FINAL EXAM

On D2L the final exam was only worth 10 pts but in the syllabus it was worth 60 pts. I was wondering if you had changed it or if it was just a mistake?
THANKS!

PSYCH 228

It seems as though this is my last blog post for the course, so I figured I would write about some of my favorite things that I learned. Although we learned a lot in a very short period of time I still managed to stay with the readings and enable myself to learn the information needed to succeed. There were three main points during the semester that I will remember after this class is over and for years to come. The research of Piaget, bullying, and our case studies are my big three from this class. The tactics and strategies and overall research of Piaget is very interesting to me. The way he worked with children in their earliest years and documented every step intrigued me. I think it is amazing what he did for this branch of psychology and without him I think research would be very different today. I also enjoyed reading about bullies and the long-term as well as short-term effects they have on not only the victims, but the bullies themselves as well as innocent bystanders. A final note comes from the three case studies. I learned a lot just by researching each of the topics as well as writing the papers. Although each case was different I felt as though in some way that I could relate to all three.

Jan 14 The Social Clock

According to Berger (2008), the social clock is considered a timetable based on social norms. This is when society may say you are too young to get married, or too young to be a parent. Overall, I do think there are limitations to this, such as being to young for marriage or being a parent. However, I do think that sometimes society may tell someone they are too young, when in reality they are ready and it is based on an opinion. For example, a couple who just got married in their early twenties is now considered to be too young. Who is to say they are too young if they feel that is right for their lives. Personally, I do not agree with it completely for myself, but that is just for me and I am not setting standards and social norms for everyone else. Something else I thought may go along with this is having social norms say that someone may be too old for something. The new fad of having a facebook has now hit the older generations and I often here people my age saying "they're too old to have a facebook." I do not think this should be the case at all, because it is an excellent way for older people to keep in touch with people in their lives that they may have not contacted in years. Facebook is one of the many advances in the social network, and their should be no age limit or social norm that says "you are too old." I feel this goes along with a lot of other technology today, and maybe if everyone had this idea then we would not have as much of a technology gap with older generations.

Berger, S. K. (2008). The Developing Person: Through the Life Span. New York, NY: Worth Publisher.

Learning from Chapter 20

There were a few things I learned reading the past few chapters. I think chapter 20 was my favorite because it is the one that I learned the most from and the one I will most likely remember. As we come to the end of the course I have really been looking forward to learning about adulthood. Everything we have learned so far has the ability to shape everything that happens as adults. I like reading the textbook and this course is far more interesting to me now than before it started. I found the articles in the book covering the affects of tobacco and alcohol use very interesting. I knew some about the effects but the book breaks it down even more making me think a lot more.
I didn't know that less people were starting to smoke and that many people end up quitting. I also didn't know that alcohol can have a positive effect on your body having to do with cholesterol. When I read and learn something I didn’t know it becomes interesting to me.

Jan 14 Vocational Identity

Reading about the development of a vocational identity in emerging adulthood reminded me of myself and the path I've taken to get where I am. I went to college for teaching, yet I didn't want to teach. I never could completely identify with teachers or the lifestyle of a teacher. So instead of teaching, I got a job at an office after graduation. I knew I didn't want to make that my vocational identity, but I didn't have any better ideas, and I needed to earn money to pay bills. Now that I'm looking forward to graduate school for occupational therapy, I feel much more like I have established a vocational identity, or at least one that I want to work toward. It was interesting that Berger mentioned how some developmentalists view vocational identity as “an illusion in the current employment market” (Berger, 2008, p. 503). I feel lucky to have found a job that I want to pursue as a long-term career, but that does seem to be an elusive thing for many people. Some of my friends who have also graduated from college are still in the in-between stage of working a job to earn money but not wanting to be there forever. Others of my friends have decided what they want to do for a long-term career and are going after it. I think it probably depends on your personality, how driven you are, other long-term goals, and what your current situation is. For example, if parents still let their adult children live at home, there is less motivation to find a satisfying and well-paying career to pay for an apartment or house. I am glad that I have found a vocational identity that I want to work toward. It gives my life much more direction and focus than before by having something specific to work toward.

Berger, K. S. (2008). The developing person through the lifespan (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.

Jan 14 Cohabitation

Cohabitation is something that is really common with my age group. Before reading section on cohabitation I always though it was a positive thing. I was surprised that more than half of the United States cohabitates because I always think of the U.S. as being extremely religious. My perspective changed on that as well. I was also surprised to read that in five to seven years, many cohabitating couples marry, one-sixth are still cohabitating, and only one-third break up. Marriages also are not as successful if couples cohabitated. Cohabitants are usually poorer, younger, and more likely to end their relationships. I always thought that if you test drove the car before you bought it you would be happier. Or in other words if you lived with someone before you moved in with them your relationship would be more successful. Now that I have this information I’m going to re-think cohabitation in my next relationship.

Jan 14 Late Adulthood

As adults age, one way to help understand the intellectual capacity of older adults is to use the information processing theory. This includes breaking down cognition into steps of input, storage, program, and output. Some of these steps in the process decline while others do not. Most intellectual abilities show little change as we age from early and middle adulthood. However, as we continue to grow older eventually everything slows down. Inductive reasoning, number ability, and word fluency begins to slow at age 60. Some scientists believe that decline in these areas doesn't happen until age 80, some say at age 50. But they all agree on one thing, that people do not think as quickly or remember as well at age 80 as they did when they were 40. Scientists give two reasons for why this happens, too much interference and not enough inhibition. Interference refers to reduced sensory input. Reduced sensory input affects cognition by increasing the power of interference. Interference is thought to be a major impediment to effective and efficient cognition in the elderly. Less information is being perceived by the mind and some vital information is being obscured. Memory is also effected. As we age, elderly people tend to have difficult with their working memory, the memory that keeps information in the mind for a few seconds while it processes it. After reading all of this and learning about aging can inhibit our cognitive abilities I think that it is important that we should monitor and watch over our elderly grandparents and neighbors to make sure they are doing ok. Sometimes that means helping them drive to the grocery store, doctor appointments or helping them with everyday chores.

The Flynn Effect

The Flynn effect is a study, composed and directed by James Flynn, that revealed that IQ test scores were increasing from one generation to the next. This was not occurring just in America but in any country that had data. Not all gains are extreme, but they do provide the opportunity for international research. The most point gain was measured in fluid intelligence, however, crystallized intelligence change was measurable. Fluid intelligence is related to short-term memory, abstract thought and thinking speed. Crystallized intelligence includes learning that leads to more long-term memory; vocabulary and general information.

Several cause of the Flynn effect have been proposed; nutrition, education, and society. An increase in world-wide nutrition has been hypothesized as a contribution cause to an increase in IQ. Better nutrition would allow for the brain to perform at a higher level. Around the world, education has also increased, which might contribute more to the IQ increase. People are spending more time learning and being tested, with higher scores in people who spend more time in school. The education society has also changed, in teaching and testing practices. Specifically more timed tests are administered, leading to more intellectual guesses on tests than spending time figuring each problem all the way to the end.

Graham, C. (2001), The Flynn Effect. Human Intelligence. Retrieved from: http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/flynneffect.shtml

Jan 12 Cohabitation

Cohabitation is described in Berger (2008) text as not being formally married; however, you are living together. This seems to be a common practice nowadays and we are seeing it to be increasingly more popular among our generation. People seem to be cohabiting in order to avoid marriage, but still have the benefits. They may also be doing it because they can not get married, such as homosexual couples. Lastly, and what seems to be a very common practice is cohabitating before a while before marriage. Berger (2008) says that this does not necessarily mean that they couple will have a happier marriage though. I feel that I may cohabitate later in life because I can not see myself just getting married and starting to live together. I think that it is common to move in together after becoming engaged and planning the wedding together. I also think that this may help getting all the so called "bumps" out of your relationship before making a commitment to marriage. Living together I am told is very different than dating and I think that I would benefit from cohabitation in the future.

Berger, S. K. (2008). The Developing Person: Through the Life Span. New York, NY: Worth Publisher.

Jan 12 Moral Development of Emerging Adults

The chapters about emerging adulthood have been the most interesting for me to read so far because that is the stage of life I am in. It's a little strange to read about my own development while it's happening and recognize myself in Berger's descriptions. One part that really stuck out to me was the section in the cognitive development chapter about morals and religion. Of particular interest was the discussion about how college influences shifts in views on moral and religious issues. I have found this to be true with me. I grew up in the same area and went to the same school district for my whole life. Consequently, I didn't have a lot of exposure to how other people live and view controversial issues. In some cases, I didn't even know about some issues that are very present in other people's lives, like the prevalence of poverty and food insecurity. Through a couple anthropology and economics classes at Millersville, I was shown other points of view. After being exposed to this through class discussion and readings, my world view has shifted. It is much broader and more compassionate than in high school. This has effected my views on some moral and political issues, such as welfare. Without those classes, I would probably still have a much narrower world view and sense of morality.

Jan 12 Dialectical Thought

Psychology always interests me because it puts a name to things that we are already familiar with. For example, dialectical thought, which is the most advanced form of the cognitive process. Dialectical thought allows you to consider pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, and possibilities and limitations. Dialectical thought allows you to gain insight through change, which promotes growth. What really interested me about this particular topic was how dialectical thought is different with different cultures and religions. Throughout college I’ve noticed how different cultures and religions handle different situations. In regards to dating my parents were pretty lenient as to when I started but my friends whose parents were more religious did not want them dating until they were older. It’s also interesting to me how religion effects clothing that people wear. This made me wonder if the belief in your religion affected your dialectical thought because you believed so strongly in it that you would be afraid to change what you’re wearing. Dialectical thought is very interesting.

Jan 12 Parenting

As I was reading Chapter 21, the last excerpt called An Experienced Parent, caught my eye. After reading it I found that I could really relate to what the author was saying. The author makes a point to say that the more children you have the less worried and more relaxed you become. You essentially become an expert parent, the more children you have. Berger says that first-time parents often seem bewildered and experienced parents seem more relaxed. Berger also says that from his own personal experience when his first child was born he was much more worried about rashes, fevers and soap than his later born children. He said that became an expert on babies and so following children became much easier. Berger also mentions in the story that parents are more lenient with their later born children then they were with their first born. I personally can relate to what he's saying, I have a younger sister and I can remember when I would get upset because my parents would let her do things that I wasn't allowed to do at her age. This would also get me upset and I can remember saying to my parents 'how come she gets to do that, you would of never let me at her age'. And unfortunately I'm sure a lot of parents are like that and many of you can remember feeling the same way. I always thought that my parents were being unfair and that maybe they liked my sister more because they let her do more things, but thinking back I realize how silly that sounds. Of course my parents were more protective of me and didn't let me do certain things, I was their first born and that's fair to say that almost all parents are like that with their first born.

Quiz 10 NOT AVAILABLE

Doc,

Quiz 10 is not available under my quizzes in d2L. Is anyone else having the same problem?

Adolescence

One web article posted in Case Study three relating to adolescence was extremely interesting to read and reflect upon. The entire time I read this article, I kept thinking about the 9 retired men I work with. They constantly discuss how young adults are more irresponsible than they were during these years. They always say how "in their day" they had a wife, kids, and a house by age 25. Today, some young adults at age 25 are just becoming established. They have yet to enroll in college, or even find a career. Sharon Jayson does an excellent job writing "Walking the tightrope of the 20's." She clearly identifies some reasons as to why adolescence take longer to grow up. She has multiple detailed studies that support the idea that as society changes, so do our people. No longer do young adults mature by either marriage or the military. Instead, opportunities present themselves in all forms. These opportunities delay marriage, careers, and a family. Interesting stuff.

Jayson, Sharon. (2010) "Walking the tightrope of the 20s." USA Today.

Peer Support

Up until a certain point of adolescence, the influence of parents has the strongest effect on development. Then peer influence becomes stronger as a teenager's peer group grows. Within a school child's peer group are cliques and crowds. A clique is an adolescent's group of close friends, the one's they are loyal to. A clique excludes outsiders. The larger group of teenagers who have something in common with an individual is called the crowd. These people are not however, friends, they are what some call acquaintances. The crowd is a group with one common interest; nerds, jocks, and skaters. When choosing friends, children look for people who share a common interest. Peers have a major effect on development, whether that be positive or negative. Peer pressure is the encouragement to model the behavior of another. It is usually seen as a negative force, teens defy authority. Another thing peers take part in is deviancy training. This is a negative peer force that shows how to rebel against society.

Jan 7 Technology in Education

The section in chapter 16 about technology and cognition was interesting. Parents and teachers often lament how much time adolescents spend in front of computers and on iPods and cell phones. With the advent of texting, instant messenger and facebook, more students are writing in a language code consisting mostly of abbreviations and lacking any consistent grammar. And sitting in front of a screen all day (whether TV, computer or video game) seems to hinder the development of communication and social relational skills. Additionally, cyberbullying has become a problem. However, Berger notes that this increased use of technology may not be all bad. In fact, “Internet use may improve reading and spacial skills” (Berger, 2008, p. 405). Adolescents spend a lot of time surfing the web, which requires reading skills and being able to quickly discern what information is useful or desirable to investigate further, and which is a waste of time. In an age when so much information about so many trivial things is thrown at people all the time, developing a sense of discernment like this seems beneficial. As long as adolescents are guided by caring parents and teachers and taught to avoid questionable sites on the Internet, it can be a great tool for communication among friends, researching for school projects, getting news, and may even help students build skills they need for the rest of their lives.

Berger, K. S. (2008). The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. New York: Worth Publishers.

Jan. 7 Invincibilty Fable

I realized when I was reading this that there were times when I fell into this idea of invincible fable as a teenager. However, I am pretty sure my best friend was an exact fit for this. According to Berger, invincible fable is an idea that someone is invincible, that they are protected from harm and can not be defeated (2008). My friend and I were very adventurous as kids, we were always outside playing. I remember when we were playing he always would try some dangerous thing, and I knew it was risky. Then again, he thought it was fine and was always able to convince me to join him. I live in an area above Scranton with a lot of land, and I remember when it would snow my friend would always convince me to go down the large, narrow, slope. This slope had barbwire directly next to it, so if we went a little off course we would be hurt. I felt as if this was a good example of how we showed the idea of the invincible fable.

Now that we are older I have grown out of this stage; however, I do not think that everyone gets away from this. We tend to see this when people drink and drive, do drugs, have unprotected sex. I feel that it is apart of a growing process, and maturity that people may need to realize they are not invincible.

Berger, S. K. (2008). The Developing Person: Through the Life Span. New York, NY: Worth Publisher.

Jan 7 imaginary audience

I can remember being a young teenager in high school and middle school and feeling like there was an imaginary audience. An imaginary audience is the other people who, in an adolescent’s egocentric belief, are watching, and taking note of, his or her appearance, ideas, and behavior. This belief makes many teenagers very self-conscious (Berger, 2008, Pg. 393). It was a terrible feeling. I was always concerned with my clothes, my hair, and my overall appearance. It always felt like everyone was staring at me when I entered a room. I talked to a few friends who remembered feeling the same way. I feel like that was one of the worst stages in my life. Along with the imaginary audience I feel like when I was younger and even still today the invincibility factor played a huge role in my life. I thought that no matter how fast I drove my car or no matter how many times I lied to my mom that nothing would ever happen to me. But as I’ve gotten older and more and more terrible things begin to happen around me, you begin to realize that not everyone is watching you and you’re not invincible.

Jan 7 Sex Education in Schools

I personally do not believe that schools should be the sole provider for all information on sex education. I think that parents should be the ones who educate their children on sex, sexually transmitted diseases, and using protection. Schools should only be used as a supplement to what the parents are doing. With that said I know that many parents do not talk to their children about sex. Parents might find it weird, awkward, and they may not know how to bring it up. But on the other hand kids probably feel the same way talking to their parents about it. A strong parent-child relationship is key to talking about sex. Kids should feel comfortable talking to their parents about anything. "Children who discuss sex with their parents take fewer risks, avoid pressure to have sex, and think that their parents provide goo information" (Berger, 2008, pg. 430). Nationwide, sex education classes and abstinence-only programs are starting to emerge in main stream high schools. I think that schools should incorporate sex education into their regular health classes. I really don't think its the schools responsibility to teach our children about sex. What I think schools should do is give the facts, show the statistics, and give the children resources if they want them. Parents should be the educators. "Even so, whether or not an adolescent follows the urge to become sexually active depends more on family, peers, and culture than on classes" (Berger, 2008, pg. 431).

Berger, K.S. (2008). The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. New York: Worth Publishers.

The Culture of Children

When I read the passage in the text about the culture of children I felt that I could really relate to this having an older sister, as well as, being an older sibling. The culture of children according to Berger, is considered the rituals and rules that are passed down to younger children from older children without approval from adults (2008). I remember many things that my sister would find out from other people and then she would teach us. I also hung around with different kids in the neighborhood, and some were older than me, so I thought they were "smarter" then us younger kids. Of course I listened to them and continued to pass the rituals and rules taught to me down to my younger siblings and friends. I remember my friend showed me how to jump from the roof and down onto the trampoline. This was not approved by my parents, but my older friend showed me how so I thought it was cool to do. I later showed my younger sisters, and soon enough we were all doing this; however, we eventually got into trouble by my parents. I thought this was a good example of how I was not only the younger child receiving the information, but also the older adult passing down the cultures.

Berger, S. K. (2008). The Developing Person: Through the Life Span. New York, NY: Worth Publisher.

Jan 5 No Child Left Behind

I was particularly interested in reading the section of chapter twelve that dealt with school curriculum and testing. As a former social studies education major, the No Child Left Behind Act was an often debated subject in many classes, with most people arguing that it did more to hurt public education and students than help them. This chapter verified some of those opinions. Berger wrote about debates regarding the best teaching methods for subjects such as reading and math. Proponents of different teaching techniques (such as phonics or whole language) base many of their ideas on developmental and psychological research. This causes problems when instituting a standardized test. Which method should the test favor if multiple are based on sound empirical research? For example, initially the NCLB mandated standardized tests favored phonics, but many states required different teaching methods (Berger, 2008, p. 320). Hence, the tests were initially biased toward schools that taught phonics, no matter if children learning using the whole language method were also learning to read. Another problem of standardized tests favoring one teaching method is that it encourages teachers to teach using only that method. This does a disservice to teachers, who are forced to be less flexible and creative in their lesson planning. This hampers student learning and makes school more boring. Because of different types of communities, cultures, socioeconomic conditions, etc in the US, I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all teaching method for any subject. However, standardized tests like those mandated by NCLB imply that there is such a system out there and that it can be achieved. I think this is dangerous because it favors the few people who happen to learn how the test best measures, and the rest of the students must try to adapt themselves to fit. This is unfortunate in a country that supposedly celebrates diversity.

Berger, K. S. (2008). The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. New York: Worth Publishers.

Jan 5 Imaginary Audience

As soon as I started reading Chapter 15 is was drawn to the concepts of adolescent egocentrism and the imaginary audience. Children in their adolescent years think completely about themselves, and what other think about them. The idea called adolescent egocentrism was first thought up by David Elkind. Elkind said that adolescents unlike younger children have well developed theory of mind, they are aware that others have their own thoughts, and their egocentrism does not exclude others. This egocentrism therefore creates what is called an imaginary audience. Adolescents believe that they are the center of attention, all eyes are on them, everyone is looking at them. They think that their peers are as fascinated or concerned with them as they are with themselves. This idea makes teens enter a party as if they are the most beautiful person alive. As they might enter a room full of confidence, they also try to find any imperfections, such as a zit or mark on their face. Young adolescents are extremely concerned with what their friends think of them. They don't want to be judged as being the odd ball out or the weirdo, they want to be the cool kid, a popular kid. I'm sure all of us can relate to this when we were younger. Remembering trying to fit in, or doing what our friends wanted to do. I remember when I was in grade school that all my friends got a bagel at lunch that day, because I didn't want to stick out I got a bagel too, even though I didn't really like them. It can be something simple like that or can be something more drastic like shoplifting or stealing.

Jan. 5 Family Issues

Family issues in chapter 13 caught my attention. I realized how much family impacts children and either helps or hurts in the shaping of them. This chapter talked a lot about the detrimental effects that moving from home to home has on children. Aside from college I’ve lived in the same house for 22 years and my parents are still married. It made me wonder how different my life would have been if I moved a lot. I can definitely see the impact that moving has had on some of my friends. One of my friends has moved 11 times and her parents are both divorced and now re-married. She barely trusts anyone and acted out a lot over the years, getting in trouble with the law. According to the text parents disturb a child’s development if they push their children to take sides in a marital dispute or if they give one child authority over another. Each year about 16% of all U.S. children move from one home to another (Berger, 2008, Pg. 350). I wondered how many of those parents knew how much it would affect their children in the long run.

Adolescent Egocentrism

Adolescent ego-centrism is a trait of teenagers to focus only on themselves; their thoughts and experiences are more unique and vivid than anyone else's. This focus on the self gives rise to an imaginary audience, the people around the person, who are believed to be watching every action of the teenager. An adolescent anticipates the reactions of people around him, however, these thoughts are based on what the adolescent thinks of himself; admiring or critical. In a group of people an adolescent is constantly updating his imaginary audience. This is called an imaginary audience because this is not the normal social situation; most people do not focus on one other person in a crowd, they focus on themselves. Since this audience is not actually focused on him, it is in fact, a construct, the audience knows all of the adolescent's sensitivities and is laughing at them constantly.

The invincibility fable, or the personal fable as Elkind called it, is another ego-centric belief that he or she cannot be harmed or defeated by anything that may overcome someone else. This is why teenagers may drive faster than necessary, do drugs, or have unprotected sex. Some teenage females believe that pregnancy will happen to other females but never to them so why bother with precautions. Ego-centrism is simply an adolescent attempt to get attention and confirm or deny the views someone has of themselves.

I enjoyed reading Adam's last post on the different styles of parenting. I would also say that I have an excellent relationship with my parents, primarily because I now understand how much they love me and my siblings. They were very respectful, encouraging, yet demanding parents. they held my siblings and I to a particular standard, yet were very understanding when we failed to meet their standards. They are extremely supportive and were actively involved in my life as a child. Even after their divorce, there were both committed to being my biggest support. They were always forgiving, and fantastic guides through my adolescence. They would most likely resemble authoritative parents. Berger describes these parenting methods of having successful, articulate, generous children. I would agree that my brothers, sisters, and I have become well-rounded, successful, generous citizens. I love reflecting on my childhood, especially because my parents did such a wonderful job being parents. I often think what my life would be like if my parents hadn't gotten divorced. Would I still consider myself successful? Would I be obnoxious and ungrateful towards them? I'm interested to reading more of Berger's text.