The cognitive dissonance theory was proposed by leon festinger. It says that we often bring our attitudes into line with our actions. The video i watched not only gave an experiment on cognitive dissonance it also refreshed my memory on a few other psychological terms. They created an experiment where some subjects played a very boring and tedious game. At the end of the experiment they spilt the people up in half and gave one group of the 20 dollars for telling the next patients that the game and experiment was fun and not boring. They gave the other half only one dollar for doing the same thing. The purpose of this was to see if the patient would lie and say the game was fun, not only if they would lie but if they would actually believe their lie and get into it by making up a story and justifying their reason why the game was fun. It is like cognitive dissonance because if we say something that we don't believe then we may actually start believing what we say (bringing our attitudes into line with our actions).
The results of the experiment were the opposite of what i thought. When the people were interviewed later, it said that the people that were paid less believed their lies more. They believed the game was more fun that it actually was to them at the time. They said this is true because people love things more when they have to suffer from them. I thought the people who were paid more would actually start to believe their lie because they had a bigger external motivation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korGK0yGIDo
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
writing about the glog.
What is really scary with schizophrenia is that if someone in your family has it the chances increase by a lot. The normal statistics are about 1 in 100 people get this disorder, but if you brother, mother, or dad has it etc. the chances of you getting it increases to 1 in 10. Also schizophrenia doesn't usually become evident or you don't get it until you are about 20. So you could be a completely normal child and teen and then it could develop. There are also two types of schizophrenia. One that is called positive and another called negative. Positive is by far the worst one to have. Not only does it have severe symptoms but it is hard to cure or to lessen symptoms. Some of the symptoms that accompany positive schizophrenia are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech and behavior. Symptoms that are with negative schizophrenia are lack of emotion, speech, and motivation. Lastly, i learned that some causes of schizophrenia would be brain abnormalities, dopamine overactivity, and a virus during mid pregnancy.
For schizophrenia the main treatment option would be antipsychotics not psychotherapy. However, group therapies can help a person with schizophrenia in many ways. Group therapy focuses on the problems and relationships of their clients. It is a social experience where people with similar problems meet to talk about their issues and receive feedback as they try out new ways of behaving. In one group therapy session they might talk about a problem they each have run into in the past week they would give each other advice and the person running the session will contribute as well. Group therapy can help decrease the social isolation of some of the people that attend. Also more importantly it is a relief to find that you are not alone if you have this disorder, many patients learn that others, despite their apparent composure, share the problem of schizophrenia.
Like i mentioned before the main treatment option for people with schizophrenia are antipsychotics. Antipsychotic drugs dampened responsiveness to irrelevant stimuli, and for people with schizophrenia they lessen the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as auditory hallucinations and paranoia. The molecules of antipsychotics are like those of the neurotransmitter dopamine, they occupy its receptor sites and block its activity. People with negative symptoms of schizophrenia respond less well to antispychotic drugs. However, there are newer atypical anitpsychotics, that target dopamine and serotonin receptors. This then helps alleviate their symptoms sometimes awakenings these individuals that are withdrawn. Some side effects of antipsychotics are sluggishness, tremors, and twitches, which may be because of too little dopamine in the body. Also if someone is on them for too long they may produce tardive dyskinesia which is involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs. Even with those side effects antipsychotics helps people with schizophrenia immensely. In combination with therapies a person in a mental hospital may return to live near-normal lives.
For schizophrenia the main treatment option would be antipsychotics not psychotherapy. However, group therapies can help a person with schizophrenia in many ways. Group therapy focuses on the problems and relationships of their clients. It is a social experience where people with similar problems meet to talk about their issues and receive feedback as they try out new ways of behaving. In one group therapy session they might talk about a problem they each have run into in the past week they would give each other advice and the person running the session will contribute as well. Group therapy can help decrease the social isolation of some of the people that attend. Also more importantly it is a relief to find that you are not alone if you have this disorder, many patients learn that others, despite their apparent composure, share the problem of schizophrenia.
Like i mentioned before the main treatment option for people with schizophrenia are antipsychotics. Antipsychotic drugs dampened responsiveness to irrelevant stimuli, and for people with schizophrenia they lessen the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as auditory hallucinations and paranoia. The molecules of antipsychotics are like those of the neurotransmitter dopamine, they occupy its receptor sites and block its activity. People with negative symptoms of schizophrenia respond less well to antispychotic drugs. However, there are newer atypical anitpsychotics, that target dopamine and serotonin receptors. This then helps alleviate their symptoms sometimes awakenings these individuals that are withdrawn. Some side effects of antipsychotics are sluggishness, tremors, and twitches, which may be because of too little dopamine in the body. Also if someone is on them for too long they may produce tardive dyskinesia which is involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs. Even with those side effects antipsychotics helps people with schizophrenia immensely. In combination with therapies a person in a mental hospital may return to live near-normal lives.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Living with Schizophrenia
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2011/01/16/sotu.01.16.frese.earley.cnn.html
I picked to do this blog on schizophrenia because it is the most interesting disorder to me. I don't understand how this happens to people, it just seems like a very peculiar disorder. I feel like i would be extremely scared if that ever happened to me and i don't know how i would handle it if someone in my family or one of my friends got this disorder.
The news report talked about how difficult it is to live with someone that has schizophrenia. How there are levels of how "difficult" the disorder is or how "normal" the people are. One of the mans child has schizophrenia and he said sometimes he has very good days and other times it is very difficult to live with. They also talked about how difficult it is to find funding for more research. The article was very new also so it is a recent problem. It is also hard to find a good doctor to help you if you have schizophrenia because many of them wait until it is at its worst and don't do anything if the person with the disorder isn't being a hazard to themselves or someone else. This seems very wrong but i guess when i think about it, it is a little typical because if the person didn't have a lot of money i could see how some doctors would be hesitant or less willing to help them deal with the disorder. I'm still just very curious on how someone gets this disorder, because genes and the environment, which they say may be the cause, seems like a weird cause to me.
The news report talked about how difficult it is to live with someone that has schizophrenia. How there are levels of how "difficult" the disorder is or how "normal" the people are. One of the mans child has schizophrenia and he said sometimes he has very good days and other times it is very difficult to live with. They also talked about how difficult it is to find funding for more research. The article was very new also so it is a recent problem. It is also hard to find a good doctor to help you if you have schizophrenia because many of them wait until it is at its worst and don't do anything if the person with the disorder isn't being a hazard to themselves or someone else. This seems very wrong but i guess when i think about it, it is a little typical because if the person didn't have a lot of money i could see how some doctors would be hesitant or less willing to help them deal with the disorder. I'm still just very curious on how someone gets this disorder, because genes and the environment, which they say may be the cause, seems like a weird cause to me.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Achievement
Without motivation nothing would get done and nobody would even care. For me i occasionally find myself unmotivated, especially in school and sports. Sometimes i am just tired and don't really want to try. Sometimes i have to force myself to become motivated. I usually do this by telling myself things like.. "the sooner i get this done the sooner its over" or "it will raise my grade if i do a good job on this". In sports it seems like sometimes i do better when my family or friends are watching me. That is probably because i want to impress them. It is pretty much like an extrinsic motivation because i am not doing it completely for myself. But other times i am motivated on my own because inside i really want to succede or i am having fun doing somthing. I think achievement motivation can change as you age. Because as a freshmen i had much less motivation than i do now. When faced with a tough assignement i would find myself doing the bare minimum just to get a B or C and be done with it. But now i always try and get an A because inside i want to do as best as i can. Also now when i get a bad grade i am much harder on myself, before i would just let it go and forget about it. I also find myself more motivated when i have really smart students in a class with me because i want to try and do as good as them. Now one of the my biggest n-Ach's is probably intrinsic motivation and feedback. My parents don't really force me to do anything because they know i will do it myself. I almost always perform better when i get positive feedback, because then that encourages me, negative feedback usually brings me down. When i get positive feedback i usually try harder and want to achieve more.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Emotional Intelligence
Have we stretched the idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions??
I think emotions and intelligence act upon each other. Emotional intelligence is important because it helps people relate to others. Some very successful people who know how to read others emotions and who are good at perceiving their own emotions may become even more successful than those who are smarter than them. This is because they may relate better to their co-workers, they might work harder, and they just might have a better personality. Also if people learn to control their emotions they can learn more. In stressful situations they can calm themselves and learn more. Others might not be able to handle that type of stressful situation and they wouldn't be able to learn from it. I believe a few of the world problems could be solved by eq, but it would be a very big stretch to say that it would solve all our problems. When people help others that are emotionally unstable sometimes that person overcomes their problems and contributes to the world. But other times there are people that take advantage of other peoples kindness. I also think it is not intelligence that makes people what to help others. We are born with feeling sympathy and empathy for others that are going through a rough times.
I think emotions and intelligence act upon each other. Emotional intelligence is important because it helps people relate to others. Some very successful people who know how to read others emotions and who are good at perceiving their own emotions may become even more successful than those who are smarter than them. This is because they may relate better to their co-workers, they might work harder, and they just might have a better personality. Also if people learn to control their emotions they can learn more. In stressful situations they can calm themselves and learn more. Others might not be able to handle that type of stressful situation and they wouldn't be able to learn from it. I believe a few of the world problems could be solved by eq, but it would be a very big stretch to say that it would solve all our problems. When people help others that are emotionally unstable sometimes that person overcomes their problems and contributes to the world. But other times there are people that take advantage of other peoples kindness. I also think it is not intelligence that makes people what to help others. We are born with feeling sympathy and empathy for others that are going through a rough times.
Friday, March 25, 2011
blog 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfTTm-rgFFI
This video was a different experiment for classical conditioning. It was about a boy who made a "squawking" noise then he would shoot his little brother with a Nerf gun. The brother was really cute because at first he didn't get it but then eventually he caught on and flinched when her heard the noise because he thought he was going to get hit by the Nerf gun. I think classical conditioning is really interesting because you can basically teach anyone to do anything. I think it would be interesting if you classically conditioned pets to do different tricks. I would like to teach my bird to stop squawking. I just wonder if you used a delayed reaction of presenting the stimulus how long it would take for the kid to be conditioned because sometimes you forget to present the stimulus.
s.
This video was a different experiment for classical conditioning. It was about a boy who made a "squawking" noise then he would shoot his little brother with a Nerf gun. The brother was really cute because at first he didn't get it but then eventually he caught on and flinched when her heard the noise because he thought he was going to get hit by the Nerf gun. I think classical conditioning is really interesting because you can basically teach anyone to do anything. I think it would be interesting if you classically conditioned pets to do different tricks. I would like to teach my bird to stop squawking. I just wonder if you used a delayed reaction of presenting the stimulus how long it would take for the kid to be conditioned because sometimes you forget to present the stimulus.
s.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Spring break connections
Chapter 1
While traveling through the airport on our way to Florida my sister and I were on our way to gate E and we were at gate A. I hadn’t been in an air port by myself in a while so I was not completely confident on where we were supposed to go. The signs were all clearly marked, but there were two ways that I thought we could have gone to get to gate E. Since we were running a little late I just decided to ask to make sure that we were going in the right direction. Once we got directions, my assumptions were confirmed and I realized I didn't have to ask because I knew we were suppose to go that way anyways.
This is an Example of Hindsight Bias because in the beginning I was not sure which way we were supposed to go but once we asked and got directions, I thought to myself that I already knew the answer before I asked. In reality if I wouldn’t have asked and went the other way we could have gotten lost and missed our flight. But since the answer was so obvious I told myself I knew it all along even though I didn't.
Chapter 2
In the airplane on our way to Florida it was night time and everything was dark and quite. It was also very bumpy in the air because it was raining a little bit. I am not very fond of airplanes in the first place so the weather just made me even more uncomfortable. When it started to get really rough my heart started to beat and I got all tense and nervous. After a while I calmed down and relaxed and was able to fall asleep.
This is an example of my Autonomic Nervous System in action. My Sympathetic Nervous System aroused me because something was alarming me. It made my heartbeat faster and rose my blood pressure. When I calmed down my Parasympathetic Nervous System was in action, it decreased my heartbeat and lowered my blood pressure.
Chapter 3
Friday morning I had to wake up at three o’clock to get to the airport to make our flight on time. That night even though I woke up extremely early I couldn’t fall asleep early, I still ended going to bed at 11. Then I had to wake up early the next morning again. By Sunday morning I was exhausted and I couldn’t focus on my homework and I was really slow for our soccer game.
One item that relates to psychology about this situation was not being able to fall asleep early even though I had woken up very early. This is because of a circadian rhythm, which is our biological clock. Bright light makes us stay awake and when it starts getting dark then our body starts getting tired. So when we try and sleep when it is still light out it is unnatural and it is harder to fall asleep.
Chapter 4
This Sunday for our soccer game I arrived early to the field so I watched some of the boy’s game. I have noticed this before but boys always play much more aggressive than girls. In every single play in the game the boys made contact with one another. Even if they had the ball by themselves they would go ahead and push the other player with their body. The referees didn’t call very much pushing unless something was way too aggressive. When it came time for our game I paid attention to how we played. Girls liked less contact. If it came down to a one on one situation they would obviously fight for the ball and become aggressive but many of the players would not go out of their way to be aggressive. Also I noticed referees called a lot of pushing in our game. There were many more calls for less aggressive actions.
In chapter four they talked about gender and aggression. In surveys, men admit to being much more aggressive than women do. It is not only aggression in violets crimes, but men are also more active in violent sports throughout the world such as hunting and fighting. This explains why the boys are much more aggressive than girls. Also it explains why the referees called much more penalties for girls, because it is more common for men to be more aggressive and when females are extremely aggressive it seems a little more out of the norm.
Chapter 5
Every morning my grandmother does her crossword then every night she watches wheel of fortune. It amazes me how fast she comes up with the correct answers. When trying to figure out a word on wheel of fortune a lot of the time she comes up with the answers before the guests on the show. Also for her cross word puzzles there are so many different terms I had never even heard of before that she comes up with. But for the few that she doesn’t know at the end I look over and they are usually more recent topics like a television show or certain types of recent music. Those are the ones me and my cousin and sister get. Also, on our last night there my cousin gave a tutorial on how to use the television for my grandma and grandpa. He showed them how to program their favorite channels and to find a TV show they were looking for. My grandma ended up taking notes because she couldn’t remember or figure out how to do what he was trying to show them.
These examples of learning and memory are called fluid and crystallized intelligence. My grandmas crystallized intelligence was the knowledge she accumulated over her years of her existence. All the vocabulary and facts that she uses to help her solve her cross word puzzles and her TV shows questions. She obviously excelled more than I did at these topics because she had much more time than I have had to gain more of this knowledge. Her Fluid intelligence was not being able to figure out how to use the TV. It took her much more time to grasp the concepts of what my cousin was trying to teach her. It is harder for older people to learn new things and it is also harder for them to learn them speedily.
Chapter 6
My grandfather has very bad hearing so he uses hearing aids. He never had good hearing but now that he is getting older his ability to hear is declining more and more. My mother also doesn’t have good hearing and I know my aunts don’t either so it is probably a hereditary issue… While we were spending time with my grandparents i noticed that my grandpa’s hearing aids always make this loud-pitched sound, I am not sure why they do this but it usually lasts until he adjusts them. Although he usually never adjusts them until one of us tells him that they are ringing. At first I thought he couldn't hear the sound because it wasn't loud enough but then i realized it is probably because he can't hear that pitch. ( my grandma never heard the sound either)
This is an example of pitch, or the highness or lowness of a sound. As you age your capability for perceiving high and even low sounds diminishes. Like in Whales where they use a high pitched sound to get rid of teen loiters, the high sound doesn’t affect older people because they can’t hear the sound. Also my grandfather has sensorineural hearing loss, because when he was growing up he spent a lot of time on the farm using loud machinery. Also I think hearing loss in our family is also from our genes. Another culprit for my grandfathers hearing loss is his aging, hearing declines with time.
Chapter 7
Throughout my vacation my sister and cousin were constantly bothering me. They would poke me in the side because it obviously bothered me and they evidently got a kick out of it. After a few days when ever they would be sitting right next to me and one of them would move suddenly I would flinch. I learned to flinch because whenever they would move I would get poked in the side and it would hurt so I would flinch.
This is an example of Classical Conditioning. It is when a person learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. Before I was conditioned when they would move suddenly I wouldn’t even notice it, but when they started poking me more and more I learned to associate the stimulus with the result of it. My cousin and sister trained me to flinch when ever they moved suddenly because I thought they were going to poke me, even if they weren't going to.
Chapter 8
One day we decided to go to the mall and since it was hot I dropped my grandma and my sister off close to the stores they wanted to go to. It was extremely busy so I had to park very far away from The Circle, which is the shopping center. When I got out of the car I told myself ‘I parked on a side street next to the restaurant Tokyo’, I repeated that to myself about three times then I went to find my grandma and sister. After about three hours of shopping they wanted to leave so I went to get the car. For the life of me I couldn’t remember where I had parked it. I literally walked around searching for 20 minutes. Walking up and down side streets and circling the shops. When I was getting ready to call my sister and tell her I couldn’t remember where I had parked I walked passed the Tokyo restaurant and almost immediately I knew I had parked there without even seeing the car.
This frustrating and embarrassing event is an example of context effects. When I put myself back in the context of where I was when I experienced something I can more easily remember something.When I was wondering around looking for the car I couldn't remember where I had parked. This was because nothing look familiar to me and because I was never in the right spot or near the spot I had parked it. But when I passed the place that I had parked it even without seeing the car I knew I had parked it near there because the surroundings look familiar and the Tokyo restaurant triggered my brain to remember thats where I had parked.
Chapter 9
Throughout the vacation my sister wanted to get really tan so I told her to go in the water because I thought you tanned faster when you are in water. She didn’t believe me because she said you obviously tan faster out of water because it feels much hotter when you are out in the open. I wasn’t exactly sure about how you tan faster so I decided to look it up just to try and prove my sister wrong. When I looked it up I didn’t find a definite answer but I told my sister I was right and showed her the results I found. Once source said you tan faster in the water because the water reflects the sun rays toward your body. Even though this proved I was right my sister still didn’t believe me because she thought her explanation was better.
This is an example of Belief perseverance. When you cling to your initial belief even after it has been proved wrong. My sister thought she was right even though I looked up on the Internet that you tan faster in water and this proved that my theory was right. She still gave me her reasons on why she was right and I was wrong. I thought she was just a stubborn person but I guess it is a proven fact that in human nature once you believe something it takes a lot more evidence to believe something else.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
blog 6 (Never Forgetting)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article4771978.ece
I remember reading about Jill Price in our text book, and i thought it was extremely interesting how she could remember everything since she was 14. The article said that only a hand full of people have this disorder. Only about 4 people have been diagnosed with superior autobiographical memory and very little is known about it. I think it would be a very hard disorder to live with. It is convienet how we just disregard all of the useless information that we subconsciously and even consciously pass by. Also all the painful experiences that we have lived through, we can push them into the back of our mind and almost forget them. It would be torture to have to relive some experiences over and over again.
Jill Price is haunted by this disorder everyday, she says she cries about 10 times a day because of the memories that pop into her mind. It is like watching her life like a movie, she remembers everything. Every date she remembers what she ate that day, how she was feeling, and what she did. It is said that the two other patients haven't found this disorder as a curse. One of them actually enjoys it. Doctors have said the view points are different because of the different personalities of the patients, not their memory capacities.
It confuses me about how the brain remembers everything, is it because of a genetic disorder or a chromosonal problem? But then if it is why would it just become apparent when Jill Price turned 14. Also does the brain look different than a normal persons brain. Experts said that her brain does release an excess of adreneline. But that just seems like not a good enough explination for such an increase in memory.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/user/appsychology1023?feature=mhum#p/u/11/X66LnToaXz4
http://www.youtube.com/user/appsychology1023?feature=mhum#p/u/13/GL9nuzWy5mo
http://www.youtube.com/user/appsychology1023?feature=mhum#p/u/12/EJ7KtWTH6dE
Becky, Marin, and Chloe's PAS was the favorite out of the three i watched. It seemed like they really knew how to use their technology because they had visuals, and words, while adding music to it. It was also funny because they had different props and used different accents. Not only was it good visually but they also it all the guidelines. For each stage they had a different activity or group. I think that it could actually work in persuading people to move into ashwaubenon, because it got people's attention and it talked about all the great places here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/appsychology1023?feature=mhum#p/u/13/GL9nuzWy5mo
http://www.youtube.com/user/appsychology1023?feature=mhum#p/u/12/EJ7KtWTH6dE
Becky, Marin, and Chloe's PAS was the favorite out of the three i watched. It seemed like they really knew how to use their technology because they had visuals, and words, while adding music to it. It was also funny because they had different props and used different accents. Not only was it good visually but they also it all the guidelines. For each stage they had a different activity or group. I think that it could actually work in persuading people to move into ashwaubenon, because it got people's attention and it talked about all the great places here.
Friday, February 25, 2011
blog 5 (subliminal stimulation)
I don't really believe in subliminal messages, i just think it is a way for people to try and make money. Especially if they are trying to persuade you by a subliminal message in a commercial or in a movie, i just don't think there would be enough time for your brain to process the message. Even if it did process it i don't think it would actually do anything with the information. Although if you believe subliminal messages work then they could become almost like a placebo. The placebo or the message, would actually come true because you believe it is going to come true.
Subliminal messages remind me of overconfidence because even if you are not very great at something you can still do good in what you are doing. For instance if you are not good at sports you can still beat someone who is better than you if you have more confidence than them. If you tell yourself you are really good then you will believe it. It goes the opposite way too, if during a game you think you are doing really bad then you will start to play bad. It is pretty much all in your head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2K8AdQ4wE
Friday, February 18, 2011
blog 4 (juvenile death penalty)
http://archives.umc.org/interior_print.asp?ptid=4&mid=6756
When children are young their frontal lobes are not fully developed and as teens mature, they continue to develop. The myelin, fatty tissue that form around axons and speeds neurotransmission result in improved judgment, impulse control, and the ability to plan for long term. So the reason behind many of teens impulsiveness, risky behaviors, and emotional storms, is lack of growth, it doesn't necessarily mean they are a bad person. Adolescents just reason from their gut more than weighing the options of a situation.
In 2004 the American Psychological Association joined seven other medical and mental health associations in filing U.S. Supreme Court briefs, arguing against the death penalty for 16 and 17 year olds. In 2005 they won by a margin of 5 to 4, giving juveniles the death penalty is now unconstitutional. The article, Juvenile Death Penalty, incorporated a few different topics that we studied in the past week. It has to do with the United States and it's punishments for people who have committed murder. Something that i learned and i found shocking was that the United States has executed more juveniles than all other countries combined. The death penalty is immensely serious and only terrible crimes are considered for it, but what was being questioned is if the offenders actually deserved such a terrible punishment. It said that many of the adolescents and teens that were under consideration to have the death penalty or who have already had it, had terrible upbringings, with physical or sexual abuse, a low IQ, and intensive substance abuse. Another reason it is unjust is because adolescents brains are far less developed that adult brains. Resent studies that proved this was by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on the brain. The petitioners of this punishment say that accusers should undergo rehabilitation. I 100% think that there should not be a death penalty for adolescents and teens, not even adults, but that is besides the point. If a teen had committed such a crime then i think there is something seriously wrong with them and they need psychological help.
When children are young their frontal lobes are not fully developed and as teens mature, they continue to develop. The myelin, fatty tissue that form around axons and speeds neurotransmission result in improved judgment, impulse control, and the ability to plan for long term. So the reason behind many of teens impulsiveness, risky behaviors, and emotional storms, is lack of growth, it doesn't necessarily mean they are a bad person. Adolescents just reason from their gut more than weighing the options of a situation.
In 2004 the American Psychological Association joined seven other medical and mental health associations in filing U.S. Supreme Court briefs, arguing against the death penalty for 16 and 17 year olds. In 2005 they won by a margin of 5 to 4, giving juveniles the death penalty is now unconstitutional. The article, Juvenile Death Penalty, incorporated a few different topics that we studied in the past week. It has to do with the United States and it's punishments for people who have committed murder. Something that i learned and i found shocking was that the United States has executed more juveniles than all other countries combined. The death penalty is immensely serious and only terrible crimes are considered for it, but what was being questioned is if the offenders actually deserved such a terrible punishment. It said that many of the adolescents and teens that were under consideration to have the death penalty or who have already had it, had terrible upbringings, with physical or sexual abuse, a low IQ, and intensive substance abuse. Another reason it is unjust is because adolescents brains are far less developed that adult brains. Resent studies that proved this was by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on the brain. The petitioners of this punishment say that accusers should undergo rehabilitation. I 100% think that there should not be a death penalty for adolescents and teens, not even adults, but that is besides the point. If a teen had committed such a crime then i think there is something seriously wrong with them and they need psychological help.
Friday, February 11, 2011
ice cube addiction!!
When we got the ice cube addiction assignment i decided i wanted to take it seriously because it seemed like it would be a very good lesson. Also its not everyday that i get to participate in a experimental simulation. Before it even started i knew it would be challenging. I thought about my day and how i would need to plan around my activities so i could fit my ice cube addiction in. It would be a challenge just to go to school. I had a few options either i just don't drink anything while i am there, i hope the ice in my water bottle doesn't melt, or i take a cooler of ice to school. I think I'm just gonna take the easy way out and hope i don't get thirsty...
That night i had to work and it would be just way to challenging to try and take ice to work, one because we didn't have a freezer and two because i thought the ice would melt if i put it in my purse. Instead of taking anything to drink i just went without one day. Another challenge i ran into was hiding my bracelet. The gym Thursday night was just way too hot and i had to take off my sweatshirt. No one noticed my ribbon because it isn't a very obvious article, but if it was a real addiction people would have noticed the scars or bruises, that is just one of the MANY reasons why i couldn't do any type of drug. Two people noticed my bracelet. Thursday during first hour my sister asked why i had a ribbon on my wrist. I said it was nothing and put my sweatshirt back over it, but i guess i was just way too obvious and she knew something was up ( I'm just not a very good lier). Anyways she wouldn't let it go and eventually she guessed it was a psychology experiment, although i didn't say anything!!! My mother was the other person that noticed. She didn't really make a big deal about it all she said was "Ohh is that a new bracelet?" and i realized it was showing so i covered it up and just said "Yeah mom, thats what it is..."
Doing drugs is very complicated, just in the 48 hours i thought so much about the ice cubes. I had to think about how to hide the evidence and how i would get my daily dosage. I can't even imagine how drugs take over peoples lives, its terrible how such a little thing can have so much influence over someone. Even though i knew it already, it became even clearer that i wouldn't be able to go unnoticed if i were doing drugs. My family and my friends would eventually notice and then there would be big consequences. It surprises me how families of addicts can not notice if a member of their family is doing drugs, there are so many signs.
That night i had to work and it would be just way to challenging to try and take ice to work, one because we didn't have a freezer and two because i thought the ice would melt if i put it in my purse. Instead of taking anything to drink i just went without one day. Another challenge i ran into was hiding my bracelet. The gym Thursday night was just way too hot and i had to take off my sweatshirt. No one noticed my ribbon because it isn't a very obvious article, but if it was a real addiction people would have noticed the scars or bruises, that is just one of the MANY reasons why i couldn't do any type of drug. Two people noticed my bracelet. Thursday during first hour my sister asked why i had a ribbon on my wrist. I said it was nothing and put my sweatshirt back over it, but i guess i was just way too obvious and she knew something was up ( I'm just not a very good lier). Anyways she wouldn't let it go and eventually she guessed it was a psychology experiment, although i didn't say anything!!! My mother was the other person that noticed. She didn't really make a big deal about it all she said was "Ohh is that a new bracelet?" and i realized it was showing so i covered it up and just said "Yeah mom, thats what it is..."
Doing drugs is very complicated, just in the 48 hours i thought so much about the ice cubes. I had to think about how to hide the evidence and how i would get my daily dosage. I can't even imagine how drugs take over peoples lives, its terrible how such a little thing can have so much influence over someone. Even though i knew it already, it became even clearer that i wouldn't be able to go unnoticed if i were doing drugs. My family and my friends would eventually notice and then there would be big consequences. It surprises me how families of addicts can not notice if a member of their family is doing drugs, there are so many signs.
blog three (gender roles!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kLHZ2xGmUk
This video shows how Disney Movies are so focused on gender roles and how they exaggerate the differences of the genders. If done intentionally or just as a form of entertainment it is obvious how much they show the differences between males and females. In many our favorite children movies many of the girls have small waists and long flowing hair. Many of the males have huge muscles and strong facial features. Not only are the characters influential by their looks but also from the way they act. Some of the female characters get their way by flirting and also some do suggestive poses. Jasmine in Aladdin gets her way by complementing Jafar trying to seduce him. Another example is Snow White is constantly cleaning and is always happy about it. For males, in Mulan they sing about how men are suppose to act how they are suppose to be strong and aggressive.
Some of these movies do go against gender roles. In Mulan, she goes against the social norm and proves everybody wrong, a female can save their home. Also some of the masculine characters have a negative way of acting and even though they are strong and handsome they are suppose to be the antagonist and children don't like them.
Even though children don't realize it, the films are suggestive. I'm not quite sure how many of the films have influenced children to become the person they are today, but i do think it has made a difference. Even if children's parents don't allow them to view these movies they can still pick it up from the other kids at school that have seen them and then they can form their own schemas by how the other kids are acting. All of us have watched these movies as children and many of them are our favorites. I don't think they are wrong for making them so gender oriented because they are just a form of entertainment, but they probably do have a negative affect on children so young.
This video shows how Disney Movies are so focused on gender roles and how they exaggerate the differences of the genders. If done intentionally or just as a form of entertainment it is obvious how much they show the differences between males and females. In many our favorite children movies many of the girls have small waists and long flowing hair. Many of the males have huge muscles and strong facial features. Not only are the characters influential by their looks but also from the way they act. Some of the female characters get their way by flirting and also some do suggestive poses. Jasmine in Aladdin gets her way by complementing Jafar trying to seduce him. Another example is Snow White is constantly cleaning and is always happy about it. For males, in Mulan they sing about how men are suppose to act how they are suppose to be strong and aggressive.
Even though children don't realize it, the films are suggestive. I'm not quite sure how many of the films have influenced children to become the person they are today, but i do think it has made a difference. Even if children's parents don't allow them to view these movies they can still pick it up from the other kids at school that have seen them and then they can form their own schemas by how the other kids are acting. All of us have watched these movies as children and many of them are our favorites. I don't think they are wrong for making them so gender oriented because they are just a form of entertainment, but they probably do have a negative affect on children so young.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
number 2! (Nerve Impulse)
I decided to watch another video on how a nerve impulse goes through the neuron. It was still a little hazy to me and i wanted to make sure i got a good grasp on the whole concept. The parts that i wasn't quite sure about were depolarization and repolarization. Depolarization is when the sodium gates open and the insides becomes positive, buttt the electrical change only happens in small portions of the axon at a time! One thing that i either didn't know or forgot was that depolarization can not occur in the areas where they have the cell, which is a little bit confusing... So once depolarization happens, then in the same section of the cell repolarization occurs making the cell once again negative. After the message has been traveling for a bit it reaches what is call threshold and that means it can't go back, the message has to be sent!!
Soo linking this to the outside world... lets look at someone who has depression.
In between two neurons is a space called the synapse. The main neurotransmitter that is sent through the synapse is serotonin. (a neurotransmitter is an electrical current, what was being sent through the neuron in the previous paragraph) (Also a another side note, serotonin is known to effect moods). People with Depression have LOW levels of serotonin. So to treat depression you could use a type of drug called an SSI (the medication lexapro, which i researched is an SSI) SSI's are pretty much antagonists, where they block the reabsorption of serotonin. Sense the serotonin can't be reabsorbed it keeps getting sent to the other neuron, thus increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. An increased amount of serotonin means depression should lessen!!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
blog number one! (the beginning of psychology)
My expectations for this course have pretty much stayed the same over the past 48 hours. My goals would be to further my knowledge of psychology, i would like to get a good basic understanding of all the concepts. I also hope to get a high score on the final test. The first quiz on moodle... well i learned that i defiantly should have taken better notes, meaning i need to be much more specific. Although the quiz didn't go to well i am still pretty confident about the course. Next quiz will be a whole different story, because now i know what they will be like! I am prepared for how much time i will have to spend perfecting my assignments, understanding the readings, and studying for tests! Even though i am committed to studying i am still very nervous for the tests, hopefully Friday will go good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)