week 3 reflection

This week we advance closer to the toddler stage of life talking about how they discover and view the world around them. At this age they want to touch everything and absorb information like a sponge. This is also an important time to form attachments to our "caretakers". One of the interesting parts of this section was the presentation on Bowlby and attachment. According to Bowlby there are different levels of attachment based on the care that the caretaker provides. Showing that the role that the care taker plays or does not play affects the child on a deep psychological level.

I think I had a secure attachment as a baby because I have been told that I was quite the social butterfly when I was younger this changed in high school as I feel it does for a lot of people. High school is a big change for a lot of people and adds to the notion that experiences form us into the people we are today.

It really isn't a big surprise to me that our parents or caregivers have huge influence on who we are. It is interesting that it starts so early. Things that happen while we are a baby can effect us into adulthood. This results from our parents parenting style whether they responded to our needs or didn't. I think its good to note that the caregiver needs to properly respond to the infants needs. This is important because there are parents out there who respond to their child quickly but they may not do it properly and end up spoiling the child or rebellious child. It is smart to think about the right response and then execute.

week 2 reflection.

This week was all about babies and it had quite a bit of biology review mixed in. It is fascinating how many instincts we have built into our brains and we do not have to be taught. It is also scary the amount of issues we can be born with. It is a miracle that we are able to give birth to healthy babies. Also it is very interesting how most babies follow a similar timeline of development.

The topic nature vs nurture was discussed heavily. I tend to feel that nurture has the most influence on our personalities and who we are as people. Lets take a person who has a genetic predisposition for addiction to drugs and put him or her in an environment that never introduces him or her to drugs. The individual cannot become addicted to the drugs if he or she is never introduced. Now this is just one example and I am sure that there are plenty more supporting the other side. However, I like to think the environment Im in has more influence on me than my genetics partly because it makes me feel more in control.

Another point that caught my attention is the idea of synaptic pruning. This explains the meaning of the  saying "use it or lose it" it is cool that your brain takes the unused connections between neurons. This can be scary to think about and at first i thought it meant i was getting dumber. Fortunately, I was wrong. It is actually a very important function and one that is extremely important in maintaining the brain and sharping the connections we actually use.

Week one reflections

I thought that the Article "Identity Dance" was very interesting it was interesting how two individuals can be so similar genetically, yet be completely different. Also, it is a little unnerving to think about how much genetics effect us as humans. It makes me feel like Im not making choices my genetics are. Week one had some intersection concepts and really made me think about how different each person is and how I myself have changed over the years.
I think its interesting how different traits are passed on and how some are evident in one individual and then completely absent in the next. I have a brother who is three and half years older then I am and while we are very different, we do share some similar traits that are absent from our younger brother. My older brother and I both have dark brown hair and have been told that we have the same laugh (even though I think mine sounds better). And often on the phone we get mistaken for each other. Our younger brother however is blonde and does not sound like us at all (mostly because he is 10) but its interesting none the less how we can be similar and very different.
I wish I could learn more about limits that our genetics put on us. Is there a possibility that my genetics prevent me from doing certain things no matter how much will power I have. Or can time, effort and dedication overcome genetics limitations if there are any or does your body change its genetics slightly to accommodate to environmental stresses and changes.