Reflection Blog

Final Blog

This semester I was able to take Intro to Psychology. We talked about a lot of different topics and a lot of different things. I enjoyed it.

Module 1 was basically our introduction and we got to introduce ourselves. We discussed what psychology means. Psychology has a lot of areas that you can go into. the branches of psychology touches just about every single field that is out there. To be in this field of study, you will need to be good with people. You will have to deal with people everyday.

Module 2 is where we discussed the brain and how it works. The brain is an amazing organ that allows us to live but also gives us our senses. Without our senses we would not be able to make a lot of our decisions in a timely manner. Sensation is our senses. It is what we feel. Perception is what we do with what we sense. Your reaction is based on how quickly you can perceive things and how quickly your brain reacts. Your reaction time can save your life if you are quick enough.

Developmental Psychology is Module 3 and it studies how children grow and how their brain and body grows at the same time. The stages of growth varies from race to race, however, they all have the same pattern and the same way of growing. When you think of your friends, you think of the good times and how you miss them. This is caused by attachment. Attachment is where you have a bond with a certain person and you become friends with them. A lot of childhood friends grow and become friends for a life time. What peo
ple think about you and how they think about you is what they see as your personality. Your personality is what makes you who you are.

Learning is Module 4. A lot of learning comes from your home. How your parents raise you is how you are going to be in the future. If they discipline you, you will learn what is right and what is wrong. In the psychology side of things, this is considered conditioning. There is reinforcement, which is the act of conditioning by providing encouragement or positive things so that the subject will keep on doing whatever they are doing. Punishment is the act of conditioning by discipline. This will help the subject not do whatever they did because they will be afraid of getting in trouble and possibly facing some kind of punishment. A lot of brain injuries come from a concussion. Mental disorders can cause bodily harm and emotional harm.

Being motivated to do something can make you work ten times faster than you would if you were not motivated. Motivation comes with three characteristics: activation, persistence, and intensity. Some of the most common emotions are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. These emotions appear in just about every culture. Your emotion can also directly affect how you work.

The four criteria of abnormal behavior includes deviance, dysfunction, distress, and danger. Module 6 talks about disorders and therapy. Many disorders can be helped by a therapist. Therapy is good because it can help you in just about every aspect of your life. There are a lot of different kinds of therapy. Some can include animals and some can include relaxation therapy. It depends on what your issue is.

Module 7 is the best module because it focuses on being happy and being positive. The experiential task for this one was simple yet most touching. I had the privilege of being able to walk outside at my grandfather's ranch and be in awe of the surroundings and the outdoors. I love the outdoors. I really enjoyed doing this blog.

One of the topics that we have learned this semester that stood out and really stuck with me would be the time that we talked about the service animals and therapy dogs. Animals are great partners and they can calm you down very easily. They serve so many purposes too. I have always liked horses and I actually used to do rodeos.

The group project that was most interesting to me was the one that Jessica and Aylin did. It was a simple scavenger hunt but it really brought into focus of how pretty our campus really is. That was really the only project that allowed us to walked around campus and get to see everything. I also liked that we were not stuck in the classroom in this project too.

The blog that I would always go to first when I did the blogger comments would be Aylin's. She did very good in communicating what she learned and how she applied it. Good job Aylin! blog

I think that the one topic that really impacted me and how I go about in my life is the therapy animals. I know of an organization back where I live that has therapeutic horses that people with disorders can come in and ride. They have been proven to help just by riding these horses.

You always have to be careful with how you state something because you never know how this will effect the person you are talking too. This is my example of my professional life because I think that we take for granted of how we grew up and we assume that the person next to us grew up the same. However, they might have had a tough home life and do not really want to go back into those memories.

The videos were very helpful. I think if you maybe added more into the lecture it might help with concentration.

The comments that really helped me were the ones that told me if I needed to fix something in my blog whether it was spelling or grammar. Also I really liked the ones that told to me to maybe focus on a certain topic more.

M7 Task

Awe Walk

If you know anything about me, you probably know I love sports. However, as much as I love sports, I love the outdoors even more.

This past weekend I was able to go to my grandfather's ranch in Jacksboro.
As I drove the two hours to get there, I focused  on the scenery around me. It was very pretty. I love the country and I want to live out in the country one day.

When I got to the ranch, I found that my grandfather was there so we talked for a little. It was great seeing because I do not really have the chance to see him that often. He is pretty old but probably  more active than you can imagine. After he left, I got ready to go on my hunt.

I started slowly throughout the woods, taking in every detail. I looked at every tree and noticed something. I really love being in the country. I also really love hunting. I love being outdoors. I walked for a good two hours at the ranch and sadly I did not see anything. Well that is not completely true. I did see a few squirrels but I let them live.

I got back to camp and I got ready to go to the next place. I drove over there and it was only like thirty minutes thank goodness. I made it to the next place and I am pretty sure I saw a big flock of turkey in this field next to the place I was going to hunt. Sadly that turkey never came over to my place.

I got out and got ready and I started walking around looking for some turkey. The coolest thing about turkey hunting is that you can literally call them to you.

I crossed this little creek and I got to prove first hand that my boots were waterproof. That was great because I bought these boots because they were waterproof. I crossed the creek and was looking for another little opening so I can get out of the creek area.

I got out of the creek and I looked up and there were about twenty hogs sitting there eating. I watched them for a minute and tried to decide whether or not I was going to shoot them or not. I decided I was going to shoot them. I honestly did not think I was going to get one because all I had was shotgun. I took a shot at one and I kept on shooting as they started to run off. I looked back and the first hog I shot at stood up and was just going around in circles. I shot it again, finally killing it. I walked up to it in awe of the animal. I started to walk back because I was thinking my hunt was over. I crossed the creek again and looked up and there were three turkey running right at me. I hid really fast to make sure I did not get seen. I watched the turkey and determined that they were legal to shoot. So I took aim and shot. This turkey was pretty close. Like it was maybe ten yards away if even that. It was killed and so I grabbed it and walked back to my car. As I walked back, the sun was setting and the sunsets are always pretty. I stopped at a higher spot and just watched the sunset for awhile. I finished my trip back and drove back to camp and when I got there it was dark so I was able to see all the stars in the sky. Another thing I love about the country is the sunsets and the stars at night.

M6Task

https://instagram.com/p/BhqDOlPhvpu2ZMC7eaIYL3tkWPzbmovdi3i82s0/

I have actually been to a counselor a couple of times because I used to have really bad anger issues.The counselor basically just talked to me and we played chess. It really helped because it would calm me down. I started to notice changes in my behavior and not get so mad so quickly as I used to do. One of the craziest things was that this guy was actually really good at chess so I could never beat him.

You never know when you may need a counselor. Whether you need one for anger issues, like me, or if you need one to help you with your fears. Counselors are always here to help us. I think the most amazing thing is that they know exactly what to do and what will help. Their presence seems to calm you down. Thank you for helping me with my anger issues.

What's my story?

What's my story?

This is an interesting question or prompt as you might think about it. Some people think that I am just this kid that does sports and plays video games. That is not just me. That is just the outside of me. I love to do so many things.

My story, however, does revolve a lot around sports. I have grown up playing sports. Probably one of the most unique things about me is that I have played just about every sport I could. I started out playing baseball really little and I played that for a few years. I switched over to soccer for a few years because my coach stuck me in right field and I did not even get a single ball out there. I eventually went back to baseball. I continued to play baseball throughout junior high and high school years. When I got to junior high, I still played soccer and I tried to work in cross country workouts at the sam
e time. This was a lot of fun because I finally was able to play for my school. I started to play basketball and do track along with baseball. This continued till I made it to high school and they brought football to my school.

During a basketball game my freshman year, I was hit in the face by an elbow and this hit totally moved and messed up a few of my teeth. Luckily I didn't lose any teeth because I had braces. However, my braces were really messed up so that whole next day I went to the dentist and the orthodontist to fix my teeth. Later on, my teeth were really sensitive to cold things so I went to an endodontist to see what the deal was. I learned that I needed a couple of root canals and man those hurt. Luckily they didn't take super long and my teeth are all good now.

I experienced a few injuries during my time at high school. I had a pretty bad one at the end of track season freshman year. My hips were out of align and I did not realize this until I went back to school sophomore year. The trainer showed me how to fix it so I tried it and it helped and fixed my problem.

For a couple of years, I had a problem with my Achilles. I spent a lot of time at home and at school trying to heal it up and get it stronger. I did a lot of exercises and different things to get it ready to go. It finally healed up after my senior year of
football. I haven't had any problems since and I really hope I don't have anymore problems with it.

What I have learned throughout all of my injuries is that you can never give up. Come back everyday ready to work. These are probably some of the main things about my life that defines me. I never gave up even if I was in pain.
 "Whatever you do, do unto the Lord, and not for men." Colossians 3:23
This verse is what got through everyday that I was injured. I wanted to come back to show that I am even better than before. Another verse that helped me was:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13
No matter what happens, you can always get through whatever is thrown at you. You just have to believe that you can. #IDefineMe #PsychStory

#M4ExpTask

False Memory

I was home for spring break and so I asked my brother, Micah, to help me with my task. I brought him to the table in our dining room. He didn't want to be recorded so I respected his request and didn't record him. 

I printed out a paper that had the words. I told him I was going to show them for 5 seconds and you need to tell me all the words. So I showed him the words. Counted to 5. and I told him to write down the words. 

He almost all of them. I asked him the words and he said he got pain and sharp and a few others. So I started to tell him why he remembered those words so well. Pain is because it is the last word. Thread because it is first. I started to ask him if other words was on the like sting or needle. He thought about it for a second and was like yes I am pretty sure it's there in the list. And I was like are you sure? He thought about it again and was like yes I am sure. I showed him the list and he was like what? it's not there. 

This is an example making a False Memory. He was amazed that he made something up. I explained to him that all of these words that I gave him were all about one topic and that is probably why you thought of that word that is not there. This is understandable because of how our minds work. 

We started on the second list of words and I gave him a little bit more time for this round. Time was up so I asked him to write the words that he remembered. He wrote down a few and then he stopped. So I asked him a few questions again. He got a lot of them correct. I then asked him if sleep or doctor was on the list. He said yes to sleep but no to doctor. I showed him the list and once again he was shocked that it happened again. He learned that our minds have an imagination that can make things up. 

Thank you Micah for helping me. 

Memory Related Disorders and Forgetting

Memory Related Disorders and Forgetting

Have you ever wondered why you forget certain things? 

Some times they are caused by a memory disorder. This usually happens when something happens to the brain and damages a part of the brain that involves the storage and recollection of our memories. This can be caused by a lot of events. Probably the more common one is concussions. Especially when the victim is an athlete. It is sad to say that athletes are more prone to concussions than anyone else. However, concussions can happen to anyone and not just athletes. When you have a concussion it can leave you disoriented and maybe even have some brain damage. This is an immediate kind of brain trauma. 

Other disorders like Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease. These take time to develop. Alzheimer's disease usually affects the older side of people. This disease will slowly start making you forget things. This is really sad to see happen because they forget how to do simple things and they could start to forget their kids and their family members. 

Huntington's disease is a disease that can be inherited by your parents. It is said that if your parents have it there is a 50% chance that you are going to get it too. This disease affects mostly your muscle coordination. Since it affects this it also affects your cognitive processes. This disease has a slow decline which will affect the short term memory and then slowly affect the motor function. 

Amnesia is where you have "lost" the memories. You tend to have a space in your mind of where you can not remember anything. We do not know exactly why this happens. However, most causes of amnesia is damage to the hippocampus. It can affect the ability to learn and memorize new things along with totally forgetting everything. 

Sources:

http://www.human-memory.net/disorders.html 

Learning

Learning

Baby Years
Ever since we have been born, we have been growing. We start out as little babies and we immediately start learning. While we are even still in the hospital, we are learning. As babies, we start depending on our parents and finding out that certain actions cause certain results. For example, babies cry because they usually want something like milk or sleep. As we grow, we are taught to ask for things instead of whine and cry. This may take many years to learn but eventually we will learn to ask. As that comes around, we learn to crawl and walk. This is a big step especially for the new babies.

Toddler Years
While these first few years are difficult, the next few years are a even bigger steps. This is about the time that we start going to school. As we all know, there is a lot more learning to do. During these years of school, we learn several different subjects like math, English, history, and many more. We continue to learn for many years. Whether it is everyday things like going to the restroom or things like counting and writing. All of these skills are necessary to our everyday lives.

Pre-teen Years
During this time, we start to change a little bit. We grow and learn many different things about ourselves. As we all know, this is usually a difficult time. We are going through school in a little bit more harder classes and might possibly be doing a high school class. We also learn a lot about our many different talents. Some of our talents may be sports and some may be drama or acting. We get to briefly experience this during our pre-teen years.

Teen Years
After we finally get through our pre-teen years, we make it to our teens. Obviously we are now in high school so we are in more classes that we may or may not struggle in. That is the beauty of school tho. School helps us learn everything that we need to know to make it to college. There are many things that we still need to learn once we get out of high school, but high school prepares us to what college may be like. During this time, you are able to improve your talents. You can practice and train in certain ways that may get you noticed by colleges.
College/Adult Life
When you make it through your high school years, you are now most likely going to go to college. You are going to be taking classes that will help you later in your job. Most likely you are going to be in a major that you are most interested in. As you choose this major, you will learn how to do everything that is associated with this major. There may be some things that you will learn on the job, but they will either teach you or tell you to figure it out. You will most likely have a job in your major field for the rest of your life.

You constantly learn as you get older.

Sources
https://hsutx.instructure.com/courses/3078/files/177496/download?wrap=1