Formal Blog #1

Before I was in this class I thought Psychology dealt just the way we think. When I think of Psychology I think of shrinks asking questions about how you feel. Psychiatrists help you to determine your feelings and the way you think or act towards certain things. After reading chapter one, I realized that Psychology is not just how you think and feel, but it is also why we think or feel these things. Psychology helps with the inner workings of your brain and helps to explain why we think and feel the way we do towards certain things.

Psychology affects my life greatly. We all use psychology to determine why we feel the way we do. If we are confused about something, you must think about why you are confused. Determining why you are confused deals with psychology. Maybe there is something around you that is making you confused. Whether it is your social life, or school work; you use psychology to determine what it is. People tend to feed of other people's energy. Psychology helps us to determine that.

One thing I learned from my reading is that psychology has three different levels of analysis that determine why we act the way we do. These are 1) Biological Influences which deal with the way our moods are depending on family history and our genes. 2) Psychological Influences deal with our fears that are learned along with the different responses we have towards these fears. and 3) Social-Cultural Influences deal with the influences our friends have on our moods. Such as if one of your friends is crabby, you have more of a tendency to be crabby.

Another thing I learned is the big historic issue which is the nature-nurture issue. Do our traits deal with the way our family's traits were? Does the way we think and feel come from our genes, or from the people around us? I personally believe it is a little bit of both. If you have friends that are always sad, or you don't have any friends at all; then you will have more of a tendency to be depressed and sad. If you have friends that are always happy, then you will be a happier person.