Psych Essays

The mind is what the brain (and body) does

Changes in grey matter induced by training (Brain) - Brain plasticity

Oral immunotheraphy as an effective allergy treatment (Health) – Symptoms framework

Changes in grey matter induced by training (Brain) - Brain plasticity

The mind is what the brain (and body) does - First half study

Researchers divided a homogenous group of participant, one as non-jugglers and the other as jugglers. Both groups were inexperienced at juggling at the time of their first brain scan. Students in the group were given 3 months to learn a classic juggling routine, having third brain scan and a third scan at another 3 month period. Brain MRI scans showed that juggling participants had structural change in brain areas and grey matter that are associated with the processing and storage of complex visual motion.

Oral immunotheraphy as an effective allergy treatment (Health)

The mind is what the brain (and body) does

Our minds construct our reality, meaning we can change our reality.

Our reality and experiences also change us.

In a study of child patients of oral immunotherapy for allergy treatment, the patients received the same treatment. However, one group was given the framework that “symptoms are an unfortunate side effect of the treatment” and the other as “symptoms are a signal that the treatment is working.” These frameworks were given to parents and children, either between discomfort and building the body’s strength. The children who faced symptoms as a side effect had higher anxiety and contact with the doctors, as well as lower treatment efficacy compared to children who saw the symptoms as a positive signal.

Shows that our perceptions, perceived realities and experiences can change both our psychological and physical outcomes. Our reality is shaped by how we interpret the events happening to us, whether good or bad.

Breakdowns and errors illuminate how psychological systems work.

Patient Elliot and the damage done to his ventrimedial prefrontal cortex (emotion & decision making)

IAT (implicit association test) errors unveils implicit biases (racism)

Patient Elliot and the damage done to his ventrimedial prefrontal cortex (emotion)

Breakdowns and errors illuminate how psychological systems work. - emotion shapes decision making

“Elliot” was a man with this damage who lost his job, pursued risky business schemes and divorced his wife only to marry someone no one liked. When he was at work, it took him long periods of time for simple tasks, stumped by mundane tasks. He would spend all afternoon analyzing documents with absurdity. The ventrimedial prefrontal cortex helps operate emotions – both positive and negative. Without affect or emotion in Elliot’s choices and no emotional feedback to tag future outcomes to good or bad, the mind becomes blind to long-term consequences.

IAT (implicit association test) errors unveils implicit biases (racism)

Breakdowns and errors illuminate how psychological systems work.

The IAT, assesses the ease with which 2 concepts are associated. The major example of this is the race-IAT, where a White American and a Black American are either associated with the words: good or bad. Results show that people are faster in categorizing when it is stereotype-consistent: where Black is associated with bad and White is associated with good. There is more error in associations when the associations are stereotype-inconsistent. These mistakes and errors in inaccurate associations unveil the implicit bias that exists in the majority American psyche.

Many psychological processes are natural, but that doesn't mean they are always good or even adaptive.

Visual cliff test in infants (emotion, misleading emotional information reliance and unreliable)

Asch Line Judgement test (influence, Asch study highlights that natural tendencies like conforming is not always beneficial, as it leads us away to accuracy, independence and good decision making.)

Asch Line Judgement test (influence) - error percentages?

Many psychological processes are natural, but that doesn't mean they are always good or even adaptive.

Behavior is often driven by forces outside of awareness.

Human life is profoundly shaped by our connections to others.

In the study, individuals were given the task to say which line is the longest in a group of lines. Alone, individuals made fewer than 1% errors. However, when participants were placed with a group of confederates that initially were correct but purposely gave the wrong answer, 37% of answers were wrong and 75% of the participants conformed to the wrong answer at least once. This shows that conformity is a natural process, attuned by evolution since it meant safety and acceptance.

Simple perceptual judgements like answering how long a line is subconsciously determined by the group that a participant is around.

Visual cliff test in infants (emotion, misleading emotional information reliance and unreliable) - percentages?

Many psychological processes are natural, but that doesn't mean they are always good or even adaptive.

Human life is profoundly shaped by our connections to others.

Results showed that if the mother showed joy on their face, 75% of the infants crossed, while if there was fear on their face 0% crossed the depth. Infants may avoid safe situations, failing to explore environments based on others’ emotions or have a mismatch in it. In this way, the visual cliff study highlights that a natural process like social referencing can guide infants, but it can also mislead them when the emotional information that they depend on is not reliable.

Behavior is often driven by forces outside of awareness.

Stereotype threat - Math GRE in women/men and performance/behavior impacts (intelligence)

Asch line judgement study - conformity is a subconscious factor in behaviors (influence)

Stereotype threat - Math GRE in women/men and performance/behavior impacts (intelligence)

Behavior is often driven by forces outside of awareness.

One group were told the test typically shows gender differences, while another group were told that the test shows no gender difference.  The results showed that the test description that had gender differences had women solving extremely less average items solved, compared to the men who were told the same description and the woman who were told that there was no gender differences. In fact, the women and men who were told that the test showed no difference in gender had a similar amount of items solved

stereotype threat

the psychological burden from the concern that one’s performance of behavior might confirm a negative stereotype about one’s group

Human life is profoundly shaped by our connections to others.

Visual cliff - dependence on social referencing (emotion)

Asch Line Judgement test (decisions are shaped by an unconscious social force)

Our minds construct our reality, meaning we can change our reality.

Change blindness in real world interactions (perception)

Oral immunotheraphy as an effective allergy treatment (Health) – Symptoms framework — mindset changed how body reacted

Change blindness in real world interactions (perception)

Our minds construct our reality, meaning we can change our reality.

In a study, a pedestrian (confederate) asked a participant for directions. The confederate changes to a different person as two people with a door blocks their viewer. Only half of the participants noticed the change, and the other half did not notice the change at all, continuing the conversation and providing  as if nothing had happened.  Provided that the meaning of the scene is unchanged, changes to objects can escape detection even when they occur during a natural, real-world interaction. In this way, the study shows that our living reality is not a perfect recording of the world, but an interpretation created by our minds. This can shift or change depending on where we place our attention.

Our reality and experiences also change us.

Hedonic treadmill — 1/3 point increase in happiness when each extra time with gym class

Oral immunotheraphy as an effective allergy treatment (Health)

Hedonic treadmill — 1/3 point increase in happiness when each extra time with gym class

Our reality and experiences also change us.

Participants of gym and yoga classes were approached as they were entering or exiting their class. Each extra time participants had attended a class in the previous month was associated with a ⅓ point increase in current happiness. Additionally, people who were surveyed after their physical activity class had higher levels of well being than those who were surveyed before their physical activity class. In this way, we see that our reality is not fixed uniformly, but our experiences, like physical activity can reshape our emotions and wellbeing, transforming us.