ASSIGNMENT 08

S01 Introduction to Psychology I

Introduction to psychology 1

Three Psychological Dimensions of Vision

Vision has received more attention from researchers than the other senses. Because most

individuals rely on their eyesight to carry out their daily activities, the sense of sight has become

extremely complex. Light, on the other hand, is required for vision to exist. Even nocturnal

creatures renowned for their ability to navigate in the dark require illumination to see. Natural

light such as the sun and stars, as well as artificial light such as bulbs and candles, provide visible

light. People perceive light as having three characteristics: color/hue, brightness, and saturation.

The wavelength of light, or the distance between the peaks of its waves, determines its colour or

hue. To put it another way, it's the designation for the pure spectrum columns that go by the

labels red, orange, and yellow, blue, green, and violet. In addition, shorter waves are viewed as

violet and blue, whereas larger waves are seen as orange and red. The sun, on the other hand,

emits white light, which is a blend of all visible wave lengths. Drops of moisture in the air can

behave as a prism, splitting the sun's white light into the hues we recognize as the rainbow.

The brightness of light is another way that people feel it. The intensity or amount of light that an

object emits or reflects is connected to the brightness of light. The brightness of light waves is

determined by their amplitude, or height. In general, the brighter an object seems the more light

it reflects. Yellow light appears brighter than red or blue light. The wavelength, on the other

hand, has an effect on brightness. Even when their physical intensities are equivalent, yellow

lights, for example, appear brighter than blues and browns. This is due to the fact that yellow's

wave length is longer than blue's. Another aspect of eyesight is saturation. Light complexity, or
the range of wavelengths in light, determines saturation or colorfulness. A single wavelength's

colors is pure spectral color. Fully saturated lights are what they're called when they're like this.

Furthermore, light is frequently a blend of multiple various wavelengths; the lower the

saturation, the more spectral colors there are in a light. Furthermore, mixed-wavelength light

appears duller or paler than pure light. To summarize, wave length determines hue or colour, but

the amplitude (highest height) of a light wave determines brightness. Finally, the complexity of

light is used to determine saturation. Overall, these visual aspects enable creatures to detect

physical objects in their environment.

Circadian Rhythms and the Body’s “Biological Clock”

"Circadian rhythms are biological rhythms that occur about every 24 hours," according to

(Tavris, C., Wade, C., p143). They originated in plants, animals, and people as a response to the

numerous variations brought about by the Earth's rotation on its axis, such as changes in light, air

pressure, and temperature." In layman's words, circadian rhythms are the unconscious patterns

that humans' body functions follow on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. For example, I wake up

at 6 a.m. every day without using an alarm clock. In addition, most women have a monthly

menstrual period. Automatically, the body's circadian cycles take place.

Furthermore, circadian rhythms are influenced by signals from the environment as well as

natural variables within the body. Is light the primary trigger for regulating circadian rhythms by

activating or deactivating genes that regulate an organism's internal clock? Circadian rhythms are

controlled by the body's biological clock, which is housed in a small cluster of cells.

The suprachiasmatic nucleus is located in the hypothalamus (SCN). Biological clocks are the

body's built-in time mechanism. The SCN regulates hormone and neurotransmitter levels, which

in turn offer input that influences the SCN's activity. Melatonin, a hormone regulated by the
SCN, is secreted by the pineal gland deep within the brain during the dark hours. Melatonin

helps to keep the biological clock in sync with the light-dark cycle by inducing sleep.

It is critical to recognize that circadian rhythms and the biological clock of the body are critical

aspects of psychology. To begin with, studies have demonstrated that disruptions in the body's

clock have negative consequences for humans. Internal desynchronization can occur for a variety

of causes, such as when people fly across many time zones. Temperature and hormone cycles

can take several days to return to normal, although sleep and wake patterns normally adjust fast.

"This sometimes impacts energy level, mental skills, and motor coordination (Sack 2010)," says

(Tavros, C., Wade, C., p143). As a result, disruptions in the biological clock can have much

more negative consequences. "Decades of studies have pointed up links between rhythm

problems and depression," according to (Golovkin, L., & Maliszkewicz, A. 2012). Furthermore,

a biological clock malfunction has an impact on mood, mental attentiveness, hunger, and cardiac

function. In addition, ongoing study is looking into the negative health effects that a depressed

circadian mood might have on the body, such as an increased risk of cardiovascular events,

obesity, and a link to neurological difficulties like depression and bipolar disorder.

Sensation and Perception and the doctrine of specific nerve energies

The detection of physical energy released or reflected by physical things is known as sensing. To

detect the energy being emitted, humans use sense detectors placed in sense organs such as the

ears, eyes, mouth, skin, and nose. When a cold object is inadvertently placed on Sam's hand, she

instinctively jerks away. Sam detects something cold and reacts accordingly. A perception, on

the other hand, is a set of mental operations that organise sensory impulses into a logical pattern.

As a result, in the case above, Sam felt something cold on her hand, which she mistook for a

cube of ice. The energy of the stimulus (cold material) was transformed into electrical impulses
by the sense receptors, which travelled through nerves to the brain. The brain evaluated the data

and combined it with information from previous experiences to develop the impression that the

object was ice.

Furthermore, it may be difficult to comprehend how the brain transmits all of the inputs detected

in a single instance and analyses it quickly. As a result, a German psychologist named Johannes

Muller developed the theory of unique nerve energies. Distinct sensory modalities (such as

vision and hearing) exist, according to the idea, because signals received by the sense organs

excite different pathways that lead to different areas of the brain.

For example, if Sam saw a tiger, felt a pinch from a snake bite, and heard the distant howl of a

wolf, each stimulus would excite distinct nerves, each of which would activate a different part of

the brain. The sight of the lion would send an impulse to the visual cortex through the optic

nerve, while the sound of the wolf would send impulses to the auditory cortex along the auditory

nerve. Overall, this leads Sam to be aware of all of the stimuli in her environment at the same

time. However, there are times when the notion of particular nerve energies is broken, which is

known as sensory crossover. Synesthesia is an uncommon disorder that causes sensory

crossover. Synesthesia is a condition in which activation of one sense causes a sensation in

another.

A person with synesthesia, for example, might smell a perfume if a sound was played. Isn't that

strange? Synesthetic might be born with the condition or develop it as a result of brain damage.

With synesthesia knowledge, I agree with (Boring1957, p. 34) that a major element of Muller's

law is that our conscious experience of the stimuli is directly attributable to the location in the

brain where the nerves finish, rather than the stimuli themselves. Rachlin, H (2014) cites

Johannes Muller (1801-1858) as proof for his law, stating that stimuli other than those
functioning through their respective sense organs cause nerves to activate, as demonstrated in

patients with synesthesia and people with head traumas. A person who takes a hit to the head, for

example, may activate visual nerves, causing him or her to "see stars," or auditory nerves,

causing him or her to "hear chimes." Only this nerve energy, according to Muller, is available to

our intellect. They must build the world out of this energy and whatever intrinsic tendencies our

minds have. For the following hundred years, and even today, how they manage this creation

became the business of all of psychology, as well as non-behavioristic psychology. It's worth

noting that in the subject of psychology, it's critical to recognise that people may not perceive

exactly what you want them to perceive or what others see as evident. Based on what we know

about perception and how information travels through the brain's circuits, it's possible that it may

wind up at the wrong end, we can clearly see that perception is based on individual formalities.

Principles of Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist, was the first to study classical conditioning. When a neutral

stimulus is combined with an unconditioned stimulus that already evokes a specific

unconditioned response, the unconditioned stimulus gets linked with the neutral stimulus. The

neutral stimulus then transforms into a conditioned stimulus, capable of eliciting a conditional

response comparable to the unconditioned response. So, for example, when Tommy's teacher

beats him with a ruler, he screams. The unconditioned stimulus is the ruler, and the

unconditioned response is crying. However, if the teacher gives Tommy the famed 'mad eye'

every time he is beaten, Tommy will begin to link this look with being thrashed. Tommy will cry

to the 'mad eye' look after a while, even if the teacher does not hit him. Therefore the ‘angry eye’

has become a conditioned stimulus because Tommy has learnt that that eye occurs every time

before he gets beaten.

This conditioned reaction can last months or even years. The conditioned response will decrease

and finally disappear if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly provided without the

unconditioned stimulus, a process known as extinction. As a result, in the case of Tommy, the

instructor already knows that giving him the 'mad eye' will cause him to weep, so she stops

beating him and only gives him that look after a while. Tommy will eventually discover that the

teacher's angry stare is merely a threat with no action behind it. When the teacher gives him the

angry eye look, he will ultimately cease sobbing. Extinction is the term for this.

However, one day, Tommy might just cry again if the teacher gives him the angry eye look. This

is due to the fact that extinction is not synonymous with unlearning. It's simply a thinning of the

reaction. Nonetheless, spontaneous recovery refers to the reemergence of a learnt reaction after

its apparent extinction. Furthermore, the teacher can elicit the same reaction from Tommy

without using the angry eye or the stick. Higher order conditioning can help with this. By pairing

a neutral stimulus with an already established conditioned stimulus, a neutral stimulus can

become a conditioned stimulus through higher order conditioning. As a result, the instructor

might give Tommy the angry eye look before sending him to the naughty corner to be punished.

Putting him in the corner, on the other hand, will make him scream because he knows he will be

beaten. As a result of standing in the corner, the condition response of sobbing was triggered.

Finally, certain stimuli can be generalised while others can be differentiated in classical

conditioning. This is why classical conditioning is so significant in psychology.

When interacting with kids and correcting or modifying particular behaviors, teachers can

benefit greatly from this understanding. Comparable stimuli may elicit similar reactions if a

stimulus gets conditioned for some responses, a phenomenon called as stimulus generalization.

Tommy, for example, may begin to cry whenever the teacher asks him to stand after he does
something wrong. Tommy may equate standing near his desk with standing in the corner,

causing him to cry. He may, however, differentiate specific stimuli, which is a reflection of

generalization. People may respond differently to two or more comparable stimuli during

stimulus discrimination.

Overall, understanding the classical condition and its concepts is an important aspect of

psychology. This form of education lays the groundwork for figuring out how people learn and

why they act the way they do. With this information, psychologists could utilize the principles to

help disturbed youngsters reverse or fix particular behaviors. Teachers, politicians, and

advertisers have all made use of this information. For example, Macklin, M. C. (1986) quotes the

work of (Nord and Peter 1980), who stated that advertisers tend to frequently employ classical

conditioning principles when constantly coupling exciting or seductive voices, music, and so on

with a product. This is also evident in many of our local marketing for alcoholic beverages and

breweries. There are usually attractive ladies on there with enticing voices. It may be that people

associate alcohol with sexual activity and that in turn brings about a positive response.

Social roles and norms and its contributions to social rules that govern culture

Humans live in a complicated social environment with a complex set of rules, expectations, and

standards that are an unspoken aspect of their daily lives. To begin with, social norms give us

guidelines for how we should behave and act, which are enforced by threats of punishment if we

break them and promises of reward if we follow them. Unwritten guidelines of how individuals

should act are known as social norms. Norms help to keep society in order and to comprehend

social influence in general. Conformity refers to the expected conduct when following a set of

rules. A social role, on the other hand, is a set of actions that are required of someone with a
specific position. It is a socially acknowledged, comprehensive pattern of conduct that allows an

individual to be identified and placed within a culture.

Furthermore, job expectations might shift over time and among cultures. Both acts and traits are

included in the role expectations. As a result, a person's status might be linked to multiple roles,

which is referred to as a role set. People's responses and behaviour in society are guided by social

norms and roles. They establish expectations and behaviours that enable people to communicate

and understand one another, reducing confusion. Overall, societal standards have a big influence

on how we make decisions and live our lives. According to (Brabers, Anne E.m., et al. 2016),

whose study shown that social norms do play a role in explaining involvement in medical

decision-making.

They discovered that the more conservative societal standards are, the less likely people are to

participate in such decisions.