Does she really have DID?

As a part of this weekly blog, I thought I might want to do a little research about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). The video that Mr. Dreier showed us was intriguing but I wanted to see what other kinds of personalities may exist within other people. The woman in this video (her name is either Katie or Mary I believe) claimed to have 25 different personalities, all who knew of each others existence. With DID it seems more likely that the personalities wouldn't know each other because they're all separate people living separately from one another. She goes on to talk about how one of her personalities was a lesbian and that her other personalities didn't know about her girlfriend. When she would switch people, she literally became a whole new person with different memories and perceptions. She claimed that she was able to walk and think at 7 months old and that she remembered being neglected at that young of an age. She then made up another personality to take the place of the life she was living. I find it absolutely impossible to believe that someone can remember something from as early as 7 months old as well as be able to create a personality. DID is something that you're diagnosed with, not something that you can just make up. Personally I think this woman is full of bologna. Her cat, however, makes chirping sounds throughout the video so if the cat had another personality that was a bird, I wouldn't have a hard time believing that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1sXbnBmy8U

Drudgeretort - Kick Texas out of the Union?

While searching for articles about drudgeretort and drudgereport, I found an interesting article under the drudgeretort site. It was an article stating a petition that Texas should be kicked out of the Union. The writer compares the President to someone who shouldn't even run a lemonade stand and blames Texas for that. I have no idea what that means but personally I think that's ridiculous. The writer also doesn't support their opinion that Texas is corrupt and has caused damage to our country. His best arguing statement suggests that "they talk funny." This article was tagged under education and economy but I find it to be rather humorous. There was only one comment in which they stated that the writer is nuts and is mentally ill. I believe that's a bit harsh to say but the commentor probably has their head on straighter than the writer based on the radical views they had.

http://drudgeretort.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/petition-to-kick-texas-out-of-the-union-please-sign/#comments

The Dancing Man!

After a lot of thinking about what to do for the social psychology project that Mr. Dreier handed to us today, I remebered watching a video that might spark some idea. The "Dancing Man" is a great example of conformity as well as a display of leadership. As the video shows, a guy randomly begins dancing in an open area by himself. Many people look at the man like he's crazy but soon before you realize it, another person joins him. Next thing you know a third person joins, then a couple more, and within minutes there's a whole group of people dancing. This shows conformity and how when the group becomes larger, it seems more logical to conform to the dancing and be a part of the movement. As the video states, it's not the first man that is the true leader, but the person who takes a stand and joins him. Personally, I thought this video was pretty inspiring and uplifting. I'm still hoping it'll give me the opportunity for something to "spark" within my brain so that I can figure out what I'm going to do for this project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg&edufilter=3tuIMtghjfCs1PSo1uotog&safe=active

Thoughts on the AP Test

To be perfectly honest, I'm beyond nervous for the AP test. Having to study and prepare myself for an AP Psych exam, an AP Gov exam, eight events at state solo and ensemble, and prepare myself to take the ACT soon, I've got a lot on my plate. It seems bizarre to me that even though I keep up with the reading and study for the quizzes, I somehow always manage to flunk them miserably. I don't know whether it's test related anxiety or if it's the stress of knowing I don't have enough time or if I didn't study enough but regardless, it concerns me of how I'm going to do overall in this class as well as on the exam. I'm trying to get myself in the mindset of, "whatever happens, happens." but this is a big deal because it's the difference of getting the college credit or not. I'm really nervous about it but like I said, whatever happens, happens. If anyone has any advice to help me out that'd be super awesome. Thanks.

Final Project

Pscyh Project Video

Fun With Sugru

As we all know, the wonderful Mr. Dreier granted us sugru and is now requiring us to come up with something creative (or not-so creative) to do with sugru. Well, with my not-so creative mind, I came up with--drum role please *cue drum roll* the picture frame saver thing! The picture frame saver thing is simply sugru that is placed in all four corners of a picture frame. Its use is so that if a picture were to fall off the wall (like this one perhaps), the frame would not be damaged and would be saved by the sugru covering its four corners. In complete truth, it took me a couple days to come up with this not-too shabby device.

                                       BEFORE                                                                 AFTER

                                                

Best Part is that you can also play Monopoly on this special picture frame!

Reasons For Memory Loss

Learning about memory and psychology has been interesting so far, however, I've been curious as to what are some other reasons for memory loss besides alzheimers disease. With a little research, I was able to find a site that listed the top 10 reasons for memory loss. This list includes:

 #1 – Depression
Severe depression or grief can sometimes lead to forgetfulness and memory loss. Feelings of sadness, extreme grief at the loss of a loved one and or enduring other emotional trauma can result in feeling ‘out of touch’, or ‘in a fog’ and forgetting small details. Depression especially in older men and women can result in forgetfulness, which can worsen if it remains untreated.
#2 – Medication Side Effects
Some medications are known to cause memory loss. In most cases, stopping the medication will result in a complete recovery of memory function. Since many elderly men and women take a wide range of medications, it is possible that one or more of the medications could trigger memory loss symptoms.
#3 – Vitamin Deficiency
Individuals who do not have enough Vitamin B12 in their diet can suffer from memory loss. Vitamin B12 is important for healthy brain functioning, and can often be overlooked as a source of memory problems in the elderly. Prolonged deficiency can lead to permanent damage, but if it is caught early and treated, the memory loss may be only temporary.
#4 – Thyroid Problems
Though problems with the thyroid are known for changing weight and metabolism, thyroid dysfunction can also lead to memory loss. Hypothyroidism is particularly known for causing memory problems as the body becomes less able to absorb the nutrients provided by foods. Fortunately, thyroid problems are treatable and a simple blood test can provide answers about whether thyroid functioning is the cause of memory loss or not.
#5 – Insomnia
Too little sleep is not healthy for the body in myriad wys, especially when it relates to brain functioning and memory. Insomnia or lack of sleep can cause problems with concentration or focusing on details or tasks, resulting in forgetfulness and confusion.
#6 – Medication Interactions
While we mentioned medication side effects as one cause of memory problems, individuals taking several medications might have forgetfulness symptoms as a result of interactions between the medications. While the medications by themselves might not cause forgetfulness, memory loss from interactions is possible.
#7 – Dehydration
Dehydration is a common problem for older adults, and severe cases of dehydration can cause dementia-like symptoms. Ensuring an elderly individual drinks plenty of water each day can reverse memory loss from dehydration. The ideal amount of water for adult men and women at any age is at least six to eight glasses per day.
#8 – Trauma to the Head
Head trauma from a fall or accident can cause memory loss due to damage to the brain. Unfortunately, this type of memory loss is often not recoverable due to brain cell damage.
#9 – Dementia
Dementia of any kind, such as Alzheimer’s Disease or Dementia With Lewy Bodies, are common causes of memory loss in elderly individuals. While not all older adults suffer from memory-related diseases, the risk of developing dementia increases with age.
#10 – Brain Tumors
Tumors in the brain can sometimes cause symptoms similar to dementia. The tumor kills brain cells as it grows, resulting in memory loss. Depending on the location of the tumor, the amount of memory loss will differ between individuals.

I honestly never realized how many factors can really affect memory loss and when give a list of just 10, I question what other kinds of factors can account for memory loss.

Link: http://assistedlivingtoday.com/2012/05/10-memory-loss-causes/

Perceptual Development

In the past couple weeks of Psychology, we've been talking a lot about our senses and our sense of perception. The details of infant perception I feel we didn't cover too much, so I decided to do a little extra research. I knew that infants were born with very poor vision but I didn't realize how bad it really was. Infants are born with 20/120 to 20/400 vision which basically means that they perceive objects to be 6-20 times larger than they actually are. Also, if they were to look at an eye chart and try to distinguish which letters are which, they would only be able to distinguish the large "E" at the top of the chart. What I didn't know (or possibly pay enough attention to) is that infants are already born with developed senses of smelling and hearing. Infants are known to like familiar songs or tunes that their mothers sing to them prior to birth because the patterns of the tune are familiar to them. The more infants make contact with their mothers, the less they cry and the more relaxed they tend to be. Now whether we covered all this and I didn't pay enough attention, I don't know, however, it was great to have a recap of all of this as well as some possible other new information that I learned from this video!

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amnKsLaFsGA

Perfect Pitch

Perfect Pitch, also known as Absolute Pitch, is a rare ability that only one in ten-thousand people obtain. People with perfect pitch (such as myself) are able to identify a note simply from hearing it or are able to produce a note from memory. People with perfect pitch can also generally tell if a pitch is too sharp or flat. Just like how a person can see a color and immediately know that it is "red" or "green"  etc, the same concept goes with perfect pitch. A person can hear a note and know that it's an "A" or an "Eb" and etc. Many neuroscientists argue that people with perfect pitch have larger than average temporal lobes. After much research, scientists can conclude that most people can identify sounds as easily as colors, however, many people aren't able to place the name of a sound or frequency when it is heard. Many non-musicians have perfect pitch but are unaware of it because they don't think much about it or are unaware of what perfect pitch actually is. Many scientists still argue as to whether perfect pitch is something someone is born with, or whether it is something that a person can develop. Personally, I believe anyone can develop perfect pitch. It would require a lot of training and auditory development, but I do believe it is possible. Take my sister for example. She's just beginning to learn guitar and if I sing her a note that she may play on the guitar, she's able to think about what note it is and is accurately able to tell me that it is a "G". Does this mean she has perfect pitch? Not necessarily, but does this show evidence that she could develop it? Perhaps it does.

Link: http://www.audiology.org/news/editorial/pages/20081117a.aspx

Personality Throughout Life

During chapter 5, we've read a lot about developmental psychology and how it affects our lives. Everyone goes through the stages of life (however in some cases, they are cut short) but what I wanted to learn more about was how a child's personality will affect their adulthood. The article showed that a child who was very verbal and social as a child tended to be the same as an adult. They tended to have a higher self-esteem and were very enjoyable to be around. However, a child who was not verbal tended to remain that way as they grew older. As adults, they tended to be less social and sometimes awkward in highly social events. This article shows the positivie and negative correlations of how a child's behavior can affect their personalities in adulthood.

Link: http://www.psyarticles.com/development/childhood-personality.htm

The Nice Ice Experiment

When I was told that we were to "get addicted" to ice, I was really confused. Although I wasn't able to actually get addicted to the ice, it was fun to see what lengths I would go to to obtain it. There were some situations which were easier than others, such as getting ice at home. Other situations like getting ice at school were difficult, however. Surprisingly at home, no one in my family noticed my ice stealing skills. There was a situation in which a non-ice user offered my ice and I had to decline without being able to come with legitimate reason as to why. I found myself going to lengths that even involved eating icicles or snow because that was the closest thing I could get to in some situations. I found this experiment to be rather silly but also interesting as to what myself and others would do to get ice. While writing my hourly journal of my ice addiction, I found myself writing as though ice were a hard drug and as though I was going through withdrawal symptoms and what not. Because ice is so easy to obtain, I found that this experiment was a little too easy and didn't really portray the full effect of what hiding drugs or an addiction is like. However, I will admit that seeing what some people did and went through to simply get ice without suspicion, was really what made this experiment that more enjoyable.

Second Blog - Rats On Drugs

Rats on Drugs

As of now in class, the human brain I believe we have all learned, truly is an incredible thing. After viewing the Mouse Party online game/experiment, the effects of drugs on rats alone is truly incredible seeing as what really goes on. I thought it would be an interesting idea to research some videos and experiments about what happens in real life when rats are on drugs. In the video I watched, there were three rats. One rat was injected with marijuana, another rat was injected with cocaine, and the third rat was injected with saline, which is a salt water solution. Upon viewing the video, the scientists noticed that each rat reacted differently. The marijuana rat was acting quite mellow, the cocaine rat was fidgety and trying to escape, and the saline rat was acting completely normal. All of these rats were specially trained to count time. In an experiment, the rat would have to press a lever after 12 seconds, no more and no less, and would receive a food pellet if they timed it correctly. They received nothing if timed incorrectly. The saline rat was able to press the lever within the correct time frame and therefore, received a pellet. The drugged rats however faced complications. Time seemed to go by much quicker for the cocaine rat and they pressed the lever after only eight seconds. For the marijuana rat, however, time drifted on by and after 16 seconds, they pressed the lever. This experiment can conclude that various drugs affect brain activity and ones ability to tell time.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLlIdEWco4M

Funny Picture I thought people may enjoy :) msin374l.jpg (click on link)

Drug Assignment - Zoloft

Potential Immediate Side Effects:

• abdominal pain
• headache
• sore throat
• anxiety
• agitation
• fatigue
• insomnia
• sleepiness
• nervousness
• constipation
• diarrhea
• nausea
• gas
• bloating
• indigestion
• tremors
• tingling in hands and feet
• decreased sex drive

Neurons and Neurotransmission Process:

Zoloft belongs to a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is made by nerve cells in the brain that is used by various nerves to communicate amongst each other. A nerve releases a the serotonin and is produced into the space around it. The serotonin will either attach itself to a receptor on the nerve that produced it or it will travel across the space it's in. Selective serotonin inhibitors block the reuptake of serotonin and will then change the levels of serotonin in the brain.

 Long-Term Side Effects:

Long-term side effects that can occur from taking Zoloft can result in insomnia, which can either be long-term or short-term, weight gain,  and possible sexual dysfunction. In a small number of patients, there is the possible result of liver and/or heart disease.

mah first blog

Expectations and what not

Overall for this course, I was really surprised by how fast things are moving as far as the learning goes. This being my first AP course makes it difficult, but also interesting. A few things I'm hoping to learn more about is what our dreams have in accordance to why they happen. I'm also interested as to why various people have different sexual preferences such as homo, bi, and heterosexuality. Is it genetic, cultural, behavioral, or is there another reason or are we just "born that way"? I'm really hoping that this course will answer these questions as well as the various other questions I'm hoping to obtain as the course continues.

Weekly Blogging Assignment

I decided to research an article that had to do with phobias and methods to get rid of them. This article closely relates to the behavioral perspective in which a person reacts a certain way to a situation. On this article, it talked about how the treatment, known as flooding, is a general method in curing people of unrealistic phobias. An example of flooding is by putting a person in a room with the thing that they have a phobia of. Of course, the general reaction is that they will be terrified but after a series of a couple hours generally, they will calm down and learn to realize that there is nothing to be truly be afraid of. Flooding isn't a very ethical method of treatment but it does however, work. You probably wouldn't find a therapist or psychiatrist that would perform this treatment today but in the 1960s, this was a common method. Psychologist Thomas Stampfl created a technique known as implosion therapy. In this therapy session, a person was exposed to sounds and detailed descriptions of the thing they feared most. Their reactions as well as the sounds/descriptions were recorded for the person to take home and listen to as 'homework'. By doing this, a person can learn to cope with the fear and in good time, it's concluded that a person can overcome their unrealistic, traumatic fears. 

Link:  http://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/flooding.php