Ecstasy has been a popular party drug since the 1980s. The active ingredient, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine), can cause feelings of euphoria, increased empathy, enhanced sensations (e.g.; touch, sight, and auditory) and a positive mindset. Due to being categorized by the US’ Drug Enforcement Agency as Schedule 1 which is described as, “…substances, or chemicals…with no currently accepted medical use and a …
Agonists and Behaviour: PramipexoleDopamine agonists in the treatment of depression
An agonist is a chemical messenger that binds to the receptor sites of neurons and activates them to create a response. In this post, we’ll look at how the drug pramipexole is an agonist of the receptor sites for dopamine. Since dopamine has been linked to depression, we can also understand why this might be another option for treatment. Depression …
How to solve the reproducibility crisis in Psychology
The “reproducibility crisis” (or “replicability crisis”) is the term used to describe the recent discovery in psychology that many classic studies are failing to have their results reproduced. In fact, the whole of psychology, especially social psychology research, seems to be in a crisis regarding its credibility as a source of knowledge. Other fields like economics and the sciences are facing …
Posts You May Have Missed…
We’ve been doing some upgrading to our blog. In this time, you may not have been getting the email alerts of new posts. Here they are just in case. Synaptic Pruning and Neural Networks Synaptic pruning (aka neural pruning) helps the formation of neural networks. In this post we’ll look to understand the terms “synaptic pruning” and “neural networks.” We’ll …
Ketamine and PTSDHow an antagonist of glutamate may help treat PTSD
Agonists and antagonists are chemical messengers that affect the process of neurotransmission. They bind to specific receptor sites of neurotransmitters and this can affect brain function and behaviour. Ketamine is one antagonists of the receptor sites of the neurotransmitter, glutamate. In this post we’ll learn more about antagonists, how they work, how ketamine may help PTSD and a key study …
Ketamine: An antagonist used in the treatment of depression
Ketamine is the newest drug in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). But how does it work? In this post, we’ll look at how ketamine is an antagonist of the neurotransmitter glutamate and why this can help fight depression. For years serotonin has been the main focus of causes and cures for depression. As low levels of serotonin and …
Synaptic Pruning and Neural Networks
Synaptic pruning (aka neural pruning)¹ helps the formation of neural networks. In this post we’ll look to understand the terms “synaptic pruning” and “neural networks.” We’ll also look at how synaptic pruning can help the formation of neural networks. What is a “neural network?” A “neural network” is a series of connected neurons. Information travels along these networks that enable …
How to stop your IAs from losing marksA step-by-step guide for annotating your IAs using PDF marking tools
Have had your IAs lose marks after moderation? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This post will give you a step-by-step guide on how to annotate your IAs so you won’t lose marks. For years my top IAs would all come down a few marks and my lowest ones would go up a couple. We are given IA feedback from moderators …
What none of us realized about the new IAs
There is one massive change to the new IB Psychology IA rubric that I overlooked at first with my students. After moderating around 200 IAs it seems I wasn’t alone. In the old curriculum, IB Psych Internal Assessments were replications of an existing study. Surprisingly, in the new curriculum a student could technically score perfect marks without replicating an original study or even …
My best advice for new IB Psychology teachers
The following was originally posted to Facebook. It received a positive response so I thought it would be worthwhile to add as a blog post. Visit www.store.themantic-education.com for all your lesson plans, powerpoints, worksheets and pretty much everything you need to teach IB Psychology. For all the new IB Psychology teachers who are getting into a bit of a panic …