Summative Post

Our blog The Mind On The Mind discusses behavior and communication with the subcategories of society and public service. We have a very unique and unconventional style when it comes writing about our topics because not only do we discuss human society and behaviors, but we also discuss animal behaviors and communication. The chart below compares the two fields of what majors our team is studying. Although psychology and fisheries and wildlife seem like almost direct opposites, when you begin to read the rest of our blog you will begin to notice the surprising and interesting overlap within the two majors.

PSYCHOLOGY Childhood and Relationships as Adults The Path of Least Resistance Sad Music for Sad People Emotions Forgiveness Being Happy for Others Can Make Yourself Happy VOTE

FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE Communication by Chemicals Bird Brains Genetic Relationships Between Fish and Humans Prompt #9 Why Dogs Actually Love Us

Communication
A good sense of communication is relevant in both fields. These are most shown through the posts of Forgiveness and through Communication by Chemicals.

• The post titled Childhood and Relationships as Adults explains how healthy relationships as children can result in healthy relationships as adults with our partners.
• In terms of Fisheries and Wildlife, the post titled Communication by Chemicals talks about basic language presented between flowers and their pollinators. It is meant to shed light on the fact that every living organism exhibits some type of communication.

Behavior
Behavior in animals and in humans are something we are constantly trying to figure out. We evaluated both human and animalistic behaviors in our blog. Behavior is most relevant in Path of Least Resistance and Bird Brains.

• The idea that humans are going to take whichever road seems to be the easiest in the short term, even if it ultimately expends more energy is the main idea of The Path of Least Resistance.
• In Bird Brains, the relationship between two mating birds in a flock is examined. We look at how birds are able to specifically distinguish the vocals of their mate in such a cacophony of sounds.

Public Service (How and Why we Should give back)

During our search to understand humans and animals alike, we found that giving back to both our environment and our society is necessary.

• The post titled VOTE talks about how important it is (United States specifically) to go out and vote and be a smart voter. It reiterates the point of it being our civic duty to go out and vote and this is a classic example of how we can give back to our society.
• In terms of Fisheries and Wildlife, Prompt #9 tells us how we can give back to our environment. By realizing that our daily life is directly influenced by the environment and that we directly influence the environment, we can all learn to better appreciate the planet and take care of it like it does for us. Without a healthy planet, many of the things we are capable of doing now can be diminished.

People often forget that humans are just animals. Our psychology on the most basic level is the same. By observing the behavior and communication of animals, we may make inferences about humans. The same goes for observation of humans in respect to animals. The advancements in both the fields of Psychology as well as Fisheries and Wildlife to be made still are massive. This blog, while being a resource for people to use, is only a jumping off point. It is important that people will continue to use their minds for progress, as we will continue to use ours. This is a large world full of many mysteries, it is up to us to solve them. Remember to always keep -- the mind on the mind.

J.M.

A.C.

C.C.

C.F.

Endangered Monkeys Successfully Breed in Michigan Zoo

Over the weekend I visited my hometown for the holiday and stopped by my local zoo. I had heard that they were successful in getting their two Cotton-top Tamarin Monkeys to breed so I wanted to go see them.

Visiting monkeys may seem unimportant at a glance, but the Cotton-top Tamarins are a critically endangered species with only 6,000 left in the wild. This occurred after over 60,000 of the monkeys were shipped to the United States for animal testing in the 1960s (this was banned in 1974). The Tamarins have a very low infant survival rate so the fact that a small zoo in Saginaw, Michigan, was able to breed the monkeys, and the monkeys produced healthy twins is an amazing accomplishment. (To read more about the Tamarin family of Clementine, Gizmo, Pax, and Bean, click here!)

Cooperative breeding strategies put in place by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums “Species Survival Plan Programs” are responsible for outcomes like this one of the Tamarins. Each survival program works with an accredited zoo to oversee population management and to help conserve species.

 

 I wanted to share this because zoos and aquariums are usually almost always talked about in a negative light even though they have a plethora of programs that help to conserve, rehabilitate, and learn more about different species.

A.C.

Works Cited

"Species Survival Plan Programs." AZA, https://www.aza.org/species-survival-plan-programs.

"Endangered Species Birth." Children’s Zoo, 28 Feb. 2016, https://www.saginawzoo.com/endangered-tamarin-birth.

Recognizing Truth (Prompt 10)

     The Big Bang Theory is one of the biggest, most popular TV shows of our time. The show mainly focuses on the natural sciences. The main characters are physicists and an engineer. Often times, the main character, Sheldon Cooper, makes fun of the social sciences. He’s usually seen calling them poppycock and such other things.  Yet, weirdly enough he is the character who uses psychology the most. One scene in particular that I found intriguing is one where Leonard, Sheldon’s roommate, attempts to be Sheldon’s psychologist. (Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV6DpJKW6a0)

     Although this scene is hilarious, it is not an accurate representation of what psychology really is. For one, Leonard is the psychologist and the only reason he is acting as one is because his mother is renowned psychiatrist. This sets the impression that just anyone, degree not included, can become a good psychiatrist and help their people through traumatic events. In this case, Leonard is nothing more than a friend helping a friend.

     Another inaccuracy, is that Leonard starts off with the “how are you doing today?” question. Really, that is the most stereotyped question someone could ask as a “sit in” psychologist. Between the banter of Sheldon and Leonard, they are throwing around theories and ideas and Sheldon plays them off. He even goes so far to say that the deli counter woman could give him the same advice as Leonard. Which both are equally unqualified, but it’s playing down the use and effectiveness of psychology.

     This scene is very funny and definitely is one that I enjoyed. And, the idea of psychology and most social science is downplayed often. Most mental health issues are stigmatized greatly so many people don’t take it seriously. To be a psychologist, though, one must go through many years of schooling. In this scene, they took on the typical “shrink” psychologist role, but there are so many more psych jobs out there that don’t even involve one on one.

J.M.

The Uncanny Valley

Have you ever wondered why certain innocent cartoons and various robots put humans on edge? The cause of this phenomena is the concept of the uncanny valley. The idea is that the closer something gets to a human likeness the more we find it cute or attractive, until a certain point in which it becomes creepy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley#/media/File:Mori_Uncanny_Valley.svg

The image shows two lines, one for moving and one for still. This is because a fair amount of the discomfort we feel comes from the idea that the near human entity possesses a mind and is able to interact with the world around it. Here are some popular examples of beings that fall in the uncanny valley.

https://youtu.be/rYLm8iMY5io

http://www.cubo.cc/creepygirl/

polartorture.jpg

C.F.

Works Cited

Lay, Stephanie. "Uncanny Valley: Why We Find Human-like Robots and Dolls so Creepy | Stephanie Lay." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2016. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/13/robots-human-uncanny-valley>.

Emotions

Today in my lecture we came upon the topic of emotions and exactly what they are. Not only did I learn their significance I learned about their importance in our everyday life.

            Emotions can be described as many things. Many people even have their own definitions for the word. I asked a group of people what they thought emotions were and they all seem to have pretty much the same answer. FEELINGS!!! True, emotions are feelings but their more than that, according to psychology emotions are a mix of psychological arousal, expressed behavior, and consciously experienced thoughts. Where do emotions come from? Psychologist James Lange had a theory that our experiences of emotions are our awareness of our physiological response.  

Emotions are simply a ‘ravel’ of our feelings. These feelings have been studied internationally and they all average in the main six emotions that we encounter daily. Happy, sad, fear, surprised, disgust, and anger. When you mix the feelings, sad and surprised you come out with the emotion disappoint. Emotions help the world better communicate and it’s a proven fact that women read emotions better than men.

 Many people get emotions and mood confused. We use them as the same word but psychologist have distinguished them. The simple difference between the two is that emotions last shorter than moods. You may argue with a friend about which brand of shoes is better Nike or Jordan and feel a little angry afterwards. However, moods last longer and can affect more than just that moment. They affect the way you feel and think. Can moods last long enough to affect your personality, the true you?

C.C.

Hambrick, David "Personality" Psychology 101. Wells Hall, East Lansing. November 14,2016. Lecture.

Forgiveness

      There have been many times in our lives where someone has wronged us and we have to “forgive and forget”. Most of those times it feels almost impossible to even think of forgiving said person and it usually takes a long time to actually find peace with the matter. To help us, Sunny Sea Gold gives us 4 reasons why we should forgive the other person.

1. For your own sake- Forgiveness isn’t for the other person, usually they couldn’t give a care in the world as to whether you had forgiven them. Forgiveness is to benefit your own health and well-being. There was even a workshop in Northern Ireland for woman who lost their children to sectarian violence and it was found that they felt less hurt and the depression scores fell by 60%. It even showed long term effects and the woman reported being less stressed.
2. Aim for empathy- If you can understand, even just a little bit as to why the other person hurt you, your pain will begin to subside. There’s even a technique to help you empathize with who hurt you. It is called the empty chair dialogue; it is where you sit with an empty chair and you pour your feelings out to the chair and then switch chairs and try to justify for the other person. If you can feel any sort of empathy, the negative emotions associated will begin to recede and you will feel better.
3. Calm the fight or flight reaction- the emotions of hurt and trauma will come back in waves and it’s your natural reaction to be in a fight or flight mode. Stanford Forgiveness Project psychologist, Frederic Luskin, says that when these waves come back use stress management techniques such as deep breathing and meditation, if those don’t work the problem may need more attention.
4. Keep trying- Forgiveness isn’t something that can be achieved immediately or without some effort. The more you try and the more you acknowledge it the closer you get to forgiving the person who hurt you. And, as important as therapy is with a psychologist, having your own personal persistence is just not, if not more important.

So, although this year and these past couple weeks have been difficult, find time to forgive those around you who have hurt you. Do it for yourself and do it for those around you. And don’t be afraid to take as much time as you need because not matter the situation you are allowed to feel that way. Don’t ever apologize for how you feel.

J.M

Gold, Sunny Sea. "How to Be a Better Forgiver." Scientific American. N.p., 05 Oct. 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Why "Healing" After the Election is not as easy as media implies

The election is finally over, and a new president will take office in 2017. The person that won has said things against many different minority groups, many different religions, many different sexual orientations, and many different genders. The news outlets are now saying, oh well, it is time to heal any wounds that have been formed over this election and move on. If this were a partisan issue there would be no trouble in doing so. However, when oppression is tolerated, and people do not resist evil, then evil can grow in peace. Letting things go and saying "oh well, there is always another election in four years" is not an option this time. In four years everything that this country has done in the past 60 will be wiped away. The way that this relates to psychology is this, distance from an event diminishes passion about said event.

It is an obvious statement to say that people will care less about something the longer ago that it happened. It is this way with every tragedy. People go so far as to make them into jokes. The amount of Holocaust and 9-11 jokes on the internet is astounding. This is dangerous. People do not have an attention span that is beneficial to revolution anymore. We stop caring that people are oppressed and we care more about ourselves than people who live just next door. We are only 3 days out from the election and the passion and desire to make any sort of difference is already diminishing. In a democracy, the rule is supposed to be by the people. If a large enough group of organized people tell the government its demands, it can not refuse. Before our minds become okay with the idea of oppression things must be done. Otherwise, as history has shown, we will become desensitized to the problem.

C.F.

Recognizing Significance (Prompt #9)

Being a fisheries and wildlife major I am constantly following what the US Fish and Wildlife Service is doing. This is an important field because by conserving the environment and managing natural resources, the field is also protecting the future for humans as well. The objectives of the USFWS are listed on their website as:

1.      Assist in the development and application of an environmental stewardship ethic for our society, based on ecological principles, scientific knowledge of fish and wildlife, and a sense of moral responsibility.

2.      Guide the conservation, development, and management of the Nation's fish and wildlife resources.

3.      Administer a national program to provide the public opportunities to understand, appreciate, and wisely use fish and wildlife resources.

As listed on the USFWS website here are some of the things they do to protect us and the planet:

·         Enforce federal wildlife laws

·         Protect endangered species  

·         Conserve and restore wildlife habitat such as wetlands

·         Help foreign governments with their international conservation efforts

Programs like USFWS are significant and important because without them regulating and managing resources, the planet would be in worse condition. Without protecting the environment and populations of species, different habitats and ecosystems would cease to exist. When those no longer exist, neither do the organisms that inhibit them, which directly connects to our food sources.

A.C.

Information from https://www.fws.gov

Decision Making

     We as humans solve problems in many simple, yet complex ways. Have you ever wanted to just get something done so you rushed your way through? Looking for the easiest or fastest way to get something or go somewhere. This method is called heuristics. For example, so you are hosting an open house for your friend but you forgot to make the punch. Do you go down every isle looking for the specific kind of punch you want or do you go to the spot where it most likely would be? Although the method of heuristics is faster and easier it may not always be accurate.

     The other method that we use is algorithms. Algorithms are a step by step procedure that is a guaranteed way to find that punch you are looking for. By going down every isle one by one there’s no way you could miss it or not find it. Although they do take longer than heuristics its always better to be safe than sorry.

    Have you ever wanted to go to Florida but one of your friends just insisted on taking that long drive rather than a plane, claiming its ‘safer’ when more car accidents happen than plane crashes? This is called availability heuristics. When you think of a plane the image of 9/11 might come to mind and not the daily car crashes you hear on the news.

     We also sometimes let our beliefs hide the truth which we know but won’t willing admit. Even when proven wrong we still hold on to these beliefs this is called belief perseverance. Have you ever watched a football game and your team scored a touchdown but they were still down by seven points, and there was only two minutes left in the game? You still believed they would win because they scored a touchdown and ignored the fact that there was two minutes left in the game and your team lost the ball. This is called confirmation bias. You ignored the contradictory evidence because your team scored a touchdown. Could the way you chose to solve a problem relate to your personality?

Hambrick, David "Thinking and Language" Psychology 101. Wells Hall, East Lansing. November 18,2016. Lecture.

C.C.

Being Happy For Others Can Make Yourself Happy

    Envy is usually our first feeling when we see someone we love doing something exciting or fun without us. We become jealous and judgmental almost immediately after and are left stewing. In an article I read recently, it explained how to take a step back from these feelings and how to begin showing yourself "self-compassion". Through self-compassion you can become happy for the other person and let go of the envious feelings.

    It's easy to feel happy for others until a situation is presented that you wish you were a part of. The article states that to dull negative feelings you should first stop “self-blaming”. It is common to feel envy in this type of situation, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it. Instead of focusing on your envy and letting it manifest, it states that it is better to think about why you’re feeling how you feel because you’re not self-blaming at this point. Once you get past this idea of self-blaming it’s supposed to open you up to being compassionate and happy for others.

    What I got from this article was basically to think clearly before you react, which can be said so easily but can be extremely difficult to carry out. Emotions are so powerful and can overtake someone quickly but if you have enough power to keep the idea of self-compassion in your mind then go for it. The article was overall heartfelt but could’ve been more descriptive in the terms self- blaming and self-compassion in the given situation.

A.C.

Bernhard, Toni. Feeling Happy for Others Can Make You Happy Psychology Today, 02. Nov. 2016, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201611/feeling-happy-others-can-make-you-happy?collection=1095555

Pessimism and this Election

     With the presidential election only two days away, many of us are faced with whether or not we should vote and more importantly, who we should vote for. Never, in any election have we had such extreme candidates for the presidency. Both parties have chosen the epitome of their beliefs and it makes it hard for any average person to pick between the two. What makes it even harder is that there are constant advertisements for both candidates. The ads never have anything positive to say about the other candidate. Instead of focusing on what good they can bring to the table, they just bash the other candidate and what they are doing wrong or trudges up the past. 

     This practice has been going on in the world of politics for years, so it clearly is working. Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist, says that it happens because of evolutionary reasons; being risk-averse and really sensitive to threats during a more dangerous time was worth it. Christian Smith says that the reason we see so much negativity in elections is because of this and that politicians reinforce morals. Through all of this though, it’s important to remember to do individual research and not listen to just the ads, especially given that they are so negative.

J.M.

Shermer, Michael. "Why Political Pessimism Trumps Optimism." Scientific American. N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

The Path of Least Resistance

My roommate was mentioning to me the other day how if one door is open a row of 4, people will go out of their way to enter using it. People will go so far as to stand in a line to go through the open door. This got me thinking about human nature. Are we perhaps so desperate to do the least amount of work possible, that we end up doing more work in trying to avoid it?

The argument can be made that we should follow the path of least resistance just as easily as it can be said that we should not. The real question comes down to how someone decides that they want to live their life. Some people think that lists, organization, and planning ahead leads to a happier life in the long run. Others believe that going with the flow, and living in the moment, is the key to a happy life.

The "planners" often feel like they are avoiding stress and last minute changes by keeping everything written down and removing it from their mind. This decreases the worry that they may end up forgetting something and therefore missing out on something that they really wanted to do. It is more of a forward thinking mentality than the other group.

The "flow goers" don't often plan or write down that which must get done and prefer to just use their minds to keep track. The feel that they are avoiding stress because looking at a list of things to do is much more stressful than trying to keep track of it all in their head. If they forget to do something or go somewhere than it probably wasn't important anyway. They tend to be more present minded people than the other group.

I find that whether you belong to one group or another, we are all just trying to find the path of least resistance. "Water resist containment and seeks ways to move on a journey of its own inclination…our social conditioning tries to meet definite expectations and goals….however our intuitive compass wants to be free to follow its own unique course" (sid para. 2). We may have different ideas on what the best way to live is, but we are all trying to find our own "path of least resistance."

C.F.

Works Cited

Sid. "FLOW PSYCHOLOGY." FLOW PSYCHOLOGY. N.p., 6 Jan. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. <https://sidhere.wordpress.com/tag/path-of-least-resistance/>.