Day 38

Learning Targets:

• Students will be able to describe the structure and function of the 5 basic senses and how these processes influence human behavior.
• Students will be able to understand the impact of perception on the influence of behavior.

Opener:  If you were to lose your sense of taste and/or smell, what potential dangers might you find yourself in?  In what situations might this absence of sensation afford you some sort of advantage over those around you?

Activity #1:  Most of our cerebral cortex is devoted to seeing, and we have substantial visual skills. The eye is a specialized system that includes the cornea, pupil, iris, lens, and retina.  But what if there was no visual information for our sensory cortex to process?  Would it do a better job processing our other senses?

As you can see from the video above, John has more than compensated for his loss of vision when it comes to painting.  Answer the questions below in order to explain how this enhanced artistic ability came to be.

1.  Which senses have become more critical to John as he creates his portraits?

2.  How might John employ his other senses to accomplish other day-to-day tasks?  Explain using all appropriate terminology from this unit.

3.  Describe two situations where depriving ourselves the use of one of our senses could actually enhance our ability to perform a specific task.

Activity #2:

  

1.  What senses would be most critical for Ashland to avoid injury and accidents given her lack of pain sensation?

2.  What other implications, aside from the potential for physical injury, might there be for Ashland?

3.  Evaluate John and Ashland's absence of sensations and describe the similar and different ways in which they have adapted to these conditions.

• Sensory interaction 
• McGurk effect 
• Selective attention 
• Cocktail party phenomenon 
• Sensory adaptation 
• Moon illusion 
• Habituation
• Proprioception
• Vestibular System
• Gate Control Theory
• Difference Threshold
• Signal Detection Theory
• Blind Spot
• Absolute Threshold

Close:  Live Q&A Here: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CM74hfGqmTM7TYcfCXOZMfKe7W83BeFwJk3oYxCAe-8/edit?usp=sharing

Day 37

Learning Targets:

• Students will be able to describe the structure and function of the 5 basic senses and how these processes influence human behavior.
• Students will be able to understand the impact of perception on the influence of behavior.

Opener:  Which of the following professions do you believe are most reliant on their senses and perceptions in order to be successful in their careers?  Explain.

ER Doctor
Heavy Equipment Operator
Car Salesman
Software Engineer
Interior Decorator

Activity #1:  Sensation and perception work seamlessly together to allow us to detect both the presence of, and changes in, the stimuli around us.  Read each of the scenarios below and answer the corresponding questions.  Be sure to include as many of the key terms and concepts listed below in your responses.

Scenario #1 - Protection

You have decided to pursue a career in public service and have ended up in the Secret Service as part of the President's security detail.  While giving a speech during a campaign rally for the upcoming election, you have been notified of a potential threat from within the crowd.  

1.  Which senses are going to be the most critical in keeping the president safe?

2.  What have we learned about the sensation and perception that will allow you to more effectively do your job?

3.  Which of the following sensation/perception concepts or effects would be important for someone in your position to teach new agents that are joining your team?

Activity #2: 

Scenario #2 - Restaurant Critic

Given your extraordinarily sharp senses, coupled with a flare for descriptive writing, you have been hired by Zagats to review local restaurants in Kansas City.  You've eagerly set out on your adventure  and really want to do a good job on your first assignment.  You've decided to start your new career by reviewing your favorite restaurant in KC.  Suddenly you remember just how important it is to be aware of your senses and perceptions when you enter the restaurant.  

1.  What senses, aside from taste, do you need to pay attention to upon entering the restaurant?  How does this influence what you will taste?

2.   What advice would you give your readers about how to make their dining experience more enjoyable?

3.  What advice would you give the owner/manager of the restaurant to make in order to influence their customers sense of taste?

• Sensory interaction 
• McGurk effect 
• Selective attention 
• Cocktail party phenomenon 
• Sensory adaptation 
• Moon illusion 
• Habituation
• Proprioception
• Vestibular System
• Gate Control Theory
• Difference Threshold
• Signal Detection Theory
• Blind Spot
• Absolute Threshold

Close:  Live Q&A Here: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CM74hfGqmTM7TYcfCXOZMfKe7W83BeFwJk3oYxCAe-8/edit?usp=sharing

Day 35

Learning Targets:  

• Students will be able to describe the structure and function of the 5 basic senses and how these processes influence human behavior.
• Students will be able to understand the impact of perception on the influence of behavior.

Opener:  How do we know where exactly our hands, feet, or any other part of the body are when we can't see it?  

For example, if you were in a pitch black room, wouldn't you still know which foot is in front of the other?  Couldn't you still clap your hands together?

Activity #1:  The Skin Senses - Mini - Lecture

• The skin, the largest organ in the body, is the sensory organ for touch. The skin contains a variety of nerve endings, combinations of which respond to particular types of pressures and temperatures. 
• The thousands of nerve endings in the skin respond to four basic sensations — pressure, hot, cold, and pain — but only the sensation of pressure has its own specialized receptors.
• Other sensations are created by a combination of the other four. For instance:
• The experience of a tickle is caused by the stimulation of neighbouring pressure receptors.
• The experience of heat is caused by the stimulation of hot and cold receptors.
• The experience of itching is caused by repeated stimulation of pain receptors.
• The experience of wetness is caused by repeated stimulation of cold and pressure receptors.
• Proprioception — the ability to sense the position and movement of our body parts. Proprioception is accomplished by specialized neurons located in the skin, joints, bones, ears, and tendons, which send messages about the compression and the contraction of muscles throughout the body
• The ability to keep track of where the body is moving is also provided by the vestibular system, a set of liquid-filled areas in the inner ear that monitors the head’s position and movement, maintaining the body’s balance.

The Vestibular System. The vestibular system includes the semicircular canals (brown) that transduce the rotational movements of the body, and the vestibular sacs (blue) that sense linear accelerations.

• We do not enjoy it, but the experience of pain is how the body informs us that we are in danger. The burn when we touch a hot radiator and the sharp stab when we step on a nail lead us to change our behavior, preventing further damage to our bodies.

• The gate control theory of pain;">proposes that pain is determined by the operation of two types of nerve fibers in the spinal cord

. One set of smaller nerve fibers carries pain from the body to the brain, whereas a second set of larger fibers is designed to stop or start (as a gate would) the flow of pain (Melzack & Wall, 1996). It is for this reason that massaging an area where you feel pain may help alleviate it — the massage activates the large nerve fibers that block the pain signals of the small nerve fibers (Wall, 2000).

• Just like other senses, we are less aware of pain when we are focused on other stimuli around us.

Activity #2:  How can altering your level of consciousness reduce or increase physical pain?

* Remember all of the ways in which we can alter our consciousness?  Choose two ways in which we can alter our consciousness and describe how you think this might allow us to perceive less pain than normal following an injury.

Need an example?  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201511/the-neuroscience-mindfulness-meditation-and-pain-relief

Close:  Live Q&A Here: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CM74hfGqmTM7TYcfCXOZMfKe7W83BeFwJk3oYxCAe-8/edit?usp=sharing

Day 34

Learning Targets:  

• Students will be able to describe the structure and function of the 5 basic senses and how these processes influence human behavior.
• Students will be able to understand the impact of perception on the influence of behavior.

Opener:  Vision and hearing both sense physical energy in the form of light and sound waves.  What exactly do smell and taste sense?

https://www.sciencealert.com/what-are-the-worst-smells-in-the-world-according-to-science

Activity #1:  Mini - Lecture

• As we breathe in air through our nostrils, we inhale airborne chemical molecules, which are detected by the 10 million to 20 million receptor cells embedded in the olfactory membrane of the upper nasal passage.

• When an odor receptor is stimulated, the membrane sends neural messages up the olfactory nerve to the brain.
  
  

  Smell Receptors. There are more than 1,000 types of odor receptor cells in the olfactory membrane.

• We have approximately 1,000 types of odor receptor cells , and it is estimated that we can detect 10,000 different odors.

• Different chemical molecules fit into different receptor cells, and odors are detected according to their influence on a combination of receptor cells. 

• Just as the 10 digits from 0 to 9 can combine in many different ways to produce an endless array of phone numbers, odor molecules bind to different combinations of receptors, and these combinations are decoded in the olfactory cortex.

Activity #2:  Summarize the key findings from the study below regarding smell and distraction.  Then answer the two questions below.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180605172521.htm

1. What is "habituation" and how does it related to the term "tolerance"?  
2. What implications are there for people that are easily distracted?

Activity #3:  Sometimes, it's just good to have a laugh.

Close:  Live Q&A Here: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CM74hfGqmTM7TYcfCXOZMfKe7W83BeFwJk3oYxCAe-8/edit?usp=sharing