Picture in your head the worst day ever. Now times that by twenty, and a rainy Sunday is still worse then that. I hate nothing more then to know that my week filled with responsibilities starts all over again and when the weather is yucky, it’s an even worse feeling. Why is that? How come a beautiful Sunday with the sun shining is much better then a gloomy Sunday filled with rain. Although we all don’t consciously notice it, the weather and seasons affect our mood in a big way. It’s not just a coincidence that you are sad on a rainy day and happy on a nice day, it all relates back to science.

Your body can react to weather in multiple ways, depending on the person and their personality. According to science, when the temperature is hotter, it can bring someone that is depressed, out of depression for a while. Although it doesn’t curediseases, the weather can strongly influence the way that we behave and interact with others. Again, the weather effects people on a person to person basis, so for example a depressed person is lifted up by the heat, but the heat can “bring out the worst” in a normal person. The way a person reacts just depends on the way our bodies react towards extreme conditions and you can read all about it in this article by John M. Grohol.

Some may say that the weather can’t affect your mood unless you let it. According to this study, men were able to not let the weather affect their mood
much easier then women. They simply ignored the weather and changed their plans around it. So women are less susceptible to changing their plans, which results in their mood being affected. Again, it all depends on the person, their environment, and how they react to certain situations. For example, “if it’s hot and sunny for months on end, that’s probably going to make more of an impact in Seattle (a usually rainy and cool place to live) than in Miami (a usually hot and sunny place to live).”

I can completely attest to this theory, especially being in windy and cold State College, PA. When I was here for summer session, I had a totally different outlook on school and now that the weather is getting colder, I am loosing motivation. On the rare sunny but breezy day, it boosts my spirits for the week. But sometimes
, State College weather can be drab for days on end. I am one of the people that wishes it could be summer all year round because I am in a better mood when Im not trudging through snow. Here, you can find multiple reasons why most people like warm weather. I think the reason why I love it the most is because the days feel longer then they do in the winter. Because of daylight savings, there is more light throughout the day therefore making the day “feel longer”.

Another interesting instance where this theory can be proved is the fact that sunnier states are happier states. Seriously just think about it, Florida and California are filled with mostly happy people and it’s most likely due to their perfect weather that they have year round. Although the affects of the weather vary depending on the situation, I think the consensus is that no matter what type of person you are, you can’t stop the way you feel when you walk outside everyday.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/08/29/can-weather-affect-your-mood/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/22/warm-weather-mood_n_7056636.html

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/temperature-tantrums-weather-actually-affect-mood/964987/

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

One of the major things that comes into consideration when picking a college to attend is the size of the college. Everyone is different in the way that they learn and the environment that they feel comfortable in. I know when I was choosing a college; the size would defiantly affect my opinion of the school. I was the type of person that didn’t want a small school because I didn’t want to have another experience like high school. Although I loved high school, it was time for a new experience and a big school was going to be the way I could try something new and I love it. The numbers throw off some people because a larger school typically means a larger class size. But does class size actually matter?

Some research shows that having a small class helps most students do better in the class then if they were in a larger class. There are so many ways described in this article that a smaller class size will improve the performance of the students. One of the main reasons being that “that teachers give students better, more-tailored instruction in smaller classes” This method of teaching works well for most students because it makes them feel as if they are important and their education matters. This is why most people do not succeed in towns filled with crime because there classes are large, loud and distracting.

Another view that you can take on this question is that class size isn’t the only determiner of whether a student does well in the class or not. I agree with this because although the class size can affect the way a student learns, there are also many other factors that can contribute to disruption in the classroom. Factors such as attitude, the environment of the town, and skills of the teacher can also make a huge difference in a students success.

According to The Association of American Educators, “more money, more teachers, and a fixation on certification and advanced degrees will close achievement gaps” I believe that having all of those things certainly help a student get a better education, but it is not the determiner of whether or not they succeed in the class. This means that class size should not hold someone back from doing well either, although it may be easier for some students to have specific attention towards themselves. You can succeed wherever you are, and no matter your learning setting because there are many ways  that a student can reach out and get help one on one if they are struggling.

So, I don’t personally think that class size is an issue (maybe because most of my classes are over 300 people) but there certainly are people that have trouble with large classes. It all depends on the type of student that you are, if you are willing to sit in class and learn instead of being distracted by all of the different issue that a class can have (low budget, poor facilities, large amount of people) you will succeed no matter what.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/does-class-size-matter-research-reveals-surprises/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/15/most-dangerous-cities_n_6164864.html

http://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/blog/647-new-study-class-size-doesnt-matter

http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Well-in-School

http://www.aaeteachers.org

I don’t know about you, but I love shopping. Not only do I enjoy getting new articles of clothing and accessories, but I also enjoy the experience. The process of shopping, in my opinion, is an enjoyable way to spend your free time. I always
hated when my mother would drag me to the mall when I was a child and leave
with absolutely nothing. We would spend hours combing through the isles of Bloomingdales and other retail stores and walk out with the same thing that we walked in with, nothing. This used to frustrate me in my youth, but now that I am older I completely understand my mothers mindset of shopping not just for items, but also for pleasure and to get away from the stress of the real world for a short time.

The real question is, does shopping just purely for the experience actually relieve stress and provide an enjoyable experience? I know in my family, shopping is definitely a great way to pass time and get away from problems just for a couple of hours. But when other women were asked the same question, the results came back just as I thought they would. Going shopping for women really does help them cope with stress and anxiety. In this study, they found that “women were twice as likely as men to use retail therapy as a way to cope with stress (40 percent vs. 19 percent)” Like I mentioned before, when I was younger I did not appreciate the benefits of retail shopping so age could have effected this study along with other things such as financial situation and interests.

But, what about men? Im not trying to stereotype, but most men who are looking to relieve stress don’t typically turn to shopping with the girlies. So why does retail therapy help women so much, but actually do the opposite for men? According to doctors, a women’s brain is wired differently then men when it comes to ways of releasing stress and anxiety and it is all because of oxytocin. The “love” hormone oxytocin can actually cause stress or make a person become competitive and hostile in males.

This isn’t surprising because usually men dislike the entire process of shopping and typically it makes them more stressed just thinking about having to go and buy clothing for themselves and typically end up send their wives or mothers to do it for them. So retail shopping to relieve stress for women? Great! Retail shopping to relieve stress for men? Disaster.

For people that think that retail shopping is just an excuse for women to go shopping, the science is there to prove you wrong. The hormone called oxytocin reacts completely different in women’s bodies then it does in males. This hormone for women is released when you do enjoyable activities such as having sex or just hanging with friends. As you can see here, there are actual health benefits for women from the right amount of oxytocin that is released in your body. So “retail therapy” is an actual mechanism for coping with stress and th statistics are there to prove it.

In this article, it states “Psychologists have found that people tend to shop the most leading up to big life transitions.” Also, talked about in this article is how retail shopping can actually be dangerous to some that take it too far. Some people brains crave the endorphins that are released when shopping, which can be a problem especially if you aren’t a millionaire. Retail therapy can also be a defense mechanism for some people that can get out of hand if not monitored. Shopping provides happiness for a short amount of time because it allows the person to escape “the real world” and forget about their problems. There is nothing wrong with this once in a while, but if the spending becomes a financial problem, you are encouraged to get help for it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2557013/How-love-hormone-doesnt-live-Oxytocin-make-women-friendly-men-competitive.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/retail-therapy-shopping_n_3324972.html

http://rockyourhormones.com/science-behind-retail-therapy/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simple-thrifty-living/can-shopping-help-anxiety_b_5936748.html

The plan for basically every teenager in the country is grade school, high school, and college. That’s the plan that society has forced us into in the past fifteen or twenty years, and we follow it. When my parents were younger, a college education was an option, not a necessity. Times have changed so drastically since then, and now to barely make a living a college education is a must. Im not trying to boast, but my father does very well for himself and he didn’t even make it to his senior year of high school. Now a day, if you’re a high school drop out, plan on living in a box and working at McDonalds for the rest of your life.

According to this article, college was a privilege when our parents generation graduated high school and things are definitely “more complicated” now. Why is that? How come someone with a full high school education can’t pick up after
schooling is over and start to make a living for themselves? The answer is undecided because there are many sides you can take to this issue. There are many people that think that college is absolutely necessary in order to make a living. I take this side because not only is there data to back it, it just makes more sense. How do you expect to be a thriving human without having the knowledge on a specific field that you plan to have a career in?

There are other people who think that college is way too much money, and you don’t end up receiving the full benefits from it. They have come up with a list of jobs that you can have without a college degree in the modern day. Although there are some jobs that don’t need any schooling, most pathways in life require a set of skills and knowledge that you must learn and practice before entering that field.

Another thing that can affect your opinion on this topic is your personality and what your morals are. If you are fine with living with a constant need for money and no wiggle room, then college probably isn’t for you. Most people want to thrive and be successful later in life and I think basically everyone is always looking to make an extra buck, because who doesn’t love money? But, not everyone has that mindset which is completely fine, but in my opinion if you want to be comfortable in life with where you’re at, a college education can do nothing but help.

The data shows that there is a clear difference between people who have a college education and those who do not. So the question of “is a college education necessary?” remains unanswered and open forinterpretation because if you’re the type to not care about how much money you have, then getting a college education would be a waste of time because there are multiple jobs that require no schooling. But if you’re like me and want to succeed and live a comfortable lifestyle, then start studying!

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/how-necessary-is-a-college-education/?_r=1

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-by-without-a-college-degree-and-when-you-ne-1120356954

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/upshot/is-college-worth-it-clearly-new-data-say.html

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

Close your eyes and think about the first memory you ever had. Tough right? Most people’s response would probably be in kindergarten playing with crayons or when you were three years old and at the zoo on your daddy’s shoulders. You wouldn’t think of that one time where you were in your mom’s womb and you heard some sick beats. You are probably familiar with the controversial theory that babies that listen to Mozart or classical music in the womb end up being smarter when they come out. Personally, I am a skeptic to this theory, because honestly I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast this morning, let alone the sounds that I heard when I was cooking in my mom’s tummy.

So many studies have been done on this theory and there hasn’t been a strait consensus that has been made. Scientists are constantly going back and forth with different data that proves their view on the theory. In 1999, psychologist Chris Chabris performed a meta-analysis on 16 studies related to the Mozart effect to survey its overall effectiveness. He came up with the result that “The effect is only one and a half IQ points,” Some factors that could have effected this experiment would be lifestyle of the mother and genes that are shared with the baby from the parents, but the results seemed pretty clear.

But that still makes us think, if the result was only one and a half IQ points higher then a baby that hasn’t listened to Mozart in the womb, is the result actually an effect of the music or just a coincidence? The data that has been provided in this article is not strong enough to have a clear result of either: yes it does help, or no it does not help. Basically all of the experiments and data that you will find on this experiment will be shaky because no one has provided data where you can clearly see if listening to music in the womb will be beneficial in the long run. The only way that this theory could be proved is if you took the same genes from a mother and a father and made two different babies, while only letting one of them listen to classical music. This experiment will probably never take place because it would be unethical for the mother to have to go through that.

Others feel very strongly that it makes a difference in the brain of the child that is in the womb. The fact of them having a higher IQ still isn’t concrete, but listening to classical music in the womb apparently has many benefits for the fetus. It can be relaxing for the child and can expose them to music at an early age so that later on in life, they can appreciate the literature more. Because of that, maybe the child will grow up and have more of an interest in literature and music then if they weren’t exposed to music at all? Another benefit of doing this cannot only help the baby, but also the mother. Doing activities like listening to music with your baby and talking to them in the womb  can be a bonding experience for the mother and make them feel closer to their child.

So this leaves us questioning, does listening to classical music in the womb scientifically make the child smarter later in life? Or does this activity just provide a bonding experience for the mother and her unborn child? Until scientists find a way to conduct this experiment without being unethical, the answer to this theory is up for your interpretation!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-babies-ex/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Chabris

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/week-20/influences-on-the-womb.aspx

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unethical

This issue is probably one of the most talked about and controversial topics that is out there today. You either have a side that you feel strongly about or you have no idea what your opinion of it is. Abortion. We have heard the discussion a million times and the nation still hasn’t come to a consensus of what is right and wrong. Many have protested and researched for a solution to this constant battle of two opposing sides and after years, it continues. I honestly don’t know what side I am on because I believe in both side’s arguments and some of the things that they stand for. This can be somewhat explained and resolved using science and critical thinking so, lets go.

Should a fertilized egg be given legal personhood? So basically should a fetus have the same rights as a living human? The amount of articles and websites that are on this subject are endless, but most of them are saying the same thing. Most people believe that it is the women carrying the child’s choice to do whatever she wants with her body. Although lately, this mindset has been changed because of all of the attention that this subject is getting. More people are learning about this issue and staying strong to their opinion, or switching sides when more info was given to them.

According to the chart below, most women believed in “pro-choice” which means the women has the choice to do what she wants with her fetus. But as shown, this side has lost a lot of supporters in recent years and now more people are “pro-life” which means that the life of a fetus is an actual life and should be treated as such. So basically, if you get an abortion it is considered murder and you would be charged with such. There was a law that was looking to be passed recently in Mississippi called Initiative 26. This law stated, “Initiative 26, which would change the definition of “person” in the Mississippi state Constitution to “include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the equivalent thereof,”

I am unsure about this law because it really depends on each person’s individual situation. There are certain situations where I can see why people are “pro choice” such as the many reports of getting pregnant after being raped. I could never imagine the amount of suffering a woman would have to go through to have that baby not only physically, but mentally. This is why I am unsure about which side I take, because I do believe that a fetus is a life, but in certain situations I would completely understand why abortion would have to be considered.

This video really opened my eyes and made me question my beliefs in the issue. Unfortunately science can only inform us on the technical details of this issue and can’t determine a definite right or wrong answer because this is such a moral issue. Which side do you take?

http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/

http://www.alternet.org/story/152876/legal_rights_for_fertilized_eggs_how_a_terrifying_law_could_lead_to_jail-time_for_miscarriages,_birth_control_bans,_and_the_end_of_legal_abortion

http://www.pandys.org/articles/rapeandpregnancy.html

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1686729,00.html

Remember the last time you had a dream? When you wake up in a panic in the middle of the night it is usually from a bad dream. But do you ever wonder why those bad dreams happen? Some people think that dreams are based off of things that happen during the day or something that is bothering you in your subconscious. I think dreams are so interesting and fascinating because they don’t make sense. The fact that we have our own little world going on in our head as soon as we fall asleep is fascinating to me. But even though it is all whimsical and fun, there is a scientific reason behind dreams that explains why we have the dreams that we do.

“Your limbic system (hippocampus and fornix––the wormy tangle all up in the middle of your brain) is the primary control center for your emotions, and it becomes especially active during your dreams.” (Sanford) This explains why there are many emotions during dreams and it can deal with danger. You can also dream during “non-rem” sleep. REM sleep is the stage closest to waking, though, so you’re more likely to remember REM dreams. The different stages of sleep will result in different types of dreams. In one study, a lab-induced “pins and needles” sensation manifested as a problematic shoe fitting in the subject’s dream, while more intense pain can produce nightmares wherein the dreamer tries to escape the source of their pain, literally and metaphorically.

Its crazy to think that dreams have a logical explanation behind them and it makes understanding why nightmares occur much easier. Nightmares tend to occur in the last third of the night when REM sleep is the strongest. Nightmares in adults can be spontaneous, but are generally triggered by psychological factors like anxiety and depression. Many affects from nightmares can occur that include sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome which can cause people to experience chronic nightmares.

There is also a religious aspect related to dreams. “Early civilizations thought of dreams as a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods” (Van Der Linden). This religious aspect relates to the fact of the theory that dreams have a prophetic meaning behind them. Dreams are a crazy thing to think about because as we sleep we basically watch a movie in our heads

Dreams are also strongly connected to our memories. Dreams can twist a memory into a completely new memory. Memories are always in our minds, therefore this can be a reason that we dream of old memories. But also with memories there comes the phenomenon of deja vu. Personally I have dreamt about something and months later it has actually happened. Dreams are figments of our imagination of our bottomless minds.

Everyone has different opinions when it comes to marijuana and its recreational use. Some states have it legalized and others do not, but everyone that has tried this drug knows what comes after smoking it. This drug makes people that use it experience this rush of hunger some time after, better known as the “munchies.” What causes this momentary hunger? Marijuana has the ability to strengthen some of our senses when at the same time it slows some of them down. For example, people appear to be dazed and motionless, but when it comes to food, our sense of smell gets multiplied so everything seems more appetizing.

There have been many scientific studies to prove the munchies theory. For example, scientists have tested two mice, one high and one not, and the result was that the high mouse ate more compared to his counterpart and you can see that experiment here. Scientists say, “promote food intake in fasted mice by increasing odor detection.” So it’s our brains telling us that the smell from normal food is 10x greater than what it should be. Therefore, foods we normally wouldn’t eat regularly look, smell and taste that much better.

THC in marijuana is responsible for the increase in appetite. The effects of the drug go straight to the part of your brain where you senses are controlled. Have you ever heard the saying, when you lose one of your senses, the other four become stronger? Well, this sort of thing applies to the munchies from marijuana. According to this article, from getting “high,” your motions, reactions, speech, though process, sight are all slowed down but your sense for smell is exemplified. When getting a small whiff of food regardless of what it is, you’ll get a craving for it. Take the food you hate the most, for example brussel sprouts. If that was the first food you smelt when under the influence, you’d be immediately attracted to it. That’s why people with the munchies eat so many different foods, because they either smell something or get a craving for it.

Majority of the time, when you have munchies, you’re initially attracted to sweets. Everyone likes sweets and we see it as a comfort food. Especially when in a different state of mind, all you want to do is return to comfort. But munchies can be a dangerous thing to those who smoke because nobody ever chooses a salad for his or her munchies snack. As I stated before, we’d rather something sweet, sugary so the amount of harm that is doing to your body can be way worse than the drug itself.

People are attracted to food when under the influence because of the THC that gets put in our brain because it basically controls us and tells us to get food. The first thing you smell/see is the snack you want and our sense of smell is amplified where we can smell things more distinctly. Our taste buds aren’t factored in to this but because our smell is much stronger, we think the taste is better as well. Its like when your sick and you have a stuffy nose and when you try to eat you can barely taste anything. Because our smell is enhanced, we think our “taste” is also enhanced and that’s why food tastes so good when your high.

Remember that time you were at the mall and you saw a familiar face but couldn’t put a name to their face? Well this blog will help to show that this instance that happens often is related to the part of our brain that sees. Our brains were designed to have us learn visually. This aspect relates to the fact that sometimes we can’t remember a name we briefly heard once, instead we just see a face that is recognizable. Everyone has been in that awkward situation, especially being a freshman at Penn State, where you meet someone new and don’t remember their name five minutes into the conversation.

As humans we tend to forget things here and there and that’s the case with putting a name to a face. Names tend not to stick in our brains because when we see a face, we evaluate other things affiliated with that person. According to  this article
, we first evaluate “physical features, gender, age, ethnicity, mood, attractiveness, and more” (Hadhazy). We do not evaluate a name, we only hear a name. According to E. Clea Warburton “our brain has got more cortex devoted to processing visual information compared to that from our other senses. We are programmed to be encoding and retrieving visual information much more so than auditory information”

Remembering a name and a face are two separate things. When hearing a name, we do not have a chance to evaluate or see it physically to help us remember. Remembering a face is not related to the length of time that we see that face, it is “based on the cognitive process occurring at that time,” which supports the claim that humans “…are visual creatures” (Warburton) which you can see in this book. This has many alarming statistics on why this awkward encounter happens so often. Since humans are visual creatures, this shows how remembering a name sometimes can be too much for our minds to remember!

In our brain there is a part that is “dedicated to recognizing faces – called the Fusiform Face Area- positioned in the part of the brain called the Temporal Lobe…” (Stafford). This is why many of us are better at remembering faces than we are names. There even is a theory that remembering faces is inherited so that means some families are all bad at recognizing faces. Although we have a region in our brain dedicated to remembering and recognizing faces, we don’t have a  region to remember names. As seen in this article, “What we do have are brain regions dedicated to remembering words – and names are special examples of words” (Stafford). The conclusion of all this is that our brains are designed to remembering faces; so next time you don’t remember someone’s name, don’t worry we’re all human!

Hi everyone! My name is Taylor D’Anna and i am from a small town in New Jersey called East Hanover. I am an only child but I have a dog named coco that fills that void because she always keeps me entertained. Throughout high school, I was very involved in the school community and outside of school also. I was captain of the varsity cheerleading team at my school and was on the pep rally committee for 2 years. I also did competitive cheerleading and volunteered in countless organizations, such as The Valerie Fund, because I was very involved with Girl Scouts. Out of all of the activities I participate in, cheerleading is the one that has my heart. I have loved it ever since I was a little kid, and one day I was offered to coach a level 1 team at a brand new gym. Of coarse I jumped on the opportunity, and fell completely in love with coaching. So, the reason why my major is not in the science field is because I want to own my own cheer gym someday, so I am majoring in business management. I am taking this coarse because it doesn’t seem to be the plain and boring science that I was used to in high school. It discusses interesting topics and events that can be related back to everyday life, so I can’t wait for the semester to start up!

Here is a picture of me and another coach with one of the girls that I have been coaching for 4 years holding first place trophy that they won at the Six Flags Competition.