Recently, my husband sent me a text message with a picture of his seven year old cousin, Austin’s homework assignment. It reminded me of one of those funny posts you would see on Facebook titled something along the lines of “Kids say the darndest things… on their homework.” He missed the last question, and you can read why:

I got quite a chuckle out of this, but then it made me think. Although Austin’s answer was very witty, I don’t think he meant it quite that way. I think Austin experienced an incomplete or incorrect representation. He misunderstood the teacher’s wording, and would probably have answered better had the teacher said “Which place helped you decide: tens or ones?”

What the teacher was actually asking him was to explain a portion of the problem space within the problem solving process. As discussed within our lesson notes, problem space represents every possible state of affairs within a problem(Cardenas, “Problem Space”). The teacher wanted Austin to identify this portion of the problem space.

Even after we tried explaining to Austin what he did wrong, he still thinks his answer was justified, because when it comes to math, he just knows everything, or so he says!

Cardenas, R. (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/psych256/003/content/14_lesson/09_page.html

I don’t know about you, but food is one of the most universal languages.  Now what exactly do I mean by that you may wonder?  In our lesson, we discussed the creativity of language and how unique and beautiful language can be.  This applies to words we use to call and describe our food.  There are many types of food out there that were created in certain countries that are specific to those cultures.  These foods become popular in other countries, but rather than create their own word for the food, they continue to use the original name, no matter what language it is.  Below are a list of some foods that you may recognize which come from various languages other than the English language.

1. crepe                   2. burrito               3. canoli

4. quesadilla           5. lo mein              6. sushi

7. risotto                  8. fondue              9. baguette

No matter where you are in the world, and no matter what language is spoken in the country you are visiting, they will more than likely understand what food you are talking about when you use these words.  There are many more you could even add to the list, which would go on and on.  You will even find that many cultures use the same words to describe the taste of these foods.  Words such as “Yum” and “Mmmmm” are used interchangeably from language to language.

Many countries also use food and drinks as a means of communication.  For instance, in China, yum cha, which means drink tea is a tradition in which friends socialize while drinking tea.  Different types of tea reflect different moods and are often paired with dumplings and cakes.  England is another country that uses tea time as a means of communication.  Toasts are often given to accompany meals to wish for good health and a positive future.  These toasts are usually well thought out and kind with words of gratefulness to accompany.

Language is a very important part of food and they coincide with each other more than one may think.  Next time you take a bite of a delicious burrito or sushi and exclaim “yummy” think of how many others in the world are doing the same thing, from many cultures!

With today’s modern technology, there are plenty of websites, apps, and programs (such as Lumosity and FitBrains) created to help people “exercise” the brain.  This includes improving one’s reaction time.  While I am not someone who plays these sort of games, it makes me wonder if there are other ways we are stimulating the brain to increase reaction time without even realizing it.

After reading an article on Futurity.org, called “Video games speed up reaction time,” I wanted to test this out myself.  I am in no way a “gamer,” but my husband definitely is.  He loves playing video games such as Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, etc., while I on the other hand, have never played any of these games in my life.  I am more of a Mario fan 🙂

Anyway, I searched for a reaction time test for each of us to take to see who had the better reaction time.  I found a test which was created to look like a stoplight.  The light starts out red, but when it turns green, you are to click the large button by the light as fast as you can.  Here is a link to the test: https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/redgreen.html

I went first and my husband went second.  We each took the test while the other person was not in the room.  Below, I listed each of our reaction times from the five tests and the average reaction time.

Casey (me)

Test 1     .332 seconds

Test 2     .361 seconds

Test 3     .284 seconds

Test 4     .291 seconds

Test 5     .436 seconds

Average     .3408 seconds

JR (my husband)

Test 1     .281 seconds

Test 2     .276 seconds

Test 3     .301 seconds

Test 4     .283 seconds

Test 5     .270 seconds

Average     .2822 seconds

As it turns out, my husband has a much better reaction time than I do.  Now, is that definitely because of him playing video games?  I’m not 100% sure, but it does make sense.  According to the article, those who play video games tend to have a 25% quicker reaction time.  I guess this means I should quit nagging him when he wants to play Xbox, rather than fold the laundry!

RED LIGHT – GREEN LIGHT Reaction Time Test. (2002, January 1). Retrieved March 7, 2015, from https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/redgreen.html

Video games speed up reaction time – Futurity. (2010, September 13). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.futurity.org/video-games-speed-up-reaction-time/

Have you ever found yourself mesmerized by a magic act and saying, “How did they do that?” I think we can all think back to childhood when it was “magic of course” but even an adult I find myself questioning slights of the eye. The Gestalt Laws of Perception outlined in Lesson 3 helped me to understand why illusionist can pull off the illogical and make people believe in “magic”.

The video provided in the lesson, “Impossible Balls” (YouTube.com) is an example of how Gestalt Laws of Perception works. While looking at the video you know that the balls are not going up the hill but with great mental effort you struggle to figure out the “magic”. However, after challenging myself by asking “How else can I view this?” I was able to understand the camera angle was giving the illusion of an upward slope.

With a little more critical thinking, I was able to see the role Gestalt Laws of Perception play on my everyday functioning. For instance, the idea of proximity helps you to read my posting as my spaces indicate where each word starts and ends rather than viewing each letter independently (Kepes, G., 1944). Surprisingly, Epelboim, Booth, and Steinman (1993) found that eliminating spaces in reading did not decrease the speed at which a person reads but did impact the accuracy of the individual’s ability to read text.

These early principals have contributed to fields such as the graphic arts and movie design. Understanding how the mind groups together like objects based on prior experiences has impacted the way in which graphic artist develop interactive media designs (Graham, 2008). Because people expect certain experiences, such as illustrated in the National Geographic Brain Game video (Video 3.1, Lesson 3), the change of the shadow totally changed the experience with the ball and it’s behavior. Development of commercials, 3-D movies, and advertisements rely on these laws to catch the attention of the viewing audience.

The minds natural response to apply Gestalt Laws of Perception to simplify our responses in life saves great time, such as to read. However, when these laws are directly challenged, such as an optical illusion, it as easily reminds us to question what we view and look at life from another perspective. While I may understand as an adult there is no such thing as “magic”, after reading this lesson I have a better understanding of why my mind is so easily tricked into believing in magic.

References:

Epelboim, J, Booth, J.R., & Steinman, R.M. (1993). Reading Unspaced Text: Implications for

Theories of Reading Eye Movements. Vision Resources, Vol 34, 1735-1766.

Graham, L. (2008). Gestalt Theory in Interactive Media design. Journal of Humanities & Social

Sciences.

Kepes, G. (1944). Language of Vision. Chicago, Il; Paul Theobald.