Chapter 1 Post #2

Another section of this chapter that I found interesting was the discussion of the various research methods, particularly the information about the survey. Like the chapter said, surveys are probably the fastest and most direct way to get data results. It is also easy to get opinions from a large group of people using surveys. However, all of this convenience has a downfall as well. Because surveys are such a quick method of obtaining data, they cannot always be very thorough. They will not provide nearly as much information as could be collected from an experiment or study. Some of the disadvantages of surveys that the chapter brought up were that people are not always completely honest on surveys. They also might just circle something instead of reading all of the options carefully and thinking about them. Another disadvantage that I think surveys have are that people’s answers can be very ambiguous. I know that personally when I take surveys that have open-ended questions, I write short responses. These short responses could be interpreted differently and could lead to inaccurate data. Something else that the chapter brought up was that people’s answers on surveys tend to be influenced by the wording. I think that this brings up the subject of the researcher’s bias on how they want the survey results to turn up. It often seems that surveys are worded so that you lean more towards answering one way than another. This could be because the researcher wants you to answer that way so that their thesis is supported by your results. Like the chapter suggests, surveys are unable to create completely accurate results; nevertheless, they are very useful because they are convenient and easy to be answered by a large group of people.

Freud

When taking psychology 100, I mostly enjoyed learning about Freud, Skinner, and Pavlov. The psychoanalytic theory and its use of the id, ego, and superego were very interesting. This theory includes multiple stages described by Freud. Psychoanalytic theory is, in many ways, the first psychological theory. Sigmund Freud developed this theory and has served as a foundation on which to build many other psychological theories.

Psychoanalytic theory suggests that human behavior is determined, largely, by the unconscious and instinctual drives. Freud would often speak of libido, which he later expanded to life instincts, and death instincts. He also originated the concepts of the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the part of the psyche consisting of biological instincts and ruled by pleasure. It is often thought of as demanding, selfish, and needy and is compared to a new born child. The ego is the psychological portion of a personality that is ruled by reality. It is charged with controlling the id and provides rationality and intelligence to the personality. The superego is the moral aspect of personality, often thought of as the conscience. Freud proposed that the moral code of the superego is an internalization of the values of parents and society. The superego strives for perfection and houses the emotions of pride and guilt. Freud said that psychic energy is being shared among the three aspects of personality; human behavior is a result of how this energy is shared.

Freud would also spoke of the “conscious” and the “unconscious.” The unconscious part of the mind is what controls automatic responses and, according to Freud, is the root of neuroses. Certain types of anxiety stem from the unconscious, largely as a result of the interaction among the id, ego, and superego. 

Blog Post 2

After reading through Chapter two I realized there are a lot more theories to psychology than I thought there were. I learned a lot of them from Psych 101 and I had really enjoyed going over them with the professor I had. She was a great teacher and I learned so much from her about psychology.

I find the most interesting theory in this chapter to be the psychoanalytic one. Freud's Theories intrigue me. It's amazing how much things can change in either a short time or over a long period of time.It is weird to read Freud's theories sometimes and compare it to the ones that we have now. Most of the theories today were originally based around his ideas and transformed from them. That gave rise to the theories that we have now. Current day theories have evolved to me more humane and also better with predicting and analyzing the things we want to study.

Something that really stood out to me in chapter two was all of the pictures. They are all unique in their own ways and really show aspects of what we are supposed to be learning. The picture on pg. 38 with the caption "who are we?" It discusses some issues with identity crises and finding out just who we are.

Blog Post 2

In chapter 2, I found psychoanalytic theory to be very interesting. There were two different ideas, one from Freud and one from Erikson. Freud's theory was based off of one's sexual personalities and habits were formed in their childhood, and carry over into their adulthood. What really surprised me was how there's three different stages in childhood. The first one being oral, like sucking. Then the anus stage, where children learn how to go to the bathroom on their own. After that is the phallic stage. A stage where boys learn they have a penis, and girls become envious of that, which I don't really understand that. After that stage is two more, latency, and the genital stage. I really did not know this all existed, but I find it really interesting! An example of this is a picture of a little girl examining a naked statue of a woman. In Freudian theory, the girl could be in the phalic stage, which means she could be feeling deprived due to not having a penis. Erikson's theory has eight developmental stages. He calls them psychosocial. One of the most famous stages is the identity crisis one, where during adolescence teens go through different identities. I know from growing up that is definitely true because I look a lot different than I used to in middle school, and I changed my hair millions of times, along with my wardrobe.

Post 2

During our reading, I found various subjects interesting while learning about developmental psychology;  however, one subject I found intriguing is the three research methods; cross-sectional, longitude and cross-sequential. I learned more about them during our first quiz, while relating it to the examples throughout it. Cross sectional is defined as groups of people of one age compared with a similar group of people of another age, whereas longitude research is defined as collecting data repeatedly on the same individuals as they age. Cross-sequential is a mixture of both by studying several groups of people at different ages that follow them over the years. I find the three of these very interesting because they can really define the developmental process. This correlates with my own personal career path because being able to understand the developmental stages of individuals at different stages of their lives. This will help me relate to them on more of a personal level, solely by expanding my knowledge, along with the process of their aid. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying what I am learning in class. I am benefiting very much so from chapter one and I can’t wait to expand my knowledge more throughout the other chapters.  

Chapter one

Chapter one gave me a lot in insightful information about developmental psychology with multiple focuses contained within it. After reading Chapter one and our discussions I really sat back and thought about examples in society. One thing that I mentioned in my second discussion post really hit me hard. And it’s how subjective society can be. This is through modeling agencies as well as graduate programs. Apparently, weight can affect getting into programs which is duly noted however isn’t education a little too far? We correlate ourselves with the dynamic-systems theory which is; a view of human development as an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between the physical and emotional being, between the person and every aspect of his or her environment including family and society according to Berger in The Developing Person. However although we are constantly changing and correlate ourselves with this theory we have the same type of issues in our society. This is shown through the countless discrimination of body types, gender and sexuality.  So the question that arises in my mind is if we are based on the dynamic-systems theory and are constantly changing why are the same issues appearing in society just in different forms? Don’t you think that by now we would get the hang of things? 

While reading through chapter one, I found it very interesting about the topic of diversity. I am currently taking Encounters in Human Diversity course so this topic stood out to me. When learning about how one develops from a psychological perspective, I never really thought to consider ethnicity, sexual orientation, or degree of wealth. It is amazing to me that such a little difference from one person to another can have a huge impact on their upbringing. This butterfly effect is very interesting and somewhat creepy to think about but exciting nonetheless. Since I have a background in biology I also thought it was interesting the chapter took in relation to neurons. Development has a great deal to do with the growth of neurons. The more connections they are able to make with other neurons helps in development and can be a predictor for other issues later in life. If a child is not stimulated when developing their neurons will make very few connections with other neurons which could lead to issues later in life. Another thing I found interesting was the Sociocultural theory. the theory states that we learn and develop through the interactions we have with other people. Not only do we learn and grow from our parents but we are shaped as a person through the friendships we keep. This is why school is such a key aspect in a persons live because through other people we develop and find out who we will be as a person.

Nature vs Nurture

Nature vs. Nurture has always been a topic I have read a lot about previously and been interested in. Nature is development based on genetics and nurture deals with environmental factors that come into play. In development, obviously both play a huge role. I personally believe that nurture plays a larger role in child development though. Children are influenced by their friends and peer pressured at school. That is inevitable. I agree with John Locke with the tabula rasa theory; a belief that the mind is a blank slate at birth, with experience determining our knowledge. For instance, my older brother is 10 years older than me. He grew up in a different time period, area and with different outside influences than I did. He lived closer to the city, because it was my parents first house. I grew up in more rural area. My parents had more money, I was at a better school, and had completely different experiences than my brother. However, we do have similar genes with the same mom and dad. We are similar in some ways but he also turned out a lot different than me, different personality and morals. This is why I believe more in the nurture side. I hope as we read and learn more about this topic, I will get a broader knowledge and different outlook. I would like to read psychologists who favor the nature side, debate. 

Chapter one and two blog

Through my reading of chapter one I have gotten more insight on the scientific method and the domains that go into it. I'm mostly used to using the scientific method for anything science related. I am a biology major and I use the scientific method all the time while in labs and just in general in most science classes.I learned more about the scientific method and how it can also be used in psychology. I believe that this class might help me to also further my biology knowledge and give me more insight to people and how to read them.

 Developmental psychology makes me think in different ways about people. I feel like I am going to learn a lot in this class from reading all the different methods there is to go about developmental psychology and how it is guided. Some of the methods discussed in the textbook challenge me to think about other methods that could be available. Chapter two's theories encouraged me to think more critically about what can be done with psychology. All of these theories make me wonder what else could happen in psychology coming up and if there will be any more theories being created in the near future.

Chapter 1 Post #1

While reading Chapter 1, I found the concept of plasticity to be interesting. The chapter discusses how human development is plastic in two complementary aspects. The first aspect deals with the idea that humans can be molded just as plastic can. The second aspect suggests that just as plastic remains a certain way, so does a person's traits and identity to a certain extent. This provides the notion that change is possible, but also that development has its foundation in a person's previous experiences. I think this applies to many aspects in a person's development, from their personality traits to their habits. For example, let's say a child has had a tendency of being a lazy student. Then they are put into a prestigious school where everyone is hard-working. They will most likely be molded into being a hard worker as well. This illustrates one aspect of plasticity. However, this is not to say that they will not revert back to their previous experience of being a lazy student.

I thought that the scenarios with Cheryl and David were very interesting. It is great that plasticity allows for someone to come such a long way from either physical or mental disabilities. This shows that many aspects of a person's development can be influenced and changed. It is important to remember that plasticity does not necessarily mean that any change is possible. These changes can also have the possibility of being negative changes rather than positive changes. It is also essential to remember that plasticity cannot change nor fix genetics, childhood experiences, and other permanent damages.

Nature versus Nurture

I have long been intrigued by the nature versus nurture debate, particularly in the development of intellectual ability. The author’s nephew David is a great example of this – disadvantaged by nature but gained much by nurture. If his parents would have simply said, David has brain damage, David can’t . . . it is unlikely he would have developed intellectually to the degree he did – even graduating from college. Instead they with the help of many other people enabled David to improve areas of weakness and capitalize on his strengths. In David’s case his handicaps were not genetic, but even for those with genetic disadvantages – nurture in the form of a multitude of therapies can help them make the most of what they have and enable them to live full, happy and productive lives. 

As my final project for the herbal studies program I was in I chose to write a paper on therapeutic intervention for those with Down Syndrome. Due to an extra 21^st chromosome, certain genes on chromosome 21 are overexpressed, with their products creating a cascade of biochemical effects. Medical and alternative treatments can help to down-regulate or ameliorate some of these processes. For example, even though people with Down Syndrome are genetically predisposed to low thyroid function they are less likely to be diagnosed and treated than the general population. Low thyroid function is directly correlated to poor mental development. So the Down Syndrome child with genetic overexpression causing deterioration of the brain neurons may also be “slow” because of low thyroid hormone. By taking a Down Syndrome child to a Doctor who considers their health and wellbeing important, other accentuating medical issues can be treated (nurture) which affects how much (nature) the genes they were born with impact their quality of life. Another example of nurture is that Down Syndrome children are genetically predisposed to poor muscle tone and obesity. Simply encouraging activity and movement can greatly improve both of these. Muscle activity (exercise) improves the conversion of the inactive thyroid hormone to the active thyroid hormone which is important for mental function and maintaining a healthy weight. 

And because it fits so well with the nature versus nurture debate and is so deep and true I’m copying this awesome quote from the syllabus. "We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within" - Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man (1981).

Chapter 1

My mom had a discussion about depression with my Grandad (a retired psychiatrist) yesterday. He claimed that situational depression often has to do with loss. At his age, he is losing a lot—his wife, his friends, and his health. When I asked him how he was doing the other day he said, “Well…every day it’s just different levels of not good.”

Reading about how human development is multidirectional really resonated with me—when thinking about my Grandad’s life and my own. We can never avoid change as long as we’re living. The text states, “when a man’s wife dies, his physical, intellectual, and social well-being often decline” (van den Brink et al., 2004).  I’ve observed this trend with my Grandad. While he appears to still be completely “with it” intellectually, his physical and social well-being has definitely declined since the passing of my Grandma. I guess with old age these types of losses are inevitable.

There is a balance between gains and losses, though. I found it interesting how the text mentioned that, “every change produces unexpected advances and retreats” (Berger, 2011). I see that during this transitional phase in my life.

This time last year I thought I would be in dental school right now. It’s something I’ve been working towards for the majority of my education. After realizing that going to dental school wasn’t what I really wanted but rather what others wanted for me, I made a change and decided to switch career paths. At first, I felt like I was moving backwards (moving back home, not going directly to grad school like most of my friends, not having a job). But I’m glad life forced me to slow down—because this past summer I’ve formed relationships and gained new perspectives that I probably wouldn’t have if I’d continued on the track I had set out in my mind. I’m still working towards becoming that self-sufficient adult (just not in the way I originally expected)!

Where there is a lot to lose, there is much to gain.

Chapter 1

After reading chapter one, The Life-Span Perspective really caught my eye especially coming from personal experience. When the topic that "Development is Multidirectional" (Berger, 10) it made me think about the changes within the past decade of my life. I went through puberty in the past 10 years, I lost some really closed loved ones, I gained an amazing little boy in my life. Reading about when a man's wife dies hit close to home and I found it interesting because my mom is a widow and I got a bit more of a perspective on things. When started reading about the multicontextual perspective of development and talking about the three nested levels that affect us and bringing up the topic about socioeconomic status or whether your working class or middle class. The multicultural part I thought was really cool because every single generation within our families has brought something new and we can learn about different cultures just within our own families. The multidisciplinary part was very interesting because life span can be divided into three parts; childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Development is also segmented into three different parts; biological, cognitive, and social. It was definitely interesting to read about. I thought the section "Development is Plastic" was a little strange due to the fact, I don't really understand how plastic can be related to hope and realism. I know plastic is durable and can be molded but to me it made absolutely no sense. I guess that is because to me it is just an odd concept to think about. I did think overall the section was very interesting.

Blog Post #1: Chapter One.

While reading chapter one, I recognized the concept of Nature vs. Nurture when it came to human development. I've always been so intrigued by the major differences that I see between certain people, and that is mostly due to the Nature vs. Nurture debate. Nature refers to the influence of the genes that people inherit and how it effects their developmental growth, where Nurture deals with the environmental influences, or even life experiences that play a part in human development. It interests me because I often believe that Nurture contributes more to who a person grows to be in their future. For example, I know that I inherited many traits from my parents, but it has been the experiences that I have had throughout my life that have aided in the development of my personality, causing me to be the person that I am today. The things that we've gone through in our lives help to mold who we are, and the experiences that we have had. Sometimes I find it so amazing that you can inherit genes from your parents by their looks, but you can be entirely different from your parents at the same time because the experiences that you have throughout your life are mainly what define who you are. This is probably why this concept is such a debate between psychologists. Some may believe that nature plays more of a role in human development, it's definitely an intriguing topic to study and read about!

Blog Post #1

While doing my reading of chapter one, longitudinal study really caught my interest. While it certainly seems to be a significant method of studying development over time, multiple questions arose in my mind while reading. The most crucial one was: how exactly can they possibly have an unbiased method of studying development longitudinally? Of course participants are (most likely) aware of their development being traced, so is there any chance that this knowledge is influencing their behavior? I know that this was addressed very briefly in the text (Berger, 23), but I was a very stubborn child and if I had been subjected to a test against my will (however benign it may be) I would have intentionally given incorrect answers. I wonder how experimenters in longitudinal studies deal with this, if they know that children don’t wish to participate or if they are clearly aware that participants are giving incorrect answers.

The second question that arose in my mind was: how significantly would the research be impacted if one of the experimenters were to die? Frankly, if someone were to be watching an individual for the duration of his or her life, the chances of someone dying during lifelong research is very high. My personal belief is that every researcher and experimenter brings their own knowledge and perception to the table, so it saddens me to think that a great loss could be made while performing such a great study.

Chapter One

After reading chapter one, I actually found a lot of thing interesting! One thing that caught my eye in the information of the Genetic Vulnerability. It states in the reading that if someone is going to kill someone is would most likely be between the ages of 15-25. I watch the news all the time with my mom and I never paid attention to the age groups that were committing these crimes. Now that I look back and think about it most (not all) definitely are within that age group. I liked reading the studies done behind figuring out why and the enzymes that are attributed towards this. This kind of relates to me as well. Around where I live in the past 5 years 4 boys have been convicted of murder of ranging from the ages of 17-21. This section didn't play a big part in the scheme of the chapter but I think the fact that I related to it made it so interesting to me.