Teaching a Psychology Class Through Adaptation

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we will conduct several experiments in order to understand and recognize adaptation. The experiment will showcase a different response. The first and third experiments will incorporate the touch sense; the second will incorporate the taste sense. In all experiments, you will observe adaptation and learn what sensory adaptation is.

Teaching a Psychology Class through Adaptation

I will begin class today with adaptation. I will show the class how adaptation works through a series of experiments. The best way I have found to teach adaption is by allowing you to experience adaptation through experiments. This allows the class to have fun and learn something about adaptation. However, before the class can begin their experiments, we must understand and grasp the concept of adaptation and why it is important.

I begin with explaining what adaptation is. Adaptation is the act or process in which something is changed to become suitable to a new application or situation. Adaptation is used in both biology and psychology. In biology, an alteration or adjustments in habits or structure, by which humans or animals improve its condition to their environment. In psychology, the responsive adjustment, such as the eye as it adjusts to bright light or a behavior change due to a new or modified surroundings (Editorial Board, 2011).

Sensory adaptation or also known as neural adaptation is change overtime to responsiveness to a constant stimuli (Editorial Board, 2011). For example, when a guy puts a hat on his head. At first, he feels the hat on his head, but as time goes on he no longer feels the hat even though the hat has not been moved. This process is called neural adaptation or sensory adaptation.

Now that the class has an understanding of what adaptation is, we can begin the experiments. The first experiment I have for your class is to rub your index finger gently over a piece of coarse sandpaper. You will do this process over a course of a few minutes. I want you to report your findings on a scale of 1 to 7, (1 being very soft and 7 being very coarse). After you stop rubbing, I want you to write down your findings. Now that a few minutes have passed, I want the class to rub the sandpaper again on the same place with the same index finger. Report your findings. The findings of the class differed from one student to the next; one thing that didn't change was the perception of the coarseness of the sandpaper did, in fact, change. The first time the class rubbed their fingers on the sandpaper, they rated it a 7, but the second time they rated it only a 2. It showed a much softer feel to the index figure. I then asked, "WHY?" The class responded with, "Their fingers had adapted to the feeling of the sandpaper."

The second experiment I had my class