Monthly Archives: September 2016

High Schools Considering Later Start Times

I recently read an article in our local newspaper about the consideration of later start times for our high schools due to sleep deprivation and the negative effects it causes adolescent students (Devlin, 2016). Specifically, this would mean starting high school no earlier than 8:30 a.m., which is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics (CDC, 2016). According to the CDC, the average adolescent is currently getting eight hours of sleep, which is one hour less than the recommended amount. Various scholars have performed studies on later start times, and Minnesota was one of the first states to incorporate this into several of their middle and high school programs. The data and perceptions of later start times do seem encouraging, but are not without a few problems.
Sleep deprivation during adolescence has a number of negative conseqsleeping-kiduences such as decreases in cognitive abilities, positive behaviors, and academic performance. Inattention and poor classroom performance are just two of the cognitive and emotional symptoms resulting from lack of sleep. During high school, I was constantly tired and had problems concentrating on what was being taught. Occasionally, when completing my homework, I could not remember what was taught in the classroom earlier that day. Ultimately, my grades dropped and I struggled to keep them up. Emotional changes are another important symptom of sleep deprivation. Dahl (1996, 1999) suggested inadequate sleep results in irritability and less tolerance for situations that create negative emotions. This was very self-evident to me during adolescence. I was easily upset by insignificant events. I assumed it was due to hormonal changes, based on my parents’ opinion, but reflecting back, I’m sure it could have been a combination of sleep deprivation and hormones. A third symptom of lack of sleep is behavioral disorders such as ADD and ADHD. The behaviors exhibited by those diagnosed with ADHD are similar to those who suffer from sleep deprivation. Daytime behavior was often improved when ADHD patients were treated with sleep disorder medications (Dahl, 1996). Personally, although I was never diagnosed with any type of behavioral problem, I did exhibit several behaviors that could have been indicative of ADHD such as disorganization, lack of focus, forgetfulness, and being easily distracted. I can easily understand how a significant number of children can be misdiagnosed with ADHD.
attentive-students

In reading, “Impact of sleep on learning and behavior in adolescents,” Matekika, Millrood, & Mitru (2002) suggested later start times for schools, ultimately allowing students to go to sleep later at night and sleep longer in the morning. Several local Minnesota high schools and middle schools incorporated these changes. The later start time for the students resulted in a decrease in average sick days and tardiness/lateness, and increased alertness and grades (Wahlstrom, Wrobel, & Kubow, 1998). Additionally, 57% of the teachers perceived students’ improved alertness during the first two classes, and 33% of the teachers perceived an improvement in student behavior (Wahlstrom et al., 1998).
graduation-pic

Since the research suggests students need more quantity and quality of sleep, the later start time for schools seems appropriate. However, the drawbacks of incorporating this type of scenario may prove that this is a difficult task, as demonstrated in the Minneapolis school system when students and teachers missed classes due to extracurricular activities. This type of disruption also caused diminished relations between parents and teachers (Kubow et al., 1999).
In reviewing the data supporting increased sleep time during the adolescent stage, I believe education would be the best indicator of success. Parental control should still be enforced without the disruption of adolescent autonomy. Parents, allowing for adolescent input, should continue to enforce a bedtime, put limits on stimulating activities toward bedtime (i.e. computers, phones, television), and supply a relaxing environment for sleep. Parents and children should be educated about the benefits of proper sleeping patterns and the symptoms of sleep deprivation. This information, coupled with later school start times, could have the potential to create a positive, lasting impact on adolescent behavior, cognition, emotion, and academic performance. I would have to say I was a bit reluctant to even consider later start times. However, the data suggests I may have to reevaluate my views on this matter.

 

 

Devlin, E. (2016). Unionville among school districts considering later start times. Southern Chester County Weeklies. September 4, 2016. http://www.southernchestercountyweeklies.com/general-news/20160704/unionville-among-school-districts-considering-later-start-times
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 6, 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p0806-school-sleep.html
Dahl, R.E. (1996). The regulation of sleep and arousal: Development and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology. 8, 3-27.
Dahl, R.E. (1999). Consequences of insufficient sleep for adolescents. Links between sleep and emotional regulation. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 354-359.
Kubow, P.K., Wahlstrom, K.L., & Bemis, A.E. (1999). Starting time and school life. Reflections from educators and students. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 366-371.
Mateika, J.H., Millrood, D., & Mitru, G (2002). Impact of sleep on learning and behavior in adolescents. Teachers College Record. 104, 704-726.
Wahlstrom, K., Wrobel, G., & Kubow, P. (1998). Executive summary of findings from Minneapolis school district start time study. Retrieved September 7, 2016. http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/3902/CAREI%20SST-1998ES.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Say the Color not the Word

Say the color not the word has to be the most interest yet fun brain teaser. This game allows a person to establish the differences between both hemispheres of the brain. While trying to complete this teaser you begin to realize where the conflict is. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the conscious thought and logical reasoning. On the other hand, the right hemisphere is responsible for the creative tasks. Because the teaser is say the word not the color it automatically triggers your left hemisphere into saying the word not the color.

As many have tried it gets complicated. We find ourselves wanting to say the color of the word but can’t help but say the word that we are reading. This allows the brain to be fully focused using both hemispheres at the same time rather than separately.

When I first tried completing this teaser I was honestly confused. I thought it was extremely easy because all you had to do was read the words. It wasn’t until someone explained the teaser to me, that made me realize it was actually harder than I thought. I found myself trying so hard to focus the color of the word but could not help but read the word. It took me to really focus and try after try. It was not until my fifth try that I was able to say it all through but I realized that regardless a person will always have a hard time because it’s allowing you to use both hemispheres at the same time.

Many people don’t realize that it rare that both are used. Each hemisphere is used uniquely for a different talent, whether it is playing a instrument, studying for a class, riding a bike, each side is used for something.

My challenge for you is to see how many tries it takes for you to complete this teaser and see if it was a one time shot or the focus was needed.

colours

Cirque Du Soleil: Integrating Perspective

  I remember the first time I went to a Cirque du Soleil show down in New York. I’ve seen acrobatic shows before, but nothing quite like it. Instead, Cirque du Soleil combined elements from traditional circus with elements drawn from sophisticated theater (Blue ocean strategy, 2004). After taking our seats, the Cirque du Soleil group managed to captivate us from start to finish. We were seated for Zarkana and the animation lit up the stage pulling you into the action. The acrobats did amazing stunts that were specifically formulated so it would look breath-taking no matter where the audience were seated in the room. The animated screen on the back made everything pop outwards toward the audience and made their stunts even more defined. This leads to my discussion on Chapter 3’s topic of Perception and how it correlated and was used by Cirque du Solei during Zarkana.

Perception is how we view objects in front of us. There are objects all around us and based on where we stand or the angle in which we observe it, it changes the perspective. Our brain processes this by using two pathways, the perception and action pathway. Perceptions first step is to identify (Goldstein, 2011) the action or object in front, followed by action. This process is something that is taken into consideration by performers or artists alike. Artists that wish to sketch an object that consists of any sort of volume or dimensions have to formulate and understand how to place it on a flat piece of paper. Acrobatics is also a form of art, and of course physics are also taken into consideration when formulating stunts. For acrobatics this is done by measuring human sensitivity to distortions in angular momentum and take-off angle (Flipping with physics: motion editing for acrobatics, 2007) when formulating different acrobatic maneuvers.

So how does a show like Cirque du Soleil correlate their performance and the audience’s perception during a show? It’s as simple as moving since movement also helps us perceive objects in the environment more accurately (Goldstein, 2011). The performance is visually enhanced perspective-wise just by having the acrobats hovering above you in midair. but then Cirque du Soleil takes it to another level and adds animation to pull you into the action as well. Visual perception has always been used in various forms of art and acrobatic shows prove to be no different. They understand how to keep an audience engaged with music and different stunts that play with perspectives. For example, during Zarkana there’s a trapeze performance where the background is blue with different hues. This almost sucks you in, but then the acrobats come out with this light green outfit which just pops out toward the audience contrasting with the background. Finally, to play with perspectives and make you feel like they’re really close to you, some acrobats are closer to audience while others are more to the back of the stage. This makes you feel that they’re going to flip outward towards you.

And so, even an acrobatic show like Cirque du Soleil takes into consideration perspectives and uses it to their advantage. By using animation, music, and acrobatic maneuvers that entices their audience, they manage to create a visually stimulating choreography which is even more successful due to its play on perspectives. By understanding these physics they’re able to entice people into the act and expand it towards the audience as well.

 

Works Cited

Goldstein, E. B. (2015,2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience (4th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

 

Majkowska, A., & Faloutsos, P. (2007, August). Flipping with physics: motion editing for acrobatics. In Proceedings of the 2007 ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics symposium on Computer animation (pp. 35-44). Eurographics Association.

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2004). Blue ocean strategy. If you read nothing else on strategy, read thesebest-selling articles., 71.

Classic Psychology Meets Today’s Applications

 

Classical conditioning is a term of correlating one stimulus with a response and in doing so you have “conditioned” the person or animal to perform a desired reaction (Goldstein, 2015). This has long been a debatable and discussed topic as far as raising children is concerned. In fact, in a well-known experiment called “Little Albert,” a child was conditioned to change from being open to petting a rat to being scared at the sight of it (Goldstein, 2015). So what if for a moment we were to extend this debate even further to all relationships? What if by studying classical conditioning we could further understand the relationships of that of companies and coworkers? In doing so we may be proactive and not reactive to more appropriately conditioning associates to perform at a higher desired level with better responses that will ultimately translate into the bottom dollar savings for said company.

Many companies desire to have employees that not only work hard and appreciate the company but also exemplify it and grow with the company. Some may not even realize they are trained to use classical conditioning in their daily routine, but they are. By giving raises, time off, or gifts companies help to reward good behavior of employees and encourage them to seek better performance. Another consideration may be the negative stimulus that could be applied to employees. When an associate loses cash, has repeated late performance, or costs the company repair fee due to poor performance the company is then forced, once again, to use classical conditioning by firing or reprimanding this associate.

This sequence of events is a two way street and seems to condition the supervisors indirectly by drawing awareness and demanding it be greater through their actions. They are forced to not only be the individual controlling this “experiment” but also the participant in they are an independent variable.

Overall, companies desire positive results and are willing to condition persons under their employment to perform within their core values and policies to see this happen. By realizing the given best practices to help achieve these goals and properly training staff a company will benefit greatly. These benefits could help determine the future of the company, save in errors avoided, and help to have a lower turnover rate. Classical conditioning generally translates to positive results from positive employees.

References:

Goldstein, E. B. (2015).Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience (4th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Perception of Lights in the Desert

UFO:  Unidentified Flying Object. Do you believe in a world outside of ours? A passenger on an American Airline flight definitely does! While flying over Area 51, he snapped a few photos of what he believed to be a UFO due to bright lights and shape. After some review of his photos and the area he was flying over, it is assumed he snapped some photos of a solar farm! How could he have been so mistaken? Thank you, to his perception of a solar farm. Perception is the reason behind UFO sightings due to its feedback signals, top-down processing, and the recognition- by-components theory.

Top-down processing has a large influence on the way we perceive everyday objects. Top-down processing is ‘processing that begins with a person’s prior knowledge or expectations’ (Goldstein, 2011). As I am sure we have all heard about Area 51 and have seen a plethora of movies about extra-terrestrial life, we are all predisposed to the possibility to interrupt bright lights, in a circular shape as a UFO. Since top-down processing begins with our prior knowledge, it is no wonder the man thought he saw a UFO.

In addition to top-down processing, feedback signals also add to our potential skewed perception. Feedback signals ‘travel down from higher centers to influence incoming signals’ (Goldstein, 2011). The man was flying over the desert, above Area 51 (known for assumed extra-terrestrial activity), at night. Those pieces of information he had prior to seeing any lights or objects had a large impact on his perception of the bright lights. His prior knowledge of his location and events influenced his incoming signals of the lights causing him to perceive a UFO.

Couple feedback signals and top-down processing with recognition-by-components theory and you can see a dragon out of a broken chair. Recognition-by-components theory was proposed by Irving Biederman. This theory ‘proposes that we perceive objects by perceiving elementary features called geons’ (Goldstein, 2011). Geons are simple, recognizable shapes that can be paired with others to create an object (Goldstein, 2011). In this particular case, the man who claimed to see a UFO saw a circle. Given the geon, prior knowledge (top-down processing), and bright lights, there was only one thing it could be; a UFO.

Top-down processing, feedback signals, and recognition-by-components theory all contributed to the man’s perception of a UFO when he was looking at a solar farm. The man has all these processes going on in his mind and he was able to come to a conclusion – in a split second! I wonder what other passenger on the plane saw while flying over Area 51. What would you perceive?

References:

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
MailOnline, J. R. (2015). Airplane passenger takes pictures of ‘UFO’ as his flight passes close to top-secret Area 51 military base… but is there a more rational explanation? . Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3332099/Airplane-passenger-takes-picture-UFO-giving-bright-lights-orbs-ground-near-secret-Area-51-military-base.html

Perception of Pain

One of the topics I have found most interesting thus far is the concept of perception and how our perception of pain can influence how we experience it. I have been in the healthcare field for more than a decade and spent most of it in Orthopedics. Pain is something that I see people deal with on a daily basis because that is usually what brings you to our office, something hurts. For most people, they still understand pain in the way that it was understood in the 50s and 60s, as a signal from the area to the brain or bottom-up processing. It has become more apparent over the last several years that this is not the only way we experience pain. Our expectations of pain, how we focus on pain, and how we can take our mind away from pain all influence our eventual pain response.

If we expect something to hurt, then it usually will for at least the first split second while our brain tries to understand what is going on. This aversion to upcoming pain drives much of our fears about medical procedures. Fears of needles and post-surgical pain will cause many people to avoid getting the care they need. And if they do seek care, it can cause anxiety for them that is difficult to overcome.

Our society has created an environment where we believe we shouldn’t have to deal with pain of any kind and seek ways of getting rid of that pain. When we focus on pain, it magnifies it. And because of the ready availability of pain relievers, many people never learn how to handle minor pain. They take Tylenol or Ibuprofen at the first sign of discomfort. This causes a distorted sense of pain intensity. I often ask the famous question of, “on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is your pain?” This is the called the VAS pain scale and has been used since the 70s. Some people have a hard time quantifying their pain because they’ve learned to handle it. But most people over-exaggerate their pain to unrealistic levels. It doesn’t help healthcare providers adequately judge who needs help and how much they need. This can also cause patients to receive stronger medication that they do not necessarily need leading to addiction. The McGill Pain Questionnaire allows for a more detailed exam with the use of over 80 adjectives to describe pain. This scale gives more information but is unrealistic in a fast paced clinical setting. (Cervero, 2012, 26)

The best way to combat the perception of pain is to distract someone from it. One of the most common times of day for pain to be at it’s worst, is bedtime. During the day, we are usually up and moving around which puts the pain at the back of our mind. Once we lie down for bed and begin to relax our mind, the pain returns and intensifies. This causes issues sleeping and the most likely time that patients are to abuse their prescription narcotics. Sleep disturbance is one of the most common concerns for patients after surgery. Pain is usually the reason why they can’t sleep. Focused breathing and meditation can help calm the mind and distract from pain.

Pain is a mixture of external signals being sent to the brain and our perception of how we should feel. There is only so much you can do to reduce the external forces but by understanding how our expectations of pain, how we focus on pain, and ways to distract ourselves from pain plans on our pain experience, we can decrease pain’s effect on our life.

 

Works Cited

Cervero, F. (2012). Understanding Pain : Exploring the Perception of Pain. Cumberland, US: MIT Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

MRI Can Save a Life

Have you or anyone you know ever had to get an MRI done? Magnetic resonance imaging, more commonly known as an MRI, is a non-invasive medical procedure that allows medical professionals to basically see “inside” the human body. MRIs can be used to examine several different parts of the body but is most commonly associated with viewing the brain. So back to the questions, Have you ever wondered what you would do if the results that came back from that MRI were less than ideal? Have you ever said “that will never happen to me” when referring to an MRI on the brain coming back abnormal? Well I know a mother and daughter that were faced with the reality of abnormal MRI results and how those results saved the little girl’s life, which would not be possible without today’s technology.

According to the American Brain Tumor Association, there will be about 78,000 individuals diagnosed with brain cancer every year and of those 78,000 individuals, 4,600 of them will be children. Three years ago, seven-month old Aurora Rose fell victim to these statistics. On a Friday night Aurora had started throwing up a lot and had a spiked a fever that Katie, Aurora’s mother, could not get under control. Katie thinking that it was nothing but a normal stomach bug but was still concerned about Aurora becoming dehydrated and her fever getting too high, took Aurora to the Emergency Room. After waiting for several hours they finally got to see the doctor who made a comment on the circumference of Aurora’s head (which was larger than normally but not to an extreme). Katie explained that Aurora’s pediatricians were not concerned about it and that she would “grow in to it”. The doctor expressed his concerns with her current symptoms and her head circumference to Katie and asked if they could conduct an MRI on Aurora. Katie agreed and by midnight Aurora was having an MRI. Come early Saturday morning Katie’s fight to get Aurora’s temperature down became a fight to save Aurora’s life.

A normal MRI would show the head being shaped similarly to an oval and the image of the brain basically being even in gray color without any areas that stand out from the rest. Aurora’s imagine showed a large black mass with streaks of white around it, right in the center of her brain and her head was shaped more as a circle than an oval. Aurora was in surgery less than 12 hours later. This was the start of a series of surgeries and countless hours of Katie being by her side in the hospital. Aurora turned four last week, thanks to the doctor that went with his instincts and thanks to today’s amazing technology.

Although the thought of having an MRI conducted can be a bit intimidating, and people may say their symptoms are not that serious, no one can ever know for sure. Having an MRI done can give an individual peace of mind or more time to fight a battle that could be lost if too much time goes by undetected. Thanks to today’s brain imagining technology, Aurora Rose gets to start kindergarten next year and she is not the only one that could be saved because of MRI technology.

Works Cited

“Brain Tumor Statistics.” Brain Tumor Symptoms, Treatment, Support, Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.

 

Operant conditioning on cats

Recently I have been lucky enough to raise two kittens. The first a girl named ‘Zoe’ an the second a boy named ‘Stewie’.  Zoe was only three days old when I got her six weeks ago, and Stewie although two or three days older than Zoe, came when they were both three weeks. Part of being a good foster mom to kittens is teaching them bite inhibition especially if they’re alone, I was faced with figuring that out before Stewie came along and my older cats took a better interest in both kittens. That taken care I knew my focus could now go back to teaching them how to eat by themselves an litterbox training. And as they have become more mobile where they can and cannot jump onto, which means a great time to experiment with operant conditioning.

Operant conditioning is a process in which behavior is modified through the use of positive and negative reinforcement. This creates a connection between the behavior and the consequence or reward.(Learning Theories). This idea was pioneered by B.F. Skinner, the most well-known psychologist, but it got it’s start with Pavlov and his dogs. Normally when we think of Pavlov we think on classical conditioning. “Classical conditioning is “classical” in that it is the first systematic study of basic laws of learning / conditioning.”  (Simply Psychology). Pavlov’s dogs began salivate when exposed to a particular stimulus i.e. him walking into the room, regardless of if they received their food or not.  Other important people are Edward Thorndike and John Watson.

Zoe and Stewie are just beginning to play and explore their world, but they’re also starting to climb out of their designated area outside of playtime. At this point and time, we prefer not to let them play unsupervised because of them biting on cords, not being able to get them to the litterbox in time in case they decide to go on the floor (which has already happened once!), or getting stuck in or under something.

My wife and I decided to use the spray bottle a form of negative reinforcement and the word nein, which is no in German. This has worked great on our other cats as it really doesn’t matter what they’re doing. I can yell nein from the other room without actually going towards them and they’ll stop, regardless of if I have a spray bottle or not. Cats however do still have a mind of their own and they’ll constantly try anything when you’re off your guard. Now when they climb up we say nein and give them a good spray, they drop down we don’t spray anymore, we don’t say nein.

In general, this works they stay in their area, but given that they’re kittens and need to eat frequently the most persistent times are during meal times. It is important to note that like Pavlov’s dogs the mere sight of me walking by will trigger them to meow and try to climb out regardless of if I’m coming with food or not. But they’ve come to expect their meal times. Food acts as a positive reinforcement for them, so if they’ve tried to climb out and first we reinforce them negatively, we wait quietly for them settle down and stop trying to escape, then we put down their food. In between meal times I only have to say nein maybe once or twice and know that they won’t be trying again until they get hungry, and the need for the positive stimulus overrides their memory of the negative stimulus.

 

References:

McLeod, S. (2016). Pavlov’s Dogs. Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html

 

Educational Psychology Interactive: Operant Conditioning. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behavior/operant.html

 

Classical and Operant Conditioning – Behaviorist Theories. (2016). Retrieved September 11, 2016, from https://www.learning-theories.com/operant-conditioning-skinner.html

 

 

How We Perceive the World

 

cow

Image credit: www.sott.net

How do we perceive the world around us? As humans, are we capable of processing the stimuli in our environment objectively to accurately depict what we see and experience? The occipital lobe is located in the rear section of the brain as part of the cerebral cortex and its primary role is to make sense of visual information (Freberg, 2016).  The temporal lobe, also located in the cerebral cortex, is responsible for the processing of auditory information (Freberg, 2016). However, once our brain processes the information coming from visual or auditory stimuli, what happens next regarding our thoughts and perceptions?

In the article Why We Cannot Perceive the World Objectively, Michalko (2011) writes that people ultimately see what they expect to see.  Notice I did not use the term, “wish.” As he goes on to state that the perception of our environment is not based on “wishful thinking.” Perception is an active process where our senses receive input from stimuli around us that then builds our own reality (Michalko, 2011). We engage in this process in order to understand and be aware of our environment. The way we perceive things is influenced by our past experiences as well as the stimuli received by our receptors. Michalko also emphasizes that perception can be altered by the observers expectations or their presumptions. There was an experimental study conducted that was highlighted in the article in which playing cards were shown to a group of participants, some normal other containing red spades and black hearts. Participants were able to identify the normal cards faster and more accurately than those that were manipulated. The author maintains that this is due to the fact that patterns of expectation are deeply ingrained within us and that they continue on even when we are presented with stimuli that contradict our typical perception schema. For this reason, objectivity in the way we perceive our environment can be difficult to achieve. (Michalko, 2011)

Our retina, which contains our seeing receptors, is located in the back of our eye.  However, these images that are projected are not clearly defined. They must be interpreted by our brain. Bottom-up processing involves the steps of the image being transmitted from the eye to the visual receiving area of our brain. Top down processing, however involves using what we know about our environment to interpret the information that we perceive. In the nineteenth century, physicist Helmholtz developed the theory of unconscious inference. This suggests that perceptions are formed from unconscious assumptions in which we suppose about our environment. Later Gestalt psychologists, who as we previously learned developed the concept of “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts,” took a different approach to the theory of perception than Helmholtz.  Gestalt psychologists came up with a list of principles. They agreed that perception may be based on experience, but took it a step further by stating that built-in principles may trump one’s previous knowledge or understanding of their environment. (Goldstein, 2015)

The fact that people’s perceptions align with their expectations is more important to them than simply what they want to believe.  These expectations people have can come from many different sources and develop over time based on past experiences or social norms. According to Michalko (2011), we are programmed to pay more attention to certain stimuli or information received and then interpret it based on our own personal history. He further stresses those perceptions are also sometimes influenced by the context of situational factors. These patterns of expectation that eventually develop then teach us what to see and how to understand the world around us. (Michalko, 2011)

Now look at the picture at the top of this post. Do you know what it is? This is an example from a perception exercise from Michalko’s article. Did you see the face of a cow in this black and white pattern? The purpose here is to illustrate how perceptions can be formed based off of minimal information, i.e. the cow face (Michalko, 2011). As I learned from the article, once our perception schema is formed, it can be very difficult to change without a great deal of effort and contradictory evidence. I believe that as human beings we attempt to be objective in our perceptions. However, our past experiences and pre-existing schemas can at times limit these perceptions to make achieving objectivity challenging at best. So the next time you are presented with an unfamiliar stimuli, take a minute to process what you are really looking at.

References

Freberg, L. (2016). Discovering Behavioral Neuroscience: An Introduction to Biological Psychology, 3rd Edition. Cengage Learning.VitalBook file.

Goldstein, E. B. (2015). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (4th ed.). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Michalko, M. (2011, November 13). Why We Cannot Perceive the World Objectively — Sott.net. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from https://www.sott.net/article/237883-Why-We-Cannot-Perceive-the-World-Objectively

 

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Brainteasers, such as the one above, are exercises that are designed to stimulate your cognitive functions, and while brainteasers can be pretty tedious, complex, and entertaining, some all at the same time. They serve to exercise the brain’s cognitive functions.

The reason you were able to make sense of the above sentence was due to top-down processing. Top-down processing refers to how your brain can make use of information that has already been brought into the brain by either from past experiences or stored knowledge (Goldstein, 2015, p. 59). This sentence started to make more sense to you because you have a strong visual system and the knowledge you have in reading.

When you continue to use your cognitive abilities it stimulates your brain and can help improve your ability in executive functions such as problem-solving. This can benefit you long term by generating solutions to a problem much like everyday situations. Over the last 10 years scientists that have found some promising results when improving the cognitive abilities in older adults. By adding mental exercises to the participant’s routines they discovered an increase in their cognitive abilities (Lazer, 2014).

Brainteasers and cognitive exercises can also have a positive impact on attention skills. These particular skills help you focus on specific features and certain thoughts or activities (Goldstein, 2015, p. 402). Certain exercises such as saying the days of the week backwards, or finding the sum of dates, are actions to focus on building up your mental attentiveness and working memory. By working on improving your cognitive attention and focus abilities this can help manage environmental demands for long-term success.

As briefly mentioned before, brainteasers and cognitive exercises can increase your working memory, especially long-term memory. Since age decreases our long-term memory, exercising your brain with simple used of mnemonics can help prevent any delay in mental activity (Beselt, 2013). This tool incorporates verbal and visual memory improvement techniques to create a reference point to a name, title or objects. For example, can you state the planets? If you are like me, you would link what we may have learned in elementary to the order of the planets, “My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets” (yes, Pluto was still a planet when I was in school). This is a simple mnemonic that increases our memory for long-term purposes.

To conclude, continuing the use of the top-down processing in a brainteaser exercise can improve your cognitive ability throughout your life. By doing so, this can utilize your stored knowledge that could improve long-term awareness, and accessing past experiences might also enhance your memory, all of these techniques will provide a fit brain with a strong ability to continue cognitively longer in life.

References

Beselt, M. (2013). How To Improve Your Long Term Memory. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from Improve Memory: http://www.improve-memory-skills.com/long-term-memory.html

Goldstein, E. B. (2015). Conitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experiece (4th Edition ed.). Cengage Learning.

Lazer, K. (2014, January 13). Study finds long-lasting results from brain exercises. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from Boston Globe: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/01/13/brain-training-can-help-older-adults-stave-off-aging-impairments-study-finds/QTrB2E6UsXB8hYIeMvbJII/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline