Classical Conditioning : )

Ivan Pavlov

1.       When Pavlov discovered the theory of classical conditioning, he was actually trying to learn more about the digestive system and its secrets.

2.       Pavlov’s experiment was conducted in many steps:

a.       He rang a bell in front of the dog

b.      He showed him food (dog salivated)

c.       He gave him food (dog liked it)

d.      He repeated these steps several times

                                                               i.      He rang bell (dog salivated) even if food was not given

                                                             ii.      It created a behavior on the dog

3.       Conditional stimulus: bell, unconditional stimulus: Food, conditioned response: Salivation.

4.       Extinction: extinction occurs when the classical conditioning or response decreases until it disappears.

5.       To give similar responses when the response has been conditioned

6.       To be able to detect differences from one stimuli to another.

7.       Two limitations of experiment:

a.       The experiment was done on dogs, not humans, and results can vary.

b.      Dogs can salivate at any time with the tubes surgically inserted in the salivary glands.

8.       After his experiment, he theorized that we link two or more things together, and have a response over them.

John B. Watson

1.       Little Albert:

a.       The baby was exposed to many objects

                                                               i.      A white rat

                                                             ii.      A rabbit

                                                            iii.      A monkey

                                                           iv.      Masks

                                                             v.      Burning newspaper

1.       He demonstrated no fear of any of them

b.      The next time little Albert was exposed the rat, Watson made a loud noise with a metal pipe. The child began to cry. After repeatedly paring the rat with the loud noise, Albert began to cry only by seeing the rat.

c.       This created him a phobia to any white-furry object, because of classical conditioning

2.       Conditioned stimulus: white rat, Unconditional stimulus: Loud noise, Conditioned response: Albert’s fear.

3.       Limitations of experiment:

a.       It was incorrect to do it on a baby

b.      It was done at a baby, this might not work on adults

4.       "The more frequent a stimulus and response to occur in association with each other, the stronger that habit will become." (John B. Watson)

5.       "The response that has most recently occurred after a particular stimulus is the response most likely to be associated with that stimulus." (John B. Watson)

6.       Basic assumptions of behaviorism

a.       Behaviors are the result of the experiences with the environment.

b.      Learning involves a change in behaviors.

c.       Many species learn in similar ways.

http://www.ws.edu/socialsci/lcampbell/Chapter10/sld002.htm

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/John_B._Watson

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

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-stimulusdiscrimination.html

Being A Night Owl In High School

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

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609072813.htm

The research was made by a research abstract. The article talks about teenagers that are in high school, having a low GPA. Teenager night owls are those who sleep very late at night or the ones who party late. Because of the sleep deprivation, their brains get tired, and did not have time to recharge, therefore students get tired, and they eventually get a low GPA. In my opinion, sleep deprivation is very bad, because it affects us very much.  

School One Hour Later

Starting High School One Hour Later May Reduce Teen Traffic Accidents

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081215074351.htm

Many high school students (mostly seniors) are 16 years old, and are able to drive because they have a driver’s license.  According to www.sciencedaily.com teenagers driving to school, tend to have car accidents because they did not receive complete sleep during the night, and because they needed to wake up very early to go to school. If school started a little bit later, teenagers could sleep at least an hour more and could renew their brain correctly. In my opinion I think that the accidents can be caused by the lack of sleep, but not only that, I think that accidents also occur because they are not that experienced in driving.  

Students with A Delayed School Start Time Sleep Longer!!!

High School Students with A Delayed School Start Time Sleep Longer, Report Less Daytime Sleepiness

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071202.htm

The article was authored by Zaw W. Htwe, MD, of Norwalk Sleep Disorders Center in Norwalk (NSDC) Conn.  Students all over the world are affected by daytime sleepiness during class time and after school hours. Zaw did his studies using the information of 259 high school students, through a questionnaire method.  Zaw has made many studies, and has gotten to the conclusion that because this is because of the lack in sleep during nights, the sleepiness accumulates, so he has developed an idea, that if school starts a little bit later, adolescents will have more sleep hours. Teens will sleep more, and their brains will be as new every day. In my opinion, I think that this article is assertive because, normally, teenagers tend to be sleepier in the mornings, and we tend to sleep very late.

The Teenage Brain video (Response)

The Teenage Brain Response

               After watching the video about The Teenage Brain, I learned many useful information; this because I am a teenage. The first thing I noticed about the video was that most teenagers have problems with their relationship between them and their parents. They are most likely to be rebel during the teenage years, then when they are small or mature. The teenage brain is full of much confusion, because of the changes that the body has during puberty. During puberty, hormones are being produced, and this affects the brain in general, but not in a bad way.

               The second thing I noticed and learned about the brain, through the video, was that the teenager´s brain is not in its full growth in size and in general. The teenager´s brain is changing during these years, and it is making the body change as well. Some effects of this, are feeling disorders, relationships, and the rebel behavior against parents and other people surrounding them.

               In conclusion, the teenage brain is a little bit more complicated to understand, than that a normal adult´s brain. I really think that this video is very useful, and that it helps understand the teenage brain better.

Bibliography:

http://www.google.hn/imgres?imgurl=http://workshoprms.wikispaces.com/file/view/TeenBrainOriginalFLAT.jpg/32236481/TeenBrainOriginalFLAT.jpg&imgrefurl=http://workshoprms.wikispaces.com/&usg=__CXa07cLokeeZpqVSGJjHeBZLa3k=&h=2400&w=2400&sz=1882&hl=es&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=yssZRxpTD17HgM:&tbnh=153&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dteenage%2Bbrain%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1680%26bih%3D905%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=226&ei=KAikTK34J4aBlAf5rp3KCw&oei=KAikTK34J4aBlAf5rp3KCw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=42&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=74&ty=101

Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was an American railroad constructer foreman; he was a very good and caring person. His is very famous for his survival to an incredible accident in the process of detonating a rock to create a railroad. His job was to detonate big rocks with TNT that blocked the path to create railroads. The process was to dig a hole in the rock and to stick in the TNT, so that it is in the middle of it. After this, he stuck sand into it and compressed it with a tamping rod so that the explosion pressure, would distribute equally.  One day, when he was doing the compressing part of the job, a spark was created with the tamping rod and made the TNT explode, because Gage was with the rod in his hands, the pressure made the tamping rod trespass his eye and frontal part of his head.

After this event happened he was translated to the hospital immediately; he was still alive. The doctor made what he needed to do, and then gave Gage 1 year in the hospital. After that year, he finally got out of the hospital and decided to continue in his same job. As a result of his injuries, he became a grumpy, selfish and mad person. He did not care of people and their problems anymore.  He was expulsed from this job, because of his new personality, so he decided to do other jobs, until he found the only job that was good for him; he was a freak from a freak show.

Because of the Phineas Gage’s accident, we could learn that the frontal part of the brain controls our personality.  Brain localization is a very important discovery because with it, doctors and scientists can learn more about humans and the way they are affected when an accident happens in their brains.

The brain lateralization theory, explains that the left side of the brain, controls the right side of your body, and vice versa.

All pictures:Google Images

Bibliography:

http://www.theorderoftime.com/politics/cemetery/stout/h/brain-la.htm#What%20is%20the%20theory%20of%20"brain%20lateralization

http://www.answers.com/topic/localization-of-brain-function-and-cortical-maps

Personality mini essay: Nature or Nurture?

Personality is something that all of us have; and each one of us has very different personalities. But, why is our personality different than our siblings, if we grew in the same home? Or why do twins have different personalities? This is why this is a very important topic in the debate. Nature and Nurture both influence personality in many ways. Personalities may vary depending on your parents and their descendants.  People who exhibit similar characteristics will exhibit similar personalities. This is one example of nature affecting personality; another example of nature determining personality is that maybe a grandparent was very friendly and then his son might be an anti-social, but, the grandson has lots of probabilities to have lots of friends because of the grandparent’s genes. Personality is affected by nature, but also by nurture, or environment. One example is me, when I was in elementary I used to be very shy, because all my classmates from first grade to third grade were also very shy. When I entered middle school, I started to hang out with other people who were not shy at all, but, I was still a little bit shy. I repeated the eighth grade and I had all new classmates, but they were all crazy, and since I was surrounded by them, I was no longer shy. “Our personality is all about our environment” (my aunt). I totally agree with my aunts “quote” because if you live with parents that are odd and weird, you will probably be the same; but there are some exceptions, there was one kid I knew last year, he is called Benjamin and is four years old, but, he is very crazy and rebel. The first thing that came to my mind was, “If he is like this, I want to know how his parents are”. Last Saturday I met his dad and mom in a graduation party, and I also met his brother. His mom is very strict, just a little bit more than Benjamin’s dad. His brother is like an angel; he cleans everything and is very tranquil. So, I asked myself, “why is he like this and Benjamin not”, could it be nature or nurture? I personally think that personality is determined by both nature and nurture, but it is mostly influenced by nurture because your personality shapes as you grow and in which environment you grew on. Personality is a very important topic and it is definitely one of the topics discussed in the debate that has the most controversy. Nature or Nurture?

Since the Nature vs. Nurture theory was discovered, a big debate began. The debate discussed various topics. Some of the topics discussed were, homosexuality, personality, creativity, criminal behavior and others. I think all of them are really important and that all of those are caused because of both, Nature and Nurture. Personality is one of the topics that have had lots of controversies, that is why I have chosen it as my topic.

Bibliography:

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro06/web1/ttomasic.html