Spotlight Post – 1

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

Divorce in America has been increasing over the past decades. About 50% of children will experience 18th birthday, and almost half will witness subsequent divorces in the future (Parker). Research on the effects of divorce on children was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. The conclusions were mainly one-sided arguments that children of divorce experience more short-term and long-term negative effects than children whose parents remained married. Emotionally, physically, and psychologically divorce was found to have consequences on children, supporting the argument that what’s “best for the kids” is for parents to stay married, even if that means battling with an estranged relationship.

In many religions, divorce is looked down on and a thought of as a disappointment to God. Many religious publications use research done by sociologists such as Paul Amato to support their claims, citing that “divorce leads to ‘disruptions in the parent-child relationship, continuing discord between former spouses, loss of emotional support, economic hardship, and an increase in the number of negative life events,’”. This idea of weakened relationships between parent and child includes instability and a lack of trust. In the long-term, daughters of divorce are thought to become needy and insecure in future relationships while sons of divorce turn out to be overly dominant and less intimate. Further, these children are predicted to be more sexually promiscuous and less successful in romance than children whose parents remained married. It is believed that children of divorce are more likely to experience divorce with their own partners later in life and afflict their children with the negative effects of divorce as well (Fagan and Churchill).

In addition to weakened personal relationships, children of divorce have shown patterns in academic and behavioral conflicts early on. Studies have found that children of divorce skip class more often than children with intact families. Divorce has psychosocial consequences that make children more likely to become antisocial, misbehave, use drugs, and participate in criminal activity as adults (Fagan and Churchill). Children of divorced parents are twice as likely to drop out of high school (Parker). Consequently, they are also less likely to enroll in college than children with married parents (Fagan and Churchill).

Much of the research from 1980s and 1990s arguing against divorce is clearly overexaggerated. This motivated other psychologists and sociologists to present new evidence showing divorce does not have as great an effect on children than previously thought. What they found was that conflict, not the event of divorce, is what has the greatest effect on children. Therefore, if divorce ends or lessens the amount of conflict between parents it is within the best interest of the children to separate. Research shows that children of divorce with depression and other disorders showed symptoms predivorce. While children of divorce are often thought to have more trouble in future relationships, this is not true. It is accurate to say that children’s future relationships are affected by their relationships with their parents and it is possible for children to have secure and happy relationships with them, even if the parents are divorced (O’Connell Corcoran).

A longitudinal study done at Montclair State University supported this claim that conflict creates strife in children’s lives, not divorce. Children who grew up in high conflict families saw fewer negative effects if their parents got a divorce. The study also found a pattern of a short-term crisis period during the adjustment. This supports the idea that children do experience negative consequences during a divorce. However, the one to two year crisis period showed less long-term negative effects than children with parents remaining in high conflict marriages for years. In addition to these findings, the study showed that parents’ happiness did not affect the happiness of the children’s adult relationships. Just because children’s parents were happily married did not necessarily mean the children grew up to have happy partnerships themselves and vice versa (Rettner).

I support the opinion that it is conflict between parents, not divorce, that affects children negatively. Divorce, of course, is a product of unhappiness within a marriage and indicates that conflict has been present between the two partners. However, it is much more beneficial for the child if the parents separate than stay together in a hostile relationship. Children of divorce are likely to experience hardship, especially during the adjustment period of divorce, because the stability that they had known within their home changes. However, children become resilient, and if they still have the support and security that they experienced with their parents predivorce, they should not be negatively afflicted in the long run. Divorce is so prevalent, it is almost impossible not to have relatives or close friends who have been children of divorce themselves. My experience with people that have divorced parents shows no difference in their growth and relationships than people with married parents. The out of date belief that it is better to stick together even though parents are in an unhealthy relationship is simply not true. This idea was based on generations of ideals of what the perfect family should b, according to religious customs and societal pressures. Today, the focus should be on what is best for everyone, because everybody deserves a chance to create happy, healthy relationships.

 

Fagan, Patrick F., and Aaron Churchill. The Effects of Divorce on Children. Marriage & Religion

Institute, 11 Jan. 2012, http://www.frc.org/EF/EF12A22.pdf.

 

O’Connell Corcoran, Kathleen. “Psychological and Emotional Aspects of Divorce.”

Mediate.com, June 1997, http://www.mediate.com/articles/psych.cfm.

 

Parker, Wayne. “Statistics About Divorce and the Impact It Can Have on Children.” Verywell

Family, Verywellfamily, 5 Apr. 2018, www.verywellfamily.com/children-of-divorce-in-

america-statistics-1270390.

 

Rettner, Rachael. “Divorce Not Always Bad for Kids.” LiveScience, Purch, 30 June 2010,

http://www.livescience.com/6648-divorce-bad-kids.html.

 

Chap. 8 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

I must admit; my study habits could use some improvement. I have a very poor memory, so memorizing terms, dates, and people for tests has always been difficult for me. I often try to get the information to “sink in” by handwriting notes multiple times. First, I take detailed notes from lectures or book reading and closer to the test I’ll rewrite the most important information, organizing them from very general to more specific. Sometimes I include drawings and diagrams in my notes because I find using visuals helps me to remember information. I also use flashcards. I prefer to use quizlet.com over handwritten flashcards because I can practice anywhere on my phone in a variety of ways. However, it seems no matter how hard I study or how well I do on the test, my capacity for remembering information is almost strictly short-term, so studying for exams is almost like relearning everything I had up to that point.

For the last exam, I took extensive notes on the book and lectures and underlined important terms and psychologists. I reread the notes to prefer for the test, but I found I should have done more. The last few chapters I have been color coding information with highlighters and reviewing more extensively before quizzes. I also pay more attention to phrases like “This would be a good exam question.” Making these points in my notes more pronounced will help me prepare for the next exam as I review the most important information. I would like to learn more study techniques that would enhance my memory and help me retain information longer.

Chap. 3 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

Something that my friends and I can typically all agree on is we feel tired. I am used to it now and I think many other college students have accepted the feeling of constantly craving coffee and/or a nap. What many people do not realize is that having a social life while being a full-time student is extremely important. Having that time to let loose and unwind with peers is a much-needed stress reliever to cope with the pressures of academics and other commitments, but it is often the first thing people will try to cut out of their schedule. Usually socially receding makes me less happy than being tired does, so I try to devote at least some time to my friends and family. In turn, sleep is typically what I will sacrifice to make the most out of the time I have.

During the summer, I work a lot of nights and do not get home until about 10 pm. After I get settled, eat, and prepare for bed it’s after midnight. I wake up at around 8 am every morning to go to the gym, do homework, run errands, and get ready to leave for work by 1:30 pm. That gives me close to 8 hours of sleep tonight, which is my goal. However, during school I was able to wake up much later and go to bed as early as I wanted. With the schedule I have now, I can never “catch up” on sleep if I have a late night or early morning. I never really have problems sleeping through the night because I am so tired and physically worn down at the end of a late shift. The amount of time I spend working is just a little less time than I think I spend doing homework in a week during the school year. I depend on caffeine a lot, to the point where I get very bad headaches if I do not drink any coffee in the morning. I would like to be less dependent on caffeine and start drinking more water. These changes would make me feel more rested and alert, and probably more productive with how I spend my time during the day. I consider myself to have generally healthy sleep habits, though I would like to be able to go to sleep earlier or sleep in later some days when I need to catch up.

Chap. 7 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

              First-person shooter video games have desensitized people, especially teenage boys, to visual displays of violence in the past couple decades. Comparatively, media coverage following the rise in the number of mass shootings in recent years has made the public less sensitive to the exposure of terrible violence. No matter how devastating the event is, we are less and less shocked by incidents which would have been earth-shattering decades ago. This is not because we are bad people, or care less about victims of violence, but it is because it is how we learn to cope with the emotional shock that these tragedies bring. The rise in gun violence has, I think, caused people to care more about politics and mental illness in America. There are many factors which have contributed to the rise in gun violence in this country, however, I do not think video games are notable enough to blame. It may be true that video games display scenes of avatars shooting enemies and hijacking cars, but I believe that children are still able to distinguish between the virtual world and reality.

The pressures of society’s values and rules in real life are much too strong to abandon just because someone has been exposed to virtual violence while playing a video game. It is important to note that video games are designed to entertain and challenge players, not fulfill a twisted thirst for blood. In many cases, real life shooters have a mental illness or a dark motivation that leads them to hurt others. Also, there is no evidence that violence in other forms has increased. The action and adventure of games such as Call of Duty is what draws consumers in, not the shock value or gore of violence. Grand Theft Auto is a very popular video game, yet you do not see an increase in young men stealing Ferraris and running over prostitutes. Most first-person shooter games are designed to immerse the player in a narrative story. The alter-ego or avatars in many of these games are American soldiers and nothing at all like psychopathic murderers. The topic of violence in video games is widely disputed and there are valid points to both sides of reasoning. In my opinion, I do not think violent video games have a strong correlation with real life gun violence and banning them would not be a solution to the problem.

Chap. 2 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

For this week’s post, I chose to watch Thomas Insel’s TED Talk titled “Toward a new understanding of mental illness”. I was intrigued by this video because I have always had an interest in trying to understand the causes, effects, characteristics, and treatments of mental illnesses, especially because they are so prevalent. Insel began his talk by demonstrating the large decreases in deaths caused by physical diseases like stroke, cancer, and heart disease. Disturbingly, a statistic that has remained unchanged is suicide rates. The difference in success between physical diseases and suicide is early detection. Cases of heart disease or cancer that are detected early decreased patients’ chances of death. If we treated brain diseases as we treat physical diseases, Insel argued, it would produce less morbidity and mortality in mental illness cases. This is a different perception of mental illness than we have had in the past. Usually, diagnoses are delayed until behavioral symptoms are present. However, new technology has allowed us to detect abnormalities in the brain years before altered behavior patterns manifest.

What I found most interesting about the talk was also the most obvious. We do not diagnose mental illnesses until indicative behavior is present. This poses the question: Why are we not taking more measures to detect brain disorders early in life? Insel explains that although there is prevalent evidence to support his claims, the technology for studying such occurrences is still very new and not yet suitable for mass testing. I find Insel trustworthy and logical in his claims. It makes sense that he has access to this kind of accurate information because he works for the government. His anecdotes and statistics are notable, yet believable. I would be interested in what progress he and his department has made in treating mental illness in the future.

 My research question for the effects of detecting early brain disorders would be: Does detection of bipolar disorder before behavioral symptoms result in a better quality of life? To conduct this study, I would compare longitudinal case studies of patients who were diagnosed after behavioral signs and patients that were diagnosed before behavioral signs, based on brain scans. I would look for trends in manner and life quality of the patients from a behavioral point of view and an introspective point of view.

Chap. 4 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

It is interesting examining how the psychological landscape of the human mind changes in a lifetime. Many factors assist in uniquely developing the mind of an individual, and each individual transitions through the psychological states at times dependent on their biological make-up and life experiences. The following is my interpretation of the eight psychological stages of life:

 

Stage 1: Infancy (Birth – 2 years)

The psychological state of an infant is limited to basic survival instincts and the dependency to be cared for. This is a rapid stage of experiencing and processing completely new stimuli, including sensory information such as sights and sounds.

Stage 2: Early Childhood (2 years – 4 years)

This is when children are still heavily dependent upon their caretakers for survival. They do not understand societal rules. They can identify the sensory information they experience and associate this information with past experiences to infer meaning. Early language development is present.

Stage 3: Mid Childhood (4 years – 9 years)

Children can make the association between words and meaning. They have developed many self-sufficient tendencies and understand some social trends. They begin to develop many relationships with peers, rather than just caretakers. They are curious, and their minds are flexible enough to be taught in a learning environment.

Stage 4: Late Childhood (10 years – 13 years)

Children begin displaying signs of independence and uniqueness in personality. They question often and are easily taught new information. They have close relationships with peers and find a sense of individuality.

Stage 5: Puberty (13 years – 16 years)

At this stage, children experience angst. They want independence but are not usually able to be completely self-sufficient without direction. They begin to experience sexual desires. They are often faced with the difficulty of discovering where they fit in to society.

Stage 6: Early Adulthood (17 years – 25 years)

Adults are completely self-sufficient and strive for self-actualization. They can assess their lives and solve their problems. Often, they have adventurous and risk-taking tendencies, but also begin to desire stability.

Stage 7: Adulthood (25 years – 65 years)

This is the peak psychological state. Adults are self-sufficient, experienced, and strive for happiness. They are still capable of learning new things and retaining new information. They can care for others. They have many relationships in their lives. Stability is key to their mental health.

Stage 8: Seniority (65 years – Death)

In many ways, the psychological state of these adults begins to recede. Mental processes may slow or become inefficient. Things learned in early experiences of life, such as language and some life-sustaining habits, are still present. However, their psychological state can deteriorate so much that they will again need care and support from others to survive.

Chap. 1 – Impression

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

“Are women better than men at reading emotions?”

For this week’s prompt I chose to critique the research methods used by the Mythbusters’ team in the clip, “Are women better than men at reading emotions. For the experiment, the hosts took pictures of their faces, each picture displaying a different emotion. Then, male and female test subjects tried to guess the emotion displayed by only the eyes of the original pictures and were judged by how many emotions they could discern correctly. Ultimately, the Mythbusters discovered that the women had significantly quicker responses and were more accurate than the men at correctly guessing the emotions depicted by the eyes on the screen.

The strengths of this experiment were the organized procedure the hosts planned and the way that they tested the subjects in the same manner. Some weaknesses the experiment displayed included the test content and the degree of conclusiveness that the judges asserted the results with. For the test content, each host displayed faces they thought would convey whatever emotion they were told to emote. However, I believe that we do not have control over how our faces react to emotions. Consequently, the faces that the hosts think they would make and the faces the would actually make showing certain emotions could be different and affect the accuracy of the results. Therefore, the subjects were only interpreting simulated expressions of emotions, not actual displays of true emotion. The test content could have been improved by attempting to capture faces in true states of emotion. For example, the expression of fear could have been captured by taking a picture of someone watching a scary scene in a horror film.

Also, the margin in the accuracy average of correct emotions guessed by the genders may not have been big enough to proclaim with absolute certainty that women are generally better than men at reading emotions. The test subjects may not have been randomized enough and there may not have been a large enough sample size to conclude that the statistics of the experiment were significant enough to explain the entire population of men and women. The hosts could have concluded their results with more certainty by enlisting subjects of different ages, cultural backgrounds, etc. and increasing their number of test trials by expanding their sample size.

Introduction

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

Hello all! My name is Kealey Shyk and I will be a sophomore at Elizabethtown College this fall majoring in International Business with a concentration in marketing and minor in Cognitive Science on the psychology track. I have a strong interest in social enterprise and global connection as well as human interaction and behavior, which is what I think of when I hear the word “psychology”. I plan to study abroad next year in either Ireland, Germany, or England, hopefully interning at an international firm. I have had great experiences at this school so far and I am excited to meet new people and make more memories in my remaining time at Etown.

Despite this course being a requirement for my minor, I chose to take this class because I have always had a strong interest in psychology. For a long time in high school I considered being a psychologist as a career choice. However, my background in psychology only extends to a few books I have read in my own time. I was hoping to take a psychology class while I was in high school, but I couldn’t fit it into my schedule. I am taking this course during the summer because I am trying to be proactive in getting my prerequisites out of the way and fulfilling my course requirements, so I will be able to graduate on time. First and foremost, I am drawn to the business world. I chose to pick up a minor in Cognitive Science on the psychology track because I feel that it will provide me with a different perspective on marketing. I hope to one day have a career that I can utilize both my specialty in business and my background in psychology to create meaningful and successful marketing campaigns advocating for nonprofit companies in social enterprise.

One of the topics I am most interested in learning about is memory. I have problems myself memorizing things or recalling events that happened more than just a short time ago. I want to know if memory capability is an natural ability or a skill that is only dependent on practice. I am also interested in personality because I have found that assessing and understanding my own personality has helped me in narrowing my interests, choosing a career path, and refining my emotional intelligence. Lastly, I am looking forward to learning about mental illness and personality disorders due to the public’s increasing awareness on mental health. If I had to choose three topics I am not looking forward to as much they would be why research design matters, coping with stress, and how to choose a therapist. By the end of this class I would like to be able to answer the question, “What has more of an impact on a person’s psyche: their inherent traits or their environment and why?”. Overall, I am intrigued by the topics that will be discussed in this class and I am excited to establish a knowledgeable background in general psychology.