Chapter 8 First Impression

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

My current study habits are not as good as I would like them to be because I get caught up in other classes so I only focus on one subject. One of the things I like about my study habits is that I find a room with a large white board and write out the things I need to know multiple times and repeat them to myself as I am writing. This seems to be the most effective way to study for me. But, I usually only start to do this a few days before the exam when I know I should be reviewing everyday after class. I used to rewrite all of my notes and make them into diagrams which helped me a lot but I rarely have time to do this now.

For the first exam, I took the study guide and made boxes and diagrams for each bullet point to get the information all in my head. Then I went down the list and quizzed myself on each one until I got them all correct. I should have started studying earlier before the test rather than a few days but I would hope my methods are pretty sound.

Another one of the issues I have with studying is I only focus on the class that I have the next test in, so after that test is over I have to study for the next one. What I should be doing is setting time aside each night to study for each class.

Violence; Game or Reality?

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

Blaming video games for a increase in violence, is just another way for parents to blame society for what is wrong with their children. Twenty years ago, there limited media to show what was going on in the world. Violence is not increasing, it is just portrayed more and more on TV and the internet. News sources want people to look at what they are reporting so they try and get the shock factor. People are not going to read an article or watch a news report about a normal day in their town. Viewers will watch what grabs their attention.

It is true that video games have become more graphic and more guns but there are also regulated age restrictions on these games. By the time you are 18 and are allowed to play to most violent of games, your character is pretty much set in stone. If there are instances of young children playing the mature games, that is not society’s fault. The real reason games have more gore and seem real is because of the increase in technology. The same thing is happening in horror movies today and no one is blaming violence on that. But along with the rise in violent games, there has also been rises in things such as mental health awareness, gun safety, and public health in general. There is nothing wrong with the games, the times are changing and the people claiming that it is ‘hurting the children’ are from previous generations.

The calls to permanently ban video games are preposterous, there is no way that the people making money off of these games will just destroy their products. Additionally, it is a harsh way to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. If those against violent games wanted to focus on the source, they would need to take a look at the number of violent acts on a larger scale. For example, compare our acts of violence to other countries and determine if violence and school shootings are actually increasing or if we’re just seeing more of it.

Eight Stages of Life

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

The current life span of American citizens is about 78 years old, so I have divided that lifespan into eight categories based off of that number. They are closer together in the beginning because the early years are where we learn the most about ourselves and the world around us. They begins to be farther age ranges as we age because we have experienced more, and new opportunities come more slowly.

Birth to three years old
- The primary psychology issue at this age is becoming aware of yourself and there are other people around you with whom you interact.
Four to eight years old
- At this age, children must learn the social aspects of life and must learn how to behave around other people.
Nine to twelve years old
- This is when children become more acclimated to their environment, so in school they become more focused but still have the challenge of navigating the social aspects of it.
Thirteen to Seventeen
- At this age, kids mature into teenagers and must come to terms with the fact that they are going to be on their own soon. They must start to learn more from their parents and teachers about how to be on their own.
Eighteen to twenty-five
- This is when people go off into the real world and become a functioning adult. They must learn new ways of life and how to be on their own for real.
Twenty-six to thirty-nine
- As an adult, they have settled into their new lives and now start their families so they start the challenge of raising their own children.
Forty to sixty
- People at this age come to realize that they are on the declining end of their life, they have been alive more years than they have left. Their challenge is making new decisions to change their life style to do what they want to do.
Sixty-one to death
- This is when people start to retire and many elderly people become depressed because they no longer have a purpose in life. Their kids are all grown up and they have nothing to do all day. Psychologically, they must learn how to adapt once again to a new life style.

Mythbuster’s Critique

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

In the Mythbusters mini-myth, “Do Men Really Find Blondes More Attractive?” there are lots of room for error but there were many strengths that portrayed in the clip as well. In order to test the question, the researchers had to determine what all of their variables were. The independent variable was hair color and the dependent variable was the score they received after their date. It measured attractiveness on a scale of five, likability on a scale of five, and the percentage of men that would go out on a date again.

In the mini-myth, it is hard to determine attractiveness because not all people define it in the same way. But the Mythbusters did an excellent job by making sure the women had the same features, just different hair color. By giving each girl a wig and changing the hair color between rounds, it allowed for different men to see the same person, just with different hair. Additionally, keeping a time limit in the dates ensured that everyone has the same amount of time to get to know their date. If each date had different times some people may discover they do not like each other or they may learn they like each other a lot more than they would know in three minutes. After each date, the men rated the women on a score card which is a strength because they all used the same scale. Finally, the men did not know the real reason they were there. If they had known they were doing an experiment on blondes, it may have made them more susceptible to rate blondes higher on the score card.

On the other hand, since attractiveness is up for interpretation it is difficult to fully get rid of bias. Some men prefer different hair colors and if there are not enough trials of the study outliers may stand out more than others. In order to fix this, have more trials because when there are more people, there is less room for outliers. Additionally, wigs are different from real hair because they make the head look bigger. If there had been more time for this study, the women could have had their hair dyed and styled the same way every time. The women that participated could also act differently toward the men that come to their tables. Perhaps they became tired from repeated dates or they have their own bias toward the men which could affect their likability. In order to fix this, the women could be given intermediate breaks as well go through a training to eliminate their own bias. Attractiveness is difficult to define, therefore the entire experiment is based on the opinions of different men. Once again, having more trials would help to gather a consensus in order to get rid of some outliers. Finally, the women could have changed clothes between rounds which could also affect the way the men thought of their attractiveness. To eliminate this, they could be kept in the same wardrobe throughout all of the experiments.

Miguel Case Study

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

According to psychodynamics, Miguel does not have a problem with his roommate nor is angry that he is not doing his homework right. There is something else that is troubling him in his life, but he is becoming frustrated with other things because he does not realize what is actually wrong. This perspective could explain everything because he is not directly expressing his thoughts, but he is showing them in a different way.

In behavioral psychology, the only thing known for sure is Miguel’s actions and his irritable behavior. He must have learned these actions from someone else around him and when something is not completed according to his standards, he acts out in the way that he has been conditioned to.

Miguel’s actions can be explained with humanistic psychology as well because there can be environmental factors that are stopping Miguel from doing his work well. Being a perfectionist keeps Miguel from being the best version of himself because he is imposing conditions of worth upon himself. He wants everything to be perfect and if it isn’t he beats himself up which hinders his ability to make himself better.

Cognitive psychology shows that Miguel is not processing his reality the way that he should be. The reason he is getting upset and acting out is because of the way he is interpreting the situations around him, not the situations themselves. For example, if he is picking fights with his roommate, perhaps Miguel is interpreting that his roommate is picking fights with him instead.

With neuroscience, Miguel could be genetically predisposed to acting out or having mental health disorders such as insomnia or bipolar disorder. If his condition is further investigated in this field there could be a connection with his DNA and the way he is acting.

Cultural psychology would look at Miguel’s upbringing and how he was raised to process information. The ideals that Miguel was raised with could shape the way he thinks in different situations. Miguel could also be acting similarly to the way his parents act, because that is what he grew up with.