Learning Assessment Two

Think about what you will be doing in 5 or 10 years from now. What information from this course would you most want to remember or believe will be most relevant to you, your work, or your life in general. Give examples.

 

In five or ten years from now I intend to have graduated from college and hopefully have started a family. Having a family is one of my life goals; I fully intend to have children when I get older. I found the section on developmental psychology most relevant to this goal, especially the section detailing parenting styles, and which work best. We learned about the various parenting styles in class. There’s Authoritarian, in which the parents are demanding and do not respond well to their children’s feelings. They’re the sort of parents which explain themselves with “Because I said so!” A permissive parent is what I had growing up. My mother would always let me do basically whatever I wanted. I remember a few times I didn’t come home until well after 2am, and other than a “you could have called” there was no punishment. That’s not to say she didn’t care, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without her unwavering support. An Uninvolved parent would provide money for food, but little else. Though it sort of pains me to say it, this would be my dad at best, on a good day. Most of the time he’d avoid child support-and me along with it. The best parenting style we discussed in class is the Authoritative Parenting style. It’s where the parents are demanding, but are rational, and communicate well. Without a doubt, this would be the sort of parent I hope I can be. I am the product of what would be labeled as a broken home, so naturally I’m quite concerned with the concept of me being the best father I can be. I’m adamant that my experience does not get repeated unto my progeny, at least not intentionally.

 

In what ways has the material you have learned in this course changed or influenced your understanding and/or expectations about human behavior and cognition? Give examples.

                I felt absolutely shaken on the section about us following authority without question. I have of course found myself saying that I could never do what those following the Nazi party did; I cannot slaughter innocent human beings no matter what reasoning I had. This chapter takes that lie that acts as a security blanket, and throws it on the ground, laying you bare before the hard truth: as a human being, we are all statistically likely to bow in the face of pressure from authority. The Milgram experiment was both fascinating and disgusting. Reading about it in the book was a little disconcerting, but actually watching the video in which the participant is visibly shaken up about this, nervously laughing, and thinking he just murdered another human being—that struck a chord. It’s actually almost frightening that a human being would, with some pressure from a perceived authority figure, subject another human being to horrible, violent, painful behavior in the name of some cause. I find it disgusting, even though I know now that I would probably do the same thing. The Milgram experiment doesn’t hold anything to the distress I felt when we watched the video about the Stanford prison study. I felt real terror at the thought that these normal human beings would actually torture others for a pittance in money per day. I still, despite everything I’ve learned, can’t believe that I would torture another human being based solely on the word of an authority figure. If Mr. Smith ordered me to kick a peer until she cried, for instance, I’d like to believe I wouldn’t do it, despite any urging. I suppose my understanding of humans has drastically changed as a result of this course. I used to villainize groups such as the KKK and the Nazis, but now I understand the people who follow these leaders have real psychological reasons for doing so. I think I can begin to understand why things aren’t simply Utopian, with some bad apples.

 

I honestly believe the assignment concerning “How to study more gooder, not just more harder” helped me quite a bit in the class. It made me turn my gaze inward and try to identify what exactly I do well, and what I do poorly. Here’s an excerpt from my response:

“Good study habits include finding a good location and highlighting important sections; however, I believe that motivation is the key element to studying well. Without good motivation, you cannot focus, and I would argue it is the greatest factor to studying at all, let alone studying well. When I am not motivated, I tend to get distracted from my work very easily, such as just now (there was a 30 minute break in order to acquire a late night snack). Chew seems to argue that intent to study doesn’t have much of an effect at all. He introduces a study that shows us that intent to learn has virtually no effect upon the results. It appears as though my motivation, or my intent to learn, statistically has no real effect upon the quality of my learning.”

I don’t believe I would have done as well without Chew’s tips. Those videos definitely helped.

Another thing I believe assisted me in class were the videos. I realize they were all on the wiki, and that what follows is a lame excuse, but after a full day of labor and class, the last thing I want to do is spend extra time, beyond homework, looking at the material. I find this sort of perplexing, because almost every time we’ve watched videos or looked at material on the wiki, I’ve found myself silently exclaiming “Oh, that’s cool! I’ll look at that later!” and yet I never do. The only thing from the wiki that’s rubbed off on me are the TED talks. I’ve downloaded the application on my phone, and I’ve been watching random TED videos whenever I have down time and nothing else to do. If I’ve gained nothing else from this class(an inappropriate expression, I’ve gained a lot), I’ve started learning for the sake of learning in my free time.

I noticed, however, that the lectures in class would over time cease to hold anyone’s attention. I’m fairly certain this is just natural tendency of students over a two hour period. I honestly have trouble paying attention to a movie that lasts longer than an hour and a half, even if I’m enjoying it. I pay more attention when I’m interacting with something instead of just watching or listening. So, in order to cater better to students like myself, you could attempt to make the class more interactive(not sure how you would do that, though.) The break in between the two hours does help tremendously. Thank you for that.

Psychological Disorders in Context

Name  _____Sean Riley_____________________ Date ___7/10/12_________ Psychological Disorders in Context Due 7/11/12 by 5pm

After you read each of the following four case studies, discuss and answer the questions below the case regarding the problem(s) that may or may not be present. Feel free to use your textbook or any other notes/resources you may have.  Remember, not every case will necessarily present you with a specific disorder and some may present you with more than one disorder (what we refer to as “comorbid” disorders). 

Case #1

Jim is a 31-year old successful salesman. He was referred by the nurse practitioner in his physician’s office. He complains of muscle tension, headaches, and difficulty sleeping. He worries about not having enough money for his family in the event he dies suddenly or is fired from his job. He worries about job stability and feels he would be unable to get another job that paid as well. In fact, he is extremely bothered by a constant preoccupation with the possibility that he might inadvertently start screaming at his boss for no reason. To make sure he doesn’t actually start doing this, he often goes way out of his way to avoid any contact with his boss. He even goes so far as to miss important meetings where his boss is likely to be present.

He has elevated blood pressure, heart palpitations, and has now missed several work deadlines because of all his worrying and preoccupations. Jim’s friends describe him as a “constant worry-wart” who is always planning for that one “disaster” that never actually comes. Jim states that he tries to stop worrying, but can’t seem to make himself stop. His worrying has begun to interfere significantly with his ability to perform his job, enjoy time with his family, or engage in any of the hobbies that he once enjoyed.

Based on the symptoms presented in Jim’s case and the four key criteria for determining whether behavior is abnormal, would you say that Jim has a psychological disorder?  Why or why not? 

Absolutely. His behavior is both atypical and irrational. His behavior is maladaptive, in that he is missing several deadlines. His behavior is irration

If you answered yes, what disorder (if any) should be considered? Explain why you chose this disorder.

Case #2

Martin is a 21 year-old business major at a large university. Over the past few weeks his family and friends have noticed increasingly bizarre behaviors. On many occasions they’ve overheard him whispering in an agitated voice, even though there is no one nearby. Lately, he has refused to answer or make calls on his cell phone, claiming that if he does it will activate a hidden microchip that he was forced to swallow.

His parents have tried to get him to go with them to a psychiatrist for an evaluation, but he refuses. He has accused them on several occasions of conspiring with “others” to have him killed so they can remove his brain and put it inside one of their own. He has stopped attended classes altogether. He is now so far behind in his coursework that he will fail if something doesn’t change very soon.

Although Martin occasionally has a few beers with his friends, he’s never been known to abuse alcohol or use drugs. He does, however, have an estranged aunt who has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals over the years due to erratic and bizarre behavior.

Based on the symptoms presented in Jim’s case and the four key criteria for determining whether behavior is abnormal, would you say that Jim has a psychological disorder?  Why or why not? 

Martin most likely has a mental illness. His behavior is Atypical in that most people do not fear cell phones in our culture, as well as his not attending classes. Maladaptive in that he hasn’t been going to class, and he’s paranoid about his phone being the tool of the “others” to murder him. He will flunk out of college if he does not shape up. This is obviously distressing to his family, in that his parents have tried to make him go to a psychiatrist. His fears are not rational. He’s afraid of using his cell phone in case it activates a hidden microchip he was supposedly forced to swallow.

If you answered yes, what disorder (if any) should be considered? Explain why you chose this disorder Martin has, in my opinion, lost contact with reality. Therefore this disorder he has must be psychotic.

He has positive symptoms of delusions and paranoia. While it is not expressly stated, I believe he is also hearing voices, and not just whispering to himself.

He has an aunt who has been in and out of psychiatric care, which may indicate a genetic predisposition towards mental illness.

Based upon these observations, I believe Martin has Type 1  Paranoid Schizophrenia.

Case #3

Lenore has been feeling very sad since her husband died 12 weeks ago. She hasn’t eaten very well, and has difficulty sleeping.  She cries most days but is usually able to “put on a happy face” when people stop by to comfort her. Lenore is preoccupied with thoughts of her husband and does not want to do much other than think about him. She has declined all invitations by friends to socialize and instead, spends most of her time alone looking through old photographs and remembrances.

Based on the symptoms presented in Jim’s case and the four key criteria for determining whether behavior is abnormal, would you say that Jim has a psychological disorder?  Why or why not? 

I don’t believe Lenore has a mental disorder.

It is perfectly typical for a wife to grieve her husband for 3 months. In fact, it would be atypical for her not to.

It is perfectly rational to grieve over the loss of a loved one.

Her grieving is somewhat maladaptive, as she is refusing invitations from her friends.

The behavior does not appear to be distressing to anyone. Perhaps her friends would be, but she’s able to act happy long enough to ensure they don’t worry.

At this time, I would not classify Lenore as having a mental illness. I would, however, be cautious in this assessment. If Lenore continues her behavior, it will become atypical and distressing.

If you answered yes, what disorder (if any) should be considered? Explain why you chose this disorder.

Case #4

Sister Margaret has been a member of her congregation for 20 years. She is 45 years old and the Director of Religious Education for a large suburban parish. She seems to be the perfect fit for the job. Her high energy, her overflowing enthusiasm, talkativeness, and engaging personality make her a favorite of the staff and parishioners. In particular, she seems to connect emotionally with adolescents who enjoy her enthusiasm. Everyone marvels at her ability to do so much with as little as two to three hours of sleep each night.

Prior to entering religious life, Sr. Margaret had abused alcohol and had incurred some significant credit card debt. After entering her community, she seemed to channel her energies into her ministry. Although she continuously overworked, she did not appear to be having other significant life problems. In the last several years, however, she has taken on more and more responsibility at work and is more stressed. A few months ago, she began to act out sexually with another sister in her community. Currently, she finds herself depressed; she is struggling to keep up with her many ministerial commitments. The sisters living with Sr. Margaret are experiencing many forms of distress. Some feel angry because their routines are often disrupted and others feel anxious. because they continuously anticipate a change in her mood, going from highs to lows almost weekly. With her mind racing at night, her increased inability to sleep and the increasing distress in her local community, Sr. Margaret decided to talk with someone on her leadership team. After an assessment, she was admitted to a local treatment facility.

Based on the symptoms presented in Jim’s case and the four key criteria for determining whether behavior is abnormal, would you say that Jim has a psychological disorder?  Why or why not? 

I don’t know who Jim is(Other than Captain James T. Kirk, that is), but I believe Sister Margaret may in fact have a mental disorder.

She is atypical in that she began sexually acting out with another sister, and is struggling to keep up with her commitments.

Her actions, specifically the sexual acts, are not rational. She will be removed from the order if she continues to act out in such ungodly ways.

She is maladaptive due to the same reasoning for rational. She is depressed.

The community is having a lot of distress. Some sisters are angry, and others are anxious.

If you answered yes, what disorder (if any) should be considered? Explain why you chose this disorder.

I believe Margaret has bipolar disorder.

“continuously anticipate a change in her mood, going from highs to lows almost weekly. “

She seems to have Type 1 bipolar, as she has manic episodes as well as the lows.

Case #4

Elise is a 35-year-old architect. She comes to you in great distress, feeling that she is unable to work, and generally unable to function. She says that she feels tired all the time, to the point of feeling completely exhausted. She says that she cries easily, and almost every day, is having difficulty sleeping, and has lost 20 pounds in the last 2 months without trying.  She also describes herself as a “worrier” and tells you that she constantly feels restless, irritable and has difficulty concentrating.  She can’t let her husband or children leave the house without making them call her regularly to reassure her that they are okay. Her husband is growing weary of her constant worry and distressed mood.  Her children can’t understand what all the fuss is about. Their impatience with her only makes her feel worse.

She says that things have been “real bad” for the last 2 months; she doesn’t enjoy doing anything and thinks frequently of suicide. However, she also says that she has never been a very happy person. She says that things rarely go right for her, and she has given up on expecting good things to happen for her.

Based on the symptoms presented in Jim’s case and the four key criteria for determining whether behavior is abnormal, would you say that Jim has a psychological disorder?  Why or why not? 

Her experience is atypical, she has an extremely pessimistic outlook on life.

She is not being rational. She’s lost 20 pounds, endangering her life, and she’s constantly calling her kids and husband.

She is maladaptive in that she is incapable of functioning correctly anymore. She’s incapable of sleeping, and her husband appears to be on the brink of leaving her. Her children are also becoming fed up.

The behavior is distressing to herself, her husband, and her children.

If you answered yes, what disorder(s) (if any) should be considered? Explain why you chose this disorder.

I would diagnose this woman as having depression. She does not sleep, she’s having trouble eating, and she constantly wishes to murder herself.

My thoughts upon the DSM and its continued existence.

 

Paula J. Caplan in the article “Psychiatry’s bible, the DSM is doing more harm than good” argues that, unsurprisingly, as the title would suggest, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(the DSM) is not worth the pain and suffering it puts some people through. She argues that applying labels to patients hurts them, when in fact labeling things is a part of human nature. We’ve been labeling things long before psychiatry had even entered the realm of human consciousness, and in her argument against labels she fails to address this.

 

Caplan’s argument was effectively ruined for me when she seemingly contradicted herself. She claims the American Psychiatric Association(APA) “is a lobbying group for its members, not an organization with patient’s interests as its top priority. It has earned $100 million from sales of the current edition, the DSM-IV.” She paints the APA as an unethical, greedy organization that profits from mislabeling patients. A few paragraphs later, however, she begins a tale of heroic every day mislabeled Americans getting back at the system by filing complaints against the manual’s editors, saying they did not follow the APA’s ethical guidelines. She admits she herself is filing a complaint as well, which informs me as a reader that I should take all of Caplan’s arguments with a grain of salt, at best.

 

The DSM allows us to better classify mental illnesses. Mental Disorders may be vastly different from one patient to another, on a case by case basis. Treating the illnesses would be difficult without a standard system of classification.The DSM is the only classification system for mental illness that is widely utilized and accepted, and as such, until a better classification system is introduced and accepted, it must be used. No matter what arguments are presented, no matter their validity, we must as a society choose the lesser of two evils. The DSM, while it may harm human beings, in the end it helps our race diagnose and treat those who need treatment, and so we shall continue to use and update it.

Extra credit

 

Brenna’s study was attempting to gauge whether the picture of a family(white or black) will influence the responses of participants who are asked to respond with their opinions on various prompts about welfare.

The study basically consisted of the participant being handed a packet with articles about welfare and guns, and then being asked to respond to some basic prompts. (Do you believe guns are necessary for self-defence, etc.)
The independent variable is the color of the family on the picture on the article about welfare.
And the dependent variable is the various responses.

 

The goal was a correlational study that seeks to determine whether the presence of a black family vs a white family will have any effect upon participants’ responses on the questionaire. Correlation does not imply causation, however, and I don’t feel as though this study did enough to prove whether there was any relationship. There could be a third variable, such as students’ political philosophies.

Scientific American analysis

The availability heuristic is evidenced in the media promoting the stories that have a lesser actual risk than the larger issues, such as climate change. The more the media promotes these stories, the more likely we are to think they are more likely.

The example given in the writing simply oozes with the concept of belief perseverance. Those that cling to their belief that vaccines are bad are faced with overwhelming evidence that this is not the case-and even if it is the case, these vaccines do far more good than harm. The article cites the growing measles rates in areas that have low vaccination rates.

There might be some confirmation bias involved as well. The parents of the children in question likely network with other similarly minded parents, giving them to be more influenced by their opinions. This also coincides with the availability heuristic a little, as if the parents seek out like minded individuals, they’re most likely bombarded with more anti-vaccination propaganda than pro-vaccination propaganda.

Learning Assessment

One of the most surprising things I’ve learned so far in Psy 100 is that the brain is capable of holding more data than any technological storage device in existence. “The brain’s memory storage capacity has been estimated to be around 2.5 petabytes (a million gigabytes), which would be enough to hold three million hours of television shows if your brain worked like a video recorder. You would have to leave the television running continuously for more than 300 years to use up all that storage” (Griggs 178). There were approximately 400 freshmen admitted last year at Berea College, each with a 250gb hard drive. in their laptops. You would need to enroll 10,000 freshmen in order to have enough laptops on campus to hold as much data as one human brain. For a more cost-effective comparison, let’s consider bare (sold without an operating system) hard drive prices. Currently, on Newegg.com, you can purchase a 4tb hard drive for $300. You would need 625 of these to hold as much information as one human brain, which would cost $187,500. The median income in the United States is $46,326 (mybudget). So, it would take a normal American a little over 4 years to purchase enough storage space to rival that of their brain, assuming they lived at home with their very generous parents, and therefore had no expenses. It boggles the mind, doesn’t it? And to think the most valuable thing I’ve ever owned has been in my head this whole time!

I also learned that my concept of memory was completely false. I had subscribed to the computer metaphor, that my memories were written to disk (my brain) and that they could be recalled perfectly whenever I wished. Those times when I couldn’t remember things were just archival errors. I learned in this course that not only was this metaphor wrong, it was very misleading. Every time I recall a memory, it is reconstructed-changed in some small way. This means that a memory dear to me, such as my first kiss, will, over time, be distorted into something that is quite different. This seems strange and counter-intuitive to me. How could I possibly forget or distort something that is so vivid and dear to me? We watched a 60 minute video segment which helped me to understand the fragility of memory. Not only is it re-created each time it’s recalled, but a memory is fallible, and can be easily influenced.

Something interesting I learned that I can try to apply to my learning is that stress affects the hippocampus negatively. The stress hormones cause the hippocampus to be incapable of forming memories. So, it logically stands that I should try to study in a stress-free environment. This means I should probably not study in my room, especially not when he’s trying to tune his guitar!

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the progress I’ve made so far in the course, however, I feel as though I’m still not quite up to par with my normal performance. The course feels rushed, with it being constrained to eight weeks, and I still find myself moving along at what I must describe as a comparatively ‘coasting speed’. Having reading every night is still for some reason kicking me in the side, even though I should be used to it by now. When I get to class having read Griggs and feeling prepared, we’ll have a quiz, and I’ll realize we had Eagleman reading as well. What I need to do to fix that is actually look at the syllabus more than once a week. I should print it out and perhaps tape it to my desk, so I’m required to read it every morning as I’m getting ready.

Works Cited:

http://www.berea.edu/admissions/quickfacts/default.asp

http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much-does-the-average-american-make-breaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/

Griggs

Practice with Classical Conditioning

 

For each example below, identify the Unconditioned Stimulus (US), Unconditioned Response (UR), Conditioned Stimulus (CS), and Conditioned Response (CR).

 

Example:  At his old run-down apartment, every time someone flushed the toilet while Tom was taking a shower, he immediately jumped out from beneath the water because it would turn the water ice cold. Now that he is in a new, more modern apartment, the water no longer turns ice cold when someone flushes the toilet, however Tom still jumps.

 

US:  Water turning ice cold

 

UR:  Jumping out from underneath the water

 

CS:  Toilet flushing

 

CR:  Jumping out from underneath the water

 

1.       The overhead in Tom’s lab has a short circuit and gives him a shock every time he touches it. After a while Tom hesitates every time he is about to touch the overhead.

 

US: Shock

 

UR: Hesitation

 

CS:  Touching overhead

 

CR: Hesitation

 

 

2.       Tom gets hungry every time he goes into the kitchen.

 

US: goes to kitchen

 

UR: eats

 

CS:  goes to kitchen

 

CR:  gets hungry

 

 

3.       Tom’s eyes begin to water at the mere sight of cats because he is allergic to them.

 

US: Allergic to cats

 

UR: Eyes water

 

CS:  Sees cats

 

CR: Eyes water

 

 

4.       One of Toms friends has a night of excessive drinking, consuming many Vodka screwdrivers, and eating much pizza and salad with bacon bits. After becoming sick, she refuses to eat bacon bits.

 

US: drinks all the vodka and consumes bacon

 

UR: gets sick

 

CS:  sees bacon bits

 

CR: gets sick

 

 

5.       To stop bad habits, it is sometimes recommended that you put a rubber band around your wrist and snap it every time you notice yourself doing that behavior.

 

US: Rubber band snap when doing unwanted behavior

 

UR: Pain

 

CS:  Doing unwanted behavior

 

CR: Pain

 

 

6.       Before you go in for a chemotherapy treatment, they often give you a distinctive food to eat. After treatment, you can’t stand that food.

 

US: Eat particular food for chemotherapy

 

UR: Get sick

 

CS:  Eating particular food

 

CR: Getting sick

 

 

7.       You meet a new person whose cooking is very good. After a few meals you start to fall in love.

 

US: eat food

 

UR: Feel good

 

CS:  See person

 

CR: Feel good

 

 

8.       Whenever you watch a scary show, you always have a big bowl of popcorn. Now you find that just having a bowl of popcorn makes you feel creepy. Later your scary show is canceled, and you start eating popcorn while watching Seinfeld. Now the popcorn makes you feel happy.

 

US: Scary show w/popcorn…see Seinfeld with popcorn

 

UR: feel scared…feel happy

 

CS:  eat popcorn…eat popcorn

 

CR: feel scared…feel happy

 

 

9.       You always do your homework on your desk. After a very hard semester, you find that sitting at your desk depresses you.

 

US: doing homework at desk

 

UR: Feel sad

 

CS:  sit at desk

 

CR: Feel sad

 

 

10.    You want to quit smoking, so you sit at home and give yourself a shock every time you reach for a cigarette. Your smoking decreases. However, when you go out with your friends your smoking returns to the same level.

 

US: shock self when smoking

 

UR: feel pain and fear

 

CS:  reach for cigarrette

 

CR: feel pain and fear

 

 

 

 

 

Concept Map-Group 7

Concept Map-Group 7

Activities in Neuroscience

Our Activity: Watching Television

The Medulla controls/regulates your heart rate. I sincerely doubt you’d enjoy watching Days of our Lives as much if your heart was beating out of control.

Without the Pons, you would be incapable of using the remote control.

The Reticular formation controls how interested in the program you are: how interesting is it to see Dr. House limp towards the camera for the 4rth time this hour?

The Cerebellum allows you to stay upright as you chill out on the couch. Heaven forbid you fall over and can’t read that Jeopardy question.

The Thalamus allows you to hear and see the program you’re watching.  It also allows you to feel the remote.

The Basal ganglia ensures you’re capable of operating the remote.

The Limbic System:
 Your Hypothalamus prevents you from freezing to death as you’re watching the Discovery channel.

And your Hippocampus is what lets you form memories about what you’ve just seen.

The Amygdala helps you to put emotions to those memories.

 

Processing Areas

The Corpus Collosum is the bridge between your hemispheres, watching television would be hard without communication between the two.

In your Motor Cortex, there’s a greater area relegated to the fine motor movements of your fingers manipulating the remote control than your arm pointing the device at the receptor.

Your Sensory cortex allows you to not crush the remote in your grip. Knowledge of your limb position allows you to manipulate the control without looking.

Your Visual cortex allows you to see the television, while your Auditory cortex allows you to hear the voices.

Your Prefrontal Cortex is impulse control. You’re not fun to watch television with if you change the channel every 2 seconds. (Seriously. Don’t.)

Broca’s area allows you to form language-essential for screaming at the characters in a horror movie for doing something you deem stupid.

Wernicke’s area is language comprehension-sure, you can watch the television, but this is what lets you understand it.

Neutrotransmitters:
Dopamine is related to movement and mood, mood being what might help you decide what to watch-and movement again relates to the remote control.

ACH is necessary to remember when and what channel your favorite shows come on.

 

The Somatic nervous systme is similar to the medula, in that it regulates involuntary things, such as heartbeat.

 

 

Why does electrical stimulation improve math skills?

(WIP)[Work in Progress]

Perhaps the electrical stimulation is having an agonistic effect upon Acetylcholine, which is important for learning and memory. Perhaps with increased ACh, the volunteers were better able to remember and apply the symbols they were taught.

The area of the brain targeted(the parietal lobe), coupled with the low current could be avoiding unwanted triggers, such as muscle twitching. The patients all reported no side effects.