Implicit Apperception Test #2

I took a second Implicit Apperceptuion Test. This one was the gay-Straight one. I thought this one would be interesting too. My results said "Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for Straight People compared to Gay People." I thought this was fairly accurate although I do think I am more neutral, but this is probably true. I have some family that are gay and I am very open to gays so I thought it would be interesting to see what my test indicated. Again, I would highly recommend taking these tests. They are very interesting. With this test I had to again sort good and bad words and then straight and gay images or symbols and then do both at the same time.

Implicit Apperception Test

I took the Implicit Apperception Test for Fat-Thin. I had to sort words like envy, joy, and laughter into good and bad categories first. Then I had to sort pictures of fat and thin people into fat or thin. And then I had to do both at the same time. It was an interesting test and I took it because it was going to supposedly tell me if I was more favorable to fat or thin people. I would like to think I am completely neutral to either. I was absolutely shocked to find that I had a strong automatic preference for thin people. It was very interesting to see that my results came up with that thought. My results said, "Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Thin People compared to Fat People." I think this is interesting and I'm going to take another one now. I think we should all have to take some of these for class! it would be a great discussion topic and I'm glad I took it. It's making me think now if that is really true and what these results could be saying about my subconscious perhaps? It makes me ashamed to have these results though.

When it Comes to Pay, Size Matters

I read the article under the stress section about how size matters in the workplace and how it can affect your pay. It made a good point that in society today girls are supposed to be super thin and guys are supposed to be big and strong. This is reinforced through all types of media from magazines where super thin models are shown in the latest trendy clothes to movies such as Twilight where people like Taylor Lautner who plays Jacob is shown with rock hard abs. This idea of how we should look is constantly flooded into pour minds and because of this there tends to be unequal pay for people and preference for those who fit the societal image of how a person should look.

According to this article a study has shown that more obese woman especially have a hard time moving up in their career if they are over weight. This could also be partially do to self esteem and confidence issues I think. A slimmer woman who is more confident with them selves will be more outspoken and authoritative then one who is not. If a person feels they are not as pretty as others they may have confidence issues and be more shy. Also, if there's two candidates for a job that have the same credentials, the more attractive one usually wins the position. In addition to this, taller guys that are more average build tend to be paid higher whereas skinnier guys are paid less.

Stanford Prison Study and Groups

I found the Stanford Prison Study to be extremely interesting. All the videos we watched in class were super interesting and almost eerie. I would hate to have participated in that experiment. It really shows the power of the situation. It's like how you act, becomes who you are. Kinda how people say if you put your face in a weird way for a long time, it will stay that way.

I also liked the part about brainstorming in groups. We do this a lot in SADD and Student Council and just in most of my classes in general. Teachers always seem to think it works better than thinking on your own, but according to the textbook, it doesn't. Group work makes the ideas less creative and produces less ideas in general. I think brainstorming individually would work better because then you have your own mindset and aren't affected by what group members will think or say about your idea. Also, this ties in with social loafing where some group members don't do anything and let the rest of the group do all the work. This happens a lot to me and I always seem to be one of the people doing all the work in group projects.

Stress

This was one of my favorite chapters because I found it so perfectly relate able to my life. I have so much stress in my life especially now towards the end of the year with finals, and soccer season starting up and my end of the year piano exam and recital. It's a lot to deal with and this chapter pinpointed a lot of things I agree with and gave me ideas to deal with my stress.

I agree with the part that says writing in a journal can help facilitate emotional control. This really helps me if I write everything down. It's a way to organize my crazy jumble of thoughts and emotions. I also agree that stress affects the immune system. About two weeks before my huge piano exam at the University of Minnesota, where I have to go in a room with a judge for about an hour and play four songs from memory, and sightread a piece and play scales and analyze pieces and such, I got a super bad cold. I lost my voice and I had a fever. I definitely think this was due to my stress. Also, I found that exercise helps reduce my stress as well.

Flooding and Virtual Reality Exposure

This chapter was probably one of the hardest ones we've had to read so far I think, along with the disorder chapter. It was a lot to take in with all the different treatment methods and it was hard to remember because I can't relate to them. Learning about the actual disorders was easier because it was more interesting than the treatment.

The thing that I liked reading about the most was flooding and virtual reality exposure. I think this is a very effective treatment. I myself would like to try one of them sometime, especially the virtual reality exposure. Doing something to get me less afraid of spiders or really high heights would be interesting and scary, but cool if it worked to decrease my anxiety.

I think these treatments could be very beneficial for people as a treatment especially if you have a fear of flying because that's hard to simulate that exposure in real life. Virtual reality would be very effective in treating this fear and I know a lot of people who have a fear of flying, so it would be very helpful.

Treatment of Agoraphobia

To treat agoraphobia specific kinds of psychotherapy or meditation can be used. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which focuses on decreasing negative or anxiety-provoking thoughts has been found highly effective in treating this disorder.

Self exposure is also used for treatment. The person with the disorder either imagines, or puts themselves into situations that cause agoraphobic anxiety. They then use relaxation techniques in each situation to get over their anxiety.

Agoraphobia can also be treated with beta-blocking medications that block the effects of adrenaline on the body.

Both self exposure and psychotherapy can be done over the Internet which is good for people in rural areas.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or embarrassing, or in which help is unavailable in the event of a panic attack.

Typically emerges in mid teens and usually a direct outgrowth of panic disorder.

Typical places of fear: being on a bridge, elevator or airplane, at a mall or sporting event.

Symptoms: Avoid places where panic attack could occur, usually require a companion, fear of being alone, fear of crowded places, inability to leave ones house for long periods, severe anxiety and things such as chest pains, dizziness, headaches, or fainting spells.

Lab abnormalities: None

Prevalence in population: Girls and women, low-income individuals, and middle-aged individuals have an increased risk.

Heritability: http://www.agoraphobia.ws/hereditary.htm


Additional info: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/agoraphobia/DS00894/DSECTION=symptoms

Autism

I really liked the part about autistic disorders in this chapter. I found it interesting and sad that one in one hundred people have an autistic disorder. That is way more than I thought! I have often heard people say that vaccines cause autism. I have heard teachers talk about the controversy behind the debate and I have heard people give speeches on it for public speaking. I think there is a third factor and not vaccines that cause autism. I think the reason autism has spiked so dramatically recently is because more people are becoming aware of the symptoms and signs of autism and more people are being diagnosed with it than before.

I also like dissociative fugue. It was really interesting to read about. One thing I find really hard when reading about all these disorders is not having my own judgments about them. It sounds really bad, but for instance when I read about dissociative fugue I was thinking oh that's just an excuse to escape from your problems. I keep finding myself coming up with these horrible remarks to these various disorders and I think it is because I find it so very hard to relate to them without having experienced them myself.

Exam 3 Reflection

I was very happy with my score on exam three. It was my best score yet. Oddly though, this was the test I felt the least prepared for. I procrastinated so much of these chapters until the three days before the test. I reread/read parts for the first time with all the chapters, finished lectures, studied the study guides and took practice quizzes all in three nights. It was really hard because I would literally come home from school and quick do my homework and spend the rest of the night studying for psych. It got really frustrating and stressful, but I guess it was worth it to pull off a good grade on the test. I did come in for the morning review which helped a lot, but I didn't have a study group before the test like I usually do because I didn't have time.
I learned a lot from these sections and because I tried to connect everything I read to some experience or example in my own life and I really think it helped me to remember the information better. Also, the little game thing we played in class with the definitions of the words on the cards was extremely helpful to me. Quizzing myself like that is one of the best ways I learn, so thanks for having us do that!

Field Day Reflection

I really really loved the field day. I thought it was so fun to see the University campus and experience a little piece of college life. The lectures were interesting and the student panel was cool. My favorite part was our lunch break! Collin, Kristen and I walked to Dinkytown with Collin's brother and ate at this super cool pizza place called La Mesa. They have all these weird and crazy pizzas like macaroni pizza and pizza with french fries on it and potatoes and honey mustard and all these weird things that sound really gross at first, but are insanely good! At first Kristen and I wanted just like peperoni, but then we decided to just point at a random slice of pizza that looked good and just eat it and it turned out to be so good! After that we walked down to this cool frozen yogurt place and got that and walked round a bit and went back to the lecture.


I had a very..interesting...experience in the lecture after lunch! I was sitting in the lecture and about ten minutes into it I heard Claire and Sydney and everyone behind me like whispering and talking and I turned around and they were all looking at me like super funny and I was so confused so I turned back around, but they kept whispering so I turned around to them again and was like what are you all looking at? And then they proceeded to be like "Brooke don't freak out and don't move, but there's a bee in your hair" and was like oh my goodness...! Bees totally freak me out and Kari was right behind me and she's allergic to bees and I didn't want to get stung so I didn't know what to do about the situation. Kristen and I ended up leaving lecture and went walking outside where Kristen wanted to try and hit/kill the bee on my head by hitting it with my zip-up I was wearing. I was not at all okay with that idea because it probably would have stung me. I tried like running around to see if the movement would cause it to fly away, but when that didn't work we went up to this random guy who was getting his bike and asked if he knew how to handle bees. He was super nice and friendly and got the bee out of my hair for me!! I was so grateful to him and that experience made my day at the University so much more memorable! (:

Big Five Model

I enjoyed the part about the Big Five model in this chapter. I like but yet it bugs me how there's all these test to determine your personality type and such to help figure out what kind of person you are. One thing that bothers me about these tests and rankings, and like the questions of the ones we took in class, is that you can totally tell what is being measured in each question and what you will be rated as if you answer a certain way. Because of the predictability of the questions, I think these tests can be extremely inaccurate because people tend to pick what they would want to be more than what they really are. I have taken tests before that rates you on extroversion versus introversion. I always tend to be more introverted, but I am usually like a half and half split between the two because it always depends on the situation and whose in the scenarios and such. I feel like it's wrong for tests like these to group a person based off a few questions when there's so much more to a person than what information is gathered through the personality test! Just my little rant on personality tests! (:

Another part that caught my eye was the little part talking about how in cartoons and different shows when a person is making a decision, there will me an angel on one shoulder and a devil on another and that the angel represents the superego, the demon the id and the person is the ego. I never really understood that they stood for those and it's really interesting to note that!