Impression Post Week 4: Neuroscience

--Original published at Sidney's college blogs

I chose the TED talks video of Jim Fallon: Exploring the mind of a killer. Why someone would have a desire to kill another human being, or multiple, has always blown my mind. This explains my addiction to binge watching the tv show Criminal Minds. It has always fascinated me, so it caught my attention to write this post on it. This video talked about the make-up of the brain and the differences that a psychopathic killer has within the brain. He found damage within the orbital cortex of psychopathic brains. The timing of damage within the brain has a lot to do with the outcome of a psychopath. The genetic make-up of the brain also influences the result of a murderer. Jim Fallon talked about the gene MAOA, which is on the X chromosome. It makes too much serotonin during development, so it is no longer able to be affected by serotonin later in life. The serotonin allows a normal person to calm down, but killers can’t because their brains are too used to the serotonin to be able to respond to it. It explains why most killers are men. Another aspect that leads to a killer is a traumatic event. The combination of all of these causes a psychopathic killer. I believe that the study is true and accurate due to the fact that he described the way he examined the brains. He did a blind study, so he didn’t know if the brain he was studying was a psychopathic killer, or if the brain was just a normal human’s. This assured him to examine each brain fully and equally. The thing that surprised me the most about the talk was to learn that the damage done to their brains actually influences the result of a killer. I thought it was more of the genetic make-up of their brains rather than damage to them. It was definitely interesting to learn about.

An idea I would like to research is traumatic events and how they impact the brain. Traumatic events have a way of messing with your entire life, so I would like to see of what severity it starts to impact your thoughts, your actions, and your mental state. Jim Fallon explained that a traumatic event induces this within killers. It would be interesting to see at what severity things start happening to the brain. It would be a very unethical experiment to do, so a natural observation would have to be done with those who have been through a traumatic experience or are experiencing them still. Surveys could also be filled out by the participants. The survey would consist of questions on what their outlook on things and how they feel internally. The actions that they do may align with or disagree with the way they say they think and feel. The altering of their thinking will show what type of traumatic event can cause what within the brain.

First Impression Week 3

--Original published at Sidney's college blogs

For this week’s first impression post, I am choosing to write about the ideal way to raise a child. My parents used a mix of different parenting skills. Some worked, and some have also failed. So, based off my experience of being a young adult, and the way my parents raised me, I’ll explain the ideal way to raise children. I mean, I think I turned out alright!

I’ll start with the way my mother treated me when growing up. My mother has always been very loving and nurturing. Instead of direct punishment, she would say things in response to our actions. These phrases would often contain something along the lines of, “I’m very disappointed in you” or, “I thought I could expect more from you.” Nothing was worse than disappointing my mother. When a mistake was made, it made you reflect on it and make you feel badly about it until you apologized for doing whatever it was. This form of parenting worked very well for my siblings and me.

My father had a different type of parenting style. My dad was more of the punishment type of parent. When one of us siblings did something bad, punishment was given. There was always an understanding of why there was punishment given. Without punishment given, I feel that we would have been rebellious and disrespectful children. Punishment allows for correction to be made within reason. Without it, the child will be used to getting their own way and getting away with different acts.

Both of my parents were encouragers. They have pushed each of us siblings to become the greatest that we can be. They have helped us get where we need to be, and they still encourage us to do better. Although they encourage us, they’re not overly hard on us, and I think that is important in parenting. You don’t want to push your kids into something so much that they end up hating that certain thing, but you also don’t want to let them leave off their dreams.

I feel that parenting should take on a mix of aspects. You should be there for your children when they need you. They need a role model and someone to talk to. My mom has always been my best friend, but she also takes the role of a parent. She doesn’t want to only be my best friend, she knows the line that needs to be drawn with that. I agree completely with this aspect of parenting as well. Parenting should have punishment involved as well. Without it is the reason people say that there is a “problem with kids these days.” Responsibilities should also be given with parenting. Children shouldn’t grow up without having chores to do. It teaches them responsibility and it teaches them valuable things that they’re going to need later in life. For example, I know plenty of people who didn’t even know how to wash their clothes when they got to college. It blew my mind! These are some of the many things that I feel should be incorporated into parenting your children.

Bonus Posts: Miguel

--Original published at Site Title

From the perspective of psychodynamics, Miguel has an underlying issue that doesn’t allow him to express himself positively. He comes out in anger towards everyone, including himself. It could be something that has made him unhappy. He doesn’t even know that he is so unhappy with something, because it is in his unconscious desires. This also causes Miguel to have a difficult time sleeping at night. From the perspective of behaviorist psychology, Miguel has been triggered by the stress of his coursework. The stress has caused him to be irritable and to lose sleep. He responds in his behaviors negatively, because of the stress and difficulty in class. The difficulty he is facing is interfering with his perfectionist characteristic. From a humanistic approach, Miguel is still thriving. Although he may have theses obstacles now, the perfectionist characteristic in him will help him to get back on track to where he needs to be academically. It’s okay that he is a perfectionist because it’s who he is. The stress is causing him to be irritable with everyone, but he cares about his grades enough to get that way. This shows that he is still motivated to do well, and that he cares about his academics. From a cognitive view, he thinks of himself as not being smart enough to get the grades that he needs. He is aware that he is struggling, and he takes it out on everyone else. His mind keeps him awake at night, just thinking of the things he needs to get done, and the things he should have done better and differently. In neuroscience, the biology makeup of his brain may be off. He may have a chemical imbalance, causing him to become down on himself, and that makes him obsess over being perfect. It may even be genetic that he is obsessed with needing everything to be perfect. The imbalance can cause outbursts of anger as well. The biological makeup of his brain kind of ties into the cultural perspective of psychology. Miguel may have been raised in a community or culture that academics are very important. If you compare his brain to someone who wasn’t raised with such high standards academically, their priorities would differ. The society in which he grew up would influence the way he has been reacting to school. The lack of sleep would be stress induced due to the high standards society expects him to achieve. If his roommates were not raised by that same standard, then that would cause the irritation and fights between them.

Introduction

--Original published at Site Title

Hello! I’m Sidney Gordon, and I’m a first year student with an intended major of occupational therapy. I chose to take psychology not only because it is required for my major, but also because I want to figure out where I want to go with my minor. Psychology has always peaked an interest in me. I have taken a general psychology course and a childhood psychology in high school, but neither of them were very in depth. I do not remember very much from the classes either. When I hear the word “psychology,” I think of the way humans think and their mentality. How to Make Memories is a topic that seems interesting to me because I value memories, and it would be neat to see how they form. The topic of Emotions would also interest me to see why we feel the way we do. Another interesting topic would be all of the Mental Illness and Disorder topics. These interest me, and I would like to learn about exactly what they are and what all illnesses and disorders that there are. Some topics that wouldn’t interest me as much is the Scientific Method, Why Research Design Matters, and Power of Experiments. They wouldn’t interest me as much because we’ve gone over them in biology. By the end of this course, I would love to know if there are certain things that can cause a mental illness, or if it is hereditary, or both. I would also like to know why the human mind works the way that it does.