1) I could compare myself to the studies that were performed. I often give in to others views, called conformity. The majority of people swaying one way tend to persuade the minority that their view is wrong. The minority might not even be wrong, the group members just feel as though they are wrong because more people are opposing them. The Milgram's Obedience test was repulsive. I can't believe that one human being could treat another human being like crap just for psychological studies. People were put in life threatening situations just for the purpose of tests, and that is very wrong. The Stanford Prison Experiment was also shocking to me. It made humans treat their peers like animals. The experiment reminded me alot of Hiter. The Holocaust was the same general idea, but not an experiment. The experiment designer was a sick person. If I was inducted into an experiment of that sort, I would probably kill someone after I found out it was just all for fun. Humans sway with the majority. Opinion does not have an effect when a large group is surveyed publically. People are scared or even embarrased to share their views. I think human nature is relatively irrelevant. People do not get things accomplished when the majority is just a big lie. Statistics can be proven wrong when people find out that "human nature" was just taking over.
2) A social influence can be seen in conformity, compliance, and group behavior. The book has examples of normative and informational social influences. Normative social influences are a result of not wanting to be disapproved or to gain approval. An example would be music. My mother is a great flute player and singer. I play flute and I always try to make her proud. I want her approval and I want her to be happy with me. She also sings and I try to gain her approval in that also. Informational includes the willingness to accept other peoples opinions. When you are the president of National Honor Society, you need to take other opinions into consideration. If you are all for yourself, nobody will follow you or listen to you. In order to be successful, you need to listen to others. I was influenced by people when gossip occurs. When I am around people that are gossiping, I join in and gossip with them , even though I know it is wrong.
3) The most interesting thing I learned in this class is about memory. People can block out memories by use of denial. Other things that can occur are distorted memories. For example, if a girl got raped, she will try to block the memory out of her mind forever. It is of no use to her. All it does is bring back agony and painful memories.
Thanks for teaching me all the interesting stuff this semester! :)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Blog Post #12
A psychological disorder is an ongoing pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions that are deviant, distressful, and/or dysfunctional. The book says that someone who acts abnormally has a psychological disorder. It says that someone who acts differently than people in their culture may have a psychological disorder. Disorders affect peoples lives greatly. The disorder has to impact the person by causing them distress in their everyday lives. If the person isn't distressed or emotionally affected, they probably don't have a psychological disorder. It all depends on the symptoms that the patient is showing and the distress being observed.
My grandfather had Alzheimer's disease and we believe he showed signs of schizophrenia. He was in his 80s when his Alzheimer's got worse. He started to hear voices and see people that clearly were non-existent. He had no clue what was going on in his surroundings. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it diffucult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations. My grandpa showed all the signs of Schizophrenia. Symptoms include: flat emotions, catatonic behavior, delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking. There are three types of Schizophrenia: catatonic, paranoid and disorganized. My grandpa had the disorganized type. I think my life would be extremely difficult and different if I was Schizophrenic. I cannot even imagine how tough I would have it. I would rather be dead than live with a disorder that causes you to lose all self-control and emotion.
The most interesting thing I have learned is that homosexuality was once classified as an illness. That is interesting because earlier in the semester we learned that homosexuality is actually a genetic disorder. The genetic makeup of homosexuals is different than heterosexuals. Society today has begun to accept homosexuality as an everyday lifestyle. It is not an illness; you are just born with it.
My grandfather had Alzheimer's disease and we believe he showed signs of schizophrenia. He was in his 80s when his Alzheimer's got worse. He started to hear voices and see people that clearly were non-existent. He had no clue what was going on in his surroundings. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it diffucult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations. My grandpa showed all the signs of Schizophrenia. Symptoms include: flat emotions, catatonic behavior, delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking. There are three types of Schizophrenia: catatonic, paranoid and disorganized. My grandpa had the disorganized type. I think my life would be extremely difficult and different if I was Schizophrenic. I cannot even imagine how tough I would have it. I would rather be dead than live with a disorder that causes you to lose all self-control and emotion.
The most interesting thing I have learned is that homosexuality was once classified as an illness. That is interesting because earlier in the semester we learned that homosexuality is actually a genetic disorder. The genetic makeup of homosexuals is different than heterosexuals. Society today has begun to accept homosexuality as an everyday lifestyle. It is not an illness; you are just born with it.
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