Blog Post #4

I listened to the teens and sleep radio talk thing. It basically talked about how most teenagers today don't get enough sleep now days and how it can affect them academically, socially, and mentally. I learned that only 20% of teens get the recommended amount of sleep, which is 9 hours per night. The experts said that taking naps during the day is a good short term solution but it can also have bad consequences. You may not be able to fall asleep until late that night after your nap and in turn get less sleep that night. Because of this, you won't feel anymore rested the next morning than usual. This is relevant to my life because I am one of those teens who don't get enough sleep at night. On a normal school night I probably get about 7 hours of sleep if that. I'm usually tired the next day and sometimes in a bad mood. I also tend to fall asleep after school when I'm just watching TV or something like that. This is interesting because it relates to my life so much and I'm sure it relates to a lot of other people my age as well.

I also learned that most students who get 9 hours + of sleep at night usually do better academically in school. This affects me because I don't get 9 hours of sleep, except on the weekends, and I guess it can affect how I do in school. I don't really agree with this, however, because even though I don't get enough sleep at night, I still do pretty well in school.
Nothing in this section really surprised me; I had already heard most of this before.

Blog Post #3

The first activity that I did was called "Seeing more than your eye does." This study talks about the eye and how everyone's eyes have 'blind spots.' To actually show you where your blind spot is, there is a + on the left of the page and a big black dot on the right. You are supposed to cover your left eye, stare at the +, and slowly move closer to the computer screen. Eventually, you find your blind spot and the entire black dot will disappear. Your brain will then fill in the blind spot with the surrounding color of the screen, pattern, etc. I learned from this experiment that when your eyes don't send info to the brain, it basically makes up what you are seeing. This really surprised me because it just seems weird to me that the brain can just make things up like that on its own.
The second activity that I did was called "Ambiguous Figures." It talks about how what we see is basically just one interpretation of many. For example, they have pictures on the page and when looking at one of them, I immediately thought of a skull. Then, when I enlarged the photo, I could also see a woman looking in a mirror at herself. From this I learned that there are many different ways of seeing something, it is basically all in the eyes of the beholder.

One thing from this section that interested me was when neurosurgeons tried to cure epilepsy by splitting patients brain in half. I learned that this cured the patients of their seizures but the communication with their hands got all messed up. For example, Joe (the guy with 2 brains) was able to draw 2 different pictures simultaneously with his left and right hand.
I thought the theory of phrenology was also interesting. Apparently, back in the 1800s, scientists believed that bumps on our heads could show things about our character and mental abilities just by location or number of bumps. We have obviously come a long way in the study of the brain since then.
These things change the way I originally thought about the brain because, for one, I didn't think it was possible to live with your brain cut in 2. Also, it seems silly to me that people actually thought bumps on our head could determine how smart we are and I am glad to know that we have come farther with our knowledge than that today.

I really liked the video about the guy with 2 brains. I think it is really interesting how he can still function and live with the 2 halves of his brain severed. I think it would be sweet to be able to draw 2 different shapes at the same time. I also think it would be really annoying and somewhat crazy not to be able to process something that I saw out of my left eye.

Thinking Critically [Post #2]

I think research is important because it allows you to investigate things that are relatively unclear. For example, if you don't understand something you learned in school, you could research the information more in-depth. This will give you a better understanding of what you have learned.

I read the research article on psyblog called "The Acceptance Prophecy: How You Control Who Likes You." This article talked all about the so called 'acceptance prophecy,' which basically states that if you believe someone will like or accept you, they more than likely will because you will act warmer and nicer to them. This also works in the opposite direction; if you think someone will not accept you, you will probably act colder and shyer around them, causing them to not like you as much. In this article, scientists tested this prophecy and found that when people felt like their risk of rejection was lower, they were more friendly and welcoming. When the risk was higher, they were more fearful of rejection and were more reserved. All in all, people with more confidence who expected to be accepted were more likable as opposed to those who expected to be rejected. I think this article is relevant to my life because everyone deals with acceptance issues like this and, in my opinion, I believe that the acceptance prophecy is 100% true.

Other things I have learned from this chapter were 1) Psychology isn't just about therapists, it is a scientific process that allows us to see deeper into the human mind 2) There is a lot of experimentation involved in psychology and there is still a lot to learn about it and 3) Thinking critically is a huge part of studying psychology and is basically another word for 'smart thinking.'
All of this is important because it allows us to further our knowledge about our own minds and behaviors.

Chapter 1

Before this class, I already knew that psychology had something to do with the study of the mind and how people interact with others around them. I didn't know how much was involved with psychology until after I read the first chapter. I figured psychology was all about therapists and their patients. If you had a problem in your life, you would go to a therapist and they would ask you a bunch of questions and try to figure out what was wrong with you and the way you think. After reading this first chapter, I found out that psychology is a form of science that goes much deeper than that.
I believe psychology affects everyone's life in some way. We all have emotions and express them in different ways.

One of the things in the chapter that really interested me was the part about Hindsight Bias. In the reading, the definition of Hindsight Bias is a tendency that once something has happened, it automatically makes it inevitable. This basically means that when you look back on an event that already happened in your life, you think it is obvious that everything happened as it did. This happens so often in everyone's life.
Another thing that i found interesting was the section that talked about illusory correlations. When people find an occurrence unusual, they are more likely to remember it. This apparently feeds the fire for superstitious beliefs because people recall out-of-the-ordinary events. Once enough people start noticing the same unlikely events occurring, they all begin to believe that such things are true.

About Me

My name Allysa. I am 17 years old and I go to Stratford High School. I believe that my family has had a major influence on who I am today. I am really close with all of my family and they are an important aspect in my life.
I think studying psychology is important because it gives us a better understanding of the human mind and why we do certain actions. I think it will be interesting to learn things about other people and the reasons why they do certain things. It is interesting how much heredity and influence from the people around you and your environment can effect the way you think.
In my opinion, the definition of psychology would be studying how different people think based on their environment and surroundings.