Evaluation

So it's the end of the year. Lots to be evaluated but this blog post I suppose ought to be restricted for psychology. So legggggoooooooo
What did I like about the class?
Psychology AP has been one of the best classes I have taken because the curriculum, while challenging at times, is aimed to make sure each lesson is as interesting as it can be. I appreciated that because the AP is so dense and full of terms and most classes would have just become route memorization to preparer, but this class remained really interactive and interesting he whole way through. I also really liked how informal the lessons are, it makes everything seem so much more applicable to modern day to day life
What was my favorite activity or project?
I'd have to say my favorite activity was the perception altering goggles because they were just so interesting. It was a really unique approach to demonstration the brains adaptability to different perspectives. Also who doesnt love john quiñonas?
What didn't you like about the class?
There actually wasn't anything I disliked. I suppose the days we read articles and just responded were a bit tedious but they were necessary grades so I get it.
What do you think I should leave out next year?
I think the curriculum currently is very well suited to the AP so nothing should be left out
Any suggestions?
More practice FRQs earlier in the semester are the only suggestion I can think of.
Do you like the quizzing schedule?
Yes I think it's a good way to grade because it gives students options and doesn't drastically impact our grades if we have an off day or forget to study
Dear future psych AP kiddos
This class can be difficult at times, it's a lot of information that you have to semantically encode in to that explicit memory of yours. So don't try to cheat or procrastinate, you'll only hurt yourself on that AP. Everything you learn in this class is really interesting and I geniunely believe there's something in this class that appeals to everyone. Don't self diagnose and don't be pretentious with your psych terms. Oh and do the vocab!!!!!!!!!!!! It helps I swear. It'll be a fun year and if you ever need guidance just look to john quiñonas. Buena suerte folks!

memes memes memes!

http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

http://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/double-blind-study/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201301/cortisol-why-the-stress-hormone-is-public-enemy-no-1

https://explorable.com/stanley-milgram-experiment


https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/valley-girl-brain/201504/the-four-types-attraction

High School in a Psychological Nutshell

High school is one of the few times in your life when your friend group is entirely dependent on your schedule. Disagree? Think about last year and chose someone you got incredibly close to and now no longer have a class with. Now tell me you're still at the same level of intimacy. I'm not saying this is bad or detrimental in any way, friendships grow, evolve, and sometimes dissipate. Its the nature of social interaction. What's interesting though is how entirely dependent we are on our cliques and the acceptance of others in high school. There's a prodigious list of potential reasons. Perhaps it's because we're still developing our identities and need the support. Perhaps people will always crave acceptance.
I guess to a certain degree this need for social belonging has kept us alive for years, after all even primitive ancestors had a lil squad to protect them from the various predators and whatnot. The ability to blend in is definitely a useful one In high school, its crucial and that's sort of pitiful. We value labels so intensely, measure our worth in our friends, and most high schoolers are terrified by the notion of being alone in something. Its an interesting phenomenon because it's not the pressure you're raised to fear. There's nothing about all the kids in one school dressing more or the less the same that frightens anyone. Or us all sharing similar vernacular. Or there being overwhelming amounts of preapproved popular opinions out there. High schools a weird place and I don't think we'll notice just how powerful of an influence it is till we're gone.
It's run on a strict schedule, unlike most workplaces, in fact the most prevalent societal insitution high schooler has the most similarities with is prison. Set schedules, questionable lunches, having to ask permission to go to the bathroom, write ups, dress codes, cliques. Its all there.
I've digressed so much I don't think I even remember my original point but that's alright. Im sure I came to some sort of conclusion in this little rant. I guess what I want to be taken away from this hot mess of a post is although it's lovely knowing you have a support system of people who share your interests and beliefs, its not everything. There's something incredibly important about neglecting social faciliation, impairment, belonging, all of it. About not labeling everyone instantaneously because thousands of years ago it was useful. As great as belonging is, we can't keep going as this hive mind.
I know everything in this us insists on conformity, on saying yes when we're asked to shock someone, on accepting the role we're handed, but we're not participants in Milgrams or Zimbardo's experiment. We're people living our lives and it's gotta be for us.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/valley-girl-brain/201003/you-dont-have-be-popular
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-modern-teen/201011/jocks-brains-populars-crowds-effects-you

Memory! Yikes

I typically pride myself on having an impeccable memory. Except for when it comes to deadlines. And addresses. And telephone numbers. Ok, I have a mediocre memory, but in comparison to the rest of my generation, I am definitely above average.
Test 1
http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/bin/transfer
I got a 72/100 here. I'm typically not too happy with a 70 on anything, but I have to say this was a smidge more challenging than I'd anticipated. I feel like with technology and phones constantly at our side, there's very little need anymore to remember simple or complex things, its just inherent to look down and find it on our phones
Test 2
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/common_cents/a.html
Now this one just seemed to expect very little from the general population. I choose the right penny in under five seconds, not because I thoroughly studied the details or I'm some sort of numismatist, but rather I just recognized something about penny A to be inherently familiar. I suppose my brain had already dissected the unfamiliarity of the other pennies because of how common the actual object is.
Test 3
http://www.braingle.com/mind/test_letters.php
My memory weaned here about 14 letters. I have to say I'm disappointed in myself here, but I wasn't exactly thoroughly memorizing either. Up to 10 letters, I wasnt even paying real attention to the letters or their combination, I just knew they'd attach themselves to my short term memory. I think if I had semantically encoded these combinations the way I do with SAT words, I'd still remember them and they'd be just as useless to me as those SAT words. Sure am getting veracious with my candid vernacular now.
Test 4
9/12 on this one. That puts me above average, which is where I like to be. Once again, in comparison to my generation, i feel my memory is excellent. This was by far my most challenging quiz because I didn't anticipate that my brain would drop off the way it did around the 7th word. I found myself struggling to recall numbers 8,9,10 and barely did so. If I had waited a minute before putting the words down, I have no doubt that I would have remembered only 6 or 7 with great difficulty
Test 5
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/puzmatch3.html
Out of 20 pictures, I remember 14. Oddly enough, I only remember as many as I did because I threaded together a little story with the most memorable pictures. And it worked! Hurray for semantic coding and visual memorization. What a time to be alive, I tell ya. Anyway, this was an interesting test for me because I remember pictures with far more ease than words or sounds, which isnt uncommon. I didn't anticipate the hurdles I faced with words that were not present with pictures. What's most shocking is how my brain is so much more used to choosing the right answer from a variety of potential options. Guess high school has conditioned me into being ready for a multiple choice world.

Week 2: Political Personalities

Political Personality!

It comes as not shock to me that our personalities and political ideologies have such a strong correlation. Humans are at the core evolutionary motivated to support what improves our lives the most. I think people choose to believe they support policies and candidates that go beyond their own spectrum of wants because to adamantly state the inverse would be selfish. I have a fairly solid political foundation, aligning regularly with one party far more than the other. I also am a supporter of the internet conspiracy considering Ted Cruz but that's neither here nor there. Anyway let's take some quizzes!

 Quiz 1: Political Typology quiz 

http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/results/

This one was by far the most predictable in my opinion. I actually did not feel it was the best assessment of political ideologies because it oversimplified intricate and controversial topics. While most arguments can absolutely be broken down to their rudimentary facets, I felt this quiz took it a bit too far. It did cater to relevant political discussions such as abortion, gay rights, and racial discrimination. It was fairly accurate in my fervent belief in diplomacy before military strength, equality for all races, sexes, and gender orientation, and optimism for the future. My views may not be overly liberal on all issues as the quiz predicted, but its pretty frequent that it is. All in all, this one was no surprise for me. 

Quiz 2: I Side With...

http://www.isidewith.com/elections/2016-presidential

Now here's a quiz that took a substantial amount of time, made me really think, and had me questioning who could possibly agree/disagree on some of these questions. I wasn't particularly shocked with the results of this one either as I am a supporter of Bernie (more so in contrast to the train wreck that is the other candidates). What did surprise me was the number of potential and I'm sure popular opinions that some of the questions had. There was more diversity in the potential answers than I'd assumed. I was also caught a bit off guard at how vacillating some of my views were on arguments I'd previously been so self-assured on. I stood with Bernie at 97%, Hillary at 95% (so essentially Bernie's stolen policies), Jill Stein at 95% (absolutely no clue who that is), Ted Cruz at 22%, and Trump at 12% (that's 12% too much) 

Quiz 3: Open Politics, A Political Personality Quiz

http://openpolitics.ca/ppq/index.php

This was interesting because my results proclaimed I supported big government. I was so ready to contest this until I read the description. "You believe in the power of government to make life better. You may have felt that what the country really needs is for the government to get serious about the many problems that people face". They got me pegged. Although I do not necessarily encourage a powerful federal government (Sam Adams and James Monroe and I have that in common), I do feel at this point in our nation’s history, what would be most effective is if the government took a more influential role especially in regards to regulations of commerce. The other result from this quiz was fiercely democrats. By this point in the blog post, I think we all realize how accurate that is. 

The final Quiz: The Political Compass

https://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2?ec=-6.13&soc=-7.13

Now this one was more diverse than the other quizzes which was much appreciated. I wanted to know more about my political beliefs than how big of a Democrat I was. My results decided me as an economically leftist social libertarian This makes me economically a socialist (oh no!, that practically makes me a communist according to the Republicans). I identify somewhere in the midst of socialist and free market principles, my economic policies are still in the works really. The social libertarian title pretty much translates into the belief that each individual life is valuable, perhaps more so than the state. Once again, libertarianism and authoritarianism are two extremes that I'd like to find a balance between. This quiz was the only truly eye opening one for me that exposed how much I have left to decide politically before confidently voting this November. 

IQ tests & the Flynn Effect

Week 1- IQ tests
I got a perfectly average score on this IQ test. 104. This isn't particularly shocking to me as I classify myself in a fairly average intellect category when it comes to intelligence on a broad spectrum. I suppose the closer you specify, the less or more intelligent I become. For example, literarily and intrapersonally, I feel I excel. When it comes to math and science, not as much. That's the nature of intelligence for most people, especially high schoolers. This score could have been higher and I'm sure I would have been pleased, or lower and I would have been upset, but I don't place much significance on IQ tests. Yes, they are proven to be fairly valid assessments of intelligence, but I don't think one score can express that much about you. High school has programmed us to attempt to encompass ourselves in all types of limited achievements, in grades, in SAT scores, in GPAs. IQ scores like the rest of these assessments are just a brief glance into the complexity of intelligence. I was relatively surprised by the test in that it was not necessarily trivial information, but seemed to test the mind's ability to discover trends. It makes sense considering how crucial identifying trends and context clues are to our existence.

http://www.intelltheory.com/flynneffect.shtml

The Flynn Effect discovers the augmentation of IQ scores over generations and potential reasons behind this. Flynn didn't feel that there was any actual substantial rise in intelligence, but rather a more substantial ability to reason and solve problems. This is very possible considering how essential basic problem solving skills are on a day to day basis and as Taylorism continues to deconstruct the workforce, basic skills are valuable facets of the industrial system. Other possibilities are better nutrition, better education, and improving skills in regards to timed tests. These increases in scores are more representative of fluid intelligence as opposed to crystallized. The Flynn Effect also takes in account the standardization of IQ tests which are required so that the norms remain accurate. There are several potential explanations for this unique phenomenon but they all indicate to a general increase in human intelligence.