Author Archives: Olivyah's Psych Blog

First Impression Post; Development

--Original published at olivyahvanek

To begin the 8 stages of lifespan I would begin with the first range being from zero years old to two years old and at this stage would be when the children are just beginning to grow and I think that the most psychological challenge at this age would be to communicate because there is no actual form of communication other than crying and laughing because children are unable to speak at this point.

The next stage would be from three years old to around six years old and at this stage is when children begin to walk, talk, and do more things on their own, without having to rely on their parents. At this stage one of the psychological challenges would be to begin walking and talking on their own because usually at these ages is when children are able to walk and talk, but are not great at it yet, so these are the years that they actually get better at it.

The next stage would be from seven years old to thirteen years old because this is when children just begin to go to school and actually interact with other children of their own age. The psychological challenge at this age would be learning how to socialize and make friends because they have to be around other children their age all day almost everyday, and this is where they begin to learn their social skills.

The next stage would be from thirteen years old to eighteen years old because this is when children begin to turn into young adults and begin to face harder things, such as school, puberty, and more serious relationships. The psychological challenge in this age range would be beginning to learn how to be more independent because these are usually the ages where parents begin to give kids more freedom.

The next stage would be from nineteen years old to around twenty-three years old. This is the stage where most kids move out of their parents homes and start to become completely independent. The psychological challenge at this stage would be learning how to live on your own and rely on yourself because there is no more full support from their parents anymore

The next stage would be from twenty-three years old to thirty-five years old. At this stage, most people begin to get married and have children. The psychological challenge at this stage would be to learn how to live with another person and raise kids with them, this is a challenge because just as they got used to living on their own, another person has entered their lives and made another major change.

The next stage would be from thirty-six years old to fifty years old. At this stage most people have been married and already have kids, but here they are having to raise the kids and I think that the psychological challenge at this stage is having to raise kids and teach them the right from the wrong and to be a parent.

The next stage would be from fifty-one to around sixty-five years old. At this stage children start to leave their homes and parents are left with an “empty nest” so there are changes in the household and I think that the psychological challenge at this stage is getting used to no longer having to fully support children that you raised because they are now out living on their own.

The final stage is form sixty-six years old to death. At this stage people are usually retired and no longer have their children living in their homes, so there is a large difference in life and it is much quieter than they are used to. At this stage the psychological challenge would be making something to do with their time because they aren’t used to their lives not being as busy as they used to be.

These 8 stages of lifespan range majorly depending on the person, but I think that these are the basic 8 stages of an average person.

First Impression Post; Research Methods

--Original published at olivyahvanek

Within the topic of psychology there are many different topics that interest me, one of the most interesting would be phobias. To research phobias I would begin with the question of, how do different types of phobias occur in people of all different backgrounds? Meaning what are the different causes of certain phobias and how to they become relevant and start to affect the human if they hadn’t in the past?

My hypothesis would be to say that humans are only affected by certain phobias if there was a previous trauma that caused them to fear certain aspects of life, whether the phobia is directly related to the or not. With this being said, phobias can be caused by things that had happened to people during their childhood, or during younger years of their lives.

To test this a group of people with one type of phobia would be gathered and a test on their past could be made by asking questions about what made the phobia come about. These tests would include questions relating to their home life, childhood, and what trauma they experienced in their lives so far. These results could be compared to the results of a group of people who do not have phobias.

The results of the experiment could help to show that phobias are created by things that had happened in the past and it can also tell whether or not phobias are caused by trauma.

Introductory Blog Post

--Original published at olivyahvanek

My name is Olivyah Vanek, I will be a sophomore in the fall at Elizabethtown College. My major is environmental science and I am still deciding on what I want my minor to be, psychology being one of the possible options, which is one of the main reasons I decided to take this summer course. I also decided to take this course to gain more college credits.

I don’t have much background in psychology, other than a class I took during high school for one semester. The class I took was just an introduction to psychology and I found it to be one of the most interesting courses that I took during high school.

When I hear the word “psychology” I think of the behaviors and mental thoughts of humans.

As I looked through the course schedule, I realized that there were many topics that I was interested in. I am most interested in learning how to evaluate psychological claims and how humans are psychologically affected by certain scenarios. I am very interested in children’s psychology as well and how it is different than in adults. I am less interested in topics such as topics such as memory and human development because they don’t seem quite as interesting to me as some of the other topics do.

By the end of this course I hope that I can learn enough information about psychology to help me decided whether or not I want to declare it as my major. I look forward to beginning this course and learning more about psychology!