The Myth of Multitasking

1. Multitasking is considered a myth because of the fact that it is only a trick that makes us believe that we are doing many things at once when really we are switching them. This switch leads us to be less productive that what we would be if only did one task at a time.

2. The term "response selection bottleneck" refers to the condition in which the brain, in an attempt to respond to many things at the same time, losses time because of the delayed decision of which task it should accomplish primarily.

3. David Meyers’s discovery is important because he discovered that the “art” of “multi-tasking” releases stress hormones and adrenaline. These releases are of high risk to the human body because of the effects they have like, short-term memory loss and long-term heath problems.

4. Russell Podrack found that this so called “multi-tasking” affects your learning skills. Although this action appears more efficient, it is actually less effective because this makes it harder for you to remember or retain information as well as if you did everything at its own time. He also mentioned how humans are not cutoff to live such a hectic and busy life.

5. The author concludes that we will probably adapt to this environment affecting our future societies who will suffer the consequences including: less productivity because of the difficulty of retaining the information that leads to a weak society, long-term health problems, and short-term memory loss.

Observations of the BaMbuti Pygmies

The Bambuti Pygmies were a tribe in Africa who live in the Ituri Forest for many years. They were characterized because of their singing, dancing and rituals, they were called “the people of the trees” because of this. Before more studies were done, they were referred to as “subhuman monsters” or even “creatures flying the treetops”. Colin Turnbull was a famous British-American anthropologist who studied many different tribes and cultures especially in Africa. He became extremely attracted to the Bambuti Pygmies as he continued studying their culture and society as one of the oldest indigenous ones in Africa. They started out as solitary individuals who traveled in small groups, these later evolved into four cultures: the Efe, the Aka, the Sua and the MBUTI. The Mbuti tribes were famous for being independent and variety of goods and food. These people were also distinguished because of their harsh and strict rules. Traditions were very important for these people; the major beliefs were the unity of families. The families’ houses were temporary because of their nomad life since they were hunters and gatherers. They usually migrated to the rainforests in dry seasons. In one of Colin’s expeditions in these tribes, one of the translators was amazed when he saw bulls running towards him and perceived their change in size; the translator was tricked by what is called now an optical illusion. Colin made many small discoveries like this one that shaped others perception; these pygmies had such a small knowledge that they considered optical illusion as magic. Colin’s discoveries of perception shaped what they later learned and what we know now.

Colin Turnbull

Early life:Colin lived from November 23, 1924 (London) until July 28, 1994. He studied in Westminster School and Magdalen College, Oxford. There he studied politics and philosophy. He later went to Banaras Hindu University in India to study Indian religion and philosophy.

Professional life:Colin became a famous British-American anthropologist. He came to public attention with two popular books: The Forest People which was on the Mbuti Pygmies of Zaire, and The Mountain People based on the Ik people of Uganda; and also one of the first anthropologists to work in the field of ethnomusicology.

Time working in Africa:Colin later became an expert in Pygmy tribes; this caused him to become very interested in African tribes. He grabbed his motorcycle and left to Africa to continue his studies on the Pygmies in which he was so deeply interested in. He visited African Pygmies six times where he studied their language, religion and native music. With all the experience with the African tribes, Colin was able to write many documentaries and works that focused on African tribes especially the Pygmies. Colin later fell in love with a poor African man named Joe Towels, starting an open gay relationship, moving in with him in New York.

Later life:Towels later died of AIDS, (after analyzing several rituals of the African tribes) making Turnbull want to become a Buddhist monk. Turnbull later died of pneumonia in 1994.

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL

Internal factors that influence our perception could be our five senses because if we feel or see something that is rough we have a rough perception of it. Or if we listen to a high sound we have a different perception of it than if it would be a low sound. Also if we taste something that we don’t like our perception of the other foods that are the same or related to it will be bad. For example I can’t even see seafood yet the only seafood I’ve tasted are fish and shrimp.

External factors can be our community and what shapes it. If one lives in a religious community, the perception one has of God is a glorious one; different to a person who lives in a non-religious community who probably doesn’t even believe in God. Also, your family shapes your perception too. This is because it is the people you live with and whom surround you, influencing greatly your perception of the world and everything in it.

POSSITIVE/NEGATIVE

· POSSITIVE:

1. McDonalds

2. Movies

3. Cooking

4. Listening to music

5. Coming to Psychology class

· NEGATIVE:

1. Going to the cemetery

2. Eating Peas

3. Eating “remolacha”

4. Color Black

5. Cats

PERCEPTION=REALITY

Some people say “seeing is believing”, but haven’t you ever wondered if this statement was true? Through all my research I have found out that what our eyes see, is true to our mind unless some other better reason appears. For example, if when I was a little girl I saw a shark devour a person or a fish in the water aggressively, my perception of sharks and the sea would be much more different as I grow older than if I wouldn’t have seen it and it would also be a different perception to what another girl who has been shown beautiful pink fishes with purple spots and other “magical” things. When our mind is taking things in like a sponge we keep those memories and thoughts and store them, when a similar case appears we remember that memory and on base of this we classify this object/event/animal/etc as something positive or negative. Usually phobias and fears (ex. of perception) are caused because of earlier negative experiences, like if I had a phobia with milk it’s because I probably drank spoiled milk once when I was a little girl. Finally I will talk about another difference of perception which is the difference between a middle-class kid and a low-class kid. A middle class kid might see food as something he/she has every day and might not see it as something big. On the other hand a low-class kid sees food as a trophy or a prize he should win and needs it and appreciates food much more that the middle or high-class kid.

PSYCHOLOGY AND ME

I have always thought the study of the human’s behavior and thoughts as the most impressing studies of all. Aside from this, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Being a teacher would imply understanding my students and knowing how to deal with them, this is where psychology kicks in. but teaching would only be one of my jobs, I’d also have 8 kids of which id have to take care of using again a bit of psychology. I also use psychology in my everyday life dealing with my 4 siblings and classmates.