Author: mjs7931

During lecture 24 of our Psychology 100 class, Dr. Wede explained the idea of “In-group Bias” to us. After learning about this and thinking about it in more depth, it is something that is prevalent in all types of groups around the world. Whether it is a group of friends in school, or a band, or a sports team, whichever group you are in you are going to always believe that is the best group to be in. The actual definition of in-group bias is, “The in-group bias is the tendency that people have to favor their own group above that of others. This bias can have a powerful influence on both individual and group behavior.” Everyone always will feel more comfortable in their own group, and as great as the bond might be, there are also some negative effects that this can have on a person/group.

In-group bias can have an effect that causes something such as deindividuation. What this means is when you are in a group you might lose your sense of self-awareness and just do as the group does. This can be dangerous especially when it comes to rioting and things of that nature. Another example of in-group bias would be to think of any of the gangs that are out there. No matter what other gangs are out there, whether they are bigger, stronger or anything like that, the people in their specific gang will always think they are the best. The deindividuation comes into play when there is a gang fight and someone is killed, even if they were not even doing anything wrong. It is always nice to be considered apart of a group, although, I believe it is prudent to know when it draw the line when it comes to what you should or should not do for your group/team. If you are not careful group power is very contagious and can cause you to do things you did not think you were capable of doing.

 

Source: https://www.explorepsychology.com/ingroup-bias/

Matt Silver

Psych 100– Blog Post 3

Depression is one of the most common mood disorders that is prevalent in our society. It can affect people from all walks of life, including any type of background and any age. There has always been a negative stigma around depression, making people that have it seem “weak.” The truth is, people that are depressed cannot help this feeling, it is not something that anyone can control due to the fact that it involves a chemical imbalance in the brain. This disorder can have many symptoms including: loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, thoughts of suicide, and many more. It truly can cause so much distress on a person that it changes how they act or how they live their life. There is no certain age that depression just pops up, although, it is most prevalent in ages eighteen to twenty-five and from a recent study by “VeryWellMind.com” occurs about 3% more in females than males.

Thankfully, in my life so far I have been happy and have not dealt with the symptoms of depression. Although, it has been a part of my life due to the fact that some of my friends and family members have been through it. The truth is, everybody knows many people with depression whether they know it or not, due to the fact that a lot of people do not like to admit it.  In my personal experience dealing with my friends and family who have it, it is a really tough time and is extremely hard to see them go through it. Medicine can help with the chemical imbalance in the brain, although, it cannot totally fix the issue. Some people, including my friends, have grown out of it, but it can just as easily come back into their lives at any time. We as a society cannot take depression lightly, the people that have it cannot help it, we cannot judge them, we just need to be there for them.

 

Link: https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-statistics-everyone-should-know-4159056

 

What is it?

In lecture eight of our psychology class we learned about binocular and monocular cues. Binocular cues are something I have really had to focus on over my last couple years of life. What these cues relate to is the way that both of your eyes work together to display an image as we see it and also, it is what helps us focus on something that is either close to us, or farther away. When the topic of how our eyes work together comes into play when dealing with seeing things in 3-D, it is the idea of retinal disparity that conveys this.  Since our eyes are located slightly apart from each other and depict a slightly different image, both eyes are needed to make a full picture. On the other hand, when we are talking about how our eyes work together to focus on objects that are close or farther away, the involves the idea of convergence. Both of these different binocular cues are vital in the way that our eyes need to work together in order for our vision to be the way it should be.

My story Involving Binocular Cues.

A few years ago, I experienced a dangerously severe concussion while playing in a basketball game. It was to the point that they were checking me for brain bleed-age and I could not stand to look at something for more than a couple seconds before I would get a massive headache.  Fortunately, slowly but surely, as time went by I gained my full motor-skills back, although, there was one problem that was not getting better, my vision. My right eye was not moving fast enough to keep up with my left, which caused me to not be able to focus on anything and feel as if I did not have the correct depth perception. In order to correct these issues, I had to attend ocular therapy for several months until I finally gained my full set of vision skills back.

How does this relate?

My story of vision issues due to my concussion directly correlate to the binocular cues that we learned about in lecture eight. It makes much more sense to me now as to why I was having so much trouble focusing on certain objects. When you get a concussion and your brain is thrown around, it can really take a toll on a lot of major functions in your body, including your vision. Convergence and retinal disparity were the two biggest issues I was having when I was concussed, although fortunately, I bounced back. It is amazing that once you learn something it is so easy to tie it into an experience you had before, without even knowing it.

Description:

The idea of the brains plasticity stems from the suggestion that the brain is sculpted by our genes, although, also by our experiences. For instance, when someone experiences an injury or a certain illness, the brain has the ability to modify itself in order to try and keep the body protected from the same type of harm. Some people might argue that the brain is “wired” solely by the genetics that were passed down to a person, although, first hand I can say that this is not the case. Due to experiences I have had there is no question that the brain can also adapt and be modified by different experiences that you can encounter as life goes on.

My story:

Ever since I was a young boy I was a huge fan of watching and playing the game of basketball. I had a ball in my hand starting at the age of four and ever since then I never wanted to put the ball down. Unfortunately, I have had extremely bad luck with injuries throughout my career. With two broken ankles, a torn meniscus, a torn ACL, and four concussions, my playing style has changed, not due to my skill increasing or decreasing, but due to the fact that mentally my brain has adapted habits because of all of the injuries. Both parts of brain plasticity can possibly be applied to my situation, the genetics part, and the adaptation through experience. My father and grandfather both have had bad knee, ankle, and hip injuries/problems, and I believe that could have been passed down to me, maybe it could be due to weak bones. In the other aspect, I have seen myself change the way I play, being more cautious after each injury goes by. The way I jump off of two feet instead of one on layups now to try and have a sturdier base, or the way that I am extra alert when an opposing player is going to bump into me on a screen, it all happens because my brain is telling my body to protect itself from experiences that I had in the past.

How it all ties together:

Clearly as time has gone on our brains have advanced and they will only keep being able to function at a higher and higher level as time passes. The brains plasticity has had a major impact on my life, as it has most likely changed my basketball playing style and could definitely have protected me from having many more injuries. It is important to add though, just because my story is about tying in my injuries in basketball to brain plasticity, illnesses and certain events that you have been through can also be effected by the brains plasticity. This mechanism that is in all of our brains is why we can keep making advances and major breakthroughs, as it helps us adapt and advance using our own genetics and personal experiences.

 

https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html