A Psychologyical Review of Perception Podcasts Episodes 31 and 138

For me personally, the majority of the careers available in this area do not hold a lot of interest because I do not want to work in a lab as a researcher or a technician. My main interest in psychology is to help people on a more personal level, so the careers that involve working one on one with patients are the ones that hold the most appeal for me. If I did have to pick one from the list of provided examples, I would choose the Psychiatric technician because it comprises of tasks that would allow me to work directly with patients and would offer a good learning experience of the work environment for when I decide to continue on to a graduate level career.

For the podcast on Perception, I chose Episode 31: Lemon Slices and a New Face on Mars! Gestalt Principles at Work. This podcast discussed how the Gestalt Principles work in the way we perceive the world around us. The most interesting concept that I learned about was the idea of “multi-stability” and how the lack of ability to determine an images background and foreground changes how we view the image (Britt, 2007). I also found the concept of “closure” to be interesting in the way our brain is able to fill in the gaps of an incomplete image so that it appears to be a complete image (Britt, 2007). This is something that can come into play in everyday life through art and the tricks that artists use to get the viewer to see depth that is not actually there. The Gestalt Principles also have an impact on how we surf the web. Web sites that are grouped in a logical way are often easier to navigate and are more likely to be used, whereas web sites that have no logical order or grouping become frustrating and will less likely be used (Britt, 2007). A hot topic for this area deals with seeing religious images in everyday items. For instance, seeing the face of the Virgin Mary or Jesus on a piece of toast. Some people take this as a sign from God and share it with the world. The conflict that arises from this is the feeling that some people may use this as a way to defraud those who believe out of money. There are also those who can see the images, but believe they hold no religious or spiritual meaning, other than a neat coincidence, and may be labelled as “non-believers,” which can have very negative consequences depending on where those people live.

The Podcast I chose for Biopsychology was Episode 138: Zombies – 6 Reasons Why We Are So Fascinated By Them. Michael Britt discusses several possible reasons why we are fascinated by the concept of a zombie apocalypse. These reasons range from Freudian aggression, fear of mortality and overcoming death, social justice, and fear of scientific progression (2010). What I found to be the most interesting idea was how the view of zombies have become altered over the years in a Pavlovian way. Many portrayals of zombies in current pop culture have been with a more comedic slant or in a way that makes them appear “cute,” i.e. the game “Plants vs. Zombies” show zombies as being silly and unintimidating (Britt, 2010). Another great example of how the zombie has been altered is the movie “Warm Bodies,” which is a romantic comedy that romanticizes the concept of zombies, which would have been unthinkable when the zombie genre first came about. However I also really enjoyed the breakdown of how the brain functions in contrast to how a “zombie brain” is supposed to function, which basically is that zombies would not be able to move around, see, hear, or smell because they are often depicted as only having a working brain stem, hence their primal drive and lack of cognitive function. However, they display attributes that would require the higher brain as well (Britt, 2010). This topic is relevant to everyday life since zombies are becoming increasingly popular in several forms of media such as books, games, movies, television shows, and even parades. There are more movies, independent and big Hollywood produtions, that are being released all the time. “The Walking Dead” has become a very popular show and has inspired other networks to create zombie shows of their own. Fox network, I believe, has already begun production on a television series based off the popular movie “Zombieland.” There have also been rumors that NBC is working on their own version of zombie program as well. Zombies are becoming a big part of mainstream popculture and it is interesting to figure out why. A big hot topic for this is the level of violence that has become acceptable on television. For a long time, the only time someone could see the level of violence that is a signature of the zombie genre was in an R rated movie, but now it is on cable television. Some think that the level of violence can be detrimental to the youth that watch the programs because it can either desensitize them to violence or make them more prone to violence.