AP Psychology
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Why You Shouldn't Watch The Wedding
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Strictly from Hunger: The ABCs of Insufficient Food
With recent the recent rise of obesity in the United States, most people tend to forget about the issue of hunger in other parts of the world. Even though obesity may be more prevalent in our world today than hunger, over 1.02 billion people worldwide still suffer from chronic hunger. Most people are familiar with the saying “I am starving to death,” but we misuse this saying here in the United States because people are actually starving to death in other parts of the world. Poverty in countries causes famine, severe food shortages that lead to a breakdown of society.
This article discusses Ancel Key’s long-term scientific study of hunger and semi-starvation called the “Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment.” I could not imagine volunteering to be in this experiment! The men volunteered to significantly limit their food intake for several months which would eventually provide information on the psychological and physiological effects of caloric restriction. Even though the study was conducted over 60 years ago, hunger still has similar affects today.
I think that this article brings together what we learned in chapter 8A including obesity, eating disorders, and ultimately hunger. So based on the information we studied in chapter 8A, the information learned from this article, and your own knowledge, do you think that hunger or obesity is more prevalent in our world today? Since we already read about Key’s experiment in the book, did you learn anything different? These semi-starved patients proved the power that activated motives have in hijacking our consciousness. Can this be related to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? The book did not provide information about the rehabilitation period in the study. Have you ever heard of “post-starvation hyperphagia”? Can you imagine eating up to 10,000 calories a day and not feel satisfied?Link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-gravity-weight/201102/strictly-hunger-the-abcs-insufficient-food
Monday, April 11, 2011
Beautiful People Cash in on Their Looks
We have all heard the phrase, “money doesn’t buy happiness,” but no one’s ever said the same about beauty. A recent study has found that beauty buys both money and happiness. The study gauged happiness and attractiveness among more than 25,000 people worldwide and found that beautifully people are generally happier than the plain Jane or even the ugly Joe. However, almost half of that extra happiness comes more from the economic benefits that come about as a result of being beautiful. So, are beautiful people actually happier people?
Think about all of the successful, wealthy people you know. Are they beautiful? Are their husbands beautiful? Reading this article I was a little skeptical about how beauty was being defined. Wouldn’t it be subjective to have different people judge beauty? Furthermore, is it ethical to judge someone on their looks? (How would you feel being classified into the ‘ugly’ category? L ) Also, it is important to take into mind that each culture considers beauty to be a different thing. What is beautiful for an American woman is not necessarily beautiful for a Chinese woman.
However, I am not rebutting the general, proven hypothesis that beautiful people are happier people. Besides having a slight edge above, what are some other reasons why beautiful people are happier people? Can it be not only from the economic benefits, as the article talked about, but also from the higher levels of confidence and self-esteem? Is this to say there is no hope for the plain Jane’s and average Joe’s of the world? What do you think?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays
From the results of the study, the people that reported the lowest levels of happiness were consistently those who were daydreaming. Surprised? Why do you think daydreaming connects to reported unhappiness?
There's no use in denying that our minds tend to travel elsewhere when we're sitting in the same desks day after day...we all daydream at least some of the time. So consider where your mind goes: what do you typically think about when you wander off? Is daydreaming a pleasant escape, or does your mind rivet to the things you have to do and what you're stressed about? Do you see a personal correlation between what you daydream about and how it can affect your mood? Ultimately, do you think your mood is negatively impacted when your mind wanders?
Just a few other questions to consider -- what are your thoughts on using the digital iPhone app as a research method? Will technology alter our tried-and-true scientific methods in the future, like (just throwing this random idea out there) case studies via webcam? Do you think it's a reliable method if the subjects aren't picked & polled by the researchers...but is it any less reliable than other surveys? What other factors may have wrestled with the reliability of this survey?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Why Do We Prefer Certain Colors?
I found this article really interesting; it is about our color preferences. Why do you think we like certain colors? Is it learned or inherited? A study is shown in the article that ultimately comes to the conclusion that whenever we see a color, like red, we will associate the color with an image, an apple. This makes our color preferences greatly influenced by what we have been exposed to, so then do you think color preference is culturally influenced like the article stated? The article also talks about how people would quickly reject drinking a brown tomato juice, since all we have ever seen is bright red tomato juice. But if we had only seen dingy brown tomato juice we would not think twice about drinking. This shows how color preference is greatly ruled by the unconscious, so are there any foods that you can think of being a different color that would make you hesitate eating them?
Link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-brain/201104/why-we-prefer-certain-colors
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Female Student Psych Crisis?
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Depressing News about Antidepressants...
- What is the placebo effect and how does it impact treatment of depression?
- How do you feel about the FDA requirements from clinical trials in approving drugs?
- How do antidepressants affect people with mild, moderate, or severe depression? Why do you think there is a difference among the three?
- If antidepressants are not the answer to depression....what is?