AP Psych This Semester =)

This year in psychology has had its interesting moments. I enjoyed the parts about abnormal psychology, social psychology, emotion, psychological disorders, and the section about the brain and what it does and how it works. I also enjoyed the discussions and conversations that we had because it made the class more fun to be in. It was a good class to go to first period. Although I did like learning about what the brain does, I did not like memerizing all of the structures and diagraming them on quizzes. It was a lot to remember and it was not fun, but I guess it was necessary.

My favorite activites have been the shows and videos we were able to watch because they were very interesting. I especially liked the one where the people were locked up in a room for a certain number of hours and were deprived of certain senses, such as sight. It was interesting to see what that really does to a person. I also liked the video yesterday on what would people do in certain situations. I did not think that the people wold react the way they did and it was funny to watch.

I took psychology because I actually do have an interest in it and I wanted to learn about what supposidly makes people do what they do, but I do wish that I could have learned more. I wish that maybe we could have covered more topics and gone into more detail at times, but I understand that it had to get cut short because we have only one semester to be in class. My least favorite chapters were the ones about sensation and perception. I thought that they were okay and I learned some things that I did not know, but it is not something I would enjoy hearing about again. The part I liked most about it were the optical illusions.

Overall though, I think that everything that we learned this semester does need to keep being taught because it's important to psychology. The beginning essay we wrote about another person without telling them can be left out though, I think. It was too easy for people to choose someone that they actually were friends with and knew very well and because of that some people did not really get anything out of it. Maybe for the students next year, more acceptable experiments can be performed and there can be more interaction activities. For economics next semester, I hope that we can be able to learn all that we need to know but still enjoy it and not be too stressed out =). But besides that, I enjoyed taking psychology this semester and I am glad that I did decide to.

An Autistic Savant Mind

I found an interesting article on Daniel Tammet, the man who memorized the first 22,514 numbers of pi. He did an interview with editor Jonah Lehrer and Tammet revealed a lot about the way that he thinks.

Tammet said that when he was a young child in school, he was not even close to being seen as smart. He had difficulties learning things the way teachers taught them because his mind worked in a total different way. He saw numbers especially in a different way. Tammet sees numbers as all having some kind of relationship with one another and later, this is what he explained helped him remember that many decimal places of pi. To Mr. Tammet, "numbers to [him] have their own shapes, colors and textures" and are much more than just ink on a page. Also, Tammet had a hard time figuring out people's emotions, understanding their body language, and looking people in the eye. These are all complications of autism and Tammet had to acquire these skills that come naturally to others.

He moves on to talk about how he was able to learn the numbers of pi and it is very interesting.
Tammet says that "a simple example would be the number 37, which is lumpy like oatmeal, and 111 which is similarly lumpy but also round like the number three (being 37 x 3). Where you might see an endless string of random digits when looking at the decimals of Pi, my mind is able to “chunk” groups of these numbers spontaneously into meaningful visual images that constitute their own hierarchy of associations," This is why Tammet is not able to simply just remember one more number because for him, again, they are not that simple and there has to be a relationship between them.

When asked if he is ever surprised by the way he thinks and his amazing abilities, Tammet simply replies that he finds it strange that not everyone thinks this way. Personally, I think that it is amazing that his mind is able to see numbers this way and process other information so differently from the way that most people do. It was a very good article and everyone should read it =).

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=savants-cognition-thinking

My Personality

From the Jung Typology Test my results were 22 percent extraverted, 50 percent intuitive and feeling and 11 percent judging. I agree with the intuitive, feeling, and judging results but I dont agree as much with the extraverted results. Although I am very quiet at times I believed that I would have had a slightly higher percent because in certain situations I can be more talkative and open. I agree with the jobs that would fit my results, such as careers in the science field and psychology, because these are the subjects that I enjoy most.

For the Personality Test I received a high score in the area of agreeableness and conscientiousness, which I agree with because I do work hard and I am a generally good-natured person. I received pretty high scores in the area of extraversion and openness to experience. I do not agree as much with the extraversion because I do not do many risky activities, but I do agree with the openness to experience because I am open to new experiences.

For my EQ test, my results were that I have very high emotional intelligence and it states that I will be successful and have a drive for high performance in life. I agree with the part of the test that says that I need to take more time out to reflect on what is important in life because I dont get to do that often.

For the attraction test, I found the qualities presented less attractive than the average person. For every category except for guys who look intelligent, my number was lower than the average number. I do not completely agree with this because the pictures were misleading and I care more about the different qualities than was represented.

For my last personality test, I took the emotional profile test. My scores were above average for positive affect, negative affect, joviality, shyness, fatigue, serenity, and surprise. I agree with them all except for negative affect. I believe that all of the rest characterize me quite well. i received below average scores for fear, hostility, guilt, sadness, self-assuredness, and attentiveness. I agree with all of these except for self-assuredness and attentiveness. I believe that I am sure of myself most of the time and I am a very attentive person.

No one to Trust

Hi Mom and Dad

It is sad to say that college has not been going too well so far. Everyone is out to get me and there are no honest people here. Let's begin with my roomate. The first time I saw her I knew that she was a person that was up to no good. I cannot find my favorite keychain that you both bought me from Paris and I know that she had to be the one to take it. I do not have any evidence of it but I just know that it had to be her. Also, her friends are suspicious people too. She tries to convince me to let them hang out in our room sometime but they cannot be trusted. I know that they are just dying to steal something from me. I cant blame them though because I'm sure she has told them about all of the nice things I have and is devising a plan with them to take something right from under my nose.
There is also this guy that always says little comments to me when I see him in passing. He acts as if he is a nice person and is trying to be my friend but I cant really trust him either. The other day he said that he cant wait to see me at this big banquet later on that night. Now, I know this sounds like a nice thing to say but really I think he means that he cant wait to see me later so that he can criticize the way I look all dressed up and in a dress. My roomate must have told him that I do not like wearing dresses around people and he just wants to make fun of me. Why do they have to be friends?? I should have never told her about that.
The list goes on. Last week I was walking down the sidewalk to my next class and some huge, muscular guy ran right into me because he was paying more attention to a girl than to where he was walking. I fell flat on the ground and sprained my wrist in the process of trying to break my fall. Even though he apologized many times and even said he would make up for it by taking me to lunch I definitely declined. I will never forgive him for that.
As you can read, I have had so many issues with these people here. I just know someone else is going to do something mean to me and I just cant seem to make any friends. At least I know that you guys will never do anything like this to me...or will you? Are ya'll a part of the plan to be out to get me too? I hope not..

Love,

Your misfortunate daughter

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder

Case Study 5: A 28-year-old woman is a rising junior executive in her investment company. Her increasing duties require her to make periodic formal presentations to the senior management of the company. However, she becomes intensely anxious at the thought of speaking in public. When she is forced to give a presentation she begins to feel anxious days in advance of the talk and the anxiety increases as the time for the talk approaches. She is concerned that her anxiety will become noticeable during the talk or that she will do something to embarrass herself.

The patient suffers from Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder. This is characterized by the anxiety and stress of having to perform in certain social situations. People with this disorder also have intense fear of embarrasing themselves in front of others or strangers and not meeting their level of expectations. At times, this fear may be so intense that sufferers will begin to have anxiety days, weeks, or even months before the event is even scheduled to happen. Some patients will even go to great lengths just to avoid the situation all together and to avoid the embarassment they will feel. The patient will have a difficult time at her job because she will constantly have to make speeches in front of others that she does not know and the fear that others will know that she is nervous and the fear of being judged by others may keep her from being able to perform these speeches if she does not receive therapy. A good and successful method of therapy for social anxiety disorder is cognitive-behavioral therapy. With this therapy, relaxtion techniques and certain breathing exercises are taught so as to control the physical symptoms of the disorder. Also, patients are taught to slowly and gradually face their fears instead of avoiding them. The patient could also go through social skills training that will help her learn how to speak in front of others and feel confident while doing so. Through this technique of practicing until feeling comfortable, eventually the patient will overcome her anxiety and be able to perform well at her job.







http://www.mindsite.com/dsm_iv/social_phobia
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/social_anxiety_support_symptom_causes_treatment.htm

Ludwig van Beethoven and Bipolar Disorder

Ludwig van Beethoven

Many famous people suffer from psychological disorders that affect their life either negatively or, at times, the disorders contribute to their success and genius. Ludwig van Beethoven is known for his exceptional gift for composing beautiful music which contrasts to his difficult life at home. Beethoven not only suffered from deafness, but he also suffered from bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is characterized by the shifting between emotional extremes. Sufferers of this disorder go from extreme mania to extreme depression at unexpecting times and cannot explain why they vary moods so often.

Beethoven endured a difficult family life. His father was very abusive, but although this was so, Beethoven's father also taught him continuously about music after he saw that Beethoven took an interest in it at an early age. At this young age, before he even became a teenager, Beethoven had already produced his first work. Beethoven went on to produce sveral more symphonies and operas and other musical creations, while he suffered from bipolar disorder. As he got older, the disease began to affect him more and more. Beethoven often pondered suicide, a common symptom of bipolar disorder, but he also wished for more days like the ones where he experienced mania, or extreme happiness. This mania allowed him to work harder and produce more works because it brought him optimism and confidence and boosted his creativity level. Although Beethoven had days of joy he also had days of extreme depression as characterized by bipolar disorder, which caused him to have rocky relationships because of his explosive arguments and delusions. Eventually, after fighting a cold and other health problems, Beethoven died on March 26, 1827 in the company of his friends.



Although bipolar disorder is a very serious mental disorder and during the times of Beethoven there was not much relief for the victims, I believe that now it is manageable disease. Bipolar disorder may be difficult to deal with at times because of the altering moods experienced and the feelings of extreme depression, but with the help of medicine and medical advances, it is possible to lead a fairly normal life and one can have a much better outllok on life than ones suffering from bipolar disorder in earlier times had.

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html
http://www.mcmanweb.com/beethoven.html