The Fear of Conformity

We don't even realize we do it. We aren't conscious of it when it is happening. But now that it has been pointed out, now that we have learned all about it, I understand that we conform to social norms more often than not. Some conformations are not as recurrent as others, but there is one that I constantly find myself doing. Groupthink is prevalent in my life. When I work in a group with other students, I often find myself agreeing to their ideas, even though I find them completely moronic. I don't do this because I find value in those ideas, I do it because I want to maintain the harmony within the group. I do it because I think a happy group is a more efficient group. When everyone feels they are contributing, they feel a sense of harmony. They will work harder and better with others. So, you can't just shoot down every stupid idea that you come across. At times, you must concede your standards and bite the bullet. It's just the way of things, there isn't much we can do about it.

Deuces y'all.

crime and punishment

the more i read and still the more i think about this chapter the less i find it right for us to punish people for crimes. to me, this chapter is saying that we are basically all products of our situations and biological predispositions. this means that we do not really have the free will to make decisions even though we might think we do. we are just chemicals and impulses that would are set off because of who we are the experiences we encounter. and if we do not control our actions how can we be punished for them? so, this class has fully convinced me that jails are immoral. in their place we should have correctional facilities. places that teach these so called criminals what society wants from them. punishing them is a way of teaching them but the way they do it just doesnt seem so effective. we need to invest money into coming up with a better way to fix peoples maladaptive behaviors.

Attitudes affect actions

        There is a technique that proves that attitudes do in fact affect our actions: it is called the low ball technique. Let me give you an example. Let's say I offer an amazing deal to my friend for my computer on Friday. I say that I have a black macbook and a white macbook, and I am willing to sell you my black macbook for only 300 dollars. You obviously say of course. So, I say I'll get back to you on Sunday so we can do this transaction. The whole weekend, you are so excited to get this new awesome computer. Your attitude is, "I am going to get a new computer soon!" Then, you come to me on Sunday saying, "Let's do this transaction." I respond that I want to keep my black macbook, but you could buy my white macbook for 400 dollars. This technique works, and you will usually respond yes because you were so excited for the entire weekend to get a new computer, so you'd be willing to pay just a little more than you agreed on to stick to your attitude. Your attitude that you were going to get a new computer affected your action of purchasing it for more than the original offered price. This is a genius technique that I would love to pull off. Atitudes do in fact affect our actions.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Let's say that you were told to do something really, really boring for about an hour for $20. You'd think that you'd enjoy the stupid activity more than if you, say, were paid $1 for performing the task… But, in actuality, it's the complete opposite! This study was once performed, and those that were paid $20 were vocally opposed to performing the task, whereas those who paid $1 didn't hate it as much, somehow justifying the task. This phenomenon is called cognitive dissonance. The cognitive dissonance theory is the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. The fact that you were only paid $1 means that you would go out of your way to find something about the task that you enjoyed, because you don't want to think that you purely wasted your time for a measly dollar. When we learned about this in class, it got me to thinking, was there ever a time when I fell victim to cognitive dissonance? I couldn't think of a specific example, but I thought of cognitive dissonance through the opposite of the above experiment: if you pay a little bit of money for something stupid, you'll be vocally against it the thing you bought. But if you pay a lot of money for something that isn't enjoyable, you'll still try to justify paying all of that money, so you'll change your attitude toward the thing you bought.

Stanford Prison Experiment

     Before writing about this experiment, I want to point out something really odd. The day after you, Mrs. Perl enlightened us about this experiment, Mrs. Kutliroff showed us the experiment in our "Facing History and Ourselves" class. Kind of strange...Anyways, I think you and Mrs. Kutliroff did do an excellent job relating this story to society and the Holocaust, respectively, and I want to elaborate on it.

     In the experiment, Stanford University students were asked to partake in an experiment, where either a participant would be a guard or a prisoner. The prisoners were asked to take the role seriously, while the guards were also asked to take on a real-life like guard role. The results of the experiment were mind-blowing. Though the experiment was supposed to last for 2 weeks, it had to be called off after 6 days because things got out of hand. Several of the prisoners were thought to have almost reached psychological breakdown related issues, and many panicked. 

     What did the experiment prove? It showed that when role-playing, we tend to get so caught up in a role that we lose our identity. When watching the videos, some of the guards after the experiment mentioned that they weren't acting like themselves, but just taking on a guard role. Here is my question though, and the question that was brought up in our "Facing History and Ourselves Class:" To what extent were these individuals role playing? Yes they were caught up in their role, but does that mean those guards were actually sadistic and cruel people?

    Today when looking at the Holocaust, we always think to ourselves various thoughts of morality: "How can all of those guards be so evil? If I lived in Germany, I definitely wouldn't have done any harm to the Jews." During the Holocaust, many SS guards were simply following roles, and this experiment proves that it is easier than we think to cause harm to others when under others' influences. Can we blame those who persecuted the Jews during the Holocaust? Of course. But were they being brainwashed and being forced into roles that they shouldn't have performed. The answer to that question is yes too. 

    My intention on writing this blog is obviously not to justify any negative actions we partake in when playing roles and under the influence of others. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the psychological roots in some of the actions that take place during certain times of persecution.  

Straight up 'tude

I want to talk about attitudes. Not just attitudes, but specifically actions that affect attitudes. We learned about 3 of these concepts in class this week, and I found them to be interesting because after I thought about them, I really do see that situations like this occur throughout life (and not to mention they give me a few more techniques for getting stuff outta my parents).

There is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. This is where people have a tendency to agree to a small action at first, but then agree to a larger action later. So if you asked someone if they'd let you live with them for a year, they'd say "you're a lunatic." But if you first asked to live with them for a week, and then a month, and then a year, by that point they may agree to the largest request of one year. 

The door-in-the-face phenomenon is where people tend to agree to a second request if the second one is much smaller than the first. From my point of view, this stems from an idea that in general, people naturally have a little sympathy, and don't want to totally leave a person totally hanging. So if you asked Kobe Bryant for his autograph, he might say no. However, if you first asked Kobe to go out to dinner with him and he was all like "no way dawg," and then you said, "well, can I at least get your John Hancock?", he might agree to that smaller request after having turned down your dinner offer. 

Then there is yet another case where action affects attitude: brainwashing. Brainwashing is being forced or told to do something, and after doing the action so much without even agreeing with the reason you are doing it, one often develops a passion for the subject just through doing the action. So take "I Wanna Become a Hindu University" for example.  If Jilokatana's parents forced him to go there, and then Jilokatana had to pray the Hindu way every day, Jilokatana may start believing in the Hindu customs just by being forced to do the actions so much. 

So attitudes change with the way you act and the way others act around you. And if you know these concepts, you can get what you want and make people agree to what you want in life. 

Electroconvulsive Therapy

I believe that we should completely stop giving electroconvulsive therapy. Its not because I think it's wrong to give someone an electric shock, because I don't think it's wrong since they are under anesthesia. I think this way because we don't know enough about the treatment. It's true that we have already been doing it for over 50 years, but do we truly know what we are doing? Scientists still are not sure why the treatment works. Yes, the treatment works, but it only work for a little while. Four out of every 10 patients treated with ECT, relapse into depression within six months of the treatment. This treatment is better than not having any treatment at all, but there are many other treatment options. We should stop ECT until we know more about the treatment, how to perform it, and its effects.

Humanistic Therapy

Humanistic therapists are the stereotypical therapists. People often joke that all therapists ever do is ask, "How does that make you feel?" in response to everything that the patients says. I think client centered therapy is stupid. One reason for this can be because the activity with the computer therapist was annoying (I stopped after about 30 seconds). Another reason is because i don't think someone needs a degree to repeat what the patient says back to the patient in question form. If Cinderella says that when her stepsisters call her ugly she gets frustrated, asking her if she gets frustrated when her sisters call her ugly immediately answer won't make her give a different response. Humanistic therapy is also called insight therapy because the therapist tries to help the patient reach his or her own insights. A person shouldn't have to pay for a therapist who sits there while you try to reach insights on your own. Therapists aren't needed for that. In fact, it also called "nondirective therapy." They don't even direct you. What's the point of a therapist who's not going to help?

OCD vs OCPD

Obsessive compulsive disorder is often confused with obsessive compulsive personality disorder. This confusion is understandable. Although they have similar names, the actual disorders are quite different. OCD is an anxiety disorder; OCPD is a personality disorder. People with OCD are usually stressed by their obsessions and compulsions, while people with OCPD may often get pleasure from them. People with OCD will often feel the need to repeat certain actions over and over again such as opening and closing a door. Although these disorders have differences, there are also some similarities. Many people who have OCD also have OCPD. Some of their symptoms are similar such as the need for perfection. People with OCPD feel the need to be very precise in many things that they do, but if someone uses it for cleanliness and organization it can also be classified as a symptom of OCD. These two disorders are  similar which explain explains another reason of why they get confused for one another.

anxiety

there is nothing like waking up and jumping ten thousand feet not knowing that you will land safely. jumping out of an air plane is one of the most exciting things that i have done recently (and i would suggest that you all try it). flying up into air and sitting in the threshold of an airplane door when it is 10, 000 feet in the air really gets your fight or flight response going. this happens even though there is ni chance of any fight. this feeling is anxiety. to me this feeling seems a little useless. you get the same feeling before a big test or a speech and it only inhibits a person. in some instances it is very useful i.e. if you wake up and your house is on fire. but why when you have a big test? it only hurts your ability to do well. if you expect to do bad than you will do worse. and what is really strange is how it happens when listening to music. have you ever been listening to music and the suddenly gotten the chills? well that is your sympathetic nervous system. we are not really sure why this happens but there are a few theories.
you body also has a feed and breed response. this is set in motion by your parasympathetic nervous system. these two systems make a homeostasis within the body.