Month: September 2019

The cornea part of the eye is defined as the transparent tissue where light enters the eye. It is a clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus the incoming light. After light enters through the cornea, it passes through to the pupil. The cornea also plays a key role in the eye’s focus and controls the entry of the incoming light into the eye. It contains no blood vessels, so it is very sensitive and is not much helpful for the protection against infections. It is about 550 microns thick, and is made up of about 5 layers. The cornea is very vital to vision, so if there is a scratch or cut to the eye, it can affect your vision significantly. A scratch or cut can scar, which can affect your vision permanently. I once had an experience where my cornea had been damaged. I wear contacts daily, which are required to be removed every night. One night I had forgotten to take them out, and I accidentally slept with them in. I woke up the next morning and one of my eyes was bothering me as it was a little itchy and it started to become bloodshot. I did not think anything of it at the time, because I had slept with my contacts in multiple times mistakenly and nothing had ever happened. As the day went on, my eye had started to get more red and it started to bother me a lot, as it was affecting my vision as well. Hours later, my eye was severely bloodshot and very itchy and painful. I woke up the next morning and my eye was swollen shut and it was extremely uncomfortable to even move my eye around. When I went my eye doctor, they took pictures and looked at my eye and had informed me that I had a corneal abrasion. A corneal abrasion is basically a scratch on the cornea, which the doctor explained could’ve happened because something got stuck in my eye or my contact, and I had slept with it. I could not put a contact into my eye for 3 weeks, so I was forced to wear glasses. This experience relates to the concept of the cornea and its function because it shows how a small cut to this crucial part of the eye really affects the vision.

Sources:

Palmer, Chris. “New Structure Found in Human Cornea.” The Scientist Magazine®, 2013, www.the-scientist.com/the-nutshell/new-structure-found-in-human-cornea-39173.

Illusory Correlation is a type of study method used in psychology. It is when someone places a correlation or association between two things that are not actually related. People make assumptions and opinions everyday based on things that happen around them, but they may not necessarily be true. People want to make associations between things even if they do not exist just because that is the way our brain works. We find things in our everyday life that want to support these random correlations and therefore do not think about or believe anything that challenges their truth. We use our preexisting knowledge and opinions with our daily observations to make an easy rationale for something occurring. Examples of Illusory correlations are superstitions, stereotypes, prejudices, and phobias. A superstition is an example of this method because it is when people do or wear certain things in order to prevent bad luck, but they are usually irrational because they are just based on previous experiences and life events but would not actually cause bad luck. Figure 1 below indicates different illusory correlations from people making assumptions of why things happen such as kids having autism.

I undergo illusory correlation in my life just as most people do since it is natural. I have used superstitions in my life for certain situations to induce “good luck.” For example my soccer team in high school had superstitions or particular things that we did each game so that we wouldn’t lose. We did things like wearing the same color pre-wrap in our hair for multiple games, doing the same exact warmup routine before each game, and using the same warmup playlist for each game. We believed that if we did not do these things the same way every game that we would lose. We had no actual proof to backup if doing these things was causing us to win, but we did not want to risk it anyway. We were correlating two variables and saying they induced causation so we were perceiving a correlation where one did not exist, exemplifying illusory correlation.

Sources:

“Illusory Correlation .” Illusory Correlation , The Daily Omnivore, 9 June 2015, thedailyomnivore.net/2015/06/09/illusory-correlation/.

Patil, Komal B. “An Abstract on the Concept of Illusory Correlations in Psychology.” PsycholoGenie, PsycholoGenie, 14 July 2017, psychologenie.com/concept-of-illusory-correlations-in-psychology.

 

The autonomic nervous system controls self-regulated actions of internal organs and glands. Without conscious thinking, the autonomic system regulates essential bodily functions. It also consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The parasympathetic system is known as the calming, or “rest and digest” system. On the opposite end, the sympathetic system triggers the “fight or flight” response in our bodies. In a dangerous or stressful situation, a wave of hormones “boosts the body’s alertness and heart rate, sending extra blood to the muscles. Breathing quickens, delivering fresh oxygen to the brain, and an infusion of glucose is shot into the bloodstream for a quick energy boost.”(Lanese). This happens so quickly that most people do not even fully register what is taking place.

A situation like this happened to me last November. I was in the Middle East on a missions trip, helping Iraqi and Syrian refugees. On our sightseeing day we visited multiple historic sites in Jordan, including the “Lost City” of Petra. Carved directly into vibrant red, white, pink, and sandstone cliff faces, the prehistoric Jordanian city was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106. (Milstein). This area has been know for intense flash flooding that are extremely dangerous. My group and I were walking within the narrow canyon on our way to the tombs and temples. It was pouring for multiple hours earlier that morning, but of course we thought nothing of it. All of the sudden we heard the roar of a wave and piercing screams. I turn around to see a massive flood rushing towards me and the hundreds of other tourists walking in the canyon. In that moment, I stared at the wave full of trash, animals, and people charging down the path then suddenly threw myself up onto a ledge within the canyon walls. We all held on to the crevice for what seemed like hours (but was only 20 minutes) as the flash flood passed.

That was a moment where I did not think, but I knew I did not want to get swept up by the flood. This is a good example of the sympathetic nervous system because I do not even remember shoving my body into the canyon walls. My heart was pounding, and my breathing was rapid. However, the sympathetic nervous system does not destress the body after the danger has passed. That is the job of the parasympathetic nervous system to counter the “fight or flight” response and return the body to its normal levels.

Works Cited

Lanese, Nicoletta. “Fight or Flight: The Sympathetic Nervous System.” LiveScience, Purch, 2019, www.livescience.com/65446-sympathetic-nervous-system.html.

Milstein, Mati. “‘Lost City’ of Petra Still Has Secrets to Reveal.” , Jordan Archaeology and History | National Geographic, 26 Jan. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/lost-city-petra/.

 

 

 

One of the first things that caught my attention in this course was a story about Phineas Gage. Phineas Gage was a mine worker in Vermont who dealt with essentially blowing up mountains. One day, he was in a traumatic explosion and a metal pole went through his cheekbone destroying frontal lobe. A man who was once known to be one of the friendliest in town became erratic and rude to the point of him becoming intolerable to others. Even though Gage survived the accident, he was never the same after.

 

 Psychologists realized that the frontal lobe is what keeps the personality of a person is stored. The frontal lobe is responsible for cognitive actions such as emotional expression, problem-solving and other important abilities a person needs to function in society. By the pole ripping through Gage’s frontal lobe he lost the ability to control his emotions as well other important assets.

 

Growing up, my brothers and their friends played very contact heavy sports. They did wrestling, football, soccer and even just played rough at the house with their friends. My family and I tended to be close to many of their families. One of my brother’s friends suffered a large concussion from one of the football games but was said to be fine. A concussion is a “mild traumatic brain injury caused by a jolt to the head that disrupts brain function.”(UPMC). Little did anyone realize, my brother’s friend began to have outbursts and have trouble expressing any time of positive emotion. After doctors and a therapist took a second look, they realized there was some damage to the tissue in his frontal lobe causing the outburst. This made more sense to the way his friend was behaving and the family seeked counseling to aid his behavior and help their son.

 

Both Gage and my family friend went through traumatic brain issues that led to affect their behavior. Because of Phineas Gage’s accident, now psychologists are able to pinpoint the place of disruption in the brain using EEGs and MRI machines.

 

Helpful Links:

Infographic: Concussions are Treatable, but How?

 

https://www.verywellmind.com/phineas-gage-2795244

https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/frontal-lobe#1

 

What is a survey? As defined by my Psychology professor, “A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people”. Surveys are used for research, advertising, sales, voting, you name it and there is most likely a survey out there. They are used to help show you the opinions, thoughts, and views of others around the world. When reviewing a survey’s results, it’s important to understand the make-up of the participant population. You may be quick to assume that the survey shows how a larger population feels. This assumption assumes that there is “random sampling”, where individuals are selected randomly from a larger group. By doing this, one can use the smaller group to make generalizations about the larger group. But this is not always the case. The selection of participants can be made in order to yield a particular result which can then be used to sway you into doing or believing something. Therefore, you should be careful to understand the survey participants as well as the surveyor.I learned this firsthand when I was looking into buying the new Call of Duty in 2016. For those of you who don’t know Call of Duty, it is the bestselling FPS(first-person shooter) gaming trilogy in the world. Every year they release a new game and with each year the game has fallen in popularity. With a decreasing player count, Activision the founder has taken up dirty practices for years to entice its fans back. For example, they give famous YouTubers early content, free vacations and most importantly videos in order to make the game more popular. Their next ploy was to publish survey results to attract buyers. I fell victim to this. I remember googling “Should I buy Call of Duty Infinite Warfare” one of the first links was to an article from a well-known gaming website Machinima who surveyed 500 gamers who had early access the game. The results found that over 98% felt the game was worth the $60 and 97% felt it was worth upgrading to the $100 edition. Although 500 people is a small sample size, I thought the results provided were legitimate. What I didn’t realize was how surveys worked and how their results could be skewed. So, of course, I spent $100 on this new game to only play it for one week and never put it in my Xbox again. Months later I thought about that survey from Machinima that persuaded me to buy the $100 version and I decided to re-look at it and find out why it was rated so favorably. Well afterResearch and reading the fine print on the bottom of the survey I found out the sample participants were all Machinima employees. It was no surprise that a year later, Machinima, at one time one of the biggest partnering networks for youtube gamers and a widely popular website and social media outlet went bankrupt after being exposed and sued for illegal practices. Keeping in mind that special privilege entities get to promote/talk about the game, opened my eyes to why surveys don’t always tell the true story.The lesson that can be taken from this is the importance when viewing or conducting a survey is to make sure the participants are a representative sample. A representative sample is defined as “a group that closely matches the characteristics of its population as a whole”. So In my case, the survey did not properly sample the opinions of the gamer population, it was just 500 gamers who worked for a gaming company and were given many reasons to be extremely biased. Unfortunately this bias for me was hidden in the details.

 

The Nervous System can be split into two main groups: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system.  Within the peripheral nervous system, there are two more groups: the autonomic, which controls self-regulated organs or glands, and the somatic, which controls voluntary movement of different skeletal muscles.  Then within the automatic system, there are two more groups, the sympathetic, which is arousing, and the parasympathetic, which is a calming system.  The two systems work together to almost keep balance in the body.  The sympathetic system is a biological response to some situation which can result in sweaty palms, raised heart rate, inhibits digestion, the stopping of salvation, dilated pupils, and other bodily functions.  It is important to differentiate the fact that the sympathetic nervous system does not account for how you choose to fight or how you choose to fight.  If you decide to run away from a scary situation, that would not be your sympathetic nervous system, that would be your somatic system because you chose to run away, it was not a biological impulse. 

 

Source: https://neuroamer.com/2017/06/19/what-happens-to-the-body-following-simultaneous-stimulation-of-the-sympathetic-and-parasympathetic-nervous-system-autonomic-conflict/

As you can see in the picture, the sympathetic system is located in the center of the spinal cord (which is also where the CNS is) and operates through fast-firing neurons.  The sympathetic system releases adrenaline.   The Parasympathetic system occurs in both the brain and the sacral spinal cord.

I have had the first-hand experience with both parts of the autonomic system.  When I was going into my freshman year of high school I went to France with my family and my friends.  We went to Lake Annecy and swam a lot.  We ended up sailing to a beautiful cliff jump.  All of my friends went to free climb a slippery cliff.  I watched my friends climb up and jump off.  I knew they would ask me soon why I am not doing it too.  Right before I started to climb I could feel my heartbeat quicken, my hands start to sweat, my breathing becomes uneasy, and I thought I had to pee, but I did not fight and I did not fly away, I started to climb.  As I got higher and higher I could feel the “symptoms” getting worse.  As I reached the top I felt the most intense part of the “symptoms”.  I knew that I would have to jump soon so I stood for a little to try and get my breathing back to normal and then I jumped.  Honestly, it was one of the most terrifying things I have voluntarily done.  Once I hit the water I felt my body almost instantaneously calm down.  I could feel my heartbeat go back to normal, my breathing normalizes and could tell my body was in a more calm state.  I can thank the parasympathetic system for that.

After reflecting on all of the concepts and theories that we have learned so far, one that stood out to me was operant conditioning with positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement involves the addition of a reinforcing stimulus following a behavior that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future. This theory was introduced by BF Skinner and he showed how this theory worked through his experiment called the Skinner box. In the Skinner box, he placed a rat inside the box that contained a lever. When the rat would knock down the lever a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. This caused the rats to quickly learned that they would be rewarded if they just knocked down the lever. This goes to show that positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence that would make an individual seek for a reward.

Positive reinforcement occurs in everyday life and more often than you think. I remember when I was in grade school in order to watch television during the week I had to complete my homework first. Completing my homework allowed me to be rewarded with watching whatever was on TV. This caused me to complete my homework in a fashionable time because the faster I got it done, the more time I had to watch television. Over time, this created a stimulus in myself that made me want to complete the homework. And that is not the only thing that involved positive reinforcement in my life. In high school I played football and in practice you are rewarded on how how hard you work and the passion you show in your craft. If a player followed those traits then they were rewarded by playing and starting in the games. This creates motivation to work harder and urges the player to give a lot more effort when it was time to practice.

These examples just go to show that the world is ran through positive reinforcement. It pushes people to complete a task and it gives them a goal or reward to look forward to when they complete the task.