Chapter 10 impression

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

I picked Elizabethtown College because it had social work, which was the major which I desired in the start of my academic career. Now I have added business which solidifies my reasoning to pick Elizabethtown college. Most colleges will not let you major in two intensive tracks where Etown didn’t really make the decision, I did. Currently, I feel my motivation slipping away. I think it has to do with how hard I have been working  the entire summer. Additionally, in comparison to my other class, I have to put more work here to see less of a result. I need psychology and statistic (my two summer courses) in order to move on and stay on track with my academic career. Part of my envision for that is getting straight A’s (no A-) for my summer classes so I can graduate with the highest honors. This is normally always my motivation for every class, how I can get an A. My expectations are currently met halfway and I must continue if I want my desired outcome. This idea has continued so much so I have nightmares about getting an A-.  I find that I have heightened motivation after coffee and after I receive positive reinforcement which is normally reflected in my grade and or during a normal class setting. In order to continue my work ethic and get over this hump along with the following which will continue until graduation, I understand the importance of balance. I know balance is something I struggle with as I take on a lot of responsibility in order to fill each part of my life: academic, financial, sleep, and social. I have very little social but continuously out academics and financial necessities ahead. I know something I enjoy doing is traveling and if I don’t have something to look forward to (a trip) I will burn out. I also know the only way for me to succeed is by taking breaks and attending to each part of my life. I have been working for roughly 10 weeks straight and my body is finally catching up to the constant working. As much as I wish motivation was a stable force, I hope to find it in the little things which happen throughout the week and parts of the weekend. I also think motivation comes in waves and there is always a second wave. I feel as though I may be at the end of mine soon and I am waiting for the second wave. For now, I proofread and work ahead so the lacking part of my motivation at the moment doesn’t show in my work. How I plan to cause an intervention: plan a trip for thanksgiving (thailand) and look for the small moments in my day: morning coffee, lunch, dismissal, finishing homework early, going to sleep before 11, and being able to hang out with my parents. My smaller interventions will change but my larger ones of traveling will remain the same as it gives me a point to look forward to to when I can relax. I recognize that my problem now is that I haven’t given myself a set point to when I can relax in an extended period of time which is what I hope to work on.

Spotlight 1

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

For my first spotlight article I picked option one regarding development with divorced families and children. When I began my research I didn’t believe that divorce impacted a child as it would be better for everyone in the household to be out of a toxic relationship which would just demonstrate an unhealthy relationship to the child. Based off the data findings, I found two sources that argued the harm of divorce and two that disagreed that the children suffer no serious consequences.

“Impact of family structure on the health of children: effects of divorce”

The first two arguments I looked at regarded the danger of divorce and the development of children. The belief of this stems from the idea of maintaining a healthy home setting with stability in comparison to those with divorced parents. The first article supporting this argued that children are better off with parents together and promotes grown in areas of development and learning. With knowing this the article described how as a society should encourage families to stay together. For this article it looked at a study of divorce rates and how they have steadily increased along with co-parenting outside of the same home. The article stated the risks associated with divorcing which had to do with developmental milestones and having an unstable support system. The article continued to discuss the ramifications which can continue into adulthood from the negative impacts and abruptness which was caused during childhood. The child essentially is suffering a loss through each milestone in their life along with the financial strain put on each of the households. This article explained the issues and gave statistics about the increase of divorce rates but it failed in looking at the statistical impact on children in divorced families.

“The temporal effects of divorces and separations on children’s academic achievement and problem behavior”

This study attempted to look at IV models but found limitations as it was difficult to view the pre and post impact of children in families before and after divorce. What I found interesting was the point it made on not being the divorce itself but the issues surrounding the divorce prior to it. The study focused of the disruption of divorce and having a norm of living with both parents to later separating and living with them each inconsistently. The disruption is later to see negative impact of social, physical, academic, behavioral, and mental health issues. This study measured out the impacts of the children which I found more beneficial in understand the scope of the issue in comparison to the last article.

These two articles are regarding that children can come through a divorce without serious consequences opposed to the first two stating the issues around divorce and development.

“Children’s reactions to parental separation and divorce”

The article demonstrates the negative component and stress children face before the divorce occurs. In the research it describes the conflicts between parents, what the child needs, what the parents need, and separation. The research found in this article capitalizes on the issues surrounding divorce prior to it and during the beginning of being newly divorced. This period both the parents and the child are adjusting to this situation until the new living and family dynamic is settled and structured. There are several tools parents are able to use in order to make the transition easier to continue positive development for the child. The majority of divorced children suffer little to no impacts of their parents separating during their developmental stages.

“Enhancing positive outcome for children of divorce”

From this article on psychology today I found that the majority of issues which have been discussed regarding divorce are short-term. Although this is true, in some cases it can have negative long-term impacts. The article described an intervention done called “The New Beginnings Program” and was studied fifteen years after the intervention of parenting skills for divorced families and it had improved stress, anxiety, and childhood development. It was found that 240 families went through this and it helped to improve coping for families who experienced divorce. Providing structure and a supportive parent helps continue development and prevent any long-term impacts.

I think a large part of having to do with the increase of divorce rates is the increase of women’s rights. Women and men aren’t shammed for leaving abusive relationships. It has become less of a public embarrassment and ends a bad relationship by not only showing children what a healthy relationship can be but also recognizing the marriage as failing and being an adult enough to put the child first and co-parent effectively. A large factor of the overall problem is seen before the divorce actually occurs. Suppose the goal was to minimize divorce rates, if you do that you still create the stress which is causing the development problems. Divorcing in an unhealthy relationship benefits the child in development more than the pre-disruption divorce brings for a short time.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4240051/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286357/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2817796/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-blame-game/201803/enhancing-positive-outcomes-children-divorce

 

Chapter 3

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

For this chapters prompt I picked option 4 regarding how college students sleep. When looking at my own sleeping habits in college I have several things to prioritize. With classes, volunteering, work, social life, and playing a sport, my sleep habits normally suffer as a result. This coming semester I have 5 classes to take equaling 20 credits. I have three business classes and two intensive social work classes. Part of my social work requirement is 40 hour service learning for the fall semester. To try and have a healthy sleeping schedule I have organized my service learning for before I begin practice for winter track. I have myself finishing my volunteering in the first 5-6 weeks of the school year. This will help with maintaining my schedule. The majority of my classes are on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s which is also when I work. I will be working or in class for roughly 12 hours on those days while I have service learning on M and W along with only 1 class. On these days I will be able to accomplish all the work I need for the current week along with the following week. My social work classes are pretty good with having set assignments where business has several ‘pop-up’ work which is hard to plan for in advance. Knowing this, I am able to prioritize and have my homework for my social work class completed for two weeks ahead of schedule. When my work is completed I can focus on working out, work, social life, and this balances my sleeping schedule. For this semester I am striving to get 6.5-8 hours a sleep a night.

Currently I am working a lot. I have work normally from 7:15-6 and either come home and work on psychology homework or go straight to babysitting. I have already taken one summer class and the balancing with statistics was easier to manage but it also led to mild procrastination since I didn’t have to complete homework until 11:59 as it was due at midnight every other day. My sleep schedule for the summer has me aim to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I normally come home from work, eat quickly, do my homework for the next day, shower, finish my homework and study, and aim to go to sleep around 10 and wake up at 6am. The system I had at the beginning of the summer had me sleeping 8 hours every day and I am currently adjusting to it now.

This coming semester I hope to reach my goal of 6.5-8 hours of sleep per night since there is a large difference I notice when I don’t. The major notice I feel is struggling to wake up. Sometimes I get to go to sleep at 9:30 rather than 10 and it is a huge difference similarly to if I go to sleep at 11pm rather than 10. I also find that napping may help but I try to avoid it so I can accomplish my work early and then go to sleep earlier rather than procrastinating work in general by napping.

Chapter 8- Memory

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

For chapter 8 impression post I chose the first prompt relating to memory in study habits. Looking at my current study habits I have a large room for improvement as this class online differs from a regular class during the semester. Something I need to adjust for my study habits is prioritizing and becoming better at balancing my priorities. During the school year my main focus is school whereas now, this is one class while I work 10.5+ hours a day. Knowing I work most days for large parts of the day, organizing when and what work I am going to do will better the way I learn bit by bit each day.

When I take notes in the lecture or from the book I look for key parts in order to take good notes rather than looking to understand the material fully. This could be for several reasons but the point being is that it is unbeneficial. The way I studied for the first exam was through the worksheets presented and the study guide. Normally during the year I mainly use flashcards as my main studying technique as I take tests better when I am confident and have memorized the material. Although I know that memorization for a test isn’t beneficial, flash cards seem to be the most impactful in narrowing down and learning the information I need to understand. To improve my first exam for Monday, I plan on being proactive rather than reactive. I know there is an exam due and so from this part I restudy the points I missed by reviewing my notes from the first exam along with the notes from the current exam chapters. Rather than hoping to study the night before. Rather than this I will pace myself throughout the remainder of the week and weekend in order to accomplish these tasks which will build my confidence and prepare me for a better exam. Lastly, getting more sleep is a key factor in improving my study habits.

The most realistic goals to improve are:

1. More sleep

2. Flash Cards with useful skills (narrowing down the important parts in a clear way

3. Actively studying every day in order to use as building block and rather than to accomplish the task of that night.

Learning and memory for the most part go hand-in-hand. Learning is the skill and memory is demonstrating it with speed and confidence. There are three different types of memory which include sensory, working/short term, and long term memory. In order to have the best results on the test, studying the information for your short term memory does nothing benefical in the long run. It is vital to study a little but every day in order to build your learned skills and to become a strong memory.

Chapter 7 Impression

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

If video game were shown to be traumatic for children and to cause more shooting based off of the violence they saw than most people would be raging psychopaths. So possible.

If we were to say that video games alone cause this to occur than it would mean that no other form of video interactive would cause this violence as well. It seems to imply that this is a psychodynamic theory where the individual is engaged in more violence which causes their unconscious to be insensitive to death based off of video games alone. Well if this is true than how does it differ from the news or TV? It wouldn’t.

If this idea was true than we would see similar brain scans from each of the individuals that had violence tendencies AND played excessive video games. Not only this but if this theory was true it would be untestable as you cannot possibly separate every factor which would play in. For example, if it was video games that caused more violence than you would have to eliminate possible trauma, no violence in news or media other than video games, no genetic marker of a psychopath in the family, no history of violence, no excessive amount of serotonin in the womb, no trait carried from the mom which is seen in most male psychopaths, and cannot live in a high intensity stressful environment (such as Gaza or parts of Israel). Not only would I conclude this as false but if this was the cause of violence I find it highly difficult, if not impossible to test.

Chapter 2 Impression

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

They TedTalk I focused on was “Exploring the mind of a Killer” for this chapters impression. The following are my answers for the questions listed along with my best approach to a research project relating to this.

What drew you to choose the talk you did?

I have taken several different classes on criminology and so it seemed fitting to be interested in looking at a Ted talk based off of the mind of a killer.

Summary

The Ted talk is a guy looking at different brain scans of known serial killers and finding a patter during a blind experiment. In this he concluded the similarities in genetics, brain damage, and interaction in the environment.

What did you find most interesting about the talk?

That there is a reasoning as to why men are more likely serial killers but that it can come up every couple generations based off of the previous experiments and patterns of ancestor’s. This was seen as he found that his father’s side had a history of serial killers who murdered their family and it may be a genetic link later.

How trustworthy did you find the presenter and the information she or he presented? Explain why. (Note: you must go beyond talking about the reputation of TED talks in general)

Jimmy Fallon or James H. Fallon is a neuroscientist who mainly focuses on human behavior. The criminal brain is something Fallon focused on as he has studied brains of psychopaths. Not only this but studies the “biological basis for behavior…to figure out how a killer’s brain differs from yours and mine” (Hagerty). Based off of this I find the presenter to be factual as he studies the brain and is a neuroscientist. Not only this but he was able to take the research he had from the experiment he conducted and relate it to a real life situation which happened to be his own family.

Come up with a research idea of your own based on the information presented in the talk and briefly outline how you would conduct it.

If the exposure to violence or trauma at a young age creates the higher likelihood of being a psychopath, than does the violence in the media and videos impact the likelihood of psychopaths as well?

To conduct this I would record brain scans of a prepubescent boys watching violence to see if it compares to a prepubescent boys who has lived in violent situation (abuse at home, as the video suggested was children between the Israel and Palestine peace conflict, or those of Syrian refuges.)

Constants: all boys, all the same age, same SEC, same skin color, all before puberty

We would be looking at whether or not violence in video games can compare to violence from living situations/trauma which would create more potential psychopaths as this was a key factor in the study done by James Fallon.

Citation:

Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. “A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret.” A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret, NPR Station, 29 June 2010,             http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976.

*It won’t let me cite this properly and indent

 

Chapter 4 Impression Post

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

I picked option one for Chapter 4 impression prompt regarding development based off of different parenting styles.

With dealing with parents consistently you go through different stages of irritation when dealing with those parents. I have worked with children and parents for over 8 years now. Whether it is through camp, Samara, or babysitting, I am extremely involved and aware of different parenting skills. When looking at each of the different parenting skills in the impression post I find them useful in different stages of life.

Helicopter parents:

In all honesty, helicopter parents are the worst. We talked about “type A” or anal people in Chapter 1 and this is a whole new ball park, anal on steroids: Parent addition. Helicopter parents are the ones who worry about each and every detail with the child and do so since their child is the number one priority to them and needs it to become everyone’s number one priority. Forget world hunger, make this child happy.

It is understandable to be a helicopter parent in the very early beginning stage of life (new born/ infant) as most parents of very young children worry for their safety, it is understandable to feel over protected of your child when they have no clue how to fully express themselves so as the parent you become their voice. This is great, perfect but like any good helicopter parent they don’t go away, e.v.e.r. The prolonging of being a helicopter parents shifts the parents own anxiety onto their growing child. A five year old may have anxiety, but with a helicopter parent around worrying if her child will be line leader more than once today, is another categories of species which the National Wildlife Federation should probably be aware of. As soon as the child is roughly 1 years old, the overbearing parental helicopter stages needs to take a back seat in order to promote the best growth for the child. In my opinion and from experiences I believe that the continuation of being a helicopter parent leads to dependent children and adults who have no motivation, drive, or ability to accomplish tasks fully on their own.

Tiger mom:

            I understand this stage, I feel for it but with everything balance is always going to be key. I grew up with pretty strict parents who put a large emphasis on respect which children need to learn. The rules regarding this are understandable through elementary school (roughly ages 5-11) in order to build discipline, respect, and accountability. These rules and discipline help the child have boundaries to help them be able to deal with situations in the future (getting a job, a stronger work ethic, and the importance of respect).

Balance is key with this, if you restrict something excessively the child will either rebel or as they grow older completely go against what they grew up with. This stage should be balance with Jellyfish dad parenting but less of a focus through preteen and teenage years.

Jellyfish dad:

“I’m not like any mom, I’m a cool mom.”

Being a relaxed parent with practically no rules is great for when they start making decisions for themselves with the guidance of their parents. This stage is not something to start at 5 years old when the only thing the child wants to each for dinner is candy. This may be fun, but not a great dietary plan. No point should a child be making decisions and controlling the outcome of a situations when it comes to parenting technique. As the child grows up the relationship is not a friendship nor a dictatorship but a mixture of both. Too much jellyfish parenting could also be seen as neglect with absent instructions and little discipline. If the child is unaware about reward and punishment they will severely struggle as they get older and face challenges which don’t go their way. Jellyfish parenting should start about high school and used beforehand but less focused on.

Conclusion

The best way to parent is through a combination of all three parenting techniques based off of different ages. The main ones being used are going to be Tiger mom and Jellyfish dad. As the child becomes a preteen you should be able to have a conversation and relaxed rules based off of the person the child is from their childhood and how they were raised (given a standard supportive upbringing without a trauma). As the child gets older, with more relaxed rules allows for less rule breaking and more open and effective communication. In my opinion this is the best way to create a good person and for them to be the happy and healthy.

First Video Lecture Psych

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

Today we learned about the unconscious mind and how to explain why the behavior is happening which the person may not be aware of. This part of psychodynamic can lead to what Miguel has been struggling with. At looking at Freud’s beginning of psychodynamic it can be questioned at to whether Miguel had a traumatizing childhood which was put out of his memory as a child to help protect himself. Was there a trigger he is unaware of? After psychodynamic we looked at behavioralism which focuses on his observable behavior, lashing out and irritable. When looking at both psychodynamic and behavioral we can also view the Humanistic viewpoint which focuses on personal growth and freedom.

From this lesson and the example above I can draw the conclusion that Miguel’s Locus of control in regards to internal focus and external focus doesn’t work to praise him for doing work and having a good outcome but rather blaming himself for not succeeding. He continuously get’s mad at himself and thinks very little of his accomplishments.

Breaking down the problems: 

Felt very tired in recent weeks and has found it difficult to focus on his studies- Psychodynamic comes into play with the unconscious mind and the best solution for this in my opinion is Talk Therapy.

Has trouble falling asleep at night- I am going to turn to anxiety for this one, with all of the additional stresses in his life it can cause anxiety to fall asleep despite him being tired. This will relate to psychodynamic and the unconscious mind from a childhood event or relationship.

Irritable during the day and picks fights with his roommates- this is most likely caused from the sleep and from the Humanistic psychology where the words being said and the experience of the words being said are two different things based off of interpretation. There could be a disconnect of communication.

He is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad at himself when he makes even tiny mistakes. It’s gotten to the point where he doubts his ability to do anything right: This part focuses on the Locus of control which is found that more people with depression look to blame themselves more.

 

First Impression Post

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

For the first impression post I selected option 2 with the Mythbusters to analyze the myth question of “Do waitresses get bigger tips when they have bigger breasts?”

During the video it had one woman wear three different sized bras to see if she would receive more tips as the size of her breasts increased. The experiment had the same woman wear the same outfit and arrive at the coffee shop at the same time of day for three days in a row with the same quality of service in each day. Based off of this experiment they kept several constants and the only change was the bra size in order to answer the question, do larger breasts equal larger tips?

The video accurately answered the question based off of the responses from the increased amount of tips received as the breast size increased. It had several different controlled variables which is necessary in order to find the outcome of a question. The constants included the customer service, outfit, person, and time in the same coffee shop.

The weaknesses surrounding the video assumed men would be the main contributor to the tips as the breast size increased. Not only would they be the ones focusing on in the study as demonstrated in the video, but one can infer that the Mythbusters assumed that men make more money in comparison to women as they were the larger ones focused on being able to tip. The issues surrounding this experiment implies that every man that walks into the coffee shop at the time this woman is working is a straight male. In January of 2017 there was an estimated of 10 million people who identified in the LGBTQ+ population and to assume every single man is going to tip solely based off of the breast size of a white female with larger breasts is impossible to know their motive. This is an inaccurate conclusion from this study and impossible to conclude that the reason they are tipping is because of the size of breasts and not because of other possible reasons. It not only assumes all men are straight but that all women who walked into the coffee shop at the time she worked are only lesbian or bisexual and attracted to her breasts, causing them to tip more.

Based off of the study it showed that women tipped 40% more with larger breast size whereas men tipped 30% more. This could lead to the question as to whether women tip more in general in comparison to men? Do women and men still tip regardless of the cashier? In order to conclude to whether or not breast size increased the tips, it would be necessary to answer the question of “Do women tip more than men?” along with “Do women and men still tip regardless of the cashier?” which could then have this draw the conclusion as to whether the breast size increased equated to more tips. Lastly, I find this study to be weak as they had three different days which accumulate different customers based off of the time of the week (different people will most likely come on Saturday than on a Monday). Not only this but if large breasts were the sole contributor of whether tips increase than the service of the cashier should be bad in order to focus on the why they are tipping more. In my opinion, if they tested every Monday at 12pm for one hour with low-effort service and still increased tips as the breast size increased, it would have a more accurate results from a more controlled experiment.

Introduction Psychology 105

--Original published at Site Title

Introduction:

Hello! My name is Loretta Fleming and I am a double major in Business Marketing and Social Work. I run track for Elizabethtown College and I just spent my spring semester studying abroad in Europe! I lived in Italy for four months and visited 12 countries. I am currently also finishing up on my other summer class while beginning this one as well.

Why this class?

I am taking this class because it is part of my major and when I originally took it, it didn’t fit as well with my schedule as it does currently. I am also a double major and I am trying to finish in four years despite having little support of having two majors. Being a double major makes planning an art and being able to get every required class in with the correct time is very difficult. This online class provides a lot more flexibility and will hopefully bring me one step closer to accomplishing my overall goal.

Background:

I have taken several social work classes as I head into my junior year and have a basic of psychology through previous academic settings. I work in downtown Harrisburg at an organization where the parents go to parenting classes while the staff and volunteers supervise the children. I visited Vietnam with the social work department my freshman year of college and went to orphanages throughout the country. Through these experiences human behavior and basic introduction of psychology was used in many cases.

Hearing the word Psychology:

When I hear the word “psychology” I think of the researched evidence of why people are the way they are. In other words, I can look at who someone is from a more scientific and researched approach rather than from a bias. This way, instead of taking one part of the person, I can take a bunch of pieces which make up the individual and see why someone does a certain thing based off of the researched information of human behavior. While doing this, I believe it changes the way I and or other people can react. For example, if I am frustrated in how a child is lashing out towards me and throwing a tantrum over something seemingly small, I can take a step back and look at the reasoning as to why this person is behaving the way they are. This prevents me from becoming frustrated from their behavior and gives the reasoning and possible solution to solve the said problem. I find psychology to be the cause and effect of why an individual is who they based off of conducted research of trial and error through different studies. Furthermore, I see it as the ability to explain what is happening and being able to study it through conducting measurable research.

The three most interesting topics include:

  1. Understanding and dealing with stress
  2. Group Dynamics, Stereotypes, and Discrimination
  3. Mental Illness but more on “How to Choose a Therapist.”

These few topic will allow me to understand my own relation to stress and how to deal with it to benefit other people. I am a continuously busy person and how to manage stress when I overload too much is personally and professionally useful. When dealing with stereotypes and discrimination I understand the impact it has and now having a way of dealing with it and understanding the psychology behind it. With understanding this it will help me know the difficulties by clients may face and the physical and mental impact of it. Lastly, under the mental illness chapter of “How to choose a therapist” is intriguing and whether or not I can do something as a social work in a counseling setting to benefit the client more effectively and efficiently.

The three least interesting topics include:

  1. Psychology then and now
  2. Neuro Imaging: The Brain
  3. Why research design matters.

Most of these chapters and lessons feel like memorization of what psychology is and relate to the past based off of who did what. I understand the necessity in understanding the beginning to use in the present and future but it feels more like a task than wanting to know psychology because it is interesting and more needing to know facts to pass a quiz or test.

Question:

It is less of a psychology question which I hope to answer by the end of the class but a personal one. I hope to be able to use the tools I know to become a better Social worker from understanding the psychology aspect of it. So, have the tools from general psychology prepared me to accomplish my tasks of a social worker more effectively and efficiently? Will I have a greater understanding in how people work based off of the psychological perspective?

Psychology question:

How can we communicate more effectively to children who have suffered a trauma? Is there a way to understand the reason for their behavior and actions? How can we make it easier for children with unstable home-life?