Week 2

To me it seemed like week 2's lesson was packed with a lot more information than last weeks. This week I decided to take notes to help me with my weekly blog and also to help me remember things. I felt that a lot of the reading helped with the understanding of the lesson this week, but also some of it was not covered. Supposedly we were supposed to read certain sections I guess, but I just read the whole chapter.

We did one group assignment which was on the Dobuans, I thought this was going to be an interesting assignment, until no one said a single word till I did, and even after I spoke, which was 10 minutes later, me and one other person participated in the discussion. I somewhat which I had gotten more vocal group member for that assignment.

Between taking notes from the reading and from class there were a few things that caught my interest. One thing that I grasped somewhat onto was the section in the book about experimentation. I like all the parts that are involved with experimentation and the terms that are used. I knew some of them previously but I also learned a lot more. During class the teacher told us about the Stanley Milgram study which especially caught my attention. I guess I am a sucker for drama related stories in a way. I had seen this recreated on nbc, on something. Like how far would you go. And it surprises me how far some people really do go even when the feedback from the victim is bad.

In class we discussed a fair amount about ethics which even included part of our additional homework. In class the teacher had us read some stories on what we would do, The main one was if two houses were on fire one with the neighbors and one with my family which one would I save. To me the obvious answer was save your own family, even if I was a firefighter I would have still done the same thing. I don’t understand how it would work any other way.

We learned about morals values and virtues along with social responsibility which are all important in anyone’s daily life in my opinion. On somewhat of an opposite side we also learned about the goals of misbehabiorm which include attention power revenge and display of inadequacy.

We were asked to include some information about scripts we live by and this brought a lot of thought into my head; before I decided to think much more about this, class was over and I made my way to the elevator; I made sure I had my Id in my wallet before getting on the elevator but it was not in my wallet so I had to go back to class and look for it. I explained to the teacher how I always lose stuff no matter what, and she said to me that this is a script I live by. Although I am not 100% sure about that it sure is something I do often. I always hate when I love things and try to keep a closer eye on things so I actually don’t lose them. But if it is a script I live by, is it possible to change this script permanently?

I have a lot of scripts I live by, some good and some bad. One script that I seem to live by is making people laugh and being very open about my life and past. When I start talking to people, I sometimes say “To Much” as some would say, even though there are people who find this a positive trait. I love how people find me funny, especially at family parties and such. I used to not be like that but it seems as I grew this was a trait that I discovered in college. I am not a practically social person so It is a weird quality trait for me to have but am glad to have it.

A lot more than what I had mentioned was covered in class but If I were to cover it all this might as well be an essay; but since it is not, I will end for this week and leave more writing for next week.

Week 1, The Basics

Week one of psychology was an interesting one. I came into this class with expectations to learn about my brain and how it works. My fiancé is in psychology, so I knew the topic had to be somewhat interesting.

I am not very good with lecture classes, so initially I felt the class was going to be somewhat boring for me. Our teacher helped my opinion sway away from that somewhat though with some group time.

There was a lot of terminology thrown around; some of it stuck while some of it did not. There was a decent amount that stuck with me though. One of the things the teacher discusses early on was the reason why we doing things. And the main reason we do things is because of reward. This was an interesting one for me because I really only do things if I can get some sort of benefit from it. I often do things for my fiancé or family though just to do it because it’s them, but if someone else asked such a thing from me I would probably find a reason to not do it. The teacher asked me to think what I got in return; my conclusion was their love in return.

I feel the reason this may be is because when I was younger I had to take care of my parents sometimes because of being homeless and or the constant fighting between them. I remember one time I kept my mother from throwing a lamp at my father. No one ever asked me to do these things, nor was I rewarded in my mind for them.

I found the whole thing about how certain things are measurable to be interesting. I remember times I would have to babysit my brother and he would always get upset because my mom wasn’t home, and that the intensity and duration would be quite long; it was very hard to settle him down.

Finally hearing about nature vs nurture is quite interesting for me. The teacher gave an example about a child in an orphanage, and how it would be the only one not sick because at night the cleaning lady would pick it up and give it attention. Nature vs nurture is an interesting concept and I hope to learn more about it.

There were a lot of things I learned week one, but there were also a lot of things that went in one ear and out the other. Next class I plan on trying to pay attention more so that I can have more to write about.