Final Blog post!

This class made me understand the general role of what responsibilities the human brain plays. We tend to take the mind for granted when we carry on our day to day activities. One of the first activities we did were getting to know me and the history of psychology. These topics lead me to
realize that blogging online then getting to see those people in class let me know who they were as a person, however, doing the assignments in the comfort of your own place. Learning the history of psychology was also the subject of interest when understanding the commonality of what psychology is and how it is used, who created it and how it was discovered.

Week three and four we were given the opportunity to learn about the brain and behavior along with sensation and perception. For this blog, I did an experiment over the knowledge of when there is a ball being thrown at you, your perception of what your eyes see to how your brain reacts to the perception of the ball. For example, I threw a ball at my friend Sarah and I had to explain what was happening when she caught the ball. When she caught the ball, her eyes transferred that information to the occipital part of her brain of the oncoming ball. Then that visual information is transferred to the frontal lobe deciding that there is an incoming object and must be caught or dodged. The motor cortex receives those instructions from the frontal lobe, so then the motor cortex is able to initiate motor control sending signals to the spinal cord activating your left and right hands to catch or dodge the ball. This was one of my favorite activities!!

Week five and six consisted of developmental psychology and personality. During this week we had to create a trifold of our background and life story of where we were in the past, how did we get to where we are now, and where we want our lives to be in the future. By creating this experiment, I was able to recognize how far I have come, not only in my education but as a genuine human being as well, also, who I am as a person now, and where I want to be in my future and professional career. This exercise gave me confidence in my abilities to succeed. During week seven and eight we were lectured in the concept of learning and memory. This was the week we were learning about false consciousness. Some criminal cases used eye-witness testimonies which led to a discrepancy between evidence.  This experiment we needed three volunteers. We read a list of words out to them, and then after we were done, they are necessary to write down as many words as they could remember onto a piece of paper. We did this activity twice. After, ask them if they had specific words and base the statistics they should have one of those words on their paper that you did not say. The video of the jury case of The Ronald Cotton Case, in this case, we were able to distinguish what false memory really means.

During weeks ten and eleven we were able to learn about motivation, emotions, and social psychology. This was a task that gave me the opportunity to write about my psych story, how emotions and motivation are seen through the lens of others in a world of such diversity. This was a very controversial experiment that gave me the knowledge of what people’s opinions might mean in the face of racism, gender, and religion. In my story, I felt like I had the chance to establish what separates individuals and how we are united as a nation. What motivates and drives us to do the things we do. How are we influenced by others? These were some of the questions that rolled around in my brain.

Week twelve and thirteen were the weeks having to do with psychological disorders and therapy. During this discussion, there was an activity done by a student in my class that described the lecture very well in depth. Having to do with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. This class I was able to learn about what all of these disorders are like to live with and what ways there are to help. Such as Psycho-therapy, equine-therapy, etc. Getting the chance to help others in different forms of counseling is a valid form of learning that needs to be known by a broader range of people. For the experiment this week I had to interview two people who suffered from depression and anxiety. Their stories were inspiring and how they were able to overcome their fears of that dark hole from the support and foundation given to them by their loved ones.

The last week of lectures was about positive psychology! Positive psychology was by far the most fascinating lecture, in my opinion. Learning of positive psychology and how much it actually affects you as a person is astonishing. People don’t realize how much negative you bring upon yourself just in your own self-thoughts. I did an activity for this lecture, and it was over Barbara Fredrickson’s positivity ratio. For every negative thing, a person had to write down on a sheet of paper, you also had to write down three positive factors that were happening in your life. This truly inspired me to become more aware of how much of an impact being positive can genuinely make a difference, not only in your life and your self-image but how others look to you as a human being.

This class truly made me understand the importance of the human brain, our behaviors, what makes us who we are. This class was great!