Chapter 15 First Impression, Option 1

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

I have never had therapy, but being a college student, it might be helpful. If I were to get therapy I would want a behavioral psychological approach. I think this approach would help with my anxiety and understanding my emotions. I would not use this for someone who is more cut and dry. I think behavioral psychology is more interpretive and about more abstract concepts. The next one would be cognitive because of how similar it is to behavioral. It is all about mental processes which I am interested in. I think this would help me be more aware of myself and more understanding/ less harsh on myself. The only negative side of this approach is that it is strictly mental processes which is not the only part in psychology. The next would be humanistic because it focuses on the entire body, not just the mind. This can be negative though, because you may not need to focus on everything, you may want something more targeted. Lastly I would use psycho dynamic. I feel like this one resembles a lot of Freudian beliefs ( because he was part of that movement) and I do not agree with many of them. This is a very interesting approach but I do not think it focuses on the right areas. I think it is important to understand where your emotions are coming from, but using the Oedipus Complex, does not sound accurate at all.

Does Social Media Cause Depression in Young Adults?

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Social media, and its affects on students, have been studied over the years. Does screen time increase the probability of depression? Is social media a good or bad thing? as well as thousands of other questions have been asked. A research team of five psychologists, have dipped their toes into the unknown waters. The team consists of Taylor Heffer, Owen Daly, and Elliott MacDonell of Brock University as well as Marie Good of Redeemer University College. Using longitudinal studies, or data collected over a period of time, the researchers were able to study a group of people for the course of two years. They took students from sixth grade to freshmen in college in Ontario, Canada, and asked them a series of questions about their social media use. The researchers used two categories for these questions. One was weekend usage and the other, weekday. They then did a mental health assessment. They studied After studying the data, the team concluded that social media does not cause depression overtime in young adults or children. Some students might have a different outcome than this because of their environment or preexisting mental health. Of course this is a new field of research so this data may be contradicted in the future. It can be very difficult to examine any unknown factors and variables.

Reflection

I always like diving deep into the subjects I research and that can be very beneficial in the long run. You can see both sides of an argument and get a more scientific outlook. Many news sites, such as buzzfeed, have short articles and the pages are filled with advertisements rather than factual information. I respect journalists because their job is so rigorous. Between having to sift through the information and trying to formulate an article in simple terms, it can be extremely difficult to come to correct conclusions and have an unbiased stance. I found the same hardship when writing my story. I tried to keep my article short and sweet because there was so much complex psychology terms and subjects that are difficult to but into simpler words. I never thought it would be that difficult but because of the word minimum, I was torn with what to include. Some information was too hard to explain, it was too scientific to understand.

I did not include specific information about the study such as how they obtained their participants. I had to excluded their search for the participants because it was too lengthy to include. I also excluded their full findings. There was a lot of mathematics and correlation studies that I left out because I thought it was too complex and not easily understandable. There were so many numbers, variables, and schematics that I did not even really understand. Other than those few pieces, I did not leave out anything super important. Of course the original study was fifteen pages I had a paragraph, but the majority of that paper is what I said I left out.

I found that this was a very difficult assignment because I like including details and expanding on things I have wrote about. I have a lot of more sympathy for journalists because it is their job to dive into the information and sift through it. I have taken a lot from this assignment. My mindset has shifted and I know understand what journalists, editors, and anyone who has to write about a lengthy subject. I am very happy that this assignment is included in our curriculum because it can shift someone’s mindset and help open the door to journalism. Without this blog post and the other previous writing assignments, I would not understand what journalists go through.

Citations-

Mikulak, Anna. Data Shows No Evidence That Teens’ Social Media Use Predicts Depression Over Time, January 30, 2019, https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/afps-dsn013019.php

Heffer, Taylor, et al. “The Longitudinal Association Between Social-Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents and Young Adults: An Empirical Reply to Twenge Et Al. (2018).” Clinical Psychological Science, 2019, pp. 1-9., doi:10.1177/2167702618812727

Chapter 14 First Impression Post

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

Option 1:

I have watched movies such as “A Beautiful Mind” with my parents and that was my primary education on Schizophrenia. I have never done much research on it because I thought the movies looked realistic. After watching the video, my mindset has changed. I was so captivated on how they made it feel like you were living in that person’s shoes. I have come to realize that my views on people with Schizophrenia are incorrect. It was interesting that the voices were very self loathing. They tried to diminish the person’s confidence and make him/her more paranoid. In the beginning of the video everything seemed normal and calm but as the day progressed, the hallucinations and voices grew. At the end a lady shows up, I believe it is either a caregiver or romantic partner. Anyways, before she walks in you hear all these voices and it is very overwhelming but right as she entered the house, everything fell silent and it was peaceful again. It was very interesting to me that she was almost a reality check or an rock for him.

I think the media has skewed not only Schizophrenia but all mental illnesses. It contorts them to either make a good plot in a movie or diminishes them to were there is little to no awareness at all. It is sad that the places we turn to for truth do not provide accurate information. I am not saying movies are an accurate source for anything, but that is how many kids learn. From watching television or a big motion picture, children can absorb false knowledge. That is exactly what happened to me. I thought Schizophrenia was very different than what it really is, and it is all because of a movie.

Chapter 9 First Impression

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I have lived in Lancaster County my entire life, and subsequently, have attended Hempfield schools for my primary and secondary education. Throughout that time, I have encountered a variety of different teachers. Some have been very helpful, kind, and understanding while others are the complete opposite. The older educators, had a much different style of teaching then someone who is in their twenties or thirties. I was an average student that was motivated but, my grades became poor due to my test anxiety. Some teachers were very helpful and tried to aid me while others just emailed my parents and gave up on me. I definitely had my fair share of both types of teachers.

To improve the education system, I would change the way we base knowledge. I believe that the foundation of school, is the definition of knowledge. Public schools use multiple choice questions on standardized tests to determine our worth as students. They use tests and memorization to tell themselves how well they teach. In hindsight, it is not for the students, it is for the administration and state to give themselves a pat on the back. That is what they consider knowledge- memorizing vocab words or equations. I would want to change that. We should base school on things we actually need. I do not think memorizing the quadratic formula is very important to me becoming a well adjusted adult. Classes on personal finance are much more important than a required calculus class. Why not base your grade on you understanding of the content not memorization. That is learning. I memorized all the forms of deductive reasoning for a test a few weeks ago. I do not even remember them anymore and I never really understood them either.

Chapter 13 First Impression

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When taking the personality tests, I felt like the yes or no answers were difficult to answer. I wanted to say maybe or I do not know, but they were not an option. Other than that, I think that most of the personality tests are credible. It is difficult to be accurate though, because of all the exceptions. Some people. including myself, do not fit into the categories the quizzes presented. I would say they were all reasonably credible. They are free quizzes that are not very thorough, so I did not expect them to be these amazing quizzes.

I think the quiz that most accurately describes my personality was the color quiz. I was confused on why they had me pick the colors in order of how each made me feel. I did not see the correlation between them and my personality. On the contrary, when my results came back, they were more accurate than the past sixty question quizzes. I also liked the Humanmetrics Jung Typology quiz. When I got my results, the were pretty spot on. They said I was 16% extrovert and 19% introvert, which I agree with. In certain situations, I tend to be one over the other. It just depends on where and who I am with.

Chapter 10 First Impression

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

I was surprised at my results for the reading facial expressions test because of how high my score was. I received a 13/20 and I seriously believed I would get not more than a 10/20. Secondly, I have never been a social person, which I had concluded being the reason I would have gotten a low score. Which is confusing now because I got a slightly over average score, so where does the social aspect of my life work into that? I think I need to just trust my gut. Try not to overthink and analyze as I usually do. I can apply this information to my life with trusting myself to not just understand people, but in other aspects of my life. For example, if I get B for more than two answers in a row, I go back because I do not trust my answers.

Although this quiz gives you some insight into your ability to recognize emotions, but I do not find it very credible. It uses actors to recreate the emotions, which is not realistic. I also believe that a lot of those emotions pictured could have been multiple emotions. Say embarrassment could also be sadness. This quiz is very informative and helpful, but not the most credible, or academic way to measure someone’s ability to interpret facial expressions.

Chapter 8 First Impression: Memory

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Without memory we have nothing to shape us as individuals, we would all just be robots. Memories help us connect with the world around us. For example, when 9/11 occurred, it was traumatizing for many people. My mom was sitting at home with me and saw the broadcast of the event on the news. It shaped her and help her become more aware of situations and more involved in political issues. She can remember the day very vividly, almost like it was yesterday. I have the same feeling with the first day of my summer trip. I went on a six and a half week trip across the country in the summer of 2017. I do not remember every moment, but I do vividly remember the first day. It was super awkward because I am not exactly an extrovert. On the other hand, It was the first day of the best three months of my life.

I do not know why this day is so engraved into my mind, as I have many first days that I can not even recall. First day of high school, kindergarten, and work are all examples of days that I can not remember. I think this is because human brains are wired to sort through information. Whether it is information coming from our eyes, eyes, mouth, or hands. Maybe the first day of high school is not as important as other days in my life. Maybe my brain has sorted through the days of my lives and found the ones that have shaped me as an individual, and threw out the ones that do not matter.

For my study I would want to research how people use their memories and life experiences in different situations. How does a firefighter, who was involved in 9/11, react to certain occurrences in their career nowadays. I would get participants from all walks of life. I want the group of people to be as random as possible so I can generalize my claim. I would put each participant is individualized test after finding out what their most vivid memory is. I would monitor how they react or response to the stimulation. It would not cause harm to someone emotionally or physically. My ideal outcome is figuring out how memories affect us and why.

Chapter 7 First Impression

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

I never grow up playing video games, unless Wii counts. I do, however, see how violent some games are and it is scary that kids are able to access such inappropriate content. I do not think that every child who plays say Black Ops, will grow up to become an aggressive adult, but, on the other hand, I do not see any value in those types of video games.

There are age restrictions for purchase of certain video games, and there are the warnings of ’17+’ on the package, but that does not stop preteens and young children from playing. It is very surprising to me as well that parents would allow their child to play such violent games for hours on end.

I do not want violent video games to be banned though, because I believe that at a certain age, you can be exposed to that type of inappropriate content. At what age though? I would not want my eleven year old sister to be playing a non- age appropriate video game, but at a certain age, I think she will be able to make her own decisions on what she does.

As an adult, you are able to make decisions between right and wrong. You understand that murder and theft are wrong and not accepted by society. A young kid, does not know that. They grow up being exposed to a fake reality which is not conducive to their well being.

Neuroscience

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A TED talk by Rebecca Sax on “How We Read Each Other’s Minds”

As I was scrolling through the TED talk options, one in particular caught my eye. It was titled “How We Read Each Other’s Minds” by Rebecca Sax and it was about how someone can interpret a situation, infer a person’s thoughts or emotions, and come up with a moral conclusion. It also included ways of measuring a person’s response to a situation and actually changing the person’s moral conclusion. I was intrigued by this because the brain is so complex and it is amazing that scientists have created a way to measure and control a part of the human body.

Sax goes on to explain the method in which they can control a person’s response. Using a Functional MRI (f MRI), magnetic currents are directed to a specific part of the brain called the RTP and can alter a person’s response to a moral situation.

The RTP solely focuses on moral decisions. A young child does not have a fully developed RTP, therefore can not make certain moral conclusions based on situation given. The speaker measured this as well with giving an identical test to a three, five and seven year old. Each one had a different response but as the age increased, the more the child understood the situation and could come up with a moral conclusion.

The research was extensive but Sax did not have statistical support to demonstrate her data. The charts and graphs Sax used were poorly constructed. She had words and arrows, not numbers and outcomes. I think that the idea is very interesting and could be used in the future with court systems and more specifically the Jury. I do not think her researched is supported enough therefore I do not think the presenter or the information is trustworthy.

I really like the idea of monitoring the brain when it responds to data it is given. I would want to do a research study focused around that were I have 50 participants all over the age of 25. I want people from different cultures because I believe that an unethical solution to one person from a certain culture is actually ethical to another. I would monitor the RTP while I give the a scenario and while they say their moral solution. I would then give them a second test but while using the f MRI. The reason I want people to be over the age of 25 is because I do not want young children or teenagers as their brains are not fully developed.

Introductory Post

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

How would I start my first blog post? I guess hello will have to do. Hello, my name is Allyson and I am taking the Psychology 105 course. I decided to take this class because I have always been interested in the way the human mind works and the different processes that take place. I like asking the ‘why’,’if’ and ‘how’ questions which psychology touches on quite a bit. Although I am very intrigued by all of this, I do not have any background in the subject area. I do read different articles about studies conducted by psychologists but that does not really classify as background.
When I hear the word psychology, I think of a broad scientific area of study that revolves around the human mind. It is so hard to pinpoint a specific thought about the word but I can imagine high school counselors and therapists as this is the first picture to pop into my mind.

When looking at the course schedule, three topics of study stuck out to me. First, moral development because I have always been interested in when people start developing a sense of right and wrong. Second, classical conditioning because I have read books and different articles about the conditioning of the brain and I want to expand my knowledge on the subject. Lastly, stress because I have experienced different types of stress. The good motivating stress and the type of stress that makes you want to curl up into a ball a cry. I want to understand what our bodies go through and why we respond to stress the way we do. Although I am intrigued by many of the topics of discussion provided in the syllabus, there are a few that I am not interested in. First, ‘what is addiction’ because it is not very prevalent in my life so it will be harder to connect personally to the information. Second, ‘chemicals and consciousness’ because the information just sounds like it will be dry and unexciting. Lastly, ‘the scientific method’ because I have learned this process in every science class I have ever taken since middle school and I am over it. By the end of this semester, after reading, studying, and sitting in class for three days a week, I would like to know the answer to one question. How can the human brain think through situations so quickly without ever experiencing that problem before?