The Scientific Study Of Interactions Between Living Organisms And Their External Environment

In our experiment our team answered the question, “Why do living organism respond to their environment factors?” using pill bugs or Armadillidiidae. Our purpose to answer the question is to understand the characteristics of a living organism. Specifically, the characteristic of how Living Things Respond to Their Environment. Our hypotenuses that where that if the pill bug is exposed to water, then the pill bug will be close to water; If the pill exposed to heat, then the pill bugs will stay a distance and our third hypotenuse is if the pill bugs is exposed to a stable environment exposed to nothing, then it will search for a suitable environment. The purpose of using pill bugs is to have a creature that can be manipulated and record data easily.

1- What was experimentally wrong with the Ghostbusters ESP study (video link) at the end of your chapter one slideshow, and how could it be improved to meet scientific standards?

In 2016, a school in Malaysia was shut down temporarily due to a case of mass hysteria. Several teachers and students claimed that they had been seeing a black figure and even feeling a presence of spirits. An example of this includes, “A student meanwhile told newspaper Sinar Harian (in Malay) that he felt numbness in his hands while his mind "was all over the place" (Wong & Asher). The student claims that he actually felt his hands going numb and something going on with his head. This all started with just a couple thinking that they saw a mysterious figure and resulted in more than 100 people of the school thinking that they saw it and felt a presence. The fear of their possibly being some kind of spirit wandering around the school spread throughout the whole school and even caused it to shut down for a short amount of time. Given that none of them have an actual reasoning as to why this was happening someone made up that sometimes the students could have accidently hit a ghost while they were disobediently throwing stuff outside. They even did exorcism and prayer sessions with doctors to ensure that the spirit was gone so that the children could go back to school. Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist who researched the outbreak in Malaysia discovered that it was mass hysteria that caused this event.

Psychic synesthesia has long been attributed to genetics. Scientists now believe synesthesia can be developed by life-threatening trauma, near-death experience, post-hypnotic suggestion or various spiritual

A common human being can assume that these psychic abilities are fake, but they are a working progress among skeptic individuals. Only lab research can prove that these abilities are

Singer and Benassi (1981) described a positive correlation between environmental uncertainty in western countries and occult beliefs. Although it could be argued that they may be overreaching with this generalization which is not supported with data, there is truth to this correlation. Humans try to be rational, and logical, and think critically, but in uncertain situations, we look to our environment, the physical and social environment, to provide us with information. Therefore, superstitions and supernatural phenomenon seem possible if no logical explanation can be given, and if the feedback from the environment reinforces what could be occult beliefs. French, Haque, Bunton-Stasyshyn, & Davis (2009) conducted an experiment attempting to investigate whether they could try to create a “haunted” room, and if participants would experience more abnormal sensations. Participants were informed they may feel some abnormal sensations prior to entering the room. Majority of participants reported having three or more abnormal sensations in the 50-minute period they were in the room. These sensations can be a result of susceptibility, but the uncertainty of that environment, and the lack of information may create these sensations and can validate occult

Very little is known about the nature of the human mind. The mental and social life of humans is based on the mind, yet not much is known about it and the extent to which it can go. In all cultures there is a belief about the mind, the heart, and the soul, with a variety of notions about these parts of the human being. Psyche in its ancient sense is extended to limits that go beyond the human body in many of the existing cultures. Surveys that have been done in most countries of the West, Britain, and the U.S have consistently shown that a significant portion of the populations in these regions believe in the occurrence of psychic phenomenon and more than fifty percent believe that they have at one point or another personally experienced it (Sheldrake 102). Considering these beliefs and experiences, it is senseless to claim that the mind is only restricted to the brain. This makes the advocates of mechanistic orthodoxy make an assertion that since paranormal phenomena lacks a scientific explanation, it is non-existent. According to scientific education, this is regarded as superstition but there still calls for need of more study and research into this widespread phenomenon.

I’d always been a firm believer in myth 6 (Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence), so learning that it held no truth came as a shock to me, although it does make more sense now that I’ve read it. Myth 9 (Old Age is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility) came as another shock; however, it did give me a sense of relief, as my grandparents are reaching their elderly years, and I’d like to have them be completely here for as long as possible. Another one that surprised me was myth 13 (Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences), as I’d always believed this to be 100% true. Most, if not all, of the incorrect beliefs I had regarding psychology came from media portrayal, so learning they’re wrong makes me question what else I may be believing that has no sound

Over many years, people have been inquisitive about abnormal behaviours within their societies and beyond. A typical question pertaining to these behaviours is, “why is he behaving this way.” According to DSM-IV-TR, abnormal behaviour is defined as a person who experiences behavioural, cognitive or emotional dysfunction, associated with distress and atypical in his cultural context (Barlow, Durand, 2009). However, the quest for answers and remedies has drifted people from scientific models to traditional ones. One of such models is supernatural.

People claim to have had paranormal encounters while wearing Dr. Michael Persingers God Helmet. Given that the helmet exposes a weak magnetic field beside ones temporal lobes, this is very much possible. Persinger believed that electromagnetic changes in earths crust during earthquakes might cause unusual atmospheric phenomena. Considering that earthquakes do generate weak magnetic fields, he thought that individuals may experience paranormal phenomena in result. Creating the helmet, he put his experiment into play and the outcome of the patients proved to be true. This being because his device slowly builds up occurrences in one section of the brain. Then in the second phase, it will adapt the activity from the first phase pushing or pulling it into another one. The result can be a response from the brain that is typically hard to achieve. With the information going to different parts of the brain on each side, wide control over the effects is possible. The effects will change for each individual person. No two people experience the same result.

Ghosts, as with any other misunderstood group or people, have been preyed upon by others without understanding. The lack of knowledge about ghosts and haunting activity has led people astray as to what they really are. What Hollywood and television portrays is very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon as truthful. They show these spirits of the dead as being evil in nature, filled with malice and harmful intent. But that this is not the case. The field of paranormal activity is amazing. It has caught the imagination of people from every walk of life. It has always interested me and has influenced me to pick this as the topic for my research. Through this research I wish to uncover the truth about the existence of ghosts.

The documentary, “Secrets of the Psychics”, was an interesting experiment that seemed to expose the powers people claim they have.

The Biological Perspective: This is the study of exactly how the physical events within the physical body interact with the events in the external environment. This is expressed by our perceptions, memories, behaviors and interactions with everything around us. We can think about our heredity and genetic makeup and the influences that has on each one of us as an individual. Then think about the stress of poor health and illness and how we may express our emotions with those around us. Since we are diverse as individuals we rely on our physiological make up and the stimuli of our environment to adapt to each situation. This human biology helps us to constantly adapt and survive in an ever-changing world.

Millions of Americans express a belief in extrasensory perception, or ESP, they believe that certain people have psychic abilities. Movies like “The sixth sense” , and commercials for telephone psychics add to the common perception. That psychic abilities are real. Newspapers and television news show are frequently too ready to provide a forum for self-proclaimed psychic. And too quick to dismiss the skeptical viewpoint—if the writers even bother to find out what skeptics believe. People who believe in ESP claim that skeptics are curmudgeons.Who automatically reject any claim about paranormal abilities, no matter how compelling the evidence. The truth is that no psychic has ever been able to demonstrate his or her abilities under controlled

the paranormal with as much respect and analysis as physics or the chaos theory."13 The