--Original published at Hope's PSY105 Blog

Hi!  My name is Hope Sury and I am a sophomore middle level math education major.  I chose to take this course because I needed it for core, but I also feel that it will help me to understand the students I will have in my classroom.  I took a psychology class in high school, and my roommate is a psychology major, so we have discussions from time to time about her field of study.  When I hear the word “psychology”, I think of people’s behaviors and why they make certain decisions.  I am interested in learning about attachment theory, coping with stress, and motivation.  I am interested in these topics because it will help me better understand myself and what I can do to improve my life.  I am less interested in the scientific method, how to improve memory, and how to choose a therapist.  I have some experience with these topics, so I am less interested in going over these topics.  The question I would like to have answered by the end of the class is how to accurately use psychology in my future classroom.

--Original published at MelanieBlevins

Hello!! My name is Melanie, I am a first year student and a psychology major. On campus I am an avid napper and a member of Mad Cow Improv, so i can be kinda funny sometimes. I chose to take General Psychology because it is the foreground for my major and puts me in the right direction for my future both during and after college. In high school I look a psychology course and fell in love with the class as well as what I was researching out of class. Through psychology I have learned so much about myself and those around me, which has led me to becoming a better and more understanding person. When I hear the word psychology, a lot of things come to mind.

For me, I think about the decisions people make and how those decisions have been effected by a persons environment, self image, peers, and their own mental health. I think the three most interesting topics for me have to be stress, emotion, and how to get good sleep. It fascinates me when I find out new things about myself through the things we learn in class, and i can make connections to understand why I am feeling a certain way. As for sleep, I have already mentioned my hobby of napping and if I can somehow improve one of my favorite activities I’m down to do so. My three least favorite topics are definitely any of the very science based ones such as learning about the brain and the scientific method. Science isn’t really my strong suit but these ideas seem pretty basic so it shouldn’t be too bad.

By the end of this class I would like for you to answer is, if there was an individual who lived in the perfect world and had no apparent reason to develop a mental disorder, can they?

--Original published at Emily Garvin's Psych Blog

--Original published at Matt's College Blog

My name is Matthew Kowalski. I am 19 years old and I grew up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I’m a computer science major whose ultimate dream/goal is to be a part of the first generation to be able to live on in simulation long after our bodies have withered away.

I’ve got a slight tendency to wax poetic when writing about things I find interesting and become terse if I find something actively boring.

My approach to this course is with mild optimism that I may learn more than I did in my high school psych 101 course, though mostly with the knowledge that I am fulfilling a core requirement along the way.

When it comes to writing in response to prompts, I’ve been told that I write like a programmer, short, concise, but still as readable as possible. I believe that is the reason the following is formatted in the way it is.

Questions:

1. Why you chose to take this class? (It is okay to be honest)
2. What background, if any, do you have in psychology?
3. What do you think of when you hear the word “psychology”?
4. Look at the course schedule on the syllabus.
   • Which three topics look the most interesting to you?
     • Why?
   • Which three topics look the least interesting to you?
     • Why?
5. What question about psychology do you want to answer by the end of this class?

Answers:

1. I needed to fulfill a core requirement and this class seemed like it would be more interesting than the other courses available to meet that requirement this semester.
2. I took a psych class in high school though it focused heavily on the developmental stages and things of the like. (IE Piaget)
3. “Why do people do the things that they do?”
4. The following seem the most interesting:
   1. The Brain: Micro-level
      1. I am a CS major and most of my planned research in the future revolves around neural networks in computing and whether or not it’s possible to simulate a human mind to a high enough fidelity that we can “store” a person’s “consciousness” (or something close enough to call the same) for indefinite periods of time.
   2. The Brain: Macro-level
      1. See reasoning above
   3. Mechanics of Sleep
      1. The most compelling reason I’ve heard as to why we sleep is “Because we get tired” and for some reason that answer just rubs me the wrong way.
5. The following seem the least interesting:
   1. What is “Addiction”?
      1. My mom worked in a hospital for 13 years, all of her sisters are heavy smokers. Regardless of the mechanics of addiction, I’ve seen the outcomes. I find it difficult to make myself care about the deep mechanical reasons for people ruining their lives by picking up smoking in high school after seeing the horrible things it does to their bodies.
   2. Personality theory
      1. I’ve taken the “reputable” personality tests being as honest as possible and the answers they put out just don’t feel like they fit quite right. They’re close but there’s always something fatally wrong with some part of the “personality type” they put out.
   3. Personality Assessment
      1. See reasoning above
6. I would like to know why people are so vehemently opposed to factual information if it goes against what they believe to be true, even if they’ve been proven categorically to be wrong.

--Original published at Kate's College Blog

Hello! I am Kate Ziegler. I am a first year student and my intended major is occupational therapy. I chose to take this psychology course because it is a requirement for my major, but also because I took general psychology in high school and overall psychology is very interesting to me. When I hear the word “psychology” I think of the mind and the way humans think and perceive things. One topic that is interesting to me is “how to make memories” because I love to cherish and make new memories with my friends and family. Another topic that is interesting to me is “personality theory” because I am interested by how different people have different personalities and how they interact with each other. The last topic I am most interested in learning about is “coping with stress” because I get stressed out easily and I think it will be interesting to see how to deal with it by using psychology to understand stress. Three topics that are less interesting to me are the scientific method, why research design matters, and the power of experiments because I have already gone over these topics in previous classes like biology. By the end of this class, I would want to know how dreams work and how our mind and body responds to nature vs. nurture.

--Original published at Sierra's College Blog

Hello my name is Sierra, and I am a freshman studying occupational therapy here at Elizabethtown! I also played field hockey during the fall, and I loved it! My hobbies include: hanging out with friends, going on vacations, playing with my dog, and watching scary movies.

I chose to take psychology because it is required for my major. I wanted to take it earlier rather than later in my college career. I honestly have no background in psychology and have never taken a course like it before in high school. However, I love watching Criminal Minds. They talk about how the mind works and why people do certain things or commit crimes by viewing their backgrounds. When I think of the word “psychology,” I think about how the mind works, and what causes people to make certain actions. Not only do I think that everyone makes their own choices for a specific reason, but I also believe outside factors contribute to these choices.

The three most interesting topics in the syllabus are Why do We Forget, What is “Addiction”?, and How to Get Good Sleep. The first topic interests me because I have always wondered why I can remember things from my past, but forget short-term events. I hope the second topic can tell me the difference between bad habits people have and addictions. The third topic I love because sleeping is essential for college students. The least interesting topics are How to Choose a Therapist, Assessing Intelligence, and Power of the Situation. How to Choose a Therapist is not interesting to me because I do not know much about it. The second topic does not get me excited because it is about assessing, and not about theories. The last topic is not interesting to me because there are an infinite number of possible situations that could occur, and I do not understand what we would be talking about.

By the end of this class, I would like to answer: How can you tell if some suffers from insanity?

After hearing the first couple of minutes of the first lecture, I am excited for what this class has to offer!

--Original published at JD's Blog

Hello, my name is John Sterbens, but everyone calls me J.D. I am a first year Biology Pre-Vet major from Long Island, New York. I am Minoring in Cognitive Science and Communications. I’ve worked with animals my whole life and one day hope to become a Zoological Veterinarian. I choose to take this class because I think that psychology is really interesting. I love learning about how the mind works. I have also been told by many people, a background in psychology is very helpful as a vet, when it comes to an animal’s owner or caretaker. I do not have much of a background in psychology except for a few articles and videos I have seen. When I think of the word “psychology” I think of studies concerning how the mind works and why it reacts certain ways to specific stimuli. The three topics I am most interested in learning about this semester are memory, mechanics of sleep and personality theory. I think memories are fascinating and look forward to learning how they work. I am intrigued by the mechanics of sleep because I wrote my FYS research paper on how slow classical music helps a person fall asleep. I don’t know anything about personality theory, but it sounds really cool. All of the topics look interesting, but if I had to choose three I didn’t like, I would go with what is addiction, stereotypes and discrimination and mood disorders and anxiety. All of these topics seem fun, but these three simply don’t seem as interesting in my opinion. However, I don’t know anything about them yet so that could easily change. One question I would love answered by the end of this class is how the study of psychology came about and why it started? I look forward to meeting everyone.

--Original published at CurtisCollegeBlog

Hey my name is Curt, I have a basketball game tomorrow, I’m a point guard got shoe game. I’m a sophomore engineering major, I’m kinda hot. I didn’t know what to write so I started it like I started my tinder profile.

I chose this class because I need it to satisfy core, and I was thinking about a psychology minor, but I’m not sure anymore.

No background in psych.

It’s hard to explain, but I guess to cover what I think of as psychology is how a persons brain works.

Power of experiments, Stereotypes & Discrimination, and how to make memories all seem  like pretty cool to me because they are just things I want to learn. Moral development, group dynamics, and how to choose a therapist aren’t interesting at all to me.

How many different types of jobs can you get with knowing psychology?

--Original published at The Core Techs

Hello, Core Techs!

Since this is my very first blog post, I’m going to be talking a bit about myself and my General Psychology course for college! Let’s start off with some Q&A:

Q: Why did you choose to take this class?

A: As an Occupational Therapist, understanding how the brain works with others, itself, and the environment is essential. In other words, it is crucial to understand why people do the things they do, scientifically. Understanding what is happening mentally can be a big factor to understand what is happening physically. The processes people take can sometime lead to very interesting questions and conclusions. Besides needing this course for credits, I am also very interested in psychology. I took the course in high school and loved it. It made me think a lot more about why we do the things we do as humans, and how we are even capable of doing such things.

Q: What background, if any, do you have in psychology?

A: As previously mentioned, I took psych in high school. I have also done some research here and there on my own time just out of plain curiosity! OT and Biology classes also touch lightly on subjects in a psychological manner from time to time.

Q: What do you think of when you hear the word “psychology”?

A: BRAINS. I really do! Not that I’m a zombie or anything… But everything about psychology involves the study of the human mind and how it interacts with everything. Incredible, isn’t it?

Q: On the course syllabus, which three subjects look most interesting, and which three look the least interesting? Why?

A: Many subjects on the syllabus interest me! To list a few, I am highly interested in learning about sleep, mental illnesses and other disorders, and emotion! I feel that these are all very relative to my life. Teens and other young adults, especially those in school, often have inquires about sleep, emotions, stress, depression, anxiety, and more. Perhaps if I learn more about these subjects, I will be able to assist my colleagues in understanding more about the psychological reasoning and effects of these things, and perhaps it will benefit me as well. As for the subjects I am least interested in, it is probably the units about classical conditioning, operational conditioning, and observational learning. Not that these aren’t interesting subjects, but I have already learned about them in high school and did not take great interest in them. However, I’m sure there’s always more than meets the eye!

Q: What question about psychology do you want to answer by the end of the class?

A: How intelligent can people truly be? I understand that the human mind is capable of many things, but I want to learn about all the things it can do. Can we really do astral projections? Is lucid dreaming real? Is it possible for people to see the future? Can we read minds? Will we be living somewhere other than Earth someday? Just how smart was Einstein?

To understand more about me, this blog, its purpose, and why I created it, go visit the “About Me” page!

Best wishes, Core Techs!

-B

--Original published at JanellesCollegeBlog

Hello! My name is Janelle Barna, and I am a freshman occupational therapy major! I chose to take this class because not only is it required for my major, I am also extremely interested in the topic. Also, I am considering a Psychology minor and hope that this course will help me decide if that is the path I want to take. Although I have never taken a psychology course before, when I think about the word “psychology” I think about the brain and how the different processes of the brain affect human behaviors, decisions, and emotions. I also think about psychologists and how they help individuals with mental illnesses.

Three topics on the syllabus that interest me are Emotion because I feel like there is such a broad range of emotions that ultimately are inspired by what is happening in the brain which is interesting to think about, Theories of Intelligence because there are many individuals that are considered geniuses but what is thought to cause the spike in intelligence, and Motivation because you always hear that if you put your mind to something you can accomplish it, but I want to learn about why/how this works in your brain.

Three topics that do not interest me that much are the Scientific Method, Chemicals & Consciousness, and Classifying Mental Illness because I know the scientific method and the other two topics sound confusing and extremely in depth as well as ambiguous.

By the end of the semester, I want to be able to answer the question: “How does the media use the field of psychology to manipulate and make populations feel a certain way or consume certain products?”