I’m taking General Psychology because I had friends recommend me the course. I’m also taking it because I need the credit. I have little to no background about the subject but i heard that it will make me look at people with a different perspective. When i hear the word “psychology” I think the study of the mind.  Looking at the course schedule, the 3 topics that look most interesting to me are moral development, memory failures, and sleep. The reason they look interesting to me is because they are topics that i can potentially apply to myself. The 3 least are observational learning, brain structures, and neurons. If I’m being honest, the reason i find these the least interesting is because they might have lots of content and reading, but i might be wrong. I guess a question I’d have about psychology is if psychologist would use their knowledge to manipulate people to their will?

Hello! My name is Sam, and I will be using this blog for my Psychology 101 class. I chose to take this class because I took an AP psychology class in high school, and I really enjoyed the subject. I’m considering a minor in psychology, but right now I’m undecided in regards to my major and minor. My minimal background in psychology comes from this one semester class in high school, but I think everyone is somewhat aware of psychology from self-analysis and introspection, along with the recognition of how people around us behave.

When I think of the word “Psychology”, my immediate thought is of this movie I just watched called Split (2016) which is a horror movie about someone with multiple personality disorder, which I believe is now referred to as dissociative identity disorder. This is not the best association to have as the movie did not portray the mental illness accurately, representing an example of how pop culture shapes the way people view the field of psychology. However, I am hoping this class will help me have a better idea of mental illness.

The three topics in the syllabus that seem the most interesting to me are moral development, social roles and conformity, and psychotic, traumatic, and personality disorders. I have always been interested in moral development and how we decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. I think it is very interesting that there are some moral universals such as all cultures considering murder as wrong, but how different cultures shape different morals. Social roles and conformity is also a subject I am very interested in because I think it is very interesting that we are willing and sometimes happy to conform to a larger group around us. I personally find the Milgram experiment fascinating, and I am excited to learn about the subject further. I am also interested in the section on psychotic, traumatic, and personality disorders. I believe that learning about disorders other people have can help change the stigma of mental illness.

I am least interested in research methods, experimental design, and brain structures. I have learned about research methods and experimental design in the past, and although I know they are both important topics, they are not my favorite subjects. I am also not looking forward to brain structures because I imagine this subject has a large memorization list and straight memorization is not my strength.

Regarding a question I hope to answer by the end of this class, I’d like to learn how our preconceived notions about a subject influence the way we read and analyze information pertaining to the subject. In this presidential election, I have found it interesting how both sides tended to cling to news stories that confirmed what they previously thought rather than news stories that challenged their perspective. I fell into this trap too, and I think that there maybe some psychological explanation for the success of fake news and news catered to please a certain group of people.

Overall, I am very excited to take this class, and I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of psychology!

Hi, my name is Tanner Logsdon. I’m a dual sport athlete at Austin College, and I pan on majoring in history with a minor in education.

The reason I’m taking this class is because I was instructed that it would help further prepare me for my education courses down the line and also help me once I got into the school programs. With a limited background in psychology, (one class in highschool) I am not very rounded in the subject but I plan on discovering the depths in this class.

When I hear the word “Pyschology” my mind runs to thoughts. I feel as though psychology is the study of the way we as humans think and how we act on these thoughts according to different environmental and home life upbringing.

While browsing the Syllabus a few subjects stood out to me. The first involving Concussions, since I’m a dual sport athlete and concussions are very likely in both sports I feel as though learning about the risk and what a concussion is will be helpful. Another topic I am interested in is sleep. I know as a college student sleep is a very valuable and sought after delicacy and I would like to know just how important it is to my everyday life. Lastly the topic of coping with stress. Finding the ins and outs of this topic could help me with one of my hardest things to deal with right now. The three that least interest me are the topics of, stereotypes and discrimination, drugs alcohol and the brain, and neurons. The only reason behind this is because I feel like these topics are worn out in the media and by everyone who isn’t an expert in the subject so I’m sick of hearing opinions by everyone and their mother.

Is psychology something I can go my whole life without learning or would it benefit me to take more classes in the subject?

My name is Santos Botello and I am a freshman at Austin College. I am majoring in Psychology and on the Pre-Med track to become a doctor. I chose to take this course to see if I have enough interest to pursue a career in it. I don’t have any background in Psychology. When I hear the word “psychology, I think of why people think they way they think. Attachment theory, Memory Retrieval and Theories of Intelligence are the three topics that seem most interesting to me. Attachment theory interests me because it sounds like it will give reason as to why people have a need to feel a sense of belonging. Memory Retrieval might unlock some memories that I didn’t even know I had which seems cool. Theories of Intelligence sounds interesting because it might tell me why people are smart in certain topics but not others. Scientific methods, research methods and experimental design seem to interest me the least because they sound like everything I’ve learned since elementary school. The question I’d like to have answered by the end of the semester is: What are the fortelling signs that someone is a psychopath?