Inside Out is an entertaining movie that portrays the method a child processes emotions and experiences the world through whimsical characters. The movie portrayed several aspects of neuroscience structures and systems accurately, however, I will also point out some aspects of memory systems that are slightly incorrect. In the movie, the main character Riley has a main headquarters for her thoughts and emotions. These emotion characters interpret events for her and help guide her behavior. The main headquarters are a visual metaphor for the amygdala that helps us interpret events and attach emotion to memories and experiences (Morawetz, Alexandrowicz, & Heekeren, 2017). The hippocampus is represented by the memory bank that they “flush” …show more content…
The prefrontal cortex is involved in complex decision making, impulse suppression, and future planning (Dixon, Thiruchselvam, Todd, & Christoff, 2017). The prefrontal cortex is heavily involved with complex thoughts that have an impact on behavior. Thoughts help us to mediate emotions which, in turn, shape our external behavior. Thoughts, emotions, and behaviors compromise what is known as the “cognitive triangle” (Saavedra, Silverman, Morgan-Lopez, & Kurtines, 2010). Riley is young so her prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed. However, even at her age she would still be able perform some sort of emotion regulation and future planning. The movie does not portray this correct as she does not show any behavior inhibition. If her father angers her, she feels angry, she then immediately lashes out at him. Instead of Riley incorporating complex reasoning into her behaviors, her behaviors are a direct result of her emotions. In a real scenario, she would probably think of the consequences of yelling at her father or ponder “what good could come of this?” …show more content…
“Procedural memory represents our knowledge of how to perform a complex activity” (Seamon, 2015). Procedural memories may be demonstrated through complex activities such as riding a bike or, in Riley’s case, play hockey. Procedural memories are built through extensive practice and once they are established they can last a lifetime (Seamon, 2015). Riley possesses episodic memories of playing hockey earlier in life and has built up skills that make her an effective player. The movie renders her failing to score a goal because her episodic memory of hockey skill couldn’t be accessed correctly. If she built up the skill to play hockey well, then she would still be able to play well as procedural memory remains intact even when episodic memory is damaged (Wilson et al., 2011). Her depressive symptoms may provide an alternative view for her troubles with hockey. Joy and sadness left her when she moved to San Francisco and she became somber. Anhedonia is a symptom of a depressive episode in which one does experience pleasure in previously enjoyed activities (Bennik, Nederhof, Ormel, & Oldehinkel, 2013). If Riley is going through a depressive episode, then she may experience psychomotor retardation as a physical symptom. Psychomotor retardation is a cardinal feature of major depression and is marked by motor slowing as well as reductions in physical activity level
Major depressive disorder is a mood disorder characterized by the DSM-5 of depressed mood and markedly diminished interest or pleasure in nearly all activities occurring nearly every day, for most of the day, as indicated by a subjective self-report or an observational report from others. Individuals who have depression also tend to experience significant weight loss, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, fatigue and loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, diminished ability to concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death. Most people who suffer from depression usually experience major depressive episodes in unipolar major depression, while some others experience both depressive and manic episodes in bipolar
These memories are also known as flashbulb memories. The reason that these memories are kept as “core” memories are because they hold a special meaning. Much like Episodic memories, Semantic memories also have meaning. Semantic memory is made up of facts, words, and concepts. An example of Semantic memory in the movie would be when Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginary friend, were riding the train of thought up to headquarters. Someone had bumped into two crates and those crates were both full of facts and opinions. So, when they got all mixed together on the train cart when Riley would need to use those facts for a project in school, which is where most of your semantic memory is learned, she will not know which one is right. Episodic and Semantic memories are both examples of explicit memories. Explicit
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest (ManiMala, 2016), which can negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, which can lead to emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home (Parekh, 2015). The symptoms of depression can range from mild to severe and include: feeling sad or having a depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, changes in appetite trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, loss of energy or increased fatigue, increase in restless activity, feeling worthless or guilty, difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions and thoughts of death or suicide (Weis,
In the movie The Breakfast Club, parents vs teens, drug abuse, and sexuality all play a role. The five main characters in the movie all of some issue or conflicts at home with their parents. Drug abuse takes part in the movie from hiding marijuana in lockers and getting high. Throughout the movie sexuality takes a role by the characters talking about sex and making girls feeling insecure. The Breakfast Club represents multiple adolescence development stages throughout the movie to show what situations were like in that time period.
Williamson, J. S. (2008). Depression. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 88(1), 18-18, 24. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/235187495?accountid=27965
Depression supplies a distinct depiction of the brain equals behavior theory. The physiological characteristics that taint the diseased brain directly impact the thoughts and behaviors of the millions of sufferers. The genesis of this dehabilitating problem is both mysterious and complicated and I am not offering any sort of revelation in stating that it is a multi-factorial manifestation involving both biological and environmental components. The end product of these variable factors do, however, provide some common biochemical alterations in the brain that lend insight into understanding the reality and possible treatment of the disease.
At first glance, Pixar’s Inside Out seems to be your standard coming of age film. The film follows an 11-year-old girl, Riley who is forced to make a move from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents. However, a deeper look at the film reveals how accurate it is to developmental psychology. The center of the story isn’t Riley and her family, but Riley’s primary emotions –Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. The five emotions are personified as characters that control her mind as she transitions from childhood to adolescence and deals with the challenge of adjusting to a new place. Inside Out uses Riley and her emotions function as a demonstration of the relationship between emotion and cognition. In doing so, the film reveals several important questions about developmental psychology. Such as, how do emotions color our memories of the past and what is
Not many children’s movies show children how the brain develops, stores memories and works in day to day life, but Inside Out does just that. Within this hour and a half movie the psychology topics of long term memory, short term memory, emotions, and development is all include. Although it is very clear Inside Out indulges on these psychological topics throughout the movie, memory and emotions take the spotlight. Developmental psychology may not be as obvious, but is still in several of the scenes in Inside Out.
14, 2002). Riley is currently experiencing physical changes in her body such as developing breast, getting her period, and hormonal fluctuations. Along with these other changes, her prefrontal cortex is still developing. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision-making, planning, and impulse control (Micucci, 2012). “The physical changes associated with puberty, in themselves, have little negative impact on the adolescent’s self-image, except in one instance: when adolescents are going through puberty around the same time they are experiencing other changes in life, such as changing schools”(Micucci, p. 18,
My paper is based on an article from the text’s web site (chapter 9) entitled “Lack of sleep ages body’s systems.” The basic claim of the article is that sleep deprivation has various harmful effects on the body. The reported effects include decreased ability to metabolize glucose (similar to what occurs in diabetes) and increased levels of cortisol (a stress hormone involved in memory and regulation of blood sugar levels). The article also briefly alludes (in the quote at the bottom of page 1) to unspecified changes in brain and immune functioning with sleep deprivation.
Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation.
Central idea: Memory is a process of the brain which is prone to certain failures, although specific steps can be taken to guard against these failures.
Zeiss Antonette M., Lewinsohn Peter M., Pohde Paul, and Seeley John R. "Relationship of Physical Disease and Functional Impairment to Depression." Psychology December 1996: p. 572.
I never noticed how much psychology could be incorporated into everyday life. But really, any decision or action you take is related to it. I have personally been extremely interested in social psychology: why people do things because of social norms, what people do in order to look socially acceptable, etc. Others topics I also find interesting are sensation and perception; how past experiences can influence how you perceive the things around you, states of consciousness; how things that have happened in your day can be transferred into a mash of events in your dreams, motivation and emotion; what makes a person do something or what makes a person start or stop procrastination, and lastly: personality; what characteristics and traits stand out the most in a person, what makes a person who they are.
The Science of Psychology “Psychology is the scientific study of mind, brain and behaviour. Some of what you do learn may seem like ‘common sense’, or at least familiar to you because you are learning about topics in which you can relate to. However some things you may believe is true, but is incorrect. The way we know this is through the application of scientific methods.” Mark Leary suggests that the subject matter of psychology is much more familiar to most people than is the subject matter of physics or biology; we see behaviour all around us.