![]() Late adulthood begins in the 60s, when life begins to come to its natural conclusion. Some older adults suffer from biologically based cognitive impairments that it becomes difficult for the person to continue to function effectively. Dementia, a progressive neurological disease that includes loss of cognitive abilities significant enough to interfere with everyday behaviors, is an example of a cognitive impairment. More specifically, the Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that leads to a loss of emotions, cognitions, and physical functioning. The disease can be seen in individuals who are 65 and older, and the likelihood develops rapidly after age 65. One in 10 people age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s disease, and according to the figure, the percentage of people with Alzheimer’s disease increases with age. Here, we can see that people who are 75 or older contain 82 percent of the whole. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are in part heritable, but the environment also plays a significant role. Although Alzheimer’s has no current cure, treatments for symptoms are available and research continues. Older adults who continue to keep their minds active by engaging in cognitive activities, such as reading, playing musical instruments, attending lectures, or doing crossword puzzles, have a lower risk of developing a loss of cognitive ability and have a greater chance of maintaining a healthier mental capacity.
1 Comment
Sleep deprivation has been a prevalent habit among many adolescents and adults of the 21st century. Is sleep deprivation the public health crisis of our generation? Have factors such as technology and our night routine interfere with our natural sleep cycles? We have the answer for you right here.
The definition of sleep is: a periodic, natural, reversible, and near total loss of consciousness. Sleep helps with recuperation, growth, and mental function to help stable our body growth and health. This also increases rates of learning, memory, mood, and reaction. It is pertinent for our bodies to be fast asleep throughout the night. However, did you know that in the United States this period in time, 30% of adults and 66% of adolescences are sleep deprived? This is worrisome because teenagers should have at least nine hours of sleep per night, but end up sleeping less than that. Even having less than six hours of sleep can increase the chances of having a stroke by 4.5 times than those getting a normal dose of sleep. Hallucinations, inflammation, and other psychological disabilities can start rummaging through your mind. It is almost like going through your day being drunk because you are so fatigue. One example would be staying up late to study for your test, but ended up failing it. Many parts in the brain would be affected once a person goes through sleep deprivation. The prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of planning and complex behaviors, would be working overtime to keep awake. Also the chemical adenosine, which is the incline to sleep would not be working with chemical melatonin. It could lead to disorders such as insomnia or dementia later in life. Technology could play a big role in why adults and adolescents are not getting as much sleep as they should. Using your phone in the evening may make it harder to drop off to sleep and the quality of how you slept which in return, can make you feel sleepier the next day. This is because humans can perceive artificial light as a natural light to keep us awake and distracted. The impact of sleep “are relating to both the stimulating effects of interacting with a device and the effects of light from the screen.” Another reason is that our society, such as teenagers, wants to be more engaged with other people so they won’t “miss out” on anything. There are some ways we can reduce the effect of technology in our sleep cycles. During the night time, make sure to change the white light on the screen to “night shift” to turn the screen yellow and pressing do not disturb. Another way, is to have a technology-free period before sleeping and charging your phone in another room. Though sleep deprivation has been a major health crisis in our generation and technology could be a main reason why, sleep is crucial to maintain our health and to keep our sanity. Hypnosis is a trance-like state of consciousness, usually induced by a procedure known as hypnotic induction, which consists of heightened suggestibility, deep relaxation, and intense focus. Hypnosis can be considered and confronted because it is only an attempt to make unconscious emotions conscious. Therefore, the best participants are who are willing to be hypnotized, who are able to focus their attention, and open eyes to new experiences and fantasy. When hypnotized, one feels conformity, relaxation, obedience, and suggestion. There are several misconceptions about hypnosis, and here are some of them.
First, many believe that hypnotized people are faking and lying about being hypnotized. However, professionals used measures of skin conductance to test this idea, and it has been proven that 90% of the hypnotized subjects truly believed that they were hypnotized. Another misconception is that the hypnotist is able to take control of the patients and can make them perform certain behaviors. However, it has been proven that patients could refuse to comply with the hypnotist’s command since they still retain awareness and control of their behaviors. Moreover, another common belief is that hypnotists can lead people to forget the things that happened to them while they were hypnotized. Although researchers have found that posthypnotic amnesia, which is when people forget where they had learned information that had been told to them while they were under hypnosis, was active for some people, it did not hold strong effects. Furthermore, some believe that hypnosis can retrieve memories. Some people have used hypnosis to remember events such as childhood experiences or details of crime scenes. However, people who are hypnotized and then asked to relive their childhood do not accurately recall the things that occurred to them in their own childhood. ![]() Looking at any given high school, you can find typical social groupings such as the jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, the goths, the basket cases, and so on. These cliques may seem simply like the stereotypical adolescent groups, but they actually are very important in the development of a teenager’s sense of self. One of the most important social tasks of teenagers is this search for a unique identity. Before adolescence, young children are most strongly attached to their parents. However once adolescence hits, teenagers decrease their attachment to their parents and move increasingly toward peers. Because of this, friend groups are extremely influential on the adolescents in them. As these teenagers attempt to create their own identity, they may experiment with different social groups and even different identities. James Marcia proposed one method to understanding identity development. To assess the stage of identity, Marcia asked adolescents a series of questions involving their exploration of and commitment to issues of occupation, politics, and religion. After reviewing the results, Marcia was able to classify the adolescents into one of four categories: identity-diffusion status, foreclosure status, moratorium status, and identity-achievement status. These categories range from individuals with no firm commitments to the issues to individuals with a stable and coherent identity formed from personal experiences. Studies of the adolescents who go through Marcia’s stages of development also show that the road to a teenager’s identity is not a clear one. Some teens may adopt the beliefs of their parents, the first opinion they've heard. Others might spend a long amount of time trying different identities and beliefs before settling on one. Again, it can be seen that a teenager’s peer group is monumentally valuable in providing information about the self-concept. These almost cliche high school cliques allow adolescents to explore different identities. Even more important, these friend groups can provide an invaluable sense of belonging and acceptance during a very confusing time for teenagers. ![]() In our lives, we see different styles of how parents treat their children. Many parents could be very strict to their child and not let them out of the house as much, while others are a little lax and leave some of the responsibilities to the children. Parents chose to stay with their kids and keep watch of them such as when they are dealing with problems, other parents choose to leave their child with a babysitter and choose to work instead. So what makes a good parent? Does it depend on the parent’s own background style of how they were raised? Let’s find out. All parenting styles are all welcomed, but it has to be adapted according to the behavior of the child. However, there are two things that should be known that this is considered “a must” for parenting: first, babies need a conscientious mother who does not do any bad intake of drugs, smoking, or alcohol during pregnancy in order for the baby to be healthy. Also, infants need caretakers who are consistently available and who are loving and supportive for their child in order to have a secure base of knowledge of what is right or wrong. However, if the mother is an adolescent, then there is a higher rate of academic failure for the child because the mother is not as prepared compared to mother who have gone through older age. Though mothers and crucially helpful in a child’s early developmental skills, fathers are also a big help in the process of child development even though they are not as physically involved as much as the mothers. However, if there is a father figure in the child’s life especially early on, the child would gain skills such as being cognitively and socially competent and one who is more emphatic towards others. Based on the diagram at the top, there are two major stimuli to determine the parent style: more or less demanding and more or less responsive to the children’s desires. The spectrum is being authoritarian, authoritative, rejecting-neglecting, and permissive. Both being authoritarian and permissive are both in the opposite ends. One is parents who is way over protected and responds in a strict accent and one type is lack the sense of authority and gives all of the responsibilities to the kid. Both authoritative figures such as authoritative or rejecting-neglecting styles which is around the middle of the spectrum. Each of the four parenting styles has their own strengths and weakness. For example, if parents used the authoritative style, then kids would have a better psychological adjustment, school performance, and maturity. There are also some cultural backgrounds which support why certain parents would choose certain styles. Overall, each child is different and parent must be adaptable to these changes. Though the focus is on child and their development, parent must in return love and support each other to create a relationship that mother and father contribute to household tasks. In result, parents have a more intimate relationship as husband and wife as well as mother and father and they are in a more happy and successful relationship. Red Ribbon Week is an annual week devoted to bringing awareness to the harmful effects that drug and alcohol use can have on one’s life. To commemorate this year’s Red Ribbon Week, a post about the drug crisis in America seems fitting. Currently, drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50, says The New York Times. Moreover, this death toll is continuing to increase at an alarming rate. This can attributed primarily to the opioid crisis. Each day, more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. It is important to be informed about opioids and their detrimental effects in order to help combat the opioid epidemic in American society.
Opioids are chemicals that increase activity in opioid receptor neurons in the brain and in the digestive system, producing euphoria, slower breathing, and constipation. This is possible because opioids have a similar chemical makeup as endorphins. Opioids can both be produced naturally and created synthetically. Common opioids include prescription pain relievers, heroin, opium, and morphine. When morphine was first created, it was meant to be a cure for opium addiction, Unfortunately, it turned out to be more addicting than the raw opium. When heroin was first produced, it was believed to be a stronger, but less addictive pain killer. Again, however, it was soon found out to be twice as addictive as morphine. Furthermore, the danger of heroin can be seen in the fact that it has a low safety ratio, the ratio of the dose that is likely to be fatal divided by the normal dose needed to feel the effects of the drug. Opioids function by activating the sympathetic division of autonomic nervous system. This causes blood pressure and heart rate to increase, typically to dangerous levels. Simultaneously, opioids also have an effect on the parasympathetic division. These effects include insomnia, restlessness, irritability, vomiting, as well as a strong craving of the drug. Opioids have a powerful psychological dependence in addition to severe withdrawal effects. This makes it almost impossible for abusers and addicts to quit using these drugs. Overall, the use of these drugs ultimately leads to major physical and psychological harm. Getting enough sleep is an important part of keeping good health. However, it isn’t always attainable. As a high school student, I can attest to the lack of sleep us teenagers get over the school year... and pretty much all the time. But many adults also don’t get enough sleep. According to a recent poll, about one-fourth of American adults say they get a good night’s sleep only a few nights a month or less. These people are suffering from a sleep disorder known as insomnia, defined as persistent difficulty falling or staying asleep. The amount of sleep a person needs varies with age. School-aged children and teenagers usually need at least 9 hours of sleep per night, and most adults require 7 to 8 hours per night. The most recent study by the National Sleep Foundation suggests that adults should get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night, and yet Americans now average fewer than 7 hours. Getting enough sleep may be difficult when school and work demand early wake up calls. At the same time, we might stay up late during the weekends to enjoy festivities. But a consistent deficit of even 1 to 2 hours a night can have a significant impact on our health. Some of the effects of sleep deprivation include anxiety, obesity, hypertension, memory impairment, and, if severe and extended, may even result in death. But among the most common results of a prolonged lack of sleep is diminished performance. To get a feel of what our sleep patterns reveal about how we feel throughout the day, I created a sleep poll, recording the responses of 95 subjects. 86 were 17 or younger, and 9 were 18 or older. 54.74% of the respondents only get 4-6 hours of sleep a night and 37.89% only get 6-8 hours of sleep. 3 of the 95 people even get less than 4 hours of sleep. On the other end, only 4 of the 95 get over 8 hours of sleep. Of the 9 adults only 3 are getting the right amount of sleep. As for the 17 and younger crowd only 4 out of the 86 are getting enough sleep. Yet 89.47% of the subjects overall are aware of how much sleep someone their age should be getting. Finally, 80.00%, the majority of the subjects, showed that they feel drowsy throughout the day. These results verify that not getting enough sleep take a negative toll on our daily lives. As can be seen, good sleep is important to our health. So remember to get the right amount of rest. Sleep tight! ![]() Unless you were living under a rock, you’ll likely remember the two-year old infamous fiasco of “The dress.” Going viral on February 26, 2015, “The dress” was a photograph of a two-colored dress that ignited passionate arguments between the most peaceable of people. The dispute was over the colors of the dress, whether it was blue and black or white and gold. If you have not seen the dress, this dispute may seem incredibly irrational. How could the entire world be ensure of the color of a dress? Surprisingly, the answer is fairly simple: our perception of color depends on interpreting the amounts of light in a room of scene. Because the normal indicators of lighting are not present in the photo, people perceive the colors of the dress in different ways. Thanks to an ability called color constancy, we are able to assign fixed colors to objects under a variety of different lightings. However, the photograph does not give us these lighting cues as the striped dress monopolizes the majority of the photo. So we must make our own judgments about the lighting in the room in question. Some people viewed the dress as being white and gold in a dark shadow. The remaining population saw a blue and black dress, but washed out in a bright light. Quickly, after the image went viral, the answer was released. The dress was indeed blue and black. Still, this answer did not appease everyone as the debates still ensued and viewers were stupefied. Had the photograph included more of the room or more skin tones, there would have been more clues to the lighting in the room. With these cues available, this worldwide dispute could have been avoided. Still, it was fascinating phenomenon that astounded the Internet. Plus, who doesn't love a little bit of healthy debate? Learning about the structures and functions of the different anatomical regions of the brain is one of the most confusing and complicated units in introductory psychology. Part of the learning process in my classroom has always included different activities to visualize and label the different regions of the brain. Sometimes that included markers and big sheets of newsprint and once we even used cauliflower and food coloring (that one was kind of a disaster).
In order to build something entirely digital for our blog, I decided to turn to the new diagramming feature on the popular vocabulary learning site Quizlet. In order to increase the originality of the process, I decided to construct an original diagram on the classroom whiteboard and have students record a fully detailed description of their assigned portion of the brain. There is something about having students record their voices that increases the ownership and importance of a response- I am hoping it also helps with retention. The result is impressive, but could be improved, for instance, definitions should not include the name of the region- or else it cannot be used for study purposes. Also, after using the diagramming feature, we could have more accurately highlighted the specific portions with a lasso-type tool. Please take a moment to share this inventive method of studying the exterior portions of our brain anatomy! |
AuthorHello. Welcome to all things psychology. Enjoy! Archives
December 2017
Categories
All
|