Self assessment

English for special purpose classes proved to be very useful in helping one to understand the terminology of psychology not only in a native language but in English as well.

One of the hardest challenges in these studies was to adapt to translating terms of psychology from Lithuanian to English. This challenge was quite a nut to crack but nevertheless online exercises and a handful of tests combined with live discussions between classmates helped more than I could ever thought about. 

One of the main goals I can say I proudly achieved is the fact that native English speaking is not so complicated to understand to me anymore. In the past I found huge challenges in translating native English to Lithuanian. It is not surprising. As we all know people in Great Britain speak in very different dialects and an untrained ear is not able to distinguish these dialects and understand the meaning of information which is communicated to them. I am happy to say that due to English for special purpose classes my ear has been trained and I have fewer problems in getting the meaning of sentences stated in native English.

These lessons will be wary useful in the future if I decide to extend my psychological suites in other English speaking countries so I value them greatly.

Nevertheless of my achievements I stay with my past belief that learning something is a never ending process and the one can newer stop learning. Because of that I will continue to study hard and become even more fluent English speaking psychologist.

Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman was born on 1966. He is the Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. Wiseman started his professional life as a magician, before graduating in Psychology from University College London and obtaining a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Wiseman is known for his critical examination and frequent debunking of unusual phenomena, including reports of paranormal phenomena. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. His research has been published in numerous academic journals, reported at various conferences, and featured on television. 

In 2004, he took part in a preliminary test of Natasha Demkina, a young Russian woman who claims to have a special vision that allows her to see inside of people's bodies and diagnose illnesses. The test was featured in the Discovery Channel documentary, The Girl with X-Ray Eyes.

In addition Professor Wiseman has studied the principles of good and bad luck, publishing the results in the self-help book The Luck Factor, He showed that both good and bad luck result from measurable habits; for example, lucky people, by expecting good luck, might expend more effort.

On the conclusion I might say that Richard Wiseman is a very wise man and we can learn much from him and his work.

The mystery of memory

The memory phenomenon became the object of scientific studies not so long ago. Nevertheless, psychologists managed to character short-term and long-term memory while also making some other discoveries.

One of them is the explained difference between procedural and declarative memory. The first one is more stable because it helps us remember how to execute motor functions.

The second discovery shows that it is easier to recognize information that to recall it. This explains it is much more difficult to remember how a person looks like and so easy to identify him when talking face to face.

Further studies also showed how our brain contains information. It is thought that every time we put something into our long-term memory a new pattern of nerve cells occur. This pattern makes a pathway for nerve impulses to travel. This is how our memories are being coded.

The memory researchers had been successful in making some discoveries but they agree that there are much more unanswered questions. One of them is to understand how different brain parts work together in giving us conscious experience.

Deja Vu

There are not many phenomenons’ that get the amount of public attention like Déjà vu. It has been mystified in ways no one could have imagined earlier. People started believing that it is possible to predict the future remember their past lives all thanks to the Déjà vu phenomenon. It is not surprising that scientific researchers were conducted to get to the bottom of this strange feeling of familiarity we people tend to get so often.

The first challenge researchers faced when they decided to study Déjà vu is lack of objectivity. This almost paranormal occurrence was very hard to capture and even harder to prove. Nevertheless thanks to new technologies and the ingenuity of the researchers some groundbreaking discoveries were made.

After a long debate psychologist agreed that the most common cause of the phenomenon is simple. The vast majorities of the dreams an individual had dreamt are forgotten, but not completely. These imaginative memories are stored in the subconscious level of the mind and there are ways to slightly remember them. One of the easiest ways to remember once dreams is to be presented with a similar stimulus we dreamt in the past. For example if I had dreamt of walking in the forest and seeing a squirrel running up a tree after a sound of braking branches at my feet it is possible that after some time in similar circumstances I might fell like knowing what will happen while spending time in the forest and breaking some branches. If coincidentally a squirrel would run up a tree I would be really shocked and confused. Maybe I would even believe in having some supernatural powers. This simple explanation explains the long known phenomenon of déjà vu.

In the conclusion I would like to state that before making absurd assumptions or believing in supernatural powers one should always use critical thinking and find logical explanations to illogical occurrences. 

Internet Psycholgy

The psychology of the internet is a relatively new field for behavioral scientists. Nevertheless it is very attractive to study mainly because of its complexity and its vast psychological phenomenon’s.

The first and the most common research theme when observing the psychology of the internet are social networks. Researchers are examining how individuals are interacting online and how do they alter their personalities while communicating with their virtual friends. They discovered a pattern of behavior that surprised everyone. It became clear that people change their personalities dramatically when communicating with others online. They are presenting not themselves but the person they ideally want to be to others. There is no sincerity in virtual communication throe there is room for it. To make matters worse, the mischief done to a person’s personality is graver than the moral issue. The mask people were while communicating online is likely to conflict with the real personality of an individual. This results in higher risk of becoming depressed ore even becoming severely mentally ill.

The second aspect researchers are interested in the psychology of the internet is the correlation between online computer games and the rising level of aggression. The conducted surveys have shown that teenagers are spending more and more time gaming online games. These surveys also deny the popular myth that spending time playing aggressive games lowers the aggression level because a person has a place to discharge steam. It is opposite. Online computer gaming increases aggression and even alters the moral judgment of an individual. The psychologist association recommends parents to limit the time there children spend playing these games to avoid these problems.

In the conclusion I would like to state that the psychology of the internet is a very broad study and more information is likely to be presented to the public. While we wait let’s consider how the online world is changing our own personalities and how can we defend from it.