Prologue

Before I opened up my Psychology book, I really didn’t have any idea what Psychology was all about. I mean, I knew it had something to do with humans and our brains, but I wasn’t really sure how everything fit together. After reading the prologue I now know that Psychology is about way more than just one’s brain. I found that Psychology deals with our emotions, individual differences, our responses, how we retrieve and process information, and how behavior and thinking vary with different situations and cultures around the world. I also learned the definition of Psychology which is; the science of behavior and mental process, which I never knew before.

I think Psychology is huge in our lives. Everybody around us is completely different. We all adapt in different ways to certain situations for example; someone who just moved from a small town to a larger one would probably adapt faster than a person moving from let’s say India to the United States, just because the change is way bigger. It would be harder to adjust to a new language, government and completely different culture, than getting use to a bigger surrounding within the same area. People also have different fears. One person may fear spiders, bugs, and snakes like a lot of people, or one might be different and fear dogs, birds, and cats; things that most of us have as pets. I think fears come from experiences and we only fear something because of our past, I don’t think people are born being afraid of certain things or afraid because of what they may have heard. I think fear just like likeness, comes from one’s own experience.

Just from reading the prologue and following along with the PowerPoint, I already found a lot of what I read to be interesting. One of the two things I learned and found interesting would have to be the need for Psychological Science. I learned about the limits of intuition and common sense and how one can never be sure, scientific attitude which is being open minded, having respect for evidence, suspended judgment, being honest, and being open to change ones own opinion. And I learned that the scientific method is the process to measure what is really happening. This interested me because it made me think of how these three topics really break down into different categories and how each is different, but at the same time all have to do with Psychology.

The second thing I remember learning about is that Psychology’s three main levels of analysis impact who we are. I thought about it and it makes sense. Biological, Psychological and Social Cultural influences all connect the behavior or mental process because each one involves either thinking out one’s next action or acting out in an external way to show our emotion.

I found the short clip for NPR to be very interesting. I can’t understand how only five numbers would make a difference in a person’s choice, but I guess it all kind of makes sense. Is it saying that people with more things to think about (numbers) don’t take or have the time to decipher the pros and cons of their decision? Thinking back to the second day of class, I remembered that we talked about our actions and if we have control of what we do. After listening to the NPR clip and thinking back on class, I find myself a little bit confused. I understand both discussions, and I have learned that we have a pretty good control over our decisions, but maybe not all of them all of the time. The thing that confuses or brings up a question, is why does our brain decide some things for us without us being able to control our actions?

While I was reading the prologue, a certain question didn’t really pop into my head. I’m really just excited to go deeper into Psychology. So far it seems very interesting!