For my first impression post on Chapter 7, I have decided to discuss the second prompt about violent video games.

My prospective on violent video games is fairly neutral. Although I could see why many people could think that violent video games may be one of the causes as to why children are becoming violent as a whole, I think that it may be somewhat unfair to pin the blame solely on the games themselves.

In my opinion, it would be absurd to try and ban violent video games altogether for several different reasons. The first being that it would be unfair for individuals above this certain age range who enjoy playing these certain violent video games. Not only that, but children are already prohibited from buying certain violent games until they reach a certain age. Due to this, I think the blame should be shifted from the developers of the video games, and be placed on the parents and guardians of these children, because without their assistance the children would not be able to get their hands on the games in the first place.

For my First Impression post on chapter two, I decided to watch the TED talk on brain to brain communication by Miguel Nicolelis.

I decided to choose this TED talk because I did not believe that it was possible to transmit information between one mind to another without either expressing the information verbally, or writing the information down.

Mr.Nicolelis started off his presentation by using a young man as an example of how far modern technology has come. This young man was in a terrible car accident that rendered him immobile from his torso to the tips of his toes. But utilizing technology that Mr.Nicolelis had been working on for roughly 15 years, used the electrical signals from his brain to move an exoskeleton which had let him kick off the FIFA World Cup that was being hosted in Brasil that year. After the numerous years of research, Nicolelis and his colleague were able to develop the sensors that made this massive feat possible. The sensors were not only able to pick up on the brains electrical signals, but could also translate these signals into digital commands. Not only can these sensors control a variety of different specialized equipment, the equipment can send signals back to the brain to let the user know that they have either succeeded or failed to complete the task or motion they meant to do. What Nicolelis also mentions later in the talk is that he proposed the idea of the kickoff to FIFA and the Brazilian government 18 months in advance to the World Cup, although apprehensive at first both parties eventually agreed on the idea and Nicolelis had to find test subjects and finalize an exoskeleton within this 18 month period. Whilst developing the exoskeleton, the developers not only wanted for the subjects to be able to walk on their own again, but also worked in conjunction with other researchers so that the exoskeleton would make the subjects experience the sensation that they were walking without any assistance at all. The final technology that Nicolelis discusses in the talk is the actual technology that allows brain to brain contact. This was best represented by tests in which monkeys had to collaborate to achieve a common goal in simple mental tests, and had no way of communicating with one another other than utilizing this technology.

I found the part where the monkeys had to communicate through the brain to brain interface the most interesting part of this lecture.

I think that the presenter was very trustworthy whilst presenting this information because he was one of the founders of the technology, and has been working to advance this technology from the time the initial prototype was created.

I would research how effectively this technology could work with humans. A test could be as simple as giving one person a simple map to a maze, and having to direct another person through the maze by just using the brain to brain interface, and see how effective this method truly is when it comes to people.

It can be extremely difficult to identify what styles of parenting are most effective to help raise a child who will go on to have a very productive and happy life down the line. Although a parenting style that is a happy medium between being strict and being very carefree will most likely be the best style in my opinion. You can run very many risks leaning too heavily to one extreme or the other.

For example, if a parent tends to be too strict whilst their child is growing up, the child may lack important experiences, (whether the experience be negative or positive) in which they will be able to learn from down the line. I believe such experiences are vital whilst a child is growing up, because if they are not able to live through these experiences, they may not be able to truly learn whether the choice they made was truly right or wrong.

On the other hand, if parents are not strict with their children at all and let them do whatever they want, they may go through a portion of their life in which they believe they will be able to get away with whatever they would like to. Or they may not understand the true repercussions of their actions.

This is why I believe the middle ground between these two extremes is paramount when it comes to raising a child. Not only will they be able to experience things that they will be able to learn from, but the parents will also be able to punish the children and help explain to them why some actions may not be appropriate or acceptable, and why others are acceptable.

For my research study, I would be interested in finding if there is any correlation between students residing on a college campus, and exhibiting reckless behavior such as binge drinking. I would word my question as the following, “Does residing on a college campus increase the chances of students participating in destructive behaviors, such as binge drinking?”

My hypothesis is that students who live on college campuses are more likely to participate in dangerous behavior.

My procedure would be very straightforward, I would first start by asking students from different colleges to take a simple survey. The survey will be anonymous, but the students will have to include which college or university that they are attending so it will be easier to interpret the results. The survey would also ask the students if they live on campus, live off campus, or commute to their college or university. Lastly, the survey would ask the students how frequently they partake in dangerous activities such as binge drinking. Utilizing the results from the surveys will then help determine whether this hypothesis has some truth behind it, or is completely false.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

My name is Noah Hartman and I am a rising senior at Elizabethtown College. I am a Business Administration major with a concentration in Management. I am from Lebanon, Pennsylvania and enjoy spending time outdoors either playing lacrosse or spending time with friends.

I decided to take this course to gain extra credits as well as develop some understanding of psychology as a whole. I do not possess any previous knowledge when it comes to psychology. When I hear the word “psychology” I immediately think of the mind and what different factors drive people to think or to act. I believe that chapters 3,8, and 11 will be the most interesting chapters to learn about and could also be some of the most helpful chapters as well. I think that the topic on the Scientific Method, the Classical and Operant Conditioning , and Neuro-Imaging because on the surface these all seem like topics that could be very dry or tedious in nature. Lastly, the question about psychology that I would like answered by the end of the class would be, how well can it be tied into different fields of study?