Every week on Dr. Phil there is always at least one mother who cannot seem to handle her child. Majority of the time, this mother usually parents permissively. Something else we see constantly on TV shows are authoritarian parents who do not let their children do anything. This usually provides great plot lines, since the child typically rebels, adding drama. Clearly, anyone can see that both of these parenting styles can backfire. Something our textbook mentions is that child temperament could influence parenting styles. This made me curious because, considering this is the case, why do parents consistently struggle with their children? Parents should be able to tell from infancy what kind of attitude their child has. For example, if they have an easy baby, chances are they will not have to be as strict, therefore making a permissive parenting style acceptable. The same thing goes for authoritarian parents: if they have a fussy baby who gets into things, chances are they will need to be stricter than a parent with an easy baby. In my opinion, I think that parents make the mistake of deciding a parenting style before they get to know what their child is going to be like. I think parents fail to realize that every child is different, and therefore the way they were raised may not be the best method for raising their own. I agree with the idea that a child's disposition influences the way his or her parents raise them, and I feel that if more parents recognized this, they may have an easier time raising their children.
March 2012 Archives
I think the studies on nontraditional families is the most interesting and important. This is because it is such a modern topic and controversy regarding child development. The most controversial issue is children with parents of the same sex. There are often people against same sex couples raising children. Now research shows that children rose by same sex couples are the same as those raised by opposite sex couples in regards to social adjustment, academic performance, and sexual orientation. However, I think this is a topic even with evidence some people because of their views will experience confirmation bias. A question I have is if the studies were longitudinal designed?
I think the effects of divorce on children are also interesting. I always thought that divorce had a negative effect on children. I never saw first hand a divorce that had significant effects on someone but I probably believed that from media, tv, movies, etc. I was surprised that studies showed that the majority of cases there is no long-term damage. Something that is not talked about in the book but I thought about after reading, is that divorce could potentially be better on the children if the parents are in a very dysfunctional and controversial relationship.
I always wanted to know what animals were saying. Take dogs for example: I know they aren't just barking to be barking. They have to be trying to convey a message of some sort. When one dog sees another dog outside and they continuously bark at each other, I know they have to be communicating with each other. Dogs aren't stupid; if we can teach them to associate certain actions with different words and phrases, I'm sure they can communicate via barking. The only problem is, we just don't understand them.
I'm not sure if anyone has done it or not yet, but if someone was to study the pitches, lengths, patterns, and volume of dog barks, they could probably associate most of the distinct barks with some sort of meaning. It would take a lot of work, but I'm pretty sure it could be done. But even if it was done, how the results could be used to help dog owners, I don't know. Most of these barks wouldn't be distinct enough to tell just by listening, but using voice recording programs to actually study the sound waves.
Either way, I think animals have their own languages and with lots of studying and observation, we could get the gist of them.
In Chapter 9, I wasn't surprised to read that there are different types of intelligence. I became aware of this when people would always tell me how smart I was in middle school, and that they couldn't figure out the stuff I could, no matter how hard they tried. I then thought to myself, "Why can't they? What makes me smart?"
I started thinking about the different subjects we had: math, science, history, reading, etc. History had absolutely everything to do with memory. Later in life, say around high school, you start to see a pattern and can begin to make inferences on why things happened once you know how economics works. Back in the day, however, it was all about memorizing events. I wouldn't call having a great memory being smart, but then again I was the only one at the time thinking about this topic.
Out of all the subjects, math dealt with problem solving the most. This is where I thought intelligence came into play, because even if it isn't exactly 2x-10=20, problem solving is a part of our every day lives. Being able to reason and figure things out with efficiency, in my opinion, is the definition of intelligence. Using that definition, it isn't biased towards a certain group of people. No matter where you come from, if you can solve a problem, you can solve a problem.
Let me introduce my little baby brother. Simeon is a boy child all of 7 years old. Growing in height rapidly and just as fast mentally. My baby brother hates being left out of conversations due to how we used to spell things around him all the time. Now as soon as he catches the topic of conversation or the word spelled around him he immediately jumps in. Because he understood he couldn't always grasp what was going on, and he knew we wanted it this way, he made sure growing up and learning in class he would no longer be left out. Simeon is very cognitive of what goes on around him. Very skeptical of everything and how things are done.
And so I tried Piaget's experiment on him and he definitely showed he is very much so past the Concrete Operational Stages of just understanding the basics of subjects. I'm hands down putting him in the Formal Operational Stage.
Acknowledging the fact that my younger brother is very smart I didn't start by showing him two same size cups that I had poured juice in to the same line. His cup that he usually drinks from is the same height as my cup but his cup is slimmer/narrow at the bottom and widening at the bottom. So skipping step one, I immediately asked him did we share the same amount? Skipping step 2, of asking him whether he had more, I had more, or we're we even. And his response was so typical! (For me, anyway because he's my brother.)
"No! Your cup is bigger than mine. My cup is skinnier."
So even though I poured the juice evenly to the same line, he is well aware of the difference, and explained to me why. I'm so Proud!
Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. The symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Many scientists believe that Alzheimer's disease is caused by an increase in the production or accumulation of a specific protein (beta-amyloid protein) in the brain that leads to nerve cell death. Genetics also seem to play a large role in developing the disease. The specific causes of Alzheimer's, though, are not yet fully understood. Currently, the is no cure for Alzheimer's, but there are drug and non-drug treatments may help with both cognitive and behavioral symptoms. A number of drugs are available to aide in stopping the disease from progressing, and lesson symptoms such as memory loss and confusion. Also, a growing number of herbal remedies, dietary supplements and "medical foods" are promoted as memory enhancers or treatments to delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Lifestyle choices are one way to help to prevent Alzheimer's. This includes having a healthy brain, which comes from exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.
The Bourne Identity is centered on an ex-CIA agent who has acquired retrograde amnesia from a mission gone wrong. In the film, the main character is able to do everything that a normal person could do, and more, not to mention his mental abilities are extremely well developed. The only part of his functioning that seems to have been effected was his ability to remember who he is, what happened to him, or anything details of his personal history. Throughout the films duration, the main character, Jason Bourne, starts to remember people, places and what he did for a living. These recollections of memories occur in a weird method. They happen in sudden bursts, but these bursts of information are never vast. This results in a mixture of total recollection of his past and a slow, arduous process to regaining his memories. This Hollywood adaptation of amnesia is accurate in the depiction of specifically retrograde amnesia. The film also showed how memory recall may not be complete, as the character Jason Bourne doesn't end up remembering all the events of his previous life. This is where the accuracy stops however. The method of recollection is much too fast to be considered an accurate depiction of recalling memories. 
The Bourne Identity is centered on an ex-CIA agent who has acquired retrograde amnesia from a mission gone wrong. In the film, the main character is able to do everything that a normal person could do, and more, not to mention his mental abilities are extremely well developed. The only part of his functioning that seems to have been effected was his ability to remember who he is, what happened to him, or anything details of his personal history. Throughout the films duration, the main character, Jason Bourne, starts to remember people, places and what he did for a living. These recollections of memories occur in a weird method. They happen in sudden bursts, but these bursts of information are never vast. This results in a mixture of total recollection of his past and a slow, arduous process to regaining his memories. This Hollywood adaptation of amnesia is accurate in the depiction of specifically retrograde amnesia. The film also showed how memory recall may not be complete, as the character Jason Bourne doesn't end up remembering all the events of his previous life. This is where the accuracy stops however. The method of recollection is much too fast to be considered an accurate depiction of recalling memories.
The Bourne Identity is centered on an ex-CIA agent who has acquired retrograde amnesia from a mission gone wrong. In the film, the main character is able to do everything that a normal person could do, and more, not to mention his mental abilities are extremely well developed. The only part of his functioning that seems to have been effected was his ability to remember who he is, what happened to him, or anything details of his personal history. Throughout the films duration, the main character, Jason Bourne, starts to remember people, places and what he did for a living. These recollections of memories occur in a weird method. They happen in sudden bursts, but these bursts of information are never vast. This results in a mixture of total recollection of his past and a slow, arduous process to regaining his memories. This Hollywood adaptation of amnesia is accurate in the depiction of specifically retrograde amnesia. The film also showed how memory recall may not be complete, as the character Jason Bourne doesn't end up remembering all the events of his previous life. This is where the accuracy stops however. The method of recollection is much too fast to be considered an accurate depiction of recalling memories.
