This week in class we pretty much just went over everything that we read in chapter one. We talked about all of the different perspectives and who was important to each one. Yesterday in class we split up into small groups and each read about a different famous studies/experiments. If you ask me, most of them are completely ridiculous which is probably why I found them to be so intriguing. So, I decided to look up The Stanford Prison Experiment and I found some pretty crazy stuff. Actually, I found a website that takes you through the entire experiment. http://www.prisonexp.org/ As I was reading, I found it interesting that each of them was actually arrested from their homes or where ever they happened to be at the time. Each person was treated like they were an actual criminal. They were basically dehumanized. Throughout the experiment they were humiliated repeatedly, stripped of their possessions, names, and clothing. Even they were only trying to create a functional simulation, I think that things got a bit out of hand. "Prisoners" began to rebel and the guards acted like they had all of the power in the world. The guards didn't seem to have any regret or any feelings whatsoever. It amazes me that they were able to go through the experiment treating people, actual human beings, in such cruel ways and not be even slightly bothered by it. The things that these prisoners and guards went through is absolutely incredible. I never would have thought peoples moods, thoughts and behaviors could change so much in such a small amount of time. Then again, people are still just people even if they are participating in an experiment. If you give someone power, chances are they are going to use that power, and it is going to go straight to their head. As far as the prisoners go though, I was thinking about how their self-esteem just completely vanished and how they had become so mentally weak. I think that credit for those feeling and emotions can be given to the learned helplessness that we talked about in class. I decided to do a little more research on learned helplessness and I found a video on YouTube about it that I really liked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmFOmprTt0&feature=g-vrec&context=G25f04afRVAAAAAAAAAQ It basically is showing what learned helplessness feels like, only it is on a much smaller scale than The Stanford Prison Experiment was. These prisoners were constantly ripped on. Nothing they did was right. They were all criminals and their was nothing they could do about it. I think that they all started to give up hope. In the past when they rebelled they were just constantly shut down. I think it got to the point where they felt helpless and that was just the way it was going to be. After the experiment was shut down they interviewed one of the men that had been a guard during the experiment. I found his response to be very interesting. I was able to find a video clip of one of the prisoners talking about how he felt completely helpless and a clip of the guard that was interviewed after the experiment had ended.
Helpless Prisoner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbDy4ZtB2fU
Guard Interviewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQnOkmvigi0&feature=plcp&context=C3e40887UDOEgsToPDskI_cnTmmD_k1DMvp38GkXDK
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
AP Psych Expectations and Chapter One
Going into AP Psychology I have a lot of expectations not only of myself, but of the class as well. I am very excited to learn more about the way people behave and why they behave that way. I find psychology ridiculously fascinating and there is not one thing in this class that I am not looking forward to learning about. However, I think I will find personality, emotion, human memory and social psychology to be especially interesting. My goal is to come out with a solid A in the class and pass the final AP exam with at least three points, if not more. Next year, I am going to college to major in psychology, so I am really hoping to start next year out with a few credits already under my belt. I am a bit nervous about the amount of reading and other work for this class simply because it is not the only AP class I am taking at the moment. I know what it takes to do well in an AP class and although balancing my time with other classes will be a challenge, I think it is doable.
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The prologue gave a broad overview of psychology and it's history. It stated that the most controversial question still around today is Nature vs. Nurture. Chapter one went on to talk about all different types of research, and biases in research. It went through case studies, surveys, naturalistic observation, correlation and experimentation. All of these are ways in which information is gathered and organized. They can all be applied to the Nature vs. Nurture debate, but at the end of the day people are still torn on the issue. I was able to find a video on YouTube that talked about Nature vs. Nurture and I found it interesting because it took a somewhat different approach compared to what I had heard before. It talked about how our genes help to interpret our environment. Their big question was, which genes are triggered by our environment? And does it matter which genes are triggered by our environment? Apparently, it all depends on which genes our minds turn on and which genes our mind turn off. Different circumstances cause our genes to turn on and off, but according to the researchers in the video, they have yet to figure out those circumstances. Some believe that children receive a stronger social influence from people other than their parents. Other researchers believe that children live in separate worlds and that not much is carried over from world to world, but anything that is carried over is going to be genetic. Judith Rich Harris, a developmental psychologist, believes that how well, or not well, a child turns out is up to the child, not it's parents. Many, however, disagree with her. Researchers continue to do genetic research and observe people in many different ways, but no one has quite been able to clear up the debate of Nature vs. Nurture.
I also was able to find a video about two identical twins that were separated at birth to become a part of a twin study. Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein grew up in completely different places and had completely different families. Both of them went through most of their lives feeling like they were missing a part of themselves. One of them had decided to contact the adoption agency to find out more about her birth mother. In response, she received a letter saying that she had a twin sister. The two of them ended up getting together and catching up on things only to find out that they have the same mannerisms and did many of the exact things up until this point in their lives. Their story, along with a few others, has proven that nature beats out nurture in the Nature vs. Nurture debate.
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