Human Nature (Four different views on human nature)
* Classical Psychology- People are sinners.
We are born selfish and self-centered.
We do everything to make ourselves feel better.
* Behaviorism- Humans are born with a blank slate.
Everything we do is learned.
We are shaped by our society and surroundings.
* Humanism- We are born with a good disposition,
And other things in life change us.
* Election- Some people are born with certain natures,
Some are born with others.
Milgram Experiment
(A brief synopsis of the experiment)
Stanley Milgram completed an experiment from 1960 to 1963 at Yale University. This experiment
tested humans' obedience to authority. His experiments revealed the extent to which people
were ready to torture and even kill other innocent people simply out of obedience to authority.
Basically, the test subject would sit next to a panel of controls. The person who
represented authority (a man dressed in a lab coat) would read off a question, and the actor
sitting in a chair with an electric-shock device strapped to him would answer the question
wrong. The person of authority would then instruct the test subject to shock the actor,
who would then pretend to be hurt from the shock. The voltage was supposedly increased every
time the person answered a question wrong, and the actor would appear more and more hurt,
until eventually, if the subject did not stop "shocking" him, he would "die." The experiment
showed just how far some people would go to obey authority.
For more on this experiment, visit this site.Natural Selection
Picture that you have 3 amoebas: A, B, and C.
Amoeba A feels pleasure while eating food.
Amoeba B feels pleasure with pain.
And Amoeba C feels pleasure with eating bricks.
Obviously Amoeba A will survive, while Amoebas B and C will eventually fade out of existence.
Here is another similar example:
Amoeba A enjoys reproducing, while B and C do not.
Amoebas B and C will not create offspring,
and eventually their entire family tree will be non-existent.
"evolved" emotions: � � � � � � "evolved" desires
-fear� � � � � �� � � � �� � � -eating
-courage� � � � � �� � � � � � �-reproducing
-pleasure
-pain
A young woman is more desirable than an old woman because the young one can reproduce.
Having sex for fun without wanting kids is taking the evolved emotion and manipulating it.
Psych Experiments/Parameters
(A small sampling of possible psych experiments)
Parameters for Experimentation:
-Physical health cannot be put in jeopardy.
-No illegal activity
-Keep confidentiality between test subjects.
-No sexual content.
-Use appropriate age groups for certain experiments.
Possible experiments to try:
**Elevator--> testing peer pressure; Walk into an elevator with 2 or 3 other helpers and face
the back of the elevator, see if the other people in the elevator will turn around.
**Beer--> testing placebo effect; Serve non-alcoholic beer to subjects, telling them it is
alcoholic, and observe the changes in physical behavior.
**Paper Dropping--> testing charity; Drop a stack of papers while walking down a hall. See
who stops to help you pick them up. Try this with the variables being the way you dress, or
use other people, and see which one of you will get more people to stop and help!
**Candy--> testing honesty; Place a child in a room, and have a piece of candy on a table with
a cloth over it. Tell them not to look at it, and walk out of the room for a few seconds.
Have someone observing while you're out of the room, and see if the child peeks.
**Direction Following--> Write a long list of directions, and tell the children to read the
list, and then do what it says. Make the last direction read "do not follow any of the other
directions. Flip the paper over and sit quietly." See who follows them.
Types of Sampling
(Who you can perform your experiments on)
1.) Random- everyone has an equal chance of being picked (ie- pick names from a hat)
2.) Systematic- Every __th person will be interviewed. (just pick a number)
3.) Stratified- Break the people down into groups, survey the same number from each group.
4.) Cluster- Randomly select a few places, and survey all of the people at those places.
***This form of testing works best in most cases
5.) Convenience- Get results that are readily and easily available. ***This DOES NOT work well!
Conditions of Experiment
(Things you should submit to your professor before the experiment)
1.) Conditions
a.) When
b.) Where
c.) Who is on your team (experimenters)
-What role each person plays
d.) procedure
2.) Sample size
3.) Sample Type (ie- children, adults, animals, etc.)
4.) Control group- yes or no
5.) Duration (when to when)
6.) Hypothesis of what experiment will yield
7.) Psychological concept (ie- people are dishonest)
Mind/Body Argument
(A brief synopsis of Descartes' arguments)
Psyche= soul � � � �� � Psychology= study of the soul � � �� � � Corporeal= have a body
Spiritual= body-less � � � Mind/Body= partially physical, partially spiritual.
Fact proved by Descartes:
If A= Body, B= any sense that can be doubted, and C= the Mind/Soul then.....
If A = B
And B does not = C
--------------------
A cannot equal C
As I said, the "B" in the problem is any of our senses that can be doubted. Let's think
of which qualities we can doubt:
- sight (your eyes can deceive you)
- hearing (you can hear the wrong things)
- taste (you might think you are eating something else)
- touch (phantom ant)
Actually, there's only one sense that we CAN'T doubt! It is our mind. We cannot doubt that
we exist, because if we think we exist, we're using out mind, and then it HAS to exist! This
is explained very easily in the quote: "I think, therefore I am." No one can fool you in this
way of thinking because if they're fooling you, you exist.
Furthermore, if A = B
and B doesn't = C
-----------------------
then A CANNOT = B (body cannot = soul)
Which concludes that your body and your soul are two separate things. You have to have a soul!
The Human Computer
(Are humans just complex computers?)
Let's say you take an old boat, and take off a single old panel at a time, replacing it with a
new one, until the boat is made up of totally new material. Is this boat now a "new" boat, or
is it simply the old boat with new parts? Now assume that you take all of "Sally's" memories
one by one and place them into "Jenny's" body. Is it still Jenny, or is it Sally in Jenny's
body?
** All of your experiences make you YOU. "You are a sum of your memories" **
Basically, this tells us that "Jenny" would now be "Sally."
Intelligence= the ability to quickly and accurately recall memories.
**Deep Blue- The computer programmed with chess games. Has instant recall of all chess games.
~Are we really just complex computers?
NDE/OBE
NDE= Near Death Experience
OBE= Out of Body Experience
Doctors to use as resources:
-Raymond Moody
-Kenneth Riny
-Elizabeth K�bler-Ross
During a NDE people can look down over doctors and the medical room, or where ever they are
when they have the NDE. They see themselves laying there.
***This is more proof that the mind and body are disconnected***
Inkblot Experiment
Holtzman- originator of the inkblot test.
Inkblots are useful when comparing what a person sees in an inkblot and how they respond to a
specific question. For example, you might find that usually people who see animals in your
inkblot have a good relationship to their mother.
To take an inkblot test that I personally made, CLICK HERE!**And to get the results for the above inkblot test, CLICK HERE!Dream Analysis
(What does the content of our dreams represent?)
Freud- Found sexual meanings in dreams. Wrote "The Interpretation of Dreams"
Jung- Had "clean" meanings for dreams. Believed in archetypes (ie- things have different
meanings in different people.)
Edgar Cayce- Would solve other stranger's medical problems in her dreams.
If you don't usually remember your dreams, but would still like to find out the meaning of
what you're dreaming about, simply set your alarm for around 2:30 or 3:00 AM. Keep a pen and
paper next to your bed and write down what you remember when you wake up. Then find a good
dream dictionary, and analyze your dream!
*~*Kinds of Dreams*~*
-Psychedelic
-Realistic
-Nightmare
-Paralysis (can't scream or get out)
-Public Humiliation
-Good Dreams
-Pre-planned dreams
How do I know that I'm not dreaming right now? When you're dreaming, you think it's real,
and you also think that it's real right now... you can't ever tell.
*Subconscious- The things you're aware of that aren't being visualized at that moment. (This
is what plays out in your dreams.)
Freudian Slip- When you say something sexual by "accident." (Freud said that these things were
really not said by accident, but that was what you were really thinking about at that moment.)
Ie- it's a mistake that subconsciously was really not a mistake.
***If you would like to see an example of dream analysis, look at the dream analysis paper that
I wrote: Dream AnalysisPsycho-Somatic Relationships
(Mind-Body Relationships)
* Psycho-somatic relationships are when humans can isolate a certain part of their body to do
something that normally wouldn't be possible. But they do this using the power of their mind.
Some examples of this are:
* Coal-walkers
* Crying at will
* Stopping one's heartbeat
* Urinating
* Vomiting at will
* Levitation
* Painless acts that would normally cause pain
* Raising body temperature at will
* Etc.
Child Development
(Learn basic child behavior patterns)
- A baby's ears develop after about 18 days, so they can hear the things happening around their
mother. You should play music and sing to the baby while it's in the womb.
- Babies are born with psychological instincts
* Put your finger in a baby's hand, and they will grasp it.
* Put something in a baby's mouth, and it will suck it.
* Put a baby in water, and it will try to swim.
* Hold a baby, and make a downward motion, and baby will put arms out and try to "fly."
* Put fingers by a baby's toes, and they will curl the toes inward.
- Babies are color blind for about the first 6 months.
- They have no depth perception, and cannot see things that are very far away from them.
- Infants generally enjoy rhythmic motions. (Rocking chair, washing machine, car, etc.)
- Babies don't develop the muscles required to smile until about a month after birth.
- Small children respond better to tone of voice, rather than the actual words that are spoken.
- They love to touch things and explore things. When children start talking, they will point
to objects everywhere and ask you what things are.
* Imitation is an instinctive and necessary part of child development. When they imitate what
they see, they learn to do new things.
* Language: The usual first words are
* Ma-Ma
* Dah-Dah
* Mine (which they use all the time)
* No (they learn this from their parents telling them they cannot do something)
Freud's Thoughts on Childhood
* Around the time when a child is being toilet trained, is the most important time period in
the child's life.
**id- Primitive desires and impulses. (what you'd do if you could)
**ego- The id "under control."
**super ego- Sense of morality. (formed by your parents and society)
**repression- Things you'd like to do, but don't do. "anal retentive" (ie- a child refusing
to go to the bathroom)
*Narcissism- Being obsessed with yourself... being full of yourself.
*Egocentrism- Being an egomaniac, having a big ego, etc.
*Autism- When a young person enters "their own world."
Pre-School Years
(Learn basic child behavior patterns)Freud:
* Oedipus Complex- Young boys want to kill their father because they are in love with their
mother, and young girls want to kill their mother because they are in love with their father.
- Generally the father is the bigger risk-taker with the child. He will generally throw the
baby up in the air, teach child to ride a bike, etc. The father is also generally the
disciplinarian.
- Children don't notice gender differences until about age five.
- In grades K-6 little children generally experience an aversion for the opposite gender.
(ie- boys/girls have cooties)
- Children have the desire to pretend. They play dress-up, house, etc.
- Their main fear is parental disapproval. They don't want their teachers to tell their
parents if they have been bad, they don't want mom and dad mad at them, etc.
*~*Psychological Aspects of a K-6 Age Student*~*
* Love of justice (fairness, tattle tales, etc.)
* Increase in personal power
* Popularity (exaggeration to gain approval)
* Naivet�- Kids will believe anything you tell them. (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc.)
Adolescence (age 12-16)
"The Big Shift"
- Kids begin to learn that mom and dad (authority) may not be right.
- Begin to rebel.
*~*Main Motivation: Conformity (Peer Approved)*~*
- Clothes
- Musical Alliances
- Language (slang, cursing, etc.)
- Hair Styles
- Experiences
* Biggest Fear- Being laughed at and/or embarrassed by their peers.
Males--> Exhibit silliness toward anything remotely vulgar/sexual.
Females--> Exhibit power over the opposite sex.
Both--> Flirting (spin the bottle, etc.)
* Experience first intimate contact (holding hands, kissing) -Powerful!
* Insecurity sets in--- depression may start
-The smallest insults can seem vicious and really hurt.
*~*Physical Issues*~*
a.) Blemishes
b.) Sizes of body parts
c.) Awkwardness
d.) Obesity
- Enjoyment of havoc. Like to see things destroyed. (fire)
- Increased need of privacy from parents.
- Cliques form.
* Moral Development:
- You know enough now to make your own decisions.
- Moral wrestling (is it really wrong?)
Young Adulthood (age 15-20)
* Main Motivation- sex
* Biggest Fear- Pressure to achieve, and the fear of being unattractive and not finding a mate.
- Most prone to suicide. (lots of mental stress and anxiety)
- At this age, you're almost invulnerable-> stay up real late, do daring stuff,
experimentation.
- At this age, we take the most risks. We're big risk-takers.
* It's a rapid time of growth for us. (bigger muscles, etc.)
* Our talents also grow and increase.
- They start to remember when we were younger... "Hey, I'm not little like that anymore."
"I don't act like that anymore."
* This makes them feel like they're aging quickly.
* Also makes them feel more "wise" than their elders.
* Generation Gap- Can't relate with elders. (No one understands me)
-Isolation: Everyone is "loved" but me.
* We all think this internally, but yet we still think that we're the only one who thinks
this way.
* We put on a facade (or mask)to avoid isolation. Because of this, it's hard for people
to get to know the true person, which is buried behind a big mask. Your relationships
between people are all fake, because you're showing them a side of you that isn't really "you."
* Coerced Apathy- If you care about things, you're not cool.
* If you fail a test, it's easier for you to say "I don't care," rather than to admit
that it counts for something.
College Aged (age 18-25)
* Main Motivation- Independence from parents.
* Biggest Fear- Independence from parents.
* Existential Angst= feeling that you don't understand the world. Nothing makes sense, life
stinks, Why am I here? (Existential vacuum- someone fill me with a purpose!)
* Scream Therapy- relieve your anger through some form of loud noise.
- There's a high rate of suicide at this age (the don't think they can "make it")
- Most undisciplined time of life. They can't handle the freedom, so they go overboard.
- Being "allowed" isn't so exciting.
- There's not much of a difference between 17 years and 364 days and 18 years physically, but
legally, there's a BIG difference. You're no longer a child, and there are the issues of
statutory rape, etc.
* Sacrifice- Students are now:
* more conscience about money matters.
* changing their style of living.
* less critical about old and "not so nice" stuff (because their friends don't care)
Middle Aged (age 25-45)
* Realization that death is coming, half of their life is over.
* What have I done? What have I accomplished in life?
25-30 = Physical prime. (body doesn't grow anymore, everything starts sagging)
|
-> Metabolism decreases- you get fatter.
* Mid-life Crisis- All the physical changes are upsetting. There is an experience of loss of
sex appeal.
* Many broken marriages occur. (50% divorce rate)
MOTIVATIONS:
Males: work- workaholism
Females: family and relationships (love)
FEARS:
Males: unsuccessfulness
Females: family destruction (bad kids, divorce, abandonment, etc.)
* Increase in illness- can't get over illnesses as easily anymore.
* Awake early, to bed early.
* Habits- routines, the "way things are supposed to be" are important. The don't want to do
things in a different way than they are used to. Will not change habits with new styles
(ie- clothes, music, etc.)
* Make attempts at being young (ie- bungee jumping, sporty cars, etc.)
Gerontology (age 55+)
* Main Motivation- productivity
* Main Fear- uselessness
- Volunteerism, part time employment (Wal-Mart, McDonald's, etc.)
* Want to feel that they are needed
- Vote- Produce the highest voting percentage
* Retirement = 65 (age starting to expand, however, people are retiring at a younger age.)
* Relocation, travel... to warm climate areas.
- Increased interest in religion
- Crotchity, cranky, etc. complain, bicker, etc.)
- Compare things with the good ole' days.
Memory Loss
* Short term- Loss
* Long term- (memories from childhood) More permanent.
* Enjoy telling stories about "good old days" (usually accurate)
- Loss of reflex and perception
- Makes them want to drive slower.... not confident of their reflexes
Psychological Differences between Men & Women
(A movie)
* Men use one side of their brain at a time, and favor the left side. (Language, engineering,
accounting, logic, factual, etc.)
* Women use both sides of their brain at a time, and favor the right side. (feelings, emotion,
poetry, songs, hugs, etc.)
* Baby girls are more talkative and communicate more than baby boys.
* Women are generally less aggressive and have more romantic dreams, while men are
generally more aggressive and have more violent dreams.
* Men are also generally more argumentative, have more problems with reading, and are more
difficult to teach.
***5 Differences Between Men and Women***1.) Men want to discover and express facts.
Women want to discover and express emotions and intuitions.
- In a study of babies, 100% of the words and noises coming from a girl's mouth were words
dealing with conversation, and only 60% of the words and noises coming from a boy's mouth
dealt with conversation, the rest were just random babble.
- Women speak and average of 25,000 words per day, while men only speak an average of 10,000.
2.) Men need solutions, women love to give sympathy.
* Women dislike hunting because it is cruel to animals. (emotion)
* Men can't concentrate as well as women. They don't like to go shopping for long periods of
time because they get too distracted.
3.) Men tend to be more objective, while women are more personal.
* Women don't like to watch football unless they know about the football players, then it is
on a more personal level, and they can appreciate it.
* Men are "compartmentalized." They go from room to room, shut off lights, close doors, etc.
4.) Men can separate who they are from their surroundings, and women cannot.
- Men get identity from what they do, women get it from who they know.
- It is hard for a woman to leave the house without things done. (a part of her isn't complete.)
However, a home for a man is just a resting place.
5.) Men tend to generalize, while women tend to remember details.
* Women remember lots of details when something touches their feelings. (right side of their
brain.)
* Men don't like to have conversations when they don't know what the outcome of the conversation
will be.
* Women have a natural desire to have a great relationship. Women are also more accurate at
judging the position of their relationships. (In comparison to the man's view.)
Dealing With Death
(Guest speaker Amy Eckert)
Guest Speaker: Amy Eckert, CICSW
Medical Social Worker
Rolland Nelson Crossroads Hospice
Hospice = An are for people to go when they are in the final stages of a terminal illness.
(Where there is no further medical help that will stop or slow the disease.)
Elizabeth K�bler-Ross:
Five stages of death:
1.) Denial (of diagnosis)
2.) Anger (expressed verbally or behaviorally)
3.) Bargaining (If this treatment helps me...I will be a better mother)
4.) Depression (grief)
5.) Acceptance (a peaceful resignation)
***However, the above are categorized better as "phases" because patients usually run through
these feelings many times over and over again multiple times in no specific order.***
- Hospice offers:
* Medical Care
* Emotional Support
* Spiritual Support
* It is also an area where people can live until they die.
~*~Depression vs. Grief~*~
* Many of the symptoms are the same:
* sleeping too much / too little
* eating too much / too little
* sadness / hopelessness
* However, with depression, the feelings of worthlessness and conflict are directed inward,
and with grief, they are directed outward.
* Different people react differently to the news of a terminal illness. Things that will
affect their reaction are:
* Personality
* Profession
* Life Experiences
* Previous Coping Experience
* Support System
* Communication Style
* In treatment, people who have strong experiences (spiritually, someone who pays attention to
friends/family, and/or someone who lives each day to the fullest) deal better with the news
of such illnesses.
* People tend to start doubting the existence of God / what happens after death.
Nearing Death Awareness
(What people tend to do...)
* Speak using metaphors
* Want to know about death. (will it hurt, etc.)
* Where will they go after death?
* Have visions of a significant place from the past. (This is what they envision Heaven to
be like)
* They will often "hang on" at the stage right before death. (They may know that a family
member will be visiting them shortly, and they want to stay alive to see that person, etc.)
* They have significant dreams - Hospice tries to get the patients to recall their dreams and
express the underlying emotions in them.
* And they also may isolate themselves from people or push their family away.
