ASSIGNMENT NUMBER 1FIRST SECTION ANSWERS 1. BEHAVIOR 2. MEMORY AND PERCEPTION 3. DEFINITION WHICH TELLS HOW TO COLLECT DATA 4 .MEASURES WHAT YOU THINK IT MEASURES BY USING DIFFERENT METHODS TO RESULT THE SAME VARIABLE 5. YOU MEASURE THE SAME THING 6. REPITITION OF EXPERIMENT IN ALL ITS DETAILS 7. EXPERIMENT MANIPULATION 8 . VARIABLE WHICH IS MANIPULATED IN EXPERIMENT 9. PLACEBO EFFECTS 10. DOUBLE BLIND DESIGN SECOND PORTION EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS 1. HYPOTENUSE - HIGHER I.Q. SOLDIERS HAVE HIGHER COMBAT SKILLS INDEPENDENT VARIABLE - THE AFET I.Q. SCORES DEPENDENT VARIABLE - NO CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR N/A CONTROL- INDIVIDUALS STUDIED IN EXPERIMENT I.Q. SOLDIERS MAY BE CONSIDERED BETTER CANDIDATES FOR COMBAT 2; HYPOTENUSE; PEOPLE GIVEN THE CHEMICAL WILL NOT REMEMBER TRAUMATIC SITUATION. INDEPENDENT VARIABLE - THOSE WHO REMEMBER WHAT THE SIGN DEPENDENT VARIABLE - TASTELESS CHEMICAL IN LEMONADE CONTROL - GROUP NOT GIVEN CHEMICAL
NOTES #1Person-Situation Nature-Nurture Stability-Change Diversity-Universality Mind-Body Scientific Method-relied on to answer question by scientists Theory-Formed as what causes may be of situation hypotheses--predictions about the phenomenon in question Structuralism-Identifying elements of psychology and combining and integrating them Functionalist theory- raised questions of mental processes and the behavior of learning and complexities of mental life. Behaviorism- Watson's view of psychology Gestalt Psychology - tendency to see patterns, to distinguish and object from its background. Humanistic psychology- third force between Freudian theory and behaviorism. Existential Psychology - made important contributions to the study of motivation and emotions. Cognitive Psychology- study of our mental process ibn the broadest sense,thinking,feeling,learning,remembering and making decisions. Evolutionary psychology- focuses on the evolutionary origins of behavior patterns and mental processes, exploring what adaptive value they have or have had. Positive Psychology- the view that psychology should devote more attention to "the god life". Gender - Sexual characteristics Feminist Theory - Scientists strive to see what sex their findings apply to and why Race- biological term used to refer to a subpopulation whose members have reproduced exclusively among themselves. Ethnicity-based on cultural characteristics. Culture-peoples design for living Naturalistic observation- study of natural or human behavior in its natural context. Observer bias- eyewitnesses are sometimes unreliable sources Case Study - detailed description of one person or a few individuals. Survey research- carefully selected group of people asked a set of predetermined questions in face-to-face interviews. Correlational research- Select many subjects and give a variety of tests and compare the results with their performance in a training school.
ASSIGNMENT # 2
SCORE ON ESP TEST...........47 of 113 107% above chance ---1 in 9,884,382 probabilityPHEREMONE RESEARCH REVIEW
The information I found on the most part was about research in animals. But I did find some amount of information about pheremones in humans, but it seemed to bit more theoretical than totally proven. One article in particular I found was called "abstracts and reviews:pheremone research in animals." It was totally based around animal research with very formidable and sustantial evidence of pheremones playing a role in sexuality in animals. I did not find any substantial findings about real scientific work that has proven pheremone playing roles in human sexuality, except for adds for pheremone products.
NOTES # 2
NEURONS - BRAIN CONTAINS 100 BILLION NERVE CELLS. DENDRITES - SHORT FIBERS BRANCHING OUT AROUND THE CELL BODY AXON - THE SINGLE BODY EXTENDING FOR THE CELL MYELIN SHEATH - WHITE, FATTY COVERING AROUND AXON SESNORY NEURONS - COLLECT MESSAGES FROM SENSE ORGANS AND CARRY MESSAGES TO SPINAL CORD OR BRAIN MOTOR NEURONS - CARRY MESSAGES FROM SPINAL CORD OR BRAIN TO THE MUSCLES AND GLANDS. GLIA CELLS - HOLD NEURONS IN PLACE RESTING NURONS ARE IN A STATE OF POLARIZATION RESTING POTENTIAL - ELECTRICAL CHARGES ACROSS A NEURON MEMBRANE RESULTING FROM MORE POSITIVE IONS CONCENTRATED ON OUTSIDE AND MORE NEGATIVE IONS ON INSIDE. NEURON IMPULSE - FIRING OF A NERVE CELL. GRADED POTENTIAL - SHIFT IN ELECTRICAL CHARGE IN A TINY NEURON SYNAPSE - AXON FORMED OF ONE NEURON , SYNAPTIC SPACE AND DENDRITE OR CELL BODY OF NEXT NEURON. SYNAPTIC VESICLES- TINY SACS IN TERMINAL BUTTON, THAT RELEASE CHEMICALS INTO THE SYNAPSE. NEURAL PLASTICITY - BRAIN CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO EXPOSURES NEUROGENESIS - PRODUCTION OF NEW BRAIN CELLS. PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - NERVES THAT CONNECT THE BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD TO EVERY OTHER PART OF THE BODY, CARRYING MESSAGES BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSE ORGANS , MUSCLES AND GLANDS. HINDBRAIN - WHERE SPINAL CORD ENTERS BRAIN. HYPOTHALAMUS - GOVERNS HUNGER, THIRST, SEXUAL DRIVE AND BODY TEMPERATURE. CEREBRAL CORTEX - TINY LAYER OF GRAY MATTER COVERING HEMISPHERES OF THE BRAIN CEREBELLUM - GOVERNS SENSE OF BALANCE. LOBAL AREAS OCCIPITAL LOBE PARIETAL LOBE PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX TEMPERAL LOBE LIMBIC SYSTEM -RING LOOSELY CONNECTED STRUCTURES LOCATED BETWEEN CENTRAL CORTEX AND CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES. SPINAL CORD - COMPLEX CABLE OF NEURONS THAT RUNS DOWN SPINE, CONNECTING BRAIN TO MOST OF THE REST OF THE BODY THYROID GLAND- BELOW LARYNX PINEAL GLAND - MIDDLE OF BRAIN PANCREAS - BETWWEN STOMACH AND INTESTINES. PITUATARY GLAND - UNDER BRAIN AND REGULATES ACTIVITIES OF OTHER GLANDS HUMAN GENOME - CONTAINS 100,000 GENES - COMPLETE SET OF GENES THAT DEFINES A HUMAN BEING.
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER 3DEGENERATIVE BRAIN DISEASE
The true deciding factor in diagnosis, would be an MRi. The presence of Striatal atrophy and cerebellar degeneration being present is a symptom of Huntingtons disease. The term though seems to be a blanket term.. It is stated that there are distinctions between neurological and psychological symptoms, that could be present with brain degeneration or a psychological disorder. Although medications can ease the pain from smptoms, which range from depression to cognitive impairment. If the reversal of degeneration is not possible then these medications are only helping with side effects that mask the true disease. This can effect movement and thinking , which is caused from the effect of degeneration of cerebellum and cerebral cortex. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2002/August/020806.htm _
NOTES # 3.Receptor Cell: responds to one particular form of energy - light waves in case of vision or vibration of air moloecules in case of hearing Absolute threshold: Minimum intensity, the physical energy a receptor cell must achieve Adaptation: Senses automatically adust to overall average level of stimulation in a particular setting Difference threshold: varies from person to person, moment to moment Smallest change in stimulation you can detect 50 percent of the time Weber's law: Difference threshold is a constant fraction or proportion of the original stimulus. Subliminally: Below our level of awareness Cornea; Where light enters eye Pupil : Openeing in center of Iris Iris: Colored part of eye Retina: Light senstitive inner-lining of the back of the eyeball Fovea : On reitina and directly behind the lens, (a depressed area) Retina contains the receptor cells responsible for vision These cells are sensitive to only a fraction of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy Wavelength: how energies in the electromagnetic spectrum are referred to. Rods and Cones are two type of receptor cells in the retina Bipolar cells : Specialized neurons which have only one axon and one dendrite
ASSIGNMENT # 4I have a reoccuring dream that someone is murdered and I dont even know who it is, but I don know who did it. I can never recall who the person is who did it, but it begins usually like this. I am at home in an old neighborhood across from some railroad tracks. I am being asked if I know anything about what happened I reluctantly say know, and am told to contact the police if I have any information. I am then meeting a friend at a diner on a different day, because it is raining and cold. I tell her what had happened and she has no reaction. I drive her to her house and get some bags from her trunk. She had been on a long vacation and had returned that day. I am next at the police station the next day being questioned and immediately told that my friend had murdered the person, and that her cover up was that she was out of town. but it makes no sense because she really was out of town I say. Then they respond with a smirk " See that is why she was able to pull it off, because whe had a real good reason." I get very confused and leave. Almost immediately a police officer comes outside and says they know that I am covering something up for someone and they want me to tell them or go to jail. I say I dont know what they are talking about and run.
I interpret possibly as I have some close family that I would protect no matter what, even though I dont know who the person was. I also feel like maybe I have feelings of remorse for the way I ahve treated people before and wish I could just forget about it and leave the situtation and it would go away.
DREAM CHART:
DAY 1: Someone murdered, not sure who but know who did it. Will not tell and almost let friend go to jail who obviously didnt do it. DAY 2: cant remember DAY 3 : Laying on an old stone bridge by a mountain river. Its raining and windy, but wind is blowing straight down. DAY 4 : Making Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich. Squirell watching me and offers me a napkin, which when he gives it to me becomes olives. DAY 5: Some one murdered dream again, acted out exactly and more vivid and easy to remember than other dreams. DAY 6 : Smoking cigars with a friend and he keeps laughing and eating yams. Suddenly the cigars are wet and he is wearing and hat with clapping hands on it. DAY 7: Someone murdered dream again. Also I am at IBM? Aman tells me he works on three floors as a network administrator?
NOTES # 4Dreams : visual or auditory experiences that occur primarily during REM periods of sleep Substance abuse: Pattern of drug use that diminishes the persons ability to fulfill responsibilities at home or at work or school that results in repeated use of dangerous drugs in dangerous situations or that leads to legal difficulties. Depressants: Chemicals that slow down behavior or cognitive processes Alcohol calms down the nervous system, working like a general anesthetic. Stimulants: Drugs the stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and produces feelings of optimism and energy. (caffeine, nicotine, cocaine) Amphetamines: Stimulants that initially produce rushes of euphoria often followed by sudden crashes and sometimes depression. Hallucinogens: rugs like LSD distort visual and auditory perception. Marijuana is a mild hallucinogen that is capable of producing feelings of euphoria Meditation: many methods of concentration, reflection or focusing of thoughts intended to suppress the activity of the sympathetic nervous system Hypnosis: A trancelike state in which a person responds readily to suggestions. Peoples susceptibility to hypnosis depends on how suggestible they are. Rapid eye movement: stage in sleep cycle in which heart rate and blood pressure increases and the muscles become more relaxed and the eyes move rapidly Sleep disorders: insomnia, apnia and narcolepsy.
ASSIGNMENT # 5
It only took me twice to figure the sequence in the dungeon. Although when I left I accidentally reentered the lecture hal and was sent to the dungeon again. I didnt miss any in the lab and I receive a 70 on the test, but I received my NRU diploma.
NOTES #5
Classical conditioning: type of associative learning that Pavlov discovered while studying digestion Pavlov trained a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell , which he rang just before food was given. Desensitization therapy: Mary Cover Jones pioneered this. Pairing bad or pleasant things with an object, to fear or like it. Operant, instrumental conditioning: learning to make or withhold a certain response because of its consequences. Operant behaviors : These are voluntarily emitted, (those in classical conditioning are emitted by stimuli) Reinforcer: When a consequence increases the likelihood of an operant behavior being emitted. Punisher: Consequence decreases the likelihood of and operant behavior. these relationships are the law of effect or principle of reinforcement. Positive reinforcers increse the likelihood of a behavior by adding something rewarding to the situation. Negative reinforcers: increase the likelihood of a behavior by subtracting something unpleasant. Punishment: any event that decreases the likelihood that the behavior that precedesit will occur again. Avoidance training: After punishment has been given a few times, it need not be continued because the threat is enough. Learned helplessness: when people or animals unable to escape from a situation they give up. Schedules of reinforcements: Contengencies between responses and rewards. Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement is given for the first correct response after a fixed time period. Variable interval schedule: reinforces the first correct reponse after an unpredictable amount of time. Fixed ratio schedule: rewarded after a fixed number of correct responses, so result is usually a high rate of responding because faster responsed yield quick payoff. Variable ratio schedule: reinforcement after a varying number of correct responses. Extinction: Learned responses sometimes weaken and dissappear. Spontaneous recovery: in which the learned response suddenly reappears on its own, with no retraining. Stimulus control: tendency to respond to cues that are similar Stimulus discrimination: Allows learners to perceive differences among cues so as not to respond to all of them. Response generalization: generalize reponses by performing behaviors that are similar to the ones that were originally reinforced. Higher order conditioning: Change order of stimulus. Primary reinforcer: is rewarding in of itself Secondary reinforcement: one whose value is learned through its association with primary reinforcers or with other secondary reinforcers. Cognitive learning: mental processes that go on inside us when we learn. Latent learning: any knowledge we acquire that has not yet been demonstrated in behavior. Learning set: concept or procedurethat provides key to solving a problem even when its demands are slightly different from those of problems you have solved in past. insight: sudden perception of a solution even to a problem that at first seems totally new.
NOTES # 6..
Memory: Series of steps in shich we encode, store and retrieve information. Sensory registers: temporary holding bins for data Attention: selectively looking at, listening to, smelling, tasting or feeling what we deem to be important. Short term memory: holds shatever information we are actively attending to at any given time. Rote rehearsal: retaining information is short term memory for a minute or two by repeating it. Long term memory: more or less permanent and stores all we know. Serial position effect; fact that when given a list of items to remember, people tend to recall the first and last itmes items better than ones in middle. Schema: mental representation of an object stored in memory. Episodic memory: memories for events experienced in a specific time and place. Semantic memories: facts and concepst not linked to a particular time. Procedural memories: motor skills and habits Emotional memories: learned emotional responses to various stimuli Explicit memory: refers to memories we are aware of. Implicit memory: refers to memories for information that either was not intentionally commited to LTM or is retrieved unintentionally from LTM Retrograde amnesia: inability of people to remember what happened shortly beofer their accident. Retroactive interference: new information interferes wil old information Proactive information: refers to the process by which old information already in LTM interferes with new information. Mnemonics: Use both mental imagery and cues Childhood amnesia: results from the incomplete development of brain structures before age 2, from infants lack of clear self, language skills . Flashbulb memories: having vivid memories of a traumatic or significant event.
Alternate Assessment Assignment #1
What I need mostly to correct is how I treat other people. I do believe even though I may not realize it at the time, things I do hurts other people. I also believe that I am so extremely introverted that it is going to be very hard to be open enough to communicate effectively enough to be able to work out problems with people and be what some business people call "customer service oriented" BLAAAAH!!! Even those words make me feel sick. They seem so bland and disgusting and so fake that I find it hard to write them. I guess the only thing that would really change my emotional intelligence is completely changing myself. I received a fairly low score (64), and I was completely honest. Even though I was thinking about one of these questions on it that discussed honesty. I can remember taking these types of test to receive jobs and completely lying about my openess or "customer service skills" and recieved very high scores. I beleive that some of the other problems will be corrected with medication ( and I am not kidding) . Althuogh I dont even feel like I want to change my emotional intelligence. So many people are so shallow and fake that it makes me sick to even think of it. And these are the people I avoid (which is a lot of people0 and this is why I seem introvereted, because I dont want to deal with fake, obnoxious, "stab you in the back" kind of people. The questions about hanging out with my friends also made me think of my friends being the same way I am. We pretty much dislike the same kind of people, therefore avoid them and hang around together. So I am not sure I want to change my emotional intelligence if it means being normal in the eyes of all the fake people out there. http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/gallery/young/emotion.htm#brain
Alternate Assessment Assignment #2
There have been many times in the past when I have blames others for things that did not go my way. I dont always feel this way and I have begun to transverse to another manner of thinking. this manner may not be all good though. I feel now when I do things that I feel are bad or that when bad things happen, that I am a real jerk because of it. I am a total failure for letting this happen. Sometimes I will think about work I have to do and begin to feel so strongly that if it is not finsihed on time then I will lose everything. That every single thing that I ahve worked for will be ruined because of some tiny mistake I have made, when in reality its not true. Even though I know its not true, I still feel the same way. I will work day and night until whatever it is , is perfect and then I feel overwhelmed. It is a building up of feelings and it all drops from my shoulders for about an hour when I am done. But then I find something else to obsess about. I believe maybe a solution for this would be to try to rationalize out these thoughts and make myslef know that the consequences arent as bad as I believe. I have kept trying this and it hasnt worked yet, but I am sure it could. I convince myself mostly that I believe everything I am saying, but I still feel the same way inside.
Notes #9
Cross-sectional Studies - Studying Different age-groups of people.
Longitudinal Studies- study the same group of individuals at different times of their lives.
Biographical or retrospective studies: involve reconstructing a persons past through interviews.
Prenatal development: Period of development from conception to birth.
Temperament differences: individual differences displayed in babies personality
Maturation: biological process that lead to developmental changes, also is shaped by experiences with the environment.
Sensory motor stage- birth to age 2
Object permanence: understanding that things continue to exist even when they are out of sight
Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
Concrete-operational stage: ages 7 to 11
Formal operational stage: adolescense to adulthood
Socialization: process by which children learn their cultures, behaviors and attitudes.
Sex-typed behavior: behavior appropriate to their behavior
Imaginary audience: the feeling of being constantly watched or judged
Puberty: Point at which onset of sexual maturation starts
Midlife crisis: Sense of boredom or lack of fullfillment in adults
Midlife transition: Dramatic upheaval in the middle years of adults
Menopause: cessation of menstruation , accompanied by a sharp drop in estrogen levels.
NOTES#10
Psychodynamic theories of personality: behavior to be the result of psychological dynamics within the individual
libido: energy generated by the sexual instinct
Oedipus complex: strong attachment to the parent of the opposite sex and jealousy of the parent of the same sex
Electra complex: same as Oedipus except with girls
id: "seething cauldron" of excitations, ego's source of strength
personal unconscious: encompassing an individuals repressed thoughts, forgotten experiences and undeveloped ideas.
collective unconscious: a subteranean river of memories and behavior patterns flowing to us from previous generations
archetypes: thought forms which give rise to mental images or mythological representations
neurotic trends: one of the 3 coping strategies , moving toward people, against people and moving away from people.
Humanistic personality theory: emphasizes that we are positively moivated and progress toward higher levels of functioning and it stresses peoples potential for growth and change in present.
Fully functioning person: one whose self-concept closely matches the person's inborn capabilities
personality traits: which can be inferred from how the person behaves
Big Five: Five factor model used in pinpointing personality.
Cognitive social learning theories: behavior as the product of the interaction of cognitions, learning and past experiences and the immediate enviroment.
expectancies: determine how a person evaluates a situation and that this evaluation has an effect on the persons behavior.
locus of control: type of expectancy- belive that they can control their own fate through their actions.
Self efficacy: an attitude developed from succeeding in meeting ones own internal performance standards.
NOTES#11
Stress: behavior adapted to a threatining situation that occurs
Stressor: behavior caused by stress
health psychologist: try to find ways to prevent stress from becoming debilitating and to promote halthy behaviors.
Pressure: caused by either internal or external forces.
frustration: delays, lack of resources, losses, failure and discrimination
Conflict: arises when we are faced with two or more incompatible demands, opportunities, needs or goals.
approach/aproach conflict: simultaneously attracted to two incompatible goals
avoidance/avoidance conflict: revers of approach/approach
approach/avoidance conflict: when a person is both attracted to and repelled by the same goal or opportunity
coping directly with a threat or conflict we do it in three ways. Confrontation, compromise or withdrawal
Defense mechanisms:ways of decieving ourselves about the cause of stressful events, thus reducing conflict.
Denial: refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality.
Repression: blocking out of unacceptable thoughts or impulses from consciousness.
Projection: tributing our repressed motives or feelings to others
Identification: form of defensive coping and may happen in situations people feel powerless
regression: when under sever stress reverting to child-like behavior
Intellectualize: emotionally distancing themselves from a particulary disturbing situation
Reaction formation: behavioral form of denial in which people express with exaggerated intensity ideas and emotions that are the opposite of their own.
Displacement: repressed motives and feelings are redirected from their original objects to substitute objects.
Sublimation: transferring repressed emotions into more socially accepted forms.
General adaptation syndrome: People react to physical and psychological stress in three stages.
post traumatic stress syndrome: disabling emotional disorder whose symptoms include anxiety , sleeplessness and nightmares.
NOTES#12
Insight therapy- major category of treatment for physiological problems
psychoanalysis- based on the belief that psychological problems stem from feelings of conflict repressed during childhood.
free association-disclosing whatever thoughts or fantasies come to mind without editing or otherwise inhibiting them
Gestalt therapy-desinged to make people more aware of their feelings
Behavior therapies-based on the belief that all behavior, normal and abnormal, is learned and that the goal of therapy is to teach people more satisfying ways of behaving.
Aversive conditioning- goal is to eliminate undesirable behavior by associating it with pain and discomfort.
Behavior contracting-client and therpaist agree on certain behavioral goals and on the reinforcement the client will receive on reaching them.
Token Economy-tokens that can be exchanged for rewards are used for positive reinforcement.
modeling- a person learns new behaviors by watching others perform them.
Cognitive therapies-focus not so much on maladaptive behaviors as on maladaptive ways of thinking.
Group therapies-based on the idea that psychological problems are at least partly interpesonal and are therefore best approached in a group.
Family therapy-based ont he idea that a persons psychologcial preoblems are to some extent family problems.
Couple therapy- concentrates on improving patters of communication and interaction between couples.
Eclecticism- the use of whatever treatment works best for a prticular problem.
Biological treatments- medication, electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery are sometimes used when psychotherapy doesnt work.
Antipsychotic drugs- valuable in trating schizophrenia.
Electroconvulsive therapy- an electric current is briefly passed through the brain of the patien produces convulsions and temporary loss of conciousness, but afterward depression often lifts.
Deinstitutionalization- integrating peple with serious mental disorders back into society.
NOTES#14
Social cognition- process of taking in and asessing information about other people.
primary effect- first impressions.
Stereotypes-simplistic but strongly held schemata
Attribution theory- people seek to understand human behavior by attributing it either to causes within the person or causes in the situation.
just-World-hypothesis-blame the victim when bad things happen to other people.
Proximity- another factor that promotes liking. The more we are in contact with certain people the more we like them.
Attitude-relatively stable organization of beliefs,feelings and tendencies toward something or someone.
Prejudice-unfair negative attitude directed toward a group and its members.
Discrimination-behavior based on prejudice.
Authoritarian personality-a rigidly conformist and bigoted personality type marked by exaggerated respect for authority and hostility toward those who defy societys norms.
Cognitive dissonance-new actions,beliefs or perceptions contradict preexisting attitudes
Social influence- the process by which peoples thoughts, feelings and actions are affected by behavior and characteristics of other people.
Norms-adapted behavior of others that is "accepted"
Compliance-change in behavior in response to explicit request from someone else.
Obedience- more likely certain when certain situational factors were present.
Deindividuation- loss of sense of personal responsibility for ones actions.
Altruistic behavior-Helping without expectation of a reward.
bystander effect- a person is less apt to offer assistance when other people are around.
Risky Shift-Making a decision in a gropu not alone.
Polarization- group decision making actually increases tendencies toward extreme solutions, encouraging members to lean toward either greater risk or greater caution.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology- behavior in organizational studies such as the workplace.
Hawthorne Effect- Ex. Phenomenon Worker output often increases simply because of attention from others
ASSIGNMENT #6
I have experienced denial many times whether unconsciously or on purpose. There are many situations where I didnt necessarily not believe something had happened, but just didnt want it to happen. So in these situations I would put these things behind me and shut them out. I would not want to talk abut them and go on with my life. I guess this could also be some repression, but I stated denial, because I would do this so well that I would forget that it happened and it was much like it didnt. I beleive that the projection aspect of defenses I have used many times in classes. I felt as if the grading system or teacher was unfair in the way I was graded or the teacher had some personal vandetta against me. I dont know if I actually beleived it but I felt it. I could say to myself that this is not trued that this is my fault, but I went on with it. I can think of some instances in which this has been used many times. I have heard many people say that they couldnt believe a police officer gave them a ticket. When they were speeding and they committed the crime. Yet they are still upset at the police officer for catching them. I had always had some anger issues and I played hockey for many years which people portrayed me as an angry person because of. I wasnt angry playing, but I was just angry in general, but I used this sport to release energy and anger so that I channeled it in a good way. I believe this is a way I used sublimation to release this energy. I used to have a fear of being considered to be a person who was so angry at things that I was unable to be nice to people, which made me a little unlikeable. Although these ideas were taken from a few bad experiences, I would go out of my way to be nice to people , and I was being totally fake most of the time. This was a bad idea because it made me miserable and dislike these people even more, because I had to be around them and listen to them whine and complain about ridiculous, unimportant things. This made me become antisocial, I felt as if I had done enough socializing with asinine people to last a lifetime. I felt this was a good example of reaction formation. And many repressed memories have problem come from this time.
ASSIGNMENT # 7
I dont believe what I experienced at the Alcoholics anonymous meeting was what is absolutely usual for these meetings. The counselor or Group leader that ran this meeting was interesting to say the least. I dont believe she actually had experienced problems with alcohol which many of these people there already had. There was another man who was a helper that had his share of experiences about alcholism. She seemed to be a psychiatrist or nursing assistant to a psychiatrist. She seemed to know alot about many of the disorders that these people were experiencing that may have stemmed from or was already existent with their alcoholism. I enjoyed the meeting, their was alot of joking around and nobody cried so that was good. I actually expected alot of people sharing experiences and crying about feeling sorry for themself. Dont get me wrong their is nothing wrong with doing that. If that is what you like to do then okay. I just cant relate, I have never known anyone with alcoholism. One gentleman who appeared to be in his 50s wove a tale about living with his mom his entire life because of spending money on alcohol. He also stated that he held a gun on his brother once when he was drunk for reasons he cant remember. The methods of this meeting seemed to be alot about sharing stories and working together to help each other. They talked about helping each other outside of meetings and doing some excersizes to help each other understand that each individual had their unique situation and that the answers were not all the same for each. They also shared many experiences about individuals who had died either directly or indirectly because of their love of alcohol. It was not what I expected.
SUICIDE
I found that therapy in most case seemed to be a great help and at least a good first step. I found some information stating that treated patients are better off than 80% of the non-treated patients. these sound like pretty good odds to me. But on the other hand their doesnt seem to be any definite method that works better in all situations or string of situations. All of this is very unclear, but a good way seems to be talking with individuals in a manner as to keep them from taking this route. Getting feelings out and if situations are very serious get outside help, and let friends and family know.
ASSIGNMENT # 8
This seems very difficult, but I can only think of a few experiences I would even consider thinking about again. But I will use an experience that only hurt physically. About 5 years ago a friend of mine and I hiked the Appalachian trail and then about a year later hiked the entire Pacific-Crest trail, which made the AT look like an afternoon stroll. We began in Springer mountain Georgia and were having a great time. When we were about 2 days from Harpers Ferry a friend who came with us decided he didnt want to go any further. We went into a small town, I dont even remember the name, I believe it was River Knob. We learned from some people in town that two women and their dog had been found killed on the trail about 30 miles North of us. We were really freaked out by this and decided to slow our pace. We began to see USDA special patrols and Dept. of Interior officers walking by and questioning us and warning us of the situation. We finally reached Harpers Ferry and stayed by the Shenandoah river for the night. There were some nice waterfalls it was relaxing. We began north towards the Delaware Water Gap. When we reached the Gap we went by the visitor center and it was closed due to the weather, it was snowing and very icy already. We saw some Interior patrol cars but nobody around. It was about 4:00 P.M. and we decided to move along the trail and find a place to stop. We thought that we would be able to find a visitor center campground bathroom that was open where we could warm up, but found nothing. We moved off the trail once we were about 6 miles from the park centers. We were along a small falls that had frozen and was just large icicles hanging. We began a fire, and started making some coffee and food. I was becoming impatient with the cold and decided I wasn't going to wait for this bar of chocolate, we picked up from a road side store, to thaw out. I had this huge block of frozen chocolate sitting on a rock. We had eaten some rice and had so me coffee and really wanted something sweet. I was trying to break the chocolate open on my leg whe I decide that I could cut it with my knife. I tried cutting it but nothing happened, so I got a bit upset and stabbed the chocolate, hoping to break some off. It broke in half on my leg and fell off as the 6 inch serrated blade went into my leg near my knee. I coudnt believe it happened and my friend had a look on his face that I have never seen. He helped me get up and I could feel the blood running down my leg. Their was snow and ice pouring down on us and I was in alot of pain. I had alot of trouble getting the knife out of my leg. But finally it came out. I had to remove it because I couldnt move with it in. The blood really poured out then, I could see it covering the snow around my boots. I tied some rope around my leg at the top of my thigh to slow the bleeding. We immediately began walking towards the park centers. It was really late by then and we didnt know how far we were from the roads. We also knew that nobody would be out driving on the horrible backroads. We walked for what seemed about 8 hours and we stopped many times. I began to feel extremely sick and I began vomiting and getting delirious. I couldnt feel anything and I was having trouble hearing anything. My leg would not stop bleeding and we knew the only thing we could do was try to find somebody. We were both covered in ice and I fell to the ground when I saw a handicap parking sign through the blinding snow. I layed on top of the snow which was about 10 inches deep by then and I knew I was over the parking lot. My friend left to go get help and I layed there, and I felt paralyzed. I had no pain and I was exhausted and calm. He was gone for almost 30 minutes to get help, I didnt even realize it. I remember waking up as a USDA fire-lookout official and my friend put me into his old Scout and drove me to a fire station, where I got some treatment until an ambulance arrived. It was all very vague around this time, but I woke up the next day and was told I had received blood and had staples put in my leg. They said I had been ripping it open more and more by walking on it, but I probably would if died if I hadnt. I was discharged and my friend and I got our stuff from a park ranger. We stayed in a hotel for about 1 week. I got lots of bandages and we got back on the trail. When we reached Maine, I got the staples removed and we went on to Mt. Khatadin. I cant see how this may have helped me then, but I do see now that I wish I could spend more time out in the mountains and hiking throught he west. I believe the experience is positive now, because I realized that the only thing that kept this experience from really bothering me is that the trail and being out there was my pain relief.