Final Thoughts

My perspectives regarding this course and the concepts of psychology are somewhat changed since I have taken this course. I use to believe that psychology was a psychologist and a patient sitting there in an office discussing the patients problems.

Now I see quite differently, for instance the mind of a murderer is not at all normal. Reduced activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, which helps control impulses was found in the brains of murderers. Their levels of arousal are lower than normal. The higher the stress level the more arousal a person has. These are all very interesting things that I learned from unit eight.



During this course I also learned from unit seven, psychological disorders. The four different kinds of disorders and their symptoms. I also learned about the mood disorders which were very interesting to me. I had often wondered what could possibly make a person happy one minute then in the next they flip out and start crying, within a matter of minutes. I also learned a great deal about schizophrenia and it's causes and symptoms.

I unit six I really appreciated the information about memory. How we encode information in our brain and later retrieve it as needed. I learned how memories are stored in our brain and the center for our memory is the amygdala. I now understand why I think of certain things when I hear see smell or even taste something. And that sometimes certain memories do not just go away.

Our forgetting information is our failure to encode information for entry in our memory system. Memories are not stored as exact copies so they are not retrieved as exact copies.

I learned how to solve problems in an effective way by taking on a new fresh perspective.

In unit five I learned of Sigmund Freud's treatment of emotional disorders and his view of free association and dreams. Freud believed that children develop through psychosexual stages. He suggested that our personalities are influenced by how we have resolved conflicts associated with these stages and whether we have remained fixated at any stage. But ther ewere those who argued Freud's ideas. They argued that we have motives other than sex and aggressin, and that ego's conscious control is greater than Freud supposed.

I learned of the five personality factors and how they genetic and biological factors influence these traits.

I learned attitudes predict behavior only under certain conditions, as when other influences are minimized., when hte attitude is specific to the behavior, and when people are aware of their attitudes.

Unit four was also helpful bringing out our senses, how they are used, why and how the brain signals the receptors in order for us to be able to use these senses. Perception was also a big topic in this unit. even bringing out how a baby has depth perception.

Sleep disorders was another something I learned from this unit. Why we sleep, dreams and REM sleep modes.

In unit three development of humans proved to be helpful in learning how a person's mind develops from infancy. Social, cognitive, and physical development were studied in this unit.

In unit two the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist were distinguished. The different types of psychologist were mentioned. and theory and hypothesis were discussed.

I learned that the master gland was the pituitary gland and parasympathetic and sympathetic
nervous system. Perceptual tasks like pictures are recognized in the right hemisphere of the brain. And damage to the hippocampus could cause an ill-tempered person to become rather mild.

I really found this course to be very helpful as I pursue the rest of my studies. I feel as though it was well worth my time and energy. I will use this knowledge that I have learned everyday and always. I truly enjoyed this course.