Ellie Kawa

Psychology Photo Album

Structuralism

Structuralism is “an early school

of psychology that used

introspection to explore the

structural elements of the

human mind.” In this picture, I

am “looking inward”

(introspection) at myself through

the mirror. I am engaging in self-

reflection.

Dendrite

A dendrite is the

“bushy, branching

extensions of a neuron that

receive messages and

conduct impulses toward the

cell body.” Like the

dendrite, the answering

machine in this picture also

receives messages.

Reuptake

Reuptake is a

“neurotransmitters

reabsorption by the sending

neuron.” The sponges

absorb water just as the

sending neuron absorbs the

excess neurotransmitters.

Parasympathetic Nervous

System

The parasympathetic nervous

system is the “division of the

autonomic nervous system that

calms the body, conserving its

energy.” Taking a bath calms

and soothes the body similar to

parasympathetic nervous

system.

Endocrine System

The endocrine system is

the body‟s “slow”

chemical communication

system.” It is a “set of

glands that secrete

hormones into the

bloodstream.” Hormones

control our menstrual

cycle, two of which are

estrogen and progesterone.

Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus

“directs several

maintenance activities

(eating, drinking, body

temperature), helps

govern the endocrine

system via the pituitary

gland, and is linked to

emotion and reward.” A

slice of pizza can satisfy

our hunger, which the

hypothalamus controls.

Frontal Lobes

The frontal lobes are “involved in

speaking and muscle movements

and in making plans and

judgments.” This calendar also

assists in making future

plans, including

appointments, birthdays, and

holidays.

Occipital Lobes

The occipital lobes “include areas

that receive information from the

visual fields.” This information is

seen with the eye, like the one in

this picture, and is transported to

the occipital lobes, where it is

interpreted.

Cerebellum

The functions of the cerebellum

include “processing sensory

input and coordinating

movement output and

balance. This is a picture of a

yoga mat. One would need their

cerebellum to assist him/her in

achieving balance during a yoga

session.

Circadian Rhythm

Circadian rhythm is our

“biological clock.” It is our

“regular bodily rhythms that

occur on a 24-hour cycle.” The

clock in this picture represents

the 24-hour cycle of day and

night with which our bodies

roughly synchronize.

Dissociation

Dissociation is a “split in

consciousness, which allows

some thoughts and behaviors to

occur simultaneously with

others.” There is a split down

the middle of this orange, just

as our consciousness is split.

Schema

Schema is a “concept or

framework that organizes and

interprets information.” This

agenda, like schema, organizes

information, such as homework

and one‟s schedule of tests and

quizzes.

Recall

Recall is a “measure of

memory in which the person

must retrieve information

learned earlier.” This is a

picture of a fill-in-the-blank

test. Instead of being able to

identify these items, such as

in a multiple choice test, the

student must retrieve that

information from their brain.

Recognition

Recognition is a “measure of

memory in which the person

need only identify items

previously learned.” This is a

picture of a multiple choice

test, where the student has

various answers to choose from.

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a

“neural center that is located

in the limbic system and

helps process explicit

memories for storage.” Just

as the hippocampus

processes memories for

storage, one can sort through

paper and cat products for

storage (as in this picture).

Chunking

Chunking is “organizing

items into

familiar, manageable

units.” One can chunk

his/her different subjects

together in a folder. The tabs

are labeled

English, Religion, Biology, Alg

ebra, and History.

I/O Psychology

I/O psychology is the

“application of psychological

concepts and methods to

optimizing human behavior

in workplaces.” This is a

picture of an office, which is a

workplace that could be

optimized by I/O psychology.

Spotlight Effect

The spotlight effect is

“overestimating others‟

noticing and evaluating our

appearance, performance, an

d blunders.” This is a picture

of a large pimple in the middle

of my forehead. I feel that

everyone is looking at it, when

in reality no one can even

notice it.

MMPI

MMPI is the “most widely

researched and clinically used of

all personality tests.” This is a

picture of a “Work Out World” job

application. Some form of the

MMPI appears in many job

applications.

Manifest Content

Manifest content is the

“remembered story line of a

dream.” Just like the books in

this bookshelf, a dream has a

plot that can be recalled.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a “type of

learning in which one learns to link

two or more stimuli and anticipate

events.” Every morning my mom

gives my cat (Ruby) cheese. Ruby

has now linked the opening of the

fridge to her getting a piece. Each

time my mom opens the

fridge, whether it‟s to get cheese or

not, Ruby comes running.

Attachment

Attachment is an

“emotional tie with

another person.” Opal

(bottom) is older and acts

as the caregiver. Ruby

seeks closeness to Opal.

When we first brought

them home, Ruby cried

every time she became

separated from Opal.

Teratogens

Teratogens are “agents, such as

chemicals and viruses, that

can reach the embryo or fetus

during prenatal development

and cause harm.” This is a

picture of a wine rack. Alcohol

is an example of a teratogen

and can cause fetal alcohol

syndrome.

Concrete Operational

The concrete operational stage

in Piaget‟s theory is the “stage

of cognitive development

during which children gain

the mental operations that

enable them to think logically

about concrete events. This

stage is from about 6 to 11.

Children are able to think

logically to complete a puzzle.

Rods

Rods are “retinal receptors

that detect

black, white, and gray.”

One can use his/her rods to

view these white shoes.

Cones

Cones are “retinal receptors

that detect fine detail and give

rise to color sensations.” One

can use his/her cones to see

these colorful beach towels.

Set Point

The set point is the “point at

which the individual‟s „weight

thermostat‟ is supposedly set. “

A scale, like the one in this

picture, can be used to

measure this set point.

Homeostasis

Homeostasis is a “tendency to

maintain a balanced or

constant internal state.” It is

the “regulation of any aspect of

body chemistry.” When the

body temperature increases, as

with a fever, a thermometer can

measure this change in one‟s

internal state.

Incentive

Incentive is a “positive or

negative environmental

stimulus that motivates

behavior.” Many times, money

is this stimulus that motivates

behavior. Some will do anything

for money.

Cannon-Bard TOE

The Cannon-Bard Theory of

Emotion states that an “emotion-

arousing stimulus simultaneously

triggers physiological responses and

the subjective experience of

emotion. The perception of

stimulus is this oncoming car and

then one simultaneously

experiences a pounding heart and

fear.

James-Lange TOE

The James-Lange Theory of

Emotion states that “our

experience of emotion is our

awareness of our physiological

responses to emotion-arousing

stimulus.” One sees a man

coming towards them with a

knife. He/she experiences a

pounding heart and then

experience fear.

Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman has run training

seminars to teach law

enforcement officers to detect the

presumed fleeting signals of

deceit in facial expressions. This

is a police sticker for one‟s car

which represents the law

enforcement taught by Ekman.

Schachter-2 Factor TOE

The Schachter-2 Factor Theory of

Emotion states that “to

experience emotion one must be

physically aroused and

cognitively label the arousal.

One gets back a test and sees

he/she has received a failing

grade. His/her heart begins to

pound and they cognitively label

that as anxiety. He/she then

experiences the emotion of fear

because of their dropping

calculus grade.

General Adaptation Syndrome

The general adaptation syndrome is

Selye‟s concept of the body‟s response

to stress in three states-

alarm, resistance, exhaustion. This

alarm clock in the picture represents

the first state, alarm.

Type A

Type A is Friedman and

Rosenman‟s term for

competitive, hard-

driving, impatient, verbally

aggressive, and anger-prone

people. The clutter of

homework and books

represents the competitive and

hard-driving personality of a

type A person.

Type B

Type B is “Friedman and

Rosenman‟s term for

easygoing, relaxed people.”

A type B person might sit in

the recliner and watch TV all

afternoon instead of doing

his/her homework.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a “system for

electronically

recording, amplifying, and

feeding back information

regarding a subtle physiological

state.” An example of this is the

blood pressure cuff, which

measures the pressure exerted

by the blood against the walls of

blood vessels.

Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic observation is

“observing and recording

behavior in naturally occurring

situations without trying to

manipulate and control the

situation.” This represents

naturalistic observation in the way

I am observing my father without

attempting to change or control

the situation.

Mirror Neurons

Mirror neurons are “frontal lobe

neurons that fire when performing

certain actions or when observing

another doing so.” An example of

this is when one sees someone else

crying and he/she then begins to

cry. It is as if a person is looking in

a mirror because his/her actions

may be performed by someone

else.

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are “drugs that

stimulate neural activity, causing

speeded-up body functions and

associated energy and mood

changes.” Caffeine in coffee

produces similar effects to the

body.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is

“increasing behaviors by

stopping or reducing negative

stimuli.” An example of this is

taking Advil in order to get rid of

a headache.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is

“increasing behaviors by

presenting positive stimuli, such

as food.” An example of this is a

mother giving her son candy for

cleaning up his toys.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

The fixed-ratio schedule is a

“reinforcement schedule that

reinforces a response only after a

specified number of responses.”

At Delia‟s, one receives a punch

card. After every ten

purchases, one receives 25% off

their next purchase.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

The fixed-interval schedule is a

“reinforcement schedule that

reinforces a response only after a

specified time has elapsed.” An

example of this is people

checking more frequently to see

whether or not Jell-O has set.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

The variable-ratio schedule is a

“reinforcement schedule that

reinforces a response after an

unpredictable number of

responses.” An example of this is

scratch tickets. One never knows

when he/she is going to win.

Therefore, he/she continues to play.

Variable-Interval Schedule

The variable-interval schedule is

a “reinforcement schedule that

reinforces a response at

unpredictable time intervals.”

Like the “You‟ve got mail” that

finally rewards persistence in

rechecking for email, variable-

interval schedules tend to

produce slow, steady responding.

Savant Syndrome

Savant Syndrome is a “condition

in which a person otherwise

limited in mental ability has an

exceptional specific skill.” Often

times, this exceptional skill is

drawing or painting.

Basic Research

Basic Research is “pure science

that aims to increase the

scientific knowledge base.”

This picture is of my sister‟s

science fair project from this

year, where she attempted to

study the effects of negative

graphic displays on the

consumption of alcohol.

Case Study

Case study is an “observation

technique in which one person

is studied in depth in the hope

of revealing universal

principles.” One of the most

famous case studies was

Genie, who had been held in

solitary confinement by her

parents with very little food or

resources. When Genie was

found, she was barely able to

speak, but over time, she was

able to learn over 200

vocabulary words.

Reliability

Reliability is the “extent to

which a test yields consistent

results.” The three times I took

the SATs, my scores were

consistent and did not vary by

much.

Standardization

Standardization is “defining

meaningful scores by

comparison with the

performance of a pretested

group.” For some of the AP

courses, a pilot test is sent out to

schools so that the exam

questions can be compared and

those that are too hard can be

taken out.

Gardner

Gardner argued that we

have multiple

intelligences. One of

these is linguistic. An

example of this

linguistic intelligence

can be seen in the

poetry of T.S. Elliot. This

is a picture of Elliot‟s

“Mr. Mistoffelees.”

Absolute Threshold

Absolute Threshold is the

“minimum stimulation

needed to detect a

particular stimulus 50

percent of the time.” This is

a picture of a particular

light. Our absolute

thresholds are the

minimum stimulation

necessary to detect this

light.

Bottom-Up Processing

Bottom-up processing is the

“analysis that begins with sensory

receptors and works up to the

brain‟s integration of sensory

information.” For example, as

our brain deciphers the

information in this

image, bottom-up processing

enables our sensory systems to

detect lines, angles, and colors

that form this painting.

General Intelligence (g)

General intelligence is a

“general intelligence

factor, that, according to

Spearman and

others, underlies specific

mental abilities and is

therefore measured by

every task on an

intelligence test.” The

core is to an apple as

general intelligence is to

mental abilities.

Content Validity

Content validity is the “extent

to which a test samples the

behavior that is of interest.”

The road test for a driver‟s

license has content validity

because it samples the tasks a

driver routinely faces.

Validity

Validity is the “extent to which

at test measures or predicts

what it is supposed to.” For

example, if one uses an

inaccurate tape measure to

measure people‟s heights, the

height report would have high

reliability but low validity.

External Locus of Control

The external locus of control is

the “perception that chance or

outside forces beyond your

personal control determine

your fate.” Many times, people

believe that God determines

their fate and future.

TAT

The TAT is a “projective test

in which people express

their inner feelings and

interests through the stories

they make up about

ambiguous scenes.” This is

a picture for which

someone would make up a

story.

PrimingPriming is the “activation, often

unconsciously, of certain

associations, thus predisposing one‟s

perception, memory, or response.”

For example, in one

experiment, people were

subliminally flashed a positive scene

of kittens and a negative scene of a

werewolf. The participants

consciously perceived either scene as

only a flash of light. The people

somehow looked nicer if their image

immediately followed unperceived

kittens rather than an unperceived

werewolf.

Top-Down Processing

Top-down processing is

“information processing

guided by higher-level mental

processes.” Using top-down

processing we consider this

book‟s title, notice its

pictures, and then direct our

attention to reading what‟s

actually inside of it.

Accommodation

Accommodation is the

“process by which the eye‟s

lens changed shape to focus

near or far objects on the

retina.” My contact lenses

are similar to my eyes‟

actual lenses. Light is

reflected off of the

contacts, which allows for

better sight.

Gate-Control Theory

The gate-control theory states that

“the spinal cord contains a

neurological „gate‟ that blocks

pain signals or allows them to

pass on to the brain.” My

neighbors‟ pool gate is designed to

block the pool for unwanted

guests. When the gate is opened

people are allowed to enter the

pool area.

Sternberg

Sternberg proposed the

triarchic theory of three

intelligences, which include

analytical, creative, and

practical intelligence.

Creativity involves producing

novel ideas. This is a picture of

one of my kindergarten

projects, where we had to

creatively recreate the twelve

days of Christmas.