--Original published at Ashley's Psyche

Hello. My name is Ashley Sanei and I am a Secondary English Education major at Elizabethtown College. This will be my sophomore year here at Etown, and I have to say, General Psychology (PSY 105) may be the class that I am looking forward to the most this semester.

Ever since my first semester as a freshman at Etown, I have been jealous of the students that were placed in PSY 105. I have always had a love of thinking critically and analyzing the ways that the mind works, so General Psychology always seemed to be the perfect fit for me.

But is simply liking psychology enough to justify taking a whole class on it? To me, it is not just that I like the subject, but that I can see how it will greatly improve my skills as a future teacher. As a teacher, I will need to meet the needs of many different types of learners, whose minds all work in a variety of different and complex ways. In my eyes, there is no better way to meet the needs of those minds than to know the basic processes of how they work.

However, learning about the vast amount of mental and behavioral processes in human nature is a very intimidating notion. As a person that has no formal background in anything relating to psychology, is it stressful to think about everything that the word “psychology” can encompass. When someone says the word “pyschology” to me, I tend to think of the science behind every decision and social interaction that humans have in their day-to-day-lives, which does not seem like a very simple topic to cover.

Yet, the challenge that this course presents to me does not mean that I am any less excited about the information we will be learning. In fact, I cannot wait to participate in the course sections based on improving memory, coping with stress, and analyzing personaility. I am the most the most excited about these partical sections of General Psychcology due to my natural curousity and lack of knowledge on each of these human habits.

Is anyone really born with a “bad” memory? Where does stress stem from in the brain, and what triggers that reaction? How do humans create such a wide variety of different personalities? I am hoping that I will be an expert in answering these questions, and many more, by the end of this course.

This is not to say that General Pyschology does not incorporate some topics that I am less interested in learning about. For example, learning about the process of the scientific method, why research design matters, and the difference between past and present psychology is not very interesting to me, as I am more interested in the abstract ideas involved in psychology, not the concrete process of how those ideas are further studied.

Nevertheless, I know that the topics I may not be the most excited about studying are still crucial in gaining a well-rounded grasp on the essence of psychology, and I will do my best in understanding them. I am excited to see what this semester and class has in store for me, as both a student and a future teacher!

--Original published at Site Title

Hi my name is Ruth Marquez and i am a freshman with an intended major in occupational therapy. Because of my intended major i am required to take this class and i never took a PSY class so i have no idea if i will be able to handle it. For the most part psychology seems to be a very challenging class because of all the terminology you have to become familiar with. When i think of psychology i think of the behavioral analysis unit of the fBI in how they use the evidence the unknown subject to know what kind of person he or she is in order to effectively catch he/she. The three most interesting topics on the syllabus for me are: How to make memory, why we forget, and personality and culture. These topics seem to interest me because the memories we have is who we are and the memories we create are shaped by our culture that when combined give us our personality. On the other hand three topics i am not looking forward to are: The Brain macro level,Chemicals and consciousness, and mechanics of sleep. This is because for me these topics deal with a lot of chemistry and hard science which is not so easy for me specifically with chemistry. One question i have that i would like to be answered by the end of this class is how psychology can help me better understand my future patients and make them more successful in their everyday activities.

--Original published at Kyle's Gen Psych Blog

Alright, so just to get the basics about myself out of the way. My full name is Brennan Kyle Praseut, i prefer to go by Kyle because I’ve always felt like my first name sounds just a bit too old for me. I am a computer engineering major with a cognitive science minor. I was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, but almost on a yearly basis me and my family would move to another state. In total I’ve attended fifteen different schools, all of which helped widen my perspective on life and all in all it had made me a better person to have had the chance to experience the constant shift in cultures that came with the constant traveling. I’m a pretty goofy person but i have a bad case of RBF.

So on to the questions:

Why did i take this class? 

I chose this class not only because of it being a requirement for my minor ( Cognitive science) but because i have always had a fascination with human behavior and how a persons experiences shape them and their decisions.

What background do i have in Psychology?

Professionally? Next to none. I have not had any prior classes related to this subject. Personally? I enjoy reading books that deal with/assess human psychology and behavior.

What do i think of when i hear the word Psychology?

That really feels like a loaded question. The word reminds me of something larger than we can possible hope to understand fully. A mystery that continues to grow as we (as people) do.

What in this class looks the most/least interesting to me?

Top

1. Moral Development – Morality is something that varies wildly between people and understanding how that comes about is facinating
2. Theories of Intelligence – I hope to in the future research AI and Deep Learning Algorithms and this will help me to understand those subjects better
3. How to get Good Sleep? – Who isn’t interested in good sleep? Thats the real question here.

Bottom

1. Exam 1 – Not Exam 3
2. Exam 2 – Not as fun looking as Exam 3
3. Exam 4 – Exam 3 actually looks interesting

I  really hope  i don’t bomb exam 3 now….  by the end of this class i know how advances in technology have affected our social behavior and decision making.

--Original published at Site Title

My name is Bri Kain and I am currently a senior at Elizabethtown High School. I play on the school’s field hockey team as well as several club teams. I’ve gone to different places inside and outside of Pennsylvania to play and have realized how much I love traveling. As a result, I hope to study abroad when I’m in college. I plan on majoring in physical therapy and minoring in psychology. Outside of school I am usually a very quiet and reserved person but I love getting to know people. I hope that this class will help me step out of my shell and become more comfortable around new people.

I’ve been interested in psychology ever since I took the class that my school offers and I thought that doing dual-enrollment would be the perfect opportunity to learn more as well as get a head start on my college credits. When I think of “psychology” I think of the study of how each person’s mind works and the behaviors we each exhibit.

The three topics that look most interesting to me would have to be Classifying Mental Illnesses, Emotion, and Personality Theory. All three have to do with people as individuals and these topics vary depending on the person. I just find it interesting that we all are very different as far as how we all think and how we act. There are no topics in particular that I don’t look forward to as I find everything about psychology very interesting. But if I had to choose one it would probably have to be the brain on a micro level because I know there’s a lot of components that make up the brain and it’s very difficult to remember everything. Something I want to learn by the end of the semester would have to be how our brains comprehend and process strong emotions.

--Original published at Em

I am a first year from Chesapeake Virginia. In high school I took two year of psychology. I took this class because my schedule was made for me, although I am glad it is in my schedule. When I hear the word psychology I think of the study why people act the way they act. These reasons of why people act the way they act may be sociocultural, biological, or cognitive.

The topics that look most interesting are mood disorder,  stereotypes and discrimination, and classifying mental illness. Disorders and mental illness are interesting interdisciplinary due to chemical imbalances or biological reasons. If stereotypes could be better understood then perhaps they could be prevented. Then classifying mental illnesses because what is and isn’t normal, are there empirical tests?  The three subjects that look least interesting are how to choose a therapist, sleep mechanics,  and why research design matters.  How to choose a therapist seems subjective to the individual therefore difficult to put to a formula. Sleep mechanics seems simple.  Lastly research design also seemly elementary. I suppose a poorly constructed experiment skews results. The question I want answered by the end of the class is how cultural relativism impacts psychological studies.

--Original published at MentzersBlog

--Original published at alanaspsy105blog

Hi! My name is Alana Hicks and I am from Liverpool, Pennsylvania. This being my sophomore year, I chose to sign up for this class but it is also a requirement for my major (Biology, Allied Health). This is my first ever psychology class so I have no prior experience with the subject. However, there was a psychology course at my high school and everyone always seemed to enjoy it, but I could never fit it into my schedule. When I hear the word “psychology” the first thing that pops into my head is the brain. Like why we do the things that we do and why some people react to certain things but others don’t.

The top three most interesting topics on the syllabus for me are “The Brain: Micro-level,” “Stress,” and “Psychotic, Traumatic, & Personality Disorders.” Being a biology major anything having to do with the brain and how it works is interesting because it seems science related. I want to be a PA so learning about different disorders I think would also be helpful for me in the future. I chose stress because college gives stress so I might as well learn about it and how it affects me.

The three least interesting topics for me I think would be “Personality Theory,” “Obedience,” and “How to Choose a Therapist.” To tell you the truth I think they all look interesting, I just chose these ones because I didn’t really know what these lectures would be about. Like I have no clue what “Personality Theory” is. I guess that can be one of my questions that I want answered by the end of the semester. Haha. In all reality, I would like to know what psychology is, and how does it apply to my everyday life?

--Original published at Site Title

Hi, my name is Ben Thorpe. I’m a sophomore mathematical business major at Elizabethtown College. This is my blog for my Psychology 105 class. I chose to take this class because I needed a gen-ed credit and psychology was something I had a little background in and knew I enjoyed. I took an introductory psychology class during my junior year in high school. It was mostly just basic stuff. We got to design a small experiment with a partner at the end of the year which was pretty fun. When I hear the word psychology, I mostly think of experiments. The three topics that are most interesting to me are Mechanics of Sleep, Obedience and Personality. Getting enough sleep is important to me so I will enjoy learning about that. Also, I’m curious as to why some people act the way that they do and personality and obedience will most likely answer that. The three least interesting topics to me are the scientific method, the brain and observational learning. What I got from the titles of those three topics was that we were just going to be learning parts and procedures and not much more during those periods. They’re probably important but they just seem boring. I don’t really have a specific question that I want this class to answer. My goal is to learn enough to at least hold a conversation with someone about psychology topics. I look forward to this class.

--Original published at Caitlin's corner

Why did I take this class? Well, I have to pass this class and Intro to Neuroscience with a C or higher, in order to be fully accepted into the Psych Department. In the past I’ve taken intro to Psych and Psych 101 in high school. I’ve been trained to teach and lead in Social-Emotional way and we learned many teaching styles, methods, and theories about the best approach to situations. I also took Fundamentals of Teaching, the Choices We Make FYS, Discovering Society, and Early Childhood Development, all of which taught from psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, anthropologists, and scientists about their theories, perspectives, and hypotheses. This semester I’m also taking General Psych, Intro to Neuroscience, and Human Behavior in the Social Environment, all of which further my studies of psychology and the human condition. I’m very interested in Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner’s theories as I’ve already studied them, but would love to go deeper, see more studies, and read more by them. When I hear the term ‘Psychology’ I think of the human brain and how it interacts, processes, and develops over time and how our inner psyche’s really do reveal a lot about us. I love to research how influential adults/main caregivers are on children/infants, and how they retain so much information at such a young age and seeing how they develop later in life with those set of values. I love being able to figure out why I do certain things or why other people act the way they do and connecting it to past experiences or to their upbringing and way of life growing up. I am not looking forward to conditioning and behaviorism as I’ve studied that in every class listed above and feel I’ve heard what most people cover. I am also not looking forward to coping with stress and how to make memories. I feel as though like most people say the same things about coping with stress and I already have methods that work well, and I have a good understanding of false-memories and infantile amnesia, and I don’t know what else ‘making memories’ would cover.

--Original published at Site Title

Hello everyone ! my name is Simon Tague and this will be my second year attending Elizabethtown College. My current major is Communications but I might switch too business next semester, so technically I am undecided. I’m from a small town in Delaware called Newark. The city of Newark is know for the University of Delaware and all of the busy students walking from class to class. Many local residents where I live do not like the UD students but I don’t mind them. One of the main reasons why I decided to take intro to psych is because I want to learn more about myself and my brain. There are many things that I am curious about such as  anxiety, addiction, depression etc. Some of these things I struggle with my self. I understand that there are therapy sessions that people can attend to try to help with their problems or issues but in my opinion the best way to fix it is by looking into yourself and trying to figure out what the problem is. I have been to multiple therapy sessions to try and help me but every time I go to a therapy session I feel like I can’t open up to them and be honest. It just feels weird telling someone your deepest problems and secrets too someone that you just met. I understand that for some people therapy is a miracle and has helped many people get through tough and difficult situations. But I think there is another way that people can deal with theses problems. I am very exited about this course and exited too see what I can learn about myself.