I hate technology!!

Sometimes technology is such a pain in the "a double s"!!! The problem is my video works but not on coach love's computer and I have been trying to convert it to wmv and allow it to be successful,but it wont! Looks I am bringing my laptop into coach love's class tomorrow.. maybe he can help me there.. Either way, I also watched Forrest Gump and I am Sam, which are to incredible movies about the challenges of having diagnosed "mental retardation". I highly recommend these two films for those who plan on going into the psychology field.

My WISE video preview

I am so..happy!! My WISE video preview came out AWESOME!!!! CHECK IT OUT!!

Relaxation to the Max!

I enjoyed spring break so...much!! In honor of spring break 2011, I've decided to dedicate the past week and parts of this week to methods of coping and relaxation. Some of the things I did to enjoy some relaxation where punch my punching bag, attend a Hatha Yoga class at Weston Yoga with one of my great friends, went to the beach with that same friend and enjoyed the boogie boarding,  and watched the movies 50 First Dates and Just go with it. This week, I am going to try out some pilates videos I have rented from the library and possibly get myself a massage at Massage Envy..I love this theme!

Movie-TV Marathon

So throughout the week, in addition to music videos, I have been watching different feature films and tv shows that have psychology principals attached to them. Here are my reviews of these films and how they are psychology related:

American Teen-documentary of 5 high school seniors in indiana who have select social cliques including prom queen,jock, geek, rebel, and heartthrob. The film documents their lives and the different dramas they go through during senior year of high school up to graduation and going to college. This flim is defenitely social psychology related by the way the kids are grouped in cliques and many of the dramas they encounter are enforced because of the group that he or she has been associate with.


Mother and Child- a film that documents the lives of 3 women who have all delt with the stuggles of adoption;giving up a baby at 14, being that baby, and a set of parents who cant concieve and are going through the adoption process. I would say this movie is psych related by the way it shows attachment between mother and child and how important the bonding process is in the psychological development of a person.


Mr.Mom- After a man loses his job, his wife gains one so now they have switched roles and he has become "the mommy of the house." This movie is psych related in the way that gender roles are highly looked at and the way they are accepted to people in a society.

American Idol--its not necessarily the show that has psychology related principles but some of the things Ryan Seacrest does. For instance, allowing commercial breaks between results gives more of a suspense to the show and makes the viewer wanting more.

Teen mom 2-- A show about the struggles teen moms go through raising their children. Broken homes, relationship troubles, and even infant struggles showcase some of the reasons many young mothers struggle to keep a family unit in their lives.

Glee- this show showcases different social groups within high school, and even brings up the points of how homosexuality affects the life of a high school guy and the relationship he carries with his father.

psychology and music

Here are some of the songs I have listened to and reviews of how they are psychology related:

Bruno Mars-Grenade; idea of psychological attachment to a person and how extreme a person would go to make things happen.. schizophrenic like; talking about getting a bullet through his brain, jumping in front of trains for her, telling her devil to send her back to where she is from.

Lady Gaga-Born this way; idea of accepting who you are and the theory that God is the creator of the world. His creations have no mistakes; everyone was born to be unique in their own ways. Believing in yourself is all you really need to get through life’s ups and downs.

Enrique Iglesias-Tonight I’m loving you; focuses on the aspect of psychosexual development by freud. Shows that the guy has uncontrollable sexual urges and is in the genital stage of psychosexual development and believes that the woman he loves is approaching this stage too.

Christina Aguilera- I turn to you; idea of attachment between anyone including parents, spouses, family, friends, and role models; creating bonds with others and forming relationships where the ideas of trust, dependency, and helpfulness are included.

The Lion King-Hakuna Matata; talks about not worrying about problems in life and just going with the flow.

Destiny’s child-Survivor; talks about not giving up when others put you down or leave your side; positive self talk.

Amazing movie based on social psychology

               These next couple of weeks, I am focusing primarily on psychology throughout the entertainment world. Today, I started off by heading to the library and checked out 6 different films. The first one I chose to watch is American Teen. It is a film about 5 indiana teenagers who are seniors in high school. They take on the social classes of prom queen, jock, hearthrob,rebel, and geek. The movie mainly documents the lives of these teens through each of their prespectives. It gives insight into what many teens face during their high school years; relationships, alcohol, sex, the idea of going to college, prom, accepting yourself for who you are, and discovering who you want to be in the future. This film is a perfect representation of how the aspect of social psychology is portrayed throughout the media, which is in the same league as the films Juno, Napoleon Dynamite, and The Breakfast club.
     In addition to movies, I have began listening closely to music and believe it or not, one song that stood out to me was Justin Bieber's hit, Never Say Never. After listening to the song in great depth, I have gained more of a respect for him and his music, including the fact that this song sends a powerful and uplifting message to those who feel they are inferior to others, and feel taken advantage of. His lyrics of "whenever you knock me down, I will not stay on the ground, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up,up,up and NEVER SAY NEVER" are really inspiring and have even helped me personally to feel more confident about myself, even when sometimes people try to put me down or do things that make me feel unrespected. Overall, this song conveys the message of positive self talk to help a person get through difficult situations.

Cognition in Action!

               Yesterday, in addition to my friend Steffani coming over to swim and hang out, I decided to interview/examine my sister Renae as part of my Cognitive psych week. She was diagnosed with autism when she was really little, but has made great progression with the help of her therapies, my parents, and I. I wanted to be able to give a personal look on cognition in children with autism, so I decided to run some tests on my sister! lol. First, I interviewed her so you could see how she puts sentences together and has some speech ailments along the way. Next, we played I spy, and I had her look for objects, but she needed verbal prompting and clues in order to find them.Then, we used flashcards where I gave her a word and she had to create a sentence using the word and in the sentence, it is possible to see some of the grammar errors that she tends to make. Last, I demonstrated learning math by using the bead system and showed that she needs consistent verbal prompting to understand mathematics. This test wasnt to embarris her or make her feel ackward, but to show the reality of struggles that she goes through in her academics. For the next couple of weeks, I am planning on mixing some themes together,starting with Psychology in Entertainment. I am looking forward to seeing how psychology influences some of todays best music, movies, tv shows, and literature!

P.S.- I will be adding more pics and videos soon, once I can find my USB camera connector for my laptop! :P

Sylvan Learning Experience

            So today, I met Mrs.Q, director of Sylvan Learning Center on Glades Circle in Weston. I decided to interview her because I wanted to keep with the theme of cognitive psychology, and speaking to a director of a tutoring company is a good way to find out about the services they offer and how they motivate the students to learn. She told me that they specialize in students grades k-12 reading,math, and study skills, fcat tutoring, sat/act/college prep for high schoolers and study skills for high schoolers. They motivate the kids by giving them tokens when ever they stay focused and continue to succeed and once they have collected enough coins, they can shop in the Sylvan store. For elementary kids, they have everything from little board games to pencils, sticker books, and toys. For the older kids, they can trade in their tokens for gift cards such as Itunes, Target, Best Buy, and even some smaller electronics such as headphones. Man, now I'm wishing I could go there; that really motivates me!

Much better week

                 I am so relieved to see that this week, I am already making better progress and getting back into the swing of things regarding my WISE project. I started off my week of studying Cognitive Psychology by heading to boca yesterday and interviewing/watching Julie Knote, conduct a speech therapy session with her 2-and-9 year old daughters. I found it really interesting to learn more about being a speech therapist, especially since she has been mine and my sister's speech therapist since we were in elementary and preschool. While I was there, I took candid video of Julie giving her 2-year-old, Cassidy, and 9-year-old, Haley, speech therapy appropriate to their age groups. Also, I got to meet Julie's newest addition, baby Kennedy, who is now 4 and a half months old; so..cute! In addition to this experience, some of my other plans for this week include doing cognition evaluations on my sister Renae, who has autism, and visiting Sylvan Learning Center to learn about tutoring and different techniques that the tutors feel help students learn to the best of their abilities.