Health and Psychology

Assignment 1:

Watch the video from the PBS SHOW SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN: First Episode only It is 54 minutes - BABIES" When we are babies, our brains are more open to the shaping hand of experience than at any time in our lives." Watch the first episode to understand the role both nature and nurture plays.

HERE ARE SOME GUIDED QUESTIONS BASED ON THE FILM - This will not be collected rather you will have a quiz on the video

1. Describe the development of the neural tube.

2. What are some of the milestones in brain development (Critical periods) in-utero?

3. Why are preemies vital in understanding brain development?

4. What did you learn about development in the case of Elizabeth?

5. Why is the womb (uterus) so essential the last 3 months of gestation?

6. 50% of all preemies are impacted by this loss of three months outside the womb. Identify three deficits that often develop?

6. Explain what regressive events are in brain development

7. Why is the ICU so important in brain development of preemies?

8. What did you learn about vision of newborns in learning about Holly?

9. How is the impact of cataracts in an aging person very different than in an infant?

10. Our brains are plastic, especially the first year. Explain this statement in regard to what you learned from this video.

Assignment 2:

Chapter 10 -

Students will read a series of articles from NY Times and answer the questions

Article 1 : Rethinking the Colorful Classroom

Part A:

- What do the experts reveal about the effects of visual display in the classroom?

- How does age play a role?

- What confounding variables may have impacted on the students learning in the experiment conducted on the 24 kindergartners in the two classroom settings?

Part B:

— Does the way your classroom is decorated affect your learning? In what ways?

— Do you appreciate when teachers display your work — or your classmates’ work — on classroom walls? Why? What would you suggest to your teachers about how to improve the visual displays in your classroom?

— Do you pay attention to word walls or posters that are intended to remind you about material you are studying in class? I so which classes?

— Are your classrooms ever too decorated or distracting? If so which ones?Are your classrooms ever too unadorned or austere? Does it make a difference to your level of engagement or desire to learn?

— If you were a teacher trying to create a positive learning environment for students, how would you decorate your classroom?

ARTICLE 2

Part A

Go to Best Personality Tests according to the NY Times Take the third test " I Just Get Myself" personality test

  1. Do they think the test accurately reflects who you are? Why or why not?
  2. Ask students to think about the questions they answered.
  3. How do students think your answers might have contributed to your personality profile?
  4. Are there questions that the test should have included, but didn’t?
  5. What are these questions, and what would they address?

Part B: Lives of Sociable Spiders

  1. What are social spiders? How do they differ from solitary species?
  2. What is the definition of personality?
  3. What personality attributes did the researchers study in social spiders?
  4. How did the researchers measure these attributes?
  5. One of the scientists in the article said, “When you go into a group, your behavior changes depending on the nature of that group, but it can only change so far.” What does this mean in the context of social spiders?
  6. Do you think this statement applies equally to people? How?

Assignment 3 - Personality

Based on a series of articles- Write an article which illustrates your understanding of personality in people and in animals

  • What is personality? Is there any one definition of personality?
  • What are some of the main personality attributes that scientists investigate, in either people or animals? What can these personality attributes tell you?
  • How do scientists define attributes such as shyness, boldness and fear of novelty? What are some of the ways scientists explore these attributes experimentally?
  • Who conducted the study, and which questions does it address?
  • What are the study’s main findings, and what evidence supports these conclusions?

Here are articles for you to use:

  1. Even Among Animals- Leaders, Followers, and Schmoozers
  2. They've Got Personality
  3. Do Animals Have Personality?
  4. Lives of Sociable Spiders
  • _______________________________________________________________________________________
  • MEMORY
  • Assignment 4- Autism

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Assignment 5 - Language

When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder. Difficulties pronouncing sounds, or articulation disorders, and stuttering are examples of speech disorders.

When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder. A stroke can result in aphasia, or a language disorder.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In this assignment, you will review some of the neurological disorders that affect the ability to speak correctly and or understand language. You will find there are adult and child language disorders and you may research a disorder from either category. This activity will allow you to focus on the causes and treatments of language disorders, as well as descriptions of some of the typical language errors associated with each disorder. You will start your assignment using the American Speech Language Hearing Associationsite for your research, but some of the disorders include: strokes that damage hemispheres of the brain; Williams Syndrome; Aphasia; Deafness, etc.

(It would be a good idea i you are planning to take the AP Psychology exam in May to do ones that are a result of damage to the brain.)

A. After you have selected a disorder, prepare a 2-3 typed research report that includes the causes and treatments of the language disorder; descriptions of some of the typical language errors associated with the disorder; an explanation of the biological, cognitive, and cultural factors that contribute to the disorder; and, list your resources.

B. Create a visual display board for the class that illustrates the disorder in the brain. Be sure to focus this part as an illustrated guide to the disorder

Assignment 6 - STRESS AND HEALTH

Part 1: National Geographic - Stress Portrait of A Killer

Identify the different roles stress plays in our lives

Outline

Type a two page report based on National Geographic's Documentary based on these guided topics

Part II: Create a visual hierarchy of the information contained in the documentary on the first page of your assignment

  1. Draw a page-sized pyramid for your structure (See below for ideas)
  2. Discern the major-minor key points in the documentary
  3. As you find the big idea(s), write those in the apex of the pyramid
  4. Discern other key points, and note those in the next layers down of your pyramid

PS—If you wish to use an organizational format other than a pyramid, please do (but no routine outlines or bullet representations, please)

Assignment 7

FINAL PROJECT PAPER

CITATIONS HELP PAGE