Effective PowerPoint Presentations

Content is the most important part of your presentation.
1. The quality of the research.
· topic should be thoroughly researched
· using different sources
2. Organization and transition.
· logical flow from beginning to end, like in written work
· draw an outline before you consider making PP.

Visual Design
The following points contain information that can help strengthen the visual part of your presentation.
1. 6 x 6
· Use a maximum of 6 points per slide and 6 words per point.
2. Use text sparingly.
· Don’t over do each slide with information
3. Select colors with care.
· More color isn’t always better
· Keep it simple and easy to read!
· Use dark text on light background or light text on dark background.
4. Keep unity of design from slide to slide.
5. Font size is important--use the "floor test" for readability.
Use no font size smaller than 24 point.
Clearly label each screen. Use a larger font (35-45 points) or different color for the title.
· Print out a slide containing text, then place the page on the floor. Can you read the slide from a standing position? If yes, then your audience can likely read it from their seats. If no, then the font size needs to be increased. Or stand 2 meters from your screen- Can you read it?
6. Avoid animated texts, sounds, and fancy transitions.
· These distract from your presentation
7. Timing. Use three slides per minute as a maximum.
8. Visual images can be great
· Select carefully and be appropriate to the point(s) you want to make.
· Watch size, too--images too small are not helpful.

Presentation
Check the spelling and grammar.
Do not read the presentation. Practice the presentation so you can speak from bullet points. The text should be a cue for the presenter rather than a message for the viewer.
Give a brief overview at the start. Then present the information. Finally review important points.
It is often more effective to have bulleted points appear one at a time so the audience listens to the presenter rather than reading the screen.
Use a wireless mouse or pick up the wired mouse so you can move around as you speak.
If sound effects are used, wait until the sound has finished to speak.
Do not turn your back on the audience. Try to position the monitor so you can speak from it.

Unit 5 Handy Hints

Unit 5
Sense and Perception Chapters 5 and 6
Handy Hints

1. What is absolute threshold and how can psychological factors effect these thresholds?


2. Why do we become near sighted or longsighted?


3. Understand Weber’s Law and be able to do calculations.


4. What is the difference between sensory restriction and sensory adaptation?


5. Which receptor works best in dim light?


6. What are the theories of color perception?


7. Where do we hear?


8. The place theory explains high pitch sound well but it does not explain ____________.


9. Older people have trouble hearing ____________ sounds


10. In the gate theory, what “closes” the gate?


11. What is the difference between feature detection and parallel processing?


12. How do we maintain balance?


13. What is this sense called?


14. What is color constancy?


15. What is sensory adaptation? Can you give examples?


16. Most color blind people are ___________. (male or female)


17. Seeing smooth uninterrupted patterns is an example of ___________?


18. Be able to divide all depth cues into monocular and binocular divisions cures.


19. What is the underlying principle of Gestalt?


20. What have experiments on distorted visual environments told us?


21. What is a perceptual set? Give an example.


22. What is a human factors psychologist?


23. What philosopher believed we learn to perceive?


24. Perceiving hazy objects as distant is and example of ___________?


25. What is size constancy?


26. When is sensory restriction most damaging.


27. Who studies ESP?


28. When did we learn from the visual cliff experiment?


29. What changes the curvature of the lens?


30. What controls the size of the pupil?

Structure of Presentations

All presentations must address the following questions:

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
What energy is involved in your sense of ………….?

PROCESS OF TRANSDUCTION
How is physical energy converted to neural energy?

LEVELS OF PROCESSING
How are the neural messages passed to the brain?

PERCEPTION
What do we want to know and how do we know it?

Unit 3 Handy Hints

Be able to describe a neuron in a resting and firing state.
What controls heartbeat and digestion?
Can a strong stimulus increase the speed of an impulse? the intensity of an impulse? the number of firings? or the threshold that must be reached before firing?
Why is withdrawal of a drug like heroin so painful?
What scanning technique involves the brain’s use of glucose?
What branch of psychology believes that behaviors are passed on through natural selection?
What part of the brain is most concerned with regulating emotions?
What neurons are involved in a reflex and what is the order of the transmission of neural messages?
What does learning change at a biological level?
What part of the brain is most concerned with comprehending language?
What is typically controlled by the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere?
What type of psychologist would be most interested in neurotransmitters?
Animals with more complex behaviors have a larger __________________.
What can increase the number of actions potentials a neuron can produce?
What is the sequence of transmission of a neural impulse?
What produces neurotransmitters/hormones/enzymes?
If you had difficulty staying alert and awake, what part of the brain may be damaged?
For most complex tasks, do both hemispheres process information in an integrated manner or is only one hemisphere involved?
What is the name for those parts of the cortex not involved with sensory, motor or languages functions?

Vocabulary for special attention.
Hypothalamus, medulla, amygdale, cerebellum, corpus callosum, thalamus, reticular formation, genes, fraternal twins, identical twins, heritability.

Seminar Rubric

Participant Rubric

A Level Participant

Participant offers enough solid analysis, without prompting, to move the conversation forward
Participant, through her comments, demonstrates a deep knowledge of the text and the question
Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a marked/annotated text
Participant, through her comments, shows that she is actively listening to other participants
Participant offers clarification and/or follow-up that extends the conversation
Participant’s remarks often refer back to specific parts of the text.


B Level Participant

Participant offers solid analysis without prompting
Through comments, participant demonstrates a good knowledge of the text and the question
Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a marked/annotated text
Participant shows that he/she is actively listening to others and offers clarification and/or follow-up


C Level Participant

Through comments, participant demonstrates a general knowledge of the text and question
Participant is less prepared, with few notes and no marked/annotated text
Participant is actively listening to others, but does not offer clarification and/or follow-up to others’ comments
Participant relies more upon his or her opinion, and less on the text to drive her comments

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology has been at the cutting edge of Psychology since the 1990s.
Assignment
Read the article: “Our Cheating Hearts” and answer the following questions. Your work will be graded.
1. What is the thesis of the article?
2. In what ways are the strategies men and women play to pass genes onto the next generation at odds?
3. What conclusions does the article draw about monogamy?
4. In your own words explain the last paragraph of the article?
5. What are your reactions to the article?

Sperry's Split Brain Experiment

Sperry's experiment was a dramatic demonsgtration of brain specialisation.

Socratic Seminars

A Socratic seminar aims to promote a balanced and open-minded consideration of ideas, values and issues. A good seminar is one in which the members work together to help each other understand. In order to participate effectively you need to keep in mind the following:

• Be prepared as you will need to support your interpretations with textual evidence.


• Understand that you are a vital element to the seminar.


• Come to the seminar with questions, thoughts, feelings and points you want to make.


• Do not let others answer all the questions.


• Take risks.


• Be an active listener.


• Realize that your feelings are just as important as your thoughts

Research Methodology Essay Number 5

Design an experiment to determine whether a new drug that is supposed to reduce hyperactivity in children actually does. Your essay should include indentification and description of all elements of your experiemental design including:

1. Sampling
2. IV
3. DV
4. Controls
5. Method of evaluating results

(1 mark for identification and 1 mark for description of that element in your experiment)

The Brain

The Brain

1. All behaviors and mental processes (the whole subject area of Psychology) reside in the biological activity of the brain.


2. The last decade has seen an explosion of research findings into the brain driven by improvements in brain imaging.


3. The Brian has developed through evolution and we in fact have 3 brains.


4. In addition, the cortex is divided in two but joined by the Corpus Calllosum.


5. The Brian is not one organ but many organs.


6. Some sections of the Brian are highly specialized and work largely alone. (e.g. the Brian Stem)


7. Other functions need a large number of brain areas working together (e.g. Speech)


8. A greater deal of our mental processing takes place below the level of conscious ness.

Outstanding Website on the Brain

Visit The Brain from Top to Bottom and focus on the Psychological and Neurologival Levels of Organisation. You can also select the level of difficulty of the material best suited to you.

Neural Communication

1. Structure of the Neuron

Potentials

Resting Potential

• nothing is happening


• gates are closed and the positive ions are on the outside with the negative ions on the inside

Action Potential

• due of stimulation from either heat, chemicals, pressure or light, gates open allowing the positive ions to flow into the neuron


• a brief electric charge is produced, a process called depolarization


• this produces a chain reaction down the axon


• this event can occur up to 100 times a second

Refractory Period

• the positive ions are pumped out
• Neurons can send excitatory or inhibitory messages


• Each neuron has a particular threshold i.e. it fires when the excitatory messages are greater than the inhibitory messages


• All or nothing response i.e. neurons fire or they do not fire


• the speed of firing does not change but the rate of firing can

For those of you who love all of this visit a great site supposedly designed for kids but which I found very challenging. Its called Neuroscience for Kids.

Communication

• neurons fire across a small gap called the synapse
  
• when a message reaches the axon it releases neural transmitters (chemicals) that travel across the synapse
• these chemicals fit like a key into receptor sites on the neighbouring neuron