Dinner for the Privileged

Pictured above: dolsot bibimbap. This is one of two dishes I often get at a Korean restaurant. It's essentially white rice topped with veggies, choice of protein, dried seaweed, and spicy bean paste sauce.

My parents set a tradition to ensure the best of grades for my sisters and I.  At the end of each grading semester, my sisters or I gets to choose where to eat out for dinner.  Whoever has the best grades has the privilege to choose a place to eat out for dinner.  This way, the whole family gets rewarded for eighteen weeks of hard work.  My parents reinforced the behavior to motivate my sisters and I to compete for the best grades.  Factor in me as the eldest child, a senior in high school, and compare it with my sisters in the seventh grade; my job as a student gets that much harder.  Their use of positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of top notch grades with the reward of a family dinner outing.

In my recent years, I found grades go beyond choosing where to go for dinner. Rather, I motivate myself with colleges and scholarships.  I grew up accepting life as a student as my career.  It requires the dedication and diligence equivalent, if not higher, than any job accessible to a high school student.  I may not get paid for studying, but that will come with scholarships and college acceptances.

Curse of the Chair

It's Coming for You...

A dad loved to take his car to the car wash. The dad loved to take his daughters to the car wash and watch the whole cleaning process. One daughter was especially intrigued by an employee cleaning the car's rubber matts. The sun was out and shining brightly over a pleasant Sunday afternoon. As the girl watched from a her chair, she leaned forward. Wham! The girl started wailing for her dad. The result? A scraped elbow, a bump on the head, and a childhood trauma.

The girl only went back to the car wash place three times over the next several years. Even then, she refused to sit down outside and watch the men clean the different cars. The other customers sat peacefully in their patio chairs as they waited for the employees to clean their car. Yet this girl knew what caused her accident. She refused to sit in a patio chair and only clung to her father. The lawn chair that tipped would never look the same. Sitting in another one could do more damage.

One traumatic event for the young child stimulated a chain of extensive cautioned actions. Years later, the girl learned she fell because the lawn chair was perched on the edge of the parking lot curb (CS). With age as a factor, the use of classical conditioning taught her how to fear lawn chairs. An event that lasted only seconds created fear (CR). Reverse conditioning and the child's maturity helped her get over her fear of sitting in plastic patio chairs.

Subliminal Persuasion

1. Of the five factors mentioned in the Pratkanis report, which do you think is the strongest explanation  for why people fall "victim" to the so-called subliminal influence.

In past observations, I found people find themselves attracted to relatable topics. From a character with a relatable back story, or a news story that arouses a past memory, people will recall images  I find relating to present day issues the strongest explanation for why people fall "victim" to the so-called subliminal influence.

For example, citizens vote for presidential candidates they can relate to. Republicans vote for the more conservative candidate, while left leaning people will vote for the Democratic candidate. The candidates target the liberal and independent populous. By proposing policies relatable to the targeted audience, the candidates receive or lose votes.

In today's society, as people search for their own identities in a world surrounded by media, people are naturally attracted to topics they can relate to.

Through bottom up processing, the use of perception provides an advantage to advertisers.

2. Which factor do you think is the weakest of Prantkanis's arguments? Explain. why.

I think the Witch Test is the weakest of Prantkanis's arguments. Though the pricier an advertisement, the greater the output, his other arguments hold a greater merit. From a viewer's standpoint, people will question the validity of statements presented in an advertisement. The people with the common sense and educational background to differ wants from needs will not fall victim to the subliminal influence.

3. Do you believe subliminal advertising exists? Has Pratkanis influenced your opinion? Who or why not?

I believe subliminal advertising exists in select audiences. The use of subliminal advertising, to an uneducated crowd, has a greater effect than towards a cross of higher class. Through education, the subliminal influence in today's media can be avoided. Although Pratkanis did not influence my opinion, he research provided an interesting perception on the science behind advertisements.  Though I do not plan on advertising, I can pick out the various techniques used to attract consumers.

Beyond the Eyes

Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

People can easily confuse sensation and perception for their similar definitions. Sensation refers to the sense receptors: what does one feel? taste? hear? etc. Whereas perception refers to the processing of senses sent to the brain from the sensory receptors. To remember, think S is for sensation as S is for senses. Likewise, P is for perception as P is for process.

The feeling of pain demonstrates a prime example of sensation versus perception. When walking down the stairs, a child steps on the pointy end of a top. Bottom-up processing, which analyzes information sent from the senses to the brain, informs the child's brain of the pain felt and a general idea of where the puncture wound occurred. After inspecting the damage, the child learns he stepped on a toy on the staircase. After the painful experience, the child will use top-down processing to ensure such a scenario does not happen again. Top-down processing consists of drawing from previous knowledge, such as past experiences, to recognize a pattern. The child notices that toys on the stairs will lead to injury. Therefore, he will act wisely to ensure nobody else gets hurt by making sure no toys are on the stairs and no pointy objects stay on the floor.

Phrenology: Skulls and Gall

"Appearance can be deceiving" -Aesop.

Before the age medical technologies of CT scans, MRI's, and PET's, psychologists believed in how the shape of one's head determines his or her intelligence. Psychologist Franz Joseph Gall promoted phrenology, the study of the shape and size of the cranium.

The practice of phrenology draws a red flag for me. Psychology, the scientific study of behavior and mental processes, goes beyond the anatomy of the brain to explain its functions and nature. Galls had reason for confirmation and expectancy biases. His childhood as not the smartest student in the class could have caused him to look for an excuse. Bulging eyes to any bright student can invoke hypotheses we see nonsensical. Today, technology reveals the in depth technology of the anatomical and the physiological aspects of the human brain.

However, we cannot completely discredit Gall's theories. Though phrenology currently lacks the ethos it once had, a correlation exists between the brain's anatomy and the brain's functions. The anatomy of the brain can help to explain an individual's cognitive and behavioral activities. When observing the evolution of the human species, the shape of the skull evolved from flat to more rounded. So much, it suggests a growth in the human brain.

At least of handful of my classmates will discuss Gall's nonsensical hypotheses. However, his contributions to psychology were not short. Rather than slowing the development of psychology, I believe his experiments and discoveries contributed to the development of medical technologies to digitally see the working brain.

Blue Eyes, Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes

The homology behind the blue eye phenotype makes me rethink dominant versus recessive genes in the United States. Due to the diversity, more sense directs towards targeting each ethnic environment. For example, blue eyes remain recessive in the diverse United States; whereas, blue eyes are a dominant gene in the Balkans. In addition, I always thought people relate to one another through common ancestors. A lack of melanin, or any other genetic mutation, simply shows the diversity in people that makes the anatomy of the human species more fascinating.

Nature vs. Nurture

I believe genotype and phenotype has a 33.3% effect on our behavior and mental processes, and environment has a 66.6% effect on our behavior and mental processes. The debate of nature versus nurture brings nothing new to the table, as the concept has existed since the beginnings of psychology. In the present day, environment takes its toll to change people's lives. For example, nearly every significant landmark in medical history defies the laws of nature. Transplants, prosthetics, glasses, and even braces changes people's lives everyday. Even without these medical advancements, environment can affects the possible degree of self consciousness and peer pressure. A region where people voluntarily pay for plastic surgery foils a region where people feel comfortable with their phenotypes. For example, emerging Korean actors are opting out of over doing plastic surgery to stay unique to themselves. Before, so many people paid for eye jobs, nose jobs, jaw shavings, etc. that they started looking alike. Yet fans expected South Korean idols to uphold preferred phenotypes. Genotypes and phenotypes may provide initial characteristics, but environment determines character.

This particular picture came from a Tumblr site dedicated to showing the before and after pictures of Korean idols who underwent the extremes of plastic surgery. This person had what I like to call "the Classic South Korean Make Over", it includes larger eyes, smaller nose, a shaved jaw line, and whitened skin. An example in Koran media culture where the environment of media takes precedence over the genotype of her natural face.

Is Torture Moral?

Ethical Consideration in Psychological Research

In order to develop thorough and concrete information, scientific research becomes a necessity. Especially with psychology, scientists have more factors at risk with live subjects. By the American Psychological Association (APA) ethical standards, debriefing and the subject's comfort takes priority over the experiment itself. On paper, everything looks pretty straight forward. However, the unfortunate case for Stanley Milgram on obedience contradicts the whole theory. In replicated experiments, I learned that the subjects, despite the urge to pull out of the experiment, were strongly encouraged to complete the experiment. Tricked into giving an actor progressively high voltage electric shocks, the subjects completed the experiment with extreme uneasiness. Ethically, the concept feels inhumane to trick innocent people into causing more danger.

Animals in Psychological Research

As far as  animal experimentation goes on paper, I disagree little. Unless experimental scientists take advantage of the animals through traumatic abuse, I would not oppose to the rules already in place. Unfortunately, experimental scientists take often take advantage of animal torture. As a result, consequences put them back in their place. Simply put, treat animals like one would treat people. Unless one has a justifiable cause for inflicting harm without consent, do not take any immature actions. Meanwhile, animal testing provides a small scale test for the human species. With the selfishness of human health improvement as a top priority, animals provide the necessity to advance the means of science.

Ethical Correlation Between Interviews and Torture Interrogations

The main paradox arises for APA members working for the government. Though they oath to no humiliating dignity, religion, etc in the 1949 Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, government authority takes all prescedence. The APA specifically defines torture in its 1984 Convention Against Torture as without using instruments. However, Congress passed legislation allowing torture with agonizing physical pain and elongated mental suffering. In specific occasions such as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prisoners have committed suicide out of trauma and pain. Ironically, the federal government does not perceive the torturing at Guantanamo Bay inhumane treatment. I understand that the military wants to obtain information from its hostages and prisoners, but the government's response that water boarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, etc. remains humane tactics baffles me. Especially with an increased amount of psychiatric techniques, psychiatrists and psychologists have officially put ethics second to government authority. I see ethics superior to government authority. Though I may go against the norm and risk a successful career in the U.S. military, I would not live with guilt for traumatizing people's lives.

Obesity Meets Psychology

1. Which approach do you think is more concrete? Explain why.

Reflecting on my childhood phases in food science and America's obesity epidemic, I clearly remember the high amount of marketing that affects the average American diet. In the days when my family had cable and watched commercials, McDonald's would announce the return of its McRibs while Subway's and Quizno's battle over toasted versus un-toasted subs. One of my favorite studies, not mentioned in the lecture, involves a group of fifty-four volunteered individuals who ate from a self-refilling bowl of creamy tomato soup and a regular bowl of soup. By combining the factors of behavioralism and developmental psychology, the individuals eating from the self-refilling bowls ate more. The surprise however, was that they denied eating more than the people who ate from the regular bowls. How full they became took no matter. Although I feel the psychological influence convincing, I believe that through the American marketing system the socialcultural influence perceives most concrete.

While biology and psychology provide background and foundation, the socialcultural influence cements the growing American obesity epidemic. Compared to other cultures, the American diet focuses on speed and availability. Temptations in the everyday life exist from the food giants: PepsiCo, Dole, General Mills, Nestle, and Kraft. These companies aspire money and America's millionaire and billionaire food industries. For example, the infamous Kraft American Cheese is a "dairy product" with too many artificial processed ingredients to be considered actual chess by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Melanie Warner's Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over America notes that for several years, these giants bribed the USFDA to overlook processing techniques to get more unnatural foods on grocery store shelves. Now, karma makes its full loop as the American population obesity epidemic worsens. In fact, Michael Moss's recent NYT Bestseller Salt Sugar Fats: How Fast Food Giants Hooked Us reveals these companies are trying to recreate the processed foods menu through increased nutrients and fewer fats, salts and sugars. By finding a way to market healthier foods at more affordable costs, weight and following health issues will likely decrease. If companies like the food giants find better ways to reduce the salt, sugar, fat, and processed ingredients, the sociocultural influence will improve, allowing psychological and biological factors to fall in place.

2. Based on you introduction to the various modern approaches to psychology, which approach not discussed might provide another rationale for obesity? Explain you answer.

While evolution, psychology and social cultural influences provide strong cases to the American obesity epidemic, the end result comes down to a battle of the mind. I believe the cognitive perspective provides another rationale for obesity. People eat when they are not hungry; they eat to clear the plates. However, society has far evolved to a point where humans, depending on their country of residence, cannot get away with large meals and minimal activities. Despite chow ups/downs for sporting event, the large consumption of carbs the night before a meet or game does not always help one's performance. Rather, nutritionists propose to eat well balanced meals and not to cargo-load the calories. Exercise, however, takes time away from long hours in work and school. Whether it through walking to and from a destination, simply moving about can speed metabolic rates. The basis to moving comes from the mind. In the end, exercise comes down to whether or not a person can convince him or herself to maintain a stable healthy weight by balancing diet with exercise.


Citations

If You Don’t Recognize an Ingredient, Your Body Won’t Either | REALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information. (n.d.). REALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information. Retrieved September 8, 2013, from http://www.realfarmacy.com/if-you-dont-recognize-an-ingredient-your-body-wont-either/#!prettyPhoto/0/

Moss, M. (2013). Salt, sugar, fat: how the food giants hooked us. New York: Random House.

Wansink, B., Painter, J. E., & North, J. (2005). Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues Of Portion Size May Influence Intake**. Obesity, 13(1), 93-100.

Warner, M. (2013). Pandora's lunchbox: how processed food took over the American meal. February 26, 2013: Scribner.

The Curious Case of Andrea Yates

1. Which level of psychological analysis is the most convincing to you? Explain why.

With family comes responsibility. Andrea Yates, from an unstable and unsupportive family, drowned all her five children due to disillusionment and mental insanity. In the debate of nature versus nurture, I believe nurture took the better hand in the case of Andrea Yates. The amount of nurture one receives takes precedence over the nature of his or her mental condition. Therefore, I find the psychological analysis level of behavioral and social-cultural perspective most convincing.

Andrea Yates lacked a stable support system from the lack of her in-laws' help to the resistance of her husband's care to the children. Amongst my family, I always learned that the relationships within family should last forever because an unstable family will result in feelings of depression and melancholy. Nevertheless, Mr. Yates went to the extent of impregnating Yates with a fifth child after her physician declared her irresponsible for the care of any more children. Childcare creates an overwhelming amount of stress that, especially with five children and little to no assistance, can depress any person already declared mentally unstable. With a different attitude from her husband, Yates and her children might have suffered a less unfortunate fate.

2. What important principle might this case reveal about the nature of psychology?

This case reveals psychology comes from a conglomerate of analyses and perspectives. From an explanation of Satan's control to a family history of mood disorders to an imbalanced home environment, Yates presented negative behavior. At first, her case appears horrifying and disbelieving. Yet as we learn about her condition, it appears affected by several factors. Moreover, each small detail describes the unimaginable hardships and hopelessness felt in such miserable conditions.