Week 6: Class Evaluation (Final Week...)

What did you like about the class?
I really enjoyed class discussions and discussions. I like the movies/television shows/videos that we watched. I just like the class in general.
What was your favorite activity or project?
Play-Doh brain for sure. It was great mushing up brain chunks while being able to honestly tell my mom that I was studying.
What didn't you like about the class?
Sometimes Stepping Through the Sections took too long. We got rid of them in the end anyway, so it was ok.
What do you think I should leave out next year?
Nothing. In fact, I still want more. But the course is over... Ike took our movie week...
Do you have any suggestions or ideas for things I could do next year in AP Psych?
No stepping through the sections, more time devoted to each chapter (though 1 semester's time is already rushed), more psych blog for a longer period of time.
Do you have any suggestions or ideas for next semester in AP Econ?
I'm a junior, so I don't really care yet. But grade easy next year please.

I just have to say that I am really satisfied with this class. I am extremely glad that I decided to take it. I enjoyed just about every day of it. The facts that I learned in this were absolutely fascinating, and I a lot about how people think. I also greatly appreciated the easy A for AP credit too. Thanks for a great semester Mrs. Halfen!

Week 5: PTSD + Tetris = Fewer Flashbacks

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) occurs when people experience flashbacks and nightmares after extreme psychological trauma. It often causes long-term social problems. PTSD occurs most often in soldiers and veterans. Researchers have been looking into it, and they have found a semi-cure from an extremely odd source: Tetris. PTSD involves visuo-spatial/sensory-perceptual mental processes. These processes often fully encode events into memory within 6 hours, so disruption of the memory needs to occur before that. Since Tetris is a visual-spatial computer game, the flashbacks would be disrupted while competing with a game of Tetris for mental resources. The end result is that soldiers who play Tetris within 6 hours of a traumatic event experience significantly fewer flashbacks and score better on tests which measure amounts of trauma. This new finding could play a large role in aiding these soldiers with PTSD, and it could greatly reduce the suffering that our soldiers experience. War hospitals might soon be equipped with Nintendo DS's.