Autobiographical Psychological History

Autobiographical Psychosocial History

Kacie Buchanan

PSY/201

Jennifer Cardine

June 21, 2013

Looking back on all nine weeks here in the Introduction to Psychology class there has

been many concepts that I have been able to identify with. Being in a class like this almost

makes you want to sit back and re-evaluate your life, just to make sure you are doing ok. After

thinking about which five concepts I identify with the most, I have come to the conclusion that

they are perceptual constancy, memory, disorders, social behavior in adults, and the concept of

like and love.

First I will start with perceptual constancy, this is a phenomenon in which physical

objects are perceived as unvarying and consistent despite changes in their appearance or in the

physical environment. I don’t really identify with this, I am intrigued by this and what I learned.

Knowing that the human eye is so complex and can do this phenomenon is amazing. Our retina

is the device that makes this occurrence happen. Using an example that I read from the book is

a good way to understand more of what perceptual constancy is bout. In Module 11 the

example used is the moon, we see the moon just coming over the horizon and beginning to

rise. It looks huge because there are trees, buildings, and other object to compare the moon to.

Now the moon is high in the sky and it looks so small, like it was farther away than was before.

In all actuality the moon didn’t change size, when it was coming over the horizon there were

objects to compare the moon with so it made it seem bigger. When the moon was by itself it

appeared to be smaller, it was the same size at both times. This is the way perceptual constancy

works, it is a way of your retina seeing things differently without them being different at all.

My second choice would have to be the memory. The brain intrigues me as it sits but to

know how to be able to remember and retain is something so much more powerful....