Unit 11 - Motivation and Emotion

Use these resources to understand the basics of motivation and emotion. 

The power of MOTIVATION! 

...and Hank on EMOTION and over-sharing... Kanye, we're talking to you...

...and Hank on EMOTIONS and STRESS!

...and Hank discusses the psychology of sexuality

What's the difference between sex and gender? What about sexual orientation, and gender expression? This info-graphic is helpful.

What Motivated Mike?
Here is a great Nike spot with Michael Jordan talking about how failure has helped him to succeed. Thanks for reminding me of this one, Mr. Niebuhr.



If the above play button does not appear or work you can try the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GuXZFQKKF7A

If the video won't play, here is the quote that Michael Jordan states during the commercial. Base your answer on this quote.

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

-- Michael Jordan

What do you think motivated Michael Jordan become the greatest basketball player of his era and one of the greatest in the history of the game?


Anorexia, Bulimia and other Eating Disorders... The PBS NOVA video, Dying to Be Thin is a powerful examination of anorexia. You can watch the full video here.

Here is an interesting article about the distinction between eating disorders and disordered eating: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/contemporary-psychoanalysis-in-action/201402/disordered-eating-or-eating-disorder-what-s-the

There is a support group for people with eating disorders called ANAD- The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Their website has resources on eating disorders.

Unit 10 Cognitive Abilities, Intelligence and Testing

Hank on Intelligence

The controversy...


Brains and bias...


Here is the LINK to the video about the Australian Aboriginal children and their superior intelligence about the natural world. 

With many caveats... here is a sample IQ test. Remember, this is not a valid test. It is only to give you an idea of the types of questions which appear on some IQ tests.

Unit 9 Ch. 9 Consciousness

(scroll down the the previous post for the Limerick Contest Info)
 

Meditation - an altered state of consciousness?

How can meditation help you live a fuller and more balanced life? Andy Puddicombe discusses how it helps him live in the "present moment"... and he juggles a little too.

( http://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes.html )

Starting to meditate? 
Here are links to a couple of online meditation timers. They can help you concentrate on your meditation because you don't have to worry about how much time has passed.  
http://www.onlinemeditationtimer.com/ 
http://www.yourmeditationtimer.com/timer

There are many interesting and useful meditation timer apps too. 
http://appcrawlr.com/ios-apps/best-free-apps-tibetan-singing-bowls  
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.redlinesoft.app.singingbowl&hl=en

Prosopagnosia: 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


Article: The Meaning of Dreams by Jonathan Winson
Read it HERE - Are dreams symbolic, just random or are they a crucial step in processing memories? 

Hypnosis!

What is hypnosis? A state of heightened suggestibility with real effects in the brain.  

Here is a blog post about what hypnosis ISN'T ... 8 Popular Myths About Hypnosis 


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.

Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest Entry Extra Credit Assignment

The website "Neuroscience for Kids" is having a poetry contest, and all high school entries must be in the form of a limerick. Per the instructions: A limerick has 5 lines; lines one, two and five rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables; lines three and four rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables.

Here's a limerick

My AP psych class is so very awesome
Sometimes, though, my students play possum
Do your best on this poem
You'll be like the emperor in Rome
Use your brains, and your smarts and you'll boss em

OK, it's not a great limerick and it's not about neuroscience, really... but you get the idea.

Here's another one that is about neuroscience, but might not qualify...

There once was a psych class from North-Grand
Knew right motor cortex moves left hand
They could read MRIs
Recite parts of their eyes
But their anterograde amnesia made them forget the beginning of this poem

You can read lots of examples of truly clever limericks at http://www.thehypertexts.com/The%20Best%20Limericks%20of%20All%20Time.htm

The full entry rules are at https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest16.html 

The entries must be mailed by January 22 (this is a hard-copy, snail-mail contest.)

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