The Lego Movie

 Over Pesach break, I was taken against my will to see the Lego movie (courtesy of my little brother). Even though this is rated one of the best movies ever, or something along the lines of that, I don't get the craze. The plot kind of ties up at the very end, but everything in between is pretty much the weirdest explosion of insanity that I've ever laid eyes on. However, there were some interesting Psychological themes throughout the movie. Here is what stood out to me, scene by scene:

- At the beginning, there are rules for everything, and it's a kind've mob-psychology/Stockholm syndrome/ propoganda/ obedience mix. There are rules for everything and people don't even consider going against them. I guess they got used to them and now enjoy them? They also follow rules just because authoritative people say to do them.There is this Lord Business guy who is the ruler of everyone and controls basically the entire everything. He also convinces everyone to follow him. Every single person sings what appears to be the only song in existence, "Everything is Awesome." It's reminiscent of totalitarianism with a twist that includes a "Taco Tuesday."

ADHD to the max: I don't know who made this, or what state of mind they were in, but much of this movie seems like it was generated from the mind of an 8 year old, hyperactive, Lego-loving boy (like my brother.) It all over the place. The way they brought things together was funny at times, but I left that movie slack-jawed and in shock, with only one question in mind: WHY?!!!

The struggle of being in a group: The main character's whole transformation is from a common nobody to realizing that everyone is special and can stand out in a group. His own ideas were silenced and he was totally under huge pressure to coform- conformity was the lifestyle. Deindividuation was the only possibility until he learned otherwise. So much groupthink...

All in all, it was an interesting experience. I hope you find these insights enlightening and the clips interesting (I think that's the safest description...).

Social Psychology - Follow for more relatable teen posts!!!!

Hiya, kids!
As we've been learning all about psychology, I've found myself recognizing these psychological concepts when they occur in my life. Above all, chapter 14 is by far the most relatable chapter. All this stuff really does happen!! I guess someone decided one day to give names to all these phenomena so that a bunch of students would have to memorize them for their AP Psychology exam one day.

Let's take social loafing for example. I loaf all the time!!! I am loaf. Loaf is me. Sometimes I'll be working on a collective Google doc and suddenly find myself scrolling through Buzzfeed because I just assume someone else in the group is doing something productive. Then I usually feel bad and get back on track. But really, happens all the time.

Another concept that is just like "yaaaas" is the fundamental attribution error. I definitely fall prey to this sometimes. Especially if it's a person I don't particularly like very much. If they do something annoying, I'll usually think, "Ughhh, they're just the worst," even if it's a little unfair to think that way. What's interesting, though, is that if one of my friends were to do the same annoying thing I would probably brush it aside and soon forget about it. Which kind of ties into ingroup bias, because of course my friends are better/smarter/more likeable than your friends and can really do no wrong.

It's crazy to me how complex social psychology is. Our interactions with others can be so biased and honestly kind of mean. The human race can be such a female dog. There's such a strange system to everything social. It's weird to think about how affected we are by the people around us. Kinda makes you want to live in isolation sometimes, doesn't it? I don't know if I'm making any sense or if this is just one of those situations where it's hard to put my mind-boggling thoughts into words and y'all are probably thinking "Okay, Lily, stop typing already" so I'll stop. Thanks for reading! Don't loaf too hard.

Bystander Effect

As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I stumbled across a video that I thought would relate  to exactly what we are learning about in class. In class, we learned about the bystander effect - people feel that since there are more people around, more people will help. 

We learned about the case of Kitty Genovese and how she was being raped and murdered in the middle of New York city, and everyone thought someone else was going to help her since there were other people around. The people in their apartment buildings could have heard her, but they thought the other people in the apartment buildings would have helped her. No one helped her until it was too late and she had fatal wounds. 

When I first started watching this video, I thought it was going to be exactly Kitty Genovese's case where since there are so many people around no one will help out and the bystander effect will occur. To my surprise, I was wrong. At first, the people who saw the young boy freezing, just stood there and did nothing. After a while, they began to notice him and they began to take responsibility and give him clothes off their back and giving it to the boy so that he could stay warm. 

ADHD: What is it like?

Before Pesach, my I came across my dad reading an article about ADHD and many people say they have it, but really don't. Long story short, this article explains exactly what ADHD is. I thought this was appropriate because we can clear up a commonly mistaken disorder, like Mrs. Perl urges us to do.

According to this article, ADHD is about having disrupted filters in one's perception. Majority of people have the ability to take in bunches of information and filter through it, only keeping what is absolutely necessary. It is described as being able to keep their mental white board organized/clean at all times. However, people with ADHD cannot keep their mental board organized/clean because their filters are broken that organize through what is necessary. To go along with the white board metaphor, every single thought that crosses their mind is written in bold and underlined on their mental white board.

The article also explains that people with ADHD focus a lot on their routine. For another metaphor, they are stuck on autopilot 90% of the time. It is hard for people with ADHD to get distracted from their routine unless someone physically interrupts the routine.

Many people also only associate the attention part of ADHD with ADD, but ADHD has a lot attention problems on its own. The article explains that the internet is like "crack" to people with ADHD because it is a sea of constantly moving, new objects at a simple click of a button.

The last thing that the article describes is that medicine does help with ignoring the trivial distractions and maximizing focus ability.

I really do hope that this helps you realize what it is like to have ADHD, but my question for all of you is, DO YOU THINK THAT UNDERLYING THIS DISORDER IS ANXIETY OR ANOTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE?

http://www.tickld.com/x/if-your-friends-ever-say-they-have-adhd-just-show-them-this

The Pygmalion Effect: The King's Speech Epitomized

As we were learning about social psychology, we learned a lot of technical names and explanations for things that we see throughout our lives. One such example of this is the Pygmalion effect, one form of self-fulfilling prophecy. The quizlet definition of this effect is the effect of teacher's expectations on students. For example, if a student is in an advanced class, and the teacher treats and approaches the students as if they're gifted, then the students will tend to do better than they would in a remedial class where the teacher treats them as if there's something wrong. As always, this got me thinking about movies that I've seen this effect in. Most notably, it made me think about "The King's Speech."

For those that haven't seen this Oscar-winning movie of awesomeness, it's about a man, Bertie, who happens to be a prince and happens to have a horrible stutter. As the Duke of York, he has to make a few short speeches and seeks speech therapy from decorated doctors who, sadly, give him the worst advice. One doctor tries to make him speak with seven marbles stuck in his mouth because the stammer must be because of a problem in his mouth. Another doctor tells him to smoke, and for no clear purpose at that. Then comes Lionel Logue: a thespian, an Australian, and an unaccredited speech therapist. As you probably could have guessed, Lionel manages to help Bertie with his stutter. When Bertie is forced into taking the throne on the eve of World War II, Lionel is there with him to help him through his most difficult speech, which he succeeds at delivering. Here's the video so you can judge for yourself:

What's most interesting about this movie is the stark contrast between the former doctors and Lionel. All of the nighted doctors treated Bertie as if there were something fundamentally wrong with him that needed to be mended. Lionel, on the other hand, treated Bertie like an equal and helped him overcome one of the greatest challenges of his life by treating him like a man with a voice. Throughout the movie, Lionel makes Bertie say "I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!" With this statement, Lionel gives Bertie the confidence to overcome his stammer and fulfill the self-fulfilling prophecy. This whole scenario adds something to the pygmalion effect: the teacher who treats their students as equals with a right to be heard will get the best results.

On that note, we should all thank Mrs. Perl for treating us all as if we have a right to be heard and not doubting us, even when we turn in assignments a month late. :P

Social Facilitation!

Social Facilitation is fascinated. It is amazing how someone's performance of an act can get better if the right people are looking. 

In 1898 Norman Triplett observed a bike race. He saw that the bikers who where trying to beat another biker appose to the clock, rode faster. He then did an experiment on children going fishing. Some where placed near a partner on the lake others alone. He found that the children with a partner reeled in the fish quicker and caught more. Thus it was the beginning of the understanding of social facilitation. 

Thinking about this topic I realized how often this happens. Someone is driving a car, place their mom in the car and suddenly they are a better driver. A teacher can be giving a lesson but the moment a principle is there observing her lessons get so much better. Or if someone is jogging and knows that they have an audience from a car suddenly they will pick up the pace. If someone is working out at the gym and someone they like is watching them, suddenly they can lift heavier weights. 

Maybe the next time I need to do something I will get myself an audience so I will do better. 

Do you see this happening through our your life? Is this a proof that cheerleaders can help? What are your thoughts?

Spite and Malace

My AP Psychology classmates! Oh, how I've missed you all! Hope everything is faring you well back in Memphis,TN. Now, I know you have been missing reading my blogs so dearly, so I won't waste any more time with chit-chat. 

Spite. That word carries with it a very negative connotation.  You wouldn't necessarily want one of your parents to tell you you're "doing something out of spite," especially because the next thing they'd tell you would be- "Don't do that!" Spite is the urge to punish, hurt, humiliate or harass another, even when one gains no obvious benefit and may well pay a cost. Before you read: What are your feelings about spite? Have you ever experienced it? Do you believe it to be petty, or a natural human inclination? Click here to read Natalie Angier's "Spite Is Good. Spite Works" to find out what scientists have to say about spite, then come back here for we shall discuss!                                                                                                                            

It's interesting to note that the study of spite has been pretty much neglected in the scientific community until recently. Pretty odd, don't ya think, considering how many people experience it at one point or another? Currently, psychologists are studying spite as a negative trait. Evolutionary theorists, on the other hand, are doing what evolutionary theorists usually do, and are studying the role that spite may have played in the origin or admirable traits (eg: cooperative spirit, sense of fair play). In the past months, David K. Marcus, a psychologist at Washington State University, and his colleagues have presented the preliminary results from their new "spitefulness scale". Let's give it a try. How closely do you agree with the following statements:

If my neighbor complained about the appearance of my front yard,  I would be tempted to make it look worse just to annoy him or her.

If I opposed the election of an official, I would happily see the person fail even if the failure hurt my community.

I would be willing to take a punch if it meant someone I did not like would receive two punches.

If you don't feel comfortable responding you don't have to, but did you agree with any of the statement above? Would you consider it but not go through with it?

According to their research thusfar, men are more spiteful than women and young adults are more spiteful than older ones. Spitefulness generally cohabited (but remember- correlation doesn't imply causation!) with traits like callousness and poor self-esteem. Partisan politics can provoke spiteful outbursts from otherwise temperate people. For those political animals out there- do you ever have spiteful feelings toward a politician you dislike? 

Some research finds that the presence of spiteful people keeps others in check. This "altruistic punishment"-the willingness of some individuals to punish rule breakers even when the infraction doesn't directly affect them- is necessary to human decency. What do you think about altruistic punishment? Do we have the right to punish people for doing what we deem is wrong? Then again, should their bad deed go unpunished? Is there any way that spite could be a gateway to fair punishment? 

One last fun fact to note: the people who are most vocal against others using performance-enhancing drugs are usually the ones who are using them. Surprising? Spiteful? Why? 

Dat Accent

         Well everyone, we've made it almost to the end. Finishing the last unit was almost as satisfying as finishing the last unit assignment. Anyway, this week I wanted to focus on one of the last things of AP Psychology that we learned: attraction.

         We discussed the different factors that influence whether we will like other people. Firstly, proximity is important, as actually being near to someone and interacting with them already makes it more likely that you will like them. The next factor is the mere exposure effect, which is that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases your liking of them. You are more likely to like the people you have seen before. The third factor is physical attractiveness. This varies by culture, but it seems that within every society people are more pleasant to look at are automatically more likable.

         The fourth factor is similarity. Though many believe that "opposites attract", this doesn't seem to frequently be the case. Those who share similar values, culture, and ideas as you are more likable as well, as it easier to get along with them. The last factor we discussed was the reward theory of attraction. This theory states that we like those whose behavior is rewarding to us and we continue relationships that offer more rewards than costs.

          With initial attraction comes love. The two types of romantic love are passionate love and companionate love. Passionate love is an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another person. It is a feeling of euphoria, where you feel as if the other person can do know wrong. However, this type of feeling is not usually sustained over a long period of time, as it would be very difficult to get anything done. Companionate love, on the other hand, is a more mature, deep, and affectionate attachment. It is the sign of a long term relationship. A loving relationship requires equity, where both people receive the same amount they give, and self-disclosure, where both people reveal intimate details about their lives.

         Over Shabbos, Racheli (Brakha) came up with the idea that foreign accents make people more attractive. I thought this over and decided that it would be worth while to blog about. It does seem like people who have exotic accents automatically become more attractive to us mere Americans. On divinecaroline.com, Kathryn Williams (from Nashville!) discussed why accents seem to have this power. She brings an idea from Susan Tamasi, a sociolinguist from Emory University in Atlanta, who says it has to do with aesthetics. A preference for an accent apparently comes from the associations we make with a certain accent or dialect. This could also explain why some accents are attractive while others are vomit-inducing.

         Proof of this comes from England, where the RP accent (the "Queen's English") is associated with the more wealthy of the British school system. According to Williams, this is why many foreigners see people who speak with a British accent as having more intelligence and prestige. On the opposite end, a Southern accent may make non-Southerns assume the person to be ignorant or stupid because of stereotypes associated with hillbillies or Southern belles.

         Which accent do you find the most attractive? Do you think that has come about because of associations you may have made? If so, which associations? 

2048: Is Dopamine the Cause of Our Addiction?

So, last night, I was searching the world-wide interweb for the popular game 2048, as I wanted to partake in the pleasure of playing this wildly addictive game. While my page loaded, I stumbled (yes, Lily, stumbled) upon an interesting article describing the addictive nature of the game. For all of you who are unfamiliar with this game, the concept/objective is to match numbers until you achieve the sum of a 2048 tile, hence the 2048. For all of those who do play the game, you are probably familiar with the overwhelming desire to achieve this tile. Anywho, a neurologist by the name of Judy Willis (who is also an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa Barbara), explains the science of our addictions, and it has to do with our friend,  dopamine.

We were first introduced to dopamine, one of the most well-known neurotransmitters, in Chapter 3A. Dopamine is responsible for the regulation of motor activity, motivation, and pleasure. Low levels of dopamine result in Parkinson's disease and in high levels, schizophrenia ensues. Addictive drugs can also stimulate the dopamine pathway, while antipsychotic drugs such as Chlorpromazine and Thorazine block receptor sites so excess dopamine can't be used. This may prevent the hallucinations and paranoia (positive symptoms) of schizophrenia. Clozapine, another antipsychotic drug, helps with regulating both the serotonin and dopamine receptors and can alleviate some of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

So, how does this relate to 2048? Well, my friends, as aforementioned, dopamine is responsible for a multitude of things, but when it builds up, the brain goes into hyperdrive. "Dopamine is the one of the most compelling neurochemicals—and the most addictive drugs—that we know of," Willis explains. Dopamine increases pleasure and perseverance while minimizing stress. Even something seemingly insignificant, such as winning a bet, can boost your dopamine levels.

In the realm of 2048, it offers us the following two dopamine enhancers. The first is the power of prediction. The brain takes great delight in making predictions, and in 2048, the brain is given every opportunity to do so. Willis brings in several studies conducted by James Paul Gee, which have discovered that predictions still result in a dopamine boost at an 80 percent fail rate—which means that even if you manage to make a mess of your 2048 scoreboard eight times out of ten, your brain will still demand that you continue playing. The effects of dopamine guarantee that even when you do not succeed in reaching 2048, you'll remain relatively calm about it. "Instead of being stressed out, the brain is so comfortable that it doesn't want to quit," Willis remarks.

The second is an achievable challenge: If a game is too easy or too difficult, dopamine levels stop flowing at this high rate. "For the optimal boost," Willis says, "a game needs to be challenging but beatable. 'Achievable challenge' are the key words. That's what will give you the biggest dopamine boost." Therefore, 2048 is challenging, yet possible, so we continue to play.

What do you think of this? Is dopamine really the cause of our "addiction" to 2048? If not, what other factors might be involved? And on a side note, what is your high score? 

Here is the link to the article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/video-games/why-the-2048-game-is-so-addictive-16659899

I Accidentally Kinda Used the Low-ball Technique at Target

After Mrs. Perl's fabulous Latte & Learning event Sunday night, I headed over to Target to pick up some school clothes. I tried on a few shirts, and my dad agreed to pay for one of them. The initial price of that one shirt was low, so he was happy to cover my purchase. As we headed to the checkout,  I explained that my other shirt was on sale, and he decided to just pay for both of them and cover my total purchase. As we were leaving the store, I pulled a Mrs. Perl realized that what just happened to me was totally one of the psychological phenomena we discussed in class.

As we learned, the low-ball technique is a form of persuasion or sales technique that offers an item or service at a lower price than is to be actually paid in the end. When I initially asked for one shirt, it seemed like a good deal. When I threw in the second one, it didn't seem like a major difference, so my dad just agreed to pay for all of it. So guys, next time you really need some school shirts, try the low-ball technique on your parental authorities. It just might score you an extra shirt from Target. Woohoo!