tackling psychology 101- psychology game lab

Train Your Brain:

A Visit to the Sport Psychologist’s Office

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Welcome to your “Train Your Brain” work out session. I’m Spencer, the team sport psychologist. One of the techniques used to train one’s brain without actually being on the football field, is to mentally visualize what you would do when given a football play within your mind (this is an actual technique used to increase athletic performance). However, there have been great developments in neuroscience and we will be using a brand new piece of equipment. Instead of mentally visualizing the action, we will use a machine to electrically stimulate the appropriate areas of the brain to activate those areas necessary for making decisions, seeing, hearing, increasing heart rate, etc. By electrically stimulating the brain region, we will strengthen neural pathways so that when you actually play football on the field, those pathways will automatically pass the needed information to each area of the brain to do what you want to do. Yes, I know it’s complicated but give it a chance.

Let me introduce you to our NeuroElectroStimulator (NES). I call it NESy for short.Have a seat, I’ll turn it on. NESy’s helmet will lower onto your head and the monitors will swing in front of you.

Before we get started, I’d like to tell you your goals for this training session. You are to be sure you•learn the names of the primary brain structures•learn the locations of those structures•and, very importantly, learn the functions of those structures.

As a football player dedicated to your craft, it is assumed that you have read over the playbook (i.e., your textbook) before participating in these training sessions. If you haven’t, you should at least have it open during them. Even taking a few notes couldn’t hurt. Good luck with your training!Now let’s familiarize you with NESy.

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorOn NESy’s monitor, you can now see an image of your brain within your head.I’d like you to use your mouse to rollover a part of the brain so you can learn its name or identify it if you already know it.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorDon’t click on the structures yet! NESy’s neuroelectrostimulator is not turned on.When you do click on a brain structure, you’ll be applying a very small electrical charge.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorAs you may know from your Neurocommunication training, the brain uses electricity to communicate. So when you click on a brain structure you are causing that structure to electrically activate and do its natural job whether it’s moving a body part, or causing a conscious experience such as a thought, emotion or sensation.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorThroughout this training, I’ll tell you what thought, sensation or action I’d like you to have your brain perform. You will need to locate the correct structure and then click on it to activate it. I’ll need to tell you more about NESy before I set you loose.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorIf you’d like to view a deeper brain structure just press on the Zoom In button. If you’d like to view the outer brain structures, click on Zoom Out. If you’d like to view the right side of the brain, click the right arrow and to view the left side, click the left arrow.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Right Hand MonitorThere are 2 structures (motor and somatosensory cortices) you’ll need to zoom in on to activate properly. Click twice on those structures to zoom in. Click to the side to zoom back out. Ok, that’s all you need to know about NESy’s right hand monitor. Let me tell about its left hand monitor.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Left Hand MonitorWhen you stimulate a brain area, normally you’d have a conscious experience representing the function of that portion of the brain or your body would move. I have already injected you with a compound that will block your normal conscious & behavioral experience and make it so you don’t act out the result of activating portions of your brain.

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Consciousness Body

NESY’s Left Hand MonitorInstead, NESy will display what your mental experience or your body’s behavior would be, given the applied brain stimulation. You get to observe the conscious and behavioral changes on the left hand monitor. This makes it so body movements or extreme anger don’t get in the way of our training. NESy is cool, huh!!!

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Consciousness Body

Description of NESy

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NESy’s Helmet

Images of Brain

Controllers for Brain Imager

Outer Brain Deeper Structures Deepest Structures

ElectrostimulatorText Area Consciousness Body

Outer Most View of BrainFrontalLobe

ParietalLobe

OccipitalLobe

TemporalLobe

Outer Most View of Brain:Motor & Somatosensory Cortices

SomatosensoryCortex

MotorCortex If Motor Cortex is

double clicked then display this

If Somatosensory Cortex is double clicked then display this

Double click to zoom in

Double click to zoom in

1st Deeper View

Hippocampus

AmygdalaThalamus

Hypothalamus

Deepest View

Medulla

Thalamus

Hypothalamus

ReticularFormation

Cerebellum

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NeuroTraining

The really cool thing about NESy is that it allows you to train your brain by merely clicking the mouse. Let’s begin your training. I will pose you a training task (e.g., move your right leg) and you will use NESy to stimulate the appropriate brain area to complete that task. Your stimulation will strengthen connections with these brain structures, thus Training Your Brain.

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NeuroTraining

If you click on the correct brain areas during this training, you will become a super athlete. If you click on the incorrect brain area(s), you will train your brain incorrectly and become an even more lame football player than you already are. We’ll start off simple and gradually get more complex and related to football, although it will all be related to football and life in general. I will keep your score while you train. Obviously, your overall performance score will increase or decrease depending on your accurate use of NESy.Let us begin, Grasshopper. (Your Sport Psychologist is obviously old and watched too much TV in his youth)

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3 Phases of NeuroTraining

There will be 3 phases to your training:1. Basic Training: you will learn the names and

functions of the structures of the brain2. Timed Training: you will repeat the

essentials of basic training but you will need to accomplish each task within a set time.

3. Sequential Training: you will need to accomplish a sequence of tasks.

You will have the opportunity to return to any of the training sessions before it’s time for the Big Game.

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Let’s Begin Basic NeuroTraining

Remember your job will be to1. Read the task posed to you2. Find the correct brain structure3. Stimulate that brain structure by

using NESy’s electrostimulator. This will Train Your Brain.

4. You have 3 Goals. If you haven’t already learned them:

a. You are to learn the namesb. and locations of the brain

structuresc. You are to learn the function the

brain structures serve

Neurotraining: An Example of a Basic Training Task

• Description of 1st Task:– Stimulate the correct brain structure so that you can see

my office.– Correct Response: Student gets to the Outer Layer of the

brain, rolls over the back of the brain, it outlines and labels it the Occipital lobe and the student clicks any where in the area.

– The conscious portion of NESy’s display shows a picture of the office.

– 1 point is added to the student’s score. If the student clicks on any other brain structure, he/she looses a point.

Changes in NESy for 1st

TaskOccipitalLobe

Stimulate the correct brain structure so that you can see my office.

Overall Score: 1 pt.

Consciousness Body

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Description of Each Basic Training Task, Student Behavior and Brain imagery, Consciousness &

Bodily Changes in NESy

Description of Each Task, Student Behavior and Brain imagery, Consciousness & Bodily Changes

in NESy

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Basic Training Completed

Congrats, you’ve completed Basic Training. You can see your score so you can tell how well you did.You can repeat the Basic Training by clicking on “Train Again” or you can proceed to your next step “Timed Training.” It’s your choice.

Score =

Train Again Timed Training

The BIG GAME

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NeuroTraining: Timed TrainingThe next phase of your NeuroTraining, if you chose to accept it, is designed to hone your skills and knowledge. It is called Timed Training.You will perform the same kind of tasks you completed in Basic Training but the specific tasks posed will be different and each task will be timed. You must complete the task within the time provided. If you don’t complete the task in time, you will lose a point but then be allowed to repeat the task. Only your first attempt will act toward your score. If you finish the task with time to spare, you will earn bonus points. Try to get the highest score possible. Good luck!

Description of Each Timed Training Task, Student Behavior and Brain imagery,

Consciousness & Bodily Changes in NESyFunction Slides


Consciousness & Bodily Changes in NESyStructure Slides


Consciousness & Bodily Changes in NESy

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Timed Training Completed

Congrats, you’ve completed Timed Training. You can see your score so you can tell how well you did.You can repeat the Timed Training by clicking on “Train Again” or you can proceed to your next step “Sequential Training.” It’s your choice.

Score =

Train Again Sequential Training

The BIG GAME

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NeuroTraining: Sequential TrainingThe 3rd and final stage of your Neurotraining will help you (i.e., your brain) put it all together. I will give you a sequence of tasks, one at a time. You will need to stimulate the correct brain structure for each task. You will need to complete the sequence of tasks without making a single error to move forward in your training.You will earn points for each individual correct brain stimulation and extra points for stimulating the brain structures in the correct sequence. Further, there is not a time limit to complete the sequence but the faster you complete it, the more points you earn. I’ll start you with something simple and work our way up to something more complex. Good Luck & I Know You Can Do It!

Description of Each Sequential Training Task, Student Behavior and Brain imagery,

Consciousness & Bodily Changes in NESy

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Completion of Training Your Brain

With completion of your Neurotraining, the question is, are you ready for this week’s Big Game? Look at your scores for Basic Training, Timed Training, and Sequential Training. If you chose, you can return to any of the training sessions (Click on either Basic, Timed or Sequential training). But if you think you are ready, then click “The Big Game.”

Scores

Basic = Timed = Sequential = Total =

Basic Training

Timed Training

Sequential Training

The BIG GAME

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The Big Game

You will now complete 10 tasks as you did during Basic Training. You will receive your score at the end of training and that score will be displayed in your scoreboard (it will be your grade for this lab). NESy’s labeling of ALL of the structures’ names and the changes in Consciousness & your Body will be turned off.I hope your Neurotraining, has prepared you well. Good luck, Grasshopper!

Description of Each Big Game Task, Student Behavior and Brain imagery

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Completion of The Big Game

We’ve kept your stats while you were playing the game. This is your score [blank]. As your coach, I’d just like to say, “[feedback].”The Big Game is a done deal. But feel free to come back and work with NESy anytime you’d like. I hope you visit real soon.

Appendix A:Images for Consciousness & Body

Images for Consciousness & Body

tackling psychology 101- psychology game lab

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