Month: October 2019

Growing up both of my parents raised my sister and I using the authoritative approach. Authoritative parenting is characterized by reasonable demands and high responsiveness. Authoritative parents might have high expectations for their children, but they also give their kids the resources and support they need to succeed. I think the way my parents raised me has lead me to be the person i am today. I am independent and can take care of myself while knowing what i need to do to be successful and i have my parents to thank for that. I don’t think that i would have responded well to a permissive parenting style because i need structure and the support of my parents. If i mess up they are the first ones to tell me so and help me fix my mistakes. I also don’t think that i would of been responsive to an authoritarian parenting style because i do like to be independent and not have my parents dictate my every life decision.

When I was younger my mom was very much an authoritarian type of parent. An authoritarian is a parent that makes most or all of their rules non-negotiable. I feel that she often over inserted herself into my choices and whatever she said goes, she did not often allow for feedback or even give any kind of justification or reasoning as to why I had to do certain things or not do others. This included the grades I had to maintain, the programs I could join, sports were mandatory (though to be honest I did not mind this one as much), and even made me play the clarinet (this one I minded a lot). But, I did it all with little to no complaint because I knew it would be futile. It wasn’t until somewhere around  high school where I noticed her attempt to transition into more of an authoritative parent , which is a parent that has structure but also room for discussion. I had more freedom in what activities and sports I wanted to participate in, while grades were still expected to be in the honor roll at a minimum, but she let me decide my college plans with only advice no rules. And I don’t feel that until college did that transition complete and I think it is mostly because she had little to no choice on what I do for the most part. But, she is not permissive, which is where rules are more of a suggestion, because I still have expectations, I just get to decide more how I accomplish them.

When we see, our brain uses certain cues in order to give a sense of depth perception. These cues can be sorted into two categories: binocular cues, which use two eyes, and monocular cues, which only use one eye. Binocular cues are what we use on an everyday basis to perceive the world around us, while monocular cues are used most frequently in art and optical illusions. Monocular cues include relative size, interposition, aerial perspective, linear perspective, texture gradient, and motion parallax. Relative size is the principle that if two objects are similar in size, the one that casts a larger retinal image is closer. Interposition means that if one object is blocking our view of another, then the one in front is closer and the one being blocked is farther away. Aerial perspective refers to the phenomenon that the farther away objects are, the hazier and fuzzier the view gets. Linear perspective is the way that lines that are parallel in real life will appear to converge as they get farther away. Texture gradient is the fact that we see much less detail (or texture) on objects as the distance between the object and the viewer grows. Finally, Motion parallax means that, when the viewer is moving, closer objects will appear to move at a much faster rate, while objects that are farther away will appear to move much more slowly.

Art Examples:

A

B

As an artist, I frequently use monocular cues, sometimes even without realizing it. In the first example, I used interposition to show the positioning of the balloon string with regards to the banner. Since the banner overlaps the balloon string both at both places where there is text, our brain automatically reasons that the banner is closer than the string, even though there is no actual physical depth to the picture. Additionally, since the balloon string is in front of the banner in the middle of the picture, our brains assume that it is now closer than that portion of the banner. In the second example, I used both relative size and interposition to create a sense of depth. Interposition is used where the pointe shoe on the right slightly covers over the shoe on the left, creating an illusion that it is closer than the other shoe. Relative size is also present because the shoe on the right is slightly bigger than the one of the left, once again implying that the right shoe is closer than the left one.

Credit: All images are mine.

Memory is a tricky subject. When recalling certain events in our lives, we tend to fill in missing information to make our story more coherent, and this missing information may be told to us by other people. As a result, many of the memories we have from certain events may not even be true memories. For example, lets say you fell off your bike and had no recollection of it. But, your friend told you the details of how and where you fell off your bike. This causes you to consider your friend’s description as your own memory. This is called “Implanting memories”, and it is the phenomenon where people consider memories as true because the events are told to them by other people. In extreme cases, people can even be convinced that something happened to them that had never occurred. I experienced the phenomenon of implanted memories when I got a concussion, and although I wasn’t lied to about what happened to me, I still cannot tell which events are my own memories.

The events leading up to and following the concussion are blurry. I remember walking through the woods with my friends, and since nobody told me about this particular part, I can assume that it actually happened. Then, we had the fantastic idea of pushing each other while laying in a hammock. Although I have been told about this part, I am almost certain that I have valid memories of pushing my friends in the hammock that day. I was told that my concussion occurred because I tried to grab a leaf from a tree while being swung in the hammock but accidentally grabbed a whole branch. This ruined my momentum and caused me to fall abruptly to the ground. Here is where it all gets blurry. I have memories of grabbing leaves from the branches while being swung in the hammock, but is this because I was told that grabbing the leaves was the cause of my concussion? I don’t know for sure, and, in fact, I never will. After I fell, my friends told me that I didn’t remember why I was there. This caused some of my friends to tease me because they thought I was joking. For others, it caused panic and fear. For the first few weeks after the concussion, I didn’t remember any of their reactions. But as I was told what happened, I began to have visual memories of my friend’s reactions. However, these “memories”, no matter how real they seem to me, are most definitely fake.

The stories I have been told about my concussion caused me to form memories that likely not true, and I am certain about this. But, what truly interests me is the fact that I cannot distinguish between reality and implanted memories. Whether I actually remember grabbing the leaves or pushing the hammock is a mystery to me. Also, scenarios like these are not limited to concussions. There can be several memories I have that I think are true but only seem real to me because someone told me. Memory is tricky, and it can blur the lines of reality.

Schemas are in a way mental notes and stereotypes we develop about certain situations and how people behave. The definition of a schema is a mental concept that organizes information. We can have schemas about almost anything that happens in our lives. Things like having certain feelings about individuals happens because of prior events that went on in your past. In my mind, schemas remind me of those moments when you come across someone or something and it triggers a relating memory whether it is negative or positive. When I was younger, I had multiple schemas about various things, but one of them stood out to me. Me and my 4 siblings had to have numerous babysitters because of my parents jobs and having to move around so much caused my parents to have to have hired many different caretakers. One of the first babysitters I had was very mean and didn’t let me or my siblings have fun or do anything. She was always very strict and all of my siblings were scared of her. I always had to be super respectful because I never wanted her to yell at me. After my parents finally hired a new babysitter, me and my siblings all had the stereotype that every babysitter was mean, so we did not know what to expect. For the rest of time that I had different babysitters, I always thought they were going to be very strict and mean. I feel like once we have a negative experience with something in our lives, we will forever feel the same about that specific situation for the rest of our lives. Schemas affect everyones’ lives differently and how they view things about the world, and I think part of the different perspectives we have on life comes from our schemas.

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Infant memory is a widely discussed topic when it comes to psychologists because it is difficult for them to fully know if there is a certain age where you begin to forget things or remember things and certain events that occurred at an early age. According to psychologists, the earliest age of conscious memory is around 3 1/2 years old. Scientists also say that we encounter infantile amnesia as we grow up and it makes us forget events when we are infants.

The earliest memory that I can recall has to be when I was about three years old and I remember my grandma was watching me. She was feeding me applesauce in my high chair and was about to put me to bed. I remember her lifting me up and carrying me to my room and placing me into my crib. Now I am not exactly sure if I was three because I do not know if that is an appropriate age to be in a crib still, but I remember being put into my crib. I am still amazed every time I think about that event because I am just so impressed on how I am able to remember something so long ago and have a vivd memory about it still till this day.

Psychologist do say that we tend to make up stories or events that happened when we were younger because it could be mistaken for a dream someone had. It is one of these things where it just depends on the person and their ability to recall certain events that happened a long time ago. I personally find this topic very interesting and when I learned it in class it really caught my attention and it immediately made me think about the time I was about three years old.

As we talked about in class, our memories are not always as accurate as we think. They may have never even happened. Retelling a story over and over again can lead one to slightly alter it with out even knowing. We basically just remember the version that we last told. I have experience with this that I did not even know I had until we learned about it. I would always tell the story of how when I was little I went to the hospital for hand-foot-mouth disease. I could not eat or drink. I was only 2 or 3 years old but I tell this story like I remember it–because I actually thought I did. I would explain this one scene of the doctor trying to give me apple juice and I wouldn’t drink it. I actually can see this picture in my mind when I think about it. I am now learning that I do not remember this at all, my parents just have talked about it so many times that I can literally picture it in my head as if I was watching myself on TV. Who knows if they even remember the details correctly. I guess I will never be sure what actually happened in the hospital. This makes me think about how when I’m older, I will not fully remember the details of my college experience that seem so great and unforgettable.

In lecture 12 titled “Prenatal, Infancy, and Child Development”, we discussed prenatal development, Piaget’s Theory and Stages, social development, origins of attachment, and more. When discussing Piaget’s Theory, we learned an information process system known as assimilation and accommodation. Both assimilation and accommodation are based on schemas. A schema is a mental concept that organizes and interprets a set of information. For example, if I was walking on campus and saw a sign near the edge of the sidewalk, I would interpret this sign to be a traffic sign and place it into my already existing schema of traffic signs. When you attempt to organize or interpret schema information, you can either process it through assimilation or accommodation. In assimilation, you interpret new information in terms of our already existing schemas. In accommodation, you adapt or adjust your existing schemas to fit new experiences into them.  An example of assimilation could occur if a child had an existing schema that cats are small animals with fuzzy hair, therefore all small animals with fuzzy hair must be cats. When they see a dog (another small animal with fuzzy hair), they call it a cat because it falls into their existing schema. An example of accommodation would occur if that same child was told by a parent, “That’s not a cat. It a cat and dog may look similar, but that animal is a dog”. This child will then revise its existing schema to interpret the differences between cats and dogs.  

Even as adults, we constantly use assimilation and accommodation to interpret and process new information. Yesterday, I had an experience with my friend who did not recognize the significance behind the numbers “409” in Penn State culture. My family is from State College; we have always supported Joe Pa for all that he, and his family, has done for the University. My friend saw a “409” sticker on my laptop and asks, “Is that an area code?”. I thought about his question for a minute (as I was pretty surprised that he didn’t recognize the iconic number). I then realized that he used assimilation to fit “409” fell into his preexisting schema of area codes. Area codes are always a short, three-digit, sequence of numbers. Some people like to display their area code as it shows where they are from. It makes sense why he would interpret “409” to be an area code based on his existing schema. I quickly explained to him that “409” is the number of Jo Pa’s wins as the head coach of the football team. I explained to him why many people support the Paterno family today. After explaining to him the meaning behind “409”, he used accommodation to adapt this new meaning into his previous understanding of short, three-digit sequences.