Twins: Different Lives

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jun/02/twins-identical-genes-different-health-study

It may be an identity crisis. Many twins feel that they have to work much harder to be unique because they may constantly be compared to the other counter part. This can lead to negative and poor relationship between twins as well as parents. This article sheds some light on why twins tend to live very different lives later on. "The causes of these differences were due to changes in the human epigenome, he realized." Doctor Spector found this research and further stated, "pigenetic changes are not just simple environmental changes, however. They influence a person's genes and can have an effect that can last for two or three generations in extreme cases." 

If a twins get married first, the other may be left grieving. I may not completely agree with all that is stated here, but I do believe that the connection twins share is like no other. 

Your Canine

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200903/psychological-characteristics-owners-high-risk-aggression-dog-breeds

I s aggression an innate characteristic of our being? Does this aggression effect other aspects of our lives? Are their certain characteristics that people prone to aggression tend to be attracted to?

Pit bulls have always had a negative reputation. Along with other breeds who are prone to being aggressive, it brings up the question of whether their genes cause aggression or if it is caused from their environment. It is the nature vs nurture theory. Pit bulls have been known to be trained as fighting dogs. A cruel thing to train to dogs who are naturally loyal and peaceful animals. The article above explains how some owners may in fact share some of the qualities of said "aggressive dogs."

Brooklyn Playground

In this blog post I will be writing about my own playground design. For mine i focused on the Bed-stuy area and addressing the black and white communities. For decade Bed-stuy has been mostly population by african americans, however, within the past decade gentrification has been spreading and the white population has almost equalled the black population. Living in bed-stuy myself, I see the division among the locals and newbies. I wanted to design my play specifically for the people that have called bed-stuy their home for generations, and the people that have just moved in. I wanted to focus on how discrimination and separation by race is promoted into a child's perception. I found that the majority of the time, the parent, and/or surround authority figures are the ones unwilling to mix-- the kids aren't aware of this until they learn from them. I wanted to make a community garden, that could 1. bring anyone together 2. be a place for kids to have fun but also for adult to relax and interact with eachother 3. to produce a play area that is also beneficial to the earth and beneficial to a child's education and 4. to give city kids the ability to escape to nature and find fun out of that instead of technology. Technology is something that is truly hurting our ways of communicating with eachother, especialy when those technologies are being used by 3 year olds. The Community Playground garden with have multiple flower beds, compost area, climbing structure, pond/stream and beach sandy area, and bird houses.

Jury Selection

Jury Selection

In this article, a mother of two is on trial for the murder of her two children. This extreme case requires a very levelheaded group of jurors to prevent any immediate bias against the mother. The deeply emotional tragedy, however, is too much to handle for many individuals. The article goes on to explain the process in which attorneys had to undergo in order to find enough jury members to take on this trial. Some candidates broke down in tears at hearing the news, while others had past traumatic events in their lives that would have immediately swayed the decision. Due to these factors, a large portion of the initial 90 candidates were immediately taken out of the selection pool due to past life events, or obvious emotional bias.

To me, the idea that a group of randomly selected jurors can take on such extreme cases is a bit odd. Though, group decision-making can be more rational than that of an individual, having only 12 members does not seem enough.  No matter how careful the prosecutors are in the selection of the jurors, there will always be a bias in the decision-making. This is especially risky in a case so controversial because any vote can sway the outcome.

How Musical Training Effects Our Brains

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140507211622.htm

New research shows that the areas of the brain related to music share pathways related to language. This left hemisphere is a multi-tasking instrument. Undergrad student Amy Spray and Dr. G Meyer form the Psychological Sciences at the University of Liverpool will be presenting their research on Thursday May 8th at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. Not only are these two areas of the brain seemingly linked, but increased music training can have a modular effect on the brain, increasing the amount of pathways available. Across 14 musicians and 9 non-musicians word and music generation tests were performed. It was shown that musicians' brains lighted up in the same areas during language and music related tasks while non-musicians had little activity in similar regions. Prior to musical training this was the case, yet after they were exposed to music fundamental education, the same area of the brain was active for both tasks. Half an hour of training was sufficient to illicit this rewiring of the brain, which is obviously an amazing discovery. The experiment shows that these patterns can be developed rapidly with a brief amount of musical training and corresponding positively effect language skill development.

This is fascinating news to me. As a practitioner of music, it's awesome that my efforts yield such immediate and diverse fruit. The brain's capabilities are truly astounding and our ability to influence its growth never ceases to grow as well. 

Public Speaking Anxiety

http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/teaching/forms/fear%20management%20tips.pdf

Public speaking can be tough if you are a naturally introverted person. Yale's psychological department was kind enough to give out tips for those who are intimidated by public speaking. Their first tip is to outline all the material fully and thoroughly without writing a speech word for word. Memorizing something word for word actually increases anxiety as it creates a pressure to be right each and every word that comes out of your mouth. Having an outline makes you fully aware of the movement your speech will take while taking off the pressure to say exactly the right thing.
The second is to keep a token of emotional security. Athlete's pre-game rituals are cited as inspiration and presenting is no different. Keeping a sentimental object to ground you will only enhance your confidence as it's something personal and familiar unlike the speech you are about to give.
Third, remember that your audience probably is not paying nearly as much attention to your speech as you think they are. Most are probably at least half distracted, they'll remember your tone and enthusiasm way more than they will the content of your speech itself.
Lastly, confidence is the currency of success when it comes to public speaking. The audience can tell if you are nervous and will be nervous in return if you act accordingly. Pretend you're confident even if you're freaking out inside, basically "fake it till you make it."
These tips are designed to outsmart your psychological processes that inhibit your public speaking. Use them and you'll be effective and persuasive!

Limitations of Studying Twins

http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr04/second.aspx

Twins have long been a fascinating topic for psycologists. They offer a potential chance to study the effects of the environment on the mind independent of differences in genetics. Of course while identical twins share DNA, fraternal twins only share about 50%, making them less ideal for dependent experiments. These experiments rely on a few mainstay assumptions about twins that include:

-Research into twins assumes that they are just as likely to pick a partner that is unlike them as they would a partner similar to them. If it is indeed true that similarities are more attractive, then fraternal twins would share more than 50% DNA because their mother and father would be more similar.
-It's assumed that identical twins growing up in the same home experience a very similar environment
-Genes are effected by their environment. This phenomenon is often left out of these experiments despite the fact they alter the basis for the study
-Dominant and recessive genes fight behind the scenes, changing genetic structures without possibly altering the visual appearance of the twins.

The trait being studied has a large effect on the usefulness of studying twins. For instance, it is believed that mates are chosen more frequently based on similar intelligence than they are similarities in other, more negative qualities or quirks. Therefore, "a scientist studying intelligence may have to worry more about nonrandom mating than researchers who study personality." Studying twins' extended family can remedy alot of these issues, as there becomes much more data available to study the impact of twin's lifestyle choices beyond the immediate behaviors. Lastly, genetic research plays a huge role in studying twins today. Differences in the DNA offers insights that traditional analysis methods can't match and combining the two is offering a continuously more complete picture of the subject.

Being a twin, I think the concept of studying twins for psychological purposes is fascinating. They offer a unique opportunity to isolate the environment as the variable, keeping genetics constant for posterity. The differences that arises in twins has always fascinated me, and I can personally attest to being extremely different from my brother both physically and personality wise. Despite our variable lifestyles, we retain a commonality that is hard to pinpoint, but concrete. Psychologists are determining what this link is whether its purely genetic or something more, and I'm looking forward to their ever-evolving hypothesizes.

Advice for the Bride & Groom

As we have read and discussed, it has become more and more evident that twins, growing up together or apart, have a deep connection with one another that stems from conception to their death. In one instance, Unknowing Twins Married because they had been separated at birth. When they "met later in life and felt an inevitable attraction, the judge had to deal with the consequences of the marriage that they entered into and all the issues of their separation." Since their adoption 30-40 years ago, laws have been passed that allow separately adopted twins to stay in contact with one another during their youth to allow for a less traumatic upbringing. 

Twins and Empathy

http://search.proquest.com/docview/614307143/AE458C7DC2CB4364PQ/5?accountid=27668

The article, titled "The Development of Empathy in Twins,"explores the way empathy manifests itself in the behaviors of twins. One observation speaks to the signals of empathy at a young age and how they evolve with age:

"...reflexive or contagious crying of infants is viewed as a precursor of affective arousal that reflects concern for the other. Self-distress diminishes over time and is gradually replaced by more modulated expressions of concern. Young children’s emotional states become less tightly fused with those of others as they come to recognize their existence as separate, autonomous beings."

I found it curious, the correlation between age and mental compartmentalization with regard to empathy development. Perhaps, this idea explains the jaded feeling that often settles in with old age.

Court Juries

http://search.proquest.com/docview/614356515/fulltextPDF?accountid=27668

This article discusses the racial truths about America's court juries. It states that as far back as the 1880s the Supreme Court "ruled against statutes that formally limited jury service to Whites." Of course, these rulings were worked around at state level. "State legislatures often manipulated the qualifications necessary for jury service and voting registration in the attempt to exclude Blacks from juries…" It was not surprising to learn that, from a psychology standpoint,  “conscious and unconscious racism can affect the way White jurors perceive minority defendants ... perhaps determining the verdict of guilt or innocence." This is not to to say that it was not extremely disappointing to read the facts and figures, because truthfully, justice is an imaginary thing in the American court system most of the time. 

78 Years of Separation

78 Years of Separation

In this unbelievable case, two twins are separated from birth and reunited after 78 years. Due to unforeseeable circumstances, the mother had to put her children up for adoption. One sibling was adopted right away, while the other ended up under the care of her birthmother. The two twins lived completely separate lives, eventually both married men named Jim, and developed similar mannerisms. After reuniting, the two twins feel like they have known each other their whole lives.

This case is extremely interesting in that can help psychologists understand better the nature vs. nurture debate. The two twins have grown up in completely different environments, yet have so much in common. Further studies of the twins’ lifestyles and behaviors will unveil more information about how each factor has impacted each of their lives. In my opinion, there is a mix of factors in both nature and nurture that affect the individual. An individual is not made up of either one independently, but pieced together by different elements to make a whole.  The similarities between the two twins may be biological, while the differences are most likely to be due to environmental and relationship influences in the past.

Public Speaking for Introverts

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/quiet-the-power-introverts/201107/10-public-speaking-tips-introverts

This article offers tips for introverts who find public speaking to be a psychological feat. As someone who leans more towards the introverted side of the social spectrum, this article helped me to put certain aspects of public speaking into perspective. Susan Cain, the author of the article, notes that one of the reasons for fear of public speaking is the intense internal uncertainty of how you are coming across to your audience. Cain suggests preparation in the form of videotaping your speech to bring your strengths and weaknesses into your own vision. One of the most helpful tips she offers is this: "Think about what your particular audience wants to hear. Are they craving new information? Insights? What problem do they hope to solve? Give them what they want and need." This tip is especially important for critiques, as you ONLY want to deliver information that your professor and peers want to hear. 

Aggression in Sports

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.pratt.edu:2048/docview/916160404/fulltextPDF/BB7AFEA49F974F97PQ/12?accountid=27668

This article discusses the dynamics of aggressive athletes and the environments that can promote or reduce athletic aggression. Murray Griffin, an psychology educator at Goldsmiths College and the University of London, asserts that aggression is not actually a needed emotion for improved athletic performance. I found this perspective interesting given the cultural praise and expectation of aggression in almost all professional athletes. Griffin notes that, while sports fields aren't the breeding grounds for aggression, the nature of any athletic endeavor doesn't exactly reduce the chance of athletes tapping into the sometimes destructive emotion.

Unnatural Selection

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200703/unnatural-selection

Not knowing much about the jury system I was immediately surprised by this article. It brings up a certain juror for a case that had dyed hair and tattoos and big disagreement to keep her on the trial or not. I've understood that when picking a jury you must pay attention to their race, work, family and overall lifestyle, but this lady was simply being judged because she had dyed hair and tattoos. Whether she looked the part of a criminal or not, the jury system should not be decided on whether a juror looks like an upstanding citizen or not.
But what really surprised me about this article was the ability for representative a case to cause such bias juror. It seems like a whole other way for people to hire expensive representation and get their trail won. Having either side of a trial have part in the juror picking decision is bound for an unfair trial.

12 Angry Men

I thought this movie was very interesting and very relevant to today's justice system. It is disturbing to see how the jurors apart from Henry Fonda's character have already condemned "the boy" simply because of his socio economic status, race, and age. Many times one of the jurors refers to "those people" generalizing all Puerto Rican people as low life dangerous criminals. I found it interesting that all twelve jury members had to agree on a verdict. I did not know this was the practice. It is disturbing because the jurors are meant to judge "the boy" without a "reasonable doubt" and so often they agree. I would think that with twelve men finding a reasonable doubt would be far to easy and no verdict would ever be reached. This movie is a testament to people's willingness to agree with one another when dissension arrises. All of these men accept for Jane Fonda were ready to pronounce "the boy" guilty on all accounts and call it a day. This is disturbing because these men are not deciding where to go for drink after work, they are tasked with making a very serious decision as to whether a young man lives or dies.

Nature vs Nurture

http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html

This article gives a wide-spread overview of the Nature vs Nurture debate in Psychology. The main argument in this debate is whether our personality traits are predetermined genetically (Nature) or that we gain them through personal experience (Nurture). It is a constantly changing debate because there are so many factors that can be argued for both sides. There are so many outside factors that can change any given person, to say that Nature or Nurture is solely responsible is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.
Personally, I believe that a large amount of our persona is formed by Nurture, or personal experience. I don't believe that people are born with their ideologies and beliefs already determined. At a young age, we observe those around us and tend to model those behaviors. As we get older, we begin to recognize what behaviors are good and what ones are bad, what kind of person we want to be, etc.
What side are you on? Nature or Nurture?

Public Speaking Anxiety

https://www.uwstout.edu/counsel/speechanxiety.cfm

A common plight that many of us face is stage fright, or public speaking anxiety. We can have a speech practiced and perfected for weeks, but put us in front of an audience and it's like reading it for the first time. Why is this? Why are we so nervous to present information? It's odd because if you attend a lecture, you aren't constantly judging the presenter, or nit picking at every word they say. But when you're the one speaking, it seems as if everyone is hanging on your every word, when in reality they probably couldn't care less.
This article does a great job of describing little things one can do to help reduce and even eliminate this speaking anxiety. To name a few;

Self Assessment-

• Begin by identifying problematic thinking patterns (such as those described previously).
• Ask yourself, "What am I really afraid of?" Doing so may help you gain a more realistic perspective into the realities of what is expected and what is not expected.
• Ask yourself, "What are my strengths as a public speaker?" In other words, do not overlook the strengths you offer and avoid becoming too focused upon limitations.

Gradual Exposure and Preparation- 

• Look for opportunities to expose yourself to mild-moderate levels of anxiety that challenge, but do not overwhelm, your ability to succeed. Consider developing a positive visualization of yourself giving a successful class speech or presentation.
• Practice in front of trusted friends. Review feedback with your friend and make any adjustments accordingly.
• Video or audiotape yourself. Watch yourself and give yourself constructive feedback, including what was done well and what needs to be improved.
• Be thoroughly prepared and rehearsed. Nothing replaces adequate time spent in practice.
• Consider using relaxation techniques to manage feelings of anxiety, such as meditation, yoga, or muscle relaxation to help the mind and body feel uplifted and balanced, yet alert and prepared.

As someone who definitely gets anxious when speaking in front of an audience, tips like these can help me tremendously when trying to prepare myself for any sort of public speaking. What works for you?

Aggression

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-2004/02AB.pdf


This is a great overview of human aggression from the psychology department of Iowa State University. It does a great job of explaining aggression and the many theories that surround it, both cognitive and social psych related. It begins by defining it; Aggression is any behavior intended to cause immediate harm.
This is such a broad definition, and while we all know what aggression is, the ins and outs of what is and is not considered aggression is not always as clear. The article discusses five main theories of aggression, including the most widely accepted one, Social Learning Theory. The others include : Cognitive Neoassociation Theory, Script Theory, Excitation Transfer Theory, and Social Interaction Theory.

The Social Learning Theory says that people "acquire" aggressive responses the same way they do other complex forms of social behavior, either by direct experience or observation of others. I agree with this explanation the most because it seems to be the most plausible in regards to how we learn our behaviors. Children often emulate their parents because they watch them constantly, and many of us gain our mannerisms from our parents at a very young age, before we even understand what behavior really is.

Overall this article is very helpful for further understanding aggression and the numerous theories that surround it as one of the more important human emotions.

Are beliefs inherited?

http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr04/beliefs.aspx

This article talks about whether attitudes like whether America’s role in Iraq or the importance of one’s physical appearance are “largely the product of environmental forces, a combination of upbringing and culture” or something else.  The article suggests that something else is the answer, that attitudes are “partly, though indirectly, heritable, but that attitudes with high heritability influence people's actions more strongly than those with weaker genetic bases.”  Twin studies in looking at whether environmental factors such as "nonshared environment," or a person's individual experiences outside the family are useful.  Twin studies are consistently stronger in predicting attitudes than genetic ones, at least among adults.  The gathered data of “the team examined data on 29,691 subjects--including 14,761 adult twins and their parents, spouses, siblings and adult children--and concluded that the route to transmitting attitudes within families is complex, probably reflecting a mixture of assortative mating influences and direct parental transmission. The team also found that family environment played a greater role in attitude formation than in personality variables, strengthening the notion that personality has a stronger genetic component than attitudes.”  These studies are interesting as beliefs and feelings are hard to capture and may change over time. One study interviewed 654 adopted and nonadopted young people about their levels of conservatism and religious attitudes every year for four years, starting when they were 12.  The study found that, “examining the differences between adopted and nonadopted youngsters in how similar their attitudes were to those of their parents, the team found a significant, though relatively small, genetic influence for conservatism in youngsters as early as the first year of the study, and almost no genetic link for religious attitudes.”

Joe

Straight Talk about Twin Studies, Genes, and Parenting: What Makes Us Who We Are

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/200810/straight-talk-about-twin-studies-genes-and-parenting-what-makes-us-who-w

The article explains how although people argue that environments change how twins act and their level of intelligence and personality, at the end of the day it comes down to genetics. It turns out that genetic variation is correlated with the variation in environments. According to the article people engage in in certain environmental experiences based on their genetic make up and the environment thus reciprocates reinforcing the individuals nature. Therefore, David Moore and Scott Barry Kaufman wrote a book that had eight facts about genes and twin studies. The facts are as follows: 1. Genes cannot determine anything themselves In reality, all biological and psychological characteristics are constructed during development, when genes interact with local environmental factors that can be influenced by the broader environment. 2. Parents matter, and will always matter: The parenting factors that are statistically associated with differences between individuals should never be confused with the parenting factors that cause the development of a trait within an individual. 3. Heritability depends entirely on context: both are always contributing to the development of any trait, and context matters. 4. The actual heritability value simply does not matter because the development of behavioral/psychological characteristics can be influenced by experiential factors in ways that are unpredictable from casual observation. 5. Heritability doesn't necessarily have to do with biology: the least heritable features of human nature may be those that appear to be the most genetically determined.6. Heritability says nothing about whether intelligence is more determined by genes or the environment:  Because heritability is a population statistic, it has nothing to say about the individual. 7. Twin Studies do not reveal the causes of intellectual development: Because adoption and twin studies that seek to account for trait variation in terms of genetic and environmental variation are always correlational, they reveal nothing about the causes of the appearance of the traits. and 8. Heritability is not the same as heredity: Because traits that are 100% heritable can nonetheless be strongly influenced by environmental factors, it is not the case that a trait found to be heritable in a particular twin study will be passed from a given pair of parents to their children.