STRESS REDUCTION

Psychology 101

April 17, 1997

CHILDHOOD LEARNING EXPERIENCE

As I was growing up, my parents tried to raise their children as high achievers, helping us to take full advantage of our intelligence and potential. From day one my parents have instilled excellent study habits and have required that our studies always come first. We had many annoying rules about school and homework, but I suppose in the long run they have really done a lot of good. After school we could only watch television or play outside until five o'clock. the television goes off and we come in to do our homework, eat dinner, take showers, get an “after dinner” snack and go to bed. Sunday through Thursday bedtime was 8:30 p.m., only on the weekends could we stay up until ten o'clock. We were never allowed to go out during the week unless it was a school function.

Along with all these rules came a very important reward-- MONEY! Just like a lot of other parents, Mom and Dad paid us for our report cards. The better our grades, the more money we received. In junior high and high school the payment was $0.75 per A, $0.50 per B, $0.25 per C, but Dad subtracted $0.25 per F. The greatest part was that straight A’s were worth $25! College is even more important in my parent's eyes, therefore payment increased. Last semester I received $102.00, this semester I'm hoping for straight A's that would be worth $200.00!

I also realized that aside from cash rewards, there were many other positive reinforcements that accompanied higher grades. I received many honors in school, accumulated a huge box full of college recruiting letters, a couple scholarships and those annoying rules-- usually I would get to slide a little. All of these rewards meant a lot to me, and I always felt good about myself, too. Knowing the positive reinforcements associated with high achievement definitely increased the likelihood that I will do well. Thus I plan to enforce the same kind of reward system when I raise a family of my own.

LEARNED FOOD AVERSION

My dad is a General Manager for Jack in the Box Restaurants so he goes out into the public for various promotions from time to time. Our favorites are the tailgate parties we do at Jack Murphy Stadium when the whole family goes to help. Sometimes we hand out Jumbo Jacks, breakfast sandwiches, cheesecake or double fudge cakes. The best part of it all is the fact that we are allowed to eat as many of the freebies as we want and even take some leftovers with us.

The only bad thing is that sometimes we go overboard and make ourselves sick. We gave out cheesecake the last time we held a tailgate party. I never really cared for it much, but that day I must have eaten sixteen slices throughout the day! Low and behold the next day I came down with the worst case of diarrhea known to man. I swore to myself I would never touch a single piece again and nowadays I can't stand the sight of it. Coincidentally, it turns out that the diarrhea was due to the stomach flu that had been passed around the house. It just so happens that I was the first to catch it so I immediately blamed the cheesecake.

My situation is one good example of Classical Conditioning. The stomach flu acted as the unconditioned stimulus that resulted in diarrhea-- the unconditioned response. The cheesecake I had eaten before I caught the flu played the role of conditioned stimulus which causes the conditioned response in which I can no longer stand the sight of cheesecake. One might notice that the conditioned response is not as severe as the unconditioned response as is the case of most Classical Conditioning.

IMPROVING STUDY HABITS

The effects of Operant Conditioning are incredible in some cases and are ideal for applying to study skills. This semester I am determined to do my best to achieve A's in all my classes in order to raise my grade point average to be eligible for scholarships. I have decided to break it down test by test in each of my classes and do as good as I possibly can on each. I have already set my goal and am in the process of "shaping" which is reinforcing the desired behaviors. For each test I ace I have decided to take myself out shopping to buy one article of clothing. So far I have taken a test in biology, Spanish, Tagalog, music and psychology. Likewise, I have bought two blouses, a skirt and a pair of nice pants. Unfortunately I did not achieved the desired results for my psychology test so I couldn't get the white sandals to wear with my new outfits.

So far this positive reinforcement has really worked well, but I wonder if negative reinforcement might also work. Following the psychology test results I spent time reviewing my notes from that section. I highlighted the material I recalled from the exam, studied parts I never did understand clearly. Studying the chapters we had already passed was tedious but I felt I owe it to myself to prepare for finals. Negative reinforcement is very hard to enforce because even if I deprived myself of various distractions, I'm sure I will find other ways to avoid homework. On the other hand, looking forward to a rewarding shopping trip seems to have a lot more impact.

As I consider the pros and cons, I am content to rely on positive reinforcement for each test result. In addition, I would also consider negative reinforcement to further increase the likelihood of achieving the desired straight A's this coming June. In preparation of upcoming exams I can clear my calendar of any distracting or time consuming partying that might conflict with my studies the week preceding each exam.

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WRITING PROJECT

Every day, we encounter numerous obstacles great and smaller that a put a little twist in our lives. We are by nature, very irritable beings, annoyed by the smallest of hassles every waking moment. For the past week I have taken note of thousands of these situations every day. I have not been able to write them all down, as my memory is limited, but the mere fact that I noticed them at all is pretty interesting. Most of them occur when driving, amazingly enough, I never realized how stressful such a medial task as driving can be. Along with these stresses and hassles, come physical symptoms from headaches or backaches to eating disorders and insomnia. Once we realize the effect these stresses have on us, no matter how small, we can then exercise stress reducing techniques that will make life a little more bearable.

When driving to school or work, I like it when the warm sun shines on me through the window. But when I'm trying to pull out of the infamous San Diego State University parking structures, I am destined to be stuck behind the biggest weenie who misses all his or her chances to pull out. I really have grown to resent parking at school. Of course there's always the driver who refuses to exceed half the speed limit on a one lane street. I have discovered that when dealing with traffic problems, there are a few tricks to relax a little. I noticed that I get real hot and my muscles tense up. I try to take deep breathes, but I'm just too impatient. What I do is I roll down all my windows to bring in a nice breeze, pop in one of my favorite CD's and turn up the volume. Then I look around and check my surroundings: see if there are any people walking down the street that I know, or admire the landscaping alongside the freeway. A lot of times, just making fun of other drivers kind of calms me down.

This past weekend was on of the most stressful ones I have had in a long time. I had entered the Miss National City Pageant not knowing what I had gotten myself into. I really worked myself up over it, my emotions and nerves were in overdrive the whole weekend. I had my first migraine the night of the pageant. I couldn't even sit through dinner afterwards, I just went home and crashed. The intense emotions involved in these events were just amazing, so much anxiety and restlessness. Between the interviews with the judges in the afternoon and the actual pageant that evening we were kept hostage backstage so that we wouldn't disappear. Those three hours were the horrid. I did a lot of deep breathing exercise that did help for the moment, but didn't last long. I would have preferred to have a radio with us, we could have relaxed a little more and dance around a little to pass the time. I decided to wash my hair, too. That's something that really relaxes me and fills time. All that stress had tremendous physical effects on me, including upset stomach, tense muscles, headache, nausea and fatigue. As soon as I stepped off the stage for the last time I was just emotionally drained. It was like nothing else I had ever experienced, and I'll never put myself through that again! Those beauty pageants just aren't for me.

At work we have just opened to the public this week and the preparation has been extensive. Sunday was grand opening and I had only received one day's training on the register. During that one day of training, I had been abandoned over and over by each member of management who had to take care of other duties so I was forced to read the manual and just figure everything out for myself. When we opened the store I was sure that what I had learned on my own would have to change quickly to mold to the actual procedures we were to follow on any particular day in business. I was so annoyed with the people I worked with, I decided to try the little exercises to relax a bit. I took a lot of deep breathes, and basically tuned them all out. I minded my own business and hummed a tune in my head to keep my cool. I learned the correct procedures throughout the day and things turned out okay.

As a full-time student, I get stressed out about homework often. Especially this semester since I'm carrying 20 units, but I am slowly but surely learning how to deal with it. I love to dance, so the best remedy for me so far has been to pump up the stereo and let the music take over. It seems that music is my answer to most everything, but there's nothing wrong with that. As long as I realize the effects of daily hassles and stresses, I can take action to relieve the stomachaches, muscle tension and other related physical symptoms associated with anxiety.

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"MOVIES AS RESEARCH"

RAINMAN

Psychology 101

Spring 1997

The movie, Rainman, deals with a very interesting subject in psychology, autism. At the time of his father's death, Charlie Babbit learns that he has an older brother he had never known. Charlie takes Raymond from Walbrook, the mental home he had been living in for the past 20 years, and together they embark upon the greatest learning experiences of their lives. We can observe the characteristics of an autistic individual through the mannerisms and experiences of Raymond Babbit as he faces the real world.

Autism, according to Rod Plotnik, "occurs once or twice in 1,000 births...in 2 to 4 times as many boys as girls." In the old days, as with many other mental disorders, people thought autistic children were possessed by demons. Later, early psychologists attributed the disorder to "bad parenting." We studied earlier this semester about the cerebellum, located in the hindbrain, is responsible for reacting to what we see, hear and touch, paying attention, following rules, planning and feeling (Plotnik, 1996). So further studies have lead us to believe that autism is more a result of biological factors than environmental factors.

Raymond displays many other symptoms of autism as well, which makes him a prime subject for research in this field. For example his far off stare that makes it seem like he is in a daze. Also, he suffers from communication impairment which is evident by the way he repeats back the words that are said to him, just the same way a parrot would. He exhibits sensory-motor impairment by his obsessive concern for daily time schedules and rituals. Likewise, our text tells us that many autistic patients (including Raymond) don't process information, move, react, attend, plan or feel the way normal people do and therefore have trouble learning new behaviors. This of course caused by the abnormally development of the cerebellum as mentioned above.

As Charlie and Raymond travel across the country, they are forced to deal with many problems that arise due to Raymond's condition. Raymond was set in very specific daily rituals and clung to strict but tedious rules. We always had to watch his television show at the same time every day when they came on, including The People's Court, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and others. At each meal he had to have the same foods that were served at Walbrook according to the daily schedule. Charlie often had to go out of his way to comply with such demands and eventually bought a small, portable television set for him. Pretty soon Raymond need more underwear and wouldn't settle for any of his brother's. He had to have boxers, instead of briefs, and they had to come from K-Mart.

During this first week, Charlie learned what it meant for Raymond to be a "savant." One night he gave Raymond a telephone book to read in order to keep him busy for a while. The next morning when they went out to breakfast, Raymond noticed the waitress's name tag and recited her home phone number. Later, when a box of toothpicks fell on the floor, Raymond took one glanced and stated exactly how many were laying on the floor. Like other autistic savants, he rattled off complex mathematical calculations just as a fast a regular calculator. This gave Charlie an idea, and in no time, the two of them were in Las Vegas counted cards even up to a six deck shoe and becoming filthy rich. Amazingly enough, with his intriguing talent for numbers, Raymond had no idea of the concept of money. He didn't know the correct amount of change he'd receive if he paid for a certain candy with a dollar bill. When quizzed, he said that a car costs $100, so did a house, and many other things.

After a while Raymond gradually learned to compromise in a few situations here and there. He had no choice but to eat vanilla pudding instead of tapioca, in Las Vegas he wore more expensive clothing and a suit as opposed to his usual "K-Mart" boxers, etc. He kissed a woman for the first time, and described it as "wet." He warmed up to people, becoming very close to his brother and his brother's girlfriend. Many time psychologists use operant conditioning is used to modify specific behaviors of autistic people. Indeed Raymond was rewarded when he learned to compromise, but Charlie also yelled and screamed a lot in frustration. Through loving and learning the two of them made it to the west coast and of course found a great new love for each other. Those experiences were a great step for an autistic individual, as well as for an insanely greedy and cold-hearted one.

Source: Plotnik, R. Introduction to Psychology, 4th Ed. New York, New York. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. 1996.

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"MOVIES AS RESEARCH"

A CLASS DIVIDED

Psychology 101

Spring 1997