The class blog is new this semester so you won't have much opportunity to comment about other blog posts. However, what I would like you to do for now is to check out one of my other class blogs (listed below) and find something interesting to you to comment on.
Later on we will be making comments based on material posted to the History & Systems blog
Once you find something to comment on copy and past the url to this blog and make your comment here.
Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything. For now just have fun doing the assignment.
--Dr. M
Bmod - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/
Perception - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/
Humor - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/humor
Cognitive Psych - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog
Conditioning & Learning - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/learning/
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2010/09/discriminitive-stimulus---traffic-light-prank.html
This was my favorite topic within behavior mod. Watching what discrimnitive stimuli we were under control of without being aware of it. Things such as stop signs and other signs tell us what action is to be emitted, and if not the correct action than consequences can be inforced by many different factors; such as government, family, religion, etc.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/blind-soldier-sees-with-tongue.html
This article was about a device that blind people put in their mouth (in addition to the sunglasses complete with a camera on their face) that sends electrical impulses to the person's tounge which enables them the visualize their surroundings, giving them the ability to read words and be aware of objects. I thought this was a really awesome article for a few reasons. One, because it could be an enormous breakthrough for the blind community by opening up a whole new world for them and giving them a lot more opportunities. It's also fascinating in that it just makes us aware of how interesting our brain works, and how different parts of our brain can make up for deficits in other areas of our brain/senses. It reminds us just how powerful our mind can be and how everything is connected and works together and that there are ways for us to defeat seemingly impossible feats by using different parts of our brain.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/learning/2010/09/learned-helplessness-video.html
This blog post was from your conditioning and learning class. It is a video about learned helplessness, and the teacher in the video does a mini experiment with her students to demonstrate this concept. I thought this was really ineresting because I think the process of learning and being conditioned to act a certain way is very interesting. The video shows the teacher handing out a paper with 3 anagrams on it and asking her students to solve them. What the students don't know is that each half of the class has a different list, one of which has two words that are not anagrams at all. The students on one half of the room finish the first and second anagram before the other half, but only because the other half has impossible anagrams. This leads to the phenomenon of learned helplessness, and when the students work on the third anagram, which is the same for every student in the room, the side of the room with the impossible anagrams does not solve it as fast as the other side, and most don't finish it at all. This demonstrates that because they felt they were doing poorly, they didn't even really attempt the last anagram. I thought this was an excellent way to demonstrate learned helplessness and I found the video very interesting.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2010/01/best-illusion-of-the-year-contest.html
The topic that I found to be most interesting was about the best illusions of the year contest. It is always interesting to see how creative we are in making things that seem to defy our own understanding and make us see things in a different perspective and shows us how truly complex our minds are to develop such amazing illusions.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/humor/2010/12/is-this-funny-why-or-why-not-4.html
I have a really cheesy sense of humor and always found it to be my most distinguishable trait, so this simple comic not only was simple, but hilarious. It is like a parent yelling at his children who are fighting over trivial things, just like how the game rock, paper, scissors is preformed. It is a very simple and trivial game, and is usually used to settle trivial matters. I would not expect to see world leaders using rock, paper, scissors to decide who wins a war even as humorous as it would be.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/pentagon-wants-to-give-troops-terminator-vision/
I found this article to be quite interesting. I know we all want the best new gadgets and weaponry to help out our soldiers overseas, but this one just seems so interesting. I found it very cool how this helmet(lets say) can show soldiers many different things. I feel that it would be very helpful to have information to a soldier where his other comrades are and that he can view this information right in sight. He wouldn't have to look down at another device. He could keep his attention forward, but still get this information. However I do see some issues with this, I don't know if soldiers would get frustrated with all this information right there in their view and around them. Would it be hard to keep there attention on the task at hand. However I think this device is really cool and would be extremely helpful if they do end up creating something like this for soldiers at combat.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/humor/2010/12/is-this-funny-why-or-why-not-4.html
I thought this comic was very funny. I love playing rock, paper, scissors to decide what to do or who gets what. I think it's funny because its not really a fight if they already have pre-determined who wins with each match up. Sometimes I feel thats how our world leaders decide things, a quick game of rock, paper, scissors. What I hope they realize is that all the problems in the world aren't pre-determined. Sometimes a decision has to be made. So I think this comic is very funny, but if it was real life, not so funny.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog/2010/11/an-afternoon-nap-markedly-boosts-the-brains-learning-capacity.html
I thought this article was really interesting (mainly because I like justifying my naps). I had heard that we remember things better if we sleep after we learn them, so this definitely makes sense that it helps to clear our short term memory and "recharge"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-lansky/best-funny-signs_b_788407.html#s192138&title=undefined
I always like a good laugh and things like these pictures of signs never seem to fail when it comes to getting me to laugh. The simplicity and irony of several of them is just hilarious to me. I often think what were they thinking when they gave name or placement to these certain signs. I am often confused by why things end up the way they do, and sometimes I just have to think that maybe things like these odd signs were put there to just give a good laugh when you need it.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/humor/2010/12/is-this-funny-why-or-why-not-4.html
I found this comic to be very funny. I did not know there was a psychology of humor and it seems to me that it would be a very interesting class. I wonder what type of people would think that the comic is not funny and why they would think so. I think it is very funny but I can not really put my finger on why I think so. It is not a complex comic and almost anyone of any age would understand it.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/01/texan-declared-innocent-after-30-years-in-prison.html
I got this from the sensations and perceptions class. This article caught my eye right away. It makes me sad for this man, having been in prison for so long on a wrongful conviction. Also having the guts to maintain his innocence even when it meant more prison time, is either really prideful and kind of stupid or really admirable.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/colorado-library-orders-t_n_492414.html
I thought this article from the Conditions and Learning class was very interesting. Although it's very over the top for a city to arrest a 19 year old for failing to return a DVD, I'm sure that this one example will have lasting impacts. I bet that library doesn't have many overdue books/movies for after this incident.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/humor/2010/12/is-this-funny-why-or-why-not-4.html
I found this comic very entertaining. It shows how people can take 3 simple objects such as a rock, paper, and scissors and make a popular game out of it. To me, it shows that people have always found ways to entertain themselves and even that a childhood game can be used to settle disputes between grown men and women.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog/2010/11/reading-activity-week-14-due-around-tuesday.html
I read a few of the blogs in this section. The one that caught my eye was the one about problem solving. I could relate to the different types of problems described and I could identify times in my life where I had each. I could tell how they were different.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2010/10/discrimination-generalization-discriminated-extinction.html
The main idea that I got from this blog was that people are constantly gaining clues from the environment on how to behave and what is socially acceptable. Our everyday life often influences our decisions. In ways such as the people we surround ourselves with, going to class, having a job, etc. Even when it comes to something as simple as choosing a brand of milk to buy or choosing a certain shade of red shirt to wear. These decisions are influenced by our lifestyle. Due to the stimulus control that society is familiar with today, we know what is socially acceptable and what is not. These simple choices typically don't earn more than a second of your time, but it is interesting to question why you choose the things you do and what made you believe that it was the best option.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2010/02/something-wrong-with-the-picture.html
I chose to comment on this post because I enjoy looking at pictures such as this one. When first looking at this photo, I automatically thought the man couldn’t possibly be part of it because of his size. The picture didn’t look normal and the one thing that didn’t fit was the man. However, when looking at the second picture it is clear that the man is in fact part of the picture and that the cars were simply models. It is interesting how our minds have trouble recognizing these types of things until we see the second picture.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog/2010/11/an-afternoon-nap-markedly-boosts-the-brains-learning-capacity.html
This article is a very interesting look into the ongoing study in sleep and the number of benefits that it gives you. This interests me because I find myself studying a lot when I’m tired and cramming before tests. I really liked the example of the email inbox. The way they explained it was that imagine that when you are tired, your hippocampus is full and until you sleep and delete some emails, you cannot recieve new messages. Now that I know that it benefits me to that extent, I will definitely consider taking a “siesta” more often!
http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/~3/Xr4lMLA9NBA/la-fi-mask-20102109,0,6731334.story
I think this article is very interesting because it's related to eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony is very important in criminal psychology today, and even though it's not accurate, this article is related to it because the people in the masks and like people in a lineup, those are are not guilty but are accused are still doing the time for not doing the crime. It was interesting how well the masks could change ones identity to go unrecognized even by authorities in airports, such as one man described in the article. This also reminds me of the time recently around this area of Iowa when a young man robbed a bunch of banks and authority and police thought it was an older man instead. I'm not quite sure if the young man used a special mask like the ones described in the article, but if he did, I'm sure he would have gotten away with robbing more banks unnoticed, especially in Iowa!
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2011/01/revoking-driving-rights-for-parents-of-truent-kids.html
The article I read was about a bill that will revoke the driving right for parents that have kids who do not go to school. I do not understand how this bill will help kids attend school, especially if the parents will not be able to drive them. Most parents do care about their children going to school but it is hard to get them to go. Maybe we should be looking at ways to discipline the kids not the parents.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/cia-hypnosis/
I enjoyed this article a lot because it was both about weird psychological subjects, and one of my favorite subjects, the cold war. This article just makes me wish that more of the government's secret projects were out in the open so we knew how crazy they were.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/2032
This was my favorite link from the humor section because it reminded me of a corny joke that I would make. I often find myself thinking of random off the wall jokes, much like this one, when I see common objects that most people would pass by or use without a second thought or glance. I like to call it one of the ingredients for my boyish charm.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2010/09/discriminitive-stimulus---traffic-light-prank.html
This was my favorite topic under the behavioral class. I thought that it was rediculously hilarious because just the fact that somebody actually reacts to the changing of the lights in the middle of nowhere shows how different stimuli make us do different things and be obedient. I like how some people will literally wait there until the light turns green and not have a car or other person in sight. Overall this prank means more than horsing around and actually creates the image of how we behave in rare and peculiar situations.
Blind people are able to move around objects, make out shapes, and read words now? I can’t believe how far technology has even come in the past few years. It’s amazing how a British soldier is able to maneuver and read when he can’t even see. I think it is really how this new device in comparison to a 9-volt battery. I feel like this new invention is only the beginning and will start having a better future on the blind.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/blind-soldier-sees-with-tongue.html
Ironically I read the same article that the person above me read, but I thought this was very interesting. It gives hope to the blind; people are trying to advance in technology to give them some of the same opportunities that people who can see have. I'm not sure how far the BrainPort will go, but it is definitely a step in the right direction! I feel as though this invention might not be REALLY nice on the body because of the volts that have to go through blind people, but I guess if I were blind I'd be pretty excited and willing to try anything to see[again]. I would like to talk to one of my blind friends to get their input on this invention and see if they would be willing to try it.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog/2010/09/soldier-sees-with-tongue.html
Ironically I read the same article that the person above me read, but I thought this was very interesting. It gives hope to the blind; people are trying to advance in technology to give them some of the same opportunities that people who can see have. I'm not sure how far the BrainPort will go, but it is definitely a step in the right direction! I feel as though this invention might not be REALLY nice on the body because of the volts that have to go through blind people, but I guess if I were blind I'd be pretty excited and willing to try anything to see[again]. I would like to talk to one of my blind friends to get their input on this invention and see if they would be willing to try it.
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cog/2010/09/soldier-sees-with-tongue.html
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/learning/2010/09/learned-helplessness-video.html
This video made me think back throughout my life on situations where this Helplessness may have taken over. It's something that's pretty much natural in humans to do. There's exceptions in some people who naturally have a great deal of confidence, but I'm pretty sure everyone has experienced this at least ONCE in their lifetime. It's hard to approach a similar situation when the previous one was unsuccessful. We just try to avoid the embarrassment, and not only that but we just let failure take over our minds and so that's what we EXPECT to happen every time afterward.
http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/~3/Xr4lMLA9NBA/la-fi-mask-20101209,0,6731334.story
The article from the Cognitive Psychology site on Masks so real they arrested the wrong guy was very interesting. One point that was interesting was that the same wrong man was picked out of a line-up by multiple eyewitnesses. We have been lead to believe that eyewitnesses are the key to sovling many cases, but were they all sovled correctly? With these people identifying the wrong person and other being able to get away with masks like these, it seems possible that other cases could have been sovled with false intel.