Masaryktown in Toronto

Masaryktown in Toronto

Masaryktown neigborhood is located in Scarborough, Toronto. Founded by immigrants from Czheslovakia, it still has a strong presence of Canadians of Eastern European origene. 

Monument to the victims of communism.

Monument to the victims of communism in Masarytown Park, Toronto.

Toronto's Graffiti

Toronto's Graffiti

Toronto is an amazing city. While not the official capital of Canada, which is Ottawa, Toronto is the largest and most populous city in the country. Naturally, with big crowds come all kinds of art forms, including street art. But what is street art? Does a well done graffiti qualifies as street art? The answer depends on personal opinion. Art in general is subjective, and while some people would be willing to spend millions on an artwork, others may not consider said artwork art at all. 

Therefore, below is a collection of photographs of the different depictions Toronto has to offer, including murals, professional artists’ work and amateur graffiti. We hope you enjoy our gallery, where you can judge for yourself whether the images portray genuine art or not.

Toronto is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city, with many tourist attractions and much more. However, aside from museums and historical sites, there are also less mainstream art in the form of graffiti or wall paintings. At times it is difficult to differentiate between the two, other times not. For example, in Montreal, in the area of Foufounes Electriques, a popular dance club downtown, there is a very special backyard where all the buildings are painted sophisticated graffiti style. Even though the style of the paintings is graffiti, they are often done by professionals during the day or in broad daylight. Thus, the following section is an extensive collection of street art, whether it be done by professional artists, marginalized artists or simply something in between. We hope you enjoy Toronto's colourful underground scenery.

Graffiti is a crime, unless made at the request, or at least the explicit consent of, the owner of the property being painted on. However, even that condition fails to be enough in jurisdictions where graffiti are banned altogether. Still, elsewhere, professional painters are sometimes hired to liven up urban areas. Nonetheless, alternatively, a large part of such wall drawings are clandestine, and associated with disadvantaged neighborhoods and large cities.

Boxing Girl, graffiti. Purple, yellow, green, pink, red and other colors.

Christie Ossington Neighbourhood. R. Cortez, D.M. McCallum, G. Patterson, J. Yoon, Jafar. Contact. Young brunette woman

Gym Graffiti. How long was that car parked there?

Bird and other animals

Bathurst street, an Eye

David Bowie.

Cypress Hill graffiti.

Bathurst street

R. Cortez, D.M. McCallum, G. Patterson, J. Yoon, Jafar. Contact.

Psychological Studies

Psychological Studies

Psychology is, of course, the study of the mind, a scientifically designed discipline studying human mental processes, as well as, behavior. Further, psychological studies differentiate into several sub-disciplines, such as cognitive, abnormal, developmental, computational and social psychology.

Many wonder how it’s like to be a psychologist or to have a degree in the field. Others fail to see the difference between the two. The truth of the matter is that whether a first degree in behavioral science grants one the right to practice the therapeutic craft, trade or profession, depends on one’s geographic location and jurisdiction.

A French saying “la vie en rose”, literally translated as “life in pink”, means a happy life. A pink, purple and lilac sky with interchanging stars – a perfect, dream world. But can you say you feel happiness looking at this picture? Image: Copyright © Elena

Many pre-university students think that by choosing the social science as a major, they will be focusing on psychopathology. However, while a course in abnormal psychology would certainly cover disorders listed in the DSM’s (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual) most recent version, social, developmental or computational psychology need not concentrate on the matter. For instance, the social branch, centers on such topics as behavioral aggression, emotion management and display, popularity and peer group acceptance status, interrelationships and interconnections. Conversely, developmental psychology follows the individual’s growth and development throughout the lifespan, while computational psychology relies on computer modeling and quantitative methods to gain insight into the mysteries of the psyche.

Psychologists work in a variety of fields and occupations. Nonetheless (likely the most used adverb in the English translation of Der Steppenwolf by German-Swiss writer Hermann Hesse), psychological theory is based on naturalistic observation, experimental methods and research analysis and derivative conclusions.

Moreover, experiments are among the most trusted method by some, since it allows for isolation of effects and controlling variables. However, there is the problem that individuals and the environment are influenced by effects upon it. For example, the Hawthorne effect, or the tendency of people to behave differently when being watched or in a laboratory setting. The latter is likewise likely seen in Stanley Milgram’s sobering obedience experiments.

Also, the social science relies extensively on experiments, although naturalistic observation, surveys (questionnaires), personal, automated, structured and unstructured interviews and other techniques are used by researchers in shedding light on psychological phenomena.

An important area is ethics and the emphasis on disclosure. Today, experimenters must disclose to their subjects a lot of elements in a study, at least after participation or results obtained and data compiled. Consequently, ethics committees for different aspects of the processes are set up, and scientists must comply with the guidelines.

Finally, close or related disciplines involve criminology and sociology. In conclusion, by choosing to study humanities and the social sciences, one likely encounters puzzling psychological phenomena.

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved.

Avatars and Neuroscience

Avatars and Neuroscience

Aside from Cameron’s movie in 3D, Avatar, taking place in the distant world of Pandora, the site SecondLife is a popular virtual alternative, so to speak. According to Gajendra and colleagues (2001), SecondLife constitutes an online community, in part created by its members and with its own set of rules, games, communication media and even e-business opportunities.

Needless to say, MMORPGs or Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games are very popular. They typically include some sort of quest to accomplish and tasks to complete, but they likewise fascinate with their social engagement. The virtual worlds of gaming construct an online community, which by itself exercises a range of important socio-cognitive skills.

The very first video games were much less elaborate than contemporary computer graphics, but still, fantasy elements such as the ones in the role-playing games were present. Image: Elena.

In psychology and cyberpsychology, virtual worlds have been looked at as having great potential for learning, such as second language acquisition and e-learning. Although fantasy and the real worlds rarely coincide, a lot of skills can be transferred from specialized video games, as demonstrated from their widespread use in training and education.

With technological advances, avatars and virtual reality have gathered a lot of interest. Naturally, these developments have led to scientific analysis, as in such fields as cyberpsychology and neuroscience.

Avatars are the virtual, 2D or 3D, animated, graphical representations of the self. Interestingly, researchers Ganesh and coauthors (2011) found that the area associated with self-concept in the 3rd person, coincides with the left inferior parietal lobule, suggesting self-identification with the 3D model, a finding supported by cyberpsychological theories. Additionally, avatar related thinking recruited neural populations in the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, which the coauthors interpret as evidence of emotional relevance. The work likewise draws attention to brain plasticity, as players and users learn to play the game and accommodate to the new virtual world. Interestingly, the authors also talk about self-adornment and bodily enhancements, reminiscent of the cybernetic extraterrestrial life form the Borg in the Star Trek franchise world. Finally, the publication shows that gamers may be experiencing phenomena akin to heautoscopy (an illusion of perception).

CyberNeuroscience Video Transcript:

Avatars have been brought to public attention in part by Cameron's movie - Avatar. Still, even long before the motion picture, online social and gaming communities have popularized the phenomenon. Spending time on Websites such as Second Life, or playing games such as World of Warcraft, persons may indeed be experiencing a sort of virtual, alternate life. So much so, that psychologists have tried to shed light on socio-cognitive skills and other internal, mental processes experienced while playing with, or acting through, oneÕs surreal 3D form. In light of such and related developments, the field of cyberpsychology has emerged, while neuroscientists have recorded greater activity in self-referential brain areas of subjects thinking about their Internet selves. Along these lines, researchers found greater involvement of the parietal lobe, as well as, the cingulate gyrus in reflecting on one's avatar. By the same token, gyrus is the singular of gyri, and sulcus of sulci, the ridges and clefts composing the cerebral cortex, respectively.

References:

• Gajenda, S., Ye, Q., Sun, W. & Daying, Z. (2001). Significance of communication and e-business in Second Life virtual world. Information Technology Research Journal, 1 (1): 1-12.
• Ganesh, S., van Schie, H. T., de Lange, F. P., Thompson, E. & Wigboldus (2011). How the brain goes virtual: Distinct cortical regions of the person-processing network are involved in self-identification with virtual agents. Cerebral Cortex, 1-9.

Experimenting with unconventional lipstick and nail polish colors has been popular among adherents of the Goth subculture, who were the first to opt for black in both cosmetic choices. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen.

Afterimage and Perception

Afterimage and Perception

Afterimages are an optical illusion, which consists of an image persisting after one has ceased looking at a picture or light source. Positive afterimages are less documented, and are believed to be due to neural adaptation. Conversely, negative afterimages are formed due to their imprint on the retina (the lining at the back of the eye).

As outlined elsewhere, vision is achieved thank to photoreceptors, or rods and cones. Further, According to the opponent theory, cones, which are the ones that can register color, get less sensitive with prolonged stimulation and transmit a weaker signal.

As can be seen in the images below, red leaves a green afterimage, blue a yellow one and yellow a blue one. Black and white constitute likewise opposite colors. To see these, one has to stare at the colored square for 30 seconds – 1 minute, and then look at the white space. A corresponding afterimage should appear.

Red Afterimage

Blue Afterimage

Yellow Afterimage

Perception

Perception encompasses the sensation, coding and interpretation of external stimuli. Sensation differs from perception in that it is only the physical recording of stimuli, without the interpretation. Interpretation, in this case, does not necessarily mean the conscious making sense of events, but rather how phenomena are physically interpreted by the brain. At least as traditionally conceived, human beings enjoy five senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste.

To illustrate, one may look (pun intended) at the journey from photons to the conscious understanding of this sentence. Vision’s first step is for photoreceptors to capture the light reflected from an object. There are two types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Rods greatly outnumber cones, and the former are at the periphery of the retina, whereas the latter are at the center (fovea). Rods are more sensitive and enable seeing in the dark; cones work better in the light, display finer acuity and are the only ones to perceive colors.

Of the three cone types, each length is associated with a different part of the spectrum, measured in nanometers (nm). Short of using technology, it is impossible for the human eye to detect light below 400 nm (ultraviolet) and above 700 nm (infrared). Ultraviolet is exclusively accessible to certain bees, while only some snakes’ visibility continuum encompasses infrared.

Cone Type               Short                  Medium             Long

Wavelength        About 420 nm        About 530 nm    About 560 nm

Color perceived            Blue                    Yellow              Red

The receptors transmit the image recorded along the optic nerve. Transduction (the transformation of the imprint into electrical current) occurs at this stage. The exact place where the optic nerve leaves the retina, the optic disk, contains no receptors, so there is a blind spot in vision, which we are unconscious of because the brain compensates (fills in the logical missing piece based on surroundings). If desired, one can actually notice how a tiny object will disappear if the exact site (outer upper side of the vision field) is located.

The optic nerve leaves the eye laterally, and is cross-connected: the left hemisphere analyses input from the right side, and vice versa. The contralateral relation stands for most of the body, the precise reason why a patient who suffered a stroke to the right hemisphere is unable to move his or her left leg, hand, hear with the left ear, etc.

The Wada intracarotid hemispheric dominance test is pretty amazing. To appreciate this, it may be helpful to first localize speech production and comprehension: usually left hemisphere, Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, respectively. Through an artery that leads directly to the left hemisphere, sodium amobarbital is injected, so that side of the brain is anesthetized. Subjects almost instantly lose the capacity to lift their right arm, and become mute, for the duration of the barbiturate’s effects.

Vision has been extensively studied in the cat, and even more so in the rhesus macaque. The primate brain being the closest to the human brain makes monkeys excellent subjects for neuroscientific research. Behind the cat’s retina is the tapetum lucidum, that - to make a long story short - functions similar to a mirror reflecting light, this is why Felis catus’ eyes glow in the dark.

Smell is somewhat similar in path, only this time the relay stations are olfactory receptors in the nose and the olfactory nerve. Audition’s counterparts are the stereocillia and auditory nerve, while touch gets more complicated: mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors and several nerves are involved. Finally taste is achieved by chemoreceptors (commonly known in this location as taste buds, topically organized according to flavor) through other cranial nerves, such as the trigeminal and glossopharyngeal. Notwithstanding, smell greatly contributes to taste.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” (C.G. Jung). Illustration: Megan Jorgensen.