbkvJlPIKfa5U/viewform

Consumer Education Unit - Don't Get Ripped Off!

Your job is to become an expert on one of the following topics and then teach the important ideas about it to the class. Your final grades in the class and your consumer education credit depend on your project, your presentation and a final exam. Topics:

1. “Why am I broke all the time?” How and why to do a personal budget.
2. “What security deposit?” How to rent an apartment.
3. “Pay myself first? What the…?” The how and why of savings.
4. “As seen on TV.”  The power of advertising.
5. “The story of stuff.” How do my buying habits affect the world?
6. “Scams, spam and getting slammed.” How to avoid getting ripped off online and in the real world.
7. “I wish my parents were rich.” How to pay for college and not get buried in debt.”
8. “But I thought I was making 10 bucks an hour!” What to expect from wages. Where does all the money go from your paycheck?
9. “Pay the man.” How to do your taxes.
10. “Oh Lord, won’t ya buy me a Mercedes Benz.” How to buy cars and other expensive stuff. (or just take the train)
11. “A cheeseburger costs $487.63?”  How to avoid credit card debt.
12. “If it seems too good to be true...” How bad consumer decisions and bad government policy contributed to the recent financial crisis.
13. “I always use protection!” How insurance can save your butt.
14.  “But I thought buying this would make me happy” Needs, wants and satisfaction.

Products:
Each team must create:
* A one-page handout with key ideas which will be printed and distributed. (10pts)
* An activity so students can practice using the information. This can be a worksheet, a game, an online activity or some other learning tool – must involve real learning, not just a word search etc. (10pts)* A 10 question multiple choice quiz on your topic. (10pts)** In addition to the above, each team must present their information to the class through a PowerPoint presentation, a video, a website or other product (20pts). The presentation should be 10-12 minutes long and the activity should take 10-12 minutes.
All documents must be e-mailed to Mr. Cantor ( ptdworkin-cantor@cps.edu ) by May 22^nd at midnight. I will print copies of your handouts and activities.
All documents must have titles that make sense.
Use this format: (color coded) Group Number, Topic, Type of Document.

For Example: Group01_Budget_Handout.doc, Group02_Renting_Quiz.doc, Group13_Insurance_Presentation.ppt, Group09_Taxes_Activity.docx

As you work - save your files often, and be sure to e-mail the most recent version to your partner(s) at the end of every class/work session. Losing your file is not an acceptable excuse for late or incomplete work. 

Here are some links to resources for our Consumer Education unit. You may and should use other sources, but these should get you started.

1 - Why am I broke all the time?

http://www.myliferoi.com/2009/10/budgeting-worksheet-for-teens/

http://www.themint.org/teens/tracking.html

http://www.themint.org/teens/determine-your-budget.html

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/moneymanagement/tp/Simple_Saving.htm 
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/finances/budgets.htm 
http://www.dinkytown.net/java/HomeBudget.html

2 - What security deposit?
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/on_your_own.htm
http://www.tenant.org/
http://www.mytwodollars.com/2008/01/16/a-few-tips-for-first-time-apartment-renters/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Leasing-Planning-for-First-time-Apartment-Rental-Expenses&id=625503
http://data.cmap.illinois.gov/chicagoareahousing.org//Allinfo.asp?audience=r

3 - Pay myself first?
http://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/thirteen-steps/step-1-change-your-life-with-one-calculation.aspx?source=ii1sitlnk0000001
http://www.themint.org/teens/saving.html
http://www.themint.org/teens/compounding-calculator.html

4 - As seen on TV:
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
http://www.icbs.com/kb/marketing/kb_marketing-psychological-tricks-in-selling.htm
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/words.html
http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.cracked.com/article_15768_as-seen-on-tv-10-most-laughably-misleading-ads.html
https://www.adbusters.org/gallery/spoofads

5 - The story of stuff. 
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/03/how_much_does_a_pair_of_jeans.html 
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consumption-and-consumerism
https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd
http://www.verdant.net/
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-to-avoid-being-enslaved-by-consumerism.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alex_steffen_sees_a_sustainable_future.html

6 - Scams, spam and getting slammed:
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/buying_goods_and_services.htm
http://chicago.bbb.org/consumers/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/technology/personaltech/20basics.html?src=me&ref=general

7 - I wish my parents were rich!
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/finances/financing_college.htm
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/
http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/ep/wizard-home.jsp

8 - But I thought I was making 10 bucks an hour...
http://www.themint.org/teens/earning.html
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
http://www.dinkytown.net/java/HomeBudget.html

9 - Pay the man.
http://www.freefile.irs.gov/
http://www.helium.com/items/159765-income-tax-tips-for-first-time-filers-the-w-2-your-first-step
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/news/20040130a1.asp
http://www.irs.gov/
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/

10 - Oh Lord, Won't ya buy me a Mercedes Benz..
http://www.themint.org/teens/spending.html
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/buying_goods_and_services.htm
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/transportation.htm
http://www.igocars.org/
http://www.activetrans.org/
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/janis+joplin/mercedes+benz_20069845.html
http://www.jango.com/music/Janis+Joplin?l=0

11 - A cheeseburger costs $487.63!
http://www.themint.org/teens/owing.html
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/moneymanagement/tp/Get_Out_of_Debt.htm

http://www.themint.org/teens/i-paid-how-much.html
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-29911.html
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/finances/credit_cards.htm

12 - If it seems too good to be true...
http://baselinescenario.com/financial-crisis-for-beginners/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2008/12/whats_causing_the_crisis.html
http://socyberty.com/economics/the-financial-crisis-for-dummies/
http://www.dosomething.org/blog/chatterbox/financial-crisis-teen-are-feeling-pinch-too
http://vodpod.com/watch/1035776-financial-crisis-for-dummies

13 - How Insurance can save your butt...
http://www.progressive.com/shop/teen-car-insurance-resources.aspx
http://insurance.mo.gov/consumer/teens/index.htm
http://www.superpages.com/supertips/car-insurance-for-teenagers.html
http://www.allkidscovered.com/
http://www.geico.com/information/aboutinsurance/renters/
http://www.giis.org/rent/rent.shtml

14. “But I thought buying this would make me happy” Needs, wants and satisfaction.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/how-to-be-happy/MY01357
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvFWBLOjisE
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-01-07/business/35441224_1_day-to-day-happiness-angus-deaton-real-relationship
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16leonhardt.html?_r=0
http://www.pnas.org/content/107/52/22463.full
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/money/values.cfm 

Social Psychology Videos

If you're looking for review resources scroll down to the previous blog post.

The following links feature very important concepts in social psychology. Review Asch's, Milgram's and Zimbardo's classic studies and read up on the "bystander effect." 

The Bystander Effect... what would you do?


This happened last year in NYC it looks like a 31 year-old Guatemalan man named Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax was stabbed on the street in New York City and many pedestrians walked right past him as he died. You can read the story and see a surveillance video here.


Read more about the bystander effect here. 

Asch's Conformity

Solomon Asch's conformity study showed how easily people will give an obviously wrong answer when other people are giving that same answer. Watch the video at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy09nNw

Milgram's Obedience

Stanley Milgram's obedience study was recently partly replicated by ABC's Prime Time show. Watch how easily people follow orders even when they know the orders are wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwqNP9HRy7Y

Zimbardo's Prison Roles

Philip Zimbardo's experiment about how roles affect behavior is known as the "Stanford Prison Experiment." Those playing inmates became passive while those playing guards became aggressive. Subjects' real identities seemed to pale in comparison to the roles they played so much that the experiment had to be stopped after a few days. Who knows what would have happened if the experiment had gone on for two full weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmwSC5fS40w

REVEIW REVIEW REVIEW... Review Resources

Here are some great psych review resources for you. 

Video clips of mini-lectures along with quizzes about just about every chapter we cover in our course. 
http://education-portal.com/academy/course/ap-psychology.html 

Dr. Philip (looks a bit like Satan) Zimbardo's "Discovering Psychology" TV series. Click on the  VoD to see the videos. 

http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html#program_descriptions 

Mr. Schallhorn, an AP Psych teacher in California, put together a great set of YouTube videos you can use to review for AP Psych. His YouTube channel is at the following address. 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOG05VwbujNwGUX5UA0zcXQ?ob=0&feature=results_main 

Do you TWEET?

Search for the #appsychreview hashtag to see what sorts of questions other students are asking... and see answers from real AP Psych teachers from around the nation. You can also post your own questions to twitter and get answers. Please don't post questions that you should just look up in your book or on Wikipedia... don't ask "who is Piaget?" but do ask "how do I remember Piaget's stages of cognitive development?"

https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23appsychreview

You also have your AP Review Books, your PsykTrek CDs and the thousands of flashcards and pages of notes you've created this year.

As you find other resources, please e-mail them to me at ptdworkin-cantor at cps.edu or post them in the comments section of this post.

Do you like electronic flash-cards? Do you use Apps? You might like http://www.studyblue.com/ which has tons of electronic flash-cards and even a smartphone app. Just type "psychology" into the search box (I want to learn "this") and go for it. You can sign on to get a free account using your facebook account or any e-mail account.

You can find other psych based apps at http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2010/04/episode-121-top-10-psychology-apps-for-the-ipad-iphone-ipod/ There are also links to Android apps there. Some are free, some cost money. Check the reviews carefully before spending your cash. I have not tried them out yet, so if you find one you think is great, please share about it in the comments section of this post.

Remember, the best way to study is to actually quiz yourself (or have someone quiz you) to see what you remember... then try to re-learn what you didn't remember. Use mnemonic devices... create meaning - SEMANTIC CONNECTIONS!... draw pictures, come up with examples! Just reading over your stuff, or just watching a video isn't enough. 

Personality Blog Assignment Due 4/6 by midnight.

Find how you rate on the big 5 (O.C.E.A.N.) personality inventory.

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extroversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism 

Take this "Big Five" personality inventory and then post a comment on this post about it (see below for instructions about your comment.)

http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

The cartoon is for entertainment purposes only...  you must click the link
above the cartoon to take the Big 5 Test.

Write about your results and what you think about them. Was this test accurate or not. Ask someone who knows you what they think and write about their view as well.  Leave your post as "anonymous" but sign it with your FIRST NAME and LAST INITIAL only. Remember, comments are moderated, so it will not show up right away. 

Unit 9 Consciousness

Unit 9 Consciousness

What if you could see normally but could not recognize faces... even your own? 

Writer Oliver Sacks of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" fame has this condition and discusses his latest book about prosopagnosia in this interview from a public radio program called "To the Best of Our Knowledge." You can hear the interview and read the transcript at the following link: 

http://ttbook.org/book/oliver-sacks-facial-blindness 

Videos on Consciousness

Discovering Psychology program 13 "The Mind Awake and Asleep" is at http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/13/e13expand.html 

Discovering Psychology program 14 "The Mind Hidden and Divided" is at 
http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/14/e14expand.html

Starting to meditate? 
Here is a link to an online meditation timer. http://www.yourmeditationtimer.com/  It can help you concentrate in your meditation if you don't have to worry about how much time has passed. 

Mouse Party?

What would you see inside the brains of mice who were taking drugs? This interactive website gives you a glimpse inside the brains and synapses of mice on drugs including alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, meth, ecstasy, and LSD.

Identify how each drug affects the brain. What neurotransmitter(s) does it affect? Is it inhibitory or excitatory? Does it block re-uptake or work some other way? Which parts of the brain are most affected?

You can explore other effects of drugs of abuse here. 

Dream Journal  - You should be making entries into your dream journal every day. If you don't remember a dream from the night, you should write about what emotions or thoughts you had upon awakening. If you don't have anything to enter for a day, you should write about a dream you had some time in the past - even the distant past. 

The point of the dream journal assignment is to get you to pay attention to your dreams and to start to think about various theories of dream interpretation to see if you think they apply. 

Sensation - How the ear works.

Sensation... The Ear Pages on NobelPrize.org and a nice animation

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.

Here is a link to another animation about how the ear works
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/soundtransduction.html

Animations about vision - the retina and visual pathways

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

Pay close attention to the "center-surround" aspects of retinal processing it this first video.

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

Some songs and videos relating to the nervous system

Here are links to some songs you might find helpful as you study the nervous system.


This really slick song about the nervous system was sent in by Marilyn R - This should win the Grammy for best use of autotune in the service of neuropsychological knowledge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRwPMICvbT4


Video of the spinal reflex arc - showing afferent and efferent pathways
http://youtu.be/wLrhYzdbbpE

Good video about the action potential - shows lots of detail about how the action potential works to send the signal down the axon of a neuron. You might want to watch it a couple of times while going over your notes.
http://youtu.be/7EyhsOewnH4


Neuroscience for Kids is a site with lots of great stuff, much of which is at a simpler level than AP, but it can still be fun and help you with some of the basics. The Brain Chemical Song is a pretty good review of neurotransmitters (if you don't mind the "Old McDonald" tune.)
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/songs.html

The Neuron Song- Slim Brady ft. Melody Minaj is a rap that goes into some pretty good detail - you have to deal with some pretty bad recording techniques and some voices that could use autotune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sn9C4G-mJM

You can follow along with the lyrics which were posted on the YouTube page.

Nuron Song by Slim Brady ft. Melody Minaj

CHORUS:
Just gonna stand there and tell you bout Neurons,
So you don't fail the class and become a moron,
Just gonna stand there and tell you bout Dendrites,
Axons, Myelin Sheaths, Synapses and the like,
And all the things alike.
---

I can tell you bout them Dendrites, the branching extensions of a neuron,
The lyrics of this song will tell you bout them and they're dead on,
What do they do? They receive messages from the last one,
Also, they happen to be connected to the Axon!

That's the extension of this whole thing,
I mean, come on, what else could, possibly bring,
The neural impulse, they are so cool, make me wanna sing,
The part that covers it, it is called the Myelin Sheath!

That part's function is to speed things up,
Another interesting things the all or nothing principle,
It basically says when a neuron fires,
It's either on or, there's no in between, I'm not a liar

So what I'm saying is go ahead, try as hard as you want,
Lift up your arm as fast as possible and flaunt,
The fact that when a neuron fires, it's on or off,
Seriously, making a song a bout neurons is tough..

CHORUS

And all the things alike

When you get sick, what do you turn to, is it medicine?
For the neuron the Soma keeps it healthy, and I kid,
You not, it keeps it firing faster than Edison,
The next topic of talk, is the Refractory Period!

Everyone needs breaks, so the neuron does too,
Right after it fires, just a second or maybe two,
Another aspect that just seems really cool,
Is Action Potential, I'll fill you in on the news!

That is what the charge is called, I kid you not,
That even thought the neurons never technically touch,
The signal does not stop, how is this possible you'll ask?
Why simply by the power of all the Synapse-

ses, they just fill in the gaps and,
chillin relaxin, sittin and passin, the charge along,
I really hope this song will let me pass or mom, 
will beat me to a pulp, is that really what you want Demars?

CHORUS

And all the things alike

Blog Assignment #3 - The Shoe/Hair/Height correlation project.

Reading Scatter Plots and Understanding Correlations.

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. 

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?

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? What about the person who is 160cm tall and has a foot that is 9cm long? Look at a ruler to see what 9cm looks like and explain what you think happened to cause that outlier. Does shoe size cause height to change? Does height cause shoe size to change? Does correlation imply causality - explain why or why not. 

Data Collection for Shoe Size / Hair Length Correlation Project

Use this form to enter your data.

Welcome to the School Year!

You have until Monday, Sept. 10th to finish the summer assignments. You can read the summer assignment sheet here.

Use your syllabus to make sure you are keeping up with the reading assignments. You should take meaningful Cornell Notes on every psych reading assignment. You can see a copy of the syllabus here. 

If there is a teachers strike you need to keep up with your reading...or even use your free time to get ahead. The AP Exam date will not change just because there is a teachers strike here in Chicago. 

Your Phineas Gage Review - Summer Assignment Part 2: Due Aug. 20

After you have read Phineas Gage and worked on the Phineas Gage Reading Guide Questions you should post your review of the book in the COMMENTS to THIS blog post.    (use the "comment" link below this post) 

Your comment should be a review of the book. A book review is a critical assessment of the book in which you share your opinions about the book and back up those opinions with examples from the book. Be sure to describe the story and the style of the book. 

Some questions you might want to think about as you write: What did you think of the book? What did you find most interesting? What are some new or surprising things you learned from the book? Why do you think Phineas was "lucky" or "unlucky?" Are there other texts (books, movies, etc.) that relate to the story of Phineas? Why or why would you not recommend it to a friend? 

As with the last blog assignment, I will not show the comments until the deadline so everyone has a chance to work on the assignment without being too influenced by other peoples' work. Do not re-send your post multiple times.

Please note: I will be out of town and mostly away from internet access from Aug.10 to Aug. 20 so I may not be able to answer questions you have during that time. Just do your best to follow the instructions. I will check e-mail as soon as I get back in town. If you're having trouble with the blog, just e-mail me your comment so you have evidence you completed it before the deadline. 

2012-2013 Summer Assignment Part 1 Due July 20th

Go to this link about the Ten Most Revealing Psychology Experiments and read through the summaries of all ten of them. 

Select one of the experiments that you think is interesting. Click on the link in the summary to start your research about that experiment. (the link to #3 is broken, but you can use this link to get started.) Read through the information and seek out other information online. There may be good YouTube videos or other sources you should investigate. You can also look up some of the experiments or the experimenters in your textbook. 

In your comment to THIS BLOG POST please do the following to complete the assignment:

1. Summarize the experiment. Include who did it, when they did it, where they did it, and what they did.
2. Explain the importance of the experiment to our understanding of human behavior. Why do you think the experiment is considered a valuable insight into the way people think and/or act?
3. Give one example of how the experiment can be applied to everyday life. You can use yourself or someone you know in the example, or make up an example that you think the experiment might apply to in normal life.
4. At the end of your post include all sources (full URLs, please) and sign the post with your first name and just the initial letter of your last name (for example: Phillip D.)
5. To send your comment please click the "Name/URL" option and put your first name and last initial in the "Name" box. Don't fill in the URL box.  

I suggest that you write your comment in Word or other program first so you can check your spelling etc. and then just paste it into the comments at the end of this post. 

Your post should be 3 to 5 paragraphs long and should demonstrate some original thinking on your part. Do not cut-and-paste or copy any text directly.

Your comment will not show up on the blog until close to the due-date, as I want everyone to approach the project without being biased by seeing the posted work of others in the class. If you aren't sure if your comment went through you may e-mail me and I'll let you know.  

If you have any questions please e-mail me. I usually reply to e-mails within a day or two. Before sending me an e-mail, please read my "How to email a teacher" post from my biology blog ... really. http://cantorsbiologyblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-send-e-mail-to-teacher-really.html