This week in Psych!

This week in psychology we learned about abnormal psychology disorders. Let me tell you there are some crazy phobias out there such as the fear of garden gnomes, feet, and even the fear of everything. I can relate to one of these disorders as in I have been diagnosed with bio polar. It's not a very fun thing because I can go from being really happy at one point to being really sad the next, right back to happy. It's not a fun thing to live with but I have to find ways to cope. We also lost Dan this week back to New Zealand which was sad. This just hasn't been the greatest week(just kidding). The semester is coming to an end and i'm not going to lie i am going to miss this fourth hour psychology class.

Weekly Blog

This week in Psychology we studied more to deal with the brain and development of people in different stages. What was really interesting to me is how our brains develop through the years. We also talked about Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development. I found this really interesting because the chart has three levels, five stages and it showed what moral development you were at. It was also very interesting to see the different view points of which Moral Development you were at.

(Pictured above is Mr. Kohlberg)

I can really relate to this. Ever since we learned about Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development it's made me try to figure out which stage I am at. It's really interesting going through different scenarios and picking out what you would do in the situation to find out how far you are morally developed. Actually when my mother was younger and I was younger she had to make a test to see how far morally developed I was. It was probably 5 or 6 years ago so I wasn't exactly totally morally developed. I was at about Stage 1 with all of the questions which was the stage where you thought about if you would be punished for doing an action. I guarantee if I took that test now my moral development would be different. Probably Stage 3.

Wait, What was I Doing?

This week was a pretty interesting week in psychology. We had to do research on different brain disorders. What I found interesting was how many brain disorders there are. I mean I know the mostly known ones such as autism, parkinson's, and alzheimers but not half of the ones we learned about. This week taught me a lot about disorders. It was sad, but also at the same time interesting. Just everything we've been doing in the past weeks has been quite interesting. You kind of feel bad to a point where you wish you could do something to help people who have these problems. I know as I was researching parkinson's disease I wished that there was something I could do to help.

I can relate to the projects that were shown this week. My little brother Jackson is autistic and has a hard time getting used to people he does not know. It makes me quite sad, because I don't see my brother that much and I love him to death. After watching the presentation and hearing Eric talking about autism it made me think of what it must be like for my brother to have to live with autism. All you can really do for most of these disorders is just stay positive and be there to support people with these disorders. 

The Mind

This week we dealt mostly with the mind and how it stores information and ticks. One thing that I would like to point out that was very interesting to me is that we did various tests using the mind. Different things testing our memory, vision, and other things. What was really interesting is how the mind actually works, how we can remember things that had happened to us such a long time ago. After we talked about memory it made me go home and actually try to remember the earliest thought I could remember. The earliest one that I could remember so vividly was about me getting splinters all up and down my chest in preschool. It was a painful and tragic memory that I will never forget. I find it actually really creepy how long are minds can store information and how sometimes we can remember them like it just happened the day before.

I really find all of this stuff about the brain interesting. It really intrigues me to find out that different parts of our brains do different things. Also that we have many different parts in our brains. The brain is a very complex thing that even through this many years of life, we do not totally have pinned down. That could be a great career choice getting into a field dealing with the brain and the mind. You never know what you would learn.

My Brain!!!!!........Story

After wrestling a long fought match, in the last few moments of it, I was knocked unconscious. They mat side athletic trainer had a hard to getting me to breathe.(medulla) After they finally got me breathing and talking they asked me a series of questions. Questions such as "Do you know where you are?" and "Whats your name?" I could not answer these questions as my memory was not very good at all. (hippocampus) I really could not make our their faces though. (parietal lobe) It was very hard to talk, they kept talking to each other and I heard them say something to each other about me slurring my words. (frontal lobe) I couldn't see well at all either, my vision was very blurry. (occipital lobe) The first thing I said was that i was very thirsty and asked for some water. (hypothalamus) After they gave me a drink of water I asked if I could go to bed because I did not feel well, but they would not let me because I had just suffered a concussion. (pons) I kept asking to go to sleep though because I was tired and that's what my body was telling me to do. (reticular formation) They finally got me off the mat and I tried to walk under my own power. It was very hard and I was swaying from left to right as my mind was foggy. (cerebellum) After I walked around for a little bit and got my balance back all I wanted was to get back out there and finish the match as I was quite mad at my opponent that gave me this concussion. (amygdala) They told me I couldn't finish the match and I started to tell them that my spine was in pain. (central nervous system) They told me to try to walk it off for a few minutes. (somatic nervous system) Finally after everything cooled down a bit they wanted to check my vitals, like my blood pressure, heart rate, etc. (autonomic nervous system) After the match was over and I passed all my tests they finally let me go to bed. I passed out and the next morning when I woke up I had pain throughout my whole body. (left hemisphere) (right hemisphere) I went through this pain for a couple of days but eventually I was back to normal and ready to set foot back out on the mat.

Experimentation Nation

This week in class we learned about experimentations. How different people view and do different things. Different ways to experiment and gather information. It was quite interesting and there a lot more ways of gathering information through experimentation than you think.

One of our projects this week had us look up an article on experimentation and explain the different variables of it and the situation. I will sum it up for you. It was an article about phobias. It talked about this experimenter who took a man who was mentally instable and a perfectly healthy man and put then through two different tests to try to get some information on how people react to phobias. It was quite interesting to see the results. I will leave the link here for you to take a gander. Well at the time im doing this I cannot open proquest because it says its unavailable, so if you get some time go to proquest and type in phobias. But this picture below symbolizes the main part of the test, where they had both of the test subjects stare at colored geometric shapes and they watched how both of them would react to the shapes color and size.



My reaction to all of this experimentation stuff is that i find it as a good way to gather information. I feel that it can also help people. Maybe if they have a phobia and they can't get over it, if they have someone experiment them, they can help them overcome that fear. I learned a little bit about experimentation but there is still a lot to learn. I also find it very interesting and shocking that there are many different methods to experimentation, who knows; someone could be experimenting you right now!

The Story of My Life.

Well we will start this whole blog off with some basic information. My name is Alexander D. Kerk****(well leave it at that so no one can stalk me.) I was born right here in Green Bay, Wisconsin on October 20, 1992. I have spent basically all of my life living in this town. My parents never got married so it was a little weird growing up for me because my parents didn't get along too well. I have three brothers, that are all younger than me. I am very protective of things I love and care about. I have participated in many sports throughout my life. Two of my major sports/activities were martial arts for a couple of months and wrestling for 4 years. I had to end both of those though because my orthapedic doctor told me that I am forming some arthritis in my joints in my knees and ankles. That is pretty much all the basic stuff that you need to know about my life.

Psychology is the study of the human mind. How the mind works, how it ticks. I find interest in what makes people do the things they do. I always wonder why people do the things they do. I hope to learn that in this class and get a broader and better view of the human mind. Overall I hope to learn about psychology and be able to take the information i learn and maybe use it. Who knows, maybe what I learn could make an impact on my career choice after high school?