Monthly Archives: September 2016

Project19- Week 6

My population of interest would be people in my family and friends.Subjects will be recruited at random to avoid bias selections. Experimental groups will be people using the simulation I created and the control group will be people not using the simulation I created. They will also be selected at random. Subjects that were included were any people going to school and working no matter the health condition. Subjects that were excluded were people not working or in school. The average age of the subjects are 16-21, both male and female, any ethnicity, that are in school, work, or both. No subjects were paid or receive course credit, but they were taken out to dinner. Materials I will use is blank canvas, pens, pencils, paints, oil pastels, and marker. People will be asked to put whatever they would want on the blank canvas whether it be drawing, words, writing their feelings, etc. using any tool they want and then be asked a series of questions after. I asked people in the experimental group to partake in the stimulation and the people in the control group to do daily activities. I asked a series of questions after responses were done. People using my stimulation vs people doing their daily activities. Experimental group will be asked to create whatever they wanted with the stimulation I gave and the Control group will be asked to daily activities. I’ll have subject go do their daily routine and when they get home and settled in the experimental group is asked to create whatever they want on the canvas and they series of questions asked after will determine results. Made a chart for the whole week to record data after they answer questions.

 


 

FA16-Project3

This week we are speaking about our methods section of our research project. I made my stand point more clear this week by adding more details. I explained the material I will be using such examples like pictures and reading material for my students. From here I can more elaborate on what these students can or cannot remember. More or less I feel like I’m making more progress as the weeks go on. spil_1-jpg-crop_display_0

Week 5

My general topic of interest is that social cognition can help a child develop better socially by applying a board game that will help children recognize their different strengths and when to positively engage socially with others. Natalie I. Berger and Brooke Ingersoll, expressed that children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate increased social attention in response to contingent imitation by an adult (2013). When children age, they depend on adults, like parents, to express correct and positive ways of life. They are very observant, and mock the way adults do things. Without correction, this will become something that the children learned. Behaviors such as learning how to share or communicate properly, are great behaviors learned from adults.
“ Instructional learning… is inseparable from an understanding that other people have the communicative intent to teach or convey information ( Agnetta, B., & Rochat, P. 2004). The authors clearly state that people have “communicative intent to teach”(Agnetta, B., & Rochat, P. 2004), or they have an innate capacity to teach or relay information to others. With disorders such as cerebral palsy, children need constant physical and occupational therapy (Sandlund, M. et al 2012). A study done by E. O’Connor et al, expresses that massively multiplayer online games, are viewed as a virtual world, and players use it as a role playing game (2015) Role playing games are created to give a more directed or influenced feel. The gamer is the actual person in the game in which he or she can express themselves in ways they can not in real life. What does this have in common with children that have disabilities? Children with disabilities may not have the means to communicate effectively. This is where gaming comes in. Gaming is a way to express oneself by learning different concepts and using them to complete levels in games. Children tend to focus on face like patterns when viewing images (Csibra, G., & Gergely, G 2006).
The work that needs to be conducted to further our knowledge, is examining the effects of gaming and teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, how to effectively socialize with others. This is very important because if the child has siblings, then it would be great for the child to learn how to socialize positively with them ( Dyson, Liley L. 1996). The questions remaining are: How will I create a game, in which someone with a disorder like Autism Spectrum Disorder, to effectively socialize with others? Will my game have any downfall or repercussions when I produce it in front of a experimental population?
To test my theory, I will develop a boardgame similar to a puzzle. The name of this board game “Feed the Monster”. The game consists of a cardboard monster named Willie who’s very hungry. The monster and cardboard food, are very colorful with different shapes on them. Willie has holes that are shaped differently than each other. For example, Willie will have a square, and the child will have to place the appropriate shape into the square space. My study will satisfy the needs of effectively socializing with others by pairing a child with autism with a child without any disorders. This will create productivty in socialization and learning fundamentally, by working together to complete the task at hand. It is predicted that, through acquistion of a board game, children with disabilities will be able to learn and perceive better social skill.

FA-Project 12 – Week 5

Liquids and Their Effect On Our Minds

Usman Athar

CUNY York College

People know that the human mind and body can multi-task voluntarily and most importantly involuntarily. The question that seems to have been unanswered seems to be that does it affect the level at which humans function. For example, does ingesting a liquid, in general, have an impact on the mind the way coffee or caffeinated drinks do? Does the mind work better by not having another function to do at the same time or does drinking something for example help stimulate the mind and keep it working better? There’s been many articles written about the effects of caffeinated drinks like coffee and energy drinks stimulating the mind, but there’s still one aspect missing. The aspect left to explore whether the mind works better or worse in general, with or without an additional process to conquer. Adding the consumption of liquid to the mind’s tasks may or may not help increase functionality.

The work that has been done in the field suggests that energy drinks do indeed help stimulate cognitive performance. The main constant within these drinks is caffeine and “most researchers concur that caffeine seems to be the main compound that drives the stimulatory effects of these drinks” (Howard, 2010).

What’s missing from all these experiments is the lack of control within the subjects overall. The food ingested through the day was not the same. The environment and state in which the subjects were in were not the same.

The way to really understand this question would be test and experiment. In one study, the experimenter had “thirty-five healthy volunteers (16 male, 19 female) participate in two experimental sessions in which they remained awake between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. At 3:30 a.m. they consumed CAF or placebo in random order under double-blind conditions. Participants completed subjective effects questionnaires and performed computerized attention tasks before and after consuming capsules” (Childs, 2007). The goal was to see if whether capsulated caffeine had any effect on fatigued individuals. In another study, “twenty-four managers who normally consume between 400 and 1,000 mg of caffeine per day participated in all-day quasi-experimental simulations” (Streufert, 1997). What’s important to observe via this study is the best way to experiment would be to set a control and have an experimental variable. It’s important to keep the subjects health in mind as well, as there are certain side effects of caffeine for example that can really impact someone’s health. A study suggests “borderline hypertensive men maintained response to the stressor in the face of an exaggerated BP response to caffeine, suggesting that use of caffeine during behavioral stress may elevate BP in BH individuals to a clinically meaningful degree” (Lovallo, 2006). Moving forward, to ensure everything is even across the board, the subjects that will be used for the study will have to ingest the same kind of food throughout the day. The food will consist of every nutrient the body needs to function at the most optimal level. By having this set constant throughout the subjects, it will ensure that the ingestion of any further liquid will be the only factor effectively influencing the functionality and productivity of the subject. To add to the consistency throughout the subjects, all subjects will have same level of exercise done throughout the day as it effects the amount of nutrients the body needs throughout the day to be in optimal performance. Furthermore, the subject will be tested via game-based interaction to see if they’re more aware, attentive, responsive and accurate.

All tests will happen one after another, per subject. The first test will be with no experimental variable. This simply means that the subjects will play the game-based experiment, normally without any ingestion of any liquid. The data from that trial will be recorded. The second round of the game-based experiment will include the first liquid to be ingested. The liquid would be half a glass of water. Data will be taken at the end of that round. The last round will include the last liquid to be ingested, which will be a half a glass of a caffeinated drink like coffee perhaps. Data will also be collected after that round and then further compared to the other two trials. The data with the highest score will prove to be the most efficient. Furthermore, that data will give us the answer of whether ingestion of any kind during a task that requires full attention will either increase or decrease the functionality and performance of our minds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Streufert, Siegfried, Usha Satish, Rosanne Pogash, Dennis Gingrich, Richard Landis, John Roache, and Walter Severs. “Excess Coffee Consumption in Simulated Complex Work Settings: Detriment or Facilitation of Performance?” Journal of Applied Psychology 82.5 (1997): 774-82. Web.

 

Lovallo, William R., Mustafa Al’absi, Gwen Pincomb A., Susan Everson A., and Et Al. “Caffeine and Behavioral Stress Effects on Blood Pressure in Borderline Hypertensive Caucasian Men.” Health Psychology 15.1 (1996): 11-17. Web.

 

Childs, Emma, and Harriet Wit De. “Enhanced Mood and Psychomotor Performance by a Caffeine-containing Energy Capsule in Fatigued Individuals.” Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 16.1 (2008): 13-21. Web.

 

Howard, Meagan A., and Cecile Marczinski A. “Acute Effects of a Glucose Energy Drink on Behavioral Control.” Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 18.6 (2010): 553-61. Web.

 

 

FA16- Project 20 Week 5

I’m Focusing on is the ability of how different individuals perceive information towards the same topics and how that relates towards logical thinking. The primary process I’m studying is how logical thinking could improve through a series of games that would consist of different areas of study. However, the difference in this game would be one group would be assigned a series of only educational material (e.g. math problems, English, Science, etc.) and the other game would be manipulated by it consisting of both educational material and real world issues e.g. (current world issues, relationship problems, every-day problems that we go through.) The group that will be focusing on both educational and non-educational material will be manipulated to investigate patterns of behaviors and responses to certain questions by their solutions to problems that would be presented to them.

 

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FA16 Project 7: Week 5

 

 

 

 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is commonly known as ADHD and is in common in most in young children into their early teens. Most students when learning feel self-conscious and it affects their school work by not letting them be the best they can potentially at school. Over time, they learn how to cope with it, but are still fearful to make friends and figure out how to do homework and study for tests on their own. Children who discover that they have this disorder sometimes need a boost in confidence or a coping mechanism to help them stay focused on their main priority; school. Sports like swimming, basketball and soccer help maintain focus because they support the mind by using their behavioral, language and attention cognitive processes.

 

Hyper activeness is associated with ADHD and many parents don’t like that word because most people connect that word to this disorder thinking it’s terrible when it actually isn’t. Being hyper active is to be impulsive and giddy when it’s inappropriate. A teen will drive slowly on the highway then speed when it isn’t necessary even when no one is on the road. If you don’t have ADHD, think of it like this, you’re impatient about knowing when the train is coming. A person with this disorder will do everything in their power to get to class on time but do it in a disrespectful manner. Some questions that might linger is that which parts of the brain get triggered to become so hyper active to the point of 4 and 5 year olds receiving a mental disorder when they should be playing in a sand box rather than being in a hospital. Being attentive is what every parent and teacher wants from their child, but when that attention span is harder to control, it can be quite difficult for both parties. Though no one has found a true cure or cause for this disorder, every scientist is curious as to why it happens in early childhood and not later in life.

 

You would think that brain simulation or the various cognitive process can help this disorder keep its course; wrong. Brain simulation is crucial for life, but when your attention span is shorter than you want it to be, being on your phone or video games are harder tasks. Children with ADHD exhibit more problems associated with video games (Bioulac, 2008).  Video games do help some kids function, whether they have a mental disorder or not, but for many with this disorder it seems to knock them down dramatically. Concentration is key, whether you’re fighting zombies off or getting a coin for good behavior, games are more difficult to those to have this disorder. Their focus can break at any time during the course of the game, and for that they beat themselves up about the fact they’re not like everyone else.

FA16-Project 1: Week 5

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Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases (Alzheimer’s Association , 2016). Alzheimer’s disease patients experience gradual disturbance in several cognitive functions such as language, reasoning, memory, and visuospatial skills. Visuospatial skills refer to our ability to process and interpret visual and spatial information in our environment. These skills enable us complete essential everyday tasks such as reading a map, driving a car, giving directions, recognizing and manipulating shapes and object. Deficits in visuospatial performance could be detected in the very mildest stage of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer patients (Storand, 1995). Visuospatial dysfunction in Alzheimer disease is reflected in perceptual impairments as well as in deficits in higher order aspects of spatial orientation (Alice, 2014).
Previous research have shown that playing action games induces changes in a number of sensory, perceptual, and attentional abilities that are important for many tasks in spatial cognition (Spence, 2009). An experiment conducted in 2011 found that visuospatial training through video games can not only impact performance on measures of spatial functioning, but can also affect performance in content areas in which these abilities are utilized (Sanchez, 2011). In 2014 Erin Connors, Elizabeth Chrastil, Jamie Sánchez, & Merabet Lotfi conducted an experiment investigating whether action games can improve navigation and spatial cognition skills to adolescents who are blind. Based on the results the investigators concluded that a game based learning approach can facilitate the transfer of spatial knowledge and further, can be used by individuals who are blind for the purposes of navigation in real-world environments (Connors, Chrastil, Sánchez, & Merabet, 2014). Previous research has also found that playing an action video game can virtually eliminate the gender difference in spatial attention and simultaneously decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability (Feng, Spence, & Pratt, 2007).
Whiles there has been many research conducted exploring whether games can improve visuospatial skills, there has been only a few resent studies that has directly investigated whether games can enhance visuospatial skills in individuals with Alzheimer’s. To explore this topic most of the research conducted use either a realistic approach using close-to-reality simulations, or serious video games (Imbeault, Bouchard, & Bouzouane, 2011). This research however would take a different approach and focus on table games. This study would explore whether table games can improve the visuospatial skills of individuals with Alzheimer’s. The current study aims to test this notion by assessing the visuospatial skill of individuals with Alzheimer’s in an experimental setting. I predict that table game usage can improve the visuospatial skill of men and women with Alzheimer disease. This work is important given the fact that a larger amount of men and women are affected by Alzheimer disease. An improvement of visuospatial skills can essentially improve the everyday aspects of these individuals life.

FA 16 – week 5- Project 17

teens-phones-text-technology

When it come to teenagers in this generation there’s definitely a significant difference, because all they focus on is being on social networks. Social networks is what makes this world goes round for teenagers these days. More than 92 % of teens go online daily including 24% of teens who say that they go online constantly. (Amanda Lenhart 2015)Teens are considered the most frequent used people on social media networks. When it comes to this study teenagers are not the same as they use to be. Adults and young adults these days are the first to notice that teenagers are not what they use to be. Teenagers “back in the day” use to be more active and willing to go outside and explore. Now teenagers are more in front of computer and smart phone then , they once was. Everything is the internet now a days and if your not on these socially media networks, other teenagers sometime view as not cool among they peers.

  This study solves the problem of making teenagers more aware that, they need to spend less time in front of their devices. They need to get back out into the world and find more things that attracts them . Instead of what’s going on in other people’s lives. When they can start living their own life but not through a smart phone or computer screen. Teens need to start putting their time into something more constructive. Everything isn’t always about the internet not to say the internet isn’t beneficial . But it’s time to step away!

  My study is different from other studies because I focus on what teenagers use to be. Compared to what teenagers are more like today in this age of time . There are definitely two type of teenagers in this world . Some that are aware of how much teenagers spend there time on social networks. Then there are teenagers that spend all of the free time in front of devices . The only problem with my study will be to find teenagers that are serious about taking the challenge of spending less time on the social networks .

   The work that still needs to be done is how to get teenagers away from their devices. I still question what makes teenagers so focused on their devices .         Why can’t they be adventurous and curious like how we use to be. I know that they can get back to what they use to be . Other theories can be challenged because everyone knows how teenagers don’t focus on connecting with each other no more. Especially when it comes to face to face connection . They rely on every interaction with each other through the social networks .

   My study will fill these gaps because they will help teenagers realize how much time they really spend on social media. It’s for teenagers to come to an understanding of how to make their life more interesting without involving the internet. It will help teenagers develop the skills of becoming more social among their peers. Instead of using the internet as an easy way out of face to face connecting. It’s for their own good because the internet can’t connect with people. It can only provide tips for how people can connect with each other.

  My thesis state that ” teenagers are more likely to be involved with anything pertaining to social networks” because that’s what it’s all about these days. This is how they keep up with what’s going on in other people life. Worrying about other people’s life helps derive them from what’s going on in there’s .

FA16 PROJECT 9- WEEK 5 MILESTONE

Introduction: 

Game based learning is designed to balance subject matter with gameplay and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world. Perceptual process is the structure of psychological steps that a person follows in order to organize and interpret information from the outside world. One of the studies done in the field includes the study that was done with second grade students and they had to acquire historical knowledge of medieval Amsterdam playfully(Huizenga et al. 2009). Another study done was one conducted at a university it examined difference in academic achievement of students that use and those who do not use video game learning (Blunt). A research made in the field stated that current learning methods for young learners fail to engage learners used to interactive media (Prensky, 2005). work that needs to be done in this field is to find out if game based learning can fill in to help the needs of the children that have perceptual processing disorder. This study is a add on to other studies that have already been done in the field and can contribute to the research already done to have more information. It is predicted that game based learning is effective because it helps children perceptual processing using a different style of learning compared to regular class learning.

fa16-project 13 week 5

While doing research for my project this week, I felt like I needed to take my thesis into a different direction. Instead of seeing what grades we can get by playing video games before a test. I want to see how video games can help children who are apprehensive and who have iep issues perform better before taking an exam. Some children get scared or may need more time while taking an exam. Some studies showed that playing video games for these children will help them be at ease and concentrate better while taking an exam. There also have been many studies that have shown that video games may help adolescence stem performance. There are also different perceptions that teachers have when doing these studies. Some teachers find that depending on the game or where the child is at their developmental stage has an effect on how the child’s mind can be perceived .

There are many articles that I have read for this topic, and so many have different opinions, but the one thing that did seem to persistent is that a child attention span does get better with playing the video games. It can prove that since their attention span is better they are more alert when taking an exam.