We've made it! A whole semester of psychology all here in one blog! I'm glad that my psychology instructor had the class choose some sort of project that forced us to look more into subjects that we discussed in class (REALLY GLAD; ok no sarcasm, it was kind of fun).
First, let me start by saying, thanks for following along! I've really enjoyed getting my thoughts and words on different subjects out on a blog. This was really fun! We've learned a lot this year! We started with psychologists such as Erikson and Kohlberg. Then we went on to learn about sleep, consciousness and unconsciousness, and different sleep disorders. Then on to conditioning. We heard about how Pavlov trained (or conditioned) his dogs and Skinner experimented with his mice. Then, who remembers what was next? Oh yeah, MEMORY!! Next, we went on to get smart and learn how to do so. Ok, not quite, but we did learn about some guys that told us what we need to be successful. Ok, a little bit. Sternberg and Gardner told us why they think we need 3 and 8 intelligences (respectively) to be a better intellect. Then, I made you take some tests to learn how smart (or dumb, just kidding!) you really are! I told you about the history behind IQ tests, and then after intelligence, we did emotion theories! From there, we got a little serious and I opened up about my struggle with depression and self-injury. To me, that is the most important post to read out of all of these. Lastly, we talked about some different types of therapy.
I just want to say, I really hoped you enjoyed my blog. Thank you for reading along!
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Therapy (not physical)
Well, I hope you learned something in my last blog. I don't want pity or attention; I want to bring awareness and hope to the issues that are depression and self-harm. In this (second-to-last) post, we're going to be talking about 5 different types of psychotherapies. So let's get started!
Psychodynamic
In this behavior, the patient is generally on some sort of couch or in a comfortable position. The therapist is most likely looking at you and watching you while you answer his/her questions. This therapy focuses on childhood memories and unresolved conflicts or experiences occurring during a young age. The therapist tends to guide you to figure out your problem by yourself.
Client-centered
In client-centered therapy, the patient and therapist sit facing each other in chairs at a comfortable distance apart. This is the standard for therapy that I have endured. In this therapy, the therapist will help the patient to overcome barriers or painful problems that are affecting the patient in a negative way. The therapist and the patient tend to have even conversations, not lecture by the therapist and not all talking by the patient.
Behavior
In this therapy, the patients are dealing with dysfunctional behavior that they need help terminating. Often in behavior therapy, the patients are of a younger age. They need to relearn important and adaptive behavior. Therapists often use classical or operant conditioning to help their patients learn or relearn positive behaviors.
Cognitive, Cognitive-behavioral
In this type of therapy, the goal is to end any negative or self-destructive thoughts or behaviors. The therapist's goal is to promote healthier lifestyles; hence, no self-destructive talk or behavior.
Group and Family
In this type of therapy, there would be some sort of dysfunction going on that would lead a whole family to go to therapy. The goal is aimed at fixing harmed relationships and healing possible wounds. The therapist helps the whole family to work through their problems and to better understand each other.
And those are the main types (or categories) of modern psychotherapies!
I've got a little more to say to wrap up this whole year so check back next time!!
 |
| Psychodynamic https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-shrink-tank/ 201002/let-the-evidence-show-psychodynamic -therapy-provides-effective-and |
In this behavior, the patient is generally on some sort of couch or in a comfortable position. The therapist is most likely looking at you and watching you while you answer his/her questions. This therapy focuses on childhood memories and unresolved conflicts or experiences occurring during a young age. The therapist tends to guide you to figure out your problem by yourself.
Client-centered
 |
| Client-centered http://psychology.about.com/od/ typesofpsychotherapy/a/client-centered-therapy.htm |
 |
| Behavior http://www.cnnh.org/treatments /cognitive-behavioral-therapy/ |
In this therapy, the patients are dealing with dysfunctional behavior that they need help terminating. Often in behavior therapy, the patients are of a younger age. They need to relearn important and adaptive behavior. Therapists often use classical or operant conditioning to help their patients learn or relearn positive behaviors.
Cognitive, Cognitive-behavioral
In this type of therapy, the goal is to end any negative or self-destructive thoughts or behaviors. The therapist's goal is to promote healthier lifestyles; hence, no self-destructive talk or behavior.
Group and Family
In this type of therapy, there would be some sort of dysfunction going on that would lead a whole family to go to therapy. The goal is aimed at fixing harmed relationships and healing possible wounds. The therapist helps the whole family to work through their problems and to better understand each other.
And those are the main types (or categories) of modern psychotherapies!
I've got a little more to say to wrap up this whole year so check back next time!!
My story
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a very happy person. I'm silly, goofy, and wow, I am weird. I make it a mission to try to make everyone I come across happy. Whether it's family, friends, or strangers, I just don't want to see sadness. I have always been that way, ever since I was young.
If someone sees me sad, they know that something is definitely wrong. So, what if I tell that I know what depression feels like? I know how it is to feel completely and utterly worthless and like life isn't worth living? Because I do.
As I mentioned in my last blog, I've been diagnosed with OCD. However, I was diagnosed with depression and self-injury issues last year. Not many people know that, so I am just starting to open my struggles with. This post isn't really going to focus on anything technically, but more my experience with depression.
I don't know when it started. I can't remember the first day that I felt completely sad and out of control of my feelings. It started sometime last summer. I just didn't want to keep going in my life. I didn't know why I was here on this earth or why I was still alive. What was really devastating was that I had just started a new job that I actually was very excited about. You know how it is when you start a new job, you want to make a good impression? It was so hard for me because I am such a happy person and when I started to go downhill, it's like I had to wear a mask. At my job, I work with several girls who are my age. It was all about making a first impression those first few months; hence, not being a sad, depressed teenage girl.
Another struggle that I was dealing with at the time was self-harm. The first time I cut was with a razor. I honestly can't explain why I first cut. I thought maybe if I could cause more physical pain, that my emotional pain would disappear. Right after I cut for the first time, I went and told my mom because I was upset with myself. She helped me to calm down and helped to adjust my environment so I didn't have any harmful objects around me. Ultimately, my mom told me, it was up to me to control myself to stop. She could take away all of my razors, but she couldn't stop me from going to the store and picking up a package of razors. That was my choice, and I had to use my self-control if I wanted to stop. I did not go get a package of razors. Instead, I found other sources to keep my "addiction" going. One day, I was desperate, I took apart a handheld pencil sharpener and kept the razor from it under a lamp next to my bed. Day after day, I ripped apart my arms, never my legs, stomach, or any other part of my body. I was limited in what I could wear because I refused to wear short sleeve shirts. Mind you, this was still summer time (still warm out). Well, my behavior carried over into the first semester of college and continuing until late November-early December. Through that time, I was seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist who was prescribing some mood stabilizers. Once we found a good mix of medicine and I worked on my sadness, one day, I just wasn't sad anymore. It was like someone flipped a switch. I could function. I could laugh and not worry about the next time I was going to cut. I could be sad, but not dysfunctionally sad that I needed to cut to feel better. I was me. I remember the most freeing moment that I felt free of my depression. Remember that piece of razor I kept next to my bed? Christmas Eve night was the night I threw it away. That evidence, that piece of pain, gone forever; and with it, my worries of cutting again.
I do want to let those out there know, hope is out there. Happiness is out there. I want to quote a few statements that helped me through my bout of depression:
"No one else can play your part." If you leave, no one, NO ONE, will ever replace you
"You, whose voice is someone's favorite voice....nothing would be the same if you did not exist"
"Hope is real"
"Hold on, I'm still alive"
Tonight, I want to end on this note. Please tonight, take a moment to hug your loved ones, call someone you haven't checked in on in a while, let someone know that they are important and no can replace them. Thank you
If someone sees me sad, they know that something is definitely wrong. So, what if I tell that I know what depression feels like? I know how it is to feel completely and utterly worthless and like life isn't worth living? Because I do.
As I mentioned in my last blog, I've been diagnosed with OCD. However, I was diagnosed with depression and self-injury issues last year. Not many people know that, so I am just starting to open my struggles with. This post isn't really going to focus on anything technically, but more my experience with depression.
I don't know when it started. I can't remember the first day that I felt completely sad and out of control of my feelings. It started sometime last summer. I just didn't want to keep going in my life. I didn't know why I was here on this earth or why I was still alive. What was really devastating was that I had just started a new job that I actually was very excited about. You know how it is when you start a new job, you want to make a good impression? It was so hard for me because I am such a happy person and when I started to go downhill, it's like I had to wear a mask. At my job, I work with several girls who are my age. It was all about making a first impression those first few months; hence, not being a sad, depressed teenage girl.
Another struggle that I was dealing with at the time was self-harm. The first time I cut was with a razor. I honestly can't explain why I first cut. I thought maybe if I could cause more physical pain, that my emotional pain would disappear. Right after I cut for the first time, I went and told my mom because I was upset with myself. She helped me to calm down and helped to adjust my environment so I didn't have any harmful objects around me. Ultimately, my mom told me, it was up to me to control myself to stop. She could take away all of my razors, but she couldn't stop me from going to the store and picking up a package of razors. That was my choice, and I had to use my self-control if I wanted to stop. I did not go get a package of razors. Instead, I found other sources to keep my "addiction" going. One day, I was desperate, I took apart a handheld pencil sharpener and kept the razor from it under a lamp next to my bed. Day after day, I ripped apart my arms, never my legs, stomach, or any other part of my body. I was limited in what I could wear because I refused to wear short sleeve shirts. Mind you, this was still summer time (still warm out). Well, my behavior carried over into the first semester of college and continuing until late November-early December. Through that time, I was seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist who was prescribing some mood stabilizers. Once we found a good mix of medicine and I worked on my sadness, one day, I just wasn't sad anymore. It was like someone flipped a switch. I could function. I could laugh and not worry about the next time I was going to cut. I could be sad, but not dysfunctionally sad that I needed to cut to feel better. I was me. I remember the most freeing moment that I felt free of my depression. Remember that piece of razor I kept next to my bed? Christmas Eve night was the night I threw it away. That evidence, that piece of pain, gone forever; and with it, my worries of cutting again.
I do want to let those out there know, hope is out there. Happiness is out there. I want to quote a few statements that helped me through my bout of depression:
"No one else can play your part." If you leave, no one, NO ONE, will ever replace you
"You, whose voice is someone's favorite voice....nothing would be the same if you did not exist"
"Hope is real"
"Hold on, I'm still alive"
Tonight, I want to end on this note. Please tonight, take a moment to hug your loved ones, call someone you haven't checked in on in a while, let someone know that they are important and no can replace them. Thank you
ADHD/OCD
We always hear these terms... "Oh, sorry I'm ADD..." "Let me do it, I have OCD.." "I can't focus. I have ADHD..." Do you really know what these terms mean? Well, that's today's topic! Let's get started!
If you were to ask someone, what is ADHD? What is the most common answer, do you think? I asked some friends and family, and the most common answer was hyperactivity. That answer is partly right. ADHD is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. ADHD's key symptoms are severe inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Typically, kids with ADHD have a very hard time in a school setting, because they can't sit still and stop talking. I've had an experience with a child who has this and it is very frustrating. The child is constantly moving, talking, asking questions, asked to stop talking over and over, told what to do over and over. I don't understand how teachers deal with students like that on a daily basis.
ADHD is diagnosed three times more often in boys than in girls. It is more common for African American children to be sent for ADHD assessment over Caucasian children (on behalf of a teacher's recommendation). However, African American youth are less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
It can be difficult to diagnose children with ADHD because honestly, sometimes it is a kid being a kid. Kids can be hyper at times and can have times of not wanting to focus. There is a difference in those children and consistently hyper children.
Also, I want to mention that ADD is actually an old-time term that used to be used before ADHD was researched. Those who were diagnosed with ADD before ADHD would actually associate themselves with the diagnosis of ADHD, predominately inattentive type.
(I was going to find a video of an ADHD child, but no clear cut videos have been posted)
The other diagnosis I want to touch on today is OCD. In preparation, I asked my family if they knew what OCD was. They answered that someone with OCD can be very particular about how things have to be done. I know what they're trying to get it, but let's get a more accurate description.
OCD is known as obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD causes severe anxiety and guilt in those affected. I have firsthand experience with this. I was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago. I've dealt with recurring bouts of sadness and self-harm in the past year or so (I will talk more about that with my depression blog). With OCD, though, imagine that you think something very sad at the beginning of the day. Then, through the whole day, you can't stop being sad and thinking about how sad you are. You go to bed with that sad thought, and when you wake up, it's still there. Constantly there, always recurring and making you sad. That is one part of OCD. The other part of OCD is compulsions. This is a repetitive behavior or thought much like the sadness that I felt. I dealt with a compulsion of hitting my head with my fist over and over and over until I was in tears from pain. The other compulsion I had was a statement that I had to beg of my mom. For some reason, my brain was telling me that my mom hated me. Obviously not true, I love my mom very much. However, I couldn't leave the subject of my mom hating me alone. This frustrated and saddened my mom, too. She couldn't control me when I was trying to hit myself, but also it was hard for her not to get frustrated when I asked her 50 times in 5 minutes if she hated me. I couldn't help myself.
At this time, I was already seeing a psychiatrist who also acted as my psychologist. We were trying to find a good drug cocktail to control my compulsions (which thank god we did). Today, I am under control, completely happy and normal.
I would never wish OCD on anybody because of what it can do to your relationships with friends and family.
So, today you learned a little bit more about me personally. I hope if you have someone who exhibits either behaviors of ADHD or OCD, that you can get them the help they need.
Thanks for reading! Check back next time!
References
What is ADHD or ADD? (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://www.help4adhd.org/en/about/what
What is OCD? (2014, April 28). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://iocdf.org/about-ocd/
If you were to ask someone, what is ADHD? What is the most common answer, do you think? I asked some friends and family, and the most common answer was hyperactivity. That answer is partly right. ADHD is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. ADHD's key symptoms are severe inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Typically, kids with ADHD have a very hard time in a school setting, because they can't sit still and stop talking. I've had an experience with a child who has this and it is very frustrating. The child is constantly moving, talking, asking questions, asked to stop talking over and over, told what to do over and over. I don't understand how teachers deal with students like that on a daily basis.
ADHD is diagnosed three times more often in boys than in girls. It is more common for African American children to be sent for ADHD assessment over Caucasian children (on behalf of a teacher's recommendation). However, African American youth are less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
It can be difficult to diagnose children with ADHD because honestly, sometimes it is a kid being a kid. Kids can be hyper at times and can have times of not wanting to focus. There is a difference in those children and consistently hyper children.
Also, I want to mention that ADD is actually an old-time term that used to be used before ADHD was researched. Those who were diagnosed with ADD before ADHD would actually associate themselves with the diagnosis of ADHD, predominately inattentive type.
(I was going to find a video of an ADHD child, but no clear cut videos have been posted)
The other diagnosis I want to touch on today is OCD. In preparation, I asked my family if they knew what OCD was. They answered that someone with OCD can be very particular about how things have to be done. I know what they're trying to get it, but let's get a more accurate description.
OCD is known as obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD causes severe anxiety and guilt in those affected. I have firsthand experience with this. I was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago. I've dealt with recurring bouts of sadness and self-harm in the past year or so (I will talk more about that with my depression blog). With OCD, though, imagine that you think something very sad at the beginning of the day. Then, through the whole day, you can't stop being sad and thinking about how sad you are. You go to bed with that sad thought, and when you wake up, it's still there. Constantly there, always recurring and making you sad. That is one part of OCD. The other part of OCD is compulsions. This is a repetitive behavior or thought much like the sadness that I felt. I dealt with a compulsion of hitting my head with my fist over and over and over until I was in tears from pain. The other compulsion I had was a statement that I had to beg of my mom. For some reason, my brain was telling me that my mom hated me. Obviously not true, I love my mom very much. However, I couldn't leave the subject of my mom hating me alone. This frustrated and saddened my mom, too. She couldn't control me when I was trying to hit myself, but also it was hard for her not to get frustrated when I asked her 50 times in 5 minutes if she hated me. I couldn't help myself.
At this time, I was already seeing a psychiatrist who also acted as my psychologist. We were trying to find a good drug cocktail to control my compulsions (which thank god we did). Today, I am under control, completely happy and normal.
I would never wish OCD on anybody because of what it can do to your relationships with friends and family.
So, today you learned a little bit more about me personally. I hope if you have someone who exhibits either behaviors of ADHD or OCD, that you can get them the help they need.
Thanks for reading! Check back next time!
References
What is ADHD or ADD? (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://www.help4adhd.org/en/about/what
What is OCD? (2014, April 28). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://iocdf.org/about-ocd/
EMOTIONS!
Well, we discussed lots of intelligence theories in the past few blogs, so now it's time for emotion theories! Stay with me in this blog because we're going to be discussing several different theories.
James-Lange Theory
This theory combines ideas of William James and Carl Lange. James and Lange both propose that emotions happen BECAUSE of an event. The equation that is proposed with this theory is...
event ---> arousal ---> interpretation ---> emotion
Example: I get home from a long day of school. No one else is home at my house, but I notice the front door is wide open. My heart starts to beat fast and my palms start to get sweaty. I'm very anxious and scared about someone being in our house.
Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and Philip Bard came up with a refutation to the James-Lange theory. Cannon and Bard thought that arousal and emotions occur simultaneously, instead of emotions following arousal (James-Lange). event ---> SIMULTANEOUS arousal, emotion
Example: After shopping, I pay for my items and go to leave the store. I feel someone following behind me. I get scared, so my heart starts to race and my muscles tense, in case I need to run away.
Schachter-Singer Theory
Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer proposed a theory that is known as the Two-Factor Theory. They have a similar mindset to James-Lange in that arousal precedes emotion. However, Schachter and Singer thought that arousal could come from a variety of emotions. Let's look at my last example to explai
n this theory as well. I'm walking across a parking lot when a strange guy starts walking toward me. By way of the two-factor theory: I see the strange guy so my heart starts racing. My heart rate is because of fear, so I am afraid. See the difference?
Lazarus Theory
This theory can also be known as the appraisal theory. This theory goes against the Schachter-Singer Theory, but somewhat agrees with the Cannon-Bard Theory (there is an extra step in this one). Richard Lazarus proposed that there are two parts of appraisal in his theory. In primary appraisal, we think how a situation affects US. In secondary appraisal, we think about how we will handle the situation (emotionally). event ---> thinking ---> SIMULTANEOUS arousal, emotion
This could be a common feeling if one co-worker gets a raise and the other does not. There may be some feelings of resentment or hurt towards the co-worker who get the raise.
Of course, as with any subject in psychology, there are many more theories regarding emotion and how we, as humans, process it.
I know this blog isn't as interesting as some of the other ones, but in psychology, not everything is fun! We'll have more fun next time. So...you have to come back! Thanks for reading!
 |
| William James http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/ 09/25/william-james-on-habit/ |
James-Lange Theory
 |
| Carl Lange http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Carl_Lange_(physician) |
event ---> arousal ---> interpretation ---> emotion
Example: I get home from a long day of school. No one else is home at my house, but I notice the front door is wide open. My heart starts to beat fast and my palms start to get sweaty. I'm very anxious and scared about someone being in our house.
 |
| Walter Cannon http://www.the-aps.org/fm /presidents/introwbc.html |
 |
| Philip Bard http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php? record_id=5859&page=15 |
Example: After shopping, I pay for my items and go to leave the store. I feel someone following behind me. I get scared, so my heart starts to race and my muscles tense, in case I need to run away.
 |
| Stanley Schachter http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Stanley_Schachter |
Schachter-Singer Theory
 |
| Jerome Singer http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/ 12/10/conversation-on-daydreaming-with-jerome-l-singer/ |
n this theory as well. I'm walking across a parking lot when a strange guy starts walking toward me. By way of the two-factor theory: I see the strange guy so my heart starts racing. My heart rate is because of fear, so I am afraid. See the difference?
 |
| Richard Lazarus http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media /releases/2002/12/04_lazarus.html |
This theory can also be known as the appraisal theory. This theory goes against the Schachter-Singer Theory, but somewhat agrees with the Cannon-Bard Theory (there is an extra step in this one). Richard Lazarus proposed that there are two parts of appraisal in his theory. In primary appraisal, we think how a situation affects US. In secondary appraisal, we think about how we will handle the situation (emotionally). event ---> thinking ---> SIMULTANEOUS arousal, emotion
This could be a common feeling if one co-worker gets a raise and the other does not. There may be some feelings of resentment or hurt towards the co-worker who get the raise.
Of course, as with any subject in psychology, there are many more theories regarding emotion and how we, as humans, process it.
I know this blog isn't as interesting as some of the other ones, but in psychology, not everything is fun! We'll have more fun next time. So...you have to come back! Thanks for reading!
Defense Mechanisms
What do you do when you're upset with someone? What about when you're angry with yourself? What if you're just sad? Today, we're going to be discussing what happens when something happens that causes us to be anxious, otherwise known as defense mechanisms. (After reading, see if you have done/do any of these.)
Sigmund Freud (who I won't give a big introduction to because by now, you should know who he is) says that repression is a basic action that terminates anxiety-filled behavior; banishing a painful thought or memory. He also created these six defense mechanisms, which he says comes from repression.
The first of the defense mechanism is regression. It is in this aspect that we may possibly revert to a more childish state of mind after encountering something that either gets us in trouble or makes us upset. For example, my mom and I got into an argument a few weeks ago over something that I shouldn't have overreacted to. Because of this, I stomped into my room, slammed the door, and pouted for the afternoon. Another example would be when I was younger (about 5 or 6 years old), I would suck my thumb when I would be very nervous about something (first day of school or camp, or having to meet new people). My brother did the same thing. The thumb-sucking is a very common repression mechanism.
The next mechanism is reaction formation. This would be defined as covering up your true emotion with an exaggerated false emotion. I work at a small bakery in Old Town Florissant. Dealing with the public will sometimes lead me to do this. If a certain customer really ticks me off and I stay mad about it the rest of the day, I may actually be more friendly to other customers to hide the fact that I'm actually very, very angry.
The third mechanism is projection. This is basically "blame someone else." I actually have seen this in a young girl I know. Instead of saying that she doesn't like a certain girl in her class, she'll tell me that this girl actually hates her. She won't own up and say that she doesn't care for the girl in her class, but instead blames her dislike on the girl that she says she doesn't like. "Oh, she hates me. I don't know why." Make sense? Let's try another one. Say a husband and wife are fighting. The husband does something that makes the wife really mad, and they start fighting. The wife is really mad at the husband, but screams at the husband that he is mad at her.
Another mechanism is rationalization. This could be described as doing something bad, but it's okay because you have a good reason for doing it. For example, someone steals medicine to save a dying relative, but they think that it's okay because they always give money to help charities get medicine for those less fortunate. Another example would be a girl in school always studies very hard for tests at school. She forgot to study for one test, so she decides to cheat. Everyone else has cheated at one point, so it's okay for her to.
The fifth mechanism is displacement. This can be described as directing your anger away from the actual source. I have actually seen a child I know take part in this. She was playing a video game on a phone and got mad because she lost the game. She was so angry so she threw the phone against the wall. She wasn't actually mad at the phone, but a game on the phone. Another example would be a brother and sister are fighting so they both go to their rooms. The brother punches a hole in the wall, and the sister throws some books on the floor. In both of these situations, the people directed their anger elsewhere.
The last mechanism I'm going to talk about is denial. There's not really a way to describe denial besides saying that one refuses to believe something that is true to everyone around them. For example, a young man has gotten several speeding tickets, but refuses to believe that he is a fast driver. Another example would be a chronic drinker. Someone may spend dollar after dollar on liquor until they don't have any money left. They still don't see a problem with the amount of alcohol that they ingest.
And those are 6 defense mechanisms that Freud observed and named. They are a few others, but we'll stick with those for today. Check back next time! Thanks for reading!
Sigmund Freud (who I won't give a big introduction to because by now, you should know who he is) says that repression is a basic action that terminates anxiety-filled behavior; banishing a painful thought or memory. He also created these six defense mechanisms, which he says comes from repression.
 |
| http://allinabox.blogspot.com/2011/09/be -best-neighbour-in-your-neighbourhood.html |
 |
| http://www.stylegerms.com /facebook-smiley-faces/ |
The third mechanism is projection. This is basically "blame someone else." I actually have seen this in a young girl I know. Instead of saying that she doesn't like a certain girl in her class, she'll tell me that this girl actually hates her. She won't own up and say that she doesn't care for the girl in her class, but instead blames her dislike on the girl that she says she doesn't like. "Oh, she hates me. I don't know why." Make sense? Let's try another one. Say a husband and wife are fighting. The husband does something that makes the wife really mad, and they start fighting. The wife is really mad at the husband, but screams at the husband that he is mad at her.
 |
| http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo- angry-brother -sister-living-room-image32970070 |
 |
| http://simpledesktops.com/browse/desktops/ 2012/may/08/hole-in-the-wall/ |
The last mechanism I'm going to talk about is denial. There's not really a way to describe denial besides saying that one refuses to believe something that is true to everyone around them. For example, a young man has gotten several speeding tickets, but refuses to believe that he is a fast driver. Another example would be a chronic drinker. Someone may spend dollar after dollar on liquor until they don't have any money left. They still don't see a problem with the amount of alcohol that they ingest.
And those are 6 defense mechanisms that Freud observed and named. They are a few others, but we'll stick with those for today. Check back next time! Thanks for reading!
Alfred Binet and Lewis Terman and...
Do you know what your IQ is? (find out here: www.free-iqtest.net/) This is just a fun, little test to see where you fall. After reading this blog, you'll be able to tell if your intelligence is average, below average, or above average. To prepare for this blog, I took several IQ tests to see how accurate they were (at least to each other). Each time, I got an IQ of 118. If you don't really understand that, keep reading!
Binet died in 1911, and it was about this time when Louis Terman was a professor at Stanford University. He researched into the questions that Binet asked French schoolchildren and realized that they (for some reason) did not work with Californian schoolchildren. So he changed it up and created the Stanford-Binet Test. It really was Binet's original test, with adaptations by Terman.
Let me start by telling you about Alfred Binet. Back at the beginning of the 20th century in France, a law was passed that said all children must attend an academic establishment. The French schools and the government were concerned when some students couldn't seem to follow along with a curriculum. Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon were asked to figure out and try to help solve the problem.
They started by assuming that all children have the same mental abilities and development, some are just faster than others. Binet and Simon were focused on measuring a child's mental age. Let's say that they measured my mental age. I'm 18 (almost 19). I would hope that they would say that I have a mental age of 18 (my brother may disagree). Others who have below-average mental ages (a 15 year old that may perform at the level of a 5 year old) would have more difficulty on schoolwork.
Binet and Simon were certain in stating that they weren't assuming WHY children were sometimes functioning at lower than average levels. Binet did not want his test to be used to label and limit children that may show below average scores.
Binet died in 1911, and it was about this time when Louis Terman was a professor at Stanford University. He researched into the questions that Binet asked French schoolchildren and realized that they (for some reason) did not work with Californian schoolchildren. So he changed it up and created the Stanford-Binet Test. It really was Binet's original test, with adaptations by Terman.
From the Stanford-Binet comes IQ numbers. William Stern created the intelligence quotient (IQ) after researching the Stanford-Binet. IQ does not go against the Stanford-Binet; instead, it goes along with it.
IQ = mental age / chronological age x 100
Whatever number you come up with is your IQ.
(Have a little fun and try to find out your mental age first: http://yourmentalage.com). Then, come back to this equation and plug in your answer to see if your IQ matches to the first quiz at the beginning of the blog. Mine was pretty close...doing it this way led me to have an IQ of 122, instead of 118.
A modern test that is out was created by David Wechsler, called the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). This is a more modern version for adults, but there is a version for children, too. It is like the Stanford-Binet in that it gives a score for overall intelligence, but also subscores for different categories. Having subcategories is a big difference in the Stanford-Binet and the WAIS. If you were to take a version of the WAIS, here is a bell curve of where you would land.
I hope this blog educated you on intelligence, in general! Thanks for taking part! Next time, we'll be taking a break from some theories and discussing defense mechanisms!
Spearman vs Thurstone
Welcome back! I promise, we are almost done with intelligence! There is just a lot to talk about and a lot of differing opinions that need to be covered before we move on. In this blog, we're going to be talking about Charles Spearman and Louis Thurstone. They have two different opinions on how we think and how smart we really are!
First off, Charles Spearman. Spearman was an English psychologist whose focus was on intelligence and statistics. Spearman is well known for his idea of general intelligence, or g factor. In the early 20th century, Spearman tested children from different schools on unrelated school subjects to see how they performed. Spearman saw that children that did well on part of the test also did well on a different part(s) of the test. He labeled this as g, an underlying intelligence that can affect IQ tests. These children that did well on multiple parts of this test, he said, had a high g, or a high general intelligence. Overall, they may just be smarter than others.
A basic summary of Spearman's theory is that we all have a basic intelligence (some stronger than others). This basic intelligence (this "g") will predict our ability to perform successful in all academic areas. I do like Spearman's idea because it goes along with Gardner's idea of 8 intelligences. You can have more than one strong area of intelligence. Areas tend to correlate, much like I mentioned in the 8 intelligences blog. For example, I said a couple of blogs ago that if you have a strong spatial intellect, you may have a strong bodily-kinesthetic intellect.
There are some flaws with Spearman's theory, though. Humans are amazing beings. We cannot be defined by one number, one g score. We are too diverse, our minds are too wide-spread and different to all be defined by a single number.
So we go on to Louis Thurstone, then. Louis Thurstone disagreed with Spearman's idea of one g score, one number that defined how intelligent we are. Thurstone didn't think that one number was informative enough for a person's intelligence, so he able to come up with seven factors that he said played into our intelligence. They are simply what Spearman added up to get one number, but Thurstone kept them broken down into seven so it was easier to see where a person excelled at. The factors are: word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory. Thurstone's attempt at this was to show that we don't have a single g score, but several areas of intelligence. Unfortunately (at least for Thurstone), even after coming up with his seven factors, people who excelled at one area did well in another area, suggesting that there actually may be an underlying g score that can define how smart we really are.
All four of the men we have talked about (Sternberg, Gardner, Spearman, Thurstone) have very good ideas, but are differing in their ideas. It is very hard to put a definition to how we think and how our intelligences work. I actually agree with parts of all of their theories, but I couldn't pick just one that I agree with more than others.
This blog was a bit shorter than others, but it's a little easier to understand. Next time, we'll be talking about our last two intelligence guys: Alfred Binet and Lewis Terman! Thanks for reading!
First off, Charles Spearman. Spearman was an English psychologist whose focus was on intelligence and statistics. Spearman is well known for his idea of general intelligence, or g factor. In the early 20th century, Spearman tested children from different schools on unrelated school subjects to see how they performed. Spearman saw that children that did well on part of the test also did well on a different part(s) of the test. He labeled this as g, an underlying intelligence that can affect IQ tests. These children that did well on multiple parts of this test, he said, had a high g, or a high general intelligence. Overall, they may just be smarter than others.
A basic summary of Spearman's theory is that we all have a basic intelligence (some stronger than others). This basic intelligence (this "g") will predict our ability to perform successful in all academic areas. I do like Spearman's idea because it goes along with Gardner's idea of 8 intelligences. You can have more than one strong area of intelligence. Areas tend to correlate, much like I mentioned in the 8 intelligences blog. For example, I said a couple of blogs ago that if you have a strong spatial intellect, you may have a strong bodily-kinesthetic intellect.
There are some flaws with Spearman's theory, though. Humans are amazing beings. We cannot be defined by one number, one g score. We are too diverse, our minds are too wide-spread and different to all be defined by a single number.
So we go on to Louis Thurstone, then. Louis Thurstone disagreed with Spearman's idea of one g score, one number that defined how intelligent we are. Thurstone didn't think that one number was informative enough for a person's intelligence, so he able to come up with seven factors that he said played into our intelligence. They are simply what Spearman added up to get one number, but Thurstone kept them broken down into seven so it was easier to see where a person excelled at. The factors are: word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory. Thurstone's attempt at this was to show that we don't have a single g score, but several areas of intelligence. Unfortunately (at least for Thurstone), even after coming up with his seven factors, people who excelled at one area did well in another area, suggesting that there actually may be an underlying g score that can define how smart we really are.
All four of the men we have talked about (Sternberg, Gardner, Spearman, Thurstone) have very good ideas, but are differing in their ideas. It is very hard to put a definition to how we think and how our intelligences work. I actually agree with parts of all of their theories, but I couldn't pick just one that I agree with more than others.
This blog was a bit shorter than others, but it's a little easier to understand. Next time, we'll be talking about our last two intelligence guys: Alfred Binet and Lewis Terman! Thanks for reading!
How to be creative...?
Remember Robert Sternberg that we talked about last blog? Sternberg's Triarchic Theory? Well, now we're going to be talking about his 5 components of creativity. Sternberg and some colleagues of his came up with these 5 parts. We all know what it means to be creative; the ability to come up with new ideas or solutions. There is no measure or test of how "creative" someone is, but Sternberg has identified at least 5 parts that may play into our creativity: expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment.
I'm going to further explain these 5 components. When I explain them, I'm going to explain in relation to my new-found love of painting.
The first component is expertise. Expertise is a base of knowledge from which one expands on. When I first started painting, I had to gather a bit of knowledge of what I needed. Yes, painting is a pretty free activity, but I wasn't too sure on what I needed to get started. Back in high school, I had watched my friend paint and she explained to me her process of painting, so that is where my expertise stemmed from. Expertise is also any prior experience that one has with a talent; obviously, I had no experience when I started painting. I like to say that my expertise formed a bit further when I finished my first painting.
The next component that Sternberg came up with is imaginative thinking skills. People often say creativity and imagination go hand in hand, and I couldn't agree more. Imagination is often necessary because you can't always follow instructions for everything you do in life. Painting especially involves imagination. At first, I looked to Pinterest for inspiration on WHAT to actually paint. Pinterest has given me so many great ideas that I don't have time to paint all of them! Pinterest also made me realize that you can't always redraw or repaint what someone has done. It kind of loses that personal touch. With painting, you just have to choose something to paint. For example, my mom and I always say "Love you more" to each other; before going to bed, getting off the phone, leaving for school/work, etc. When her birthday came around in October, I figured I would paint her something with that quote on it. Because it's a quote between my mom and I, it has more of a personal touch to it.
The third component is a venturesome personality. Venturesome can pretty much be described as being risks or choosing to do a new task or experience. As I've gotten older, this personality fits me more and more. I used to always say that I could never draw, could never paint, wasn't creative in the slightest. Though I'm not the person that would be first to jump out of a plane or jump off a cliff, being venturesome on a small-scale level fits me more. I took the risk of spending money on materials to start a new hobby. I didn't know if I was going to like it, especially since I had always said "I can't" or "I couldn't." I may not be the best artist out there by any means, but I am confident that I like painting and I'm happy with the new experience that I have discovered.
The fourth component is intrinsic motivation. This is that feeling that you get once you've completed something for the first time and want to try again. After I finished my first painting, I got this voice in my head saying, "If you could do this, why not try another?" That's intrinsic motivation! What keeps you going, sometimes even after failure. I was more interested in painting as I looked at more techniques and ideas out there, I was confident enough in my skills, but I also wanted to challenge myself with something new.
Lastly, the fifth component of creativity is a creative environment. This can be any aspect that encourages and supports you to keep going. It can also give you new ideas. Two parts of my creative environment are Pinterest and my mom. Pinterest still gives me ideas today, sparking my creativity with what I can do myself. My mom supports me and gives me new ideas as well (my mom is very artistic). I contribute my excitement with painting to these two parts of my environment.
That's it! The five components of creativity! Try to find something you would like to try and apply these components to it. Again, there is no measure of creativity! Let your mind run free with ideas!
Next time, we'll be discussing two more theories of intelligence! We're nearing the end of our intelligence topic, I promise! Check back next time! Thanks for reading!
I'm going to further explain these 5 components. When I explain them, I'm going to explain in relation to my new-found love of painting.
 |
| MY FIRST PAINTING!! |
 |
| Love you more! |
The third component is a venturesome personality. Venturesome can pretty much be described as being risks or choosing to do a new task or experience. As I've gotten older, this personality fits me more and more. I used to always say that I could never draw, could never paint, wasn't creative in the slightest. Though I'm not the person that would be first to jump out of a plane or jump off a cliff, being venturesome on a small-scale level fits me more. I took the risk of spending money on materials to start a new hobby. I didn't know if I was going to like it, especially since I had always said "I can't" or "I couldn't." I may not be the best artist out there by any means, but I am confident that I like painting and I'm happy with the new experience that I have discovered.
The fourth component is intrinsic motivation. This is that feeling that you get once you've completed something for the first time and want to try again. After I finished my first painting, I got this voice in my head saying, "If you could do this, why not try another?" That's intrinsic motivation! What keeps you going, sometimes even after failure. I was more interested in painting as I looked at more techniques and ideas out there, I was confident enough in my skills, but I also wanted to challenge myself with something new.
Lastly, the fifth component of creativity is a creative environment. This can be any aspect that encourages and supports you to keep going. It can also give you new ideas. Two parts of my creative environment are Pinterest and my mom. Pinterest still gives me ideas today, sparking my creativity with what I can do myself. My mom supports me and gives me new ideas as well (my mom is very artistic). I contribute my excitement with painting to these two parts of my environment.
That's it! The five components of creativity! Try to find something you would like to try and apply these components to it. Again, there is no measure of creativity! Let your mind run free with ideas!
Next time, we'll be discussing two more theories of intelligence! We're nearing the end of our intelligence topic, I promise! Check back next time! Thanks for reading!
Not 3 intelligences, but 8?!
LINGUISTIC
This type of intelligence focuses mainly on words and language. People with strong linguistic minds are often good public speakers, but also have highly developed hearing skills. These people often enjoy books, writing, and word games.
MATHEMATICAL
I can truthfully say that I do not have a strong mathematical intelligence. I don't like math at all. I could never understand why when math is supposed to be numbers, why do we pull
letters into? (a + b = c?) Anyway, there are people out there who excel in mathematics. Mathematical thinkers are the opposite of linguistic intellects. Mathematical people love numbers over words. While linguist intellects learn about a subject by reading and hearing about details, mathematical intellects may come to focus on details later and focus on the subject itself first. This is because mathematical people are more likely to calculate and reason with a subject. They are often better off experimenting with a subject rather than just being told about.
MUSICAL
Again, musical intelligence is not my thing. I know several people that are very, very talented musicians. They can express themselves with music and songs better than just words. These types of people can pick up on rhythm and beats better than anyone without a strong musical intelligence. Often, these people can study better with music in the background. To learn a new subject, strong musical intellects may make up a new song or rhythm to help themselves remember.
SPATIAL
If I had to identify with any of these intelligences, I would guess that it would be spatial and linguistic. Spatial thinkers like anything visual. They learn best through anything that they can put their eyes on. Notice that the picture I use for spatial is a paint pallet. While spatial thinkers may like to paint, they may also enjoy other craft activities. I know that as a spatial thinker, I love to draw and paint, but I also enjoy just crafts in general. I enjoy crocheting, knitting, embroidery, and just about anything else, which carries us to bodily-kinesthetic...
BODILY-KINESTHETIC
Just like I mentioned above, those with strong spatial intelligences may also have strong kinesthetic intelligence. Some people do, some people don't. People with strong kinesthetic intelligence like movement. They are often dancers, actors/actresses, or athletes. However, these type of people like making things or using their hands, so if you have a crafty spatial thinker, see what they like to do. If they enjoy more of just drawing or painting, they may stay in that spatial thinking range. If they like more hands on activities (like crocheting or embroidery), they would actually fall in this range as well.
INTRAPERSONAL
This picture is not to say that intrapersonal intellects are self-absorabant or narcissistic. These type of people may just be more introverted, but also more shy. They tend to understand themselves better than others. These type of people may not enjoy things such as group projects or big parties/get-togethers. These type of people are independent (the most so out of all these learners). These learners are in tune with THEIR feelings and work best by themselves.
INTERPERSONAL
These type of people are the exact opposite of intrapersonal intellects. They work better in groups and are more extroverted. These intellects are very people-oriented and may actually be able to read and understand OTHERS' emotions before their own. They focus better when they are together with others rather than by themselves. Group projects, parties, or get-togethers are where these people let their personality shine.
NATURALISTIC
These intellects are often more concerned with the environment and other organisms over humans. They tend to connect new subjects with animals and or the environment. These type of people often strive in science-related subjects, and may connect other subjects back to science.
And THAT is Gardner's 8 Intelligences! Gardner states that it is important to have a good mix of these, but often people strive in one particular area based on their personality. Try to see where you fit in!
That's all I've got for today! Check back next time for a look at creativity!
References (pictures)
45th Tikkun Olam Award to Professor Howard Gardner. (2014, January 27). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from https://haitiholocaustsurvivors.wordpress.com/guest-posts/45th-tikkun-olam-award-to-professor-howard-gardner/
Linguistic Development. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://www.st-lawrence.lincs.sch.uk/curriculum/linguistic-development/
Process and Hydraulics Services Ltd - Process Evaluation and Optimisation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://processandhydraulics.co.uk/ProcessEvaluationAndOptimisation.htm
Teaching Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2006/individuality/Web Page/Teaching strategies for each intelligence.htm
Naturalist. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/naturalist
Friday, April 24, 2015
You may only need three things to be smart?
This is a triangle, yes? OK, good, got that covered.
WELL, today is going to be about about shapes! Not just any shapes, but triangles! Not even triangles plural, but one triangle in particular: Sternberg's TRIARCHIC Theory!! Sounds fun, right? If I haven't mentioned, this particular post (and one or two after this) are going to revolve around intelligence and creativity.
Let's talk about Sternberg for a minute. Robert Sternberg is an American psychologist and professor whose focus is mainly on creativity and intelligence. Sternberg created a theory called the Triarchic Theory that has three intelligences that Sternberg sees as necessary tools of success. The three intelligences are as follows:
Analytical
Creative Practical
The first intelligence is analytical thinking. With this type of thinking, we often see and hear IQ scores and academic tests. This is the intelligence that is often focused on in schools. This intelligence is also seen as problem-solving. Such as in the picture above, the student is focused on solving what appears to be a chemical formula. High schoolers use this thinking (or should be using this thinking) when they complete important tests such as the ACT, SAT, and/or college placement tests.
Creativity!!! Creativity is the second intelligence I want to talk about. In the past year, my creative ability and intellect has grown tremendously. These are two of my paintings pictured above. No, they're not perfect, but they were two of my first ever paintings. When I was younger, I had no artistic ability whatsoever. I could barely draw a heart, much less Tinkerbell (picture on the left). When I got older, I don't know what happened, something just clicked. I have a huge interest now in painting. I can't get enough canvases, brushes, paints, and inspiration. With my way of thinking right now, this is what Sternberg would call creative intelligence. Creative intelligence isn't just painting. It's having an open mind, being able to come up with new ideas and being innovative. Creative intelligence also focuses on imagination. People with a strong creative intelligence may say or think things such as, "I wonder if...", "Suppose that..", or "Imagine if..." Creative intellects are often predicting or dreaming about what could be or what could have been.
The third intelligence that Sternberg proposes in his triarchic theory is the practical aspect. This is the "daily life" way of thinking. One thing I think of when I hear the term practical is a to-do list or an agenda. I have always seen myself as a practical thinker. I love having a to-do list and being able to mark things off as officially done. Right now as I prepare for finals, I have a to-do list of several things in my agenda that need to get done by certain days. Other aspects of practical thinking include the ability to read other people's body language and emotions, being a director and motivator of people, and giving out and completing jobs and responsibilities. Where I work, every night, we have a three-page long "Cleaning List" that needs to be done before we workers leave at the end of the night. Each task that is completed needs to be initialed by the person who finished the job. Because of my practical way of thinking, this marking off of tasks give me a little sense of happiness as I see the list slowly start to diminish.
As Sternberg states, there is more to success than just intelligence. These three types are essential in being successful and happy. I feel that I personally have a good mix of all of these in my personality. I would say that I am a strong practical intellect, followed by a good mix of analytical and creative intelligence.
Well, that's all I've got! Next time, we'll be talking more about different types of intelligences, and specifically Howard Gardner. Thanks for reading!
References (for pictures)
Triangle. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triangle
Burnham, J. (2011, December 6). 7 Practical Steps to Get Started with Security Intelligence. Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://securityintelligence.com/7-practical-steps-to-get-started-with-security-intelligence/#.VTsNFqaprzI
Practical strategies series. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-academic-development/learning-teaching/staff/courses-events/practical
Attlas. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.attlas.ie
As Sternberg states, there is more to success than just intelligence. These three types are essential in being successful and happy. I feel that I personally have a good mix of all of these in my personality. I would say that I am a strong practical intellect, followed by a good mix of analytical and creative intelligence.
Well, that's all I've got! Next time, we'll be talking more about different types of intelligences, and specifically Howard Gardner. Thanks for reading!
References (for pictures)
Triangle. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triangle
Burnham, J. (2011, December 6). 7 Practical Steps to Get Started with Security Intelligence. Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://securityintelligence.com/7-practical-steps-to-get-started-with-security-intelligence/#.VTsNFqaprzI
Practical strategies series. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-academic-development/learning-teaching/staff/courses-events/practical
Attlas. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.attlas.ie
Thursday, April 23, 2015
I can't remember....(memory)
Let's start with a little memory humor...
How do i know my memory is working? RRR
Recall can be described as more of a "fill-in-the-blank" action. There is information in your brain that you have already learned and you didn't realize that your brain still stored the information.
Recognition is more of a "multiple choice" action. You have stored data that you compare with the new stimuli that you are offered.
Relearning is what it sounds like. Even if you don't "recall" learning something before, your brain works less to try to comprehend. For example, I've taken psychology in high school so some of the concepts I've covered in my college class are familiar. My brain is going through the relearning stage with some of the psychologists that were discussed in class (Bandura, Freud, Garcia, etc).
Well then, it's that simple, right? No, no, no. That's only memory function. How does memory WORK? There's three steps for that, too.
Encode: Certain stimuli and information get into our brain. They take a certain form that allows them to be stored.
Storage: The information that was encoded in our brain is then stored for a certain amount of time. It also is available for retrieval.
Retrieval: This is when we recall (and retrieve, for lack of a better word) the information that has been encoded and storage.
A famous model that is almost always used when discussing memory is the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model. This model was created by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968. Basically, these two guys said that memory can be broken down into again...THREE parts: sensory memory, working/short-term memory, and long-term memory.
Really, this picture is pretty simple to understand. Let's start with the little blue box on the left. That is any external/outside event that leads to the memory being involved. Next, that external information becomes our sensory memory. REMEMBER when we talked about encoding? Well, that comes next. The external information takes on a certain form and is encoded into our brains. Where does the encoded information go from? Well, I know my psych professor isn't crazy about the term "short-term" memory so we'll call it working memory. Any interesting fact is that we constantly have rehearsal going on in our working memory. This means that there is a constant repetition of information going in our brain.
A little interesting fact about the working memory. In 1920, George Miller said that our working memory can hold anywhere from 5-9 pieces of information. In today's world, that is seen as the average of what our brain's can handle.
The last part of the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model is the long-term memory. This is an extra space where information can be stored. If information from the working memory needs to be put into long-term memory, it has to be encoded again. Once the information is in long-term memory, it is ready to be retrieved at any time.
A little side note: There is a thing called automatic processing. This is when the external events (the information that goes through encoding, storage, retrieval) go straight to long-term memory storage. (Think of it like Monopoly, DO NOT PASS GO; the information goes straight to "jail" but it's not really jail in any sense).
Before I end today's blog, I want to go back to Dory from Finding Nemo that I mentioned at the start of the blog. Dory has significant short-term memory loss. What is that? Well, it's what it sounds like. Imagine a hole in the working (or short-term) memory. Any information that needs to go through short-term memory to get to long-term memory is lost. A person with this can remember information from 2 years ago, but not 2 minutes ago.
A very real (and very sad) example of this can be seen in a man named Clive Wearing. Clive actually doesn't have a short-term memory. Years ago, Clive got a bad headache that developed into a fever and illness that damaged his brain and affected his memory. Watch the video below.
Well, that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading!
References
H., C. (2007, October 2). Clive Wearing - The man with no short-term memory. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmktix2Y
Finding nemo - short term memory loss. (2007, June 30). Retrieved April 23, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuvF113uty4
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Whoops....
Ok well I kind of fooled you. This blog will be about John Garcia (we'll learn about him in a minute), but we'll also be learning about Albert Bandura.
References
McKay, A. (n.d.). Taste Aversion. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/taste-aversion-definition-conditioning-learning.html
JOHN GARCIA's Obituary on Skagit Valley Herald Publishing Company. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/obituary.aspx?pid=163496008
Albert Bandura Biographical Sketch. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://stanford.edu/dept/psychology/bandura/bandura-bio-pajares/Albert _Bandura _Biographical_Sketch.html
5. The Bobo Doll Experiment. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://pals-bandura-iadt.wikispaces.com/5. The Bobo Doll Experiment
Meet John Garcia. Look at his picture. What do you think his profession is? Obviously something psychology related, maybe, since this is a blog about psychology? I'm partial to think that he looks my old pediatrician. His resume includes the following: farmer, artist (cartoonist, in fact), Air Corps Cadet, high school teacher, college professor, ship builder, beginner boxer and the most impressive, researcher at Harvard Medical School and the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. (Along with being a ship builder, he helped build submarines for the US Navy). Wow, so yeah. He was a busy guy. As interesting as this guy is, we'll be focusing on one particular facet of his life. Taste aversion.
Let me start with a little history on where highly intelligent Dr. John Garcia got his beginning.
He was born in 1917 to Spanish immigrants in Santa Rosa, California. He started his long list of jobs as just a lowly farm worker. From there, he did all of his other jobs. Like I said, he is mainly known for his work on taste aversion. Honestly, it's common sense what he discovered, but someone had to discover it. Garcia and Robert Koelling were experimenting with radiation in rats when they came across what they called "the rats intolerance of radiation water." Ok maybe those are my words, not theirs. Basically, that's what it was. The rats started to refuse to drink water from the plastic bottles in the radiation chambers. The rats were associating the sickness they received from the radiation with the plastic water bottles that they were offered. This learned response is what became known as taste aversion. If you remember from an earlier blog, I mentioned these bacon-wrapped mini hot dogs that made me sick a few Christmases ago. Whenever I smell that sickly sweet smell, it brings back the nauseated sensation that I experienced.
Makes sense, right? Pretty much, that's it for taste aversion. Like I said, this is simple stuff. Garcia was just the first to put a name to something that is easier to understand now.
The other half of this blog is the part that I didn't tell you about. Bobo dolls!
Makes sense, right? Pretty much, that's it for taste aversion. Like I said, this is simple stuff. Garcia was just the first to put a name to something that is easier to understand now.
The other half of this blog is the part that I didn't tell you about. Bobo dolls!
ok so it isn't just about Bobo dolls. It's also about this guy...
No, this isn't the guy who created Bobo dolls. This....is Albert Bandura, creator of the Social Learning Theory.
This too is pretty simple to understand. When kids watch adults act a certain way in a certain situation, they are bound to do the same thing. Albert Bandura wanted to test this with Bobo dolls. So if you don't know what Bobo dolls are, they are an inflatable clown with a weighted bottom so when they are pushed or hit, they tip over and pop back up. Bandura placed an adult in a room with a Bobo dolls. Surprisingly, the adult started to hit and punch the Bobo doll. When it was time for the child to put in the room with the Bobo doll, he/she performed almost the exact same violent actions as the adult.
However, Bandura thought ahead and had another group of adults and children set up in a separate room. These adults were told to be non-violent. After watching the adults, the children again performed almost the same (non-violent, this time) actions.
This strengthened Bandura's Social Learning Theory in which he states that children learn by observable behavior.
An example of this today would be when a child hears a parent cuss, they repeat the word. So definitely be careful what you say around young children! They are sponges and will pick up on every word and action that you say and do.
That concludes today's blog. Hope you enjoyed it! Next time, we'll be talking about....hmm I can't remember....
OH, that's right! MEMORY!
References
McKay, A. (n.d.). Taste Aversion. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/taste-aversion-definition-conditioning-learning.html
JOHN GARCIA's Obituary on Skagit Valley Herald Publishing Company. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/obituary.aspx?pid=163496008
Albert Bandura Biographical Sketch. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://stanford.edu/dept/psychology/bandura/bandura-bio-pajares/Albert _Bandura _Biographical_Sketch.html
5. The Bobo Doll Experiment. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://pals-bandura-iadt.wikispaces.com/5. The Bobo Doll Experiment
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Sea Lions and Mice, Oh My!
In this post, I'm going to be talking about B.F. Skinner and operant conditioning, the counterpart to classical conditioning. One main thing that B.F. Skinner, who was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, and inventor, was focused on was reinforcement and punishment. Here we go!
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in 1904 in a small town in Pennsylvania to a lawyer father and a housewife mother. He had one brother who died at the age of 16. Surprisingly, Skinner's first degree was not in psychology. As a child and into adult life, he loved to write. He wrote poems, stories for the paper, and short stories. He received a BA in English from Hamilton College (NY). After graduating, he lived in a few different places, but was not happy. He went back to college, HARVARD in fact, and got a masters, then a doctorate in psychology. After some continued research at Harvard, he became a teacher at the University of Minnesota. Then, love came. He met and married Yvonne Blue, with whom he had two daughters. Skinner chose his second daughter to try out one of his experiments. He had an experiment in which an infant was to be raised in a crib/playpen with glass sides and air conditioning. Obviously, the experiment did not receive a popular following. To brief over the last of his life, he went back to Harvard where he spent the rest of his educational life. He died of leukemia in 1990.
Ok you may be thinking, "So what? It's just a psychologist's boring life." Well, that was just a
simple, brief autobiography. Did you catch that I didn't mention reinforcement in that little briefing? If so, good job. If not, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that! Before I continue, watch this.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in 1904 in a small town in Pennsylvania to a lawyer father and a housewife mother. He had one brother who died at the age of 16. Surprisingly, Skinner's first degree was not in psychology. As a child and into adult life, he loved to write. He wrote poems, stories for the paper, and short stories. He received a BA in English from Hamilton College (NY). After graduating, he lived in a few different places, but was not happy. He went back to college, HARVARD in fact, and got a masters, then a doctorate in psychology. After some continued research at Harvard, he became a teacher at the University of Minnesota. Then, love came. He met and married Yvonne Blue, with whom he had two daughters. Skinner chose his second daughter to try out one of his experiments. He had an experiment in which an infant was to be raised in a crib/playpen with glass sides and air conditioning. Obviously, the experiment did not receive a popular following. To brief over the last of his life, he went back to Harvard where he spent the rest of his educational life. He died of leukemia in 1990.
Ok you may be thinking, "So what? It's just a psychologist's boring life." Well, that was just a
simple, brief autobiography. Did you catch that I didn't mention reinforcement in that little briefing? If so, good job. If not, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that! Before I continue, watch this.
Did you notice what each sea lion got when they performed a trick? Fish is right, but if you answered reinforcement (or a positive consequence), that's even more correct! This idea of reinforcement comes from Skinner, so let me explain where he got it from.
Operant conditioning: change in behavior because of reinforcement or lack thereof
In 1938, BF Skinner coined this term, but also created 3 types of responses that can possible follow behavior:
neural operants: does not increase or decrease the likelihood of a certain behavior
reinforcers: increase likelihood of behavior being repeated
punishers: decrease likelihood of behavior being repeated
So now we come to the Skinner Box. Skinner created this box to well, reinforce, his idea of punishment and reinforcement.
Skinner would place a rat in the box. As you can see in the picture, there was a lever on one side of the box. This lever, when activated, would release a food pellet. The rat started to realize this fact. After several times of a rat accidentally hitting the lever, when put into the box, they immediately went to the lever to receive their positive reinforcement, their food.
Let's take a look back at the video of the sea lions. The sea lions are well taught that if they perform the trick that the handlers tells them to, they too will receive their positive reinforcement, the fish! This will strengthen the probability of the behavior being performed again. Hmmm, that kind of sounds like a reinforcer...
So that was positive reinforcement. What about negative reinforcement? Skinner performed the same experiment with rats and his Skinner box. He started the experiment the same way as positive reinforcement with placing the rat into the box with a lever. However, he included an electrical current and removed the reward of food. As the rat would move around the box, it would accidentally knock the lever, switching off the electrical current. Same with the food, after a few tries, the rats would learn to go directly to the lever. This taking away of an unpleasant reinforcer also strengthens behavior.
The opposite of reinforcement can be seen as punishment. It performs the opposite result of reinforcement: attempts to weaken or terminate a response.
It actually can be done just like reinforcement. Say the rats in Skinner's box did something bad. Say the rats started chewing on the box. Punishment would be shocking the rat with an electrical current or removing food from the box. One of the most important facets to remember is that punishment and negative reinforcement can be easily confused.
I hope this helped specify the differences between reinforcement and punishment. Next time I'm back, we'll be talking about a Mr. John Garcia. Who is he? Guess you'll have to come back and find out...
References
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Sea Lion "Spring Training" at Saint Louis Zoo. (2015, March 13). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuytuL_dtzw
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Pavlov's puppies!
Did I get your attention with the word puppies?! Ok so the famous name of this study is better known as Pavlov's Dogs, but I like the word puppies better. That's just silly me.
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist. He is most known for his work with dogs and conditioning them to behave a certain way ("classical conditioning"). Ever since his early childhood and all through his life, he demonstrated great intelligence. Amazingly (and like many topics of psychology), Pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident.
If you have a dog, think about what they do when they see food (your's or their's).
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist. He is most known for his work with dogs and conditioning them to behave a certain way ("classical conditioning"). Ever since his early childhood and all through his life, he demonstrated great intelligence. Amazingly (and like many topics of psychology), Pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident.
If you have a dog, think about what they do when they see food (your's or their's).
Yes, that's right. Drool. EVERYWHERE. This is what interested Pavlov. Whenever he entered his lab, even when he was not bringing food, his dogs got excited and started salivating. Normally, this is the reaction we get when we come home to our beloved pets...
VERY EXCITED :)
First, let me just brief over Pavlov's experiment and then I will tell you about an experience I've had with classical conditioning.
There are several terms that i want to identify before starting:
unconditioned stimulus: something that causes a first, natural, UNCONDITIONED reaction
neural stimulus: initially produces no certain response
unconditioned response: natural behavior due to a given stimulus
conditioned stimulus: this was previously the neural stimulus
conditioned response: produced in response to the conditioned stimulus
Let me apply these to some situations and they will make a lot more sense.
In Pavlov's experiment, before he started conditioning the dogs, he tested the neural stimulus, which in Pavlov's case, was a bell. There was no reaction from the dogs. Then, he tried the unconditioned stimulus which was the dog food. The dogs started salivating in response to the food (unconditioned stimulus and response: food, salivation). Then, it was time for the conditioning.
Pavlov combined the neural stimulus (bell) and unconditioned stimulus (food) to elicit an unconditioned response from the dog: salivation. Pavlov would ring the bell and give the dog the food. Now, time for the last part of the experiment. After conditioning, the bell (first neural, now conditioned stimulus) would elicit drool from the dog, which became the conditioned response. Makes sense, right? Let me relate this to my own experience.
Several years ago, my aunt and uncle hosted Christmas at their house. My aunt and uncle made this little bacon wrapped little hot dogs with powdered sugar on them. I probably had a few too many, but I ended up getting sick. Now, whenever someone talks about bacon wrapped mini hot dogs, I feel nauseous and think of the ones that made me sick. So in my case, the unconditioned stimulus is the sickness I got from them. The unconditioned response was the nausea. The neural stimulus (and then the conditioned stimulus) are the bacon wrapped hot dogs. The conditioned response is the nausea (or uneasy feeling) that occurs because of talking or thinking about those hot dogs.
Does that make a little more sense? I hope so. It does take a little bit of thinking, but once you put the terms to use, it is very simple to understand.
Pavlov was very smart in recognizing this in dogs and he was even smarter to keep testing out his theory. This paved the way for how we see conditioning today.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this! Check back next time!
References
McLeod, S. (2007, January 1). Pavlov's Dogs | Simply Psychology. Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html
VSSF. (2013, March 20). Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://www.vetspecialistsofsfl.com/vssf/tag/drool/
ADORABLE PUPPY EXCITED TO SEE OWNER. (2014, December 20). Retrieved April 14, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rncPvrUCvBE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)