Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 12 : 11 November 2012 Ravi Sankar S Nair, Ph.D. A GRAMMAR OF MALAYALAM 2 Preface The grammatical tradition in Malayalam, compared to the three other major Dravidian. WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION? Four Possible Answers Simon Reich Working Paper #261 – December 1998 Simon Reich holds appointments as a Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and in the Department of. Introduction Music and Mathematics are intricately related. Strings vibrate at certain fre-quencies. Sound waves can be described by mathematical equations. The cello has a particular shape in order to resonate with the. Separate people in two groups and tell them: 1) Separation weakens romance “Out of sight, out of mind” 2) Separation strengthens romance “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. Both groups will justify a result. In police lineups, people might be uncertain, but if told they were correct, after they will say “There was no maybe about it”. Sometimes intuition is wrong too. Overconfidence We tend to think we know more than we do. People are given three anagrams with solutions, and asked how long they think it would have taken to solve. Even when our initial predictions our wrong, those who were wrong often still say “I was almost right”. The Scientific Attitude Underlying all science is a passion to understand or explore. Psychologists ask two questions over and over: What do you mean? Practicing scientific attitudes requires skepticism and humility because we might have to reject our own ideas. Critical thinking – examines assumptions, evaluates evidence, and gives conclusions Psychology’s own critical inquiry has bee open to some surprising findings. Scientific Method Psychologists use the scientific methods to observe, make theories, and then improve them. A theory explains through a set of principles that predicts observable behavior. A good theory of depression will help organize many observations into a shorter list of principles. A good theory needs testable predictions called hypotheses. Survey Method Commonly used in descriptive and correlational studies looks at many cases in less depth. Wording: Asking questions is tricky; even small changes can have a major impact. Random sampling works in national surveys. Naturalistic Observation Naturalistic observation is recording the behavior of organisms in their natural environment. Correlation effect: a statistical measure of how things are related, and how one factor can predict the other. Correlation and Causation Correlation doesn’t prove causation!! Same thing with negative correlation between self. Illusory Correlations A perceived correlation that doesn’t exist is an illusory correlation. Perceiving Order in Random Events Illusory correlations come out of our eagerness to make sense of our world. By not recognizing random occurrences, people may seek extraordinary explanations for ordinary events. Experimentation The best way to isolate cause and effect is thorugh experiments. Evaluating Therapies We have a tendency to seek new remedies when we’re sick, and it can produce misleading effects. Can Subliminal Tapes Improve your life? Students received tapes with labels on it that claimed to 1) improve self. A control group is critical in experiments. Statistical Reasoning How can statistics help us organize and analyze our data? When researchers organize their data, review the graphs carefully – read the scale labels and the range. Measures of Central Tendency Mode – most frequent score Mean – arithmetic average Median – middle score The wrong measure could skew presentation of results Measures of Variation Range – gap between lowest and highest scores. Making Inferences When is a difference reliable? When sample averages are reliable and the difference between them is relatively large, we say the difference has statistical significance. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result is by chance, but doesn’t indicate the importance of the result. Reflections on FAQs about Psychology Can experiments Illuminate Real Life? The experiment simulates real life, and doesn’t re. Does behavior Vary with Gender? They do, although psychologically we are overwhelmingly similar. To learn about people, and because we’re so similar. Is it Ethical to Experiment on Animals? Compassion for animals vs. Is it Ethical to Experiment on People? Some research does temporarily stress or deceive people, but only when it’s a justifiable end. Is Psychology Free of Value Judgements? No, even the words people use for observations color facts. Is Psychology Potentially Dangerous? Knowledge can be used for good and evil. Intro: Psychology’s Roots How did it develop? William Wundt performed the first experiment, measuring the time lag between people hearing a ball and pushing a key (1. Evolved from more established fields of philosophy and biology. From 1. 92. 0s to 1. Watson, dismissed introspection and redefined it “the science of observable behavior”. In 1. 96. 0s, went back to interest in mental processes. Psychology is now the science of behavior and mental processes. Behavior – anything an organism does Mental Processes – internal subjective experiences Recurring Issues Stability versus change Rationality versus irrationality Biggest issue: Relative contributions of biology and experience (nature. Nurture works on what nature endows. Perspectives We can view any psychological event from different perspectives (neuroscience, evolutionary, behavior, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, social. They complement each other Subfields Some do basic research (biological, developmental, cognitive, personality). Others do applied research tacking practical problems. Studying Psychology To master information, must actively process it. PRTR: Preview, Read, Think critically, and Review Spacing our study time is better than cramming in one big session. Overlearning improves retention! Chapter 2: Neural and Hormonal Systems Everything psychological is simultaneously biological. It did, though, tell us that various brain regions have different functions. Biological psychology – a branch of psychology that studies the connection between biology and behavior Neurons and Neural Impulses Neurons or nerve cells are building blocks of our nervous system. The myelin sheath insulates axons and helps speed their impulses. When it receive signals, a neuron fires an impulse, called the action potential. Some signals are excitatory, like pushing an accelerator, others are inhibitory, lie pushing a break. Neural Communication There are gaps between different nerve cells, and individual neurons are independent, not fused to one another. When the action potential reaches the axon’s end, it triggers chemical messenger called neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine – helps control alertness and arousal Gamma. Acetylcholine is the messenger at every junction between a motor neuron and muscle. Endorphins The brain has several types of neurotransmitter molecules similar to morphine. How Drugs and Other Chemicals Alter Neurotransmission Why not just flood the brain with artificial opiates? Drugs affect communication at the synapse, either exciting or inhibitng neuron firing. Research is enabling creation of new drugs to alleviate depression and schizophrenia. The Nervous System Neurons communicate with other neurons, forming our primary information system, the nervous system. Sensory neurons – send info from tissues and organs to brain and spinal cord. Interneurons – Process the info, and enable CNS’ internal communication Motor neurons – carries info to body’s tissues from CNS Interneurons is where our complexity comes from. Peripheral Nervous System Two components: somatic and autonomic. Somatic nervous system – controls muscle movement Autonomic nervous system – controls the glands and muscles of organds. Central Nervous System It enables our thinking, feeling, and acting. Spinal Cord and Brain Spinal cord is an info highway conneting peripheral nervous system to brain. Pain reflex: neural activity excited by heat travels. Neural Networks The brain receives info, interprets, and decides responses like a comopouter. The Endocrine System The endocrine system interconnects with the nervous system. Some hormones are identical to neurotransmitters. They influence growth, reproduction, metabolism, mood. Most influential is pituitary gland in the brain. The Brain It enables the mind: seeing, hearing, remembering. Lesion – tissue destruction Electroencephalogram (EEG) – amplified tracing of neuron sweeps in waves. Inside, there is recticular formation, a network. Thalamus Located on top of switchboard. Limbic system Amygdala: influences aggression and fear. Some speculate that addictive disorders (e. Cerebral Cortex: intricate connection of neural cells. Glial cells – glue cells that guide neural connections, provide nutrients and insulating myelin, mop up ions and neurotransmitters. Frontal lobes – portion lying just behind forehead. Functions of Cortex It’s hard to localize brain functions and define things exactly. Motor cortex – Controls movement. Sensory cortex – More sensitive a region is, the greater the area the sensory cortex is devoted to it. Association functions Association areas – neurons here integrate information. Association areas in frontal lobes let us: judge, plan, process new memories. Frontal lobe damage can change personality, removing inhibitions. Parietal lobes are involved in mathematical and spatial reasoning. Platicity – brain’s capacity for modification Severed neurons won’t regenerate, but neural tissue can reorganize in response to damage. Brains are most plastic as young children. Corpus callosum – wide band of axon fibers connecting two hemispheres People with split brains surprisingly normal. When pic of spoon flashed to right hemisphere, they couldn’t say what they saw. What about ppl without divided brains? When we do perceptual tasks, increased activity in right hemisphere. Handedness We’re not sure if handedness is inherited. Chapter 3: Nature and Nurture What makes you you? Nature and nurture are crucially important Genes: Biological blueprint Chromosomes composed of DNA Small parts of big DNA molecules are called genes Genes make the “words” of chromosome “books” Genes are made up of nucleotides (A,T,C,G) Evolutionary Psychology Natural selection – the variations that contribute to survival will be passed on Mutations – random mistakes in gene replication Evolutionary Psychology – study of evolution of behavior and the mind using natural selection They study questions like: Why do infants start to fear strangers from when they become mobile?
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