Intelligence Article

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-intelligence-hereditary/

     How intelligent are you? How intelligent are your parents? Do these two things have any correlation? According to this article, they do. Intelligence is hereditary, but only to a certain extent. We all share about 99.5% of our three billion DNA base pairs. So if we share so much, how can we all be so different? Well, we have about fifteen million differences that separate all of us genetically, as well.
     Therefore, genes account for about half of the differences in genetics. So where does the other half come from? The difference comes from the environment in which we grow up in. They were able to study this and record their findings by studying twins, and adopted children. They found that adopted children later on life would, for the most part, grow to be similar to their biological parents, just as a child who had not been adopted would be. The article stated that adoptive parents and their adoptive children do not usually resemble each other in intelligence.
     Researchers thus far have only found about 5% of the differences in intelligence among people. This means that there is still a lot of discovering to do. Another interesting find is that genetic influence on our intelligence slowly increases throughout our lives. For instance, in infancy, we have roughly  a 20% genetic influence on our intelligence. By childhood, we have a 40% genetic influence, and by adulthood, 60%.
     In conclusion, intelligence is based partially on our genetics, and partially on our environments. Scientists have discovered a lot, but there is so much more waiting to be uncovered. Do you think you have the intelligence level of your parents?

Same Sex Marriage Case

     Same sex love isn't anything new. But same sex marriage is a relatively new thing. Some people still don't like it, and that's okay. Everyone is entitled to his or her own belief. I understand that some people don't like it because of their religion. A company refusing to service a same sex couple is discrimination. A company can no longer discriminate by race, therefore they shouldn't be able to discriminate by sex or marital status. I feel as though the judge shouldn't have rejected the argument. The judge could've at least listened and gave better feedback. 

     The article states that "Tolerance is a two-way street." This means that companies shouldn't have to be threatened with fines or jail time just because they don't agree with something the government does. I completely understand this statement and it makes sense that someone would feel that way about it. However, if people are grouping race, gender, and marital status together, then they should be treated fairly. 

     Overall, this case was not treated the way it should have been. I mean, the case was just about a couple who wouldn't shoot a wedding video for a same sex couple because of religious beliefs. I say the videographers are losing money and probably won't good publicity from this. But this is just a pointless case, otherwise.

First Memory

The earliest memory I can remember is from when I was about 1 and a half years old. I was looking at Mount Rushmore. I think I remember it because it was something very different from anything I had ever seen. I actually had dreams about it and I didn't think it had actually happened. But when I asked my mom about it, she confirmed that it did actually happen.

The first lie I can remember telling is when I bit Bryce in front of my whole family at my birthday party. He tried riding the scooter I had just got as a present. I was mad so I bit his ear. I believe that was my fourth birthday. I lied and said I didn't mean to...but I did it in front of everyone.

Possible 28th Amendment

I would amend the 7th amendment. Instead of the amount of money having to exceed $20.00, it will have to exceed $200.00 to have a trial by jury.

7th Amendment

In Suits of common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed two-hundred dollars, the right to a trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Classical Conditioning Ad

Unconditioned Stimulus: The pretty girl.
Conditional Stimulus: The perfume.
Unconditioned Response: You want to be like her.
Conditioned Response: Feeling good and smelling good with Gucci perfume.

Teaching an Amendment

7th Amendment

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law

1.)     The 7th amendment states that to have a jury in a civil case, the case must involve at least $20.00. In other words, in order to a trial by jury in a federal court, the amount of money involved must exceed $20.00.
2.)     The purpose of this amendment is to make sure that a civil case isn't pointless. If there isn't at least $20.00 involved in the case, then there will not be a jury present: however, you can present it before a judge. It would be pointless to have a jury present if a decent amount of money isn't involved in the case. This amendment's other big thing is that everyone has the right to a fair trial with jury present.
3.)     Civil case doesn't involve criminal matters, and must be between two private parties, or between the government and a private party. Federal courts are established by the U.S. Constitution.
4.)    a. The 7th amendment was ratified in 1791. It was made because the King of England wouldn't allow trial by jury in the colonies. So when the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence, they complained about it. That's why the right to a trial by jury is an amendment.
         b. All federal civil cases have the right to a trial by jury if the amount of money involved exceeds over $20.00
         c. Issues today would be that after the jury the decides, the judge cannot overrule that decision. So if a judge feels strongly about the matter, they cannot do anything about it after the jury has decided.

Scientific Analysis

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822103210.htm
1.) Infants can distinguish between different caresses.
2.) 16 subjects
3.) No, it does not say that there was a control group.
4.) It does not specify.
5.) They had the mothers hold their babies, and then stroke them with a soft brush. They did that at a rate of 20 cm per second and at a rate of 3 cm per second. They learned that the slower stroke gave the infants a faster blood flow.
6.) The slower strokes gave the infants more blood flow which showed they were more stimulated. The slow stroke is the more "social" and "caring" stroke.
7.) Yes, they acted the way the experimenters thought they would.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170614160507.htm
1.) Researchers studied how risky behavior can impact PTSD symptoms.
2.) They assessed more than 200 veterans.
3.) It does not say if there was a control group or not.
4.) They had to be veterans. Other than that, I don't believe there were any other requirements.
5.) They tested the veterans and noted if they had PTSD or not. They then asked them about their risky behaviors and their PTSD symptoms. Four years later, they re-tested the same veterans and asked about their risky behavior and they asked about their symptoms.
6.) In the time between the two tests, 82% of the subjects had a potentially traumatic event because of a risky behavior.
7.) Yes, they did.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161006092315.htm
1.) The researchers studied how alcoholic dependence impacts sleep disorders.
2.) They had 135 subjects.
3.) They did not say there was a control group.
4.) They had to be human subjects that spoke English.
5.) They didn't really experiment, they actually looked at data bases from previous experiments.
6.) They found there was a bidirectional in nature. Meaning that AD impacted insomnia, short sleep duration, the circadian rhythm, and other sleep disorders.
7.) Yes, the subjects had the expected reaction.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170712074602.htm
1.) The researchers studied how poor episodic memory, a common feature of schizophrenia, which leads to poor social skills.
2.)  It doesn't say how many people exactly, but there were three groups.
3.) There was a control group and they were not schizophrenic.
4.) It did not specify how the subjects were chosen.
5.) The subjects watched 24 shorts films of average social situations, and were then shown 24 pictures of people who were not in the films, and 24 of people who were in the films. They were asked to tell whether or not they were in the films. Most people did well with that. The trouble came when they had to tell what film or situation that person was in.
6.) People with no schizophrenia did fairly well with both of the tests. The people with chronic schizophrenia had trouble putting faces with the situations. Also, impaired episodic memory is an early indication of schizophrenia.
7.) Yes, the subjects reacted as the researchers had expected.

1.) My favorite word is breathtaking.
2.) My least favorite word is vomit.
3.) One thing I like about my life is my supportive family and encouraging friends.
4.) One thing I do not like about my life is how much I stress about being good enough for everything.
5.)  One profession I would like to attempt is a social worker.
6.) One profession I would never attempt would to go into the military.
7.) Three words that describe me are intellectual, bossy, go-getter.

         There are a lot of things I hope to gain from taking this class. I have been excited to take this class for a while now. One of the biggest reason for me wanting to take this class is because I've been interested in social work for a very long time and I think having a background in psychology will help me decide whether or not I should go into a social work field. I've also thought about becoming a psychiatrist, so this class might help me make some future decisions.
       
         I hope that having Mr. Reints as my teacher will give me a more college-like feel as far as the homework, discussions, and lectures. I believe this class will be fun and exciting, especially with Mr. Reints as a teacher. This class will help to prepare me for future psychology classes that I might end up taking in college anyways. Having a background should give me a head start in those classes. So overall, I hope to gain some knowledge in the field so that I can make better decisions about my future college and career plans, as well as getting a small feel for what a college class could be like.

Asian Auschwitz

                I believe that the United Stated government did not do the right thing. Unit 731 was doing very inhumane things and the United States did nothing to stop it. Yet they executed Nazis for crimes against humanity. It doesn’t make any sense that they would punish one group, but not the other. Unit 731 and the Nazis were doing similar things but I think that Unit 731 was even worse.

                Unit 731 was under the control of a man named Shiro Ishii. The Unit tortured their prisoners with medical experiments, but the person being experimented on was hardly ever under anesthetics because it was believed that anesthetics would change the outcome of the experiment. What they did to people was very inhumane and they seemed to not even care about what they had done and showed almost no remorse. I don’t understand how anyone could ever torture a human and not feel like they are doing something wrong or that it is inhumane.

                They called the prisoners “logs” because Unit 731 was supposed to be a lumber mill from the government’s point of view and to the general public. They did a plethora of experiments on their prisoners. A few experiments include the following: hanging the logs upside down and seeing how long it takes for them to choke to death, injecting horse urine into the log’s kidneys, cut off limbs to study blood loss, cut off limbs and then stitched them on to the opposite side, placing the logs into highly pressured rooms until their eyes popped out, and much more. As you can see, their medical experiments were not humane. The only thing they did humanely was feed them and keep them exercised.

                While reading the article, I found a few things quite interesting. I found it weird that when people were talking about what they did to the logs, they didn’t seem to feel bad or wish they could undo it. They talk about it as though it is normal. I wonder if any of them wish they could take it back. I also wonder if they felt bad at the time they were doing all of this or if they really thought it was okay to treat other humans so poorly. I could never imagine to be doing that to people, let alone be the person who is getting tortured and/or killed.

                I can’t believe that the United States government let them get away with killing so many people without punishment and yet put a stop to the Nazis. It really isn’t fair if you think about it. I mean yes, I am glad that they got rid of the Nazis, but they shouldn’t have let the Unit 731 people go. I also can’t believe that I had never known about this until today. Why don’t we learn about it history books? Why is this subject avoided?

                I think the reason the United States didn’t execute the Unit 731 people was because they wanted the biological findings for themselves. So instead of destroying the Unit and executing the people, they got the information for them so that the United States wouldn’t have to do any experimenting. Now as much as I don’t think that’s right, I do think it was smart. Besides the fact they let hundreds of criminals free to live luxurious lives.

                Overall, what Shiro did was definitely not humane and I do not agree with anything he did to those innocent people. The United States only let them go in order to gain more biological information for themselves. But it is unfair that the Nazis were convicted of crimes against humanity and Unit 731 was not. Let’s just hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.