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

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?

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/your-look/story/2011/03/Beautiful-people-are-happier-study-finds/45500558/1

When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays

I was drawn to this article in the Times for a number of reasons. It details a study carried out by Harvard psychologists about happiness; it seems like perfect timing since we're just about to study emotion. And what struck me as super interesting is how they conducted the survey: the psychologists polled people about how happy they were feeling at random times via the iPhone. Groundbreaking cross-sectional psychological survey? Yeah, apparently there's an app for that.

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?

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

Female Student Psych Crisis?

We talk about gender differences a lot in Psychology, and one of the significant differences we've cited in these past two units on disorders and treatments is that statistics show women are more anxious and depressed than men. What's more intriguing, though, is the reason behind this difference. In this article, published in Newsweek at the end of January, Kristina Dell says that surveys show female college freshmen report lower levels of emotional health than do their male counterparts. They key word, here, I think, is report. Like we've mentioned many times these past few weeks, because of certain female stereotypes, it is more acceptable for women to admit emotional weakness than it is for males. This does not mean males are not feeling the same way -- they are just more hesitant to report it (this statement is supported in the article by Greg Eells, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University).

So, though the article does mention reasons female students may truly have lower levels of emotional health than do male students, do you think the difference is mainly in the number of females willing to report such feelings compared to the number of males willing to do the same? Or do you support the argument that women are actually in worse shape? If so, which of the author's arguments would you cite as the main reason for women's lower emotional health? Further, since men do have the tendency to "wait and stew" and in many cases fail to acknowledge their problems, are they the ones who are actually in crisis?

The Depressing News about Antidepressants...

As we've discussed, biomedical therapy is very popular in the treatment of many disorders, especially depression. Drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft have become common in our vernacular. Often people seek treatment and are prescribed an antidepressant. Sometimes these are also used with psychotherapy.....other times not.  

In this article published in January 2010, Sharon Begley raises the question of whether or not antidepressants work. Moreover, she explores the placebo effect in detail, arguing perhaps that it may be all we need to cure depression.

Please read this article and comment by Thursday 3/31 before class. Consider the following questions when drafting your response:

• 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?

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/28/the-depressing-news-about-antidepressants.html

Begley, S. (January 29, 2010). The depressing news about antidepressants. Newsweek. Retrieved from:

            http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/28/the-depressing-news-about-antidepressants.print.html

Are Women Their Own Worst Enemies?

Since we go to an all-girls high school and have to deal with girls on an everyday basis, I thought that this article was a very appropriate topic! We always here about the ongoing “girl-fights” at lunch or parties, but what is the foundation for most of these fights? This article says that social comparison is a fundamental characteristic of humans to engage in which is why so many fights start. I completely agree that humans are always in competition with each other to have the better car or clothes, but are women more prone to engaging in social comparison than man? This article states that women are more likely to participate in “upward” social comparisons where they compare themselves to someone superior to themselves. Why do you think this is? The article also believes that women are more prone to this upward social comparison because they have one more motive than men do: their offspring. Women tend to be in competition with other women because they think, whether it is consciously or unconsciously, that women of a higher status are more likely to get a larger share of the available resources for their offspring. This evokes anger, jealousy, and hatred because every woman wants to raise their children the best that they can. What do you think of this idea? Do you believe that when women are jealous of each other they are really thinking about their future offspring? One of the final points this article makes for women being more prone to social comparison deals with the concept of discrimination against women. Women compete more fiercely with one another because the sources “reserved” for them are scarcer. Do you think this is true? What are some other reasons that you think women are more prone to compare themselves to other women? What do you think social comparison does to a person’s self-esteem and self-worth?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sapient-nature/201103/are-women-their-own-worst-enemies