I Took the Bate

      My mom often complains about constantly driving from one place to another for my sister, as she does not have her license yet.  Sometimes she asks me to do it but my response usually consists of some form of "no sorry".  I either have too much going on in my own life or honestly I am just too lazy go drive Victoria around.  However, recently she will offer me money, letting me know that I can stop and get whatever food I want on the way.  I did not realize this tactic of hers at first until I read this article regarding operant conditioning.  As I look back, I have begun to take the bate and drive my sister much more than before, as I know look forward to picking up smoothies or chipotle on my way.  By offering positive reinforcement to me for driving around for my mom, she has almost trained me to do what she wants without me even realizing this.  This correlates directly with the article regarding the woman who molded her husband based on adoration for his good behavior. 
      Although I did not realize this conditioning that was occurring to me until now, I have learned a lot about how humans can be conditioned.  Without m realization, I adapted to my mom's rewards, thus sculpting me to complete the tasks she requested.  The fact that I unconsciously adapted proves the extremity to which people can be altered based on different stimulations, especially operant conditioning.  Humans and animals both like to be rewarded for good behavior and it works well when trying to teach them to respond a particular way.

Unforgettable Trauma

          While I have never met anyone who experienced such trauma as the woman in this story, I have met people who have experienced classical conditioning in a less severe sense.  I work at Geiger's Ski and Sport Haus and one day a lady came in and was searching around our store.  I approached her, as I do all customers, inquiring whether or not she needed assistance and she jumped, as if I had scared her.  Without further questions the lady went into her story, relaying that she was recently mugged in Tremont while walking to her car; the guy even held a gun to her head.  I found this account both very intriguing and sad, as an experience this lady endured had caused her further fear in her every day life.  This situation correlates to classical conditioning in the sense that her self-defense and awareness altered due to a past trauma.  In other words, the lady exemplified very nervous behaviors, which evolved from an event in her life.  Ever since the event, she has become more aware of her surroundings, hence conditioning herself to be safer in her every day life.  Her personality, though I did not know her before, may have also changed as the trust for the people around her lowered significantly.

Subliminal Persuasion

          After reviewing the presentation, I feel that the first factor, "pop" psychology, is the most strong explanation for subliminal persuasion.  This deals largely with companies appealing the needs of their consumer.  By portraying the importance of the product in the media, people are likely to rationalize that they need it because the media said so.  Also, after witnessing a commercial of something, a person subconsciously thinks about the product, further leading to their indulgence.  Furthermore, Pratkanis acknowledges that companies utilize this to reach their customers unconsciously to sell their products, a process we see each and everyday, hence furthering the strength and prevalence of this factor.
          As for the weakest form of subliminal persuasion, I feel that the witch test poorly accentuates the concept.  Opposed to the other factors of Pratkanis' experiment, this one highlights a test that is no longer used to day, thus discrediting the influence of the test.  Moreover, people find other ways today to prove themselves innocent, rather than just abandoning their company.  In other words, people today contemplate multiple pros and cons to decisions, such as consumption of certain goods or their involvement with a company.  They do not make rash decisions and therefore, the witch test would not be as persuasive as some of the other subliminal perception factors.
          In my opinion, subliminal perception does exist.  Everyone today, whether they admit it or not, have been subliminally persuaded by particular advertisements or companies.  We all indulge in consumer products at one point or another and that comes with our subconscious mentality that we need things, when in reality, we do not.  While people can exercise decision making to an extent, subliminal persuasion overrules thought even when we do not notice it.

Sensation vs. Perception

          Sensation and perception go hand and hand; however, I was not aware of their distinct differences prior to the intro to this course.  Sensation deals with how our sensory receptors, as well as our nervous system, receive stimulus from our environment.  In other words, it deals with the process of our body receiving the outside energy, such as sounds or pain.  On the contrary, perception is how we organize that information once it has been received by our senses.  Furthermore, perception is more the handling of the stimulus rather than the stimulus itself. 
          These two both deal with our senses, which gets confusing.  I think the most important thing to remember when differentiating them is sensation correlates directly with our body receiving energy from our environment, while perception is our body organizing and analyzing the energy that our senses just picked up.  The way I think about it is sensation almost deals with the more external side as it springs from the environment, and perception appears almost more internal as it is how our body deals with the stimulus.
          One example that deals with sensation and perception would be the sounding of a fire alarm.  First, our ears pick up the loud siren, thus signaling to us that something isn't right.  The original hearing of the siren correlates with sensation in the sense that the sound is what our body receives from the environment originally to then begin the stage of perception.  Our perception begins once we start analyzing the meaning behind the alarm and our panic begins to set in.  Our brain starts to organize the extremity of the siren and what that means for the individual, including an escape plan.  By utilizing a bottom-up process, our brain would analyze all the individual separate aspects of the alarm and what we know about alarms to conclude a final solution that brings all the possibilities together, helping us to comprehend what has happened.  As for the top-down process, that deals with looking at the whole picture and comprehension of the situation and then from there breaking it down to understand how that conclusion was made.

Phrenology

          To be completely honest, I had never heard of phrenology until this afternoon, however I find it quite intriguing after taking a look at the presentation.  Evidently, phrenology exemplifies a specific example of how things have evolved in psychology over the past 100 years, as Mr. Womack emphasized today.  The powerpoint suggests that this principle was defended even late into 20th century, thus emphasizing the strides that have been made recently.  We mentioned in class today the influence of machines such as the MRI and cat scan, which now allow us to view the brain electronically opposed to hypothesizing based on the shapes of heads.  Furthermore, I think the shape of a person's skull deals more with their genetics and the phenotype they obtain based on the shape of their ancestors skulls, opposed to the intelligence of their brain or the special skills one brain obtains.  Not only have the methods altered as the years passed by, but our hypothesis' have come a far way from being vague to more concrete based on previous evidence.
          Another aspect of the presentation that I found compelling was how phrenology relates to today's society.  Just like how psychologists used to associate large skulls with more intelligence or certain bumps with certain traits, we associate how people dress and appear with certain traits.  For example, the common misconception of blondes lacking intelligence often gets thrown around; yet we know that this correlation has no relevance.  Similarly, a person's skull shape has no similarity to the expertise of that particular brain, though scientists thought that.  Moreover, things are not always what they seemed and science has come a long way to prove that point.

The Infatuation With Genes in Regards to Blue Eyes

          It is truly quite interesting to contemplate how blue eyes became as prevalent as they appear today but nonetheless, before this blog, I had not put much thought into that question.  The fact that it originated in the Black Sea region 10,000 years ago poses many further questions.  I mean, if a mutated gene could cause such a common physical attribute in humans, what mutation is still to come that will change the look of humans in the future?  I think this example of how one person's mutilated gene affected an unthinkable amount of individual's appearances further emphasizes the impact genes have on a person.  In other words, his genes were passed down and inherited by generation after generation, which suggests the importance of nature in terms of nature versus nurture.

          As for how genetics play into a person's behavioral side, as well as their mentality, I feel that it is pretty even with the environment so I would give genes' influence on behaviors a 50.  Genes do play a huge role in the type of characteristics people possess and how they react to different types of situations.  For instance, the way I react to emotional situations depends solely on my genes and how I handle my emotions.  As an emotional person, no matter what environment I live in, I will never be able to control how my feelings react to situations that occur in my life.  People are genetically prone to deal with things in their own ways and that is something that is hard for nurture to overcome.

          The environment people live in, as well as the way people are brought up by their parents, also plays an enormous role in the way a person behaves and thinks about things, therefore, I also give nurture a 50.  Certain characteristics people possess alter in time due to the way they live and the people they surround themselves with and while it may not permanently change a person, it can change their personality temporarily.  For example, I may be born with traits that would lead me to be haughty and vain; however, if I am brought up amongst poverty, my environment will shape those traits as fit to my life.  This illustrates how while genes can provide me with 50% of myself, the alteration from my environment will shape me the other 50%.

         

Ethics, Animal Rights and Use of Torture

          I think the ethical boundaries enforced within psychological experiments is a great thing to help maintain the the upmost safety throughout the duration of experiments.  There are numerous liabilities and errors that accompany experimentation and without doing things, such as informing a person on the possible consequences for his/her participation, companies would face all sorts of law suits.  Therefore, the ethical stipulations play a vital role in maintaining peace among the participants.  Also, it would be ethically wrong to allow a person to die for the sole purpose of scientific research, hence the limitations draw that fine line for the researchers. It also benefits psychologists in the sense that these stipulations stand the same for all practices and companies, thus keeping an even playing field among companies and their capabilities.
          However, one thing I do not agree with is the wide range of differences from the human ethical guidelines and the animal ones.  I do support animal experimentation to an extent in the sense that it is better to test animals than humans, due to their lack of emotional intel compared to ours.  Although, I think we are all familiar with that sorrowful puppy whimper or animal cry, thus depicting their pain and contradicting my aforementioned support for animal testing.  I think harming animals is wrong and experiments that do so should be looked at in a more serious sense.  There has to exist alternative tests for medicines and such that do not involve injury to living creatures, but that has yet to be determined.  While I understand the importance of animal testing, I would prefer more guidelines as to what can and cannot be done to animals.
          As for the intentional torturing of humans, I feel that my opinion of this goes hand in hand with my opinion of animal testing.  In other words, I do not support it, but i also do not condemn it because I realize the importance of such a thing.  Torturing often deals with our country and its safety, in which case I cannot criticize such tactics.  However, harming someone for information can lead to death, hence not even achieving the goal of receiving information.  In this case, a human's life was taken and nothing was gained.  I think torture should always be a last case scenario and authorities should attempt to refrain from such barbaric actions when possible.  Though I do not agree with many of the harmful techniques, I do realize that often times there is no other option.

The Psychology Behind Obesity

          The concept of obesity may have to deal with many perspectives of psychology but in this case I find the social cultural prospective to be the most convincing.  In society today we are bombarded with the opportunities to over indulge due to the plethora of fast-food joints and the serving sizes provided in our restaurants.  As stated in the voice-over, Americans are trained at a very young age to consume what is put in front of them, almost creating a sense of obligation to over-eat.  The convenience of such unhealthy foods also aids the increasing rate of obese Americans, as it is often cheaper, hence making it an easy choice.  Continuing with the convenience of fast-food venues, the speed in which one can receive their food also promotes the lifestyle of unhealthy living because it draws those who are always on the go.  With the unbeatable price and speed of some McDonald's fries, how could anyone resist, right?  Furthermore, the environment of restaurants, including the disapproving looks from the waitors as they collect your nearly full plate (when in reality you ate too much as it is), creates a vibe in which binge eating becomes the normal.  As humans, we had the need to please others and having the expectation of finishing our plate looming over us, we often cave and stuff ourselves for satisfaction from those around us.  This social cultural aspect of eating norms advances the growing problem of obesity much more than any other psychological perspective due to the atmosphere America provides its citizens when it comes to the consumption of food.
           Yet another perspective that could weigh in on obesity that is not mentioned in the voiceover would be the developmental perspective.  This deals with how the brain develops over time and what it becomes accustomed to.  I feel that this plays into obesity because our surroundings continuously enforce the accessibility of unhealthy foods, and advertisements usually promote fast foods such as fried burgers and fries.  The more our brain is exposed to these unhealthy options, the more our brain will crave these things on a day to day basis, eventually making us obese. The point I'm trying to convey correlates to the theory that if we repeat an action a certain amount of times, we will master it; similarly, if we repetitively are subjected to fast-food, eventually we will consume it regularly, leading to our obesity. By nature, we are creatures of habit and the consumption of unhealthy foods is not an exception.

The Case of Andrea Yates

          After contemplating the three levels of psychological analysis in regards to the case of Andrea Yates, I have deemed the neuroscience and behavioral genetic perspective the most convincing.  Although I do see the roles the other perspectives may play in her psychotic actions, I feel that there must be a sense of insanity originating from the brain, most likely a form of depression.  The fact that she had been off her meds does not seem a coincidence to me because if she was prescribed them in the first place, she clearly experienced frightening symptoms.  I do question the doctor's incentive to take her off her meds though if she was so unstable at the time of the murders.  Furthermore, I think it is another red flag that both her siblings also obtained mood disorders; clearly something was not right in her family.  While it may have been a combination of her social environment and her unstable mental perception, I believe that her delusional thoughts of the Devil possessing her as well as her questionable history with depression and mood disorders points the most convincing level of psychological analysis to the neuroscience and behavioral genetic perspective.
           This case illuminates many principles about psychology that I had not even comprehended.  One that stood out to me was that the number of perspectives that must be taken into consideration when evaluating a patient and their brain functions.  Andrea Yates, for example, had numerous bizarre symptoms and explanations throughout the duration of the murders, as well as her trial, such as claims of the Devil within her and her children's developmental issues.  As you conveyed the three different perceptions to choose from I found myself nodding to each one, thinking, "well yes this could be why" and "oh yeah that too".  To me, this emphasized that not only one thing could be wrong within a person's brain and it opened up the number of possibilities that I would not even think of, which furthermore excites me for the surprises this class holds in store for me.  In other words, I think it has become clear that there is not necessarily one right answer when it comes to the imperfections of each individual's brain.