Memory

How does Memory work:
Memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. these are the three steps in creating memory. First encoding is converting information from the outside world into mental representations. In order for the encoding process to be successful you must pay attention. The second process in memory is storing. The information that you have encoded can be stored in three different places the sensory, the working, and the long-term memory. Once the information is encoded and stored it must be retrieved in order to be used which brings us to the last step, retrieving. Retrieving is the reconstruction of the stored information by the firing of the same neurons used to encode it.

Memory related disorders/forgetting:

Memory loss can rage from sever to mild causes, but they all result from some kind of neurological damage to the structure of the brain. Memory loss can be progressive like some of the well known disorders like Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease or it can be instant such as if someone were to be in a car accident and take dramatic impact to the head. But most disorders are causes by ageing. one of the things mentioned in one of the videos that really made me think and got my attention was when it was mentioned that why don't we forget what we look like, that why when we look at the mirror we remember that it is ourselves. The answer to that is of course because of our memory. If we were to lose our memory every other minute than we would not recognize ourselves in that mirror.

Real world connections:
Memory loss is a part of our everyday life, from mild to very sever cases. One case that I can think about is our dreams. I can relate to this because it happens to me all the time! I have a really weird or sometimes scary dream and I try to remember it so I can tell it to my friends and family when I see them, but sure enough as the day goes on I start to forget it little by little until it completely vanishes  from my memory.

Sources:
http://www.human-memory.net/disorders.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_disorder
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/memory_disorders/
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/memory_disorders/conditions/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIlVy2J2bU&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOtNCuwqfQ&feature=youtu.be

learning

How do people learn, and is it a simple process? Well considering that the brain is one of many complex subjects that is studied by many scientist I would have to say that the learning process is not a simple one.

Science behind learning:
When you learn a new skill it is very beneficial for you. It not only adds a new tool for you to use in your life but it improves many other areas such as better working memory, better verbal intelligence, and increased language skills. As you would assume at first when you are taking on learning a new skill it takes your brain a little more effort to process and learn that skill, But later on as you continue to learn a practice that skill it takes your brain less work to accomplish it. The reason for this is because as your brain gets better at the skill you are learning, your brain is actually strengthening itself. The science behind how the brain learns is this; the more that connections between neurons in the brain are formed the more we learn and the more information we retain. We are still learning about how the brain functions and we will be for many years to come because of its complexity, but this is just some of the knowledge that scientists have accumulated by studying how the brain learns.

What stood out to me:
What really stood out to me was the video that Dr.Pris showed us during the lecture on Tuesday about the baby little Albert and the experiments conducted on him. I know it's pretty obvious to assume that a baby can be frighten and begin to cry with the slightest of noises so I wasn't surprised that every time the scientist would bang the steel bar when the rat was presented little Albert would cry. What did stand out to me is the effect that the noise of the steel bar left on little Albert. Since the steel bar was banged only when the rat was presented to little Albert, little Albert connected the rat to the noise. So now when the rat was presented he would become scared even though the steel bar was not being banged.

Real world Applications:
After learning about this subject there are many real world situations that are connected to the way we learn and the science of it. For example lets just go back to the little Albert experiment. Even though he was a a baby and didn't really have a lot of logical thinking at that point in his life to understand why noises and animals were being presented, he made the assumption and connection that every time he saw the rat there was going to be a noise. Why? because that is what he learned. We do the same thing with many other situations. For example lets say you let your buddy borrow five dollars and he never pays you back. If you have some type of logical thinking you are going to assume that he isn't going to pay you back again if you let him borrow another five dollars. We learn by expeirences and how they affect us.

Sources:
http://www.clomedia.com/2016/12/23/cognitive-science-behind-learning/
https://lifehacker.com/the-science-behind-how-we-learn-new-skills-908488422
https://numberworksnwords.com/global/blog/the-science-behind-learning-and-having-fun/#.Wp4iLrbMwaw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI

Poster Board

Doing this poster board was low key a little difficult because I don't really think about my past on a daily basis so reminiscing and finding memories that I think shaped my personality to what it is today was a challenge. Overall Im proud of how my poster board came out and I hope you guys enjoy it!

Personality Assesment

There are many people in this world and none have the same exact personality as one another. They might be close and resemble each other in some ways but never identical. In the branch of personality psychology psychologist try to study and understand how personality is developed in each individual. They try to ponder and see if past experiences and events have shape the personality of a individual.

What is personality:
There is not a set definition for personality but many personality psychologist say that personality is composed of a individuals thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Personality tests:
There are many personality tests out there especially on the internet that people can take and get some  pretty accurate feedback on their type of personality that they have. Durning a personality test you will be asked a bunch of questions and all the answers and information you input will but put together and give you certain characteristics of what certain type of personality you have, for example a leader or a passionate person etc...

How personality is used:
Personality is used in many places and one of the most common place it is used in is a workplace. In the U.S. about 13% of employers utilize personality test when hiring new employees. The most well known test that these companies use to hire employers is known as the Myers-Briggs test. Employers use this test and many other personality test for these reasons, they help determine which candidate is best fit for the job, These test are less Time consuming for the employer since it is more than likely on line, and last but not least it will pull out the weaknesses and strengths of the individual taking it.

My take on personality:
Yes I believe that many people have common personalities but no one has the same identical personality, so I personally don't really take a personalities test score to heart because I don't really believe it is accurate enough at least for me. I also do believe that a individuals past expeirence and the events they have lived through have shaped their personality in some sort or way. At the end of the day everyone has their own unique personality and it is amazing in its own way.

Sources:
https://www.geteverwise.com/human-resources/why-employers-use-personality-tests/
http://www.apa.org/topics/personality/
https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-theories.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/head-games/201712/what-does-your-signature-say-about-your-personality

Developmental Psychology

Nature-Nurture Question
the nature-nurture question has been an on going debate that is still active to this day regarding whether a persons development of certain biological and regular characteristics are determined strictly on their nature (genetics) or nurture (how they are raised and by who).

Nature side of the debate
the nature side of the debate claims that the genetic makeup of the person will always develop the same no matter how that person is raised and brought up. For example the nature side of the debate claims that if a new born baby that has really tall curly hair blue eye biological parents were to be adopted by a Mexican short straight hair brown eye family that the child would still develop the genetics that were given to him by his biological parents.

Nurture side of the debate
The nurture Side of the debate claims that even though a child is handed down certain biological characteristics they can be altered with by the way the child is raised and brought up. For example lets say there was a couple who loved to smoke and drink, and were very angry people. They got to work and the girl got pregnant but upon having the baby the husband was put in jail and she died during the childbirth so the baby was given up for adoption. A loving christian family was granted the custody of the child and they raised it with their morals and beliefs. The nurture side of the debate claims that the child would grow up and have the same characteristics and morals as the non biological parents who raised it instead of having the biological characteristics of the biological parents.

Examples
here are some of the most popular examples that keep the nature-nurture debate alive and active.

• Homosexuality 
• Personality
• Intelligence 
• obesity 
• occupation 

My personal take

After reading a few articles and learning about this topic my personal take on this debate would have to be a mixed one. I don't believe one is fully effective while the other is false. I believe that their is a combination of both the sides that take place. Let me give you an example I don't believe that just because a child with really tall biological parents is given to a short family to be raised that all of the sudden the child is going to be short. But on the other hand I do believe that if a child that has really aggressive drug addict parents is given to a Christian family that the way the child is raised will be dramatically different then how the parents act and are.

Sources

http://nobaproject.com/modules/the-nature-nurture-question

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/nature-vs-nurture-examples.html

http://www.softschools.com/examples/science/nature_vs_nurture_examples/482/

https://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html

Teen Brain vs Adult Brain

the brain of a teenager and the brain of an adult differ partially causing them to think differently on different things and that is perfectly normal. The brain of a teenager has not yet developed fully in the way that the adult brain has, teenagers lack many of the nerve connections that tie the frontal lobe to the rest of the brain limiting their ability to think ahead.

I interviewed my little brother and my youth counselor from church who is twenty four and what I acknowledged from the answers each one of them gave for each scenario was that the teenager would just give me an answer for the most part and not really give an explanation why, but the adult would not only give me an answer but would break down why he gave that answer with a strong explanation. I gave the same eight scenarios to the teenager and the adult and asked them to tell me if they think each one of these scenarios was a good or bad idea in their opinion. I discovered that since the adult that I interviewed is still a young adult and was a teenager a few years ago, he would tell me that when he was younger he would of said that many of these scenarios that he said today are a bad idea would have been a good idea. I always knew that the brain of a teenager and adult differ because teenagers mostly think in the moment, while adults think of the consequences that may occur in the  future from their actions, but I had never interview them both and I thought this was really interesting and fun.

Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwCibqT15V8

Sources:

http://knowledgenuts.com/2014/07/25/the-difference-between-teenage-brains-and-adult-brains/

https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/teenage-brain-development-behavior-explained-frontal-lobe-function.html

Sensation And Perception

Sensation/Perception:When you think about it the brain is truly a complex magnificent masterpiece that could not have been created by anyone but God himself. The average human brain weighs about three pounds and is fairly small if you think about it, but the power it has can rearrange whole landscapes and turn mountains into open highways, its ability is limitless. The average human has five senses that consist of sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing. These five senses are all unique in their own way. The process of sensation is occurs when your sense organs are engaged in transduction, the conversion of one form of energy to the other. The brain can not understand what Is happening until that physical energy that you are feeling is converted into electrical stimulation, something the brain can understand. This physiological process of converting physical energy to electrical stimulation causing the brain to makes sense of the stimuli is called perception. 

Synesthesia:

From the videos that Dr.Pris gave to use to watch for this blog the one that most caught my attention was the one about Synesthesia. I just find it so interesting that certain people can combine two sense to connect one to the other, for example in the video the guy said that there are some people with synesthesia that when they think of the letter J the think of the color purple or when they think of the color red they automatically relate it to the letter A. The development of how someone aquires Synesthesia has not yet been discovered but it has been suggested that it develops in a person's childhood.  

Signs and Symptoms:

 It is reported that the people that have synesthesia don't really know they have it until the realize that other people don't have the same experiences as them. Although stereotyped that synesthesia is a medical condition, synesthesians don't believe that and the majority think its pretty cool and unique. 

Types Of Synesthesia:

There are two overall types of Synesthesia, projective synesthesia and associative synesthesia. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/synesthesia-hear-colors

https://www.thoughtco.com/synesthesia-definition-and-types-4153376

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3759026/

Seeing Sound, Tasting Color  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.