Chapter One

I think that research is important because without it, our society would never move forward. Think about all of the things we take for granted such as electricity or our cars. Without research these things would never have been invented. In psych research is important because it helps us learn new things about the "mind" and about ourselves as well. Experiments can also help when someone is trying to figure out whether one thing works better than another or whether product A works better on a certain age group and their reactions to it.

The most recent example I can think of for research relating to my life would have to be the "Social Norms" survey I filled out today in homeroom. It asked different questions about drugs and alcohol relating to yourself and your peers. This form of research allows the school and possibly the community to get a better look at what kids are ACTUALLY doing compared to what everyone THINKS were doing. It also helps get a look at who kids are more likely to believe when it comes to talking about serious issues.

One thing I learned from Ch. 1 is that infants who are breast fed are more likely to have a higher IQ when they are older than infants who haven't been breast fed. This is said to happen because of the different nutrients of a mothers milk can contribute to brain developement. I think this is interesting because I know I was never breast fed and I wonder if it had a negative affect on me?

Another thing i learned is that psychologists in many ways are just like regular scientists. They use the scientific procedure to test their hypothesises and they take detailed information down about whatever they are testing. They use this information to then figure anything from certain behavior types to whether or not caffeine affects athletes. It's very interesting.

One other important thing that I learned is taking very detailed notes and observations in Pysch is very important. If you mess up a detail when diagnosing someone it could have very negative affects for them.