Mental Disorders=Dinosaurs

This week we learned about mental disorders. I think that mental disorders are like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. If the world's population was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, those with mental disorders would be comparable to the dinosaur's stubby little arms. People with mental disorders suffer from something that impairs their ability to live life in the way that they want to, and the same can be said for having tiny little arms. Because the arms of a Tyrannosaurus Rex are so petite, they are often limited in what they can do in comparison to the arms of other dinosaurs. I'm sure that a Tyrannosaurus Rex would like to have longer arms every once in awhile, like if he or she were to fall down. Also, people tend to look at those with mental disorders with skepticism. We want to tell them, "Well why don't you just stop having multiple personalities?" or whatever the case might be. In parallel fashion we tend to look at he Tyrannosaurus Rex as just plain goofey for having itty bitty arms. That is what I learned in psychology this week.

A slow week...

Well this week wasn't too exciting in psychology. We got a big packet for the rest of our unit which I actually think will prove to be very useful. So far we have focused primarily on childhood development. I thought the  most interesting thing that we learned is Jean Piaget's theory of childhood development. Before this week I never really knew how babies work so it was fascinating to hear that they barely can see over a foot for a few months. I also thought it was pretty cool how little kids do not know how to conserve number or liquid and don't have a sense of object permanence. We watched a number of videos that vivdly portrayed kids in these stages and those that weren't, which I thought were really entertaining. Haha those kids looked pretty dumb.

Brain Disorders

This week we focused on brain disorders in psychology. So far we have watched presentations on many disorders, most of which are very serious and can be very devastating for the individual as well as their family. I think the most intersting disorder that we learned about was Synesthesia. Synesthesia is basically a disorder in which some of your senses get jumbled up so that one can taste the color purple or see colors when they hear a certain noise. Other than that the disorder has a very low impact on one's health. In a way, I envy those with Synesthesia because they must have such a radically different perspective of life. I think, at times, it would be great to be able to see color everywhere, especially during Wisconsin's cold, gray winter months. If I could see colors in music I would definitely play and listen to music much more than I do already. I think that the albums Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix, Tommy by The Who, and Boston would make some pretty awesome colors.

This Week in Psychology...

This week in psychology we learned a lot about the different parts of the brain and memory. Although we learned some pretty predictable things like the frontal lobe is in the front of the brain and when you separate both sides of the brain they cannot communicate, resulting in two independent brains, there were a few things that I thought were completely ridiculous. I really didn’t like how the occipital lobe is all the way in the back of the brain. Why wouldn’t it be closer to the eyes? Also, I don’t like how the right hemisphere controls the left hemisphere and vice versa; I think everything should be streamlined and logical. Unless there is a logical explanation for the brain being this way, then I’ll be fine.

                We also took a test to determine if we are more left brain or right brain dominant. My results were just about in the middle, which is rather surprising. I would think that I’m very left brain dominant, especially a year or two ago. I guess I’ve become more creative.

Black Friday

 “Today’s the day. The day before Black Friday!” I thought to myself. Some people say that it’s really the day where people ignore their stomachs and eat until they throw up called Thanksgiving; I don’t get into it very much (hypothalamus). It’s as if everyone’s central nervous system stopped sending signals to the Autonomic Nervous system, forgetting to tell them when to take a break from stuffing their faces. I had the next day completely mapped out and meticulously planned with spreadsheets, maps, and a twenty slide PowerPoint (Left Hemisphere). All of this data took awhile to comprehend but I managed alright (Hypo campus). At dinner I carelessly burnt myself on the steaming pile of molten gravy and stuffing that I was eating so I decided to turn in early so as to be at the top of my game (Somatic Nervous System, Pons). That night I tossed and turned in my sleep dreaming of all the great deals that awaited me at Guitar Center, Jim’s Music and elsewhere (Reticular Formation). I was awakened by my alarm bright and early to the strains of “Eruption” by Van Halen playing over the radio, and thought “Today is going to be a kick-ass day,” as I rapidly showered, ate, and headed to Appleton.

The whole 30 minute ride to Appleton was spent reciting aloud my list of various things to purchase, and eventually I didn’t even have to think about it: Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro, Orange Tiny Terror with matching cabinet, strings, picks, strap, instrument cables. I was stocking up for a year’s worth of gigs

Finally, the store came into sight  just as Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” started playing on the radio, the perfect song to get you into the mood for ruthless holiday shopping at a guitar store (Occipital Lobe). Just as I arrived the store manager released the flood gates and a hoard of musicians stampeded over him to claim their discounted prizes. I made my way directly to the Orange Tiny Terror amp with “Peter Gunn” playing through my head like a crappy spy movie. Just as my Holy Grail was in sight I encountered a burnt-out hippie eyeing the same amp that I was, although his eyes were much more bloodshot and glassy than mine. As we stood staring each other down, I reasoned that I could take him easily and made my move (Frontal Lobe). The hippy, whose reflexes were sorely depleted thanks to years of smoking dope and living in VW minibuses, didn’t stand a chance.

After the encounter with the terrifying hippy, I fought my way through the dense throngs of shoppers and acquired all of the smaller items on my list, eventually coming to the glistening wall of Gibson guitars. As I gazed at the holy sight before me, I almost forgot to breathe, pump blood, and all of the other unconscious functions that the medulla is responsible for. Just then, a snot-nosed little brat stole my Les Paul right from underneath! “AAAAAAAARGH!” I screamed as I rushed to steal my guitar back from the kid (Amygdala). I took two steps and then experienced a very strange falling sensation. It was at this point that I realized I didn’t tie one of my shoes this morning and was now paying dearly for it. as I picked myself off of the cold, dirty floor of Guitar Center I smacked my head on the service desk, rattling my cerebellum, losing my coordination and balance, and returned to the cold, dirty floor completely unconscious.

Then I woke up in my bed at about noon, for real this time, wondered why I would ever go shopping on Black Friday in the first place, and reheated some turkey for lunch.

(None of this ever happened so the whole story demonstrates Right Hemisphere!)

This Week in Psychology...

The thing that stands out most about this past week is probably learning about Sigmund Freud. He was one weird dude. It was shocking to learn that many of the ideas are still implemented today, AND he did copious amounts of cocaine. Perhaps my favorite thing was listening to all of the poems that my fellow classmates composed about defense mechanisms. I got stuck with writing a poem about repression. The poem wound up being extremely dark and borderline disturbing since I really couldn't figure out how to write a poem about repression that was happy. There is really no need for one to repress happy thoughts so the poem was about a murder.

We also read a short article about Freud's case study Anna O. In the article a patient of a friend of Freud is exhibiting strange symptoms such as a severe cough, impaired sight, speach, and vision; and paralysis of the right side of the body. As Freud examined the case  deeper he discovered that all of Anna O's symptoms started as a result of events that occured while she was caring for her father, and concluded taht long-forgotten events are usually the base for problems, sometimes manifesting themselves in physical symptoms. After all of this I thought to myself, "Hm, this sounds like one of the all time greatest Who albums, Tommy!" Tommy is a rock opera based on the story of a boy who can not see, hear, or speak after he witnesses the murder of his biological father who presumably died when his bomber went down in WWII by his mother and her lover. Tommy's mother and her lover say:

You didn't hear it.
You didn't see it.
You won't say nothing to no one
Never in your life.
You never heard it.
Oh, how absurd it all seems
Without any proof.

At this point Tommy loses all of his senses but is able to connect to life through music and becomes amazing at pinball. In the end, Tommy goes back to normal and lives happily ever after, as does Anna O. I really enjoyed this article because I finally got the chance to draw a parallel between my favorite band and school!

First Entry

Hey, my name is Matt and I am a senior at Ashwaubenon High School. This is my first blog entry for a Psychology project, and I already find myself running out of things to say. Haha. Outside of school I love playing guitar and fixing up my 1979 CJ-7 Renegade (that's an old Jeep for those of you who may not know). I also have job at Verhalen inc. doing customer service calls and other miscellaneous office work during school and working in the paint shop in the summer. Music is a very important part of my life. I predominantly listen to classic rock, blues, rock n roll, or just about anything else old because I really can't stand most current music. My all-time favorite band is The Who, but my favorite guitar players are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Brian Setzer of Stray Cats. Other than there's not too much else that seems to stand out about me. Just Jeeps and guitar.

To tell you the truth I'm not quite sure what I know about psychology upon entering this class. I know that it is the study of human behaviour as opposed to sociology which is the study of group behaviour. I guess, by taking this class, I would like to better understand how humans think and function.