Monday, December 9, 2013

Chapter 20: Reflection

In this chapter I learned about attitudes, and they are beliefs and feelings about objects, people, and events that can affect how people behave in certain situations.  There is a process known as cognitive evaluation, which  also plays a role in the development of attitudes and refers to  evaluate evidence and form beliefs on the basic of their evaluations. Also there is something called Prejudice is a generalized attitude toward a specific group of people, and it literally means prejudgment. People who are prejudiced judge people on the basis of their group members rather than as individuals. Later I learned about a scapegoat; which is an individual or group that is blamed for problems of others.

The term scapegoating refers to aggression toward people  which are identified as the target. Attraction is a kind of attitude, an attitude of liking. Attraction to  another person often leads to friendship or live. Physical appearance tends to influence our choice of friends and patterns.  According to the matching hypothesis, people tend to choose as friends and partners those who are similar to themselves in attractiveness.  Friends are people for whom one has affection, respect, and trust. Most people value friends because of the reward that friendship offers. 


This was a very interesting chapter, since I got the opportunity to learn about all this different types of attitudes; and how they affect on your behavior, etc. and to find a way to have a solution and explanation for this.

Chapter 15 : Behavior Essay

Psychologists work to test and measure your abilities, feelings, attitudes, and behavior. The test psychologist give to people might help them make important decisions in their life or help them improve their way of living. Modern psychologist have been using various type of psychological treatments, Some psychologists test measure behavior directly by means of behavior and rating scales.Some psychologist test measure behavior directly; to do so they use the behavior rating scale. 

For a psychological test to be successful and reasonably accurate it hast to have certain characteristics and a positive behavior. It has to be standardized, meaning it has to show reliability and validity, and it has to have norms for scoring.  They also have the standardized test is one that is administered and scored the same was every time. Another test is the achievement test. This type of test measure people skills and the knowledge they have in specific academic areas. The last test they give is aptitude test. The aptitude test are generally used to determine whether a person is likely to do well in a given field of work or study. Includes standards, guidelines, test for professional use, online tests for self-knowledge, and a glossary of psychological testing terms. Learn more about different psychological tests such as intelligence tests, aptitude tests, and personality tests. 


Read profiles of specific testing instruments such as the MMPI, WISC, Stanford-Binet, and many more. Find information on testing issues such as validity, reliability, and test use. After the aptitude test is given. Psychological have the vocational interest invention; which help people determine whether their interests are similar to those of people in various lines of work. Objective test presents test takes with a standardized group of test items in the form of a questionnaire. In this test they include MMPI and CPI. The projective test have no clearly specific answers. This include the Rorschach ink blot test and the TAT. The Rorschach inkblot test is a type of projective psychological test created in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach. Used to analyze personality and emotional functioning, it is the second most commonly used forensic test after the MMPI. The Rorschach inkblot test at least occasionally .critics note that the test's poor validity means that it is unable to accurately identify most psychological disorders. However, the test has shown to be effective in the diagnosis of illnesses characterized by distorted thinking, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Many psychologists use the test, for many things like measuring an IQ, or to simply find your characteristics and your personality. For taking a test there are tips like gathers information practice, and be test wise. To help you calm your anxiety problems. You can be prepared over learn, and think helpful thoughts. The test psychologist give to people might help them make important decisions in their life or help them improve their way of living.

Psychologists have been helping and testing humanity year and years ago, Gaining knowledge every day of what and why are the we are. This is why the tests are made. This way they will know our abilities, knowledge, feelings, etc. 



Chapter 19 : METHODS OF THERAPY (ESSAY)

What is therapy? Is a verbal interaction between trained professional and patient that needs help to a psychological problem, also known as Psychotherapy; Some of the Psychological therapies even require the use of certain drugs like the Biological Therapy. The whole point of Psychotherapy is to make the think of new perspectives to their problem for them to find a solution, and when people go to a therapy it is because they feel alone and what a Psychologist must do is to be his friend.

Psychologists have several techniques to help their patients. Free association where the analyst asks the client to relax and then to say whatever comes to mind. Resistance is the term psychoanalysts use to refer to a client´s hesitancy or unwillingness to discuss issues raised during free association. The second technique is dream analysis this is when the analyst interprets the content of client´s dreams to unlock these unconscious thoughts and feelings. Transference is when the client is transferring feelings and expectations from one person to another.

Non directive therapy is talking openly of about what ever may be troubling them. Active listening is a widely used communication technique in which the listener repeats, rephrases, and asks for clarification of the statements made by the speaker. Cognitive therapy and behavior therapy are considered together because both methods share the same goal; to help client develop new ways of thinking and behaving. Psycho surgery is a brain surgery that is performed to treat psychological disorders. Psychological and physical problems have multiple ways to be solved. People who care about this problems are interested in helping people cope with this issues. 

Cognitive therapy is to help people learn to think about their problems in more productive ways. Cognitive psychologists focus on their beliefs, attitudes and thought processes that create and compound their clients´ problems. Behavior therapy or behavior modification helps people develop more adaptive behavior. Behaviorists believe that both desirable and undesirable behaviors are largely learned and that people with psychological problems have learned unhealthy ways of behaving.  Aversive conditioning, is the opposite systematic desensitization. Operant conditioning is based on the assumption that behavior that is reinforced tends to repeat, whereas behavior that is not reinforced tends to extinguish. Drug therapy is the most widely used biological treatment for psychological problems. Antianxiety drugs are used as an outpatient treatment to help people with anxiety disorders or panic attacks. Antidepressant drugs are used in the treatment of eating disorders and panic disorder. Antipsychotic drugs are effective for reducing agitation, delusions and hallucinations. 

Therapy will help a person to be happy in life, and to know how to manage all the types of problems there are in life, because life isn’t easy this may cause to a person to do things things that are not right, causing them to be depressed, etc. Therapy will help them overcome all problems possible.

Chapter 17 - STRESS AND HEALTH (ESSAY)

Psychology defines stress as pressure or a force, and the arousal of one´s mind and body. There are two types of stress; Eustress is the one the will increase sharpness and motivation, and can keep people alert and involved(positive stress) and Distress is the negative stress, and involves intense pressure or anxiety that can have severe psychological and physical effects.

The sources of stress; Stressor, which are the events or situations that produces stress, and example can be two people might react to a long bus trip react differently. One might be relaxed and the other might be stress and unpleasant. Frustration is one of the most common sources of stress; Being at a store and really wanting to buy something and not having enough money to do so, this will cause frustration. High school and college students often experience stress that is related to family problems, relationships, pressures at school, loneliness, etc.

Daily Hassles are the everyday frustrations, different forms that will all cause stress. Examples could be: Households hassles, Health hassles, time-pressure hassles, environmental hassles, work hassles future security hassles. Life changes, moving, serious illness or death in a family are other sources of stress, even a new and positive events in a persons life can cause stress. Approach-approach conflict is the least stressful type of conflict because the choices are both positive. Avoidance-avoidance- A choice between two equally unattractive alternatives, Approach avoidance is a choice of weather or not to do something when part of the situations is attractive and often is not. Finally the Multiple approach avoidance, which is a choice between a alternatives that have both good and bad aspects.

Self Efficacy expectation, are the beliefs that people have they can accomplish goals they set for themselves, believing one can do it helps one reach the goal. Wanting to learn to speak another language, basketball, etc.
Psychological Hardiness is a personality characteristic that helps people withstand stress. To conclude Stress is a pressure or force that can cause many problems in life, also it can affect your health in may ways. But it can also be cured in some sort of way, if you set yourself to do it.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Chapter: 10,11,12 - Stages of life

During each of the life stages, an individual will require some sort of care need that must be fulfilled. Therefore, care workers provide a specific service depending on the needs of the individual person. Care needs often depend on the age.

Infancy As soon as a child is born, they require 24 hour attention by their carer. Therefore, it requires physical well- being such as being given food, warmth, shelter and sense of safety. This is the key stage when emotional relationships develop; therefore, initial relationships are important to the new born. Childhood Even during childhood, a child is very dependent on the carer for day to day care tasks, although they have gathered some in dependency. They still rely on their parents to provide them with an emotionally secure environment. A child's intellectual needs are met through regular attendance at school. Furthermore, a child's external relationships develop; so to keep a child sociable, social needs must be met.
Adolescence, as soon as a child becomes an adolescent, they are beginning to become more and more independent on mom and that, because they are now becoming what is known as an adult. An  adult is the middle stage of life, where you are now by yourself facing the real problems of life, like paying bills, etc. Then you get to the last stage which is "elder" which is the time people die.



The adolescent growth spurt usually lasts two to three years. Puberty refers to the specific development changes that lead to the ability to reproduce. Characteristics that are directly involved with reproduction are called primary sex characteristics. Other characteristics that are not directly involved in reproduction are called secondary sex characteristics which also develop during puberty.
The production of estrogen, which becomes cyclical in puberty, regulates the menstrual cycle. The first menstrual cycle or menarche is a major life event for most girls and most societies consider it the beginning of womanhood. Cliques are peer groups of 5 to 10 people who spend a great deal of time with one another, sharing activities and confidences. Larger groups of people who do not spent as much time together but share attitudes and group identity are called crowds.
An identity crisis is a turning point in a person’s development when the person examines his or her values and makes or changes decision about life roles.  To avoid an identity crisis, adolescents in the identity foreclosure category make a commitment, but the commitment is based on other people.
In most western societies men have traditionally played the dominant role in marriage, as well as in the larger society.  Although most couples get married because they are in love, about have of the marriages in the United States end in divorce. Divorce can be difficult for children, even when they are almost adults.   Research shows that children of divorced people are more likely to have behavioral problems, engage in substance abuse, and earn lower grades. The midlife-transition, is a period in middle adulthood when people’s perspective change in such a way.
To conclude, The stages of life, are a very powerful topic, there´s alot of explanations of how we start to decompose throghout life span, but there´s also alot of questions; like why do our cells just randomly start to die when we reach certain age? 

Chapter 9: Intelligence

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience. And from this experience to think rationally and decide what actions you should do. In this Essay it will be explained all types of intelligence a human has. Analytical ability, creativity and street smarts breaks intelligence into analytically intelligence, creative intelligence and practical intelligence. 

Emotional intelligence is the interest in why smart people are not always successful as might be expected. This consists of five factors that are involved in success in school or on the job: self-awareness that is to recognize our own feelings, mood management that is the ability to distract one-self from an uncomfortable feeling, self-motivation that is the ability to move ahead with confidence and enthusiasm, impulse control which is the ability to delay pleasure until the task at hand has been accomplished and people skills that is the ability to empathize, understand, communicate and corporate with others.

There are several intelligence test to try our intelligence. Stanford-Binet scale is one in which Binet assumed that intelligence increased with age. This score was called mental age. Mental ageshows the intellectual level at which a child is funtioning. Wechsler scales are more widely used. Wechsler developed intelligence tests for children and adults. This scale consists in several subtests, each of them measures a different intellectual skill. Reliability refers to its consistancyTest-retest reliability is determined by comparing scores earned by the same person on the same test taken at different times. Test validity measures what it is supposed to measure. According to the American Association mental retardation is also associated with problems in communication, taking care of oneself, social skills, use of leisure time, travel in the community, self-direction, personal hygiene and vocational training. 

There are several levels of mental retardation: mild retardation with an IQ ranging of 50-70. Most children with mild retardation are more likely to learn how to read and do arithmetic, moderate retardation peoples IQ is 35-49. They can learn how to speak, to feed and dress themselves, to take care of their own hygiene and to work under supportive conditions, severe retardation are people with an IQ  below 20, that barely communicate. They show basic emotion responses, but they cannot feed or dress themselves. Retardations can be cause by accidents that result in brain damage and difficulties during childbirth, Some people where born gifted which means they have an IQ fo 130 or above. To be gifted is to possess outstanding talent or to show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with othe rpeople of the same age, experience or environment. Creativity is the ability to invent new solutions to problems or to create original or ingenious materials which is linked with giftedness.Intelligence is something that people naturally are born with, this intelligence can be improved through time passes by, doesn´t matter you are you can always improve it, unless you are a genius who was born like this. then that way don´t need to worrie about nothing.



Chapter 8: THINKING


Thinking is the mental activity that is involved in the understanding, processing, and communicating of information. Symbols are an object or an act that stands for something else. Concepts to mentally group together objects, events, or ideas that have similar characteristics. Prototypes is an example of a concept that best exemplifies that concept. 

There are variety of smaller parts to thinking. Algorithms is an specific procedure that, when used properly and in the right circumstances, will always lead to the solution of a problem. An example of algorithms are formulas. Heuristics are rules of thumb that often, but not always, help us find the solution to a problem, meaning that they are shorcuts.  

There are multiple problem solving methods such as trial and error, difference reduction in which we identify our goal, where achieve that goal.Then; Insights and Incubation is making connections that something that might have happened to you and incubation is taking a break after doing a very long problems to see if when your break has ended you have new approaches.Mental set is the tendency to respond to a new problem with an approach that was successfully used with similar problems. Creativity requires divergent thinking rather that convergent thinking. In convergent thinking thought is limited to available facts. One tries to narrow one´s thinking to find the single best solution. The second type of thinking is; Divergent thinking which is when one associates more freely to the various elements of a problem. Some psychologists advise to use the ABDCE of problem solving  which are Assess the problem that means examining its parts and making sure that you understand it, Brainstorm approaches to the problem is the free spontaneous production of possible approaches or solution to a problem, Choose the approach that seems most likely to work after brainstorming the person must choose which approach to take and which course of action to follow, Do it- try most likely approach that is to do the problem, by trying out the approach, Evaluate the results that is to see if the goal was achieved.Reasoning is the use of information to reach conclusions. There are two main types of reasoning: deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning.Deductive reasoning when the conclusion is true if the premises are true. A premise is an idea or statement that provides the basic information that allows us to draw conclusions, an example of deductive reasoning is that South Korea is in Asia. Inductive reasoning on the other hand, we reason from individual cases or particular facts to reach a general conclusion.

The basic elements of language are phonemes, morphemes, syntax  and semantics. Phonemes are basic sounds of a language. Morphemes are the units of meaning in a language. This are made of phonemes. Syntax is the way in which words are arranged to make phrases and sentences. English syntax usually follows the pattern of subject, verb, and object of the verb. Semantics is the study of meaning. There are stages of language development. Crying, cooing and babbling is the first stage. After this comes wording when we start true language. Then development of grammar. learning language by hereditary influences meaning that people have a natural tendency to acquire language and environmental influences that are teachings that come from our surroundings.

To conclude, Thinking is a very interesting and complex part of humas. It has a variety of different elements that explains it detailed, like divergent and convergent thinking. Also language is the basic path used to communicate to each other.




Monday, November 11, 2013

Chapter 7: Memory

Memory is the process by which we collect prior experiences and information and skills learned in the past. One way to classify memory is according to the different kinds of information t contains, events, general knowledge and skills.

There are three different types of memory; Episodic memory, is memory of a specific event. Then there is Semantic memory; is general knowledge that people remember, for example that George Washington is the president of the United states, or counting from one through ten. Explicit memory are things that are clearly stated or explained. Then there is another one called, Implicit memory, which is the memory that carries things that are implicit or implied, basically not clearly stated. Also there is something called flashbulb memories, these are the important events that we always remember with every detail, just like a photograph.

There is also three processes of memory. Encoding, which is the translation of information into a form in where it can be stored. Storage is the second process; This consists in the maintenance of encoded information on a period of time. The third and last memory process is Retrieval; consists of locating stored information and returning it to conscious thought.

Three stages of memory. Sensory memory is the first stage of memory, it consists of the immediate initial recording of information that enters through our senses. Then there is short memory, it transfers information here into this memory, also called "working memory" The third and final stage of memory of information is when you want to remember something more than just briefly, meaning something longer and more complex.

After that there is forgetting and memory improvement. First the basic memory tasks, which are Recognition, Recall, and Relearn. Recognition involves identifying objects or events that have been encountered before. Recall is the second memory task, and it means to bring back to mind. Finally the third memory task; Relearning, which literally means to learn again. Then forgetting involves Repression and amnesia which both are involved with forgetting experiences. Then improving can be improved with practice, relating things that you already know. construct links, form unusual associations; meaning to think weird and unusual ways to improve memory.

To conclude, memory is a very complex process controlled by the human mind, it has a-lot of specific things involve to it, its a very complex and mysterious process used to for memory. This process of memory involves different types of processes, starting from the different types of memory, to the three different types of processes, stages of memory, and ending with all ways we can improve our memory or even forget make us forget things.


Monday, October 21, 2013

CHAPTER 3: Conscioussness (meditation experience and reflection on section 1)

Section 1 Reflection: I think this section was one of the most interesting ones out of all, I learned about US which means unconditional stimulus, UR: unconditional response, CR: conditional response, and CS: conditional stimulus. Also extinction, which occurs in the conditional response. One thing that I learned about was that when you eat something and don´t really like it, its called Taste adversion.


Section 2 Reflection: I learned about something called "operant conditioning"; people and animals learn certain thing and not to do others because of the result of what they do. Also reinforcement is the passage by which the stimulus increases chances of variation, in other words i believe it means that it reinforces the stimulus to increase the possibility of variants. What I really found interesting was "timeout": Which basically you get locked in a room in the dark for 15 minutes and you can do all you want.

Section 3 Reflection: I learned about the cognitive factors of learning, which was pretty interesting. There are three types of cognitive learning; Latent learning is when it remains hidden until it is needed. Observational learning; which is learning by observing and imitating someone else´s behavior, and other thing called Vicarious reinforcement; which is psychological behavior in which most of the people do without realizing what they are doing. Also I learned some facts i didn´t knew about; like for example that if a child watches 2-4 hours of TV per day, by the time they finish elementary they will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence.

Section 4 Reflection: I liked this topic, even though i knew most of it because they´re things we do often every day. Like i´m actually doing right now by writing this. This section talks about Forgetting and memory improvement, and THE PQ4R method. This is composed of 4 basic words, recite, review, read, and reflect. I am doing a reflection right now, To reflect, means to try to remember and understand what you read and start reflecting. Just like I am doing right now.

Meditation is a method some people use to try narrow their consciousness so that the stresses of the outside world fade away. Many techniques have been used to accomplish this, some mediators repeat pleasing sounds called mantras, such as "am" or  "sheremm" and mentally focused on these sounds.

Yesterday when i meditated i felt really weird but relaxed at the same time, my body went in a state of relaxation and calmness, I heard the narrators very inside my mind whispering what to imagine, what cause me to fully imagine and even fell everything she was saying. She talked about crossing a river and I could literally feel the breeze of the ind and water going through y body. Also In a part when the narrator told me to image my guardian angel infront of me i actually could imagine it and feel him right infront of me, It made me feel i was kind of safe and protected by someone. Later there was a point where i just fell asleep because i was just so relaxed and calm.

This was one great experience since ive never had it before until now, it was something new. It seems that meditation is one big part of dreaming and can explain many many question you could possibly have about dreams, luicid dreaming, etc.




Consciousness is defined as psychological construct. There are three levels of consciousness, precociousness which is the level when our ideas are not organised meaning they are not clearly seen, but we can still become aware of them. Later we have the unconscious level or subconscious level that is when we are not aware at all on what is happening, it just happens as an instinct. And then, the non-conscious level that is when we do things without thinking on what we are doing, many of these things were not taught to us, things such as heart beating, breathing, etc.

The Sleeping process, this is one of the most interesting topics in the entire chapter. Sleep has stages which are seen in brain-wave patterns measured in electroencephalograph. Stage 1 is the stage with less sleep, brain waves slow down until they reach the slower pattern of the theta waves. This stage lasts about 30-40 minutes if we are not awakened during this time. Stages 2, 3, 4. Sleep becomes deeper, while we sleep we breathe more irregularly, blood pressure rises and the heart beats faster. After all these four stages we move to REM sleep (rapid-eye-movement) stage is where we have most of our dreams. Then we got something called Lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is when we are dreaming but we see something strange, usually out of reality and then we know we are just dreaming.
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 Meditation is a method some people use to try to narrow their consciousness so that the stresses of the outside world fade away. Meditation focuses on peaceful, repetitive stimulus. I personally tried meditation, and my whole entire body went into a relaxation, it was a very interesting experience. Biofeedback is a system that provides, or ¨feeds back,¨ about something happening in the body. During this training people learn how to control some body functions, such as heart beat. This should be done only with the supervision of a medical professional. Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness during which people respond to suggestions and behave as though they are in trance. Freud said that when people are hypnotized they allow themselves to turn into a childish behavior. According to other ideas people that are hypnotized are in a play where they can be easily manipulated and look like if what they are doing is real.

Drugs, the most interesting topic, everybody asks and knows about. Nowadays they are very commonly used. Our society is full of them; even though they´re not legal at all. Some people take them in a medical way(which would be the correct and civilized way to use them) and other take it as a "cool" experience and what they don´t know is that they can become addicted to it. Addiction to a drug is when after a person has taken a drug and their body asks them for more to feel good. Depressants also known as ¨downers,are also drugs that slow the activity of the nervous system. The most common examples of depressants are alcohol and narcotics, Depressants are addictive. Stimulants or ¨ uppers¨ increase the nervous system activity. Some examples of stimulants are nicotine, cocaine and amphetamines; this are addictive. Hallucinogens also known as psychedelics are drugs that produce hallucinations, that can cause relaxation or feeling of pleasure. Marijuana, LSD, and DMT are some example of hallucinogens. This are not addictive, but past time they can cause some brain damage.


In conclusion, our consciousness is one of the strongest and most mysterious systems of our body. Sleeping makes us regenerate energy for our body, but also it can open our mind, and some scientist say that it can make us open the answer for a question. Hypnosis, meditation and biofeedback are ways to manage our environment usually used to relax or feel free of reality problems. This things have to be done by specialized people. Drugs such as depressants and stimulants are addictive and others such as hallucinogens are not. Still many drugs are used for medicinal purposes but most of them are used for recreational purposes with friends and because of that, most of them are illegal now days.


Sunday, September 1, 2013

Chapter 2 - Biological Perspective and Survey

Biological perspective is based on the human brain which is built with many parts that work together to create movement, develop the way we think,make us feel emotion, and produce our behavior. Our brain is very complex and because of that if it got damage in any way It would drastically change our behavior. This are some of the most strange and rare cases, showing what will happened when the brain doesn’t work properly.
The first case is the phantom limb syndrome. The first patient is Derek. he lost his arm, the thing is, that his pain was in a place that no longer existed which is his arm. He felt pain in his phantom arm. As time goes by the pain went away. This happened because that left part of his brain got so used of that arm, that now it was still feeling it even though it wasn´t there anymore.The other patient was James. James also lost his hand in an accident. James felt that his phantom hand was always clenched so bad that it hurt. So, Doctor Ramachandra tested with a box, he needed to put his hand inside to see if he still feels his missing limb.
The second case is the blind sight case. With two types of separate pathways are the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious pathway is based in what we see like: color, form, shape, texture. The unconscious type of pathways only perceives movement. One of the patients with the name of graham, has an unconscious type of sight. He only see movement anything else he cant along other called Peggy, is a visual neglect and half of her world is not important to her. This cause her to only see half of things, because her brain chooses to ignore the other half of her environment.
The other case study is the Kapgra delusion. This disorder made a guy called david believe that all his family were a bunch of imposters. Incluiding his mother and father. The patient name is david, Once David woke up, he continuously said that the people that said that were his parents, weren’t actually his parents but imposters. David seem to have no problems when he talked to his parents on the phone, but once his parents where in front of him, somehow he did not had any emotional attachment. This show how the emotional disconnection between the familiar faces and the emotion their faces should bring once an image is shown to him. At the end David could recognize his parents and now he knew they were not imposters.
The forth and the last case study is an epilepsy. The patients in name is John. John had suffered from epilepsy almost all his life. The thing is, he suffered and epelepy and at moments he believed he was God himself. This is an epileptic attack is full of excess of emotion, sometimes is a sad emotion and sometimes is a happy emotion. For John due to his disease, John thought he was "god!" and that he had the power over everyone.
To conclude, I just want to say that the brain is really complex structure. basically our behavior and character. This Biological perspective can change the way we see, smell, and even touch things. This is where all case studies are from, They all have to do with a disorder in the brain.

Question
Do people socially drink/and or smoke because of peer pressure?

Hypothesis 
I think there is a connection between peer pressure and actually being a social smoker and/or drinker. Some people smoke and drink just to see cool, not because they like it.

Target Population:
10th grade - 12th grade

Sample:
Stratified, because I am not randomly asking people, I have a target population from 10th - 12th grade.

Testing Hypothesis 
First I did the 10 question survey on discovery´s 10th grade - 12th grade and then, I actually went out on Friday here at a small party in my neighborhood, and started gathering some people asking them if they smoke or drink If they said yes I didn´t said anything to them, but if they said no I offered them alcohol or cigarettes until there was a point they said "yes" and at the end the majority of people where actually doing all these things not because they liked it, but because they wanted to "be liked"

Analyzing Results: 
Real smokers/drinkers:                 Peer pressured people:       Non smokers/drinkers:
30%                                                 60%                                       10%

Conclusions
There was about 60%  people that were doing all these things because they were being pressured by someone else, 10% people that didn´t smoke and drink at all and At the end just 30% of the people drink/or smoke because they actually like it.

Reflection
In my opinion is ok to be or not to be a social drinker/smoker etc. Because you are taking your own decisions on what you want and what you don´t, and that´s the way people need to be for them to be respected. And there for the people that were and are still getting peer pressured, they should decide for themselves if they really want it or not, to stop letting other people decide for them.

SURVEY QUESTIONS
1. Female/male
2. Age
3. What type of alcoholic beverage do you drink? (Vodka) (Tequila) (Something else) (Nothing at all)
4. What cigarettes do you smoke? (Belmont) (Dunhill) (other) (Nothing at all)
5. Have you been in a state of Peer Pressure before?
6. Why do drink and/or smoke if you do?
7. Why don´t you drink and/or smoke if you don´t?
8. Do your parents let you do it?
9. Do you smoke or drink because you like it, or you just want yourself to seem cool?


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Chapter 1: WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

Psychology is the study of human behavior through the mind. How people act and behave depending on their surroundings and environment. People have always been interested in the behaviors, and thoughts of human beings. There are different ways of learning psychology, one of them called introspection, which means looking within.


One of Plato´s students, Greek philosopher with the name of Aristotle, raised many questions. Aristotle outlined the laws of associationism, which are still at the heart of learning theory more than 2,000 years later. The other way of learning psychology is functionalism, functionalists were concerned with how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment. They stressed the application of their findings to everyday situations.

There is also something called Perspectives and there a variety of different perspectives, each one with their own thoughts and beliefs. Biological, emphasizes the influence on our behavior made by the nervous system, hormones and genes. Sociocultural, studies the influences of ethnicity, gender and culture. Evolutionary, Effects everything you do and have, Inherited influence behavior from the surroundings. Psychoanalytic, Stresses the influence of unconsciousness forces on a human. Sigmund freud followed this perspectives, which he believed it was sexual impulses. Learning,a learning perspective is concerned on what you do, learning by observing others and adapting to a type of environment. Humanistic, Helps people explore their feeling to realize to manage negative impulses and their potential. Cognitive, which is how people perceive information on what we know as the mind. Thoughts played in determining behavior.   

The most interesting perspective is the Psychoanalytic perspective 
because it states that we humans stress influence based on our sexual impulses we have, which we are not conscious of.
In conclusion, psychology is the knowledge and the study about the human mind, how we think, act and react based on what we learn form all around us.