Class Assignment Week #1 (Due Saturday 29th)

I happen to agree with the person before me. I like posts that had detail and had more content and information in them. In those posts you could see how much extra research and work the student put into it. Some students chose to write about the same person in the topical blog, so it was fun comparing what the students wrote. Those who put in more detail or expanded on what they learned I seemed to like better, so I do think that some blogs were better than others. I think it's important the students make a connection to what we learn and somehow try to relate it to our own lives, so I liked it when students did that in the blogs as well. The students will be more likely to retain that information if they can see it present in their lives currently as well. It's easy to tell whether a student is interested in the topic or is rushed or not. Grammar is a big indicator and it does make a difference while reading the blogs. The people who took their time and really researched the topics seemed to have my interest. Reading these posts have made me a little more excited. I think it will be interesting to learn how these famous people in the field of psychology got their start. It will be learning about people, but they've paved the way for tomorrow and that's intriguing. Well I am excited to learn more about how and why different fields of psychology started and just learn about the people.
~ J.M.

While I was reading through these posts, I felt that the individuals that should compassion to a specific topic to be more interesting to read. By showing their opinion on the different subjects it made the reading much more enjoyable to read. I also liked the more detailed posts showing their strong interest in the subject and explaining why the specific topic intrigued them. I personally liked when one individual was talking about Miller’s law and the magical number 7. I have always been interested in memory storage and process so this topic was of particular interest to me. I also found that the topic of lobotomies to be very interesting and the fact that 18,000 people participated in getting holes drilled through their skulls is just mind blowing. I do have a different perception on this class now and have realized that this class will not just be names and dates. I look forward to learning about cognitive psychologists, such as Jean Piaget, and his work with children and how they are intellectually different from adults. I do believe that some posts were better than others simply because others put more detail into what they were talking about rather than just generalizing the information without any terms. This class seems very rewarding to the individuals that take it and I look forward to learning more about the history of psychology and the individuals that contributed to its development.

-B.W. (Blake Wedeking)

K.K.

After reading through the class syllabus, home page, and online book I understand the requirements and class schedule for this class.

1)Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I enjoyed reading the posts that went into detail and had a clear understanding of what they were discussing. Also I enjoyed reading the posts that stated their own opinions. These posts allowed me to understand the topics easier and made me more curious. There were a few posts that discussed Behavior and Humanistic Therapies which I found very interesting. I have always been interested in topics dealing with behaviorism. Also there were a few posts that discussed Clark and Phipps who were famous for their doll studies. I remembered discussing the doll studies in a previous class which I also found interesting.

2)Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
While reading these posts I could tell who put more effort and time into theirs. This made some posts better than others. Those who put more effort into typing their posts showed a clear understanding and gave examples to help clarify. Also those who put their own opinions showed more interest into the topics they were discussing. I do not think the length of the posts determined if they were good or not. There were posts that included more terms then others as well.

3)Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
Coming into this class I did not know what to expect. I have never been interesting in learning about history. Most of my history classes have been boring! However after reading these posts I realized there were interesting topics in history of psychology. This allowed me to be more open minded about this subject and change my idea of what it is.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?
After reading these posts there are a couple topics I am interested in learning. The first topic I am interested in learning about is the Behavior Therapies. The second topic I am interesting in learning about is the self-actualization theory. While reading these posts I also noticed a few students mention how chapter 12 was their favorite chapter. This makes me more excited to read this particular chapter.

I like the posts that are clear, concise, and to the point. These posts identify certain aspects of the chapter and state exactly why or why not the material is important to the writer. Some of the better posts relate the material to other courses they have taken and the writer's personal interests. In some of the posts they were able to expand on three or four topics from the chapter by researching even more information beyond what was included by the author. I don't think these posts have really changed the way I feel about the history of psychology because I am already interested in it. Psychology may be a subject that I end up teaching in a high school. Hcving taken Intro to Psychology and Human Growth and Development, I feel that I have a basic knowledge of the material but would like to learn more about the individuals who made the field of psychology what it is today. My interests in the social sciences and history sparks my interest for how history pertains to psychology.
M.A.

N.M.

I would say I enjoyed the posts between the medium length and the long length ones. They both showed detail (the longer ones with the most of course). Also, they tended to be more entertaining to read...they obviously knew what they wanted to talk about and were able to relay that information in a way anyone could read. The short ones were more boring (people just trying to answer the questions and not put much more into it).

Some posts where better than others. Besides what I mentioned above about the entertaining and interesting ones, those same ones also looked as if the person writing them had more credibility (due to research).

To a degree, reading these posts has changed my views a little on the history of psychology. I like history in general, so my views on that aspect are much the same; however, by reading these articles one can find that psychology has a very rich and entertaining history to discover. Makes you want to take this class more for sure!

I did like the topic on self-actualization. I've spent some time recently divulging into the Hierarchy of Needs, so it caught my eye.

S. H.

After reading a few of the blog posts I decided that I liked reading the blog posts that were medium length the most. The ones that were really short left me feeling like the individual either didn't read or that they were in a hurry to get the post done, leaving out vital information. But on the other hand some of them were so incredibly long that I felt as though some of the information shared wasn't exactly necessary. The medium length ones were detailed and didn't contain too much buffer information. Reading some of the posts gave me a better idea on the information to come, so it did change my views a little bit. I can understand why learning the history of psychology is important but I am still uneasy about this class.

KW

I thought almost all of the posts had good points that I agreed with. Overall, I think that the ones that provided more detail and information were better written and helped me really understand the assignment. From having to write other blogs before for another class, I know that taking my time and really planning out what I want to write and how I want to respond to the question is a lot better than just signing on and rambling. I think I have always had the same idea of the history of psychology but by reading some of these posts, I have a better way of understanding how the history of psychology can better be taught, rather than just using names and dates. There was not a certain topic that jumped out at me right now for wanting to learn about but I thought that the assignment about looking outside our book and finding more information about a person seemed like an interesting assignment. I really enjoy taking what I learned in class and applying it to the real world, rather than just spitting out facts. This assignment made it seem like that happened a lot in this class and for that, I am looking forward to it.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I preferred the shorter-medium length posts that answered the question and gave a solid, supportive response without going too in-depth in details. I am one of those people that could easily go through an assignment ranting and taking up more space than need. Especially in large amounts such as these, I do think short concise responses.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
Some posts were too long for me to bother reading more than a few lines into each paragraph. Some information is very interesting, other details just seem like filler.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
I have always enjoyed studying history, so reading the responses hasn't really thrown any surprises at me. I figured much of this class would be based around where theories of psychology came from, who "invented" them, and what experiments they conducted to support their theories.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?
I enjoy learning about the results of experiments, perhaps behavioral more specifically. No one theory seems to be exclusively 100% accurate, so it is fun to explore different theories and behavioral responses and come up with our own explanations for particular results.

1) The posts that were of greatest interest to me, were the ones that talk about a particular topic that was easily relatable to present day situations. Part of making a subject interesting to the reader is to show how it can be relevant to their lives.
2) Yes, you could definitely tell which blog entries were just thrown together, and those who the author gave some thought to the post. Length of paper isn't necessarily important. It’s the content of the post that stands out to me. When people give thought to the content of their posts, the ideas flow and there is a good general use of terms that can be used to describe various objects within the psychology field in clear detail.
3) Looking at these articles did change the way I looked at this class. I was probably similar to most in the class just taking the course because it is required. However, after reading from the blog posts, there are many relevant topics we will be studying.
4) I've always been interested in the history that relates to the treatment of the mentally ill and how that has change dramatically, even within the past 50 years. I am also interested in studying in greater detail the effect that the discovery of classical condition had on the psychological theories and practices of the time.

1) I liked posts that were thoughtfully and succinctly written. Some posters did just the "bare bones" answer and I did not feel like those posts were interesting, however some posters who wrote a long amount were unable to give information in a clear and interesting way. The most interesting ones were posters were clearly interested in the topic they were posting about.
2) Yes, some posts were better than others. Again, some posters were just writing the bare minimum, or perhaps had not done enough research to speak more at length about the topic at hand. Although this is not an English class, I think the posts that had few grammar and spelling mistakes were much better because they showed that the author cared enough about the post to proofread.
3) Due to what we have already discussed in class, I feel like the class will be what I was expecting. However, the way I looked at the class has changed since the class started--the in-class discussion gave me a good idea of what to expect. Although this may not be a class I would have taken for fun, I think some of the topics will definitely be interesting and relevant.
4) I am interested in learning the histories of specific people (in several posts I read, posters were researching the lives of specific people). While I don't consider myself someone who is usually interested in history, I love reading biographies and memoirs, so I think learning the backgrounds of various psychologists or other people relevant to the history of psychology will be interesting.

NRS

M.K.
1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I enjoyed the post that had more to them and the students were able to go more in-depth about what they thought. I showed that they were able to put some more detailed thought into their post. However some of the post seemed to become lengthy and seemed to just drag out. I understand if you have a lot to say but sometimes people drag out their responses to seem like a better student.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
As I said in the first question I feel like a good detailed post is better than a super long one where someone may just be rambling on to get a long post, on the flip side a short post makes the student seem like they don’t care and not putting forth the effort.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
In a way yes, I love history so I have been excited for this course. Knowing that it will not be all about names and dates however has made me even more excited.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?
I enjoyed reading about how WWII shaped psychology and I personally love leaning about WWII so I am excited to learn more about how different major world events paved the path to where we are today in psychology.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I would say that the posts that I liked the best were the more in depth ones. With the shorter ones, you are not able to see the mind thought process as you are with the more in depth ones. The longer posts are able to help gain an understanding of what the person is trying to say. There were some shorter posts that were concise and got straight the point. That is great to see also!

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
I would have to say yes. There were some that didn’t seem to make sense or where getting off topic which was making harder to understand. I also think that not all topics are going to be everyone’s favorite so they are not going to want to write as much or go into detail one week compared to a week that they really enjoyed the topic.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
I think it has helped and also confirmed other ideas for me. Looking that it is not just about remembering dates, people, events, etc. helps me look forward to this class. I am not a big fan of having to remember when this happened and who made this happen on this date. I am happy to see that we can look at the book and show what interest us or what we could have just bypassed.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?
There are a couple of things that I am excited to learn! Such as the psychologists that were not as famous but did something profound for the world of psychology. I also saw a lot of things about women in the world of psychology and for me that is always exciting to see that view point. Also how the world events were shaping the developing world of psychology when was first kicking off.

----MZ

B.H.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why? I like the posts that were medium length but were in a more detailed fashion. I also think that if someone can relate on a personal experience basis they have a better understanding of the material and they can evaluate the information better. If someone can provide a personal experience relating to the process I will also give them more credibility when they show their opinion relating to a topic.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
I did think some posts were better than others because they put more time and effort into it. But just because someones vague on their posts doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know the material. I sometimes forget to state the obvious because I think everyone knows what I know but they don’t. Just by reading thru posts you can learn something new everytime.

3)Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not? Coming into taking a history class I honestly thought it was going to be a boring topic. I assumed it was going to be a bunch of boring information and knowing dates and people. But relating to the posts some info will be boring but you try to make a history class fun by creating interesting topics to discuss.

4)Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? With me being a business student, I wanted to study the behaviors of people and how their minds think. I am a marketing and sales major so in the sales field, knowing how people think and what behaviors they are familiar with will help benefit me in the sales field. With sales being so competitive, hopefully this minor in psych I am trying to get will give me an edge in the sales world.

The posts I liked the best were the ones that were very to the point. Some of the posts were very long, but it didn’t seem like they really said anything new or different. There were also posts that were longer but were very well written so it was interesting to read the whole thing.

The posts I liked the least were the overly “wordy” ones. I felt that some of the posts were very repetitive and a lot longer than they needed to be. I understand that length is important but the same information being said over and over was very dull.

Reading the posts has made me realize just how much the field of psychology covers. Some many topics were discussed in the posts that I had never really thought about. It was very interesting to see what each student had thought about all the topics. I really enjoyed seeing how different the response can be when you give different people the same topic.

What I am excited for in this class is not so much a certain topic, but more so what my other classmates SAY about the topics. I feel it will be very interesting to read and discuss what other people thought about the events that happened and how they can be related to what is going on in the world now.

The posts that I liked the best were the ones that actually stated the questions that the writer still had after completing their post. It was reassuring to see that there is nothing wrong with still having questions after doing the readings. It was also interesting to see what types of questions that were asked. Overall I think the medium length posts were not necessarily better than the rest, but they were easier to read and understand. I felt like the really short posts didn’t really say anything. It seemed as if the writer was just looking for easy points and not trying to personally benefit from doing the work. Some of the really longs ones seemed overly detailed, which confused me on a few occasions. The medium length ones were just right, making the point and elaborating when needed. I don’t think that reading the posts have changed my idea of what the history of psychology is. I wasn’t so sure of what it actually was, and I’m still not exactly sure. I did however get an idea that the history of psychology could possibly be broken into different categories and events. From looking at some of the posts, I’m now interested in learning about lobotomies and why the idea came about.
CM

1.) What I enjoyed most were the longer posts they were more detailed and obviously had much more information and it made it seem like the longer posts showed that they were learning more in the class. I also enjoyed the topical blogs more because you got to choose a lot of what you wanted to talk about giving you the chance to be creative and talk about something that interests you.
2.) The longer posts were generally better than the shorter posts because they had more detail and they kind of showed who cares more about their grades then others based on how much they wrote.
3.) Reading through them has helped to show what is expected and different writing styles but it doesn't change for me really how I am going to do the assignments because I have already taken a hybrid class with Dr.Maclins and I know how we should be doing things and what is expected of us for each assignment but it helps to read others work so I can improve mine.

1. While going through the blog posts, I thought that the topical blog post were best. Reading activity posts were good as well except that was mostly things from the book. The topical post were personal opinions along with facts that the student had learned about. They were very detailed as well, but many of the posts were detailed and lengthy.
2. Reading through the post, I could definitely notice some posts were better than others just by the context in the blog and the length of them. Some people were able to summarize into shorter blogs and still seem like they understood the readings, but most blogs that were longer were better post.
3. I am more looking forward to actually reading the text on my own, but going through the posts helped me understand that there are many things I am going to learn that I had no idea about. I only need to take two more psych classes after this one and it seems like the history of psych is extensive.
4. I am interested in learning about Kenneth Clark and the topic of racial inequality. I am also interested in learning more about the Standford Prison Experiment. I have had minimal learning over this topic and am looking forward to further my knowledge on that topic.

KAB

1. I think the posts that I enjoyed the most are the finals. It was neat to get to read a bit of a summery of what we will be learning this semester, or at least the parts most students enjoyed. I also liked seeing that many other students feel like me; that history isn't their thing because they don't do good memorizing names and dates and don't expand on the information. When memorizing is the main point, a lot of other important things get forgotten. It made me feel better reading these posts and knowing this isn't going to be like a traditional history lesson, rather something I can enjoy.

2. I do feel some posts were better than others. I feel some people didn't follow the directions very well. Instead of putting their input and reasoning for choosing topics they wrote, it was more just a complete summary. The directions state to add more than just a summery, but explain hows its connected, and why that particular topic was chosen.

3. It didn't change my mind on what I thought it would entail, I mean obviously the class is about the history of psychology, so I would assume everybody knew what they were getting in to. That being said, reading the posts did change my mind about being nervous about this class. I'm terrible and dates and names and no amount of studying will help me pass a test based on those. After reading these posts its clear to me that this won't be one of those classes where I should worry about small details and I'll have a chance to really learn because I can focus on understanding the topics and not just memorizing bold terms and dates, or certain things somebody decided were more important than others.

4. Yes there are many! I had no idea clinical psychology came from WWII and am excited to read more on that. Although it does make me sad, because I have done a lot of research on how mental health is addressed and treated among vets and its terribly depressing. It is shameful to be that clinical psychology started there and has yet to be an extremely important aspect of our armed forces. Another topic I am looking forward to is lobotomies. I got the chance to briefly go over the topic in introduction to psychology but never got an in depth look into it. It fascinates me just because I like seeing the strange and different kinds of treatment that occurred in the past, but just like the WWII stuff, its depressing as well. Overall I am just basically excited I get to learn more about all these people. Like I said, earlier classes were so focused on remembering certain aspects that I feel I never got the chance to just learn more rather than cram in certain info. I think this is going to be a great semester.

The posts were lengthy, but I felt like the more someone put into their work the easier it was not only for me to understand it from another point of view, but maybe even feed off some of the information I didn't necessarily understand when reading it. I believe everyone has a different way of looking at topics and with such open ended topics it is easy to thoroughly get your point across. Almost all the students who posted asked questions regarding the topic. I enjoyed reading the questions knowing it was okay to ask questions whether it pertain to everyone or not.

Of course some posts were better than others, but I wouldn't include length as being something anyone struggled with. The information provided may have been a bit vague on the specific topic of choice, but someone can't elaborate to the full extent of a topic at all times knowing how abundant the information is out there.

The history of psychology, like stated in class, does not only revolve around the past, but the present and future. We are in class and blogging because of our ongoing questions about psychology and its topics. The psychology field is constantly evolving and with the help of such a class we can address both issues of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Relating topics back and forth through psychology allows us to better understand how relationships are formed constantly.

Finding out the different fields of psychology available would be essential. Also, dealing with individuals with behavioral, mental, and even emotional problems is beneficial through my career. Dealing with people and children is a daily occurrence and the fact I can take lessons away from this class to apply at work is key. I know each and every individual differs in some way and learning how to deal with emotional and behavior problems could help me not only with my work throughout the years, but with my children some day as well. Someone mentioned humanistic psychology in a post, which I find interesting. Learning more about this specific topic may be interesting in the future.

D.M.

The posts I enjoyed the most from the previous sections of this class included those that intimated personal experiences from the lives or in-class experiences of the authors. One of these posts was the one which began by the author writing how they were able to speak with their friends and family about education and other topics more in-depth because of their participation in the course. These anecdotes made the material more relatable and authentic, as well as less dry than just reading information that was regurgitated and then summarized from the textbook. I also found posts more enjoyable to read when they contained less grammatical and spelling errors. This sounds like I’m being a pretentious wind-bag but it was honestly distracting. Continuing on that idea, some posts were obviously better than others but it was surprising to me that all of the posts I read were of a high to average quality of understanding and description. It would have been difficult to choose a post that did not meet the standards of what was asked by the assignment.
These posts have changed what I believed this course would consist of and my idea of what to take away from the class. The testimonies at the end of a few posts for the final blog entry assignment were exciting to read as people recalled how their minds had been changed about what the history of psychology had become to them. I hope I come to feel this way as well after taking the course and am excited to do so.
Some topics I am interested in learning about after reading some posts about them are the history of Clinical Psychology, the history of famous studies such as Pavlov’s dogs, and how psychology has evolved as a science.
K.L.

ALH

1) I liked the posts that were not too lengthy but made sure to get the point across. I feel as though these blogs are not an essay and should not be treated as such. A paragraph per question is probably a long enough answer.
2) Yes there were definitely some posts that were clearly superior to others. It was obvious that there were some people who didn’t try and were just posting something to make sure that they got some points. I mean, there is nothing wrong with a few posts being short and brief, but if that is a weekly occurrence then it seems to be as though that person is not really trying.
3) I’m not sure if reading these posts has really changed my perspective on what the history of psychology is, but the first day of class certainly did. I was very reassured by the fact that we were not going to have to memorize dates and things of that nature. It is much easier for me to grasp concepts that to memorize numbers that don’t really hold much significance. As I expected, history of psychology will teach me where the important theories that we follow today came from as well as other standards of psychology.
4) I am not sure what it is, but the “side grey box” sounded interesting to me and I would like to learn more about that. I also find anything to do with lobotomies very interesting.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
The posts I enjoyed reading most were the ones that went into more detail in the topical blog section. Last year being in the hybrid class I also enjoyed writing the topical blog posts the best as well because we have the choice to choose what we want to learn more about, thus making the posts better written and more in depth.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
Of course of some posts are always going to be better than others. Some posts are very well written and easy to follow, others are subjects are ones that I find personally interesting, and others are short, sweet, and to the point. I personally think the ones that are written under the numbered questions are easier to follow and read than ones that are written in full paragraph form.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
Reading these posts really makes me think how relevant the history of psychology still is in the findings and research that are still happening today. Looking through these posts, I also found that I am familiar with much more history than I anticipated to be. I also like the fact that throughout reading the posts you get a sense that the students really enjoy what they are talking about and more so are learning in depth about topics that interest their specific fields of study.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?
There is one post I came across dealing with George Miller and his work with ‘magical numbers.’ Surprisingly enough I have never heard of this so I am very intrigued to know more about this topic and what his work and findings entail. I am overall very excited for this course and to continue to learn more, especially when having the ability to focus on areas that interest us most!

I enjoyed reading the posts that were detailed, but they were still straight to the point. I cannot handle when people drag on and on simply so they can seem as though they know more. In general, all the posts were good. Some were more throughout and detailed, and a few were rather short as if they person did not take any time or effort to do the assignment.After reading through some of these posts, I am a little more excited to read the text book and listen to the lectures. I have not really given too much thought to the history behind psychology before, but I feel it is a good idea to be familiar with it. History has always been one of my favorite classes. I do not think there is really only one specific topic I am interested in. I am generally interested in past treatments for mental illness though.

(JF) 1. Personally I enjoyed the topics the delved deeper into specific topics. I feel a lot of times in college we skim the surface of a lot of different topics so to take the time to really sink your teeth into one thing really creates the opportunity for a greater understanding of a specific subject matter.
2. Some posts were better than others, but then again it is all subjective I think. A lot of people seemed to follow the same formula for writing their posts but each person had their own unique style or spin on writing. Even two people chose to do a topical blog on the same topic it was still different in the way that they chose to look at the topic from a different angle, which from my previous experience in a class like this, makes for better in class discussions because people can go deeper into detail with the class in their explanations.
3. It hasn't really changed my perception on the history of psychology so much as it just elaborated on things I knew only a little about. I think this will be a great way to expand on the things psych majors only get a taste of in other classes.
4.I am interested in learning about Piaget and his theories on development. I work with kids and I am also taking Developmental Psych so I think learning more will go hand in hand with my other class.
JF John Fidler.

1. The posts I liked the best were the post under the reading activity. I liked the posts under this section for many reasons. The most important reason being that in my opinion Maslow is one of the most interesting figures in psychology and it seemed to me that the previous students thought so as well as well as really went into depth with his views and impacts in psychology.
2. Some posts were definitely better than the others, the reason being that some posts seemed as though they were very rushed and not as thorough or intricate. But in retrospect there were some that seemed too long and too detailed/repetitive.
3. No these posts did not change my perspective of what the history of psychology is because the information I read form the other students as well as what I read from what was asked from the professor all seemed very relevant to the foundation of psychology and what I expected to learn about in this class.
4. I would like to learn more in depth about the Humanistic approach to psychology, because as I previously stated, Maslow is one of the most interesting figures to me in psychology and I believe that humans are unstoppable if they learn to control themselves, their emotions, their surroundings, etc. Also while reading the topical blog posts, I saw a lot of very unfamiliar names that had, what seems like, major impacts in where psychology is today. So I am very interested in learning about the “little people” within psychology opposed to just the major figures that everyone knows and learns about.

1. Which posts did you like the best? why?

I enjoyed the posts that went more into detail because if some detail that is left out can be potentially useful or able to catch the reader's attention. I like the ones that were more clear, so it is easier to understand what they are trying to say about the person. I love how the posts are all in a format like a book and not so much as a research paper where you have to cite all the information on the body of the paragraph, it makes a better feel of the writer expressing their thoughts about the subject.

2). Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?

I could tell some posts were more vague than others, some had more opinions in their posts and that shows that they have some understanding in the topic or enough understanding to try to interpret the information and process of the type of research or field the psychologist they had to write about.

3). Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?

I don't think reading these posts changed my ideas too much about this class or the topics, I was actually looking forward to this class so I can learn all the systems or ideas psycholgists have made or pointed out in the past to see if there is any similarity within the systems or see which topic both systems could work together. I also wanted to learn what has been done in the past to see how effective they were or noneffective so I can think of ideas to change it or modify it to make it more effective.

4).Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?

I am interested in cognitive psychology because I am in philosophy classes for a minor and i think studying epistemology and other theories of true knowledge. I am also interested in it because I want to see how the effects of some social institutions such as private schools or religion or the biggest one that tends to ruin the unity of people and separate them into groups politics has an effect on the mindset of the individual. I also want to find the cognition of an artistical mind is different than one of pure logic and if so how big is the differentiation. I would also like to get into the neurology of cognition.

The posts that I liked the best were the ones that people clearly put the time and had the passion about what they were speaking about. I like the relaxed format of the blogs and I feel that itself will make retaining information easier. It is clear that the students are writing about things that they are interested in and care about the information that they have learned.

I do think you could tell that some of the posts were done quickly, but the content is what matters, not the length. You could tell the difference between the blogs that were trying to "BS" and the ones that actually knew what they were talking about.

I think my idea of what the history of psychology is has stayed the same, what has changed is my excitement for it. I am retaking this class after a not so satisfactory grade. To be completely honest I was dreading it, history is not my strength. But after the introduction and learning more about the layout of the class- I am excited about getting to focus on what interests me instead of trying to memorize dates just to forget them.

I have always been interested in the ways that disorders were treated in the past and the ways that psychologists came to discover that treatment, I would also like to learn more about specific psychologists themselves. I enjoy reading about their theories and the ways that they came to them, but I also like reading about the interactions between psychologists and their different backgrounds.

ELC

J.R.W.
After reading through some of the posts, the ones that stand out in my mind were written by students that chose differing topics from the rest of the group. In the topical blog section, many of the posts were about the same people. After reading through one very well written post about Mamie Phipps Clark, I didn’t feel the need to read through another.
It is pretty easy to tell when someone is really into what they’re writing about and when they are not. I understand that sometimes it is hard to write a really descriptive and thoughtful blog about something that may not be interesting to you, but that is what can make or break the post. For this reason, I believe that some posts are better than others.
Reading through the work of previous students has made me even more excited for the class. I am a social science education major, so psychology and history are super cool to me. Having the opportunity to take a class that incorporates both is awesome.
My memory is crap, so I am always looking for ways to try to improve/justify it. Because of this, I have developed an interest in the study of memory. I read a post about autobiographical memory, and that is something that I would like to learn more about.

Z.P.C.
Which posts did you like best? Why?

I enjoyed the posts that gave a lot of information. I myself enjoy reading things that are saturated with information. The longer posts tended to make a clearer picture of what the writer was trying to describe and explain. I did like the fact that the posts were kind of up to each individual person on what they wanted to write and that ended up making
each person’s blog entry unique and different.

Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?

There were a lot of posts that I simply either skipped or stop reading due to the continuous use of grammatical errors. I mean we are in college and should know the proper use of there, their, and they’re. The spelling on a lot of these posts was atrocious and even if they couldn’t spell there is a little program called spell check that will fix a lot of those mistakes. It just irritates me that some students have become so lazy on writing, due to the lack of emphasis on writing in general ever since middle school. Spelling and grammar were essential during elementary school but once middle school hit no teacher bothered to care or enforce grammar. This is just another reminder of what needs to be done to change our country’s standard of education.

Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?

I didn’t really know what to expect with the title of history and systems of psychology but I figured it would mainly focus on the creators and leaders in psychology and how it has changed throughout the years. I was happy to find out that it seems like each student has the choice on whether or not they wish to expand their knowledge on the topics that interest them. I now have things to look forward to in this class and can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester is like.

Based on these posts are there any specific topics that you are interested in learning?

I definitely want to learn more about lobotomies because they are so controversial and interesting. I enjoy learning a lot about mental illnesses and would like to learn a lot more about what treatments were given early on compared to what conventional medicine has taught us.

K.S

First off, I would like to say that I am very excited for this course and that fact that it is a hybrid class! I have been enrolled in several hybrid classes prior to History and Systems, but I took them with the other Professor MacLin.

Now to get to the root of this blog post, I was instructed to browse through the various blog posts that previous students had written through out the course. From what I looked at I really got a taste of how this course was going to be like; lots of blogs, long and in-depth. I really enjoyed to the chapter 13 blogs because I would like to extend my knowledge of psychology during the 1930's (WWII) era.

As I continued my blog browsing I noticed that most people had very long detailed posts. You could defiantly tell which people were more interested in their topic, and others were still long but not as thorough on their topics. I really enjoyed the posts that had a good transition between paragraphs, and were not simply just answering the questions in the instructions. I also really enjoyed the posts were people included their own general knowledge on the topics rather than just being dry and mundane.

However, after reading over various blogs I have realized there is a lot of history within the development of psychology as a science and practice. I realize that I need to expand my general knowledge of psychology by going back and focusing on the historical figures that have contributed to the science of psychology and making it what it is today.

After reading the posts please answer the following four questions:
1) I liked the final posts the best because they showed how much people actually learned throughout the semester. The fact that so many people learned not only just the basic founders of psychology because they had heard of them time and time again but it was also that they learned about people who were looked over in the beginning.
2) The posts where you could actually tell that they put time and effort into the posts were better than those where people just commented a sentence or two about the topic and then moved on. This was especially noticeable in the reading blogs, the reading ones are the ones that do take just a little bit more work and hey some people don’t really like to read but the ones that do actually find interesting things in the chapter. The fact that psychology went through so much in order to get to where it is today is amazing to me. Just the struggles that people went through because they had different ideas than what they were told they “should have” and were punished for being different is interesting to me and learning all the struggles is what makes you appreciate what psychology has become.
3) Reading these posts goes with parts of psychology that I knew would be included but what is different is the fact that so many people thought of different things. The stuff that people come up with about what went through their mind while reading the posts is interesting to me because some people just think about things that are in the chapter while others strike up ideas that are outside the reading. I think that this is something that really helps people to remember what they learned while they were doing their assignments, having something that really grabs your attention and interest you is something that makes this class different.
4) I am interested in learning more about the struggles of the actual people who were deemed insane. What happened in the early times of people being deemed insane and throughout history what happened to them once they were put in asylums and how the different treatments came about. It is the people that were directly affected in the psychological field that interest me and their story of how people today are able to now function and not be punished, killed or hidden from society because they are suffering from something that is beyond their control.

1) In my opinion, the best post were the ones that had enough detail to cover the topic but did not ramble on. It made it more interesting when the author of the post related the topic to different areas and their own thoughts/opinions on the matter. It was also easy to notice which authors used enough detail to make everything clear and easy to understand and which authors got lost in the abundance of detail they included in their post.
2) Some posts are definitely better than others based on their content and the overall flow of the writing.
3) Reading these posts was encouraging because it showed that the class encourages the students to interpret the information and write about what they got from the context. That’s exciting that this class wont be like other more generic history classes that require strict memorization, but is rather about understanding the development of the field of psychology.
4) I would love to learn more about the origins of the different branches of psychology and what led the people of the time to begin to theorizes that people respond to things a certain way due to psychology.

1) In my opinion, the best post were the ones that had enough detail to cover the topic but did not ramble on. It made it more interesting when the author of the post related the topic to different areas and their own thoughts/opinions on the matter. It was also easy to notice which authors used enough detail to make everything clear and easy to understand and which authors got lost in the abundance of detail they included in their post.
2) Some posts are definitely better than others based on their content and the overall flow of the writing.
3) Reading these posts was encouraging because it showed that the class encourages the students to interpret the information and write about what they got from the context. That’s exciting that this class wont be like other more generic history classes that require strict memorization, but is rather about understanding the development of the field of psychology.
4) I would love to learn more about the origins of the different branches of psychology and what led the people of the time to begin to theorizes that people respond to things a certain way due to psychology.

The posts that I liked best were the ones that went into detail and stayed on the subject, which isn't always easy. Also the ones where students found ways to relate ideas back to themselves and actually expressed their opinion, rather than just saying something generic.

I think all posts are good in their own way. Yes, some are short and to the point, while others have much more detail. In my opinion, as long as what's written meets all of the criteria and fits the subject, it's well written.

Reading these posts didn't really change my view of what the history of psychology. It honestly reminds me of my high school psychology class in ways, like talking about the different, well known psychologists. I think it may actually help me with revisiting some of the works that I learned about and forgot, or never completely understood the first time I learned about them.

There weren't any specific ideas that jumped out more than any others. Everything psychology interests me, and I am just really excited to learn more.

1) I liked the medium length posts the best. The shorter posts seemed to me like the author was just trying to do the bare minimum to get a decent grade. While reading the longer posts, it seemed like the student was going into way too much detail and rambling. I feel that a post should be long enough to get your point across and have good reasoning behind it, but not so long that the reader gets bored.

2) Yes, some posts were definitely better than others. Like I said above, some of them were just had the minimum amount of work put into them while others rambled. Some of them also had better organization than others. I feel that organization is very important when it comes to writing, or the reader will lose interest.

3) Yes, I would say that reading some of these posts has changed my idea of the class. Before today, I really thought that it was just going to be memorizing a bunch of names and dates. Reading the posts has changed my view on this. The people writing these posts seem to enjoy the class and most of what they are learning about. Many of the posts I read didn't mention dates at all, just people and what they accomplished. That is something I would definitely be interested in learning about.

4) I read a couple of posts about different ways that they used to treat psychological disorders. I thought that the posts about the asylums and lobotomys were especially interesting. I'm also interested in learning about all the different branches of psychology and how they came about.

1). The topical blog post will be the most interesting blog to complete during the week. I enjoy applying what I learn to actual things instead of just memorizing them and forgetting about it. I think it is interesting and a more enjoyable way to learn when you get to learn about a topic you pick. I think the posts that are in the middle length are the best because they showed more detail but weren't to in depth that they got boring they expressed the main points and a few details.

2). Yes, some posts are better than others because they are written better than some. They have more detail than others. Some posts are just boring because it wasn't an area that I am interested in. Just because the post is the longest one doesn't mean its the best, some of the longer ones just got to be to much but some of the shorter posts weren't enough because it didn't seem like the effort was there and when that happens most of the time important information gets left out.

3). My ideas about this class didn't change as much as it did from the blog posts as it did from class. Before the in-class conversation i was completely loathing this class. History isn't the most enjoyable course to take but I think it will be interesting to learn about it in a new way instead of getting the information, memorizing it, testing over it, then forgetting about it. I think this class will actually be interesting in some aspects to learn more about psychology and its history.

4). I do not have anything specific that I am interested in learning about. But I think it will be more interesting than I initially thought it was going to be. I am hoping that this course will open my eyes up to more interesting ways to learn about history and that i will just learn more history about psychology other than just the basics that we learned in intro to psychology.

I liked the reading activity the best. I felt like these showed the most of what we would be doing on a weekly basis. It allows us to break the readings down and understand it more. I also thought it was nice that these asked for multiple interesting things so that we could talk about more than one topic.
I think that some posts were definitely better than others. Depending on the question, I found that when answering the question why, most posts seemed to go much more in depth. The reading ones were all fairly similar in the way they were answered because of the specific questions that were asked. I found it interesting that the blog post you got your own freedom in a sense. Sure, there were specific guidelines, but you got the freedom to do more so something that interests you and run with it.
I tried to just skim for the most part when it came to specific answers. I didn’t want these posts to affect the way I interrupt things throughout the semester. Because of the way I read the posts, my idea of psychology has not changed. I think that by doing these posts in this way it’ll definitely broaden my ideas of how the history of psychology happened. I think it’ll force me to learn more than I know and be able to hopefully understand psychology a little better.
I did try to look at the topics while I was looking through the post. I used mostly the final project post for this. I wanted to see a broad option for this. I think that reading these I am interested in phrenology just because it’s something I have never heard of before and seems like it is something that is still applicable today. I also think I will find learning about the brain in general. Being a history class, I’m assuming that we will cover many different years and theories of learning of the brain. I think it will be cool to see how they’ve adapted and changed ideas throughout the years. The brain is something that we can continue to learn about time after time.

1)The posts that I enjoyed reading the most were the ones from the topical blog response. You could tell that those students were able to choose a topic they were interested in and so they got more into their writing. It was nice to see all the different topics. I also like the posts that were easily organized and to the point, so there wasn't a lot of repetition or rambling.

2)Since everyone is at a different writing level, and we all think differently, of course there were some posts that were better than others. You can tell those who thought out their posts, and who wrote something quickly just to get the assignment done. Then there are always those outstanding students who blow everyone away with their wording or incredible thinking skills. Overall, the posts seemed to be pretty good though.

3)Because of the way this course is set up, and the way Maclin will be teaching it, has definitely made me more interested in this class. I absolutely find history boring, and have had trouble with history classes in the past. But seeing how this class is more discussion based, and that Maclin said there won't be memorizing dates and names as much, made me happy. I think that this class will be interesting. To see how psychology has developed over the years, and how historical events have changed the way we think.

4)I think that I am most excited to learn about all the different experiments, whether ethically questionable or not, that have been performed over the years by psychologists. I have learned about Pavlov, Skinner, Zimbardo, just to name a few, and their experiments, but honestly, I would love to learn about more, and what the findings are. How they have changed our thinking, and how people reacted to them. That is the part I am most looking forward to in this class because I find that the most interesting!

The posts that I liked the most were the ones that were the posts from the final assignment. Although these posts were longer, I felt like this was a combination of book/class material as well as opinion which made it more interesting. This assignment had people pick the topics they thought were most interesting so it let me see some of the topics we would be covering in class as well as which ones I should look forward to the most. I also liked this section because I noticed a few people mentioned how this class is not like what you expect most history classes to be like and that they really did find a lot of interesting material in the class.

I did think that some posts were better than others because not all of them took the time to add in details that may help elaborate on their topics or help explain something. Even so, I did feel like for this assignment particularly most of the posts were very detail oriented (possibly because it was the final assignment) and that the ideas seemed to be well said and explained rather than some of the other assignment posts which seemed to be quite a bit shorter and not have as much detail or information.

Reading these posts did somewhat change my view of what the history of psychology is. It seems that in most classes when it comes to the history portion it is all about the dates and names, as everyone said in class. However, when reading these posts the students have written it shows that they really did learn more than just a date or a name in this class and were able to take the information they learned and analyze it more. It seemed to me reading these posts that not only were students able to remember information from the book and in class, they were able to take the information and apply it to themselves or explain why it is important. I think this changes my view of the history of psychology because often times we think history is just in the past but I feel like with psychology the history is something we are able to apply all the time and adapt to fit different things that may be occurring in modern day, rather than perhaps a normal history class were it cannot be adapted as much to fit society now.

I believe now after reading these posts I am most excited about watching the documentaries. Most of the posts I read centered around the documentaries they watched being their favorite things and a lot of them sound really interesting. I like to be able to watch documentaries about certain topics because a lot of the time it is more interesting than simply reading about a person or subject in a book and you are able to actually watch it happen. I also read one thing in particular about brain advances and a film their class had watched about a monkey being able to control a game with it's mind. I thought this sounded very interesting and is a video I hope we get to watch in the future so I know what it is all about!

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
If you are wondering if I like the Reading Blogs versus the Topical Blogs, I think I’ll prefer the Topical Blogs. From the looks of it, it gives us a chance to take what we read in the previous chapters and apply it to specific topics that catch our own attention. If you are wondering which posts I liked depending on the writer, I would have to say the posts I most enjoyed were ones which were clear and to the point. I find this easier to read and I also learn more than someone who writes about a topic in circles. A personal preference of mine is to always post the question that was posed to the student. This way it’s more organized and I can more directly understand if the question was in fact answered.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
Better? Maybe. Different? Definitely. You can tell each student has his or her specific writing style. You are also able to tell who is more interested/took the time to whole-heartedly complete the assignment versus someone who rushed to through it. The more in-depth posts were definitely more interesting to read.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
After reading these posts my views on the history of psychology has not necessarily changed. I am entering my senior year and I have learned a lot about the history of psychology in previous classes. Although, I am still excited to be taking a class which focuses on the history aspect so I can gain a deeper understanding how it has evolved into the psychological science we use today. Also, from what I was able to read about on previous posts, it looks like this class will be different than any other history class I have taken before.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?
For me, I love learning about the actual research of well-known (and even not that well-known) psychologists. I think it’s interesting to see how we can take all these abstract concepts and turn it into empirical, supported data that we can apply to our lives.

After reading the posts please answer the following four questions:
1) The posts I like the best are the very informative ones. The ones that offered a lot of insight to a person's feelings an opinions. It was really interesting to see how people were influenced by this class at the end of the year. I also liked that they each enjoyed something different about the class and it wasn't just the same thing over and over.
2) Some posts were better than others. Some did not elaborate enough or give enough detail. For some of the posts they didn't seem to try hard enough or take the time to really go in depth about the assignment.
3) The posts sort of changed my opinion. Before reading everything I thought this would be like any history class where I wouldn't be interested in anything. After the posts, however, it seems like people really enjoyed this class and their perspective changed throughout the course of the year. It wasn't like the other history classes they had taken in the past.
4) There really isn't anything specific I want to learn in the this class. Like I said, after reading the posts it seems like this class is very intriguing and a lot can be learned. This makes me excited to learn about most of the material this class has to offer.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I didn't like one particularly the best, though some were better than others. Everyone had their own writing style and some people may find it impressive if one person uses "big words" to get their point across, however another might like those that are straight to the point. I personally find a happy median of both to be most appealing. Though it was a bit of a relief to see that most people seemed to not mind the blogging and at some points found something enjoyable in it.
2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
In some ways yes, but that is personal opinion. Who am i to say that person X's Blog post was better than person Y's, because of Z. We all have our own writing styles, and those styles and passions will become more and more evident the more we blog, as it did in a previous class I took with Prof MacLin.
3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
a little bit, i definitely learned a bit from them that i never knew before, or perhaps never retained due to me despising anything history related.
4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?
At the moment no, though the one thing that did stick with me from class was our final assignment "Why study history", and i'd have to say i couldn't get that thought out of my head all day, so i started outlining my paper for it, and it has been a somewhat enlightening experience, as i hope it is for all of you as well.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I like the reading activity posts compared to the topical blogs, because I like the questions it asks better. It is more about what did we learn from the reading, what was most interesting to us, and what we liked least from the chapter. I think it is more of an interesting read when people state what they liked least, instead of always putting what they liked best that fascinated them.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
Yes of course there will always be better posts, not all will ever rate the exact same. I think the ones that use the most terminology, as long as it is not too much of an over kill to try and sound impressive and just to try and get more points for each term they use. As long as it is used with the right type of quality and quantity, then that is what is best. I think the ones with large blocks of paragraphs at first glance already seem like torture to read through, so medium length is best, compared to too much detail and not enough detail. If there is not enough information, then it will appear that the person did not really grasp the reading, and just wanted to get it done and over with. I do like the posts that you could tell the people really were interested in what they were writing, and had a good flow, and kept their posts very well organized.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
Not really. Being a senior psychology major has taught me a lot of individuals in history that have made their name in psychology with their contributions. Almost every course teaches you about ten or more historical figures that shaped psychology throughout history. This class seems exactly what I expected which is a good thing. I do like that we get more of a say of what we have learned about each historical figure, and each person's posts are different in at least some aspect. I also like history, so reading other posts about the historical figures will help with remembering who each person is, and their contributions, and why this is important to today's psychology. I am looking forward to learning more in depth of people I have studied in other classes, and even some that I have never heard of that hopefully will be of interest to me.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?
I want to learn more about defense mechanisms and the ego that Anna Freud and her father Sigmund Freud covered. I also want to learn more about lobotomy, since it is fascinating, and want to know why and how the person came up with it for mentally ill patients. I also want to know why there were more influential psychologists in Germany and Britain, compared to other countries, for example America. I am looking forward to chapter 13 the most, even though I am studying business psychology, and not clinical, it still seems the most interesting. I also think that chapter 15 will be of interest as well since it is about 21st century psychology, so obviously I am interested in psychology today and how we have advanced throughout history.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?

I enjoyed the reading activity posts better than the topical posts because they showed more reflection than recitation. I think the topical posts were more stereotypical, boring recitation of facts. Whereas the reading activity posts were more thought-filled and thought-provoking. These posts were reflections, thoughts, and questions about the readings, not simply a restatement of facts.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?

I don't believe I read a single post and thought, "That was awful." I don't even think I feel some people's posts were better than others. This is because most of the posts were reflections and supported opinions, making all them good posts. In the reading activity blogs, I enjoyed reading different views on the same chapter. Different people found various topics to focus on that were interesting to him or her, which makes each of those topics more interesting to the reader.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?

Yes. I absolutely hate history classes, of any kind. I am a double major in psychology and music education, so I am also required to take three music history classes. I thought because they were in a area of my liking, I would enjoy music history more than I enjoyed history during grade school and high school. I was very wrong. Considering this, I also believed that I would hate history of psychology too. After our first class on Thursday and after reading some of these blog posts, I think I may need to open my mind to the possibility that I could enjoy history of psychology. I assumed that it would focus on people and dates and facts. Although I did read some of this in the posts, I also read a lot of ideas and concepts. I think making history of psychology relatable is the key to making it an enjoyable learning experience.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?

Based on these posts there is not anything in particular that stood out to me that desperately interested me. I am fairly new to my psychology major, so there is a lot I need to learn about psychology in general. I am hoping to learn as much as in this class that I can relate to my personal life and my past, present, and future course at UNI.

1)Which posts did you like the best? Why?

The posts that I liked best were the ones that had more detail but not so much detail that I got bored while reading them. The ones that were long usually had a lot of description in them to the point were you can tell that the person learned and understood what they were reading and used the terms in the correct spots and gave the definitions for the terms.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?

I do think some of the posts were better than others. Some of the posts were too long and some of the others were too short. The short ones had terms thrown into the mix without any definitions or explanations for why they were interested in that term. The ones that were too long had too much explanation for some terms and I became disinterested by the end of them.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?

I think some of these posts have changed my idea about the history of psychology. To be honest, I didn’t think the history of psychology would be interesting but learning about how and when clinical psychology, asylums, and psychology came about was pretty interesting.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?

I am interested in intelligence tests and how they came about. I find this interesting because I feel that the standard tests that we have to take in high school and college are not an accurate representation of what we actually know. I am also interested in the parts of psychology history that are darker because I think all of the unethical things and all of the ethics laws are interesting.

After reading the posts please answer the following four questions:

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?
I liked the posts in which the students gave what seemed to be an honest opinion of the subject material. By this I mean that some admitted that they did not like it or find it interesting. I liked this type of post because I don’t always like every topic that is covered in a class, so I would be more likely to feel comfortable giving my opinion, positive or negative. I also liked the posts where the students seemed like they were really interested, and even excited, to discuss a topic. I liked these posts because it makes me feel as though I will find a topic in this class that will excite me too.

2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?
I think the posts that didn’t just summarize the chapters, but also applied the concepts, were better. If someone was able to relate the chapter content to their own life or experience I think it made the post more interesting to read and showed that they had a good understanding of the material.

3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
Overall, I don’t think reading these posts changed my idea of the history of psychology. I had already been thinking that this class would cover influential figures, schools of thought, and theories in psychology, although I am now thinking that it may be more in depth than what I previously thought.

4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?
I don’t think that there are any specific topics that I am interested in, although in a broad sense I would be interested in the history of the behavioral school of thought. I like behaviorism because I tend to understand things that I can see better than abstract concepts, such as Maslow’s self-actualization which was discussed in some posts. I am also interested in the topical blogs because they seem like they allow you freedom to explore topics that are of personal interest to you.

I'll be honest most of the posts I stopped reading halfway through, either because they were repeating older comments, or because they did not hold my attention very long. I found my self reading the posts that answered questions in a critical evaluation style, all the way through. Why? Because they were unique. I could feel a real genuine response from these writers. It did not feel like they were writing to get a grade in the class, it felt like they were writing to express a thought.

Regarding the subjective matter of posts, of course some were better than others. I found that the better posts were the ones that were well thought out. It was easy to see a pattern of posts that were 'on the fly' responses. At times I felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page, which can both be a good or bad thing, depending on the dynamic of the questions asked. Some situations called for direct information (like Chapter responses), others called for an emotional connections along with the direct information (typically the topic responses). Either way it was the style the writer that I think took the well thought out posts above the others. Why do I feel like this? I respected the well thought out and prepared posts than the ones that left me scrolling back to the top of the page to check what question was next. These posts were not only easy to read and follow, it was also easy to remember. I felt like I was learning the information from theses responses.

These posts have not changed my idea of the history of psychology. Not because the posts were poorly written, but because I have not yet formed a complete idea to change. They certainly aided in how I form my opinion. This is because of the plethora of perspectives to look at.

Motivation, I was always the kid asking the question "why" for every little thing that happened. While my parents and teachers would constantly give me answers that I was satisfied with, I would dive deeper and deeper until one day they did not have an answer for my "why" question that I was satisfied with. That question was why do people do the things they do. What's the motivation behind all the different decisions that we make on a day to day setting? Is it the social uprising, or is it based on a formulated idea? These questions do not have a clear answer that I am satisfied with and that's what keeps me connected.

C.D.
1 & 2) The posts I liked best were the ones where students could keep it short and to the point while accurately expressing knowledge and interest in the subjects they chose. This is not because I didn't like taking the time to read the long ones, but because reading the longer ones was less enjoyable due to the clear need to extend posts to keep up with other students who had to do the same. You can find what truly mattered to the student, as well as their opinions and insights when they aren't adding unnecessary information to reach a target number of words or trying to keep up with others who had reached or exceeded the target. Not all of the short posts were good this way, some people were just lazy, but that can easily be distinguished.
3) The way I see history in psych now is different than I see other forms of history. Psychology appears to be largely based on theories, and to understand the theories we must understand those who came up with them and the techniques they used. I think time periods matter less than normal history to an extent, unless they are used to understand the limitations or social mindsets that sculpted these scientists.
4). I am interested in understanding the backgrounds of the most important scientists in psychology that I have been learning about for years. From what I read it looks like I will learn their backgrounds and most well known theories as well as some of their lesser known works. I am also excited to learn about other important psychology figures that I have yet too. I am specifically interested in learning more about Carl Rogers, who I haven't learned much about as of yet, and his client centered therapy because I would like to be a therapist in the future but I am unaware of the proceedings behind the closed door. Whether Client lead therapy is a common use in today's therapy or not, knowing the proceedings could possibly allow me to help certain clients with special needs in the future. I am also interested in the Pavlov and Skinner experiments that helped me understand the conditioning techniques used in the bmod class I took last year. I've tried training animals and although I understand a lot more about how they think in terms or reward for behavior, I could use a bit more knowledge to become more efficient with it.

1) Which posts did you like the best? Why?

I enjoyed reading the posts where the students were able to choose their own subject because I feel that it made them more interested in the content and their post was more interesting because of that. One student wrote about Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark, which I enjoyed reading about, and I think its because they were interested in the post, therefore they spent more time on it.
2) Were some posts better than others? Why or why not?

Yes, some were a lot more detailed and considerably longer without generic answers. They were able to make me think more about the subject even though I hadn’t thought of it at all or much at all before.
3) Has reading these posts changed your idea of what the history of psychology is? Why or why not?
Somewhat. I enjoy history, but more in the form of documentaries with interesting visuals and narrators, not reading it from a book. It was not as boring as I thought it was going to be, but that may be because of my overall interest in psychology.
4) Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning? Why?
There are a lot of subjects in psychology that interest me, but reading the posts on memory are interesting and I’m excited to learn more.