the lunacy project power point

8/3/2019 The Lunacy Project Power Point

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By Holly Farrell & Brittany Gonzalez


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Lunacy is o The affects of the lunar phases on thehuman mental stateo A persons behavior or psychologicalstate is considered to be affected by thechanges in moon phases


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History and Mythologyo Belief in lunacy dates back toancient roman times o Luna, the Roman goddess of the Moon

o During the middle ages in Europe, Lunacywas believed to be the cause of so calledwerewolves and vampires

o Also know as the Transylvania Effect


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TheoriesOne theory states that since humans are composed of 80% of water, the affect of the moon on us is similar to that of the affect moon on the oceans (the gravitational pull that creates tides).Another theory states that changes in mental heath and behavior be related to the increase in sunlight that is reflected off the visibsurface of the moon from our perspective as it goes through phas

Some studies report a peak in mental health admissions and homaround the full moon, as well as heightened episodes of seizureswith epilepsy.For Example: A study completed in 1972 showed that 2,000homicides committed in Dade County, Florida over a 15 Year pepeaked at the times of the full moons.

Some studies show that the incidence of crimes reported to the poften higher during the full moon phase of the moon


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Our Hypothesis

We hypothesize that thelunar phases will have asignificant effect on the

number of crimes reportedto the police.


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Why Are We Doing This?

The significance of the study is to shed light on popsocial beliefs regarding lunacy. If Studies concludeexclusively that the moon phases actually do affectmental states and behavior, we can better predict anprepare for these occurrences and heightened incidof crimes.

For example, during times of full moons, hospitals stations can be better staffed to deal with increases Lunacy related issues. Also, if the general populati

aware of the moons affects, some may consider seeor guidance during full moon phases.


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What We Did and How We Di

I. Since weather is unpredictable, we decided to trac

moon phases via the NASA website.II. Plattsburgh State University Police was the onlystation that offered crime reports to the public therefour information was limited to crimes reported to U

(which didnt seem to be a problem). III. Our collected data ranged from August 20th,2009 (Newmoon phase) to November 9th, 2009 (Third quarter phase).

IV. Finally, we constructed tables and graphs to organalyze our data. From there we were able to draw


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NEW

MOON

WAXING

CRESCENT

FIRST

QUARTER

WAXING

GIBBOUS

FULL

MOON

WANNING

GIBBOUS

LAST

QUARTER

WANING

CRESCENT

Aug 20 Aug 21 Aug 26

Aug 27 Aug 28 Sept 3

Sept 4 Sept 5 Sept 11



Sept 26 Sept 27 Oct 3

Oct 4 Oct 5 Oct 10

Oct 11 Oct 12 Oct 17

Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 25

Oct 26 Oct 27 Nov 1

Nov 2 Nov 3 Nov 5

Nov 9

Moon phases from August 20 November 9, 2009


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Our Data

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

August

August

* New Moon# First Quarter ^ Full Moon~ Third Quarter

Trends: Spike of activities reported correlates toopening of the dorms andend of the first weekfor the Fall Semester.

*New Moonreveals incidences at a level of 6.

An increase in the number of reports during thefirst and second day ofclasseswas revealed.


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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2 - S e p

3 - S e p

^ 4 - A u g

5 - S e p

6 - S e p

7 - S e p

8 - S e p

9 - S e p

1 0 - S e p

1 1 - S e p

~ 1 2 - A u g

1 3 - S e p

1 4 - S e p

1 5 - S e p

1 6 - S e p

1 7 - S e p

* 1 8 -

S e p

1 9 - S e p

2 0 - S e p

2 1 - S e p

2 2 - S e p

2 3 - S e p

2 4 - S e p

2 5 - S e p

# 2 6 - A u g

2 7 - S e p

2 8 - S e p

2 9 - S e p

3 0 - S e p

September

September


Trends:Most significant peaks correlate with theweekendsof September.Level of incidents seems to be high comparatively to other monthwhich data was collected.

^ Full Moonreceived low amount of activity (4 incidents). However,mental health call, and other were reported.

~ 3rdQuarter

reported a high amount of activity (9 incidents) includ2 burglaries, property damage, and 6 others.


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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2 - O c

t

3 - O c

t

^ 4 - O c

t

5 - O c

t

6 - O c

t

7 - O c

t

8 - O c

t

9 - O c

t

~ 1 0 - O c

t

1 1 - O c

t

1 2 - O c

t

1 3 - O c

t

1 4 - O c

t

1 5 - O c

t

1 6 - O c

t

1 7 - O c

t

* 1 8 o c

t

1 9 - O c

t

2 0 - O c

t

2 1 - O c

t

2 2 - O c

t

2 3 - O c

t

2 4 - O c

t

2 5 - O c

t

# 2 6 o c

t

2 7 - O c

t

2 8 - O c

t

2 9 - O c

t

3 0 - O c

t

3 1 - O c

t

October

October


Trends:Significant peaks continue to correlate withweekend days.^ Full Moon(and day before) on October 4 received high peaks withthe data (7, 5).Days before and during the holiday of Halloweenshow a great amount of actIt is hard to distinguish if the raised level of activity is from the ho

festivities or the approaching ^ Full Moon

on November 2.


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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1-Nov ^ 2-Nov 3-Nov 4-Nov 5-Nov 6-Nov 7-Nov 8-Nov ~ 9-Nov

November

November

Trends: Significant peak onweekend

^Full Moon(day before and after) contain a considerable amount of activity. The highest point (8 incidences on November 3rd)



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Drawing Conclusions

From looking collectively at the data, there appears to be no clear number of reported incidences (burglary, domestic violence, crimidisorderly conduct, Hit and Run, DWI, ambulance requests, drug pproperty damage, mental health/health and safety hazard, assist. Cfire) provided by the University Police on Plattsburgh State Universitysand the Full Moon phase. However, weekends, holidays, and/or otevents seem to have a direct relationship with the amount of incideoften during these times, the amount of reported incidents increase

Therefore, the we cannot confirm a strong correlation between humstates or behaviors, including criminal activities, to lunar phases wdata. Possibly with more data and funding spanning from years to further, more insights could be found.


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Conclusions cont.Limitations for research included the research sample (consistiUniversity Police Reports and particular age range correlating tof Plattsburghs students) and the period of time available to collect

(from August 20 New Moon to November 9 New Moon of 200Continued research involving the original hypothesis could potstronger supportive/negative evidence with more data. Divisionalso include specific types of altered human states, such as mencriminal behavior (harassment, property damage, burglary, domdisorderly conduct), drug possession, etc., in relation to lunar pspecifically the Full Moon.


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the lunacy project power point

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