The video I chose to watch was "The Mind: Awake and Asleep". This video talked all about the consciousness of our brains and our brain processes, whether they are conscious or not. I learned that the conscious part of our brains organizes our thoughts, much like an interior designer would do for a bedroom. Our consciousness also pieces together story lines so things make sense to us. This is relevent to me because I'm always trying to organize my thoughts and make sense of things, especially while being a student. What is interesting is that we do so many things unconsciously without even thinking about it, such as walking and breathing.
Another thing I learned was once you learn a skill, there's only a minimized awareness needed to carry out that skill. This effects me because that's exactly how I feel when I'm doing my job, most of the time I feel like I'm just going through the motions and my mind is completely somewhere else.
What suprised me most in this section was all about the dream aspect. Why we dream... to file away memories, to satisfy our own wishes. It's nice to have a little insight on why I dream what I dream.
I didn't really find anything that I dissagree with. But I do agree with many things such as when you experience some sort of trauma in your life, you are more likely to have negative dreams. A person in my life was in a car accident a few years ago, and she still has bad dreams about the car accident.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog Post #3
The first activity I did was "Ambigous Figures". In that activity, it shows you numerous photos that could be perceived as one picture or another, for example you either see a skull or a woman looking into a mirror. What I learned from this acvtivity was that everyone sees things differently because we are all unique so our brains will see different things. What suprised me about this activity was that ambiguity is very present in our every day life, and now that I think of it, that is very true. I can apply this to my everyday life by trying to look at things differently. I am stubborn, so sometimes I only think of things one way, but I should try to be more open which makes me want to interact with the world differently.
The second activity I did was "Seeing More Than Your Eye Does". In this activity you are supposed to close your left eye and focus on the cross figure, without looking at the dot. At a certain point, the dot dissapears. What i learned from this activity was that you have blindspots with your eyesight, and sometimes your brain will make up something that you aren't actually seeing. I was very suprised to learn that the brain would make up a dot that I wasn't actually seeing. I can apply this to my everyday life by paying closer attention to my blindspots and consider them more thoroughly. This activity changed the way i perceive my brain... I'm suprised it would make up that dot!
One thing I learned from this unit was when you take an opiate drug such as heroine or morphine, your brain may stop producing it's own natural opiates. Then when the drug is withdrawn, the brain may be deprived from any opiates which causes intense discomfort. This could effect how a person processes and percieves information because this person would very depressed and physically hurting, so their bain processes would be very negative. This makes me think about the brain differently now because you can basically mutilate your brain.
Another thing I learned was that if you see two pictures on a screen, the image on the right side will be processed in the left side of your brain. The image on the left will be processed in right side of your brain. We percieve and process information so in depth, I had no clue it was so complex. With the brain, I never would have thought things get processed in different parts of the brain at the same exact time when you are looking at images right next to each other.
"The Man With Two Brains" was very interesting to me. I never would have thought that a person could live with their brain split and function almost completely as a normal person. He can draw two different shapes simultaneously because of his split brain surgery, which is very cool. I think that it's a very positive aspect that he no longer has to deal with having seizures everyday, even if he is a little bit different than us with one brain.
The second activity I did was "Seeing More Than Your Eye Does". In this activity you are supposed to close your left eye and focus on the cross figure, without looking at the dot. At a certain point, the dot dissapears. What i learned from this activity was that you have blindspots with your eyesight, and sometimes your brain will make up something that you aren't actually seeing. I was very suprised to learn that the brain would make up a dot that I wasn't actually seeing. I can apply this to my everyday life by paying closer attention to my blindspots and consider them more thoroughly. This activity changed the way i perceive my brain... I'm suprised it would make up that dot!
One thing I learned from this unit was when you take an opiate drug such as heroine or morphine, your brain may stop producing it's own natural opiates. Then when the drug is withdrawn, the brain may be deprived from any opiates which causes intense discomfort. This could effect how a person processes and percieves information because this person would very depressed and physically hurting, so their bain processes would be very negative. This makes me think about the brain differently now because you can basically mutilate your brain.
Another thing I learned was that if you see two pictures on a screen, the image on the right side will be processed in the left side of your brain. The image on the left will be processed in right side of your brain. We percieve and process information so in depth, I had no clue it was so complex. With the brain, I never would have thought things get processed in different parts of the brain at the same exact time when you are looking at images right next to each other.
"The Man With Two Brains" was very interesting to me. I never would have thought that a person could live with their brain split and function almost completely as a normal person. He can draw two different shapes simultaneously because of his split brain surgery, which is very cool. I think that it's a very positive aspect that he no longer has to deal with having seizures everyday, even if he is a little bit different than us with one brain.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blog Post #2, Thinking Critically
The importance of research is plentiful. Research allows us to learn new things, to prove that certain things are true, and to disprove things that are wrong. Research helps us to learn more about our minds, bodies, health, and everything in the world. Without research, we would be ignorant to many things that are important to know today.
On PsyBlog, i read the article "Sit Up Straight! Be Confident!". As a highschool student, I see lots of slouchers on a daily basis, but hey I'm a sloucher too! I think it's funny how the article said that the people who were sitting straight and erect were more confident and thought more positive things about themselves. Yes, I am a person who slouches, but I am very confident, and I truly believe that I have a wonderful future ahead of me. Even though the research in this article reported that straight-backed students thought more positively of themselves, many teenagers slouch. I'm not saying every single teenager has bad posture, but many do. Does that mean that many teenagers think negatively of themselves? According to the reseach in this article, it does. I thought that this research was relevant because it goes against how I feel. I'm sure that this research is not accurate for some other teenagers as well.
One thing I learned from this chapter was hindsight bias. Hindisight bias is important because it shows us that we can't always rely on common sense, sometimes we need to dig deeper and actually use facts to make descions. Common sense does not easily describe what will happen, so in that case, we need research.Another thing I learned more about was critical thinking. Critical thinking is so important because we use it everyday, and it's very important to use when making important decisions. Critical thinking is also known as smart thinking. It may take more energy and time to use critical thinking, but it will probably be worth it. Another thing I learned about were wording effects. Wording effects are interesting and important because they enlighten us on how other people view things. Some people would rather "censor" ads than "not allow" them. People are less likely to approve of "welfare" rather than "aiding the needy". I find this amusing, but I'm sure that I'm also guilty of wording effects.
On PsyBlog, i read the article "Sit Up Straight! Be Confident!". As a highschool student, I see lots of slouchers on a daily basis, but hey I'm a sloucher too! I think it's funny how the article said that the people who were sitting straight and erect were more confident and thought more positive things about themselves. Yes, I am a person who slouches, but I am very confident, and I truly believe that I have a wonderful future ahead of me. Even though the research in this article reported that straight-backed students thought more positively of themselves, many teenagers slouch. I'm not saying every single teenager has bad posture, but many do. Does that mean that many teenagers think negatively of themselves? According to the reseach in this article, it does. I thought that this research was relevant because it goes against how I feel. I'm sure that this research is not accurate for some other teenagers as well.
One thing I learned from this chapter was hindsight bias. Hindisight bias is important because it shows us that we can't always rely on common sense, sometimes we need to dig deeper and actually use facts to make descions. Common sense does not easily describe what will happen, so in that case, we need research.Another thing I learned more about was critical thinking. Critical thinking is so important because we use it everyday, and it's very important to use when making important decisions. Critical thinking is also known as smart thinking. It may take more energy and time to use critical thinking, but it will probably be worth it. Another thing I learned about were wording effects. Wording effects are interesting and important because they enlighten us on how other people view things. Some people would rather "censor" ads than "not allow" them. People are less likely to approve of "welfare" rather than "aiding the needy". I find this amusing, but I'm sure that I'm also guilty of wording effects.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Section 1- First Formal Blog
Before starting Psychology class, i basically just considered psychology "the study of the mind".
Now I found out that it goes so much deeper than that. The idea of psychology has been around forever, because people have had emotions and feelings forever. Psychology is a never-ending topic, because everyday scientists are finding out more and more about our brains and how we act. Way back in the first times of studying psychology, scientists were limited to their findings, but now with all the amazing technology, we can find out so much more.
Chapter 1 enlightened me that we, as humans, are "overconfident". I loved reading about that because I know almost all of us have had a test the next day, but instead of studying that night, we go out with our friends, or relax on the computer. We are so confident that during school the next day we'll be able to study for 10 minutes and pass the test with flying colors. Most of the time, your score on the test will show that you really should have studied.
Psychology affects every single persons life. It affects my life because I think, I feel, I cry, I laugh. I show emotions, I show love. If psycology wasn't apart of our lives, we would all just be walking around like weird robots.
One thing I found interesting was the study that Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark reported, in 1947, when African-American children were given a choice between Black and White dolls, most African-American children chose the white doll. I found this so interesting, because I would think that the African-American children would prefer to identify with themselves rather than with white people, because of comfort and firmiliarity.
Another thing i found interesting was when Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day! I was just wowed when i read that because that's so random, but bound to happen at least one time. Random events cause weird things to happen!
Now I found out that it goes so much deeper than that. The idea of psychology has been around forever, because people have had emotions and feelings forever. Psychology is a never-ending topic, because everyday scientists are finding out more and more about our brains and how we act. Way back in the first times of studying psychology, scientists were limited to their findings, but now with all the amazing technology, we can find out so much more.
Chapter 1 enlightened me that we, as humans, are "overconfident". I loved reading about that because I know almost all of us have had a test the next day, but instead of studying that night, we go out with our friends, or relax on the computer. We are so confident that during school the next day we'll be able to study for 10 minutes and pass the test with flying colors. Most of the time, your score on the test will show that you really should have studied.
Psychology affects every single persons life. It affects my life because I think, I feel, I cry, I laugh. I show emotions, I show love. If psycology wasn't apart of our lives, we would all just be walking around like weird robots.
One thing I found interesting was the study that Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark reported, in 1947, when African-American children were given a choice between Black and White dolls, most African-American children chose the white doll. I found this so interesting, because I would think that the African-American children would prefer to identify with themselves rather than with white people, because of comfort and firmiliarity.
Another thing i found interesting was when Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day! I was just wowed when i read that because that's so random, but bound to happen at least one time. Random events cause weird things to happen!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Introductory Blog Post
My name is Taylre and I attend Stratford High School. I am seventeen and I'm a senior this year at Stratford. I believe that my mom has shaped me to be the person I am. She instilled me with good morals, respect, and manners because she has those qualities in herself.
The study of Psychology is so important because doctors and physiatrists need to understand the mind to help people and expand our knowledge of the human mind.
Psychology is the study of the mind, understanding the mind. Understanding why we do what we do...
The study of Psychology is so important because doctors and physiatrists need to understand the mind to help people and expand our knowledge of the human mind.
Psychology is the study of the mind, understanding the mind. Understanding why we do what we do...
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