FOR 5 MINUTE VIDEO
Hello, my name is Joann Nguyen and this is my final 5 minute
presentation to wrap up my experiences from these 8 blog activities that I did
this semester in my psychology course.
First, I began with the 3D brain model.
1. Brain Model
-I chose
to do the 3D brain model because I felt that it was something that I found
interesting and because I felt that I had a good grasp on the main structures.
Since this semester, I have been taking Anatomy & Physiology 1&2, and I
figured that this would help me learn even more structures than what I already
know. As a bonus, I could use this model for future references in my journey to
understand the human body. Besides just the lobes, I found that it became
easier to recognize other structures because of my 3D brain model. From the help
of using this 3D model, I learned at least 15 new structures of the human
brain, along with their function.
Next, I did the
2. ABC’s of Psychology
-After I
did this blog post, I actually took a longer time on a certain term that I
would usually use in my daily choice of words. This opened my eyes on certain
aspects of life and the developing mind. Terms such as cognition and behavior, that
although seem minor at the time, actually has a complex meaning. Only selecting
a few, I find that understanding, morality, and behavior are the main important
aspects of our lives that creates a major impact in who we are and how we
choose to approach certain situations.
While writing two developmental letters,
3. Developmental: Two letters.
-To
Parents & To Future Son:
- I realized
that I don’t take the time to stop and appreciate all the things my parents did
for me. They are the reason why I am here today. They have given me everything I
could ask for and so much more. My parents made me appreciate and understand
the gist of what it is like to be a parent. Both my parents gave me an insight
on how I would choose to raise a child of my own. Their parenting styles may be
a bit different from their traditional ways, but I know that the way I would
choose to raise my child is derived from their parenting skills.
4. Disorders – 50 First Dates
- Doing
the critique on a movie that I have seen before, made me take a deeper look into
the key underlying story of a certain disorder. Initially I watched this movie
because I liked both of the main actors, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
Taking a second perspective, I began to analyze the story line and realize that
it is largely psychology based. This made me excited because as I was watching
the movie, I was able to comprehend certain aspects of this dementia disorder
and how it impacted her life, as well as how they chose to deal with it. Many
people who encounter and experience dementia may tend to feel hopeless, but in
this situation, they handled it in a more positive manner, in my opinion.
5. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
-Before
doing this assignment on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, I always assumed that
Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease were two completely different
disorders. By doing this assignment, I learned that they are quite similar,
especially due to the neurotransmitters involved. This assignment was an
interesting subject to learn because, although similar neurotransmitters are involved
in both diseases, the symptoms the patients experienced were physically
different. Alzheimer’s led more to progressive dementia, whereas Parkinson’s
disease progressively impaired the individual physically by causing
uncontrollable body movements. It was also interesting to learn how certain patients
chose to live with their disease, knowing that there are no current available
cures.
6. Sleep Diary
-As I was
keeping track of my sleeping schedule and documenting my dreams, I began to
notice how I didn’t put too much thought into why we sleep or as to why I sleep.
I understood the concept of it because I experience it every night, but I didn’t
fully understand how much effect it had on my life throughout the day. Also it
was interesting to document my dreams. By waking up and writing down my dreams,
I am able to actually remember these dreams. Usually when I wake up after a
dream, a couple of minutes later, my dreams become vague and I would eventually
forget. Unless it was something hugely dramatic, I wouldn’t remember. From this
assignment I learned that how much hours you get could correspond to whether or
not you dream. While keeping track during those two weeks, I also learned about
consciousness and unconsciousness, as well as the sleep cycle. That is what made
this topic more interesting to me.
7. Erikson’s 8 stages of development. Soundtrack of my life.
-This assignment
was actually quite fun and interesting, because it really is the soundtrack of
my life. Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of development is already interesting in
itself because I feel that I can really relate to these stages. Each stage
contains a conflict that one goes through as they are developing and as they
resolve these challenges, they become that more in depth with their identity.
However, even though Erikson states that these stages occur in order at certain
ages, they are still subject to change, for every individual’s situation could
be different. Just because one is unable to resolve their current stage of
conflict, does not mean they can resolve it at a later stage.
And
8. Terminology – 5 concepts/topics of psychology
-Finally,
I did this last assignment on 5 concepts of psychology that was covered in our
class because I felt that this was the best way to wrap up everything I have
learned from this semester. When I was trying to find which topics to cover, it
made sense that I should choose something similar to my previous blog projects.
I chose stress and motivation because it is something that I feel that I am
constantly enduring, especially throughout my college years. I stress from back
to back exams, balancing a life with a partner, while trying to maintain my
motivation to strive for my goal. Next I chose the topic of dreams because of
the two week sleeping diary that I was keeping track of. The topic on
intelligence, to me, had to be included because I feel that throughout this
course, I was becoming more intelligent from my new psychological perspective
on certain aspects of life. Finally, the last topic I chose was about drug use.
I felt that it was an interesting topic because I can relate to it in a sense.
I have friends and peers that tend to drink alcohol or use drugs. Because I know
people who do these things, I found it easier to understand why they do it. I
came to realize that not everyone’s reason for usage is the same. Whether it is
to cope with the daily struggle of life or just to do during social events, people
use these for multiple of reasons.
