My Final Thoughts
My journey through Introduction of Psychology went really well. In high school we were only able to touch on a lot of these subjects so it was great that I got to learn about them more in-depth in this class. I really enjoyed the online format for this class because I got to hear from a lot of different people during the discussions and I probably wouldn’t have been able to in a regular class.
It is hard to sum up the things that I learned in this class because we covered a lot of information that was usually intriguing. I really enjoyed Unit Three because the topics and the discussions were really interesting. It was neat to hear what my classmates thought about parenting and television violence. I thought the activity we did for this blog for Unit Three was also informative because we got to look at four psychologists (Piaget, Freud, Mahler, and Erikson) and dream up a summer camp that has activities based on their theories of development in children. I want to be a teacher so part of that is coming up with activities that are correctly geared to your students. Unit Four was great because I learned more about our senses and out thresholds. Of course the sleep module was cool because I always wonder whether my dreams mean anything! I know someone who has sleep apnea so I am now able to better understand what he is going through! The discussion for this unit about drugs was also worthwhile because I liked reading my classmates responses and stories. I felt the Unit Seven was so sad because it covered the psychological disorders. I learned a lot doing research for our blog entry for that unit. Study depression in men and women was definitely eye opening. I also learned about online diagnoses web pages; I had no idea that these existed. I have thought about this a lot and I am still undecided whether these are effective or not. I think they are good because some people are too timid to go to an actual doctor so it is probably better than they help themselves online then not seek professional help at all. I think maybe if you can find a reliable site that goes strictly by the rules of diagnoses it can be almost as good as a real doctor.
I think the papers really helped me in the learning process. I think papers are very effective in learning because you are able to immerse yourself in a lot of information and information sticks with you longer when you write it out. It was good for me to learn about alcoholism because I have family members who are afflicted with the disease and I am able to understand them better now. I thought the AIDS paper was a great way to promote our class learning more about the subject. I do not know anyone inflicted with AIDS so by watching the movie I was able to have a different perspective.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Unit Wrap Up
What was your something that you learned in the unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
Wow! What an interesting unit. I learned tons about motivation. Motivation is a need or desire that actually energizes our behavior and directs it toward a particular goal. There are three perspectives to keep in mind because they are influential on motivation: the instict theory (replaced by evolutionary theory), drive-reduction theory, and the arousal theory. We can also use Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a fouth perspective. The first module in our unit talked about the motivation of hunger. Hunger is a lower-level need on Maslow's chart and is a physiological need. Sexual motivation was the next module where I learned about Alfred Kinsey's sex studies. Kinsey conducted 18,000 confidential interviews with people where he asked them 350 questions. At the beginning of the interview, he would ask questions about family background, health, and education to make people feel more comfortable and then he would ask them sexually explicit questions. In the next module I learned about motivation at work. Most of us don't get too excited about work and yearn for vacation time but I learned that work does help us satisfy several of our needs.Work helps support us, connect us, and defines who we are!
In the next module, I learned about the debate about emotional response. William James and Carl Lange believed that humans feel emotion after we notice our physiological responses.Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disagreed and thought that we feel emotion at the same time that our bodies responsed. Today, most researchers agree with Cannon and Bard! In module 30, I learned about the effects of facial expressions. This is important in everyday life because you don't want to accidently make a rude face at a teacher or boss! The next module was all about stress and believe me, I knew what that was! I thought the most interesting section in the module was about Stress and AIDS, it is devastating that 22 million people have died in the last century.It is so important to know about because it spreads so easily because people usually don't know right away that they have it. The last module was about promoting health. The module definately inspired me to exercise more because many studies suggest that it can reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
What was your something that you learned in the unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
Wow! What an interesting unit. I learned tons about motivation. Motivation is a need or desire that actually energizes our behavior and directs it toward a particular goal. There are three perspectives to keep in mind because they are influential on motivation: the instict theory (replaced by evolutionary theory), drive-reduction theory, and the arousal theory. We can also use Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a fouth perspective. The first module in our unit talked about the motivation of hunger. Hunger is a lower-level need on Maslow's chart and is a physiological need. Sexual motivation was the next module where I learned about Alfred Kinsey's sex studies. Kinsey conducted 18,000 confidential interviews with people where he asked them 350 questions. At the beginning of the interview, he would ask questions about family background, health, and education to make people feel more comfortable and then he would ask them sexually explicit questions. In the next module I learned about motivation at work. Most of us don't get too excited about work and yearn for vacation time but I learned that work does help us satisfy several of our needs.Work helps support us, connect us, and defines who we are!
In the next module, I learned about the debate about emotional response. William James and Carl Lange believed that humans feel emotion after we notice our physiological responses.Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disagreed and thought that we feel emotion at the same time that our bodies responsed. Today, most researchers agree with Cannon and Bard! In module 30, I learned about the effects of facial expressions. This is important in everyday life because you don't want to accidently make a rude face at a teacher or boss! The next module was all about stress and believe me, I knew what that was! I thought the most interesting section in the module was about Stress and AIDS, it is devastating that 22 million people have died in the last century.It is so important to know about because it spreads so easily because people usually don't know right away that they have it. The last module was about promoting health. The module definately inspired me to exercise more because many studies suggest that it can reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Women and Depression
Is it possible that women are simply more willing to admit to being depressed than men are? As a researcher, how could you assess rates of depression in a way that minimized this potential reporting problem? To answer this question: a) describe the method you would choose to collect your data; b) explain why you chose that method; and c) describe the specific measures you would take to minimize the anticipated reporting problem.
a) The method that I would use to determine whether women are more likely than men to admit to being depressed and seek help would be very simple. I would interview men and women and ask them questions about their day-to-day lives and feelings in certain situations. After I silently diagnose them, I would ask them if they think they are depressed. If there are more women who admit that they think they are depressed and I diagnosed as being depressed, that would prove the theory that depression just seems more common in women
because more women come forward to admit they are suffering from it. If most of the men I diagnosed as being depressed also admitted they thought they were suffering from depression the theory would be proven wrong.
b) I chose this because it is actually taking a sample of depressed men and women and determining how many from each gender were able to admit to their state of depression. If the numbers are really off, we can rule out the theory and test another one.
c) If there is a reporting problem with men and their depression, it is possible to fix that problem. Psychologists need to encourage the men to open up more and ask them more questions to get past the men's surface. Psychologists can't just stop at the first thing men say, they need to delve deeper and see if they can find a problem.
What biological factors might account for women's greater susceptibility to depression?
Women go through many more hormonal variations than men. Women have to give birth to children, deal with PMS, a menstrual cycle, and menopause to name a few.
What social factors might account for women's greater susceptibility to depression?
I think that women face a lot of body image issue that may lead to depression. I also think that the pressure to be the best mom and have a full time job is very common these days and I think that workload can weigh women down. Also for single women, I think there is a lot more pressure to find a partner than it is for a single man.
Young boys and girls have been shown to suffer from depression equally until they reach adolescence. At that point, depression becomes much more common in women. What might account for this change?
I think this goes back to the theory that their are men not seeking treatment for their depression. I think young boys are more likely to admit that they are battling with depression but as they grow older they learn the cruel "rule" that men should keep their feelings to themselves.
Compare your answers to Questions 2 and 3 to the information provided by the National Institute of Mental Health. Use this new information to write an essay of two to three paragraphs outlining the causes of depression in women.
The causes of depression in women are not clear to psychologists at this point in time but we can look to biological factors to determine why women might be more vulnerable to depression. Events that bring changes in mood and hormones for women are their reproductive processes: the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, post pregnancy, being infertile, menopause, and never having children. The hormone changes during these events affect the brain chemistry of some women.
A social occurrence that leads many women to become depressed is being a victim of rape. Sexual abuse causes women to have low self-esteem issues. The victims often blame themselves for what happened, feel alone and helpless, and fear and distrust people. Poverty might also be another social issue that leads women to depressision. Women and children make up 75% of the U.S.'s poor population. Poor economic status brings a lot of stressors, uncertainty, illness, and an abundance of negative events. For all age groups of women, it is also common for unmarried (and widowed) women to be depressed.
Compare your answer to Question 4 to that provided by the author of the APA article. Was your response similar? If it wasn't, it doesn't mean your hypothesis is necessarily wrong, just that you'd need to design a study to test your idea. Describe how you would design a study to test your hypothesis. Keep your description relatively brief.
My response was similar on one point but different on the rest. The point I was similar on was that boys begin to not admit depression because they are taught to keep their feelings to themselves. The article says that depression rises in girls around ages 11-13 because the roles and expectations of boys and girls are changing. My answer was different from the article when I said that I think it is because of the change in attitude in boys that even if they are depressed they will not report it. The articles answer was "Studies show that female high school students have significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and adjustment disorders than male students, who have higher rates of disruptive behavior disorders." I think to try to prove my theory I will do the same test that I described for the first questions on a group of children and also a group of adults.
Should the Field of Psychology Provide Online Diagnoses?
Present an argument in support of online diagnosis. Why might it be valuable?
There are many people who let their mental disorders go untreated. They might do this because they are too ashamed to face a person and verbally talk about what it wrong with them. Now there is an alternative to going to an actual therapist because mental illnesses can be treated online. Online diagnoses can be more affective because therapist don't often use internationally, standard ways to diagnose patients. The internationally
Accepted standard for diagnosis is called the DSM-IV, which has been found to be very reliable and is used all psychiatric research is based on this system. At Mytherapy.com, their online diagnoses system conforms directly to the DSM-IV and does not stray from that path. A real life therapist might not have enough time to keep track of all their records and every patient's progress. On Mytherapy.com, they keep a record of documents and use graphs to represent a patient's progress. Another great feature of the online diagnosis site is the "Encyclopedia of Experience". This is a type of message board where patients talk about their life, illness and how they cope with it. This can be great for patients to relate to someone else in an anonymous way and also receive advice to deal with their disease.
Now, argue against it. Why might the service be problematic? How might it actually be a disservice?
Online is very impersonal. Face-to face diagnosis could be better because it is hard to explain your emotional state with just words on a screen. Online diagnosis can be dangerous because ANYONE can set up a web site claiming they are a therapy group, take people's money, misdiagnose them and then shut the web site down.
Unit Wrap Up
What was your something that you learned in the unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
The saddest part of psychology is the psychological disorders. Many people suffer from them and if diagnosed correctly, many people can be helped. It is important for psychologist, therapists, and psychiatrists to be able to correctly identify these disorders in order to help their patients. It is also important to be knowledgeable on different types of therapy to help with their disorders such as psychoanalysis, humanistic therapies, behavior therapies, cognitive therapies, and group and family therapies. It is important to know which therapy suits which disorder to be able to treat a patient.
Is it possible that women are simply more willing to admit to being depressed than men are? As a researcher, how could you assess rates of depression in a way that minimized this potential reporting problem? To answer this question: a) describe the method you would choose to collect your data; b) explain why you chose that method; and c) describe the specific measures you would take to minimize the anticipated reporting problem.
a) The method that I would use to determine whether women are more likely than men to admit to being depressed and seek help would be very simple. I would interview men and women and ask them questions about their day-to-day lives and feelings in certain situations. After I silently diagnose them, I would ask them if they think they are depressed. If there are more women who admit that they think they are depressed and I diagnosed as being depressed, that would prove the theory that depression just seems more common in women
because more women come forward to admit they are suffering from it. If most of the men I diagnosed as being depressed also admitted they thought they were suffering from depression the theory would be proven wrong.
b) I chose this because it is actually taking a sample of depressed men and women and determining how many from each gender were able to admit to their state of depression. If the numbers are really off, we can rule out the theory and test another one.
c) If there is a reporting problem with men and their depression, it is possible to fix that problem. Psychologists need to encourage the men to open up more and ask them more questions to get past the men's surface. Psychologists can't just stop at the first thing men say, they need to delve deeper and see if they can find a problem.
What biological factors might account for women's greater susceptibility to depression?
Women go through many more hormonal variations than men. Women have to give birth to children, deal with PMS, a menstrual cycle, and menopause to name a few.
What social factors might account for women's greater susceptibility to depression?
I think that women face a lot of body image issue that may lead to depression. I also think that the pressure to be the best mom and have a full time job is very common these days and I think that workload can weigh women down. Also for single women, I think there is a lot more pressure to find a partner than it is for a single man.
Young boys and girls have been shown to suffer from depression equally until they reach adolescence. At that point, depression becomes much more common in women. What might account for this change?
I think this goes back to the theory that their are men not seeking treatment for their depression. I think young boys are more likely to admit that they are battling with depression but as they grow older they learn the cruel "rule" that men should keep their feelings to themselves.
Compare your answers to Questions 2 and 3 to the information provided by the National Institute of Mental Health. Use this new information to write an essay of two to three paragraphs outlining the causes of depression in women.
The causes of depression in women are not clear to psychologists at this point in time but we can look to biological factors to determine why women might be more vulnerable to depression. Events that bring changes in mood and hormones for women are their reproductive processes: the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, post pregnancy, being infertile, menopause, and never having children. The hormone changes during these events affect the brain chemistry of some women.
A social occurrence that leads many women to become depressed is being a victim of rape. Sexual abuse causes women to have low self-esteem issues. The victims often blame themselves for what happened, feel alone and helpless, and fear and distrust people. Poverty might also be another social issue that leads women to depressision. Women and children make up 75% of the U.S.'s poor population. Poor economic status brings a lot of stressors, uncertainty, illness, and an abundance of negative events. For all age groups of women, it is also common for unmarried (and widowed) women to be depressed.
Compare your answer to Question 4 to that provided by the author of the APA article. Was your response similar? If it wasn't, it doesn't mean your hypothesis is necessarily wrong, just that you'd need to design a study to test your idea. Describe how you would design a study to test your hypothesis. Keep your description relatively brief.
My response was similar on one point but different on the rest. The point I was similar on was that boys begin to not admit depression because they are taught to keep their feelings to themselves. The article says that depression rises in girls around ages 11-13 because the roles and expectations of boys and girls are changing. My answer was different from the article when I said that I think it is because of the change in attitude in boys that even if they are depressed they will not report it. The articles answer was "Studies show that female high school students have significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and adjustment disorders than male students, who have higher rates of disruptive behavior disorders." I think to try to prove my theory I will do the same test that I described for the first questions on a group of children and also a group of adults.
Should the Field of Psychology Provide Online Diagnoses?
Present an argument in support of online diagnosis. Why might it be valuable?
There are many people who let their mental disorders go untreated. They might do this because they are too ashamed to face a person and verbally talk about what it wrong with them. Now there is an alternative to going to an actual therapist because mental illnesses can be treated online. Online diagnoses can be more affective because therapist don't often use internationally, standard ways to diagnose patients. The internationally
Accepted standard for diagnosis is called the DSM-IV, which has been found to be very reliable and is used all psychiatric research is based on this system. At Mytherapy.com, their online diagnoses system conforms directly to the DSM-IV and does not stray from that path. A real life therapist might not have enough time to keep track of all their records and every patient's progress. On Mytherapy.com, they keep a record of documents and use graphs to represent a patient's progress. Another great feature of the online diagnosis site is the "Encyclopedia of Experience". This is a type of message board where patients talk about their life, illness and how they cope with it. This can be great for patients to relate to someone else in an anonymous way and also receive advice to deal with their disease.
Now, argue against it. Why might the service be problematic? How might it actually be a disservice?
Online is very impersonal. Face-to face diagnosis could be better because it is hard to explain your emotional state with just words on a screen. Online diagnosis can be dangerous because ANYONE can set up a web site claiming they are a therapy group, take people's money, misdiagnose them and then shut the web site down.
Unit Wrap Up
What was your something that you learned in the unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
The saddest part of psychology is the psychological disorders. Many people suffer from them and if diagnosed correctly, many people can be helped. It is important for psychologist, therapists, and psychiatrists to be able to correctly identify these disorders in order to help their patients. It is also important to be knowledgeable on different types of therapy to help with their disorders such as psychoanalysis, humanistic therapies, behavior therapies, cognitive therapies, and group and family therapies. It is important to know which therapy suits which disorder to be able to treat a patient.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Unit Six
How to Improve Your Memory
What three fundamental principles underlie the use of mnemonics?
I think using the Story Method could really help on an example. An example is if you had to memorize the order of the Presidents of The United States. If you made up a memorable story that has the Presidents appear in the order they served in office, it would be a lot easier to recall the right order!
Emotional Intelligence
What undesirable behaviors are associated with low EQ?
There are a lot of undesirable behaviors that are associated with EQ. In my opinion the major ones are:
Summarize the arguments of scientists critical of the concept of EQ.
The scientists that are critical of the EQ test generally say it is because of the lack of scientific research used to develop the actual test.
Describe how the concept of EQ is being used in the business world.
The business world views someone with a high EQ as having the emotional intelligence to be a great leader. The business world also says that the EQ is twice more important than regular intelligence. The definitely assume that emotional intelligence is always a good thing.
Unit Wrap Up
I learned a lot of memory techniques in this unit. Hopefully I will be able to apply them to the final for this class! I've always enjoyed using mnemonic devices so I enjoyed reading and writing about them. I was really surprised while reading the framing techniques used by businesses. There example was that we are more likely to buy a coat for a $100 marked down from $150 then we are to buy a coat the is regularly priced $100, which I have found to be true!
What three fundamental principles underlie the use of mnemonics?
- Imagination
- Association
- Location
- Link Method: This is used to memorize objects on a list. First, you take the first item on the list and make a simple association image with the item listed under it. Example: If the first word is Eggs and the second is Bowl, you can visualize cracking an egg into a bowl.
- Story Method: This is exactly what it sounds like! You make up a memorable story featuring the items on the list.
- Number/ Shape Method: This is used when you have to remember items on a list in specific order. You simply imagine that item in the shape of its number on the list.
I think using the Story Method could really help on an example. An example is if you had to memorize the order of the Presidents of The United States. If you made up a memorable story that has the Presidents appear in the order they served in office, it would be a lot easier to recall the right order!
Emotional Intelligence
What undesirable behaviors are associated with low EQ?
There are a lot of undesirable behaviors that are associated with EQ. In my opinion the major ones are:
- Not taking responsibly for actions
- Insensitive to others' feelings
- Insecure
- Bitterness
- Overly critical of others
- Poor listening skills
Summarize the arguments of scientists critical of the concept of EQ.
The scientists that are critical of the EQ test generally say it is because of the lack of scientific research used to develop the actual test.
Describe how the concept of EQ is being used in the business world.
The business world views someone with a high EQ as having the emotional intelligence to be a great leader. The business world also says that the EQ is twice more important than regular intelligence. The definitely assume that emotional intelligence is always a good thing.
Unit Wrap Up
I learned a lot of memory techniques in this unit. Hopefully I will be able to apply them to the final for this class! I've always enjoyed using mnemonic devices so I enjoyed reading and writing about them. I was really surprised while reading the framing techniques used by businesses. There example was that we are more likely to buy a coat for a $100 marked down from $150 then we are to buy a coat the is regularly priced $100, which I have found to be true!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Personality
What specific temperaments does the Keirsey Temperament Sorter identify? List the personality types that are identified by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and explain how they are derived from these temperaments.
What specific temperaments does the Keirsey Temperament Sorter identify? List the personality types that are identified by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and explain how they are derived from these temperaments.
Rational
Idealists
Artisans
The Guardians
Identify one historical figure or current celebrity that exemplifies each of the basic temperaments identified by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Explain why this individual's personality "fits" a specific temperament.
Rationals
The Guardians
After taking the test yourself, do you agree with your scored profile? Why or why not?
The scientific validity of some "trait tests" of personality (such as the Myers-Briggs) has recently been questioned. Is there reason to believe that the Keirsey Temperament Sorter has greater validity? Does the site offer empirical support for its claims?
The site believes that that the Sorter is just reliable as a Myers-Briggs. They do not have official statistics on the reliability or validity because they dub that information as meaningless. The believe it is not the actual questionnaire that is important, it is the descriptions they provide of the temperaments and sorters that are important which are reliable.
Exploring Social Psychology
Briefly summarize three recent examples of social psychology in the news.
Give three examples of social psychological principles in humor.
Gender roles, norm violations and perceptions
List 10 steps for effectively negotiating the purchase of a used car.
Step 1: Starting out.
Step 2: Locating the right used car.
Step 3: Used car bargains.
Step 4: Research your prospective used car.
Step 5: How much can you afford?
Step 6: Set up financing for your used car.
Step 7: Used car markets.
Step 8: Test driving a used car.
Step 9: Negotiating for a used car.
Step 10: Closing the deal.
What are the top 10 "rejection lines" used by women and men?
10.You are like a brother/sister to me.
9. There is a slight difference in our ages.
8. I'm not attracted to you in THAT way.
7. My life is too complication at this moment.
6. I already have a boyfriend or girlfriend.
5. I don't date co-workers.
4. It's not you, it's me.
3. I'm concentrating on my career right now.
2. I'm celibate.
1. Let's be friends instead.
Unit Wrap Up
What was something you learned in the unit? What other points do want to share about the unit?
During this unit, I was able to expand my definition and thoughts about personality. I found Freud's studies very interesting, I know his studies aren't the most scientific but they do serve as a base of what we know today. I think he did a good job in his psychology studies considering the limited information that was available to him at the time. I've always enjoyed personality studies and learned the "big five factors". The five personality dimensions are stability, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. I also had a great time taking the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and learned a lot more about myself and other people.
- ARCHITECTS
- MASTERMINDS
- INVENTORS
- FIELDMARSHALS
Idealists
- HEALERS
- COUNSELORS
- CHAMPIONS
- TEACHERS
Artisans
- COMPOSERS
- CRAFTERS
- PERFORMERS
- PROMOTERS
The Guardians
- INSPECTORS
- PROTECTORS
- SUPERVISORS
- PROVIDERS
Identify one historical figure or current celebrity that exemplifies each of the basic temperaments identified by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Explain why this individual's personality "fits" a specific temperament.
Rationals
- Albert Einstein: His accomplishments for the science and math fields truly fulfill the rational's knowledge seeking personality. Rationals educationally chose science and Einstein's contributions to the field are huge.
- Mohandas Gandhi: Idealists are skillful in the handling of people and that was Gandhi's talent. Gandhi was able to free India and its 500 million people from the British Empire, without any violence.
- Bob Dylan: Artisans operate artistically. Dylan wasn't interested in political action, he just liked writing songs and performing to have an impact on people. He never wanted to go and physically change the world, he just enjoyed singing about it.
The Guardians
- Mother Teresa: Guardians are concrete in communication and cooperative in implementing goals. Mother Teresa never wanted to be the boss, she was cooperating with her order from God to protect those who were in need. Through her excellent communication she was able to from 570 missions all over the world. She was reliable, she worked long hours and no task was too large. She did good deeds by taking care and watching over the poorest of the poor.
After taking the test yourself, do you agree with your scored profile? Why or why not?
My scored profile was The Guardian. I saw myself a lot in the description of this profile. It said that a guardian has a lot of fun with friends but is quite serious when it comes to duties and responsibilities. People have always noticed that about me. When I'm at work and school, I am so serious and focused on my goals. Outside of work and school, I am so goofy... people can't even believe I'm the same person! My profile also said that I am not good at winging things, which is true. I always have to be really prepared to do well and I have to study a lot. Also like a guardian, I take change very gradually!
The scientific validity of some "trait tests" of personality (such as the Myers-Briggs) has recently been questioned. Is there reason to believe that the Keirsey Temperament Sorter has greater validity? Does the site offer empirical support for its claims?
The site believes that that the Sorter is just reliable as a Myers-Briggs. They do not have official statistics on the reliability or validity because they dub that information as meaningless. The believe it is not the actual questionnaire that is important, it is the descriptions they provide of the temperaments and sorters that are important which are reliable.
Exploring Social Psychology
Briefly summarize three recent examples of social psychology in the news.
- Recent studies have found that transcendental meditation can help the mental and physical health of those experiencing heart failure. The studies found that the meditation improved high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.
- The death of Rebecca Rileys's death, a two year old who died from taking power psychiatric drugs has risen a lot of controversy. It has been found that many of the drugs have not been tested enough on children and have not been approved my the FDA to be used by children. It is controversial because many people feel that the drugs help their children live normal lives but others argue that diagnosing children with psychiatric illness as young as 2 years old is too soon.
- New research in the field of childcare will appear in the March issue of Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. The research is regarding how the quality of childcare relates to the development of language components. It was found in children of similar family backgrounds that those with the low quality childcare has less advanced language development than those with the high-quality childcare.
Give three examples of social psychological principles in humor.
Gender roles, norm violations and perceptions
List 10 steps for effectively negotiating the purchase of a used car.
Step 1: Starting out.
Step 2: Locating the right used car.
Step 3: Used car bargains.
Step 4: Research your prospective used car.
Step 5: How much can you afford?
Step 6: Set up financing for your used car.
Step 7: Used car markets.
Step 8: Test driving a used car.
Step 9: Negotiating for a used car.
Step 10: Closing the deal.
What are the top 10 "rejection lines" used by women and men?
10.You are like a brother/sister to me.
9. There is a slight difference in our ages.
8. I'm not attracted to you in THAT way.
7. My life is too complication at this moment.
6. I already have a boyfriend or girlfriend.
5. I don't date co-workers.
4. It's not you, it's me.
3. I'm concentrating on my career right now.
2. I'm celibate.
1. Let's be friends instead.
Unit Wrap Up
What was something you learned in the unit? What other points do want to share about the unit?
During this unit, I was able to expand my definition and thoughts about personality. I found Freud's studies very interesting, I know his studies aren't the most scientific but they do serve as a base of what we know today. I think he did a good job in his psychology studies considering the limited information that was available to him at the time. I've always enjoyed personality studies and learned the "big five factors". The five personality dimensions are stability, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. I also had a great time taking the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and learned a lot more about myself and other people.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sleep Studies
In the past century, we have reduced our average sleep time by 20 percent. Going back 20 years, identify societal changes and changes in individual lifestyles that encourage wakefulness and discourage sleep.
It is so hard to believe that so much has changed in the last twenty years and it really has changed dramaticly. One of the big factor of sleep loss in today's society is the emergence of the personal home computer. Alot of people now have atleast one computer in their house which keeps some people up late at night chatting, working,gaming, and just surfing the web. I would know, I've lost many of hours of precious sleep chatting and playing internet games! Another communication device, a cellular phone, has seen incredible rapid increase over the last 20 years. The cellular phone allows people to get in touch from anywhere at anytime. Fears can also keep people awake a night and after the 9/11 attacks, terrorism has been on a lot of people's minds. As time has past work hours have increased especially in business because of damanding competition.
Many more women than men suffer from chronic sleep loss. What social, psychological, and physiological factors might account for this gender difference?
Biological conditions affect women's sleep. These unique female conditions are the menstrual cycle, pregancy, and menopause. In fact, about 50% of women report that bloating from the menstrual cycle can cause sleep loss for up to three days.
Ninety-five percent of individuals that suffer from sleep disorders are never diagnosed or treated for their disorder. What factors might explain why sleep disorders often go untreated and undiagnosed?
This can happen for many reasons. The first reason is because alot of people are not educated on sleeping disorders and do not even know they suffer from one. When they go to their regular physician, the physician might not know alot about sleep orders because it was left out of their medical training. Another reason is that while in the doctor's office, many patients will not bring up a problem unless they are specifically questioned about it. If the patient is not asked about their sleeping habits, they might not feel the need to even bring it up.
Many more women than men suffer from chronic sleep loss. What social, psychological, and physiological factors might account for this gender difference?
Biological conditions affect women's sleep. These unique female conditions are the menstrual cycle, pregancy, and menopause. In fact, about 50% of women report that bloating from the menstrual cycle can cause sleep loss for up to three days.
Ninety-five percent of individuals that suffer from sleep disorders are never diagnosed or treated for their disorder. What factors might explain why sleep disorders often go untreated and undiagnosed?
This can happen for many reasons. The first reason is because alot of people are not educated on sleeping disorders and do not even know they suffer from one. When they go to their regular physician, the physician might not know alot about sleep orders because it was left out of their medical training. Another reason is that while in the doctor's office, many patients will not bring up a problem unless they are specifically questioned about it. If the patient is not asked about their sleeping habits, they might not feel the need to even bring it up.
Unit Wrap-Up
I learned a lot about alcoholism in this unit because of the research paper that I wrote. The most important part about writing the research paper is the journey to the end. Sometimes the finished product might not always be the best, but it is what you learn from research along the way that is very rewarding. Through the sources I used for my research paper I was able to find out things about alcoholism that I didn’t know and I was able to form my own opinions about the disease (yes, I do believe it is a disease). I also found the drug legalization discussion very thought-provoking. I love to hear and learn from the opinions of my classmates and I love to share mine.
What was your something that you learned in the unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
I learned a lot about alcoholism in this unit because of the research paper that I wrote. The most important part about writing the research paper is the journey to the end. Sometimes the finished product might not always be the best, but it is what you learn from research along the way that is very rewarding. Through the sources I used for my research paper I was able to find out things about alcoholism that I didn’t know and I was able to form my own opinions about the disease (yes, I do believe it is a disease). I also found the drug legalization discussion very thought-provoking. I love to hear and learn from the opinions of my classmates and I love to share mine.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Human Development
Summer Camp
The first age group is the 18 month old stage. According to Erik Erikson this stage is toddlerhood and it is a time when children begin to excercise their will and start to do things for themselves. This stage is also classified under Piaget's Pre-Operational period. This is an exciting stage when children begin to use mental imagery and language. Great activities for this age are puzzle time with simple puzzles, shape sorting, and an elaborate story time with finger puppets.
Erikson's Preschooler stage helps develop stimulating activities for the 5 year old group. This is a time when the child learns to initiate certain tasks and carry them out. This group also marks the end of Piaget's Pre-Operational period and the beginning of the Concrete Operational stage. Children at this age can begin to reason with concrete knowledge but have trouble looking at the abstract side of things. Great activities for this stage are realistic play stations for role playing such as stores and kitchens. Musical instruments for marching band play also provide a valuable learning experience.
The twelve year old age group is in Erikson's Elementry category and marks the time when children begin to enjoy applying themselves to tasks. This is classified as the beginning of the Formal Operational stage in Piaget's studies. People begin to be able to think logically and abstractly as well as theoretically. A great activity for this age is a building lab which includes everything from legos to boards, nails, popsicle sticks and glue. A fun physical challege is an obstacle course made for individual and team competition.
The 18 year old age group is in Erikson's Adolescence stage. During this stage, teens work at refining sense of self by testing out roles and then intergrating these experiences into one identity. Piaget's Formal Operations stage describes this age group as being self motivators. Exciting adventure training for this age group includes hiking, camping and climbing. Additional fun activities are watersports such as swimming, canoeing, rafting, and fishing.
Unit Wrap Up
What was something that you learned in this unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
I learned extensively about Piaget and Erikson especially during this blog activity. Their theories on human development help break down the stages so they are easier to study and understand. I also learned alot about parenting styles and I have been able to form my own opinions about those styles (I believe authoritative is the best). I really enjoyed the discussion topics for this unit because I enjoyed voicing my opinions on the interesting subjects and hearing what other people thought.
The first age group is the 18 month old stage. According to Erik Erikson this stage is toddlerhood and it is a time when children begin to excercise their will and start to do things for themselves. This stage is also classified under Piaget's Pre-Operational period. This is an exciting stage when children begin to use mental imagery and language. Great activities for this age are puzzle time with simple puzzles, shape sorting, and an elaborate story time with finger puppets.
Erikson's Preschooler stage helps develop stimulating activities for the 5 year old group. This is a time when the child learns to initiate certain tasks and carry them out. This group also marks the end of Piaget's Pre-Operational period and the beginning of the Concrete Operational stage. Children at this age can begin to reason with concrete knowledge but have trouble looking at the abstract side of things. Great activities for this stage are realistic play stations for role playing such as stores and kitchens. Musical instruments for marching band play also provide a valuable learning experience.
The twelve year old age group is in Erikson's Elementry category and marks the time when children begin to enjoy applying themselves to tasks. This is classified as the beginning of the Formal Operational stage in Piaget's studies. People begin to be able to think logically and abstractly as well as theoretically. A great activity for this age is a building lab which includes everything from legos to boards, nails, popsicle sticks and glue. A fun physical challege is an obstacle course made for individual and team competition.
The 18 year old age group is in Erikson's Adolescence stage. During this stage, teens work at refining sense of self by testing out roles and then intergrating these experiences into one identity. Piaget's Formal Operations stage describes this age group as being self motivators. Exciting adventure training for this age group includes hiking, camping and climbing. Additional fun activities are watersports such as swimming, canoeing, rafting, and fishing.
Unit Wrap Up
What was something that you learned in this unit? What other points do you want to share about the unit?
I learned extensively about Piaget and Erikson especially during this blog activity. Their theories on human development help break down the stages so they are easier to study and understand. I also learned alot about parenting styles and I have been able to form my own opinions about those styles (I believe authoritative is the best). I really enjoyed the discussion topics for this unit because I enjoyed voicing my opinions on the interesting subjects and hearing what other people thought.
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