This assignment started off by completing the unit 9 review sheet. After this was finished, I had to continue to work on the term project, and create a document describing the work I have done so far for the project, as well as including a screenshot of the journals from my current unit. Finally, this assignment ended by turning the review sheet and document in through an assignment link.
As is the case for every unit, the review sheet is cumulative. So, before completing the page for unit 9, I completed the individual pages for units 1 through 8. When I got to unit 9, the first thing is asked me was to explain how Psychology informs good web design OR what virtual reality is OR why #The Dress was seen as both white/gold and blue/black OR the benefits of taking photos OR of e-Readers OR if we can identify photoshopped photos on the Internet.
I chose to explain why #TheDress was seen as both white/gold and blue/black. I claimed that it involved the perceptual sense of sight. Due to the Lotto-Barnhart illusion, we can see that it’s actually very easy to mistake colors based on the context in which they are placed.
The reason people saw different colors was both because our photo receptors can incorrectly adjust to changes in illumination, and because our photo receptors can be easily influenced by context, which in that case was a very brightly lit room. Because the source of light was very ambiguous in the viral picture, the colors of the dress became very hard to determine.
Shadow effects can completely change how we adjust colors. We correct colors when they are in shadow or in bright or colored light, but only when the source of the shadow or light is clear.
Next, it asked me to identify four reasons why the Internet is unlikely to be changing our attention. My first reason was that other human inventions, such as reading, which have been around considerably longer, have not rewired the human brain. My second reason was that there’s no scientific evidence that our attentional spans have decreased or increased over the past several decades. Thirdly, every technological invention has been feared to distract our attention and ruin our memories, but they haven’t actually done this. Finally, specific efforts to train attention, using, for example, Internet-based video games, usually result in only specific gains on the specific skill being trained.
Moving on to the term project, I started out by explaining that my project is a daily journal, itemizing content and giving detailed reflections, on a blog site called Word Press. I explained that I have made more than 50 blog posts so far for the project, including one each day, for each assignment. I explained that for Spring Break, we didn’t have any assignments, so I didn’t make posts, and this was cleared with Professor Gernsbacher. I included a screenshot listing all the blogs I had posted during the previous week.
Reflecting on this assignment, the review sheet is always nice. It gives me a chance to interact with old material and new material. Seeing the same questions over and over is valuable because I really know these answers well by now! It showcases how distributed learning facilitates long-term retention. Especially since there are not exams for this course, this is what ensures that the material is not forgotten immediately.
Additionally, the document describing the term project is pretty standard. Since I do a daily blog, there is not really anything new that goes on with the passing of time, I just post once per day. However, it always gives me a chance to look back and be proud of all the work I have put into it! I have made over 50 blogs, and each one takes a solid amount of time, so it shows how much of a commitment it is overall.
Even though this assignment is valuable, it is basically always the same, which is why my reflections for it are so similar. Even if it isn’t as fun, reviewing what you did previously is a big and important aspect of every course! So, it is definitely good that it is a part of this one as well.
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