Author Archives: dbrewer939

Refinement Post: Is It Safe to Drive in Heels?

While watching the Mythbusters short clip on, “Is It Dangerous to Drive in Heels?”, I found a few things to be quite problematic with the setup of the experiment and how it was conducted.  There were one or two positive things, such as the different types of shoes provided, but everything else regarding where and how they drove only one type of car was a different experiment all together!  How they measured their experiment, which was by stopwatch, wasn’t accurate in telling how safely someone could drive in a more realistic setting.  The variable that they kept controlled was the type of car used, which would have been fine if it were a car that was used for everyday commuting and not for racing.  Their driving course was put together in a way where there were enough quick turns and stops, but it wouldn’t prepare a woman going into work in early morning traffic while trying to maneuver around other drivers, or even considered driver experience, or the time of day.  Even though more than one pair of shoes were used in the experiment, I found it a bit disappointing that they didn’t include more types of heel sizes and fashions.  There are definitely all types of high heels that have higher platform bottoms and thinner, spikier heels than the shoes used in the example.  All in all, I wasn’t necessarily blown away by the research methods they used, and so I think they could have done more to make this experiment extensive and lengthy.


Is It Dangerous To Drive In Heels?

While watching the Mythbusters short clip on, “Is It Dangerous to Drive in Heels?”, I found a few things to be quite problematic with the setup of the experiment and how it was conducted.  There were one or two positive things, such as the different types of shoes provided, but everything else regarding where and how they drove only one type of car was a different experiment all together!  Their driving course was put together in a way where there were enough quick turns and stops, but it wouldn’t prepare a woman going into work in early morning traffic while trying to maneuver around other drivers, or even considered driver experience, or the time of day.  Even though more than one pair of shoes were used in the experiment, I found it a bit disappointing that they didn’t include more types of heel sizes and fashions.  There are definitely all types of high heels that have higher platform bottoms and thinner, spikier heels than the shoes used in the example.  All in all, I wasn’t necessarily blown away by the research methods they used, and so I think they could have done more to make this experiment extensive and lengthy.


Introductory Post for Psychology

I’m Darby from San Antonio, Texas and I’m a Gemini/Cancer cusp baby (I just enjoy throwing that out there).  I’m a junior who studies English as her major and media studies as her minor.  When I graduate, I hopefully want to earn my alternative certification degree in teaching so I can go on to work with kids around the preschool-2nd-grade level.

 

*Why you chose to take this class?

I’ve always had a general interest in mental health and how the brain processes things, but I’m actually just an English major.  When I graduated high school, I almost went to Stephen F. Austin University to pursue pharmaceuticals and psychology, but I came here instead to work on my dreams of becoming a primary school teacher.  Although I’m taking this to fulfill a social science requirement, I’m pretty sure I have a strong love for what this class will have in store for me.

*What background, if any, do you have in psychology?

I had brief encounters with a pharmaceutical class in high school that taught me a lot on the principles of drug use and how it affects the brain, be it prescription medications like SRIs or even how street drugs interfere with the brain.

*What do you think of when you hear the word psychology?

I usually think of a giant picture of the human brain hanging in a psychologists’ office.

*Which three topics look the most interesting to you?  Which three topics look the least interesting?

The top three that look the most interesting to me are the personality theory, drugs and alcohol, and concussions.  The least interesting three to me could be classical conditioning, neurons, and experimental design.  I just seem to enjoy the more morbid things that happen to people, since there is a lot of potential research that could be done.

*What question about psychology do you want to answer by the end of this class?

I’d like to apply some basics we learned from these topics we’ll cover in this class to see if it helps me understand more about some parts of mental illness and behavior.