This potato really does look like face, doesn't it? This type of phenomena can be referred to as pareidolia, which means seeing meaningful images in meaningless visual stimuli. In other words it is when people see images in random objects such as toast, fruit, chips, etc. The concept of pareidolia was just one of many interesting introductory topics discussed in chapter one. Chapter one also introduces topics such as scientific thinking, replicability, the major departments of psychology, different types of Psychologists, and Pseudoscience.
Pseudoscience was particularly interesting to me because I myself have believed some pseudoscientific claims! Pseudoscience is a set a claims that seem to be true but in reality they are unable to be backed by scientific evidence. One Pseudoscientic claim that I have heard is "you can lose up to 15 lbs in two weeks!"
Another section in chapter one that I found interesting was the section about apophenia. Apophenia indicates perceiving meaningful connections among unrelated and random phenomena. The example that the textbook provided was about the many similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Some similarities included that Lincoln was elected president in 1860 and Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and both were succeeded by a president named Johnson. The amount of similarities was very surprising to me; how could these two people have so many similarities?
I thought that the chart that listed a wide variety of job opportunities that involve psychology was informative. I learned that counseling psychology is practically the same as clinical psychology and most forensic psychologists are actually criminal profilers just like people in the FBI.
Working Out Image:
http://www.fortyfitandfabulous.com/secrets-to-losing-weight
Potato Face Image:
http://bitsandpieces.us/2010/10/05/mr-potato-face/
Cartoon Image:
http://www.offthemark.com/psych.htm
I have to agree with you when you say pareidolia is an interesting component of chapter one! I have experienced it when looking at the sky on a cloudy day and seeing the shape of a bunny or a ship and find it interesting that the brain thinks that way. I have always wondered how the mind works to perceive these images! It is also interesting to me how other people can see different images from the same cloud. I wonder if different people have different pareidolia or if that is another concept in psychology at work. All together a very interesting concept though!