PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Harry Potter Psych Connections
Connection #1
Chapter 1: Thinking Critically
Naturalistic Observation
If people were to observe Harry as a kid growing up in his aunt and uncle’s house, they would immediately notice that he stuck out and if that person observing Harry were of the wizarding world, they would certainly know that Harry is no doubt a wizard and a very special one at that.
Connection #2
Chapter 1: Thinking Critically
Handsight Bias
The reader / viewer may believe it is common sense that Harry has to die before Voldemort can be killed but Harry as a horcrux is not something that could have been foreseen.
Connection #3
Chapter 1: Thinking Critically
Naturalistic Observation Dumbledore used this research method to find out about Tom Riddle, the boy who turned into Lord Voldemort.
Connection #4
Chapter 1: Thinking Critically
Placebo Effect
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry gives Ron felix felicis or “Liquid Luck” which gives the drinker luck in all their endeavors. Ron performs splendidly in the quidditch match he was so nervous for because of the potion. However, Harry tricked Ron into thinking he drank it and his “luck” was a product of believing he drank it.
Connection #5
Chapter 2: Neuroscience
Serotonin and Norepinephrine
Ron may have decresed serotonin and norepinephrine in his brain during the Deathly Hallows in which he displays a depressed mood and overall sourness and avoidance.
Connection #7
Chapter 2: Neuroscience
Sympathetic Nervous System
During the final battle at Hogwarts, Bellatrix Lestrange begins to attack Ginny Weasley. However, Mrs. Weasley steps in exclaiming “not my daughter, you bitch!” Her sympathetic nervous system accelerates her heartbeat and blood pressure and makes her alert and ready to fight. The fight gets heated and ends in Mrs. Weasley obliterating Bellatrix.
Connection #8
Chapter 2: Neuroscience
Parasympathetic Nervous System
As Bellatrix is being obliterated and finally is gone and Ginny is safe, Mrs. Weasley’s parasympathetic nervous system takes over decreasing heartbeat and blood pressure, etc. It calms her down from the intense and exciting fight.
Connection #9
Chapter 2: Neuroscience
Medulla
When Voldemort strikes Harry with the killing curse in the Deathly Hallows Part II, Harry is sent to King’s Cross and meets the dead Albus Dumbledore. The part of Voldemort inside Harry must die and so Harry’s medulla stops working as the curse hits him. But don’t fret! The same way that the part of Voldemort in Harry has to die before Voldemort can keeps Harry from completely dying here.
Connection #10
Chapter 2: Neuroscience
Aphasia
The spell “petrificus totalis” is a full body bind keeping the victim from moving at all. This includes movement of the mouth to speak. In this way, the spell creates effects like that of aphasia.
Connection #13
Chapter 3: Human Diversity & Nature vs Nurture
Prenatal Nurture
Fred and George share similar physical and psychological traits. They have the same sense of humor and often make comments simultaneously. Because they are so similar, it can be concluded that they are part of the two-thirds of identical twins that developed in the same placenta versus the one-third that develop in two placentas which usually lends a more advantageous prenatal environment to one twin.
Connection #16
Chapter 3: Human Diversity & Nature vs Nurture
Child-Rearing
Although Harry did not have any parents to raise him, he grew up to be independent because of the way his aunt and uncle treated him. He also grew up in a western civilization which may have influenced him to be his own person despite his aunt and uncle’s abuse
Connection #17
Chapter 3: Human Diversity & Nature vs Nurture
Aggression
While male deatheaters do not necessarily show more aggression than female ones, the difference is seen in the number of each. The only notable and active deatheater that is a woman is Bellatrix Lestrange who is outnumbered by the number of male death eaters.
Connection #18
Chapter 3: Human Diversity & Nature vs Nurture
Gender Roles
When the three go off to hide form Voldy in the Deathly Hallows, Hermione takes on a very motherly role as females often do. She tries to take care of the boys and make sure they are eating and everything like that.
Connection #19
Chapter 4: Development
Infant Memory
Because Harry was so young when Voldemort attacked his family, he remembers nothing of his parents or of the attack. Humans consciously recall very little before age 4 and this is why Harry cannot remember the incident.
Connection #20
Chapter 4: Development
Accommodation
When Harry finds out he is a wizard, he has to accommodate his schema for the human population. The existence of wizards was so new to him and he could not just assimilate it into his mind, but adjust what he knew of reality.
Connection #21
Chapter 4: Development
Formal Operational Stage
Harry, Ron, and Hermione are clearly in the formal operational stage because they are capable of abstract reasoning and logic, especially when it comes to running and avoiding Voldemort and his men in the Deathly Hallows. They have the potential for mature moral reasoning which Harry displays when he
Connection #22
Chapter 4: Development
Attachment
Because Harry was with his mother for so little time, he never grew a proper bond with her and therefore did not have a motherly bond like that with anyone as he grew through childhood.
Connection #23
Chapter 4: Development
Postconventional Morality
Harry falls into the principled substages in postconventional morality. He believes humans have dignity, basic rights, and are due respect, and this is why he is fighting Voldemort: to rid the wizard and human world of an imposed threat on these basic principles.
Connection #24
Chapter 5: Sensation
Bottom-Up Processing
In “The Half-Blood Prince,” Umbridge punishes Harry by making him write “I must not tell lies” with an inkless quill. As he starts to write, he feels pain in his hand and as he continues, the words begin to etch themselves into his skin. As he sees this happening, he realizes the quill does not need ink because it pulls from his blood.
Connection #25
Chapter 5: Sensation
Top-Down Processing
In “The Goblet of Fire,” Cedric tells Harry to “just take [his] egg and mull things over in the hot water.” Harry starts with the general idea to take the egg to the math and reasons his way to listening to it under the water using top-down processing.
Connection #26
Chapter 5: Sensation
Sensory Adaptation
As Harry grows up and faces Voldemort again and again, any fear he may have began with dissapears. Because of the constant presence and threat in Harry’s life, he has become accustomed to it and has dimisnished sensitivity to this unchanging stimulus.
Connection #27
Chapter 5: Sensation
Acuity
Harry has decreased acuity (sharpness of vision) and sees nothing but a blur of the world when he does not have his glasses on. His glasses correct his eye problems so that he can see clearly and with better acuity.
Connection #28
Chapter 6: Perception
Selective Attention
In “The Prizoner of Azkaban,” Harry, Ron, and Hermione go back in time with Hermione’s time turner and sneak around the school grounds. Because other people are not looking for a second set of the trio, they do not notice them walking around and ducking behind things in broad daylight.
Connection #29
Chapter 6: Perception
Proximity
Because Harry, Hermione, and Ron are always together, they are grouped by proximity. Rather than thinking about them in three separate categories, most people, including their friends, see them as a trio of people.
Connection #30
Chapter 6: Perception
Context Effects
Because the baby pictured during Voldemort’s attack of the Potter family is wearing a blue shirt, even a stranger to the films and books would perceive the baby as a boy. If he had been wearing a pink shirt, his baby blues and chubby cheeks would be perceived in a more feminine way.
Connection #31
Chapter 6: Perception
Relative Motion
Through the movies, the students ride the Hogwarts express on multiple occasions. As the viewer and the students sit in the train cars, the landscape can be seen passing in the background. If one were to observe the passing of the mountains, field, and bodies of water on the trip, relative motion could be applied to the fixation point and all surrounding points either moving with or against the train.
Connection #32
Chapter 7: Consciousness
Consciousness
When the wizards fly on their wands, it takes great amounts of concentration and it is their consciousness that allows them to focus and concentrate on the complex task.
Connection #35
Chapter 7: Consciousness
Sleep Deprivation
Without sleep, many have a general feeling of discomfort, illness, uneasiness, and aggravation. When the trio is in possession of the locket Horcrux and are forced to keep it around someone’s neck at all times, these attributes are intensified in the wearer who usually does not sleep to watch guard. They begin to become agitated with each other, especially Ron who starts to believe Harry and Hermione want to be together.
Connection #36
Chapter 8: Learning
Associative Learning
Through Harry’s years at Hogwarts, he began to associate two specific stimuli: his scar burning and the presence of Voldy. Therefore, whenever Harry’s scar begins to burn, he knows that Voldemort is near or is doing something involving Harry and prepares for whatever is to come.
Connection #37
Chapter 8: Learning
Operant Conditioning
Draco Malfoy has been spoiled all his life so when he grows up, he continues to run to mommy and daddy for everything. One of his favorite sayings is “my father will be hearing about this.” Because his parents have taken care of things every time he runs to them, he has been conditioned to expect everything to be handled once he brings it to their attention.
Connection #38
Chapter 8: Learning
Operant Conditioning
Hermione has been operantly conditioned to work hard in school and try her best. This is positive reinforcement. The pleasurable stimulus is the good grades and praise from her teachers and peers.
Connection #39
Chapter 8: Learning
Punishment
In the Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge punishes Harry in an effort to decrease the frequency of the preceding behavior of “lying” about the Dark Lord being back.
Connection #41
Chapter 9: Memory
Storage/Retrieval
Dumbledore has so many memories that weigh him down that he does not store them in his mind. He has a pensieve where he takes the memories from his mind, fills them in bottles, and can revisit them any time he wants. This is a different form of storage and retrieval that leaves out less of the memory.
Connection #42
Chapter 9: Memory
Effortful Processing
Hermione, while she is naturally intelligent, she is seen studying on multiple occasions in both the books and the movies. She studies and practices for class using rehearsal, conscious repetition, to make sure she knows all she needs to know for her classes and exams.
Connection #43
Chapter 9: Memory
Implicit Memory
Riding a broom came naturally for Harry and after he had practiced enough, the procedure of riding his broom skillfully was just that: a procedure. It took little thought on his part and he was able to think about where the snitch might be, look for it, find it, and execute a plan to catch it, all without giving too much attention to the process of flying.
Connection #44
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Category Hierarchies
The game Quidditch can be broken into a category hierarchy. At the top would be Quidditch broken down into offense and defense which would then be broken down into each of the positions a player can hold.
Connection #45
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Confirmation Bias
Because Harry has never liked Snape and it appears that Snape has never liked him, Harry has always looked for things to prove that Snape is really working for Voldemort. When Snape is the one who kills Dumbledore, Harry takes this as proof of how evil Snape really is. However, as time shows, Snape was really on Dumbledore’s, Harry’s, and most of all Lily’s side.
Connection #46
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Fixation
When Harry retrieves the egg from the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard tournament, he spends many hours trying to figure out what the clue is for the next task. He cannot think of anything that he hasn’t tried because he is fixated with the thing that he is trying. He cannot see the puzzling egg from a fresh perspective and this keeps him from figuring out until he gets a hint from another competitor.
Connection #47
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Insight
When the trio is travelling through the underground chambers in the “Sorcerer’s Stone,” they get caught in vines that begin to strangle all their limbs. They all squirm and scream trying to break themselves free until Hermione has a sudden moment of insight, an “AHA!” moment, if you will. She realizes why their squirming is not working and talks the boys through how to get free of the Devil's Snare they were trapped in.
Connection #48
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Mental Set
For Hermione, her books and intelligence have always worked. This is why whenever she is presented with a problem, she turns to a book and to logic. Because they have never failed her in the past, she is predisposed to approach problems from a logical perspective.
Connection #49
Chapter 10: Thinking and Language
Algorithm
In the “Sorcerer’s Stone,” Hermione uses an algorithm that goes along with the riddle to systematically decide which vile holds which potion. By doing so, she is able to let Harry move through the purple flames on toward the stone and she is able to traverse back through the black flames to go take care of Ron.
Connection #51
Chapter 11: Intelligence
Multiple Intelligences
The friends differ in their mental abilities and areas in which they excel. Together, they are an example of multiple intelligences. Hermione displays both linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences. She shows both of these in her school work and all around book smarts. Harry displays bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in his natural ability to both ride a broom and chase a snitch.
Connection #52
Chapter 11
Intelligence
Creative Intelligence (Sternberg): Ron displays creative intelligence as he helps to solve more abstract problems such as the game of wizarding chess in “Sorcerer’s Stone” and his inventive ideas for destroying horcruxes in the “Deathly Hallows.”
Connection #53
Chapter 11
Intelligence
Analytical Intelligence (Sternberg): Hermione possesses analytic intelligence as seen by how easy school work is for her. She gets many OWLs and NEWTs when it is time for them to take these tests as well.
Connection #54
Chapter 11
Intelligence
Practical Intelligence (Sternberg): Harry exhibits practical intelligence. He is very good with common tasks, everyday things, and commonsense. He is able to figure out how to do simple things in multiple different ways as he shows on all the adventures the friends have both in and out of school.
Connection #56
Chapter 11
Environmental Influences on Mental Abilities It is mentioned to Harry on countless occasions how bright his mother was and yet Harry doesn’t seem to live up to her in that respect. Perhaps he would have if she had raised him and perhaps her absence or his aunt and uncle’s presence that caused him to receive the grades he did in school.
Connection #57
Chapter 11
Genetic Influences on Mental Abilities
Both of Hermione Granger’s parents are dentists. Because this occupation takes quite a bit of schooling and efforts to go to these kinds of schools, it reasonable to believe that both of her parents were bright students. This would make sense, especially knowing how intelligent Hermione is.
Connection #58
Chapter 12: Motivation and Work
Incentives
The whole journey that the trio embarks on in the “Deathly Hallows” is driven by one incentive: to rid the world of Voldemort. This incentive is good enough for them that they will go to all lengths to execute their task, risking their lives the whole time they are doing it.
Connection #59
Chapter 12: Motivation and Work
Belongingness and Love Needs
Harry gets little love or attention from his aunt and uncle as a young boy. They tell him nothing of his parents and he really has no one in the world. These needs are met when he goes to Hogwarts, makes friends that turn into family, and creates relationships that will last him even through death.
Connection #60
Chapter 12: Motivation and Work
Hunger
Because Neville Longbottom is heavier than his friends, he needs to eat more to sustain his body weight. This is the reason he is quoted saying how hungry he is all the time.
Connection #63
Chapter 12: Motivation and Work
Achievement Motivation
This is part of the reason Hermione has worked so hard all her life for her grades. She desires significant accomplishment (to know more than anyone else), mastery of skills (all academic related), and attaining and maintaining a high standard which she has with the precedent she has set for herself concerning school work.
Connection #64
Chapter 13: Emotion
Sympathetic Nervous System and Emotional Arousal
When Harry hits Bellatrix Lestrange with the curse “crucio,” a pain inducing curse after she kills Sirius, she falls to the ground and her eyes widen in fear and perhaps pain. These reflexes are her nervous system reacting to the emotions she is feeling.
Connection #65
Chapter 13: Emotion
Nonverbal Communication
When Ron gets a girlfriend in the “Half-Blood Prince,” Hermione is hurt and jealous because she is interested in Ron. Hermione is finally telling Harry about this and relating it to his feelings for Ginny when Ron and Lavender come lovey dovey up the stairs. Ron has read Hermione’s face and can tell something is wrong at which point he asks what the matter is. Hermione shoots birds out of her wand at them still not speaking.
Connection #66
Chapter 13: Emotion
Fear
Fear is contagious when it comes to old Voldy. It had to be one person who started fearing his name that turned into two and three and four. It must have started with one person and spread and they announced their own fear and put that thought into other peoples’ heads.
Connection #67
Chapter 13: Emotion
Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon
When Harry drinks the felix felicis (liquid luck) potion he won, he enters a state resembling euphoria. He is very optimistic and has a good feeling about things thanks to the potion. Because he is feeling so good, he also decides to impart something on Slughorn and ends up helping Slughorn get spider venom.
Connection #69
Chapter 14: Stress and Health
Type A Personality
Hermione is dard-driving, time-conscious, supermotivated, and easily aggravated. While she has less of the anger perspective, she is definitely not laid back. She is rather uptight and likes to do things exactly the way they should be done.
Connection #70
Chapter 14: Stress and Health
Type B Personality
Both Ron and Harry have type B personalities. They are both rather laid back and don’t really let things get to them. They are not really reactive or explosive in most cases and just go with the flow even though their flow is much more intense than the norm.
Connection #71
Chapter 14: Stress and Health
Emotion-Focused Strategy
When Hermione cannot stand to see Ron with Lavender Brown, she turns to Harry to handle this stress. She reaches out to her friend to help her in her time of need and to help her figure out and address her emotions.
Connection #72
Chapter 15: Personality
Free Association
Because Snape is so conflicted between his love for Lily and his dislike of James, free association would help him figure out and deal with his feelings for Harry.
Connection #73
Chapter 15: Personality
Psychoanalysis
Voldemort could be studied using this. His personality or lack thereof would start to be explained and he would start to be explored through free association.
Connection #74
Chapter 15: Personality
Regression
When Malfoy feels threatened, he retreats to running to his parents as children do. While he slips into this often, it is certainly not of his age group and therefore can be considered regression.
Connection #75
Chapter 15: Personality
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Because Malfoy is so conflicted when it comes to joining the Deatheaters and Voldemort, perhaps what he truly wants will be indicated by what he sees in the inkblots.
Connection #78
Chapter 15: Personality
Reciprocal Determinism
Harry may have a naturally courageous and daring personality but being in an environment that asks him to be these things helps these traits to shine in him. By acting on the situations he gets into, he continues to let his daring persona shine through and his behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental factors continue to interact.
Connection #79
Chapter 15: Personality
Internal Locus of Control
Neville begins the series as a scared little boy who is very forgetful and nervous and generally lets the world take control of him. However, by the end of the series, Neville has blossomed and realized that it is he who controls his fate and that is why he is so courageous in the “Deathly Hallows” as to kill one of Voldemort’s horcruxes himself.
Connection #80
Chapter 15: Personality
Self-Esteem
Neville also starts off with a very low self esteem. In fact, he is very affected by and controlled by the actions of his peers in the beginning. He is able to overcome this early on and begin a transformation by standing up to his friends. A valiant thing to do that gains him 10 points for Gryffindor.
Connection #84
Chapter 16: Psychological Disorders
Phobia
Ron may be said to have a mild phobia of spiders. When he has to follows them into the forest, he panics and questions why it couldn’t have been butterflies. He seems to almost cry everytime he sees one and when they face a boggart in Professor Lupin’s class, it is a giant spider that appears as his worst fear.
Connection #85
Chapter 16: Psychological Disorders
Schizophrenia
Perhaps Voldemort suffers from schizophrenia. He shows a lack of appropriate emotion and has since Dumbledore brought him to Hogwarts. He is clearly disturbed in some way and seems to have another world that he resides in. His hallucinations may be more future oriented than present oriented and he sees all the things the world could be. He seems to be fueled by false perceptions of how things would be if he ruled the world.
Connection #87
Chapter 17: Therapy
Biomedical Therapy
Because Voldemort displays signs of schizophrenia, biomedical therapy could be tried to rid him of his disorder. However, because he seems to have multiple things wrong with him, it may take more than one method (eclectic approach) to make him sane if it is at all possible.
Connection #88
Chapter 17: Therapy
Exposure Therapy
This is another kind of therapy that may benefit Ron. Perhaps exposure to spiders for long periods of time or many times for short periods would help him to get over his fear. Perhaps being around them so much and having nothing else to do but live with them would help him to see how harmless they can be and to forget how terrified he is of them.
Connection #89
Chapter 17: Therapy
Counterconditioning
This may work to rid Ron of his fear of spiders. Perhaps if he is presented with a benign spider enough, he will realize that they are, for the most part, harmless. However, it may not show successful because Ron was exposed to a very nice spider, Aragog. This may have been ruined when all of the spiders started driving them out of the forest, impacting Ron even more.
Connection #90
Chapter 17
Therapy
Systematic Desensitization: This kind of therapy would force Ron to relax when he is faced with spiders. Because he cannot be anxious and relaxed at the same time, the goal is to relax him everytime he encounters a spider rather than work him up as he has done all his life.
Connection #91
Chapter 17: Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy
Focusing on Voldemort’s issues as a kid my prove helpful, especially knowing he grew up in an orphanage. Taking that into account, his relationships with professors and peers once he arrives at Hogwarts may be indicative of the relationship he has with the world when he becomes the Dark Lord. In fact, Dumbledore can tell from a their very first meeting that Tom Riddle is special. However, even he could not see that little boy turning into the most infamous and feared wizard of all time.
Connection #92
Chapter 17: Therapy
Psychopharmacy
Perhaps the most efficient way to cure Voldemort is with medication. He would have to be analyzed to determine every symptom he displays and then put on one or more medications that address as many symptoms as possible. Perhaps if they had more medication in the wizarding world, they would have less outbreaks of Dark Lords trying to run it.
Connection #93
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Attribution Theory
The twins, Fred and George Weasley, often look on the bright side of life. This may lead them to see people’s shortcomings as due to a reaction to a situation. Because their optimistic outlook would sway them to see the good in people, they would most likely assume that wrongdoings are simply because of the situation and not because of the person.
Connection #94
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
The Malfoy family may feel a great amount of cognitive dissonance because for the whole time Voldemort was gone, they basically lived their lives and stopped caring or looking for him. Then when he returns, Lucius basically begs him not to kill him and tries to persuade him that they have been looking. As time goes on, the Malfoy family continues to look out for themselves before anyone else clearly contradicting the way in which the Dark Lord believes they should behave: putting Voldemort’s safety and protection before their own.
Connection #95
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Normative Social Influence
When the Dark Lord returns, all Deatheaters, whether they now have a family or want to stay out of it or not, conform to his will. Despite the fact that he has been gone this long, they all once again fall into a norm: when he calls, you answer. They are influenced both by the actions of other Deatheaters and by the actions of the Dark Lord had they not rejoined him. Conformity, and fear, keeps them coming back even when they feel it would be in their best interest to leave.
Connection #96
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Obedience
Despite the Deatheaters’ wishes to leave or perhaps not to torture people, they continue to do the Dark Lord’s work simply because he tells them to do so. They do not feel any discomfort at performing the tasks they are asked to. They hear screams of pain and death and still they do as they are told simply because they are told to do so.
Connection #97
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
It seems that the Malfoy family really is not in this whole heartedly because again they are found agreeing to things they normally would not simply because they have agreed thus far. When Voldemort fails to kill Harry on his flight from Privet Drive, he blames the connection between their brother wands. Believing it is the wand, he requests Lucius Malfoy’s and Malfoy is reluctant to give it up. However, again he is forced to do so because he is already in this deep with Voldy.
Connection #98
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Deindividuation
People feel more comfortable performing heinous acts when they are anonymous and that is especially the case when it comes to Deatheaters and those who have families. While many believe they know a person or a group of people are Deatheaters, there was little proof until the Dark Lord returned. The Deatheaters wear masks and all the havoc they wreak in London is protected because no one knows who they are. Once the dark Lord is powerful enough, they feel more comfortable with people knowing who they are because they are protected under the reign they believe he will soon possess.
Connection #99
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
This appears to happen where Voldemort is concerned quite often. One of the biggest examples is Draco Malfoy. Because the Malfoys have been loyal to the Dark Lord thus far, and mostly for their own benefit at that, they feel forced to let Voldemort use Malfoy as well. While Narcissa is scared for her son’s life and wishes he could be kept safe and out of it, she and Lucius must agree to letting him join because of the agreements they have already made with Voldemort.
Connection #100
Chapter 18: Social Psychology
Group Polarization
Because the Deatheaters all share similar views when it comes to Voldemort, they are encouraged by each other and the presence of others helps them to be more secure in their actions and choices. When they sit around talking with the Dark Lord, they are assured that they are making the right decisions in being on this side of history.
