Visual Week 16

Learner Objective: Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis.

This visual shows how ECT testing can be unethical because it harms the individual due to the high level of risk associated with the treatment.

Week 16

Learner Objective: Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process.

Research done by Dr. Charles Bae, MD shows that eating a spicy meal before going to sleep may trigger nightmares.  This is due to the fact that the heightened metabolism and temperature required to digest the food can cause more brain activity and thus more action during rapid eye movement sleep, the only point during the sleep cycle in which nightmares may occur.  It could also be due to a person's sensitivity to the chemical composition of certain foods, says Tore Nielsen.

This study demonstrates the learner objective because it shows how the digestion and REM (biological processes) can influence the cognitive process of nightmares and their frequency.

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Week 15 Visual

Learner Objective: Analyze etiologies of one affective disorder.  This shows a cognitive etiology for depression since relying on alcohol can lead to negative thoughts, a cause of major depression.

Week 15

Learner Objective: Evaluate one theory of how emotion can affect one cognitive process

Research by Matthijs Bal has shown that people who experience the emotions of characters within a novel tend to be more empathetic.  Bal asked a group of 36 students to read a short story or a newspaper article and then in a second study asked 50 people to read an excerpt from a novel and newspaper articles.  What he found was that people had higher levels of "emotional transportation" from fiction and those with a high "emotional transportation" tended to have a higher level of empathy after having read the passage.  Thus, people can become more "involved" in fiction reading and through placing themselves in a character's shoes become more empathetic towards real life situations.

This shows the learner objective because the study exemplifies how emotions experienced through a character changes empathy.


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Week 14 Visual

Learner Objective: Animal research can provide insight into human behavior.

This visual shows that tests can be done on animals to gain knowledge on human behavior.  In this experiment the rats are being used to see what causes overeating.

Week 14

Learner Objective:  Behavior can innate because it is genetically based.

People often categorize male and female behavior but recent research by Bobbi Carothers and the University of Rochester suggest differently.  Using data from over 13,000 individuals and thirteen different studies Carothers found that there were some categorical differences but psychological measures tended to overlap.  Men and women fell into a continuum over areas like sex and relationships instead of the assumed categorical areas.

This study relates to the learner objective because it shows how some behaviors are genetically based but not necessarily according to gender.

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Visual Week 13

This visual shows the learner objective "humans have a social self," meaning a person has different sides of themselves that they display socially and even with specific people.  In the picture one person has different views of themselves according to the social situation they're in.

Week 13

Learner Objective: Social and cultural environments affects behavior

Baseball fans find the old-style baseball announcer voices familiar with their enunciated, tinny sound but where does it come from?  Professors at Duke University say that the unique sound is called Transatlantic speech and is a specific style taught in acting schools to this day.  The technique is taught to acting students in an effort to eliminate the regional dialects of the day and make it easier for anyone listening to understand it.


This represents the learner objective because baseball announcers learned to speak this way due to their environment.  It is an example of Social Learning Theory where the students learn a behavior from an elder and eventually display the behavior in their own way.  Thus, social and cultural environments affect behavior.

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Visual Week 4

This visual is from Bandura's famous experiment that first explained social learning theory.  The child is seen displaying aggressive behavior towards a doll after observing an adult act in a similar fashion.

Social Learning Theory

The social learning theory says that humans learn from observing others, as first seen in the Bobo doll experiment.  Another study by Indiana University says that children who observe social bullying or aggression on TV are likely to carry out these undesirable actions.  This is partially due to the fact that the behaviors are normally presented in a humorous manner instead of being chastised for it.

This represents how humans learn through interaction with others and that these actions are not always socially acceptable even if they are seen in public.

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Visual Week 3

This graph shows how incorrect stereotypes can cause change in the behavior of humans.  Under stereotypical threat blacks performed significantly lower than when they were not under the threat of their less intelligent stereotype.

Errors in Attribution

Because culture is so ingrained in humans they often make errors in attributing traits that sometimes cause them to appear in the people who are wrongly being classified.   For example in a study by Steve Woods he found that the differences in IQs of blacks versus whites were at their highest when there was the most racism.  In the 1960s and 1970s the gap between blacks and whites' IQs were much higher than they are now, where there is almost no racism.

Therefore, it is not an actual difference in intelligence that causes the gap but the incorrect delegation of traits that created a reaction in blacks to make themselves less smart.

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Visual Week 2

This visual demonstrates the traits assigned to men and women because of their culture.  However, as some studies have proven this is not entirely accurate in many cases.

Limitations of Cultural Dimensions

Although cultural dimensions can be used to describe many human behaviors it is, like most singular areas of psychology, reductionist.  To say that one's behavior is only influenced by their culture is to reject their genes and all other factors as being part of their psychological makeup.

A study that exemplifies this is Carothers's study to determine whether traits usually associated with boys and traits usually associated with girls were actually as polar as often believed.  She obtained data from over 13,000 individuals and found that traits like sex drive were not nearly as different between men and women as culture makes them out to be.  So, her experiment shows how cultural dimensions can be limiting in studying psychology.

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2nd 6 Weeks - Visual 1

This image displays a woman overcoming a cultural view of women.  Since according to culture women are supposed to be more delicate it is less likely that a woman would be found doing masculine activities such as operating construction vehicles.

Cultural Dimensions

Dr. Laura Azzarito studied 60 14 and 15 year olds and their school sport activities and found that girls were less likely to participate in a school PE class/sport.  She asked the children to keep video diaries that monitored their exercise and found that not only did girls exercise less but they also were less likely to include video of them participating in a contact sport.

This relations to cultural dimensions because culture has designated that girls are supposed to be more fragile while boys take part in more robust activities such as sports and exercise.  Due to this part of culture girls have changed psychologically to believe that they are not supposed to take part in activities related to men even years after women became equal with men in many countries.

http://www.bps.org.uk/news/some-girls-not-comfortable-sport-and-pe

Evolutionary Psychology Visual

Evolutionary psychology says that men look for certain attributes in women, like blonde hair, to determine fertility.  Women look for men who can best raise their children so money and social status are extremely important to them.

Evolutionary Psychology

Learner Objective: Examine one effect of evolution on behavior.

The media has made women like Barbie, blonde bombshells, the most appealing kind of women to our culture.  A study by Kanasawa says that men prefer women with blonde hair because it is an indicator of youth.  Because blonde hair evolved in Scandinavia, where people were forced to be clothed from an early age, men developed the notion that blonde hair indicates youth since most people lose their light hair in adulthood.  Therefore, when men prefer women with light hair they a unconsciously searching for the youngest mate possible which would probably bear them the most children.

This study shows how evolution can change how we define attractiveness and our behavior towards potential mates.  It also labels this version of a desirable women as more than just media created but also evolutionary.

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Hormones Visual Week 3

Hormones cause women to be more attracted to rebellious men during ovulation, bringing to the forefront the need to reproduce and changing their behavior to believe that bad boys could become good fathers.

Hormones and Behavior 3

Learner Objective: Explain the functions of hormones on human behavior.

People have often asked the question of why some women go for bad boys over the nice guy.  A recent study by Kristina Durante of the University of Texas observed women during ovulation and concluded that hormones released by ovulation push women towards the sexier, rebellious men in an attempt to become pregnant.  They also delude themselves into thinking that those men will be better fathers than the "nice guys."

This shows how a hormone can cause humans to take on some of their primeval instincts, even through years of evolution.  It also is another example of hormones' functions in human behavior.

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Hormones Visual Week 2

Hormone imbalance at different times during a woman's menstrual cycle actually does cause mood swings, affecting the normal behavior of a woman.  This displays the learner objective of how hormones affect human behavior.

Hormones Visual Week 1

Testosterone in males causes them to become sexually attracted to females.  Another hormone, oxytocyn, causes partners to be more loyal to their life partners.  This cartoon displays how hormones affect human behavior.

Hormones and Behavior #2

A recent study by Dr. Armin Falk from the University of Bonn discovered that testosterone levels are related to honesty.  He put participants in scenarios and gave some extra testosterone and others a placebo.  Those who were given the extra testosterone lied less frequently than the placebos.  

This was surprising since testosterone had always been linked to risky and aggressive behavior.  However, because the hormone is also linked to pride this may explain why those who had been given extra testosterone levels were more willing to be honest since they might have been promoting themselves.

Falk's study is related to the learner objective because the hormone affected the normal behavior by increasing their desire to tell the truth.

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Hormones and Behavior

Learner Objective: Explain the functions of hormones in human behavior.

Recent research published in the Journal of Neuroscience says that a hormone called oxytocyn may help preserve monogamous relationships.  In their study male participants, both single and monogamous  were placed an equal distance away from an attractive woman.  None of them kept their distance.  However, when oxytocyn was administered to the participants monogamous men kept a much further distance from the woman than single men.  This means that by keeping you and your partner's oxytocyn levels high they could be more faithful in the relationship.

This is related to the learner objective because the hormone oxytocyn, when raised, changed the natural reaction of monogamous men to beautiful women.  Without a large amount of that hormone the men behaved the same as single men.

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