Chapter 3 (Perceptual Processes II)

1) I believe Chapter 3 was a a continuation of the first two chapters. I can see a compounding effect occurring as we continue to move through the text. Generally speaking this chapter continues to explain how humans focus, perceive, and how we take stimuli and from basic identification to our higher mental processes.

2) We have learned that our perceptions can be based on something as simple as certain features or as complex as past experiences. Chapter 3 reveals theories, processes, and research that tries to explain how we choose only certain pieces of stimuli that is being dealt to us at any given time, or how we can simply use a general scan to locate only stimuli that we deem important.

3) The third portion of chapter 3 focuses on Consciousness. The text offers explanations such as thought suppression, blindsight, and mental control. I, along with the scientists in the text, struggle finding consistent answers with reference to consciousness. It is almost as if the brain is having conversations with itself. I guess this is where we get the saying "my mind tells me one thing, my gut tells me another". Maybe our gut feeling in our conscious awareness.

4) I would say the most important aspects of the chapter, with reference to teaching, come from the attention section. We all know that levels of focus change with every student that walks into the room. I must ask myself, how can I take the concepts I want to teach and deliver them a manner in which I can maintain an effective level of focus and attention by my students.

5) The most interesting portions of this chapter occur in the demonstrations throughout. In my opinion seeing is believing. As I performed tasks like the Isolated/Combined Features and the Stroop effect in the front of the book, I had to invest in the validity of the research. One cannot ignore the differences in the effectiveness of the mind when performing these tasks.

6) The theories and research help explain how the human mind attempts to process incoming information. The more scientists and people learn about our abilities to comprehend and focus on tasks, the more we can improve it. I look at it like technology. The more research we do, the quicker and more efficient technology becomes. Ultimately, especially as educators, imagine how we could make learning more effective and processes more complete.

7) This is a tough question this week. I would say awareness is the key for young students. If we can make them aware of their perceptions then we can also help influence those perceptions. We are not going to be able to identify the mental processes of all our students, but if we can make them self-aware of those processes, then we can help them become more effective at deciphering them.

8) Not in this situation. I believe growth mentally, must be self-fulfilling. We can support and revise their processes, but ulitmately, the student will have to congnitely want to change and improve on learning. I do not believe fast and cheap are words that one can use when it comes to metal maturing.

J.J.'s ROUNDUP
1) If I was in school nowadays, they would consider me ADHD!!!
2) I had trouble paying attention to the section about attention, is that bad?
3) I gave up soda for a resolution. Now all I can think about is how bad I would like to have a COKE. The ironic effects of mental control.
4) Are conscience and conscious brothers?
5) Were a bunch of scientists and psychologists drunk when they came up with the bottleneck theory?
6) Yellow Hah! Stroop on you!

Peace out! JJ

Chapter 2 (How does my brain know its a "2"!)

1) I would say that scientists are working hard at the cellular level to unravel the complexities of the brain. Many theories exist on how we interpret, analyze, recognize, and eventually understand stimuli. I have concluded that as time goes on, scientists are getting closer and closer to understanding, not only how the brain functions at the onset of a stimulus, but also the journey to deeper meaning.
2) I struggled to relate to Chapter 1 from the book! I felt it was too busy and over my head. I feel as if Chapter 2 relates well to the Foundational learning theories from the PDF reading. I believe some of the studies found in Chapter 2 could easily serve as supporting evidence for the 3 main evolving studies revealed in the Foundational Learning section.
3) Did anyone else feel like the last kid picked in a Dodgeball game when viewing the picture on page 51. I stared at that stupid picture for half an hour and still had to cheat on page 66. Then after cheating, I still can't see the difference!!!! I guess there is an extra branch by the side of the picture but I don't think Columbo would have got that right. Come on Man! Anyone else struggle with this?????
4) The strongest evidence I take into my classroom after reading the chapter is the power and sensitivity of visual stimuli. Visuals are undoubtedly a key to higher and more effective learning, but I feel I need to make sure that I use them timely and effectively.
5 and 6) The most convincing and interesting evidence comes from the inattentional blindness section coming out of the top-down processing theory. I took the websites with the basketball and gorilla, and the basketball and the umbrella lady and practiced it on my classes. The results were astounding. I suggest you try it with your classes. The umbrella lady is more difficult than that of the gorilla. You can find both of these on youtube by searching these names. This tells me the ability of the mind to focus is a very delicate balance of concentration, and when teaching concepts that one should very carefully plan the lesson to maximize learning.
7) Generally speaking, I feel I should teach concepts with numerous modes of instruction in mind. A lesson should encompass many different styles of learning and perception. Whether it be Visuals and Speech Perception, Visuals and Text, Visuals and Narration, all are effective and unique, just like our classroom of students. It is important that we use different strategies throughout the course of conceptual understanding. If we introduce the material with one mode, then maybe we should practice and review with different modes.
8) This is a tough question. I would say YES, there are definitely faster, cheaper, and possibly even better ways, but I think overall effectiveness might suffer. I think time becomes a key factor in many cases as well. For example, one could teach the water cycle in one day with an overload of information and visuals. However, to really grasp what is taking place between the stages takes time. There are many labs and hands-on activities that students could grasp concepts from, but educators might look at a big chart as an easy way to accomplish this goal. Ultimately, I think the students suffer and would lack a deeper understanding.

JJ's Round-up (For Kicks)
1) Do the Gorilla thing, it's fun!!
2) I would like to be a psychologist for about a month and test people!
3) This chapter felt long!
4) I feel stupid when I look at page 51, it must be the branch
5) Why can't they put all the theories together and come up with 1
6) Inattenional shows up on spellcheck, A.I. is wrong! Humans rule!
Happy Blogging!

Practice Run!

Hey All! I thought blogging was an Olympic Sport. Needless to say I am not very tech savvy. I am rather new to online classes and the worldwideweb. I was just making sure this thing works. See ya soon! JJ