My thoughts on AP psychology

1. What did you like about the class?

Psychology itself is interesting, but Mrs. Halfen was able to make it more interesting by giving the class more information than we could simply get out of the textbook. I also liked that if you wanted the chance to better your grade, you had the opportunity to do it with the Steeping through the Sections and the Chapters at a Glance.

2. What was your favorite activity or project?

I'd have to say my favorite project was the sensation/perception project. It was a chance for us to learn from our classmates, and the activities after the notes were fun.

3. What didn't you like about the class?

I didn't like that some of the time especially towards the end of this semester, the material on the tests were not covered in the class. For the most part it was up to us to learn from the book. I'm sure Hurricane Ike has made the first semester difficult for many teachers.

4. What do you think I should leave out next year?

Next year I think we should leave the blogging out. Although it is a fun activity, I would have rather spent more time preparing for the semester exam and the AP. I think the blogs could just as easily be completed at home.

5. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for things I could do next year in AP Psych?

I think it would be awesome to bring in a hypnotist when your talking about the different layers of our conscious.

6. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for next semester in AP Econ?

I want to play the stock market game, although it might be about who loses the least money these days.

Why so lonely? : }

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/08/loneliness.psychology/

In this CNN article, a group of researchers was able to determine loneliness may be affected by genetics. After 8000 twin and sibling cases, they have found strong evidence to support this case. They explain that much of this is probably caused by evolutionary psychology. Our ancestors stayed in groups to protect each other from predators, therefore we feel lonely when we're isolated from each other as a biological defense mechanism. I agree this could be part of the problem, but it doesn't really account for our varying tolerance for isolation between people. The article goes further to explain that a good way to avoid loneliness is to participate in community service, much like how we do in NHS :D

An Odd Person Me is?

I <3 surveys.

1. The first test i took was not to my liking. The questions were simply yes and no, but they didn't ask for the degree to which it is yes or no. I did feel the questions were straightforward, but I was greatly surprised at my results.

Your Type is ESTJ
Extraverted 1
Sensing 12
Thinking 38
Judging 1

I'm not really sure what it means by judging, but I do find myself to be a thoughtful person. My sensing is probably low because I tend to be insensitive to the feelings of others- something i need to work on. What surprised me is my low score on extraverted, I like to think I'm more social than this. Overall I'd rate the test a 6 out of 10.

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2. The next test I took was the Sims Personality Test. Growing up I played the game the Sims alot so i was pretty interested. I thought the test was good because of its variety of questions, and a degree to yes or no on the answer to a question. However, I could see some questions being difficult for a young kid to understand. I don't even know what "27. Can be cold and aloof"

means. The scores rated my neatness, kindness, niceness, activeness, playfulness, and socialness on a 1-10 score. It provided alot of detail, and some memorable details involving how a Sim with this score would behave in the game. I'd rate the test 8 of 10.

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3. After seeing everyone else rating photos of people for attractiveness, I decided to take a crack at it myself. The test itself was fun, but I would have liked to see the results broken down into more categories. This attitude can be partially explained by my survey results. For all but one category, i scored average which really wasn't interesting at all. As it turned out I scored high on the category labeled "trendy". The results said individuals who score high on this dimension tend to prefer women that are well-dressed and well-groomed, fashionable, urban, and more feminine. These results seem pretty accurate I would rate the test 7 of 10.

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4. The fourth test I took was the "Job Attitudes" one. This survery particularly interested me because I can't decide whether or not to return as a Lifeguard this summer at my community pool. The questions on this test were well though out, but the length was a bit long. At the end, the survery results were very detailed and accurate according to my beliefs. The test said Your score on Job Satisfaction was 45.00. The average score is 60.5. I am giving this test a 9.5 of 10.

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5. The final test I took part in was the "True Crime" survey. This interested me because my father works with law enforcement and I enjoy shows such as Law and Order: SVU. The survey tested the degree to which our thoughts of attractiveness are influenced by the crime the person committed. Women should a significant difference in their opinion in the attractiveness of a murderer and a robber. Men were more consistent. I fit into the same generalization and my scores once again were unsurprising. The test itself was well organized and written. I would rate the survey an 8 of 10.

What am I?

Dear Girlfriend,

College is a joke!!! I'm easily passing all my classes with a C-. I told the school janitor, and he says I'm the most talented kid in the whole school! Everyone here is jealous of my mad skillz man. They all wish they could be as great as me. Yesterday, I played ultimate frisbee and scored all 7 touchdowns for my team. All I did was sit in the inzone and cherry pick all the goals. Man, I'm SOOO AWESOME. I'm so awesome that my frat buddies substitute my name for Chuck Norris in those lame jokes. They say "When Tyler cries, his tears cure cancer." Anyways, just thought I would send you a letter about how great things are here at Wharton Community College. Write me back :D


~Tyler S.

P.S. When we get married, we'll put the me back in team.

Wash Until They Bleed

Case Study 8: A 26 year old man is very concerned about cleanliness and hygiene. He spends a significant amount of time each day washing his hands or showering, especially after touch a toilet seat, doorknob, or any other item he thinks may be dirty or contaminated. The patient explains that he is concerned about becoming infected or sick from touching these objects. He periodically acknowledges that the washing is excessive but explains that he becomes very anxious when he tries to avoid washing and eventually feels compelled to wash even more to make up for the omission.

Diagnosis in reference to DSM-IV-TR

This man has Obcessive Compulsive Disorder commonly known as OCD. The indication for this is the man's need to be clean, and his compulsive behavior to wash his hands. Although he recognizes his obsessive thoughts, his anxiety overrides him, and he is unable to stop his compulsion. This another major indication of his disorder.


Treatment in reference to Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD

There are several possible treatments for OCD. Exposure (to obsessional thoughts) and ritual prevention (preventing compulsiveness) are the first two. Exposure might include the man allowing his hands to become slightly dirty, and his ritual prevention would be not allowing himself to wash them. Over time, his anxiety may go down, however the subject seems to have already tried this treatment and found unsatisfactory results. Therefore, another treatment might be the use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors. At first this medication may make the symptoms worse, but after a few weeks they reduce the obsession.

Summary

Obcessive Compulsive Disorder is a psychological disorder that can have life changing effects. The cumplusion may show in the form of several things, but the good news is the disorder is treatable. With careful therapy a patient can overcome OCD and live quite a normal life.

Jay Leno Overcomes Dyslexia

Jay Leno was born in James Douglas Muir Leno, on April 28, 1950, in New Rochelle, New York. From the moment he was born, he was a class clown. His teacher said ,“if Jay spent as much time studying as he does trying to be a comedian, he’d be a big star.” What his teacher did not know was that Leno had Dyslexia.

The Dyslexia Association defines it as a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Although he got mainly C's and D's in school, Dyslexia did not stop him from applying and eventually graduating from the Emerson college in Boston.

Today, Leno has been dubbed “The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.” His rigorous schedule includes hardly five hours of sleep every night. Dyslexia even seems to give him an advantage. He states "One thing about mildly dyslexic people — they’re good at setting everything else aside to pursue one goal. " It is certain that Dyslexia never got in the way of Jay Leno's ambitions.

For more information:

http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542191
http://www.dys-add.com/define.html
http://www.money-at-home.com/jayleno.htm