Final Learning Reflection Blog

Overview

During the first module we researched all the different types of psychology, and also wrote personal blogs about ourselves. It was very interesting reading everybody's personal blogs and getting to know them. Not only did I learn a little about their personal lives, but I learned a little something about them just by their blog layout. Also, I really enjoyed learning about all the different types of psychology. The one that I found most interesting was Sports Psychology since I plan on being a Physical Therapist. Sports psychology would be the best fit for me to study, with the career path I've chosen.

In Module 2 we went over the brain, sensation, and perception. My favorite part of this module was learning about the brain. I wrote my blog over all the lobes of the brain and their functions. The human brain is just so interesting to me, and I really enjoyed researching into detail about it. With sensation and perception I enjoyed looking at all the optical illusions, and interesting experiment videos.

The third module was all about Developmental Psychology and personality. I specifically enjoyed Developmental Psychology, because it was interesting learning all the different stages of life and what defines them. For personality I researched into depth about Sigmund Freud's theories on personality. For example, the Personality Structure Theory and the Psychoanalytic Theory.

Module 4 was all about memory and learning. The most interesting thing to me was Pavlov's experiment with the dog learning. After studying this, I realized that this was a huge breakthrough when it came to actually training dogs. I also really enjoyed researching into the concept of memory. Specifically memory disorders.

The fifth module was about Motivations, Emotions, and Social Psychology. I really loved this module because I got to tell my mothers story about her living with Multiple Sclerosis. Many people do not know how brutal this disease is, and how it can brutally affect someones mental health. 

Module 6 was very interesting because it was all about Psychological Disorders and Therapy. I really loved this module as well because it was interesting learning the different types of therapy and psychological disorders. I also loved telling my sisters story about her disorders and the therapy she went through. 

The seventh and final module was all about positive psychology. I enjoyed all the activities we did in class, and even the experiential assignment. Personally, I am not the most positive person. Since this module I told myself I will use all the things we did to make myself be less negative. 

Standouts

The last three tasks really stood out the most to me. I loved telling my personal experiences with my family and their stories. I think that stories like this, people tend to be embarrassed by, but in reality shouldn't be. In fact more stories like those need to be shared. They can really help people understand what they go through, or even help them figure out whats wrong with them. Lastly, positive psychology had a deeper impact on me than everything else. I worked really hard on trying to stay positive, and seeing the "light" in darker situations. Because I can be so negative I can be bitter and even mean sometimes. I have wanted to change my negativity for some time now so the experiential task I did, which was writing down three good things every day, really helped me kickstart my change. I am hoping I will continue to try my hardest to be more positive, and because of this I will always remember this module in particular. 

The most interesting student led activity was the positive psychology one. My group got to go around the campus and head out candy. This was very fun because we got to make peoples day, and put a smile on their face. 

My favorite blog posts are a tie between the psych story and therapy. I really enjoyed adding a little personal touch to my blog and including my families struggles. They really enjoyed me telling their story, and they agreed that this was a great thing to do for class. My family has been affected directly by mental health and therapy, so being able to truthfully explain how it affected them was amazing.

The experiential task that stood out to me the most was False memory. In this task I read out word lists to both of my friends, and they were supposed to write down as many words as they could remember. It was interesting to see how many they could remember, but they also wrote down a few words that were not on the list, but fit the categories on the list. It was a very fun task to do, my friends really enjoyed it. They also really enjoyed learning about the concept of false memory. This task caused a lot of laughs, and it was very memorable. 

Classroom Lectures & Videos

The most insightful class meetings to me where when we had the therapy dogs come in with their owners and talk. One reason is because I am a major dog person, and the fact that they brought a little puppy to run around the room. But besides that, I really enjoyed learning about that because it made me realize that animals can significantly help humans. After that class period, I researched even more and I realized that I could use dogs for Physical Therapy.

The Ted Talks and reading were very helpful to me. It made things easier to research, and it also showed different ideas for each topic. One specific video that stood out to me was The Rubber Hand Illusion. This was very interesting to me because I wrote about it in my it in my sensation and perception blog. It was really interesting how to see first hand how the brain perceives things, and it was also funny seeing peoples reactions. 

My favorite blogger comments came from the comments on my blog about my sisters mental health story. They really made me feel good about telling her story. At first I was skeptical on telling her story because she is still uncomfortable with the whole situation, then seeing their comments on it really made her day. Those comments made her feel good about herself.  

Personal & Professional Life

The topic of positive psychology stood out to me the most. For seven days straight I sat down before I went to bed and wrote down three positive things that happened to me that day. Even when I had the worst day, it made me feel a whole lot better. This task help me see more than one aspect to a situation, and even lifted up my mood. I hope that I will be able to keep up seeing the more positive things in life instead of the negative things. 

The topic that stood out the most during my professional life is whenever the therapy dogs came to class. This made me see a whole different aspect of Physical Therapy. It made me see how dogs can have a big impact on humans. I realized that I can use dogs to assist in physical therapy. It is just an idea, but I love dogs so much that this would make me very happy. 

M7 Experiential Task: Positive Psychology

Reflection

I really enjoyed doing this task for the past seven days. I think it really helped me get through the week. Some days were not the best, but I also had some good days. Instead of just noticing all the negative things that happened in my day, this made me appreciate the little positive things each day. For my good days, it just made my day even better being able to reflect on it in this way.  This allowed me to take a step back and realize that my days could have been worse. I tend to be a very negative person, and I know that is something I need to work on. This task helped me, and I may try to continue to do this at least a few times a week. Overall, this proved to me that some methods with positive psychology really make a difference! 

M6 Experiential Task: Psychological Disorders & Therapy

My family has never been one to take up counseling. They like to bottle things up, and I must admit I am a little guilty of this as well. A few years ago there was a traumatizing situation in my sisters life, and it broke the bottle inside of her and all emotions came out at once. Even though she ended up on the right side of the situation, she had to live with the affects and in constant fear of that trauma. I saw my sisters demons appear suddenly at the age of 28, and I saw her completely broken down for over a year. Now she has become significantly better with her mental health. She still struggles, but she is definitely back to the sister and daughter we used to know. This is her story.

My sister became extremely depressed, had severe anxiety, and even turned to alcohol to try to make herself feel better. She lost over 40 pounds from depression. Before the was on average weighing about 130 and she jumped down to 90 pounds. She was at an all time low. She even turned against some of us family members, and completely shut us out. I was the only one who was actually there for her anymore. When I realized she needed more than just my help, I told her to think about counseling. I told her I wouldn't tell anyone else, that just me and her husband would know about the counseling. She would have to drive about an hour and fifteen minutes to San Angelo twice a week for this. I helped baby sit my nephew on these days until her husband got off of work.

My sister started her mental health journey. She went to 8 months of counseling. The entire family started to see improvement after about 4 months. She wasn't completely back to herself, but she came around more and she was opening up to us again. However, she still couldn't put down the alcohol. She went out with her friends one night and she decided to drink and drive. She ended up being in a horrible car accident, and committing several hit and runs. She is lucky to be alive. It was this moment, when she finally realized she wanted to actually get better herself. She put her whole heart into it. She started going to AA meetings, and she started taking up activities on her own time to keep her busy, and still continued her counseling.

She finally decided to tell the entire family about everything that went on in her mind, and about the counseling. Both of us were nervous about how our family would react to it, and to our surprise they all listened and supported her entirely. This was another key moment in her journey that really helped her get through everything. The amount of support and love we showed her was so wonderful. She will tell you today that counseling saved her life.

After talking to my sister about all of this here is what she said "At first I thought counseling was for crazy people. But the reality of it is that bottling up your emotions and feelings can be dangerous, and counseling can save lives. Without it I would have truly fallen off the deep end." She still continues to struggle with anxiety, but she no longer suffers from depression, and she has gained all her weight back that she lost. Since she has gotten better, she has not even touched alcohol. We are all very proud of her, and we continue to remind her of how strong she is and how much we love her.

Due to the fact that she is still uncomfortable about her story she asked me not to put any pictures of her, a video of her, and to not use her name. However, she was excited to share her story and spread mental health awareness. 

Sources:

If you are interested in learning about certain disorders or more about mental health here are a few websites you can visit!

https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-conditions

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health

Psych Story

I don't have a long story to tell you, because my mother has only lived with Multiple Sclerosis for several years now. But I can definitely tell you how brutal this neurological disease is, and how horrible it affects the human body from my mothers perspective.

So imagine a girl and her mother walking through the main aisle of Walmart, just like anyone else. Okay, now imagine a drunk woman walking down the main aisle of Walmart. Everyone is staring rudely, even whispering. Only, my mother definitely isn't drunk. Multiple Sclerosis eats away the body's nerve endings, and causes loss of function in the body. For example, my mom walks like a drunk person. These are even her own words when she explains to people. She always says "I promise I have not been drinking, I just walk like I have been." Not only that she can't walk for long periods of time before her legs go numb and she can't feel them.

She also has problems remembering, because the disease is affecting her brain activity as well. It affects everything she does. She no longer has 100% of her physical and cognitive abilities. There was a time where nobody had any idea what was wrong with her, including the doctors. She thought it was all in her head. I saw my mother extremely depressed, and even suicidal. It was like she went from being Supermom to nothing, in her mind. In such a short period of time too.

Finally we found out what was wrong with her, now she is on medicine and it helps prevent the fast process. There is no cure, but it slows everything down. My mother realized that she cannot let MS tear her down. Although she has a lot of trouble with everyday things, she gets them done at her own pace. She picks herself back up when she falls, with the help of our family as well.

Sooner or later she will not be able to do anything on her own, but like she always says "I am blessed to live another day, and I have to live each day like it is my last." We are very proud of her, and she is still Supermom to us.

If you are interested in finding out more about Multiple Sclerosis, this link will take you to a very useful website.

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS

Sources:

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS

False Memory & Serial-Position Effect: M4 Experiential Task

Experiment

My two volunteers for this experiment were Nicole Bloomer, one of my best-friends, and Kylee Dodson, my roommate who is also one of my best-friends. Nicole is actually a Psychology major and she was excited to perform this task. I gave Kylee and Nicole a piece of paper and a pencil so they could write down as many words they could remember from the lists. I read the first list slowly and when I finished they began to write. Nicole only remembered five words out of 14. Kylee remembered eight words out of 14. Then I began to read the words off of the 2nd list and they began to write. This time Nicole remembered 11 out of 27 words. Kylee remembered 12 out of 27 words. I asked both of them why they remembered more words from this list, even though it is longer then the first one. They both agreed that the first list were words they didn't really feel were that important to them. They also agreed that the second list they could associate with the words more because they were about the medical field, and they both feel that the medical field is very important. I asked both of them if they remembered the word "Aardvark" from the first list. They both said no, and they looked at me like I was crazy. They were both right because the word was not on the list. Then I asked if they remembered the word "needle." Both said no, but now that I mentioned it they remembered the word. I told them after that I did not say the word needle. They were both surprised and they agreed that needle could easily have been in the first list because it goes in the same category as the other words, so that's why they thought I read it out loud. I then asked if they remembered the words "pain" and "thread" which were the first and last words of the first list. They both remembered the words and they said they remembered it because it was the first and last words I said. Then I asked if they remembered the words "point" and "sharp" and they both said no. These words were directly in the middle of the list. By looking at their list's I saw that they remembered the first few words and the last few words from both lists. I asked them if they remembered the word "doctor" from the second list. Nicole said she remembered the word and wrote it down. I explained to her that doctor wasn't on the list, and she said it could have easily fit in the second lists category of words. Then I asked if they remembered the word "drive-in" and they both said no. Which that word was not on the list.

What They Learned

I began to explain the concept of false memory to both of them. I even told them the story that Dr. Selvaraj told us about the boy who was kidnapped when he was little from his stroller, but turned out that he never got kidnapped at all. They were both very shocked and appalled. I also explained to them some of the techniques people use to remember things. For example, how they associated the
categories of words in the list. They seemed very interested in learning about this.

Both Kylee and Nicole said that they enjoyed this experiment and learning about memory. Nicole was especially interested since she is a psychology major herself. They said they give this experiment a thumbs up!

Memory

Memory is the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc. or recalling or recognizing previous experiences. Most of us don't realize how important memory is to our everyday life. Without it we as humans couldn't be able to function.
We have both short term memory, which is usually less important things, and we have long term memory, which is where we have stored things to remember the rest of our lives.

Thoughts on Improving Memory-Tests & Strategies

There are many ways that we can help improve our memory. For example, by making up rhymes, using symbols, or even using humor. I think it is very important to want to improve your memory. With age a person's memory begins to decay, some faster than others. Even if a person doesn't have Alzheimers or Dementia, a person's memory still gradually gets worse. Using these techniques and tools in following link can help you slow down the process!

https://www.mindtools.com/memory.html

Thoughts on Memory Related Disorders & Forgetting

Often times memory disorders can result from neurological damage, such as concussions. There are also cases that are genetic which are called Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is generally diagnosed around the age of 65. It is a progressive, degenerative, and even fatal disease. The usual symptom of Alzheimers is often forgetting long term memories, such as a past experience or even forgetting who a person is when they look in the mirror. Another symptom includes is not being able to have short term memory. 

Personally, I have had personal experiences with Alzheimer's. My great grandmother had Alzheimer's really bad. I was a child, but I remember that my parents always had to introduce her to me, because she didn't remember who I was, even though I might have just seen her minutes before. Sadly, my grandpa's memory is deteriorating from it as well. His memory isn't very bad yet, but I know with time there is no avoiding it. 

Sources:

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/memory?s=t

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/memory

https://www.mindtools.com/memory.html

http://www.human-memory.net/disorders_alzheimers.html

Learning

The definition for learning in the world of psychology is the modification of behavior through practice, training, or experience. There are 3 types of learning in the field of behavioral psychology: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Classical Conditioning

This type of learning is in which an association is made between a neutral stimulus and a stimulus that evokes a response. Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment to see how much the dog would salivate when it came to food. The smell of food would make the dog salivate so this was the neutral stimulus. Then later he paired the sound of the bell with the food. At first the bell had no effect, but the dog began to learn that the sound of the bell signaled food. So then the bell produced a response, which was salivation. 

Operant Conditioning

This is the process in which the probability of the response occurring is either decreased or increased due to punishment, or reinforcement. Edward Thorndike was the first to study this and later B.F. Skinner. They discussed that reinforcement led to increases of behaviors and punishment led to decreases in behaviors.

Observational Learning

The process in which learning occurs from observing or the imitation of others. There are four important things that are vital to effective observational learning: attention, motor skills, motivation, and memory. Albert Bandura was the first to suggest this process. Bandura conducted the "Bobo Doll" experiment. First he showed an adult using violence on the doll. Later he showed the children and based on what they saw from the adults they began to express violence towards the doll. 

Personal Learning

I think the type of learning that stood out to me the most was observational learning. I think this is one of the most understood ways to learn. I believe this is very important when it comes to raising a child. Children are constantly observing the world around them whether they know it or not, so it is natural for them to imitate certain actions, whether they are good or bad. 

Sources

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/learning?s=t

https://www.verywellmind.com/learning-study-guide-2795698

Personality: Character Study

Background Information

For this task I decided to analyze my roommate/best friend. Her name is Kylee Dodson, and she is a freshman here at Hardin-Simmons University. Kylee is majoring in business, and she hopes to continue her family business. We became friends through our First Year Seminar last semester, and we decided to become roommates this semester. Kylee is a very sweet, emotional, and funny person. She can be crazy at times, and she just loves to have fun. I have known Kylee long enough to be able to tell ya'll some of her personality traits, but we'll let the 16 Personalities Test tell you the rest!

16 Personalities Test

I chose this personality test because it is so thorough and extremely accurate. This test assess the person on energy, mind, tactics, nature, and identity. This test will also list strengths, weaknesses, parenting styles, relationship dynamics, and even famous people with the same personality type as you! 

I watched Kylee take this personality test. Her results were Campaigner or ENFP-T, which stands for extraverted, intuitive, feeling, prospecting, and turbulent. We were not surprised to find out that our predictions were for the most part correct. It was even more awesome to find out that her campaigner personality is the same as Robert Downey Jr., Will Smith, and Robin William's personality! 

Kylee is a very independent person, who is organized and doesn't always like the spotlight on her. She is very ambitious and she is a good people person. Her strengths include curiosity, observant, energetic and enthusiastic, excellent communicator, knows how to relax, and very popular and friendly. Her weaknesses are poor practical skills, finds it difficult to focus, overthinks things, gets stressed easily, highly emotional, and is independent to a fault. 

It was interesting to hear that Kylee learned some new stuff about herself while taking this test. She learned that she has difficulty focusing and that she communicates well with others. It was also interesting to see that some of my predictions were more accurate than hers. It proved that sometimes a person does not always realize the more obvious things about oneself, but others can see it plain as day. 

Sources:

https://www.16personalities.com

Personality Assessment

Personality

Personality is the unique and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Each person's personality is unique to the person themselves. There are many experiences, factors, and reasons that makes someones personality unique. 

Sigmund Freud's Theories

 Personality Structure Theory: 3 Main Points

Id- The unconscious component of personality that operates irrationally and acts on the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle is seeking immediate gratification.

Ego- The rational, decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle. The reality principle seeks to delay the gratification of the id's impulses until appropriate outlets can be found. 

Superego- This represents internalization of society's standards, morals, and values; The conscience or moral personality component that incorporates parental and societal standards.

Psychoanalytic Theory: The mind contains 3 levels of consciousness & awareness.

Conscious- The thoughts or motives that a person is currently aware of or is remembering.

Preconscious- Freud's term for thoughts, motives, or memories that exist just beneath the surface of awareness and can be called to consciousness when necessary. 

Unconscious- Freud's term for part of the psych that stores repressed urges or primitive impulses.

Assessment

Personality tests are methods used to assess a person's individual, unique personality. Most personality tests are in the form of questionnaires. 

I decided to take the Eysenck Personality Test. Hans Eysenck, through research statistical analysis determined that personality is composed of three elements: Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism. Extraverts are usually known for being loud and outgoing. The opposite of this would be an introvert. Neuroticism has to do with emotional instability. Psychoticism has to do with a persons normality. 

My results for the test were:

Extraversion (sociability) 50%- The results were medium which suggests that I am moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable, and interacting.

Neuroticism (emotionality) 49%- The results were medium which suggests I am moderately worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious.

Psychoticism (rebelliousness) 38%- The results were moderately low which suggests I am, at times, overly kind natured, trusting, and helpful at the expense of my own individual development.

Visit this link if you would like to take this personality test!
http://similarminds.com/eysenck.html

My Thoughts 

I would definitely say that my test results are highly accurate. I am shy at times, but I will talk if someone else talks to me first. Also, I am not afraid to interact with other people. At times I can be very insecure, and highly emotional. There are also times when I am too nice and trusting. At the same time I really like to help people when I can. 

Sources

https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-theories.html

https://study.com/academy/lesson/hans-jurgen-eysenck-personality-theory-lesson-quiz.html

http://similarminds.com/eysenck.html

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology is the study of the changes of human behaviour in all stages of life. The stages of life are prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.

Stages of Life

Prenatal: Conception-Birth

Infancy: Birth-24 months

Early Childhood: 3-5 years old

Middle/Late Childhood: 6-11 years old

Adolescence: 12-21 years old

Early Adulthood: 20s & 30s

Middle Adulthood: 40s & 50s

Late Adulthood: 60s-Death

Discussion Questions:

"The Developing Parent" by Marissa L. Diehner

1. Reflect on the way you were raised. Consider the parenting behaviors (eg., rules, discipline strategies, warmth, and support) used in your household when you were a child. Why do you think you parents behaved this way? How do these factors fit with the influences on parenting described here? Provide specific examples of multiple influences on parenting. 

Response: My parents raised me to be very independent. When I was little I lived on a ranch, so they couldn't always do everything for me because they were out working. I can't say I got into much trouble as a child, so I cannot remember much punishment. I can definitely say I was way closer to my dad than my mom. I went everywhere and did everything with him, and he has always been my biggest supporter in everything. My mom was more of a stern parent. I never broke her rules because I was afraid to. 

3. What type of parent do you envision yourself becoming? If you are a parent, how do you parent your child/children? How do you think this is similar to or different than the way you were raised? What influences exist in your life that will make you parent differently from your own parents?

Response: I think the type of parent I would be would be very similar to my mom. I would be kind of stern, and I would make sure they know right from wrong, and of course the consequences for doing wrong. However, I would be closer with my child/children, and I would let them know they can talk to me about anything. My mother had a hard time being close to me. Since I lived on a ranch the first 5 years of my life, I did not get to interact much with other children. I know this is not my parents fault, and I am not mad at them for it. However, I would make sure to have my child around other children. I am kind of an introvert and not much of a people person. I want my children to develop people skills early on. 

"Attachment Through the Life Course" by R. Chris Fraley

1. What kind of relationship did you have with your parents or primary caregivers when you were young? Do you think that had any bearing on the way you related to others (e.g., friends, relationship partners) as you grew older?

Response: As a child I was way more closer to my dad than my mom. This wasn't a bad thing it was just my mother and I did not have much in common. I was very energetic and active just like my dad was. My mother was more on the calm and subtle side. I cannot say that this impacted me negatively at all. I have had good friendships and even relationships.

4. Some people, despite reporting insecure relationships with their parents, report secure, well-functioning relationships with their spouses. What kinds of experiences do you think might enable someone to develop a secure relationship with their partners despite having an insecure relationship with other central figures in their lives?

Response: I believe that people who did not have secure relationships with their parents use their experiences and try to avoid being like them as much as possible. They work extra hard to have secure relationships with other people. They take their insecure experiences and make it a positive impact instead of negative. 

Sources: 

http://nobaproject.com/modules/attachment-through-the-life-course

http://nobaproject.com/modules/the-developing-parent

Sensation & Perception

What is Sensation?

Sensation is the physical process of stimuli through sensory organs. We as people have 5 senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. When most people think of sensation they mainly think of the texture of something. However, sensations also include the other senses as well. 

What is Perception?

Perception is the psychological processing of and interpreting and using the information from the sensory organs. For example, what color is this dress?

Do you see white and gold? Or blue and black? I see that the dress is white and gold, but after reading the article, "The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress," by Adam Rogers, I know that the dress is in fact blue and orange. Everyone's brain perceives this picture differently, due to the way your brain sees the light in the background of the picture.

Rubber Hand Illusion

In the video The Rubber Hand Illusion, it explores the idea of seeing is believing. The man conducting the experiment covers the persons arm with a sheet and placing a rubbing hand underneath the sheet so that person can see the hand. The person puts their real hand on the other side of a barrier so they cannot see it. The conductor starts to rub both the rubber hand and the real hand with a brush simultaneously, while the person can only see him rubbing the rubber hand. After awhile the persons brain starts to perceive that the rubber hand is actually their own. Then the conductor grabs a hammer and hits the rubber hand and it startles the person. Then they realize that wasn't their real hand. The brain interprets the sight of the conductor rubbing the rubber hand and the feeling of the conductor rubbing the actual hand, and starts the perceive the two as one.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk

https://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/

Brain & Behavior: The Lobes of the Brain

The human brain consists of 4 parts scientist call lobes. There is the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. All lobes work together when it comes to certain functions, and damage to any of the lobes can cause drastic changes in behavior, interpretation, and other everyday things we don't even think about. Visit this website with the link down below for a general overview of the lobes of the brain!

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

Frontal Lobe

The frontal lobe is the front most lobe of the brain. It is where all the "higher" thinking occurs. 

Some of the main functions are motor control, emotions, judgement, and problem solving. However, there are many more functions! Damage to the frontal lobe can affect the way you socialize with people, attentiveness, and even sexual habits. Damage can also result in increase risk taking due to the fact that the frontal lobe is associated with reasoning. 

Temporal Lobe

The temporal lobe is located on the side of the head around the ear. The primary auditory cortex is located in the temporal lobe. It is because of this that one of the main functions is hearing. Other functions include the formation memory, language, and learning.

Damage to the temporal lobe can affect a person's memory, understanding of speech, and language skills.  

Parietal Lobe

The parietal lobe is located directly behind the frontal lobe. This part of the brain is vital to the processing of the body's senses. The main function of the parietal lobe is to interpret sensory information. It is also responsible for cognition, touch and sensation, movement and coordination, visual perception, reading and writing, and even mathematical skills. The somatosensory cortex is in this portion of the brain.

Occipital Lobe

The occipital lobe is located directly at the back of the brain. The primary visual cortex is located in this lobe. Its' exclusive responsibility is vision. Another important thing to know about the occipital lobe is that it directly works with the other lobes of the brain. Damages to the occipital lobe can cause damage to your vision, the ability to identify colors, and even some trouble recognizing certain words. 

Sources: 

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-anatomy-of-the-brain-2794895

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

About My Interest In Psychology

The branch of Psychology that most interests me is Sports Psychology. Sports Psychology uses psychological skills and knowledge to insure an athletes health and maximize their performance. It also includes the study of social and developmental aspects that come with participating in sports, and systemic issues the athlete may endure. Other topics studied within sports psychology are techniques and mental skills when training, exercise physiology, sports medicine, and motor learning. Sports Psychology requires a doctoral degree in a primary area of psychology and license in psychology. Sports Psychologists can limit themselves to working with a dedicated athlete, they can work with anyone who wants to improve physical fitness, work with a recovering athlete, as well as entertainers or anything related to exercise or physical activity. Some prominent sports psychologists are Coleman Griffith, Dr. Alan Goldberg, and Dr. John F. Murray. Sports have always been a huge part of my life. Since 9 years old I have played select softball, which means I traveled and played tournaments on my own time. Competing and dedicating my time to softball helped me learn discipline, hard work, and to keep a strong mindset. I think Sports Psychology is right for me because I would love to help and encourage people. I am very good at staying positive and helping people through rough times.

Sources:
http://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/sports.aspx
https://www.learnpsychology.org/sports-psychology/
https://www.psychologyschoolguide.net/blog/famous-sports-psychologists/

About Me

My name is Kamryn Lee Lozano. I am from Ozona, Texas which is a little town off of Interstate 10. It is located in west Texas and the towns population is about 3,000. I am a small town girl so moving to a bigger town like Abilene was a bit of a change for me, but I cannot say that I don't enjoy the change! I am majoring in Exercise Science, with the hopes of pursuing Physical Therapy. I love to play sports, event though I am not playing any sports here at Hardin Simmons. I love to play basketball and softball. Softball has always been my favorite. I have been playing softball since I can remember. I love being active and doing hands on activities. These are partially the reasons why I chose Exercise Science and Physical Therapy. Not going to lie, I can be a very shy person. Also, I am not much of a people person. Once I get to know someone, I am very crazy, funny, loud, and sometimes a little weird. I love to have fun and always laugh. I am probably one of the most honest person you will ever meet. If you ask, I will always tell you the truth or my thoughts, but only if you ask. I love to spend time with family and friends. I am always game to try new things. I would also consider to myself to be an adrenaline "junkie." I love to ride rollercoasters, and do crazy things that some people consider as life threatening. I am very clumsy, and have bad luck. I always try to stay positive and look at the bright side of things. My favorite types of food are Italian, Chinese, and Seafood. My all time favorite foods are Pizza and Spaghetti. My favorite color is blue, and that includes any shade of blue. I like to compare myself to a squirrel, because I am super random and my thoughts are all over the place. Plus, squirrels are just fascinating. I absolutely adore dogs, but also animals in general. Overall, I am a very happy, blunt, and nice person. Some people say I look mean, but I promise that I am not!