Conclusion

This blog is based on a topic that fascinates me and that is supposed to be one easier, but wasn't that easy. It was more difficult because I had to find the topics and that make it even more complicated, but the result after an entire semester is one satisfying. At first I thought it was going to not get the result but now I look and I say "I achieved." I will miss to search topics for the blog and also the class. It has been a unique, complicated but good experience. Thanks for teaching us that life is a lovely one and we should get as much as we can of her. Thanks for scolding us when we deserved and forgive us if we offend you. Thanks for being one of the best professors of the university. 

Great minds in psychology: Urie Bronfenbrenner

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005): American psychologist. Ecological theory has the approach that development occurs through processes of integration between the individual and his immediate environment, which are influenced by more remote contexts

• Microsystem: setting in which the individual interacts with other everyday

• Mesosystem: integration between two or more microsystems

• Exosystem: links between a micro and systems or external institutions (where the individual actively participated)

• Macrosystem: global cultural patterns

• Chronosystem: effects of time on other systems, degree of stability or change in the person or the environment

Retrieve from: http://www.suagm.edu/umet/biblioteca/Reserva_Profesores/janette_orengo_educ_173/Urie_Bronfenbrenner.pdf

Great minds in psychology: Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (1896-1980): Swiss constructive psychologist. The theory of cognitive stages of Piaget is divided into:

• Adaptation of new information management in the light of what is already known

§                 Assimilation: incorporate new information into existing cognitive structure

§                Accommodation: change cognitive structures to include new information

• Balancing: striving for balance, determines the change between assimilation and accommodation

• Organization: categories to observe the characteristics they have in common the members of that class are created

Retrieve from http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teor%C3%ADa_del_desarrollo_cognitivo_de_Piaget

Great minds in psychology: Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936): Russian physiologist. He won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 1904. The classical conditioning theory focuses on the learning of involuntary emotional or psychological responses. Through this process it is possible to train animals and humans to react involuntarily to a stimulus that previously had no effect.

• Classical Conditioning: association automatic responses to novel stimuli

• Neutral Stimulus: is not connected to a response

• Unconditioned stimulus: stimulus that automatically triggers an emotional or physiological response

• Conditioned stimulus: stimulus that provokes an emotional or physiological response after conditioning

• Unconditioned response: emotional or physiological response that occurs naturally

• Conditional Response: learned response to the previously neutral stimulus

• Generalization: to respond in the same way to similar stimuli

• Discrimination respond differently to similar stimuli but not identical

• Extinction: gradual disappearance of a learned response

Retrieve from: http://www.suagm.edu/umet/biblioteca/Reserva_Profesores/janette_orengo_educ_135/Teoriaa_de_Condicionamiento_Clasico_de_Ivan_Pavlov.pdf

Great minds in psychology: Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): was an Austrian physician and neurologist, known as the father of psychoanalysis and one of the major intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Psychosexual theory divided into five stages dealing with personality development and the specific areas of the body, from birth to puberty, going through a period of great susceptibility or physiological sensitivity known as erogenous zones.

• Oral Stage (birth to 1 year and a half): you derive pleasure by the senses, especially the mouth

• Anal Stage (1 ½ to 3 years): takes pleasure in elimination functions

• Phallic Stage (3 years to 6 years) gets pleasure from the genitals (Oedipus Complex: boy falls in love with his mother, Electra complex: girl is attracted by her father)

• Latency Stage (5-6 years to 12 years) remain latent sexual urges

• Genital Stage (12 and older): predominantly sexual urges

Retrieve from: http://www.suagm.edu/umet/biblioteca/Reserva_Profesores/janette_orengo_educ_173/Teoria_sicosexual_de_Sigmund%20Freud.pdf

Great minds in psychology: Erik Erikson

Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-1994): German psychoanalyst. He argues that the search for identity is the most important issue of life. The company is a positive force in shaping the development of the ego or self. Erikson's psychosocial theory is divided into eight stages, each representing a crisis involving a different personality conflict and growing. Each crisis is manifested at certain times depending on the level of maturity of the person. If the individual adapts to the needs of each crisis, the ego will continue its development to the next stage; if the crisis is not resolved, the continued presence interfere with the healthy development of the ego. The successful solution of each of the eight crisis requires that a positive feature with a negative balance.

• Trust vs. Distrust (0-1 year): supporting basic needs

• Autonomy vs. Shame (2-3 years): decisive stage for love, hate, cooperation, stubbornness, freedom of expression, suppression

• Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years): Preschool

• Diligence vs. Inferiority (7-12 years): School

• Identity vs. Identity Confusion (12-18 years): adolescence

• Privacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood) relationships, establishing intimate relationships

• Generation vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood) meet and support the next generation

• I Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): reflection on his own life and this acceptance, self-acceptance and self-realization

Retrieve from: http://www.suagm.edu/umet/biblioteca/Reserva_Profesores/evelyn_garcia_educ_173/Teoria_de_desarrollo_psicosocial_Erikson.pdf

The world through the eyes of a psychologist

Psychologists see the world from a different perspective than someone who has no knowledge. Many people say that you don’t have to be a psychologist to understand others and their situations because that experience are so common that most people go through them and know how to deal with them. Many others say that psychologists always find the five foot to the cat and living diagnosing worldwide. What people do not talk about is how fascinating it can be to know the mind of a criminal, see his background, see why it is one way or another. The people will see it as an excuse for not complying jail but psychologists see it as an opportunity for a person to deal with your inner self and the diseases they may have. I am not justifying the murderers or rapists, just say that we all have the right to treatment if there is any disease in our system. A recent example I can take and that perfectly reflects my point of view is the famous trilogy by E.L. James Fifty Shades of Grey. Many read it in order to focus only on sex or because is extremely explicit, in contrast to psychology these books are a gem. This trilogy tells the story of a handsome billionaire man who knows a simple woman and which aims to establish a sadomasochistic relationship with her. Throughout the reading we see that the character of Christian Grey is falling in love with the character of Anastasia Steele to the point of setting aside part of what he is for love; of course, he don’t leave it. This plot is interesting because through the reading we know why the protagonist acts and is like he is. Is interesting that he is the way he is because he have a trauma since he was little which lead him to be as it is at present. As mentioned earlier, psychologists see the world differently, we can see beyond the surface, we can see beyond the look and discover a world that just begins to know: the human mind.

Why psychology?

Usually, people ask why you love what you are studying or why you choose what you're studying. When they asked me I answer that I decided to study psychology the first thing that people do is pout and say that I will not get work. Despite being a difficult field, psychology offers benefits when we face life and its difficulties. For example, psychology helps us better understand why people behave the way they behave, when I be out of the classroom and have to face someone or some particular situation it will be a little less difficult to understand what the people are passing and understand the views of the people involved. Another benefit that comes with the passage of time and with practice is whether a person is lying or not. When faced with situations where we do not know the people involved is useful to know if the person is lying or not to offer better support and be clear on what is happening.

When people ask me why I like psychology my answer is: I like to help people solve their problems, I've always liked that the people I love see me as a person in which they may turn to for help or some comforting words. I like that people can trust me. Another reason why I like psychology is because somebody once told me that for help others first you had to help yourself and thanks to psychology I could understand myself better and I could deal with my emotions. This way I feel that I am ready to continue learning how to deal with the society in which we live.

Mental health in Puerto Rico

As I mentioned in previous blogs I study in Puerto Rico and in this week's blog I'll be talking about what think the Puerto Rican society regarding mental health. The society in Puerto Rico misunderstood the use of mental health and people see it as something through which they may be will obtain money. I'm not judging, much less writing that the Puerto Rican people see it that way but unfortunately most people who go to a psychologist or psychiatrist in Puerto Rico go with other intentions. People view it as a way of obtaining money from the government through what is known as "social security" and "retirement pension" that this is when a person retires, either by age or a health condition that no allows you to work to support themselves. When disability retirement the government forces you to visit a psychologist or psychiatrist to evaluate your case to see if you qualify for the economic help but many people (not all) will open up a file,get their money and live happily . The reality is that in Puerto Rico there is insufficient support as mental health concerns and the few that exist are used incorrectly. I'm not saying everything is responsible for the company because it is not, the government has much to do for people acted that way. I can understand that there are many bad people that want to get as much as possible the government but there are people who do need good services and that there are more intent than those being cared for and receive good service. There are several occasions when people are devastated and they are seeking mental health services and because they were not given, ends up committing suicide. This review is for both government and citizenship: the government should start to be swayed by people who really need the services and if suffering from serious illness and people should be allowed to stop being stupid and playing with mental health that because of a few pays the rest of the people. As I said once, long ago: "There are more good people than bad people"

Sexuality as part of psychology

As I mentioned in the last blog, in the blog of this week will be devoted to the topic of sexuality and how it relates to psychology. I think it's important to focus on themes such as this one because the things that are happening at present are often associated with the topic. Many people say it is wrong or is "bad" talk about this issue but I think that it is for this way of thinking that many people don't make good use of their sexuality. 

Sexuality is a set of practices, behaviors, etc. related to the pursuit of sexual pleasure and reproduction. In brief, sexuality was given to maintain the existence of the human race and for the pursuit of sexual pleasure. The problem arises when we do not educate and seek wrongly sexual pleasure and this leads to problems like having early pregnant teenagers or people with psycho-pathological problems. 

Sexuality goes hand in hand with psychology because if you do not have a good sexual education you could be out of control to the point where you get to experience paraphilias. Paraphilias are a sickening pattern of sexual behavior in which the predominant source of pleasure is not in the copula, but in some other activity that accompanies it. If paraphilias don't are controlled in time can cause great mental disorders that can lead to undertake horrible acts against family members, lead to jail or a mental institution. For example, it is in this category where sadomasochism and masochism presented to us in the film Fifty Shades of Grey fall. In conclusion, sex education is an essential part of growth and this depends on having a healthy sex life.

Psychology: Definition

Psychology is the science that deals with the behavior and mental processes of individuals whose field of study covers all aspects of human experience. Also focuses on biological processes that occur in the brain and helps us understand and explain the human mind. Psychology is divided into many branches being clinical psychology, social psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, educational psychology and neuropsychology the most common. Besides these divisions, and there are many more besides these, are subdivided to create a whole tree of knowledge. But since my bachelor is in psychology and mental health I will be leaning towards clinical psychology and its divisions. Although there is bound to psychology that soon I'll be focusing which is sexology. 

Psychology is a branch which is very interesting because it helps you discover the human mind and helps you better understand why people act as they do. Last but not least we must make clear the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist because people always get confused and think they are the same. Basically the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that the psychiatrist prescribes medications and the psychologist can not. 

Introduction

Hi!, my name is Mariela Rivera, I'm in fourth year of university and I am studying psychology and mental health in the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. I choose as theme for this blog the psychology because it is what I am studying and I think that people need to understand that psychologist no are related (necessarily) with crazy people. Through this blog I will provide information about what is psychology and which are the branches of psychology, how important is in our lives, why I'm studying this profession, why is my goal, etc. I hope that the information provided in this blog is of benefit to people who really need it and use it in the best way possible.