Formal Blog 13

In the asch experiment students viewed four lines. One line was by itself and the other three were labeled A, B, and C. The students were asked to decide which line, a b or c, was the same length as the line by itself. In the experiment one student had no clue of the experiment and the others knew. At one point in the experiment the students who knew about the experiment purposely guessed the wrong line. So when it came the one student's turn he to guessed wrong even though he probably knew what the correct answer was. It is interesting how people's answers and thoughts can be changed just because of what majority says.
The prison experiment was also very interesting. It's mind blowing how people can get into their roles so much that they become their roles. I was shocked to learn that the students pretending to be prison guards actually started to be like real guards. It was surprising to learn that the guards humiliated and tortured their fellow students. It's crazy how people can become what they are pretending to be.
The milgram experiment was interesting because it showed how some people do things just because an authority figure told them to. I guess it depends on what the figure asks you to do. I like to think that I wouldn't do anything outrageous, but who knows until an authority figure asks.

Social influence occurs when an individual's thoughts or actions are affected by other people. This happens to everybody one way or another. I know that I am socially influenced all the time. Sometimes a bunch of people will guess one answer and I will have another one, but of course I change mine just because the majority says otherwise. I like to think that I would stand up and say my own answer but I just want to blend in with the other people so I take their answers.

One of the most interesting things I learned during this class was learning more about myself. This class gave me an opportunity to understand why I do many of the things that I do. I now understand more about my social behaviors for example. I understand more about why I choose the answers that other people choose even if they are not the answers that I believe. I am glad that I could learn more about the mind and why we do the things we do.
Thank You for teaching me.

Formal Blog 12

I do not believe that people who act abnormally should be diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Not right away, at least. Sometimes those who act abnormal do have psychological disorders but others who act abnormal just act abnormal. Some time people try to act like they have a disorder just for attention. Just because you act the way you do, doesn't mean you have a psychological disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexciting state of mania. This disorder was once called manic depressive disorder. During the manic phase, the person is typically over talkative, overactive, and elated. They have little need for sleep and show fewer sexual inhibitions. During the depressive phase the person feels useless and sad. They do not feel the sense of life or the need to be there. I believe that bipolar disorder wouldn't be as bad to live with as some people make it seem. I would have my ups and downs but I wouldn't have to worry about multiple personalities or the antisocial serial killer problem.

I found it very interesting to learn about the different psychological disorders there are. I am glad that I got to learn more about bipolar disorder. This also gave my friends an opportunity to learn about, so now they can stop calling me bipolar whenever I have a "bad" day and then have a "good" day. If I truly had bipolar disorder my "bad" day would last a much longer period as well as my "good" days.

Formal Blog 11

Some of my positive traits include kindness, fairness, faithfulness, loyalty, and tolerance. These traits are positive because it is good to be kind and treat people fair and equal. Also it is good to be loyal those that are close to you. Some of my negative traits include stubbornness, pessimism, and being picky. Being stubborn is a very negative trait of mine because I'm always picking fights with people and insist that I am right, even though I know that sometimes I am wrong. I guess it can be considered slightly positive because I don't give up and show weakness. Pessimism is also negative because I am always pointing out flaws in everything that I see. For example if there was a book that I was reading, I would talk more about why the book was bad and where it needs improvement, instead of saying what I enjoyed about it.

Like I said before I can be quite pessimistic. Although I can be pessimistic I don't think that I fit into a particular category. I am both optimistic and pessimistic. I am optimistic when I try to encourage people. I try to help other people see positive points of problems that they might be facing. When it comes to myself, I can be quite pessimistic. I often find fault with myself and tend to feel ashamed and disappointed with myself. Being pessimistic and optimistic both impact my life because it shapes me as a person. Negative feelings may hold me back but it a way they can help make me stronger. For example the death of a family member may make me feel very sad and I might complain how everything around me is depressing or that I don't like anything anymore. This will make me stronger once I can get past the sad feelings. I will mature and become stronger when facing death or other sad events. Positive feelings of optimism will help me move forward. I will feel unstoppable, like everything is going right for me. Pessimism and optimism play an important role in my life.

My personality changes from situation to situation depending on my mood. I may react a particular way in one situation and, if my mood changes, a completely different way even though it is the same situation. One day I might look forward to going to Psychology class and a different day I might dread going. It might depend on how my day was going earlier or it might depend on the topic of discussion for class. My personality might change when meeting knew people. I might be shy and sweet to a person that I just meet, but I will joke around and be loud with a friend that I have known for a long time. The reason my traits change is possibly because I am unfamiliar with some surroundings and I am not sure how to act. I might not trust the surrounding so I will be quiet and keep to myself. My traits are shifting depending on my surrounding and what is happening around me.

Some defense mechanisms that I use include displacement and denial. I believe that I use displacement because I have a temper and often take my anger out on objects. I have been angry enough do break a cabinet mirror by slamming it shut. The reason I slammed the cabinet shut was because I was running late for school and I could not get my contacts in. I am very, very ashamed of my temper and I do not like to talk about it. This is where denial comes in. I often deny having a temper because I do not like to talk about it. Other times I get frustrated because of a bad day and I argue and flight with my family.. Being angry embarrasses me and makes me feel like a bad person so I try to ignore and forget about it.

Formal Blog 10

After reading chapter 9 I learned about how our brains develop allowing us to think and comprehend. I enjoyed reading about how we learn language. We start in the babbling stage at about 4 months of age. During the babbling stage we spontaneously utter various sounds that are unrelated to the household language. When we are about 10 months old our babbling starts to resemble household language. The next stage is the one-word stage which occurs when we are about a year old. During this stage we speak using one word. The next stage occurs when we are about 2 years old. This is the two word stage which consists of two word statements. When we are older than 2 we start using more words. Our language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

Creative Intelligence is demonstrated in reacting adaptively to novel situations and generating novel ideas. Creativity is the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. Sternberg came up with 5 components of creativity. They include:

Expertise - a well developed base of knowledge, furnishes the ideas, images, and phrases we use as mental building blocks.

Imaginative thinking skills - provide the ability to see things in novel ways, to reorganize patterns, an to make connections.

A venturesome personality - seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming obstacles.

Intrinsic motivation - is being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures.

A creative environment - sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas.

Many people assume that I am creative just because I am good at art. I believe that creativity and artistic talent come together. I do not find myself creative because I can never come up with an idea for an art project unless someone provides one for me. Sometimes I wish that I could come up with wonderful project ideas, but usually I think too hard about a project and nothing creative comes to mind.

The most important thing I read from chapter 10 was the different types of intelligences. After taking the 80 question intelligence test I discovered that I was most intelligent in music. I kind of agree with that because I really enjoy listen to music and playing the piano. I find listening to music very relaxing and it can help me to be creative. I enjoyed taking the test because it gave me an opportunity to learn more about myself and what I am intelligent in.

Formal Blog 9

Memory is very important because with out memory we wouldn't be able to do anything. We wouldn't remember how to eat, how to talk, how to walk. We wouldn't be able to do anything. Everyday would be new. Clive Wearing is a British musician who suffered a viral encephalitis attack in 1985. For 22 years Clive has been unable to make new memories because of his case of amnesia. Clive's wife has stayed by his side for these difficult years. Other than his wife all Clive has is his music. Friends say that Clive is his music personality is the same as it was before the attack. It is unbelievable that his wife stays by his side and helps him through each day. She knows that he needs her. She is a familiar face among hundreds of strangers that he encounters. I don't know what I would do if the person I loved couldn't make new memories. I wouldn't know unless it had actually happened to me.

Before reading this chapter. I didn't realize how easily memories can be changed in your mind. It was interesting learning about how memories can be created just because your family talks about an event and shows you pictures of an event. It was also interesting learning about how using certain words can alter a person's memory. For example when asked how much glass there was at a accident scene, the amount varies when the accident was explained differently. One might say that there is a lot of glass if the would crashed is used to explain when the cars hit each other. One might say that there is very little glass if the word bumped is used to explain the cars hitting each other.

I found it interesting reading about deja vu. Deja vu is French for already seen. It is an eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience. Some people conclude that deja vu happens because of reincarnation or precognition.James Lampinen suggests that a situation feels familiar when moderately similar to several events. You might recognize a person or feel like you've seen a person before, because of seeing the person's family before meeting them. Another theory is attributions to dual processing. If there is a slight neural hiccup and one track's signal is delayed, perhaps it feels like a repeat of the earlier one, creating an illusion that we are now re-experiencing something.

Formal Blog 8

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. An example of classical conditioning is Pavlov's experiments. Pavlov presented a neutral stimulus just before an unconditioned stimulus. The neutral stimulus then became a conditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response. Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher. An a example of this is Skinner's experiments. Skinner designed a box called Skinner's box. Inside the box, the rat pressed a bar for a food reward. Outside, a measuring device records the animal's accumulated responses. Classical conditioning deals with stimuli, but operant conditioning deals with organisms and their own actions/ consequences. Both of these relate to my life. Classical conditioning relates to my life because if I hear something in the kitchen I usually assume that it is my mom cooking so I get hungry. Operant conditioning relates to me because the more I complain the quicker my parents will make decisions.

Positive reinforcement is increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response. Negative reinforcement is increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. Punishment is an event that decreases behavior that it follows. An example of positive reinforcement is that when I was younger I had some classes that if I would do good in class and participate I would receive candy or some sort of reward. An example of negative reinforcement would be when I hit the snooze button on my alarm. An example of punishment is when I would receive a spanking for being disobedient or naughty.

It was interesting learning about both classical and operant conditioning. After reading about classical conditioning I learned about Ivan Pavlov and his experiment with dogs. Before using the bell and the food at the same time, the dogs did not produce saliva unless food was presented. Once Pavlov started presenting food at the same time he rang the bell, the dog would produce saliva every time it heard the bell. After reading about operant conditioning I learned that it was about the organism being in control of their own actions and consequences. It was interesting learning about the rats that have been trained to find land mines. Once the rat finds the land mine they receive a bite of banana. It's neat how we are examples of both conditionings. An example of classical conditioning, if we hear a school bell ring we know that class is over and we can get up and leave. An example of operant conditioning is that if you want your parents to give your an answer to you question, faster, you can whine alot. Usually your parents won't want to listen to you whine because they don't want to deal with it and they will provide a quick and short answer.

Formal Blog 7

I would explain that sensation is when you use your senses, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Sensation is a mental process resulting from external stimulation. Perception is awareness. You will be aware of heat or cold. I believe that sensation and perception are very alike and work closely together.

I enjoyed learned about the eye and ear. I learned how many parts there are for each and what each part does. The eye consists of the pupil, lens, retina, iris, cornea, fovea, the optic nerve, and the blind spot. The pupil is what light passes through. The lens is located behind the pupil and focuses incoming light rays into an image on the retina. The retina is the light sensitive inner surface of the eye. The iris is the ring of muscle that adjusts light intake. This is the colored portion of the eye that you see. The fovea is the central focal point in the retina. The optic nerve is the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. Your blind spot is the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye creating a blind spot. I also learned that the ear consists of many parts. I enjoy learning about how things work, so it was a great opportunity for me to learn about how the eye, hear, and brain all work together.

I read the article Best Optical Illusions Online. The writer of the article claimed how they had gotten into an arguement with another person about an illusion. The illusion was a woman going around in one direction, but then unexpectly goes the other direction. The writer talked to a women who believes that she cannot trust what she is seeing if her brain is going to lie to her. She believes that the illusion actually switched directions, but it didn't. The writer tried to explain that it was just an illusion and she was thinking about it too much, but she insisted that she was right. She questioned everything. She wondered about her eyes and what her brain was doing when it tried to make sense of everything. I thought it was interesting because it was a story and personal experience which always makes reading articles or papers alot easier. This article makes me wonder if some people do have problems where there brain will "lie" to them or if people can't understand the point of illusions.