Author: kag6033

During class the past few weeks, many things have stuck out, but the most interesting concept to me was the discussion on Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder.  When I was around 9 years old, I noticed a significant change in my dad.  His job was and still is very demanding, requiring him to travel 3 to 4 days basically every week.  He would leave for the airport and not be able to get on the plane due to unexplained stress and irrational fear.  Fear that the plane would possibly crash, fear that he wouldn’t be able to provide for our family, or fear that he could not even explain.  One day I remember specifically, he rushed home from the airport and was having what some would refer to as a “panic attack.”

He started seeing a psychologist and was diagnosed with anxiety.  As a kid, I never understood what that meant, as anxiety is a word that is commonly used so nonchalantly.

When I learned about these concepts in Psych 100, I finally understood what he was diagnosed with.  Anxiety is a component of both Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder.  Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by uncontrollable tenseness and apprehension for 6 or more months.  Some other symptoms of GAD are the inability to avoid the feelings.  Panic Disorder includes feelings of terror or frightening sensations.  It finally makes sense as to why my father was experiencing these symptoms.  Things like these can come on randomly for people that do not have GAD or Panic Disorder, but they are persistent for people that are diagnosed with anxiety.

Finally, with the right help, he was able to learn techniques to help him deal with these issues.  Every now and then, he still experiences episodes like this, but he is able to manage these feelings.

This semester we have learned a lot of different things that we can apply to our lives.  However, more recently we learned something that I feel has really benefitted me and my learning.  We were taught how to study smarter and given tactics to help us do that.

Throughout high school, I was never very good at studying.  I thought that making flashcards and memorizing information was the way to learn.  When it came to the tests I occasionally did well if it was a multiple choice or fill in the blank test, but if it was a test where I had to apply my knowledge or explain something in further detail, I almost always failed.  This was not a short-lived thing, either.  I went through years of doing this and constantly wondering where I was going wrong.  I did not know what the right study strategy was, so I kept to my old ways and the same thing happened over and over again.

Fast forward to this year, I’m a sophomore in college taking PSYCH 100 and we were taught about distributed studying.  Immediately, I put this into practice and started studying weeks in advance for my exams.  I had never thought to do this on my own, and figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.  For my next exam in another class, I began doing distributed study.  After I left the class I would review the information and go over things I had trouble understanding.  The fact that I was studying weeks in advance, as well as comparing and contrasting concepts in my head forced me to think deeper about the information, therefore I was able to retain it better.  I am thankful to have learned this information because it has helped me tremendously with my studying, as well as my grades in class.

The beginning of psychology goes all the way back to Ancient Greece, around 300 BC.  The psychologists at that point believed in two concepts.  These concepts caught my eye and reminded me of an experience I went through this past summer.  The concepts were called Nativism and Empiricism, typically referred to today as nature and nurture.  Nativism is described as “the idea that our thoughts, ideas, and characteristics are inborn”, otherwise not learned through any experience, and are just how our brains and bodies are wired.  Empiricism, on the other hand, explains that knowledge is gained through experiences or senses.

Throughout my high school years and into college, I have babysat many kids and seen a lot of different behaviors and had different experiences with all of them.  However, this summer was probably the most eye-opening experience of them all.  I nannied nine-year-old twins, Jake and Adam, two or three days every week.  As the summer progressed, I realized that nativism was more evident with the twins than empiricism was.  Jake and Adam were both raised the same way and given equal treatment and attention, yet this summer I noticed extreme differences between the two.  Jake was always ahead in his summer reading and summer workbooks, whereas Adam struggled daily to be focused on reading and wasn’t motivated to get ahead in his summer work.  In addition to this, Jake was athletic and wanted to be outside all the time whether he was scootering, playing basketball, or swimming in his pool. Adam was more into arts and creativity. He also wanted to spend every day that I was there inside.

The concept of nativism vs. empiricism really stuck out to me this summer.  Despite being exposed to the same experiences and being together their entire lives, Jake and Adam were completely different people.  This showed me that experiences cannot shape people, and that characteristics of a person are inborn and cannot be changed.

Tubal, Michael Caesar. “History of Psychology.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 30 June 2015,

www.slideshare.net/michaeltubal/history-of-psychology-49985298.