Skinner

1. Skinner's Operant Conditioning: reinforcement and punishment in a individual changes the individual's behavioral tedencies.

2. Reinforcement: always increases the probability of a specific response in a individual.

3. Punishment: always increases the possibility to behavior to decrease.

4. In positive punishment or reinforcement something is given, while in negative punishment or reinforcement something is taken away. 


http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html 

Edward Thorndike

1. Thorndike's puzzle-box experiment, it consisted of placing a cat in a puzzle-box and abserve the cat's behavior towards escaping the maze to get food.

2. Thorndike's "Law of Effect", if action bring consequences, consequences determines future behavior.

3. Thorndike's "Law of Exercise", in learning, the more frequently a stimulus and response are associated with each other, the more likely the particular response will follow the stimulus. 




http://www.answers.com/topic/law-of-exercise

John B. Watson

1. Watson exposed “little Albert” to rats, cats, dogs, monkeys and other furry things, which caused no fear to “little Albert”. After, produced loud noises every time “little Albert” saw a furry object. “Little Albert” was afraid of furry objects because he made a relationship between furry objects and loud scary noises. This experiment was an example of stimulus generalization.

2. The conditioned stimulus is: the rat, the unconditioned stimulus is: the loud noise, and the conditioned response: “little Albert” crying.

3. Two limitations for this study are: 1. Not all people respond the same way to a stimulus, and Watson only performed this experiment with “little Albert”. 2. Watson used unethical means in this experiment therefore it cannot be replicated.

4. Watson’s law of frequency states that the more often two things are associated, the connection between the two things will be stronger.

5. Watson’s law of recency states: "The response that has most recently occurred after a particular stimulus is the response most likely to be associated with that stimulus."

6. Behaviorism: Watson through his experiments determined that: our environment determines all behavior whatsoever. For instance, the fear Watson “taught” little Albert.


http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~Lynda_abbot/Behaviorism.html

Ivan Pavlov

1. Pavlov was actually studying the gastric functions of dogs by surgically externalizing a salivary gland so he could collect and analyze the saliva, and the response saliva had to food in different conditions. 

2. The experiment Pavlov conducted was: Dog was brought food to measure salivation; a noise was made before the food was actually given to the dog. Pavlov noticed the dog salivated before the food arrived. He concluded that the dog associated the noise with the food and that was why he salivated.

3. The conditioned stimulus of this experiment is: the food, the unconditioned stimulus is: the noise, and the conditioned response is: salivation.

4. Extinction in relation to classical conditioning: a gradual weakening and eventually disappearance of the conditioned response tendency. Extinction occurs from multiple presentations of conditioned response without the unconditioned stimulus.

5. Stimulus generalization in relation to classical conditioning: a response to a specific stimulus becomes associated to other stimuli (similar stimuli) and now occurs to those other similar stimuli.

6. Stimulus discrimination in relation to classical conditioning: learning to respond to one stimulus and not another.

7. Two limitations of this experiment are: 1. He had surgically changed salivation, this makes the experiment difficult to reconstruct. 2. He did not give food to animals so when the time of the experiment arrived they were hungry.

8. Pavlov theorized that we learn by associating sound, noises or signs to different meanings, for example a red light in a stoplight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

Analysis:Delayed School Start Time Associated With Improvements in Adolescent Behaviors

When school starts early:

ScienceDaily published a study by Judith A. Owens and his colleagues from the Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence. They  studied 201 students in grades 9 through 12 attending a high school in Rhode Island. Because of the study, class start time was delayed 30 minutes, from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Students were required to complete the online retrospective Sleep Habits Survey before and after the change in school start time. The study showed that students sleeping less than seven hours of sleep decreased 79.4 %, with at least eight hours of sleep increased from 16.4 % to 54.7 %. Students unhappy or depressed decreased from 65.8 % to 45.1%, "grumpy" students also decreased from 84 % to 62.6 %. The visits to the nurse decreased from 15.3% to 4.6%. I think it is conclusive that late starts help student achieve personal as well academic stability, they´re more benefits from a late start than from an early dismissal.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100705190532.htm
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/.a/6a00d83451e0d569e2010536e15754970b-800wi

Analysis: Being A Night Owl In High School Is Linked With Lower College GPA

ScienceDaily researched about GPA results of students from high-school to college, and the time they sleep. The study was based on data from 89 students (between 17 and 20 years old) preparing to begin college and 34 of those students as they completed their first year at a liberal arts college. Evening type students or those who say they feel more alert and do their work later in the day have less sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene refers to regular bedtime routine, a regular wake time, a regular bed time, and sleeping in a comfortable bed. Results indicated that evening types had lowered their GPA to (2.84)in their first year in college while morning types to (3.18). These evening-type students showed a greater decrease in GPA in their transition from high school to college their GPA grades dropped .98 GPA points, while others only dropped .69 GPA points. Evening types also slept 41 minutes less than other students on school days. I think that one should homework once they arrive home, because if not you could risk forgetting the homework or doing poorly on it is also a good idea to do work ahead of time.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609072813.htm
http://universityblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/studying-late-1-photo-by-lusi-584465_70582198.jpg?w=500

Analysis: Starting High School One Hour Later May Reduce Teen Traffic Accidents

In a study conducted by ScienceDaily, they hypothized that starting high shool one hour later may reduce adoloscent car crashes in the morning. When school started one hour later students averaged from 12 min to 30 min more sleep daily. The % of students who got at least eight hours of sleep in a school day increased 35.7 % to 50 %; students with nine hours of sleep increased 6.3 % to 10.8%. The average amount of sleep during day in the weekend decreased from 1.9 hours to 1.1 hours. Sleepy people in school decreased, according to students involved in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Average crash rates for teen drivers in  two years after the change in start time decreased 16.5% compared to the two years before the change in school start. Students took tests which tested daytime functions in 1998 and 1999 in Kansas due to the results student had in the test , high schools and middle schools started one hour later. The conclusion from ScienceDaily was: "As a result, adolescents get an inadequate amount of sleep due to early school start times, which increases their daytime sleepiness and may in turn increase their odds of crashing their vehicles while driving." I think this article is trua and school not only in USA should follow the rule adopted in districts in Kansas. I think that educationally students will also improve if school starts some time later.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081215074351.htm
http://cdn.babble.com/strollerderby/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ip_teen_driving.jpg

Teenagers and their Brain

After watching the program, "The Teenage Brain", I realized every part of your body especially the brain is extremely complex. Even though the only change you can observe in a growing human being is physical, your brain is developing and gaining knowledge as well. In the video a group of people studies adolescents and why they act as they do. They determined that because of the brain is developing they have radical change of mood and behavior. I was also surprised about how technology advance day by day, the fMRI (functional magneting resonance imaging), is a great advance in technology. It permits you to see the brain and how it reacts in different scenarios. It is also very noticeable through the video that every adolescent has the same “problems”, they sleep late at night and have a difficult time waking up. It is very common in all of teenagers that their parents force them out of bed. It is extremely important to have a good night sleep, especially to teenagers. Because you are constantly developing you need to have a rest. It is incredible how much better your body functions when you get a good night sleep, it helps you in every aspect of life.

http://www.legacyofhope.com/images/may_2004_brain.jpg

How the Brain Works

The word hemisphere means half of a sphere, relating to the brains the word hemisphere means one of the two halves of the brain left or right hemisphere. The major differences of the hemispheres i the brain are what they control, the left brain is analytical and controls the right side of the body, the right brain is creative and imaginative and controls the left side of the body. Corpus collasum is a wide flat bundle of about 200 million nerves that allows the two hemispheres of the brain to connect. Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, anatomist, and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde, France the 28 of June, 1824.  He studied the ventroposterior region of the frontal lobes in aphasic pacients. The patient he first studied was Leborgne, which had inability to speak clearly. In 1861, through post-mortem autopsy, Broca determined that Leborgne had a lesion caused by syphilis in the left hemisphere. Due to his observations he concluded the ventroposterior region of the frontal lobes (now known as Broca's area), was responsible for speech production and syntactic skills. He died July 9, 1880. Roger Sperry was a neuropsychologist,neurobiologist born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1913, he died during the year of 1994. He won a nobel prize together with David Hubel for their work in split-brain research. Roger Sperry examined ten pacients operated due to epilepsy and determined that the two hemispheres of the brain are totally separated from the one another. Karl Wernicke was born a 15 of May of 1884 in Poland, he later died a 15 of june of 1905 Wernicke began researching  the effects of brain disease on speech and language. Wernicke noticed that language deficits were not always because of damage to Broca's area. He found that damage to the left-posterior, superior temporal gyrus resulted in bad language comprehension. This region is now known as Wernicke's area, and the result of damage in this area is known as Wernicke's aphasia. The occipital lobe is responsible for vision. Temporal lobe is responsible for hearing and Broca's area, Wernicke's area at the junction of the partiety, temporal, and occipital lobes in the left hemisphere are responsible for language planning and understanding. The frontal lobe is responsible for problem solving such as math calculations, it is also responsible for emotions, reasoning, planning, movement, creativity, planning and parts of speech. Judgement is also linked to the frontal lobe. The Cerebral Cortex is responsible for reasoning, and the back edge of frontal lobes is responsible for impulse.

http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/brain/loclat.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_callosum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Broca
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Wernicke
http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/brain/loclat.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002391/functions.html

PHINEAS GAGE

Phineas Gage was an American railroad construction worker born on July 9 1823, who worked constructing the Rutland & Burlington Railroad outside the town of Cavendish,Vermont. On September 13, 1848 when he was about 25 years old, he was to adding blasting powder into a hole created before on a rock, with a fuse, and sand, then compact the charge into the hole using a large iron rod. Accidentally the powder exploded, the iron rod he was using to compact the sand passed through his right side of the face passing through the left eye and out of his head. It is believed the iron rod landed about 80 feet or 25 meters away. Surprisingly Phineas Gage was able to speak a couple a minutes after the accident and manage to walk with no help and sat on a cart for almost a mile to the lodgings in his town. He was examined by two doctors who thought it was a miracle he was alive. He was almost a month in semi-comatose, family and friends were already ready for his death, but by November he was walking and talking normally. Phineas Gage left frontal lobe had been completely destroyed, that injury is reported to be directly relating with a person's behavior and personality. He became a very annoying person and friends did not enjoy being with him, friend though of him as "no longer Gage". The case of Phineas Gage was very helpful to the study of the brain and its functions. Scientists discovered that different parts of your brain have different tasks that make you who you are, for example the frontal lobe is responsible for your behavior and personality. Brain localization means that different parts of the brain carry out different functions, the whole brain do not work at the same thing. The concept of brain lateralization is that the two halves of the brain perform different functions, the two halves are connected by the corpus collosum which is a group of more than 200 million nerves that communicate both halves. The corpus collosum is not vital some people have the corpus collosum removed due to epilepsy. For right-handed people the "left brain" performs all the analytical thinking, while the "right-brain" controls feelings and creativity. In conclusion, the brain is divided in different parts that control how we think and react.

    

                                          

                       

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage

http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/brain/loclat.htm
http://www.theorderoftime.com/politics/cemetery/stout/h/brain-la.html 

http://joeltalks.com/web_images/phineas_gage_mcmillan.jpg

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/phineas_gage.jpg

http://static.open.salon.com/files/phineas.gif                     

Athletic Ability Nature or Nurture?

As science evolves scientists have now a better picture of pretty much everything. Scientists have developed a still unsolved controversial argument: is athletic ability nature (in your genes) or nurtured (environmental). There is evidence on both sides of the argument but a solution is still unknown. I believe it is mostly nurtured because you have to constantly practice to achieve what you want. 

Lionel Messi one of the best players of the world, had growing problems, short size and had to be held to medical help since little. Now he is the top player on the world and do not have physical advantage from other players because of his size and contexture, this in modern soccer is difficult because of the continuos struggles throughout the game that result mostly in adversity to small size people. But the other side of the controverse say that by being small Messi's has a smaller center of gravity and that allows him to make more maneuvers with the ball. Therefore I think Lionel Messi was both a "born" and "nurtured" super soccer player but through practice and perseverance he is now a superstar in soccer. Another example of this is Spain national soccer team, Spain is not known for being physically gifted the male popuation in Spain has an average of 1'75 meters tall. In modern day soccer strong and tall mostly overcome. But through perseverance and proper training since a young age Spain could develop a strong team and won the most prestigious tournament in soccer the World Cup.

Genetics determine strength, height, muscle size, lung capacity, flexibility, V02 Max flexibility and endurance basketball players give validity to this statement.   Most of the basketball have the characteristics of being tall, strong, fast and agile. Most of the basketball player surpass the height of 6"4 and many  people ask: Would he had become a NBA player with 6" feet tall? The answer is probably no. In a sport like basketball you have to be tall to succeed the taller you are the closer to the basket and you can score more easily.  An especific example in NBA is LeBron James, he has all the characteristics above, and many people may think he is a "natural" basketball player, and the he has also has an incredible athletic ability he said he can perfectly play american football. An example of all-stars that are believed to be a genetically gifted athletes are both Kobe Bryant and father Joe Bryant who used to play in the NBA.  Another example of a supposedly genetically gifted athlete is Lance Armstrong through tests he is determined to have one of the greatest V02 Max readings ever seen. This characteristic helped him to become the best cyclist ever seen. 

In conclusion, through research I believe that both nature and nurture have a say in a athlete. Even though by practice you can probably become and incredible athlete, it is true you need physical characteristics that will help you in your particular sport, like height in basketball. I believe that even though you need both nature and nurture you need more perseverance that natural characteristics like Lionel Messi, and think an athlete is influenced 60% nurtured because you need to practice hard and 40% nature because you need to have physical characteristics that help you. I had a good time researching about whether athletic ability is nature or nurture, because it is very controversial and interesting.

  

    

http://www.ine.es/revistas/estaespa/101_8.pdf

http://expertfootball.com/training/naturevsnurture.php

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2009/04/05/messi-leo090405getty.jpg

http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/lebron-james_photos.jpg

http://www.checkoutmycards.com/CardImages/Cards/078/391/08F.jpg

http://www.byjamesraia.com/content_images/2/Lance.jpg

NATURE vs NURTURE

The term "NATURE VS NURTURE", represents the common debate, on why you act or are the way you are was it in your genes, or your experiences have formed you? Throughout the years scientists have discovered that how you look is in your DNA, but cannot yet tell if the way you social interact is in your genes. This has been a hot topic in approximately the las fifteen years. The term "NATURE VS NURTURE" was first used by Francis Galton, he was Charles Darwin cousin and was mostly  influenced by his cousin's book "The Origin of Species". It would be a great discovery to tell who "wins" between NATURE VS NURTURE because it would let us understand why some people act the way they do. The most influential topics on this debate are: athletic ability, intelligence, criminal behavior, personality, homosexuality and a person's creativity. The main question is whether you were born with this traits or from practice and personal experience you developed this traits.  Most of the psychologists think most of what we get to do is nurtured to us rather than passed biologically. I think most of this traits are nurtured but people receive more thing biologically than their looks.

            

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture
http://www.adoptionblogs.com/media/FosterAdoption/nature_nurture.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuOTk_y-xsE9QrBYlIT7nj-cR0sREN7U5Hn2amZuWN2jjtstWMrCLFp2e0RvE7PoeXtKm3qnmxXSIgD4TotKG6FF_gN9qNTfU-wXmKgzpcrciAYLkcIdZhavILMvIye14p84sWnbZwU1s/s400/Nature_versus_Nurture.jpg

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was born in February 12, 1809. In Shwresbury, Shropshire in England. He was the fifth of a family of six children. He was son a wealthy doctor named Robert Darwin and Susanah Wedgwood. His family was estrictly christian and was baptised under the Anglican Church even though he attended the Unitarian chapel with  his mother and brothers. His father was secretly a freethinker. In July 1817 his mother died. He joined the Anglican Shwresbury School where his brother Erasmus attended. Darwin spent the summer of 1825 as an apprentice doctor, helping his father treat the poor of Shropshire, before going to the University of Edinburgh Medical School with his brother Erasmus in October 1825. He joined some some societies including the Plinian group. In March 1827 presented at the Plinian his own discovery that black spores found in oyster shells were the eggs of a skate leech. His attitude towards study annoyed his father who sent him to Christ's College, Cambridge, for a Bachelor of Arts degree. In his way back from an expedition to Wales with fellow classmates Darwin found a letter from Henslow proposing Darwin to be passenger of the HMS Beagle which was to leave in four weeks on an expedition to chart the coastline of South America with Robert FitzRoy captain. His father objected to the planned two-year voyage, but his brother-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood, convinced him to let Darwin go on the HMS Beagle. The lenghtfull of the trip Darwin took notes about geological features of the land, Brazil and Tierra del Fuego in Argentina showed him some fossils and how the features of the land changed. While, in Chile he suffered and earthquake he theorised that as the land rose,oceanic islands sank, and coral reefs round them grew to form atolls. But it was when he got to the Galapagos Islands that he started realizing the differences of birds from island to island. Then was he started of the theory of natural selection which took about 20 years of his life. The theory of natural selection or survivor of the Fittest of some call it consists that the stronger species lives and the weak die. If an animal cannot live under certain conditions it will die and that is why Darwin saw different birds on different islands, that was because of the different environment in every land. An example of the theory of natural selection may be to birds with different peeks if food has to be reached deep under the ground a bird with a long peek will survive and the bird with the small but thick peek would eventually die. Darwin spended about 25 years of his life getting enough evidence. At first, he kept his investigation in secret because his theory replaces God and his family and society were christian. He only talked about it with his daughter which died before he published the theory. He was separated  with his wife for a long time but then talked and even though his wife did not support him, she respected his beliefs. The christian society was the main cultural issue that made Darwin prolouge publishing his theory. He becamed obsessed with finding evidence to make a christian society accept his theory. He also became very sick because he overworked and did not get well sleep. What impulsated him most to publish his theory was the fear that another guy around the world had the same ideas and could steal him all the credit. He received many critics because of his work and was finally creddited for the Theory of Natural Selection, and still today many people reject his theory for religious views, some think he found enough evidence to prove his theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
Mr. Dougherty lesson

 

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of human and animal mental functions and behavior. A person who professionally practices psychology is called a psychologist. The word psychology means "the study of the soul" in ancient Greek. The German physician Wilhelm Wundt is known because he founded the first psychological laboratory. He is credited to set up psychology as a new science. I think we should study psychology because it helps us understand why people react as they do. And it will help understand ourselves and others around us.  http://www.psychology.org/