The article provides that when human beings perform cognitive tasks, the activities involve the utilization of mental images. For instance, when individuals are asked to recount the number of windows present in their apartments or houses, they will create a mental map of the house before moving through it while counting the windows. However, the accuracy and details of the mental images differ among various people, with some reporting to have sketchy pictures while others are acknowledging that they can form detailed images (Shepard and Metzler 705). Therefore, the determination of whether there are differences in the mental images is a difficult task. Hence researchers assessed the concept of mental imagery in regard to its validity.
An exploration on how mental images are manipulated was done by Metzler and Shepard ,who used the visual stimuli of two novels. They asked the subjects involved in the study to determine whether there was any differences in the shape between the two stimuli, or they were the same (Shepard and Metzler 702). After rotation of the shapes in the depth and picture planes, the subjects were required to determine if there was a similarity or difference in the stimuli. The study needed the subjects to determine in quick succession so that their reaction time could be measured against the angle of rotation. It was found that as the rotation angle increased between the shapes, the time it took for the subjects to react also increased. Hence, mental images resemble real images because it also takes time to rotate an image mentally. Human beings can determine that pictures which are in the form of two dimensions portray images that are similar to three-dimensional objects that are of the same shape even though the objects are presented in different orientations.
Application to Sensation and Perception
The above concept entails aspects such as depth perception, color perception, perceptual process, and visual processing. Under color perception, there are two theories, namely trichromatic and opponent- process theory. Depth perception entails monocular and binocular cues. The difference between perception and sensation is that the former involves conscious awareness when it comes to matters of sensory experience, while the latter entails the stimuli from the environment, which acts on the receptor cells. The stimuli include sound and light waves, and pressure or vibration on the skin. The light waves act on the eye cells while the sound waves on the ear cells. The skin cells are acted upon by pressure and vibration.
The perceptual process explains the recognition and processing capabilities of the brain with regards to environmental stimuli. There are different forms of stimuli, with the distal stimulus being an umbrella of environmental stimulus, which is divided into three fundamental types: objects, actions, and sounds. The objects include buildings, animals, and people, while the activities entail running and walking. Conversations and music form part of the sounds. Proximal stimulus acts on the receptors where they explain the action of image of an object on the eye cells. There is an occurrence of transformation between the proximal and distal stimulus. For example, when one encounters an object such as a butterfly, which is the distal stimulus, the image will act on the cells of the eyes. On the other hand, the brain will process the incoming data, based on the individual’s existing knowledge about the environmental stimulus, which is the butterfly. Therefore, there is a transformation from the distal stimulus to the proximal stimulus.
Transduction is also part of the perceptual process, which involves the transformation of one energy form into another. For example, environmental energy can be transformed into neural energy by the use of the receptor cells. The perceptual process also involves neural processing which entails the interaction of cells in the nervous system. Therefore, the key activities that make up the perceptual process are perception, recognition, and action. During perception, the observer becomes aware of the environmental stimulus. The categorization of the environmental objects is the recognition stage, while the response to environmental stimuli through the use of motor activities comprises of action.
SONA Paper Two
According to a South Australian school student aged fifteen years, the common knowledge that goldfish have a short memory of approximately three seconds is a myth. The student, Rory Stokes, justified his idea by performing an experiment that was also geared towards opening the mindsets of the people to the fact that it was cruel to keep fish in small tanks. The experiment that Rory performed entailed teaching some fish how to swim towards a beacon through the creation of a connection between food and the beacon. During each feeding time, the student placed a beacon in the water and after approximately thirty seconds sprinkled some food for the fish around the beacon. He then recorded the time that was taking for each fish to swim to the beacon. Within three weeks, Rory noticed that the time reduced drastically from over a minute to less than five seconds.
After the three weeks, he withdrew the beacon for six days, before returning it in the water. He noticed that the goldfish remembered the connection between the beacon and the food despite the six-day interruption. It took about 4.4 seconds for the fish to swim to the beacon. Therefore, Rory proved his idea that goldfish can retain knowledge for a more extended period than most people would think. His results showed that the goldfish would remember for at least six days, and the memory would be indefinite if they were exposed to certain environments regularly. Other experiments were conducted to show the ability of goldfish to move to a different beacon if they lacked food on the first. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, goldfish can remember complex concepts and have a knowledge retention capacity of some days.
Application to the Memory Lecture
The memory process entails encoding, which is where the data enters the memory. The data storage is when the information is kept in the memory for future use. The process also involves the retrieval, which is the recovery of the data from the memory (Moser et al. 100). The data passes through three stages of the memory model: short-term, sensory, and long-term memory. Under sensory, information is encoded immediately, while in the short-term memory, the data is held briefly. Hence the stage is an active one. The long-term memory entails the unlimited and permanent storage of information in the memory.
The determinant of the model is the duration, which is the amount of time information is held: a capacity that entails the quantity of information that can be retained, as well as the function, which is the use of the stored information. Under the sensory memory framework, the information is held for a few seconds, and the amount of information that can be retained is limitless. The significant data then moves to the short-term memory. Iconic memory relates to images, while one that refers to sounds is echoic memory. In the case of the goldfish experiment, they utilize iconic memory. Notably, the duration in short-term memory is approximately three seconds. On the other hand, the working memory is the updated version of the short-term memory, and it focuses on the processing of information. It is divided into central executive, a phonological loop, which is an auditory component, and the visuospatial sketchpad.
Processing of information entails effortful processing, where a conscious effort is required, as well as the automatic processing, which is difficult to shut off and occurs effortlessly. The encoding of information is also unconscious (Moser et al. 100). Maintenance rehearsal entails transferring of data to the long-term meoery from the short term one, including a conscious repetition of information. The experiment of the goldfish falls in this category since the fish were exposed to the beacon on a regular basis and the same process was repeated continuously. Additionally, elaborative rehearsal focuses on deep processing of the information for purposes of better remembrance.
SONA Paper Three
According to William Damon, moral development determines the behavior of individuals as they grow, including their interactions with fellow members in the community (Damon 43). Reports have shown instances where children wreak havoc on their communities and schools by murdering parents or attacking classmates and teachers. Other adversities that have exhibited antisocial acts by young people include drug peddling, cheating in schools and youth vandalism (Damon 46). However, there are cases that show well-behaved youths, which means that not all young people are involved in randy behavior.
Research shows that when children are born, their path to moral development is set (Damon 48). Acts such as empathy are part of the native human endowment, which means that they resonate with the feelings of those they interact with. An example is that of a newborn exhibiting happiness when he or she hears happy sounds such as laughter, or crying after hearing others scream. However, the level of empathy in some people diminishes or even stagnates as one grows, which means that individuals can be cruel to people they do not empathize with.
Application to Philosophy Lecture
Moral development studies show that no single cause can explain immoral or ethical behavior. Moral judgment is described in six stages, which are the punishment stage, reward, interpersonal relations, social order, social contract, and universal rights. In the punishment stage, which is the first among the six stages, and one that applies to children aged ten and below, appropriate behavior is motivated by the fear of punishment. In the second stage, the individuals act responsibly to get rewarded, while in the third level, which is the interpersonal relations, people act rightfully so that others can not only like but also appreciate them. The social order stage is stimulated by the fact that one is keen not to break the law, while the social contract stage is an abstract ideal where the obligation to act right governs human behavior. The sixth stage is based on universal rights, and people follow the law because it is the right thing to do.
Social psychology explains human behavior according to how individuals act, feel and think about various social situations. The concept is divided into social cognition, which is the study of how attitudes influence behavior, as well as the study of influence that focuses on how other people and social situations affect behavior. Social cognition is explained by three topics including prejudice, attitudes, and attribution. The topics which analyze social influence are obedience, conformity, role-playing and altruism (Damon 46). The attribution theory, as a subset of social cognition, explains human behavior as the fruit of situations and personality traits. In reference to the case study, the reason why youths get involved in antisocial acts can be attributed to the environment they have grown, or their traits. Attitudes are divided into emotional, behavioral and cognitive components. The youth behave in a certain way mainly due to the behavioral apeect of attitude as it is linked to peer-pressure, which acts as a predisposition to act in a particular way.
Works Cited
Shepard, Roger N., and Jacqueline Metzler. "Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects." Science 171.3972 (1971): 701-703.
Moser, May-Britt, David C. Rowland, and Edvard I. Moser. "Place cells, grid cells, and memory." Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology 7.2 (2015): a021808.
Damon, William. "The moral development of children." Scientific American 281.2 (1999): 72-78.
