Last Blog!!

YAYYYYY this is the last blog ever.
Overall, I liked taking this class. I think that it taught me a lot and it also showed me what college classes could be like. I liked that the class was interesting, so reading wasn't that bad all of the time. I think I did fairly well on the AP exam. Since I did so many practice tests over the weekend, I felt as though I was prepared for the multiple choice portion of the test. I thought it was pretty easy so I hope I did well with that portion. The free response was a different story. The first one I had no idea what pretty much all of the words were, but the second one I think I did pretty well on it. Overall I am hoping for a 4!

Agonist and Antagonists

I didn't really know the difference between agonists and antagonists so I looked it up. Essentially, agonists help relax the muscles while the antagonists help contract the muscles. When an agonist produces an action, an antragonist opposes the action. An antagonist blocks the response of a drug, while an agonist works with it. An antagonist blocks the action of a neurotransmitter. So pretty much an antagonist blocks everything, while an agonist goes along with whatever is happening.

http://www.differencebetween.net/science/difference-between-agonist-and-antagonist/

More about Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

I read a little article all about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This therapy is used for very depressed patients that took antidepressents and they wound't work. A week or two after patients start getting this therapy, it starts working. Patients can then keep getting ECT or just try taking antidepressesnts again. When given ECT, patients are administered anethesia so they cannot feel anything. ECT is pretty much just a controlled seizure for 20 to 90 seconds. A very common side effect of ECT is short- term memory loss. ECT has improved a lot over the years and has gotten a lot more popular.

http://www.medicinenet.com/electroconvulsive_therapy/article.htm

Schizophrenia

I am schizophrenia and I am a long- term mental disorder involving the break down in relation between thought, emotion, and behavior. I have my own catergory. Some symptoms I give people are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior, and negative symptoms. Negative symptoms are an absense of normal behaviors such as lack of emotional expression, lack of interest, or a lack of interest in the world. To be disagnosed with me, someone would have to have two of these symptoms within a month.

Persuasive Essay

During the video I had some mixed feelings about treating children with medicine. I am sure part of the reason that many more children are being diagnosed is because we have more technology to find these diseases. But I also think that some children get diagnosed too early, espiaclly for ADHD. Some children actualy need these pills because they have ADHD but other kids are just full of energy.

For the kids that actually have the problems, I think medication can only work sometimes. There are also a lot of other options. For example, you can change your diet. Removing some of the sugary food in a childs diet can make them more calm since they aren't eating all the sugar all the time. Another way you can treat some of the diseases is by taking vitamins that are missing in your body. This is a newer approach, so there is still some research being done on it.

Another new way to treat these diseases without medicating is called brain wave technology. In some of these disorders, the childs brain wave is different than most. In this brain wave technology there would be a small chip that would go into the skull and it would regulate the brain waves. Oils, flower therapy, and over- the- counter products are also useful to treat these diseases. I believe that you should try these theraputic methods before you should try to medicate.

Personality Tests

On my first test, my top score was agreeableness. I agree with these becuase agreeableness means that i have a lot of concern for others. On my other test my top trait was Self- Discipline meaning that I am responsible and  I am efficient in my work. I agree with this becuase I can tell when I work that I am very self- disciplined.Most of my results do go along with eachother, meaning that most of these are valid and I answered the same to the questions each time. The letters I got for the MMPI test were ESFJ (Extraverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging). I partly agree with these results. Only when I am comfortable around people is when I become extraverted. Most of the time I could tell when a test asked the same question twice, just rewording it each time. I tried to answer the same every time, but I kind of think it depends on your mood while your answering the question.

Weight Set Point: How Genes and Lifestyle Habits Affect It

This is an article about your weight and how it is genetic. Specifically I read the part about changing your set point. A set point is a weight where your body sets you. Can you change your set point? Most of the time. For example, most peoples weight is from their genes. If you have enough motivation though, you can surpass your genes and choose the weight and lifestyle you want to live. On rare occasions however your genes can be very stubborn so you wouldn't be able to change your set weight. But for most people, it is possible.

http://www.nutritionguideforlife.com/weight-set-point.html

Popping Smart Pills: The Case for Cognitive Enhancement

When someone has ADHD, the doctors usually prescribe them pills to help them concentrate better. Some of the pills the doctor could prescribe are Adderall, Ritalin and modafinil (Provigil). All of these drugs are considered performance enhancing drugs. A lot of college students take these drugs to help them concentrate to study and do homework, even if they dont have ADHD. They get these pills from people that have the disease. One the plus side though, taking these pills can enhance your memory and make it easier to recall it later or even having better cognition. In a study done, people remembered and learned more if they took one of these drugs while studying compared to remembering less if you didnt take the drug. A lot of people consider taking these drugs unfair though. Many people call it cheating becuase you needed help to rememberand learn these things. Also, it has been said to be unfair becuase only wealthy people have the money to get and use these drugs. Although the risk is pretty high from taking these pills, many people think it could be worth it if you become "smarter".

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869435,00.html

Reflection

I think that this term has been a lot harder than I expected it to be. With almost every class I have ever taken, I don't need to study and I get good grades. I thought that this class would be a little bit harder than those classes, but it wouldn't be super hard. This class has been way harder than I expected it to be. I am hoping that for next term I will make myself put in more time studying and actually understanding the concepts that we learn.

Forgetting Memories

In class today, I read an article about erasing your memories. I was interested in it so I did a little more research. I found a video on YouTube that specifically talks about a man and how he struggles with his memory of the war. I also found that in the next 10 years researchers are hoping to create a drug that can help people accomplish this goal and live a happier life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCOrxscmWX0 

Memory Championship

This past chapter was all about memory. On one page it had some of the world records of memorizing things. I thought the chart was really interesting and wondered if these people were really smart that could remember this much. I actually found out by watching the attached video that they don't have to be. The guy in this video won the Memory Championship. He was just an average student, but you have to spend a lot of time training your brain and practicing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNr_MiqCahE 

Music Too Loud?

Today in class we learned that if a noise is really loud, your ears will ring after you hear that loud noise. The ringing in your ears after hearing htat noise could mean that you have done some damage to your ears. Hearing about this makes me think about how bad my ears must be damaged. First of all, when I listen to my iPod really loud when I do listen to it. For example, when I was driving to Milwaukee with my mom and aunts I was listening to my iPod. They had to tap me and ask me to turn down the volume on my iPod because they could hear my music and it was disrupting their conversation. My next example is when I listen to music in my car. My mom complains to me all the time that she can hear when I come home because if she is sitting in the kitchen and I pull in the garage she can hear my loud music through the wall. I don't think that is good that I have my music that loudd. I can probably turn my music down a little so that I don't have really bad hearing when I am older. One question that I do have though is there is a senior this year that I always see walking through the hallway. Even during passing time when it is really loud, I can hear his music really well even though they are in ear plugs in his ears. His music must be so loud then because other people can hear it during passing time. I wonder how much his hearing has gone down hill and if he keeps listening to his music that loud, could he actually lose most of his hearing because of that?

PSA Reflection

My third favorite video was http://asd-ls-01.ashwaubenon.k12.wi.us/SafeVideos/Video.aspx?id=qODyN_GQjO0My Second favorite video washttp://asd-ls-01.ashwaubenon.k12.wi.us/SafeVideos/Video.aspx? id=V1yu0qwz2cQ

My favorite video was the one that Shelby, Elise, Erin, Jayme, and Katie did. I thought they did a good job of including all of the requirments necessary to complete this assignment. Also, they added some funny things to their video so that you aren't just sitting there bored. I thought they also did a nice job editing the video, because in the whole video you could hear what they were saying and it flowed pretty smoothly. Overall, I thought it was very well exectued. I cannot find the video right now though.

Early Puberty

When you gave us that article about early puberty, I read it and I was instantly interested in the topic. The article said that when younger girls go through puberty earlier, they can be given hormones so that the puberty slows. I was intrigued to find out more about these hormones. So I found an article online and found that the the currently approved hormone treatment is with drugs called LHRH analogs. These LHRH analogs are synthetic hormones that block the body's production of the sex hormones that are causing the early puberty. These LHRH analogs usually cause no harm in the children that take them and also usually have no side effects.

By taking these hormones, there will be no further development in girls. When boys take these hormones, the penis and testicles may shrink back to the size expected for their age. Growth in height will also slow down. A child's behavior usually becomes more age appropriate as well.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html#a_Treatment_for_Precocious_Puberty

BLOG 4

I didn't have to lie to my friends or parents because my parents never noticed or weren't home. My friends were in AP psychology or didn't ask what was in my waterbottle, nor did they care. I can see how a real addiction could impact a relationship because you are hidng things from them and you could be lying to them also. I did feel like I was sneaking around a little bit, but it wasn't that big of a deal because noone was ever home. Noone noticed a change in my behavior because my parents don't keep a close eye on me, and my friends could care less. If my mom caught me using weed, she would be very mad at me and she would ground me. Also, she would lose a lot of trust and respect in me and our relationship would not exist anymore.

Blog #3

There has been a lot of examples of aminmal testing in our book and videos we have been watching lately in class. I looked up the pro's and con's of animal testing so I could see what side I agree with. One pro of animal testing in the article I found was that we share 99% of our genes with monkeys. Because of this, we can give them medicines and treatments, and most likely if it works on a monkey it would work on us. As I kept reading about that pro though, the next line said that it would be immoral for us to be doing these tests on humans. That just makes us sound selfish that we can do these horrible tests on the animals, and risk their life, but we won't do it on a human. That was the major pro and con that stood out to me. I still don't know what side I stand on because I understand both sides.
Article: http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=7

Blog #2

In class one day we talked about a girl named Genie. She was kept in her room for 13 years and only allowed to drink milk and eat babyfood. She had no social contact. I found a website http://www.audiblox2000.com/book7.htm, that decribed two other stories like Genie's. Even though they were all locked away for different periods of time, they all pretty much had the same problems when they were found. All three of them had issues when they would try to speak. Because they weren't taught any lanuage when they were locked in a room, they couldn't speak when they came out. Teachers tried to teach them English, but their brain would only let them say small, short phrases like two year olds would say. Also, all three of the children had trouble with motor skills, like walk and writing when they got out. They also all had psychological issues. This just shows that being in isolation for a long period of time can lead to huge psychological issues and lack of motor skills.

Blog #1

After completing this course, I expect to have a better  understanding of psychology and how the human brain works. I am excited to go at a faster pace than a normal high school class, but I am just a little nervous about keeping up with that pace. I am also nervous for the AP test in May. I am most excited to learn about psychological disorders and the basic processes of learning. I think that this class will differ from my other classes because it will be going at a faster pace and challenge me more.

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=476184F5-9ACE-4BDF-B0B3-09B1F10CE2E8&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US. This is a video that describes correlation more in depth than the book did. It shows that if the points you plot on a scatter plot have no relationship at all, it has no correlation. But if the points of the x and y values are both increasing, it is positive correlation. If the points for x and y are both decreasing, it is negative correlation. I think this video explained a couple more things about correlation that the book didn't, and it made me understand the topic even better.