Bibliography

Information:
Myers, David. PSYCHOLOGY. seventh edition. New York: Worth Publishers, 2003. 193-263. Print.
"Taste." Taste, Information about Taste (2012): n.pag. FAQs. Web. 15 Oct 2012. http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/61/Taste.html.
"Try The McGurk Effect! - Horizon: Is Seeing Believing?." BBC two. BBC: 10 2010. Web. 15 Oct 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0>.
Myers, David. PSYCHOLOGY. seventh edition. New York: Worth Publishers, 2003. 66-67. Print.
 
"Sensations of Temperature." Britannica 23. (2012): 1876-1877. Library Index. Web. 16 Oct 2012. <http://www.libraryindex.com/encyclopedia/pages/cpxl7kur4h/sensations-temperature-cold-skin.html>.
Mrs. Daniel
Notes
My brain!!!

Pictures: 
 http://chrisbodnarphotoblog.com/lonely-bicycle-lost-found-film/
http://scimad.com/what-is-electromagnetic-spectrum/
http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~avery/course/3400/vision/rod_cone_microscope.gif
http://www.websightmd.com/eyeanatomy.html
http://gettingstronger.org/2010/05/opponent-process-theory/
http://www.luskeye.com/myopia.html
http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/farsighted/Interesting

http://qohire.fbdhost.com/illustration-of-human-ear.php
http://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/web2/audio/ch02_01.htm
http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/01/wave-properties.html
http://nursingcomments.com/do-you-know-about-labyrinthitis/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/tongue2.htm
http://www.sweetconfectionsbygiselle.com/
http://izismile.com/2011/05/02/sour_faced_kids_23_pics.html
http://www.abetterbagofgroceries.com/tag/salty-snacks/
http://atlanta-acupuncture.net/blog/2010/11/a-ton-of-bitter-melon-produces-sweet-results-for-diabetes/
http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dish/Rosemary-Roasted-Chicken.aspx

http://www.rightfoot.com.au/corns-calluses
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/02/afghanistan-february-2012/100254/
http://webctor.com/articles/ice_pack,1683,1.html
http://www.americasnewsonline.com/brain-studies-further-advancement-in-pain-relief-912/
http://gracefulagony.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/gate-control-theory-of-pain/
http://asecretforest.typepad.com/blog/i-see-pastry/
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/beautiful-pictures/images/31664995/title/gymnast-on-balance-beam-photo

http://www.seattlechildrens.org/kids-health/page.aspx?kid=20336&lic=400&cat_id=46
http://www.justcocooil.com/2012/02/13/unleash-your-inner-love-goddess-with-just-coco/




 

Smell

 So today I was in spanish class and it's right next to the gourmet foods classroom. The aroma of the chicken stir-fry was creeping into the room and it got me thinking. How does our sense of smell work? When I got home, I did some research. This is what I found out:



 

Smell is a chemical sense. When the the molecules of a substance go through the nostrils to the nasal cavity, the 5 million olfactory receptor cells inside respond to the aroma of the substance-ergo, we have the sense of smell. The olfactory bulb Olfactory bulb is located in the limbic system and it controls our sense of smell.

Did you know that smell is associated with memory? Well, because the olfactory bulb is located in the limbic system (which contains the hippocampus which controls memory) we can relate smell to our memories. Here's a picture to demonstrate------>

Cool, right?!?!?!?!? :)

Touch/Other senses

 Hey guys! So I've read some of your comments and I made another lesson plan according to your feedback. Let me know if you like this lesson plan is better! :)

TOUCH


When someone puts their hand on your back, you can feel their touch. This is because the skin is covered in specialized nerve endings. The nerve endings contain receptors that send sensory neurons through the spinal chord to the brain. The brain responds and interprets the information as pressure, warmth, cold, or pain.


Pressure




Pressure is a continuing force on your skin by something that it comes in contact with.
Calluses are caused when too much pressure/friction  is applied to certain parts of your feet.




Warmth




Warmth is the feeling of something above body temperature irritating the sense receptors on your skin. When you're cold, your body temperature goes up, so when you hold your cold hands over a fire, you feel a warm sensation.



Cold



Cold is the sensation of something that is below normal body temperature irritating the sense receptors on your skin. When you touch frozen water, the temperature is below you body temperature so it feels cold to the touch. 
Have you ever touched cold metal and it felt wet? Well that's because wetness is a variation of cold sensation.



And finally, Pain
















Pain occurs in the brain. When you experience pain, it's your brain telling you that something is wrong. Whether it may be a burn from touching a curling iron or falling off your bike causing you to scrape your knee, your brain is trying to tell you that you have damaged your skin or tissue. Pain influences your behavior and teaches you not to do the thing that caused you pain in the first place again. Your autonomic nervous system controls your reflexes that are triggered after immediate pain. If you touch something hot, your hand or leg immediately jerks away before you even realize the pain. This happens because the sensory receptors send sensory neurons to the spinal chord. Your spinal chord translates the neurons as pain, and passes a stimuli to the motor neurons that lead to the muscles in your arm or leg causing a pain reflex. Only after you jerk away does your brain receive the information that is perceived as pain.



Some things that influence your pain:

• The brain's interpretation of the activity by your central nervous system.
• Focusing on pain
• expectation of pain
• sympathy towards the pain of others
• differences of endorphin release and production

Gate control theory: The theory that says that there is a gate located on the spinal cord that either allows or blocks pain signals to reach the brain.

Other senses-

Vestibular sense: Balance that is observed and supervised through the head and body's position. Controlled in the cochlea.

• Spinning around in a circle for a long time.

Kinesthetic sense: Sense that allows you to know the positions and movements of our body and parts.

 



Temperature: The ability to perceive differences in temperature. Can you tell the difference between hot and cold.

Time sense: Your body has an internal body clock that can tell what time it is based on continuous activity at a certain time.

Taste

I've decided that I want to be a teacher when I grow up, so I designed a lesson plan on how taste works as a practice. I wanted to show you guys in case you had any feedback for me!

 

 

 

Taste:



Whether you are eating potato chips or a chocolate bar, the first thing that happens when you put them in your mouth is a feeling of sensation. Tastes involves five different sensations.


The five sensations are:


Sweet

Sour



Salty



Bitter



Umami (Fresh chicken)
















Now that we know the five sensations associated with taste, let's discuss the tasting process, also known as gustation.


Firstly, taste, like smell, is a chemical sense. When you eat something, and the food you are eating touches your tongue, you taste the food. Hundreds of taste buds covering your tongue contain taste receptors. The taste receptors receive the food chemicals that are caught by the taste buds and they respond to the food by triggering a response that tells your brain whether you are eating something salty, sweet, sour, bitter, or umami.

Now that we have covered gustation, we can now talk about sensory interaction.

Sensory interaction is the idea that one sense can have an effect on the other. With taste, for example, smell often influences taste.  In order to perceive the taste correctly, you must first smell it. Without smelling the food, it is more difficult to distinguish, let's say, lemonade from iced tea. Another factor that may influence taste is texture. Peanuts and almonds are both crunchy and kind of smooth, someone who has never eaten an almond will find it hard to determine which one is which. Sensory interaction also explains the McGurk Effect. That is, when you see the mouth movements of a sound while hearing another sound, we can perceive a different sound similar to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0


The video above explains the McGurk Effect in further detail.













 

Hearing

Have you ever wondered what happens during the hearing process? I have, and me being the curious gal that I am, I researched it. So for those of you who are interested, here is what I found:

 

 

The Hearing Process:

 

The sound waves enter into the ear through the eardrum. The hammer, anvil, and stirrup amplify the sound vibrations and sends them into the oval window which is connects the stirrup bone to the cochlea. From the oval window, the vibrations travel through the cochlea that is filled with liquid. The vibrations cause the liquid to tense up causing the hair cells in the basilar membrane to produce an electrical signal. That electrical signals are sent into the auditory nerve which is connected to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobe. The auditory cortex then interprets the sound we hear.



Frequency:  The number of cycles in a wave per a given unit of time.

Pitch: The percieved highness or lowness of a sound, determined by frequency. For example, high frequency- high pitch, low frequency- low pitch.





Amplitude: Amount of energy in a wave. How tall or short a wavelength is. Measures bright colors and loud sounds.

 

 

The Inner Ear:

 







The inner ear contains the cochlea, semicirular canals, and the vestibular sacs. They make up the parts of the ear beyond the ear drum.

The Middle Ear:



The section inside the ear that is between the eardrum and cochlea. It is made up of the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.



 

Vision

My friend and I were arguing about what nearsightedness and farsightedness was. She said when a person is nearsighted, they have trouble seeing close objects and farsightedness was when you have trouble seeing far away. I argued the opposite. We made a bet and whoever is wrong owes the other person $10. In order to prove that I'm right, I had to do some research.

The visual process goes a little something like this:

The eyes receive light energy and then transform that energy into neural messages that the brain then processes into what you see. Light rays reflected from an object pass through the cornea which protects the outer layer of the eye and bends light to provide focus. The rays also go through the pupil and lens. Depending on the thickness of your lens, your vision has a better focus on the objects that are close or far away. Once the light waves pass through the cornea, pupil, and lens, they strike the bottom of the retina. The image of the object is upside down in the fovea and then the retina processes neural impulses that are sent to the brain and it perceives an upright image.

Color:

When we see color, we really see electromagnetic energy. The spectrum ranges from gamma rays who have short wavelengths to radio waves who have long wavelengths. Humans can see only part of the electromagnetic spectrum: Visible light.






When we see light, the hue, intensity, and saturation influence what we see. Below is a clarification of what they are.

Hue: The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light

• We perceive the color blue as blue and yellow as yellow

Intensity: The amount of energy in a light or sound wave as determined by the wave's amplitude.

Brightness and loudness

Saturation: The ratio of the dominant wavelength to other wavelengths in the color.

•  How pure the color appears to be.

The aspects of our color vision:



Photoreceptors-

Cones: Receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina.

• Function in daylight and well-lit conditions.
• Can see fine details

Rods: Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray.

• Is necessary for peripheral vision.
• Will function when cones don't.

What your cones see What your rods see

 

 

 

 

 

What is the opponent process theory?

The theory stating that our color vision is measured by opponent colors. We cannot see opponent colors together, though.

The opponent colors are:

Red and green
Blue and yellow
Black and white

A great example of this theory is this picture:

If you stare at the red dot for 1 minute, and then stare at a white wall or paper, you see the opponent colors. Because you have stared at the image for so long, your neural responses get tired so you see the opponent colors.


So finally, what is nearsightedness and farsightedness?


Nearsightedness: A condition in which close objects appear clear & sharp, and far objects appear blurry.

Farsightedness: A condition in which close objects appear blurry, and far objects appear clear & sharp.

Looks like I was right! :)