Chapter 8: First Impression Post, option 1

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

For the exam that was just taken in psychology, I looked over my notes, reviewed some terms that I did not know the definition of on Quizlet and looked over some multiple choice problems. This did not work well for me. What I did well was reviewing the terms because I was not memorizing the location on the page where the word was. Often while studying I would get distracted by the music that I was listening to or if people were talking in the room or directly to me. I also did not do well at reviewing my notes after each class. I have instead after each class been reviewing my notes and rewording things that I find slightly confusing. I also found when I took notes on the PowerPoint, I was not absorbing as much information because I was not writing everything down. All the information was already copied down for me. I am instead now taking notes without the PowerPoints in front of me. This is helping me to imprint the information in my memory because writing things down helps me to remember things. I also need to improve the time in which I study for exams. This first exam, I studied the day before the exam and stayed up late. This has been shown to decrease the amount of information retained during the time of studying. Instead of staying up very late studying the night before, I will instead start studying a couple of days before the exam. Along with starting to study earlier in the week, I also will get a good night rest the night before the exam. The study habits I used for the first exam were not successful and therefore I must change my ways and by making these slight changes, I should be able to improve my exam skills.

~Taylor

Chapter 7: First Impression Post Option 2

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

I believe violent video games are beneficial to an extent. The violence in video games allows for an expression of anger so the people who play the games do not show the physical violence. Violent video games are a way for those with anger issues to release this said anger and relax. These games also often require lots of problem-solving skills and team work and many citizens who play these games can benefit from the improvement of these skills. I do not however, agree with the amount of guts and gore of the video games. I believe the graphicness of the games is not needed and only adds a gruesomeness to the game. Also, I do not think that children of any age should be allowed to play these games because they can be influenced by the amount of violence.

I do not believe violent video games should be allowed to be permanently banned. This is a civil right to play these games and the government should not be allowed to take that away. I personally do not play violent video games; however, they are often a crucial part of many teenagers lives along with adults. The games are often interactive between other people from different countries and cities and towns and helps to foster interact that could otherwise never happen. For people who are self-conscious and shy around others face to face, the violent video games often provide an option for interaction between those who are not as comfortable with face to face interaction.
~Taylor

Chapter Two First Impression~NeuroScience

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

I chose the talk that about “Exploring the Mind of a Killer” because I find it highly interesting as to why people are the way that they are. I also watch many CSI and crime investigation shows that analyze why and how people become psychopaths and such. The talk spoke about how different injuries to the brain and the time period in which they occurred impact the way that you develop as a human. The scientist that was speaking analyzed several brains and how they were similar and or different. He found that there is a correlation between injuries in certain areas of the brain and behavior. He also found that there is a gene that is passed down on the X chromosome that carries the gene for violence. This gene is often found in males and therefore, more men turn out to be psychotic and serial killers. What I found most interesting in the video was that there is more than how you are raised that impacts a person’s personality, right down to their genes. I found this presenter trustworthy because he is a professor at the University of California and is a neuroscientist that is known around the world for his studies of the brain. Also, the reputation of TED talks is very god because they hire and broadcast videos and documents that are traditionally presented by those of quality work and study.
For myself personally, I would be interested in finding what the top causes of injury to the brain is that causes someone to become a psychopathic killer. I would conduct this research by taking all the known psychopathic killers and taking a scan of their brain and looking at their health record and getting information from family about the life and major psychosocial events in the psychotic person’s life. Then I would take all the information that I was given and compare it. The other way that I could possibly do an experiment for this question is by taking children who carry the gene for violence and watching them grow and develop into adulthood. I could also then watch for psychotic tendencies and see if there was a correlation.

~Taylor

Chapter 1 First Impression

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

I chose to watch the mini Myth about changing lanes while driving. All this time, I thought that if you stayed in one lane then you will ultimately get to a place faster than if you were to change lanes. After watching this short clip I did notice however some things that were positive about the experiment and some things that were negative about the experiment.

The positive things about the experiment were that as a group, “The Myth Busters” collectively came up with scientific questions that they could then use to form a hypothesis. They also had a solid hypothesis about what they expected to occur through testing the experiment. Along with the positive things come the negative things that were evident throughout the experiment.

The negatives of the experiment were that there were some controls that were not actually controlled. For example, each car could go different speeds. This meaning that at one point, one car could be speeding and going over the speed limit while the other was following the speed limit. There were also other parts of the experiment that did not follow the steps of the scientific process.

These steps include the analysis of the data, review of the data by peers, and for a theory to be built. Because I viewed a shortened version of the actual episode, this could be the reason that I did not witness these steps. Another negative to the experiment was that the other drivers on the road could not be controlled. Therefore, the two test drivers were at variation of the other drivers of the road. This could be improved by using a simulation instead of actual people driving on the road. This way the other variables could be controlled by the computer. Also, the way that the drivers was not shared, but however they were selected could have also impacted the way that the experiment was completed. If the drivers were not selected at random, then a form of bias could have been used in selecting who would drive what car. The drivers should have been selected at random so that there could not be any type of bias when it came to who would drive the cars.

~Taylor