--Original published at NataliesCollegeBlog

To start, the reason I am taking psychology 105 is partly because of it being a required course for occupational therapy majors. In high school, psychology was always a course I wanted to learn more about so knowing that I needed to take this class was a pleasant surprise.

When I think of the word psychology one word comes to mind: emotions. Emotions are the driving point to people’s decisions. While decisions are based on how someone feels psychically and mentally.

Although I have little to no background in psychology, there have been shows on television I have watched about famous experiments, such as the Stanford Prison Experiment, which have made me curious about taking a psychology course.

After reviewing the syllabus the following topics of why do we forget, mechanics of sleep, and personality theory interested me the most. The topic why do we forget interested me because I always wondered why it was so easy to forget information that I needed for a test, yet it was so easy for me to remember all the lyrics to Miley Cyrus’ song, Party in the U.S.A. after not hearing it in years. Mechanics of sleep caught my attention because getting healthy amounts of sleep is challenging for me and maybe learning about better sleeping habits can help me understand what I am lacking. The third topic of interest was personality theories. Knowing how someone can be naturally shy or naturally outgoing based on how their mind works is something I would find intriguing to learn about.

Once I figured out which topics I found interesting I also noticed topics that I am not as interested in for the semester. In the beginning of the course, the topic about scientific methods does not interest me. Learning about the scientific method in other courses was boring for me and this is why I am not excited about this section. The topic of the brain/cerebral cortex is another topic I am not very interested in. I know that in order to understand someones mind you have to know what parts of the brain are used; however, it is not a topic that I will feel eager to study. Stereotypes & discrimination is another topic that I think I will not enjoy as much compare to other sections because it is not something completely new to learn about. A lot of my previous classes have used stereotypes and discrimination in lectures before so it will not be as new of concepts compared to the rest of the semester.

By the end of this course I want to be answer why I act/approach things differently than others and if social environments play a factor in that. I know how someone is raised changes their perspective and this would help myself better by understanding why I have certain actions and opinions. Another question I would like to answer is how social media is affecting current generations minds and how it will impact the future.

--Original published at ricez1998

Thanks for joining me!

I am Junior Religious studies major at Elizabethtown college. I Decided to take General Psychology to try and get a better understanding of how the mind works. After I graduate Elizabethtown I want to move on to a field in youth ministry. I want to be able to make an impact in a child’s life. I believe that getting a better understanding of the human mind will help me in my future. I don’t have much of a background on psychology I took a class in high school but that’s about it. When I hear the word psychology I automatically think of mental health because they are very closely associated.  The three major topics I am interested in learning are how to improve memory, how to get good sleep, and coping with stress. I picked these three topics because I believe learning about them will help improve my life. The three things I am not interested in learning about are Anxiety the brain and the history of psychology. The reason I picked anxiety is because I was recently diagnosed with it and am still learning how to control it. I picked the other two because they just don’t seem as interesting as the other subjects. The thing I want most out of this course is a general understanding so I can  try and be more compassionate to others. I want to be able to try and help people in their time of need.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

--Original published at Jess Principe's Blog

By: Jess Principe

My name is Jess Principe and I am a First Year occupational therapy major at Elizabethtown College. I am also a member of Women’s Lacrosse team and Undergraduate Fellows Program as well. My hometown is Newark, Delaware and I went to a small high school named The Tatnall School. I loved every minute being at Tatnall, but I am very excited to finally be taking my first psychology class. Throughout high school, I picked other science courses that related to my future major, such as AP Biology, for example, but never had the opportunity to take a psychology course until now.

I chose this course not only because it was a requirement for my major, but also because I have an interest in the course, and am considering minoring in psychology. I have very little background in psychology, except for some knowledge of common mental illnesses discussed in previous science courses I have taken. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word “psychology” is mental illnesses discussed the most in society, such as depression and anxiety. In addition, I think of the brain and how it controls literally everything a person does internally and externally to correlate to a person’s actions in life.

The first topic I am most interested in is the “Cognitive Development”, because it could relate to material we have discussed or will be discussing in my occupational therapy courses, particularly in pediatric occupational therapy courses. The second topic is “Why do We Forget?” because I have never learned about memory before and have an interest in what parts of the brain that affects, and if it directly correlates to diseases such as Alzheimers and Dementia. Lastly, “Mood Disorder and Anxiety” I am very interested to learn more about this topic because I want to see what causes anxiety, how it can worsen or improve throughout a person’s life, and what is happening on a neurological level when someone has anxiety.

The topics I am least interested in is “The Scientific Method” because is was discussed a lot in Biology 111 and in my high school science courses. The second topic is “What is ‘Addiction’?” because I had to take a drug and alcohol week-long course in high school every year and have gathered a lot of information on that topic already as well. The last topic I am least excited for is “Power of Experiments” simply because I think the other topics we will cover are extremely interesting and that topic does not seem as unique or exciting as the others, but I have no doubts that I will still learn new information from the topic either way.

By the end of the course, I would like to know what is happening on a neurological level that causes people to develop stress, anxiety, and depression, because as much as these three health topics are comonly discussed in society, I believe there is a lot of information I do not know about them, and I am looking forward to learning more!

--Original published at Emily Easter TA's blog

Hi!! My name is Emily Easter. I am a senior Psychology major and Human Services Minor, and I am also the TA for Dr. MacFarlane’s PSY105 General Psychology class.

As a senior, I have taken many psychology courses, including Intro to Psych, Psychopathology, Emotion, Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, Intelligence and Creativity, Statistics, and more. This semester I will also be conducting my own research, which involves Political Psychology. Last semester I had an internship in Lancaster City at a recreational community center for adults with mental illness.

The topics of this class that spark the most interest for me are sleep, emotion, and psychotherapy, which makes sense, as my ultimate goal is to become a psychotherapist.

I am looking forward to a great semester and working with all of you to broaden our knowledge of the field of psychology!

--Original published at Jill Distler's Psychology Blog

Thank you for visiting Jill Distler’s Psychology Blog!

I chose to take Psychology 105 at Elizabethtown College, because I heard so many great things about the professor for my section. Not only am I excited to learn more about the human brain, I am also excited to learn more about conditioning. Although I do not have any previous experience in a psychology class, a history teacher I had in high school taught the course and had “rat labs” where students were training rats. What do you think of when you hear the word “psychology”? For starters, I usually think of the brain and behaviors that are associated with disorders. Then I think of the “rat lab” when someone brought their rat to the bathroom and it escaped, leaving many of the teachers hiding from the small, large eared rodent. This semester, I am thrilled to learn about memories, the mechanics of sleep, and the topics in Week 16. These topics are most interesting to me because I personally have a terrible memory, specifically when it comes to remembering traumatic events. I also believe I could be an insomniac so sleep cycles, and the activity of the brain during sleep. I am also interested in psychotic, traumatic, and personality disorders along with the treatments for the conditions. I am least interested in the topics surrounding the technical side of psychology such as: the scientific methods, the importance of research design, and the power of experiments. Since the class does not have a lab, I don’t think reviewing these topics is entirely relevant to the course, even though it is important outside of the classroom. By the end of this semester, I hope to answer my questions about how I can help myself get “a good night’s rest” and also why the human brain forgets traumatic incidents.

January 14th, 2019

--Original published at Victoria's Psych Blog

Hello!

My name is Victoria. I am a first year student from Pennsylvania and I am currently in Introduction to Psychology. I am taking this course because I decided to change my major from engineering to psychology. Last semester, I took an English class and realized I have a strong interest in psychology. I think it is because of my background with psychology. Personally, I have received mental health care such as talk therapy, intensive outpatient care and medication. I am not embarrassed to talk about it and I hope to remove the stigma around mental health illnesses one day. My background, however, is only limited to mood disorders and possible treatments for various illnesses. I have learned little bits of information here and there about psychology research in high school, but it was not extensive.

When I hear the word “psychology”, I think of therapy, mood disorders and learning disabilities. In my opinion, psychology is such a broad term and it has many topics to understand. Since I am only in an introduction to the class, I will learn a little bit about the topics. Hopefully, my definition of the word will improv greatly by the end of the semester.

This semester, I am looking forward to the end of the class because of its topics. I am very interested in mood disorders, psychotic and personality disorders. Schizophrenia is the disease I want to learn the most about. One day I hope to be a clinical psychologist helping people with psychotic and personality disorders. It is fascinating to me and there is not that much information about it. I hope to do research to help the understanding of these disorders and help the patients cope and function.

--Original published at Maddy Vingom's PSY105 Blog

My name is Maddy Vingom, I am currently a freshmen occupational therapy major at Elizabethtown College.

Although Psychology 105 is a required course for my major, I am looking forward to taking this course. I am genuinely interested in the topic and is a very important aspect within any career in the field of healthcare. During my junior year of high school I took a psychology course and loved it, my teacher made the class very engaging and left me wanting to learn more. Psychology is a science like no other making me associate it with people, because it is the study of the human mind and the mind controls everything we do. The topics I am most looking forward to in this course are developmental psychology, mental illness, and past psychological studies. Occupational therapists work with people who may have mental illnesses or developmental disabilities, therefore this information is vital for me to understand in order to improve their lives. I also find past psychological studies very interesting and truly enjoyed learning about them in high school. The topics I find least interesting are personality development, intelligence, and stress. When learning about personality development and intelligence in high school my teacher was unable to give my class a lot of information about them, due to it being difficult to compile research and I found those units to be less engaging than other course material. Stress is a topic that I have learned almost every year since the 7th grade, in both health and psychology classes, the information I am given is typically very similar to previous courses. I am hoping to gain as much information about mental development and mental illness as possible from Introduction to Psychology.

--Original published at Kaity Takes on Psychology

Welcome to my blog! My name is Kaity, and I am an avid lover of learning. I have taken a psychology course in high school, yet there is so much I do not know about this broad and important subject. My main reason for taking this course is to expand my personal body of knowledge.

When I hear the word “psychology,” I think about the countless functions that occur within the brain as humans experience their day-to-day routines.

Among the plethora of topics taught during the semester, I am most excited to learn about memories, stress, and personality. As a college student, I struggle to remember a lot of information sans studying, and would love to know how memories work. Likewise, stress is a large factor in the lives of many folks, and I seek to remedy stress for myself and others. I have taken the extended Myers-Briggs personality test in the past, and understanding personality will be a very helpful tool as I develop into a working adult.

However, there are some topics that I automatically deemed as lackluster, such as learning to get good sleep, obedience, and the theories of intelligence. I try to avoid learning about sleep primarily because I am notorious for staying up late, and in turn receive plenty of criticism on my sleeping habits. Likewise, the topic of obedience reminds me of multiple works like A Clockwork Orange, and South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut; both of these show examples of forced “good” behavior upon young minds. Learning about obedience hopefully will not be as drastic as using the Ludovico’s Technique on Alex, or the V Chip on Eric Cartman. I am highly unfamiliar with the various theories of intelligence, and therefore worry the topic might be somewhat dry. However, positive mindsets can often overcome negative feelings, and I desire to enjoy all topics equally.

A personal tidbit about myself: I have a twin sister. There have been countless occasions where we have gotten along, and about twice as many where we have not. I am beyond curious to know how my sister and I developed such different world views though we were raised in the same environment. If I could learn one thing from this course, I would want to know how personality is fabricated and built upon as a person progresses through their life.