http://www.themedguru.com/20100114/newsfeature/people-happiest-during-weekends-study-86131803.html

I found this article to be rather interesting, the study suggests that weekends have a significant effect on the body. Researchers suggest that, "simply being in charge of your own day, spending quality time with family, provides better mood, greater vitality and (fewer) physical ailments from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon."

 

While the results of this study are probably to be expected - most people are visibly happier on the weekends -  it is interesting to hear about what they believe specifically causes physiological changes, such as hormone release, and a more positive attitude overall.

 

They attribute some of these changes to higher feelings of autonomy. At first, I wondered if this effect was mainly seen in those with relatively low paying jobs (those with consistently low autonomy throughout the week), but the effect was found regardless of occupation, age, gender, or relationship status.

 

I actually found it very interesting that even those with high status jobs experience this effect on weekends. I have generally thought that workers with high status already tend to have significantly higher levels of autonomy and leisure, so the presence of the weekend would not make as much of a difference to them. According to this study, I may be wrong.

 

 I wonder if another reason for this affect is that people are often able to rest more on weekends. In BioPsychology I remember the author (John Pinel) mentioning that over time people can gradually reduce the amount of time they sleep to as little as two hours per night with only minor effects, but I have not yet looked at the studies on which he based those statements. I wonder how much of a role (perhaps 2 additional hours) additional sleep can play in improving one's mental and physical condition. I find studies involving sleep to be among the most interesting, and from what I have read it seems like much more research needs to be conducted in this area.   

 

Another question I have is, "Why don't the effects seem to carry past Sunday afternoon?" I suppose the answer may lie in their original report, but if it does it would be rather odd for them not to have included it in the article. I have often heard people say that they will be revitalized and refreshed for work after the weekend, but in my experience I'm not sure people tend to be any better or any worse at their jobs whether it is a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. In any case, I think some of the questions that arise from this article merit further research.

http://www.ezinearticles.com

I found this article while browsing for interesting topics. It caught my attention because this is something just about every single person can relate to. There isn't a single person I know that has not set some sort of New Year's resolution, and like myself nobody I know has ever actually followed through with their resolutions. Most people set resolutions to stop smoking, stop drinking, lose weight etc. I have had many friends and family members set these kind of goals for themselves and start off doing it for a couple weeks and then find themselves falling back into the same routine as before and go back to their old habits. This is a short article that talks about why people break their resolutions and don't follow through and why some people are more capable than others in following through with their goals. It also reminded me of something I learned in one of my Psych classes that I found pretty interesting that the reason people fail in these types of resolutions they set for themselves is not because they can't change or arent motivated enough but because they set their goals too high from the start. It's important for people to set their goals low so they don't set themselves up for failure right away from the start. If they set their goals way too high they don't have much of a chance at succeeding and are doomed to fail from the start. So it is important to take small steps and work your way up when trying to accomplish a long term goal and not trying to do everything right away.

 

 

It is an interesting experience when your old enough to be held "in charge" of children and at the same time not so old that you've forgotten what it feels like to be their age. It is exactly what I went through last week in my house. The oldest boy, who turned 14 in November, has been DYING to get behind the wheel and begin learning how to drive a car. He, like many small town kids, began his lessons on a riding lawn mower in a big back yard. But he has now outgrown the John Deere X300 and has set his sights on a little red Mustang, which just so happens to belong to me! I trust and believe him to be a bright, mature and responsible young man, so I told him that once he got his driver's permit and the weather warmed up, he and I would go out to our church parking lot and I'd help him get a feel for driving.
Unfortunately for him, his birthday falls at an inconvenient time, the school system here offers a drivers education class in August (which he wasn't eligible for yet at age 13) another in March (which to him feels like decades away) and a summer course in June (which is obviously further away but also during his baseball season). To enroll in the class, each student must have passed their drivers permit exam. Shortly before his 14th birthday, he received his Iowa Driver's Permit Manual. Since he'd already missed the deadline for the Autumn class and Spring seemed so far into the future, his motivation to study was practically non-existent.
Three Sundays ago, I asked him if he knew where that manual was, he dug it out from a stack of papers in his room and I noticed that the seal holding the front and back cover hadn't even been severed. So I attempted to challenge his lack of motivation. I told him that I was going to the DOT to renew my license on Tuesday the 26th, that he had just over two weeks to study that manual and ride with me to take his exam and get his permit. He agreed and I walked away feeling proud that I was taking part in this "milestone" event in his life.
Last week, I asked him how the studying the going, he said "okay" and dropped the conversation off. I found that strange because typically when he talks about driving, particularly MY car, he is filled with excitement and impatience. I asked him to bring the manual to me and we'd go over some chapters together. He hesitated but finally brought me the manual that had, although open, clearly had not been used much if at all.
At first I didn't get that. It didn't make sense to me why he wouldn't have wanted to study it front to back and sideways so that he could knock that test into next year. I remember studying for my permit test all day and night, even in the car on the way to take the test. And I still failed the first time! But he is a much better student than I was, he gets straight A's and excellent reviews from his teachers almost effortlessly. Then it occurred to me, he's never had to try very hard to do well, school comes pretty easy to him and he's grown comfortable doing as much as is required of him and not much more. I realized that he was most likely approaching this test like he would any other, but this was not the average exam. If you all have forgotten, many questions on the driving test are meant to try and trick you.
I tried explaining this to him and I began forcing him to study on his own for 30 minutes each day and for 10 minutes with me. We had less than a week and it quickly became my challenge more so than his. I would quiz him and try to explain why answers weren't what he thought, it was taxing on both of us but we put in the time and test day arrived on Tuesday of this week.
I was as nervous as he was, we went over a few final points and I sent him free to his little cubicle and computer screen. I waited for what felt like hours until he turned the corner with a look of discouragement and said "I didn't pass." I felt bad for him but I couldn't help but think of the week that he wasted and the days that I practically forced the information through his ears. Regardless, the sense of failure was his to keep now. We didn't say much on the way home, I simply extended and invitation to try it again when he is ready to and that unlike most other tests, this one can be taken over once a day until he passes.
We will see how this experience motivates him and if he will finally drive my Mustang when the weather warms up. 

There have been a lot of different speculations as to why Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris committed the crimes at Columbine High School.  However, this is one of the first articles I have found outlining psychological reasoning behind their actions.  I actually wrote my book report on the motivation behind Columbine, however I did not focus on the boy's psychological problems.  I did find this very interesting, but I think it's important to remember that this is only one opinion and not necessarily fact. 

On a January 21st the United State Supreme Court decided to overturn years of legislation. The court ruled, in a 5-4 vote, that corporations have a the constitutional right to supply unlimited campaign contributions. The article I have provided a link to is from the Huffington Post. The article states that the top 100 wealthiest corporations would be able to spend as little as 1% of their profit and be about to control the senate and presidential elections. Not to mention the money that the rest of the fortune 500 companies could put toward any campaigns. The amount of control over campaign funds that a corporation can have is now equal to any individual citizen. With large funding, it is inevitable that a corporation will have a say in the platform of any candidate. Though, it is the number of votes an candidate obtains that will inevitably be the deciding factor in the election. If one candidate has purchased all of the advertising and is viewed more frequently than another candidate it is obvious that the candidate will capture more attention than the candidate that does not have the funds to be seen and heard as often. A candidate with a large amount of funding has the change to motivate people and educate people on his/her beliefs and platform. So what's the problem? Take the average family for example, they can donate $500 to a campaign, but not without taking a hit in their bank account. Now imagine a corporation like Walmart, which could donate a million dollars without even feeling the wrath. The donation from the corporation makes the donation from the family seem obsolete. In the end, the campaign winner will effect everyday life of the family and will barely bother the large corporation, yet the corporations can now have a larger say.

As college students, we are probably all well aware of our own particular study habits. Within the realm of our own self-awareness there lies that annoying voice that repeatedly whispers, "Do it later, you can do you homework right before class, don't worry about it." To be honest, I have deliberately procrastinated this assignment until I realized I needed at least half an hour to prepare and write my blog entry. Anyway, in preparation for this I stumbled upon a short (4 min) video about procrastination and self-control. Dan Ariely, a professor at Duke University, briefly discusses the impact of the inevitable procrastinating mind.

In the video he emphasizes how our emotions often get the best of us in our attempt to become proactively efficient in our study habits. But, since this emotion sets in, the downward spiral of procrastination and lack of motivation welcomes itself inside our heads and thwarts our initial productive mindset. In his attempt to curtail students' procrastination efforts, Professor Ariely set up a system in which students determine their own personal deadlines for three course papers throughout the semester. However, there are repercussions for tardiness; he docks one percentage point each day that student is later in turning in his or her assignment.

I think this system would work incredibly well for some students and could be a negative influence on others. Some students absolutely need a form of routine, established deadlines, and other linear classroom functions. The others who thrive off this type of setting could flourish and do particularly well, because they might be the ones who procrastinate more than the former group in a traditional class setup. I guess it depends on the relationship between the professor, the student, and the type of assignments and grading criteria the professor has planned.

Video
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/predictably-irrational/200808/procrastination-and-self-control

Discussion Questions:
1. Do you feel that a classroom grading system would enable or disable your procrastination habits?
2. What do you think the biggest reason is for procrastinating on an assignment?

I have the link posted below for this website.

 

I use a site called digg.com.  It's a great site that allows its users to chose popular sites and post them in a common place.  The users can then "digg" the site if they like it and make it more popular.  That is how I found this website.

 

According to researchers at Stanford and the University of Toronto, people who are paid by the hour are happier with the amount of money they make.  This is because they remember how much they make based on how many hours they work, so more time at work means more money - rather than the same amount.  To quote the website, those people "begin comparing the value of their time to the amount of their happiness."

 

After discovering their hourly wage, people who were paid a set wage began thinking of how much they made per hour, they began acting like hourly paid people.

 

I, as I'm sure most of you, can testify to this.  During the summer, I do yard work and am paid hourly.  Whenever I choose to leave for the day, I think about how many hours I did that day.  Then, everything I buy I use as a reference to how many hours I would have to work for it.  A twenty-dollar item would be over two hours worth of work. However, if I needed the item, I would certainly buy it.  However, if it were just for fun, I would have to give it a second thought - if it was worth the two hours of work or not.

 

Oddly enough, I can remember doing this with something else.  Rather than think about how many hours of work that would be, it got to the point where I would think how many cases of beer an item would be.  (I now personally believe this to be a sign of being an alcoholic and have hence stopped.)

 

 

 

http://www.physorg.com/news183632533.html

For my book report I am reading No Easy Answers the Truth Behind Death at Columbine which is about the murders that took place in April 1999 in Littleton, Colorado.  The authors of the book talk briefly about music and it's effect on society and what the two gunmen listened to.  This got me a little curious as to other stories in the media about murders/suicides that have taken place and in which music was placed in the spotlight as the main culprit behind the tragic events.  The linked article tells of a young man who commited suicide and in turn his family filed a lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne and his record label.  The article further states that the man who commited suicide also had alcohol and emotional problems.

So, my question to you is do you think music has such a powerful influence over people that it can make them kill someone or themself, or is it other factors this are contributing to their mental well-being?

http://www.tjcenter.org/ArtOnTrial/ozzy.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTR/is_4_22/ai_84599442/?tag=content;col1

Everyone always hears about all the college dropouts. Statistics show that 1 out of every 4 people will drop out of college by there sophomore year. Even more surprising is that 1/2 of college students wont complete their degree after their sophomore year or will leave to complete it elsewhere. This article discusses one guys struggle to stay in college. He was your typical straight A student, president of everything, star athlete type of guy. However, he dropped out of college before finishing his first semester. In this article he shares his struggles of how he dropped out, why he went back, and gives advice to those entering college.  One thing I found interesting in this article besides the 6 reasons it lists for dropping out, was that most of the drop out students are not permanent; many of them decided to go back to school later in life.  A lot of times when we talked about college drop out rate people don't consider the statistics on how many of them go back and complete their degree.

Recently, I found an article online that I found interesting.  I'm one of those people that get side-tracked very easily.  In fact, I've been on Facebook a few times already while writting this blog.  The article that I found actually gives different suggestions on how to avoid and fix behaviors like this one, by doing simple tasks that will help eliminate the urge to do the unwanted behavior.

The article gives five different ways of avoiding or changing a behavior.  The five ways are: introducing an incompatible behavior, interrupt the behavioral pattern, putting the behavior on cue, eliminating the benefits of the unwanted desire, and eliminating the source of the unwanted behavior. 

To use an example, my Facebook useage should probably be cut down quite a bit.  If I wanted to introduce an incompatible behavior, I could have someone look at my browsing history every week to see what I have been looking at.  For me, it would be embarrassing having someone see how many times I visit facebook a week, and it would probably encourage me to visit the website less often.

If I wanted to interrupt my behavioral pattern, I could delete the application for the website on my phone or have the website stop sending messages to my email when something new happens on my Facebook page.  This would eliminate visual cues, and I may not be encouraged to check my account as often as I do.

By putting the behavior on cue, I could tell myself that I am only allowed to visit the facebook website after 9:00pm, and only if all of my homework is done.  I would still be able to spend time on facebook, but my life wouldn't be consumed with it.

Eliminating the benefit of the unwanted desire might be me telling my friends not to Facebook me or invite me to Facebook Events.  If I know that no one will be writting on my wall or inviting me to events or groups, there will not be as great of a need to get on to my account.

Finally, if none of the above methods would work, I could also try eliminating the source of the unwanted behavior. For this method, I could simply deactivate my facebook account, or get rid of my computer all together.  This would probably be the last possible choice with most behaviors.

If your interested in the website here it is: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2004/11/behavioral-conditioning/

Has anyone tried one of these methods for an unwanted behavior?

Did they work?

http://bpd.about.com/od/livingwithbpd/a/suppress.htm

This article discusses how suppressing emotions can be harmful, the consequences of suppressing emotions, and how to avoid emotional suppression.

I thought this article was interesting because I have often heard that suppressing your emotions can be harmful to yourself but I never really knew why.  The article mentions that people with boderline personality disorder often suppress their feelings.  As this may be true I think that anyone who has ever had drama or conflict in their life has had the opportunity to either suppress emotions, or just let them out (which would include everyone).

One study discussed in the article explained that when people are told not to think of something, they become preoccupied with the thing they are not supposed to think of.  The same can be said for emotions, if they are not released and talked about, they can consume the thought process of that partciular person. This is called the "rebound effect of thought suppression," and it occurs when feelings are pushed away. The article mentions that this can become a vicious cycle in that when one emotion is pushed away, which influences negative emotions, which are pushed away, etc..

One way to avoid suppression is to actively engage in another activity to regulate your emotion.  I feel that when I have strong emotions, it works best to actively confront the issue (or the person the issue is with) and work things out.  If emotions are not worked out, then things can quickly turn for the worse.  If we learn how to deal with our emotions in a positive manner, it will influence and motivate us to avoid suppressing our emotions.

Let me know what you guys think about this article; is it accurate and meaningful? What other strategies would you suggest?

 

I found an article named "Self-Control - Or Lack of It - Is Contagious" on the MSNBC website.  I found the article intriguing because it discussed how social interaction can affect your self-control.  For example, the article stated if you live with people who are conscious about what they eat and exercise regularly, you are more likely to pick up on these habits.  If your roommates or friends regularly eat unhealthy foods and do not exercise regularly, you are more likely to pick up those habits. 

Although, the results were researched through 5 different studies over a 2-year period, the studies were done in a lab setting.  However, the researchers do not want to blame social influences for good or bad habits.  It is up to the person to decide to lead a healthy life; not to blame others for their unhealthy decisions.

I thought this article was very interesting and found some truth to the results.  In high school I was active in a variety of sports and clubs.  It was normal to work out after school every day for practice.  However, when I came to college I was not required to exercise hard every day.  Although I tried to exercise regularly, knowing the health benefits, something else would grab my attention.  For the past two years, I have lived with girls who exercise regularly and are health conscious.  I find myself getting motivated back into exercising and choosing healthier foods. 

I thought this was an interesting quote from the article, "The take-home message of this study is that picking social influences that are positive can improve your self-control," said lead author Michelle vanDellen, a psychology professor at the University of Georgia. "And by exhibiting self-control, you're helping others around you do the same."

Does anyone else see himself or herself picking up his or her friends or roommates good or bad habits?  Does anyone disagree with this article?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34881243/ns/health-behavior/

 

 

I'm currently enrolled in a class which is being 'shared' (video taped and played ) to two classes located in Russia.  To help us get a better understanding our teacher had a different professor come to our class and talk about the history and present happenings in Russia.  I not only changed this video to my Facebook status right after class, but couldn't stop talking about it.  (to my friends who most likely didnt care that much)

VIDEO- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gncW1zqMFgs&feature=related

Putin is the current Prime Minister in Russia.  While he was trying to win the hearts of Russians over, this video was created by some random people.  It was then reported that the Kremlin endorsed this video.  The thinking behind the video was to show how Putin would create this 'strong' image for Russia, where as the previous Prime Minister did not (his sobriety was questioned and the overall power of Russia was perceived as weak). 

I think it's extremely interesting that they chose these lyrics in describing a future (at that time) Prime Minister.  The lyrics are trying to compare the last Prime Minister with Putin and how much better Putin will be :

My boyfriend is in trouble again,
He got into a fight and got stoned on something,
I am sick of him and so I told him, 'get out of here',
And now I want a man like Putin.
A man like Putin, full of energy,
A man like Putin who doesn't drink,
A man like Putin who wouldn't hurt me,
A man like Putin who wouldn't run away from me.

This definitely brought Putin to my attention whereas normal I would've heard 'Putin is the Prime Minister of Russia' and forgot we had even talked about it within 5 minutes.  Its crazy to think that just this catchy techno song has made me curious and motivated to look for more information on the Russian Prime Minister. 

I also attached an article I found-- it's very brief and just describes how it is believed the Kremlin backed this techno song to help start a 'Putin Cult'-- which is a completely different topic.  I've watched the video multiple times, accidently found myself singing it on my way to class, and even looked for it on Itunes becuase I wanted to have it around just in case.  I think I've been sucked in to this genius campaign scheme and am now looking for a man just like Putin. 

ARTICLE- http://putinwatcher.blogspot.com/2007/07/putin-cult-political-techno-fan-clubs.html

After reading the post about the "Biggest Loser" show, I could not stop thinking about the lack of support for the contestants. Thinking about this led me to news article called  "Weight-Loss Camps Invite Mom and Dad Along."

In this news article, it briefly mentions the weight-loss camps across the nation in which children are able to attend in order to learn about and start living a healthier lifestyle. This article focus specifically on a girl named Kelsey and her family. Kelsey attended a summer camp, and over the course of the 3 months, she was losing about 9 pounds per month. At the end of the 3 months, Kelsey's dad and sister joined Kelsey to participate in a family workshop. The idea of the family workshop is to teach the families of these children attending the weight-loss camps about the reasons why children overeat, and also are provided tips and resources to help motivate their children once they leave camp and return home. Kelsey's family is reported to be doing amazing after attending the family workshop, and even her father and sister have reaped benefits by losing weight, and becoming more active as well.  This news article continues on to report that family support is important and beneficial and help kids to maintain the healthy lifestyle and continue to lose weight if necessary.
In my opinion these camps seem to be doing a better job then the "Biggest Loser" television show has done in the area of support. Some of the camps even have the resources available for previous campers(children) to contact counselors when they need some extra motivation or support. Also it is possible for these campers to keep in contact with the camp, and to log their results even while they are at home.

Does anyone else agree that these programs are beneficial for the children? Is there anything that some of you might change about the program?

I was given this short article by one of my other professors, and I found it to be really helpful.  It gives a great overview of Social Cognitive Theory. It also describes how this theory stems from Social Learning Theory, and how it has evolved to what it is today.  It points out similarities of SCT to Behaviorism as well as other theories in psychology. The article describes how modeling and other types of social influence motivates certain behaviors and how these behaviors can then be changed or modified.  This article really cleared a lot of confusing parts of these theories up for me.  Hopefully it will help some of you also!

I thought that one of the most interesting parts of the article was the section on symbols.  Abstract thinking is a large part of social cognitive theory, which would entail the usage of symbols.  I never thought about it this way before, but using symbols is a way that many people learn and understand the environment around them.

Another area I thought was interesting is the section on modeling.  We have all learned about modeling in other classes, I'm sure.  In relation to the Reeve textbook, he discusses how modeling can effect and influence self-regulation (Reeve, 290).  The SCT article goes into death on the importance of self-regulatory behavior (p. 5), because self-regulatory behaviors act as a mediator between external influences and internal thoughts, feelings, and actions. Both the textbook and the SCT article also discuss goal-setting in relation to self-regulation, in that it helps people to achieve their goals successfully and drive them to go farther (Reeve, 290). Reeve also points out four crucial parts of the regulation process: "observation, imitation, self-control, and self-regulation" (Reeve, 291).  The SCT article also discusses these aspects, but in a less-direct manner.

Also discussed in the article are aspects of external and internal motivation.  On page 5, the authors discuss how getting an "A" in class is a great form of extrinsic motivation, and a rewarding experience. At the same time, the sense of pride we feel when getting an "A" is also a form of intrinsic motivation.  Extrinsic motivations are things that motivate us outside of the feelings or emotions we feel (receiving money, rewards, tangible things), whereas intrinsic motivations are more internally driven (Reeve, 111-113).  These types of motivations have a huge impact on how well we perform at a certain task or behavior, why we perform that task or behavior, and how often we perform that task or behavior.

The SCT article describes three factors that can influence how a person is motivated:

1.      Self-efficacy

2.      Feedback

3.      Anticipated Time

We have discussed all of these aspects many times in class.  How do these things relate from SCT back to what we discussed in class? Are the things we have been discussing (exercising, studying for a test, etc) all just forms of applying the SCT to real life?  What are some ways that these aspects can relate to other areas of psychology?

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnx3YWRpYW5wc3ljaHxneDo0YjRlYTlhODJiZGQ0NTRl

I'd like to know what you think of it. Do you think this article provides a good overview of these theories, or is the article too generalized?  Are these concepts too complex to be described in a few pages?  What do you think of SCT in general? Does it focus too much on self-efficacy and modeling while ignoring other important parts of motivation and learning?

This article about Why You Should Never Give to the Poor really put some questions in my mind about a lot of different things, manly on why the author decided to name this article this in the first place. I thought that it was going to be about the people on the corners of intersections asking for money. Yet, it was about a misunderstanding on the behalf of the givers and the receivers. Here is the link for a quick read.

 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-you-should-never-give-to-the-poor/

To me people do great things for others all the time and they are really motivated to do it. But I feel that if you are going to reach out, make sure that you don't judge people who don't understand the importance of asking how this works and why.

The article is about a humanitarian group installing a water system and waste disposal system for the village that was in need of clean water and a place to dispose of their waste.  That to me is a good resource, but then after this initial humanitarian group left, a few months later another group returned to see how the village was doing. To their surprise the village had let the systems go to waste.

I could see their point, you give a village a way to have clean water and a place for sewage, and then they abuse the systems. It also mentioned that these installments were not cheap.

The fact that these humanitarian groups came the first time was great, but the chief of the tribe made sense. They came in and installed it and left, didn't teach them how to fix it if it broke down or didn't even place some type of regulations on the equipment as well. So these people were in a place where okay it's broken nothing I can do about it, and hey it's free. To me you can't expect people to just be like okay I get the picture thanks. Yes, they are grateful and no they will abuse it because it's a necessity they have never had before.

So here are some questions if you were doing an article on this piece would you name it what it is currently or change it to something else? Also, if you saw this going on and you were the second group, would you do the same thing? Or if you were the first group would you explain the whole thing to the village first and show them how to fix it if were to ever break? What do you think the motivation of the village is the second time around?

We all have stressors at our jobs, but in some jobs there is way more. I work on campus, so I do not experience too much stress in my job, but I know my summer job was pretty stressful. This article talks about job stress, which in small doses can be motivating to get tasks done, but too much can cause a person to burnout. Too much stress on the job can even be a threat to a person's health.

            This article gives some warning signs that you may have too much on the job stress and then it gives 10 strategies on how to try and deal with the stress. There is also a quiz attached to this article, titled how close are you to burning out? I took the quiz and was not surprised that my stress was low.

Do you think that any of you would get a high stress level from your jobs?

Do you think these tips would be helpful to someone who is having a hard time at work?

http://www.quintcareers.com/managing_job_stress.html

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/27/news/companies/toyota_sales_halt/index.htm?postversion=2010012718

I was recently reading an article that was talking about the major recall on some Toyota models. The recall came after accidents were reported of the accelerator getting stuck on the removable floor mats. The models being recalled accounted for almost half of Toyota's sales in 2009 and as a result of the recalls, five major U.S. plants are halting production on all models. A toyota spokeswoman was quoted in the article as saying the company has not assessed what damage this will cause to the company. Obviously this is not a good time for a company who has built itself on claims of reliability and quality to have a problem with the safety and quality of it's cars. Other competitors are more than eager to take a chunk of Toyota's large and loyal consumer pool. Because America is Toyota's largest buyer of their products, Toyota will be trying to counteract the bad publicity.
While I was reading this article I was thinking of the loyalty to stay with one company over the other. I was wondering would this be enough to motivate long-time Toyota customers to look elsewhere for their next auto? Can one mistake be enough to make consumers re-think years of good quality and safe Toyota cars? As for me, I don't think this setback by the Toyota company would affect my attitude towards the company. I would still buy a Toyota over most American brands any day,  because one recall with the company would not be enough to motivate me into looking for a different company with less of a good reputation than Toyota has had.
Some questions:
What motivates people to buy with certain companies?
What could persuade you to change your mind?
Will Toyota be able to bounce back after this bad press?

http://www.theburiedlife.com/

Most of you know someone, or is that someone who loves to play videogames.  And even more so, children who love to play video games now.  Think back to when you were little and recall your favorite video game... was it Mario Cart, or was it some sports fantasy video game that you could never put down.  According to TechNewsWorld.com videogames might be coming up into the educational world soon.  If it is said that students play more video games then read, why not interact them into classrooms so students can play a video game but learn at the same time.  If a student knows that he/she can play a video game, they will be more motivated, because they will see if they get something correct or do something right within the video game they will get to move onto the next level.  And if they get something wrong the student will have the opportunity to go back and try and fix it without having a teacher move on so quickly.  A plus for video games in the classroom would be the team-buildling skills, because a lot of video games require to be on a team or interact with others while playing.  The only downfall of video games, is that there is a large gap between the teachers and the students. Some teachers believe the concept of video games in the classroom isnt seen for educational purposes.  But honestly, if a child can learn from something that they love doing why not spend that extra money on the right educational equipment and tools and help the child learn, instead of giving teachers raises.

Just wondering if there are any parents out there how you would feel if your child was not only playing video games at home, but in the classroom?  Or if you are not a parent yet, how would you go about a situation like this when you become a parent?  I am not a parent, but when I have a child and the school is trying to incorporate learning with a video game, I would definitely allow my child to give it a try, afterall it would hopefully be benefiting my childs.

 

This article can be found at: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/56516.html?wlc=1264703470 

 

We all know that sleep greatly impacts our mood on a day-to-day basis. We also know that sleep before a test is probably more beneficial than an extra couple hours of cramming. However, we may not know that sleep may play a key role in selecting which memories are preserved. Researchers from Harvard and Boston College have data supporting their claim that sleep helps preserve and enhance memories that create a greater emotional response within a person. Previous research has demonstrated that sleep plays an important role in procedural memory but this study establishes a better understanding of emotional memory formation connected to sleep.

The actual study only used 88 college students, meaning that more research needs to be done in this area to have a representative sample but we all know that psychology is based off of the college psychology major or freshman. Participants were shown a picture with a car parked on a street in front of shops(neutral) or a badly crashed car parked on a similar street (negatively arousing). Then they were tested on their memory of these pictures, both background and central object. Participants were divided into three groups for memory testing, 12 hours after viewing spent awake during the day, 12 hours after the viewing at night including sleep or 30 minutes after the viewing. They found that the negative scene was largely forgotten if the person stayed awake but if they slept the negative scene was preserved in almost the same detail as the group tested 30 minutes after the viewing.

While I was reading this article I was thinking a lot about how this research can be paired with other areas of research such as eyewitness testimony and the cross-race effect.  This could be one more thing that lawyers and juries have to consider in the court room.

Here are links to two articles discussing the research:

http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/researchers-find-sleep-selectively-preserves-emotional-memories

http://www.4therapy.com/consumer/conditions/article/9509/112/A+Night%92s+Sleep+Gives+Emotional+Memories+Their+Staying+Power

Here is a link to the actual article:

Payne, J. D., Stickgold, R., Swanberg, K., Kensinger, E. A. (2008). Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes. Psychological Science, 19(8), 781-788.

http://www2.bc.edu/~kensinel/Payne_PS08.pdf

(I shouldn't admit this) but in the little time between classes I find myself always frantically trying to finish a homework assignment for the next class.  I put stuff off until the last minute because I "thrive" under the pressure. I have done that with this weeks blog posts/comments and it gave me inspiration (for my post).

Procrastination - News Article

The link above is a news story that popped up after my google search of why I procrastinate. 
It turns out I am just not a perfectionist and I don't have a lot of faith in completing tasks I need to complete.  This is true [for me]...I will be honest that this internet blogging thing is so new to me and I always feel like I'm doing them wrong. So I put them off until Thursday when they are due...and I rush to get them done in a short amount of time.

Some facts that the news took out of the article state that perfectionists don't procrastinate, they just worry more about their final product. Are there any perfectionists out there? If so, is this true?  Also, how do you do it?
Some questions:
To fellow procrastinators, do you think this article is true for you or is it bologna?
Do you think that procrastinators can not procrastinate if they work at it, or will they always delay getting work done?  

I read some of the comments below the article and it seems that most people don't doubt their confidence level and self efficacy as being the problem.  They just do so much better when under stress.

Here is a link to the actual sited article in the news story:
The Nature of Procrastination - Steel

The topic I chose concerns sport psychology and the characteristics of being "In the Zone" within competition. In the future, I would like to teach a sport psychology class at the high school and/or college level. I really feel like athletes can gain a great deal by modifying their mental and physical behaviors. This modification can improve performance and get an individual athlete into their beneficial "zone."

 

The first website listed below discussed the characteristics of "being in the zone," allowing an individual to perform at his/her peak levels. While each individuals topographical behavior on the football field or volleyball court may look similar, each one functionally behaves in a different way before and within that competition. Everyone has different levels of emotion to go alongside their varying degrees of motivation.  If an individual is not motivated to peform at their highest level and/or fully committed to compete, obtaining this "magical" state of flow would be nearly impossible.  In my mind, while different for everyone, there almost has to be a certain formula of emotions and behaviors which contribute to this state of mind.  For this website, there were many target behaviors which could enhance an individuals ability to get in the zone. Focus, confidence, relaxation, effortless/automatic, fun, and control are all behaviors exhibited by athletes when they are in the zone. These behaviors are reinforced when an athlete's performance excels beyond their normal capacities. 

The second website listed below is an empirical study of an athlete's ability or behavioral capability to be in the zone. This site listed eight dimensions of various behavioral elements which elicited a flow state. A few of these dimensions are as follows: balance between challenge and skills, clear goals and feedback, self-rewarding experience (reinforcement), etc. Individuals emitting this sense of "magic," are able to rid themselves of disruptive behaviors and limit self-punishment when things aren't going perfect.  So as you can tell, emotional and motivational ties are essential.  Without a clear path or goal-orientedness, an athlete's ability to achieve this mental zone is severely hindered within this dimension. 

Overall, I realized sport psychology utilizes behavior modification in almost every aspect of the application element of the field. Being able to get in the zone or the flow state is a challenge athletes often subconsciously try to obtain. To do this, one must manipulate his/her behaviors such as confidence, relaxation, control, etc.  An athlete's ability (and essentially motivation) to control these behaviors and emotions are key to whether or not they will achieve this influential mental state of mind in sport.

 

How would you describe being "in the zone"?  What dimensions or elements would help you define this?

Do you agree with the research and statements made within the articles?

http://www.psywww.com/sports/peak.htm

 

http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm#ABSTRACT

 

 

 

The recent down turn in the economy has placed a negative effect on many people's emotions, often causing anxiety and depression. Julie Cohen who is a licensed marriage and family therapist gives some helpful hints to overcome the some of the emotional problems that can arise due to the economy. Julie encourages you to think positively, remember the positive things in your life, thinking about what you value can be very comforting. She also realizes that just thinking positively is not always going to be enough to get you through these hard times. She also offers some small steps you can take to help ease the financial stress you may be feeling, such as clipping coupons, and she gives you a link to a coupon site, as well as just making more economically appreciate choices for the situation you are in. And last but not least she tells you to take an honest look at your own financial situation and to consider getting help or guidance if needed.

http://www.dailystrength.org/experts/julie-cohen/article/as-the-economy-suffers-so-do-our-emotions

 

I ran across this article and thought it seemed like an interesting idea. It basically says changing your perspective from the 1st person "I" to the 3rd person "he" or "she" can help you gain an outsider's perspective on how to reach your goal(s) and subsequently improve motivation. I have heard of talking to yourself (2nd person) to improve motivation, but never 3rd. The real question is can this actually help improve motivation or is it just weird? What do you think? Anyone already do this? Anyone see any potential problems with doing this? Is it possible that using this technique could alter your appraisal of an event thereby changing the resulting motive?

A New Way to Increase Motivation

I found this website that had the article "When Situations Not Personality Dictate Our Behavior".  I thought that this article really fit in well with what we have been talking about in Motivation and Emotion.  This article points out that we are readily able to judge other people on how they act.  We take how they act as a direct view into their personality.  However this is not the case, the situation in most cases overrides our personality and they are the deciding factor in how we react. 

The article then gives proof of this through a study that was done.  This study used students at Princeton Theological Seminary.  All the students were first given a personality test.  The students were also told that they were going to be delivering a speech to other students.  The participants were then selected either to give a speech over career options that were available after graduation, or they were asked to give a speech about the Good Samaritan parable from the Bible.   When the student was on their to give the speech they would pass a man lying down in a doorway with his eyes closed and him coughing.  The researchers wanted to find out how many of the students would stop to help the man who was obviously in anguish.  The researchers also added into the experiment how rushed the students were to give the speech.  So they divided the students into three categories low, medium and high hurriedness.  The results found were that when the students were not really in a hurry 63% stopped to help.  When there was a medium hurriedness 45% stopped to help.  Finally, when the students were in a real rush to give their speech only 10% stopped to help the man.  Now there was a difference found between what type of speech the student was giving and what percentage stopped to help. When the student was just giving a speech over career opportunities only 29% stopped to help, and when they were giving a speech over the Good Samaritan 53% stopped to see if they could help.

This study that was done really helps to show that a situation more than personality can have an effect on how a person acts, and behaves.

You can find the full article at: http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/12/when-situations-not-personality-dictate-our-behaviour.php#more-8305

http://www.estacadanews.com/features/story.php?story_id=126463655141851100

This article talks about the different kinds of motivation.  It also goes over six stratgies on how to keep that motivation throughout the workouts.

1.  Remind yourself why you are doing this.
2.  Stay positive
3.  Consider the Pros and Cons
4.  Realistic Goals
5.  Realize that Change takes time
6.  Be Your Own "Cheerleader"

Do you guys feel that these will keep you motivated?  How do you feel motivated to do things that you don't easily find enjoyable?  How do you keep up with it?  What other things help you stay motivated?

http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/930889.html

Fortune magazine listed the top 100 places in the United States to work, its an annual list that is researched and published in the magazine.  Wegmans, a $4.8 billion company that was rated the No. 1 grocery store in the country by Consumer Reports in 2009, was recognized for never having a layoff in its 94-year history.  In 2010, they were ranked top 3rd in the country.  The owners stated in the article that they don't care the ranking, but just the fact that they are on the list gives them excitement. 

There has to be some motivation and motives for being on the list.  How do the owners achieve such success, does the motivation keep them in the circle of success?  Especially in our world of an unpredictable economy, you never know what every day is going to bring, so I could see how there is definitely a motive for being successful and recognized for that success.  One thing that the company noted it does well is it's technique in hiring employees; "the company looks for people with an "innate desire to be helpful, people who can deliver incredible customer service almost instinctively."  The article continues to talk about how the results were gathered through surveys from the workers themselves at random and a culture audit, which was based on diversity, communication, pay, hiring, and benefits.

(Wegmans has 75 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland ... 11 of them in Western New York. It employs 36,770 people.  "We've prevailed on the list by never taking it for granted. Every year, we celebrate for one day and then spend the rest of the year figuring out how we can do better," McCarthy said)

 

http://www.musicalemotions.org/

I found a very interesting site that tests your music evoked emotions with a Musical Emotion Profile, a fairly short likert scale based test that's results were similar to that of an emotional thermometer. You were supposed to take a piece of music, get comfortable and play the song before taking the test. The song I selected was one of my favorite pieces by Thrice called "Of Dust and Nations"  

Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCkdM8DIv2I

Enjoying music very much, and being a musician, I was very eager to see how the test was written, and what kind of results it would produce. It essentially took the emotions and grouped them into nine categories: Wonder, Transcendence, Tenderness, Longing, Peacefulness, Power, Joyful Activation, Inquietude, Sadness, but instead of defining the varying degrees of the individual's score on the test, it just gave a definition for each of the terms.

It won't let me paste the image my score was recorded on since it is a .png but my best estimate is:(1-5 again)

Wonder: 4

Transcendence: 4.6

Tenderness: 3

Longing: 3.3

Peacefulness: 3.2

Power: 5

Joeyful Activation: 2.5

Inquietde: 2

Sadness: 2

While they did lay out a nice chart to show results, it did not give me a interpretation or evaluation about my evoked emotions or trends.. The test simply averaged like emotions, and put them in a bar graph, with definitions of the trait groups below. I was looking for more information.

In conclusion the test. is poor overall. There is zero scientific basis for the results, and no information made available about how results are grouped together. What song you listen to will effect the emotions evoked in individuals considerably. This is not addressed at all. It simply says "If you are interested in knowing more about your deepest emotional reactions to music, take this test while listening to a piece of music that seems of particular emotional interest to you (negative or positive)." For example the song I selected is a very ambient, end of the world epic vibe to it. This probably explains my high score on power and transcendence. If I were to pick a sad song, power is about the last group of emotions that would be evoked. It doesn't really provide much information that could not be attained by simply listening to a song and writing down the emotions you feel. Though being a musician I may over-analyze songs compared to the average listener, or perhaps since I was excited to take the test, my expectations were unreasonably high, and since it didn't meet my expectations I felt as though it was worse then it actually is. Even though it is a site done by the University of Switzerland, I cant help but feel like its someone's high school project.

Perhaps the main question to answer with any general theory of mental control is when we possess the control and when we do not. Daniel M. Wegner of Harvard University offers his theory of ironic processes of mental control as a means of determining the extent of this control.

Wegner begins this piece featured in http://www.sciencemag.org/ with a scenario we are all quite familiar with--when we go into a situation with a clear sense of not saying or doing a particular thing and then ending up doing it despite ourselves. Why does this happen?

The central variable to this theory is the availability of mental capacity. We are successful at control from ironic effects if we have no other variables standing in our way that will reduce our capacity such as distractions, stress and time pressure. When our capacity is lowered, the control used to redirect thoughts does not decline to a zero level, but instead results in ironic effects. Why? Because our brains' have the natural ability to allow normal mental control, they must also allow for the opposite to exist as well. 

When one attempts to control the mind, two processes are incited. First, an intentional operating process searches the mind for contents that are in line with the intended state. An ironic monitoring process then searches for content that conflict with the intended state to signal achievement failure. The operating process fills the mind with thoughts and sensations related to the desired state, while the monitoring processes searches out those areas in need of control.  Through the cooperative interaction of these two processes, we are able to regulate whether or not an operating process will be initiated at any given time. 

Figure 3 details a pendulum illusion for which participants were asked to perform certain tasks while holding a handheld pendulum on a string. As you can see, what was asked of the participant and the behavior that was demonstrated do not always match up! The illustration reminds me of my attempts to do yoga on wii fit while keeping the red dot inside the yellow box. Can you think of a time that you were trying very hard to do one thing but ended up doing something else instead?

Check out this article at:
http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wegner/pdfs/Wegner%20%282009%29.pdf

After seeing the post about body modification I became curious and decided to research more on the topic and the reasons behind why people do it. The first article I read was "Lizardman Enters Literary World" about Erik Sprague's transformation into "Lizardman". He talks about how he first started body modifying as an art idea but continued because he "just likes how it looks."

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/lizardman-erik-sprague-enters-literary-world/19315457

However, after reading the article it did not delve deeper into reasons people engage in body modification so I, again, went back to Google and found another blog post titled "Spiritual and Philosophical Reasons behind Body Modification." This article states that some of the different reasons are for spirituality and aestheticism. The author states "Many people feel more in touch with themselves and nature, as well as peaceful and in harmony, when they are undergoing to the modification." While I have never engaged in extreme body modification, I do have three tattoos and I can say that while getting tattooed I did feel more peaceful and relaxed. The author also talks about how the main reason for many people is that is looks good and they view their body as a canvas to be used. Although I agree with this point, it feels lacking as motivation behind extreme body modification.

 

http://drinksmokewrite.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/spiritual-and-philosophical-reasons-behind-body-modification/

 

What do you think are reasons people engage in body modification?

A previous posting was an activity in which you were to assemble different pairs of eyes with mouths to create emotions.  The point of this activity was to come to the realization that we don't always have to verbalize our feelings or emotions for others to know (or think they know) what we're feeling.

I found an article that discussed the first study to find that exercising during or before work hours not only has physical benefits but mental benefits as well. They found that people who worked out before work or during their lunch break were more productive, happier, and less stressed at work compared to those who opted not to exercise. The employees moods improved on the days they exercised and were less calm on days in which they did not exercise. Exercising employees also reported improvements in time management, mental and interpersonal performance, and work load management.

Link to article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1095783/People-exercise-work-days-happier-suffer-stress-productive.html

An Iowan basically my entire life, I should be used to the fluctuating temperatures... the frigid, the unbearable humid heat, and everything in between.  But I am not.  My ideal climate would be spring-ish - a light jacket and jeans (the type of weather we had just a few days ago).

Recalling yesterday's exercise where you broke up into groups and came up with various environmental stimuli, the aroused motive, and the resulting motive-relevant behavior, I'd like you to post a comment detailing out an example (one that we did not cover in class). Imagine a comment from someone who did not participate in yesterday's exercise, and someone who did--the person who did should be able to provide a comment that clearly states the example, terms, and links between them as we did as a group yesterday.

http://resourcesforwriters.suite101.com/article.cfm/interviews_with_murderers

I was inspired to take a deeper look at murderers after reading the "Female Serial Killer" article.  The article states, "As horrible as coming face-to-face with a serial killer may seem to be, there also may be a twisted sense of celebrity associated with that person, as in the case of Bundy."  Just thinking about coming face to face with a murderer makes me cringe, I would definitely be intimidated by them.  Which is the opposite of what you should do.  You need to go in the interview standing strong, just as though you were trying to get a job, be firm, know what you are talking about, know the right questions, etc.  On the opposite spectrum of Bundy was a convicted killer named, Heirens, who comes off as everything but a killer.  Which raises the question is he trying to fool people or is he an innocent man that was sent to prison over a crime he didn't commit.  An interviewer must expect "lies and denial" from these killers during the interview process. 

MVP is for both men and women (athletes), trying to motivate others to join their prevention program so more people can be aware of abuse faced by both genders. It also allows victims to share their stories, which can be a very emotional process...having to replay everything in their mind again, as if it were yesterday. Men might not agree with it, because they believe if they don't abuse a women or another human being, then they aren't responsible for other men who do inflict pain on women. But this is False, this is what you call the bystander approach. By being a bystander and knowing how to get away from that approach, men all around the world can help women who they see or know being abused either physically, mentally or emotionally and how to step in. Here is a link from a site that gives a little bit about what MVP does.

http://www.sportinsociety.org/vpd/mvp.php

here is also another link on how men can help prevent violence on women

http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/documents/Leaflet.pdf

http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=1121

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119133519.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News)

I was rather intrigued by the research presented in this article. The main finding is alluded to in the title of the article - recent research suggests that those less motivated to achieve will excel on tasks seen as fun and those more motivated to achieve will not perform as well on tasks that are intended to be for fun. Obviously, this suggests that different students may need different types of motivation to excel. The students that are competitive and serious tend to be significantly less motivated when they think the task is just being performed for fun. Many other students do not take academics so seriously and work better when the task is fun.

Although these two groups are not all-inclusive (plenty of people lie somewhere in the middle of the extremes), I believe these differences do exist in the real world. As some individuals strive for excellence, they can become rather obsessed with perfection and get in the habit of avoiding anything fun-related to maximize their reputation of achievement. Given the incredible amount of time that many of these perfectionists put into their work, it is very hard for others to remain competitive without also putting a tremendous amount of effort into their academics. Because of this, I think many people stick to a more balanced (and perhaps more natural) life, in which they strive for excellence rather than perfection and are okay with not being labeled "the best."

Although I think many people are able to eventually find a balance between work and fun, there will always be those who are unable to achieve such a balance. I have not read much of the literature pertaining to this subject, but I wonder what the common causes of "overacheiving" are. It seems likely to me that some of these overly competitive individuals may be trying to compensate for low feelings of self-worth and others may be motivated by a need to feel superior. Whatever the reasons may be, I think most people realize is better for one's physical and mental health to not be overly competitive, but as people get older I think it becomes increasingly difficult for such people to change because the tendency to be that way has become a fundamental component of their personality. I think this research supports the idea that we can get too carried away and we can be overly motivated. Moderation is key in a great many areas of life.

 

Another questions that arises here is, "Does this research support the idea that people motivated by different approaches should be taught in separate groups (each given the learning style that works best for them)?" If we put more and more highly competitive people together into a single class though, would we also be creating the potential for even higher, even more unhealthy work ethics to arise? I suppose the questions I am posing here rest on the assumption that it can be unhealthy to be overly competitive, but I think this assumption is justified considering that those highly motivated become less able to do tasks that are supposed to be fun.

While working out the other day, I was reading Star magazine and I came across an article called, "The Biggest Loser's Dirty Little Secret.  This article discussed the secrets behind the weight loss for the participants.  The show wants big, dramatic results and unfortunately the participants are at risk.  The contestants participate in extremely intense workouts and are on restricted diets.  Along with exercising and dieting, participants intentionally dehydrate themselves before weigh-ins to have a better outcome.  According to contestants, the morning of weigh-ins was the most intense. 

They would go to the gym and the heat would be cranked up to over 100 degrees F, they would wear layers of clothing, and work out for 2-3 hours without consuming water.  There is also nothing safe about having 500-lb contestants working out to that extent.  According to Star magazine, all participants signed a contract realizing the life-threatening reality of the show.  Those over 400-lbs also had to feel they were "in excellent physical, emotional, psychological, and mental health."

Another problem with the show was they claimed to provide a psychologist for support for the participants mental and physical breakdowns; however, contestants stated they never knew where to find him.  A woman contestant, Kai, who appeared on the show in 2006, says she began developing an eating disorder, her hair was falling out, and her body was covered in bruises.  According to the article, her trainer would not let her see a counselor and forced her to continue working out.  Kai also stated, producers would create drama and untrustworthiness on the show by deliberatly saying their friends were possibly saying horrible things behind their back.

This article was shocking to me.  I realize that the Biggest Loser is a show and wants to create dramatic effect; however, putting people's physical and mental well-being in danger is not safe.  I feel each contestant should have had their own counselor to continually talk to them and support them through this process. 

What does everyone else think about this article?  Is anyone else surprised by this article?  Should the participants be allowed access to a solid support system?  Should contestants to be deliberatly placed in a hot room without AC and no water in order to lose the most weight possible? 

Here's the link to the website.  It's not the whole article but you can get the main point of it!http://www.starmagazine.com/news/16415

I found this article extremely interesting; I don't know if that means anything, just kidding.  This web article is about the motivation of female serial killers and why they are more likely to get away with murder.

http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/female_serial_killers

Not for the faint of heart. But if you are interested in thinking about the motivation behind extreme body modification, watch Modify (2005) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455980/ (available streaming and on dvd at Netflix), and then use your textbook as a reference to discuss and analyze this documentary.

Image: http://plasticsergeant.com/files/picture/procedure/bodymodification13089.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316172324#noop

 

I read this book and thought that it realted well with psychology.  Its about the judgements we make about people, things, and situations in very few seconds (in the blink of an eye).  The book talks about a psychologist that can tell if a couple will last or not, just by listening to a conversation.  It relates how the brain works in how we make decisions.

http://tiny.cc/Z1L6O

This is a post from another blog but it caught my eye. When I hear about all of these easy ways to slim down, get rock hard abs, be healthy etc. it just makes me wonder why more people don't live healthier lifestyles.  Why don't I strive for that? I know personally I have created many excuses for not eating right and getting regular exercise.

Summed up, here are the 5 easy ways to stick to any exercise program out there:

1) Imagine your goal
2) Come up with a routine
3) Think of your past failures
4) Prepare yourself to feel like you are going no where
5) Change it up

So this will make you stick with any exercise program, do you think it will work with any person? (why or why not?)  What about these steps is going to make an exercise program stick?

Recently, I found a website that discusses something that I think many people have a problem with.  Finding the motivation to exercise and to continue the exercise plan that you set for yourself, is a huge problem for many.  Many people are initially motivated after they decide that they are going to exercise, but then after a short time become less motivated to continue, when other things in their lives come up. 

The wesite that I found describes this in terms of phases.  There are four main phases that many people go through when exercising.  The first stage is the "form" phase. People intially get really excited to start working out and do really well for the first few weeks, but overtraining or loss of motivation sometimes occur during this stage, and people either cut back or quit entirely.

The second phase is the "storm" phase.  This phase is when after a few weeks or so of working out has gone by, we start making excuses on why we don't need to go on certain days, because we know it's going to be hard. This is one of the toughest phases that people deal with.  The site says that commitment, consistency, and seeing positive results will help people overcome this stage.

The third phase is the "norm" phase. This phase is where you adapt to your workout and you make it through even the toughest days when you don't feel like doing your routine.

The fourth phase is the "perform" stage.  This phase occurs when your workout becomes a routine for you and a part of your lifestyle.  This takes place after repetition and consistency.

The website also gives some suggestions and strategies to overcome the first three stages and ultimately have exercise training become a part of your life, as well as other links to websites that deal with sport psychology and exercise.

If you would like to check it out, here's the website: http://www.topendsports.com/psychology/motivation-steps.htm

I live in a household with three children, two boys ages 14 & 9 and a 7 year old girl. We've been under the same roof for a little over a year and a half and we are as close as family. Each week in this blog, I'm going to take advantage of these two opportunities I have; studying motivation and living with 3 young people that think rinsing your plate and putting it in the dishwasher defines hard labor. They are perfect subjects (and I mean that as a term of endearment) to put some of our class theories to the test. Your comments are appreciated and any suggestions will be helpful. Their best interest will be my top priority but if we do this right, we will observe motivation at work and they will learn a few lessons of their own.

My first experience is about a year old, when the kids & I became more comfortable around each other and the realities of sharing a bathroom with two young boys became a bit overwhelming. I'll spare you the details but what is so hard about boys lifting the toilet seat?! I finally had enough one day upon noticing the mess & called them into the bathroom to observe the evidence. I was frustrated but couldn't blame just one of them, since they both use that bathroom. In true sibling form, they instantly accused the other one of blame so I gave them a quick lecture and expressed to them my frustration. This of course did nothing to change the behavior.
As time went on and I continued to complain to them with no success, I would joke with them about at least improving their aim, told them they'd have to go outside and sometimes just flat out shouted at them. One day, fully fed up, I called them both into the bathroom, handed them each a bottle of Lysol with an old washcloth and explained that from now on, each time I noticed their mess, they would come in clean the seat by hand. This was horrendous news to the 9 year-old, who even tried to blame his sister at one point. I stood my blue-tile ground and every time I saw the mess, I said nothing, just handed the towel and spray to whosever turn it was and left them behind to clean it up.
Within about a month, victory was mine and there was no longer a need to keep the spray bottle on standby, next the the rolls of TP. I learned that yelling at them was, although my first resort to motivating a change in behavior, totally ineffective. It turns out, cleaning the toilet seat every few days, is less appealing than bending over to lift the seat. I believe that is what B.F. Skinner called Operant Conditioning and even more specifically, Punishment.

Well, I'm happy to say that we no longer have that problem here at our house. And it was a win-win for both me and the boys, I got my way and they don't have to listen to me gripe anymore, at least about that.  

The article listed below I actually read earlier in the day and couldn't stop thinking about it.  I feel as if some people have crossed the boundaries when it comes to being lazy and spoiled.  The article linked is about Holiday Inn hotels located in London and Manchester that are offering a trial service of 'human bed warmers'.  The staff would slip into a fleece suit (wth their hair covered) and warm the bed to approzimately 68 degrees F right before the guest is scheduled to arrive.  What has brought our society to this craziness?  I can understand the want for a heated blanket, but REAL person in your bed right before you?  It seems a little awkward. 

An expert was called in to state the human bed warmth may help guests sleep better.  There logic?  The human body's temperature begins to drop before falling asleep and a warm bed could assist the process. 

My favorite part of the article-- they stated "They could not confirm if the warmer would shower first..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34976869/ns/travel-destinations/?GT1=43001

 

This artcle is for helping employers understand there are different things that motivate each gender.  The author explains how men and women both interpret and give information differently and follows with some stereotypical workplace examples of how each gender works.  The author suggests that gaining an understanding of gender differences can help employers motivate employees and increase employee retention.  I feel this article mostly centers on communication differences instead of motivational ones.  The basis of this article is how to better communicate and understand how each sex decifers information, with the example men take things for face value while women read between the lines.  On that note, I'm sure all of us have a story or two about how our significant other, friends, brothers and sisters, or mom and dad misinterpreted something we've said or done.

http://business.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Motivation_Skills_of_Women_vs_Men

We have all heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it's been around for the better part of 70 years. I was simply going to mention it and include a picture but in doing my research for my own blog I have stumbled upon someone else's. I found Sathya Srinivasan's Blog while looking for pictures of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This blog compares Maslow's pyramid to the Seven chakras described in the Rig Veda, meaning that the idea of a hierarchy within a person was proposed and written thousands of years ago. It makes you wonder what was Maslow's inspiration and motivation for his research? Did he know about the connection between his research and the Rig Veda? 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs                                   Seven Chakras

Self-Actualization                                                    Understanding & Will

Aesthetic                                                                Imagination

Cognitive                                                                 Power

Esteem                                                                   Love

Belongingness                                                         Wisdom

Safety                                                                     Order

Physiological Needs                                                 Life

By comparing these side by side, one is able to see how similar these two are to one another. I suppose this is an important message to researchers and people in general that history, religion, and different cultures can offer insight into subjects if we let them.

Here is a short little article with several, and what seem like simple, steps to gain back your weight loss motivation (and there are hundreds more like it).

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/do-you-lack-weight-loss-motivation.html

Right now the internet and TV are full of weight loss advice and covered with adds to join this gym, or buy this piece of equipment and you will look like our model in no time. And just that can be motivation for some people, while others it takes something horrific to make the change in their life. What motivated me was my goal to fit into a wedding dress, and I did, I had reached my goal. But afterwards, I no longer worked hard and have since gained it all back, why? What keeps people motivated to stay on track after they have reached their weight loss goal? What are some things that have and have not worked for you?

 

After browsing on stumbleupon.com I, for lack of a better term, stumbled upon a website called Inspire21.com. The page I came across is short and sweet, but made me think quite a bit about what actually motivates someone to do something. The website listed the "5 lessons on how to treat people." After reading through them I felt as they were a little sappy; however, not being a sucker for cheesy stories they were still inspiring. The website explains the 5 lessons in a short paragraph. 

Fear is an emotion that we all know too well.  Nobody likes to be afraid but it is something that happens quite often in our lives.  While looking through Psychology Today I came across an article titled "The Most Powerful Motivator."  In this article the author Robert Wilson Jr. talks about his experience as a child when his house caught on fire.  He goes on to say that Fear is the most powerful motivator.  Fear has been present in humans since they dwelt in caves; it is an emotion that helped to keep them away from danger, and ultimately helped humans survive.  The author makes a good point that fear is a powerful emotion by showing that humans are afraid of so many different things  pain, illness, and failure to name a few.  Since fear is such an important emotion humans are instilled with the fight or flight syndrome, which ultimately helps keep us safe.  Marketing departments have also figured out that fear is an important emotion that can help sell their product such as a security system for their homes.  It also points out however that fear is so powerful that if a person gets too afraid they freeze, and are unable to move.

 

You can view this article at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-main-ingredient/200909/the-most-powerful-motivator

 

I do agree that fear can be a great motivator but it has to be in the right context.  However, I do not agree that fear is the "most powerful motivator".  I do not think that any one motivator can be given that title, a lot of the time there are several motivating factors that influence our decisions.  Fear is an important motivator that can be used to influence us from how we act at work (afraid of getting fired) to what we purchase (antibacterial soap).

 

What is your take do you believe that fear is the most powerful motivator?

I am currently in a class that talks a lot about marriage and family relationships. The other day we started talking about how important it is to be motivated to have a healthy relationship and how motivation can play a big part in the outcome of a relationship. I wanted to find an article talking more in-depth on the motivation behind marriage and found an interesting one at psychologytoday.com. The article is called "The Marriage Quiz" and offers the quiz as a opportunity to look at problems in your marriage.
Motivation comes into the article when the author explains that many people in relationships use negative emotions and instead of using them as a motivation to improve, they use the emotions as a tool of blame. The author goes on to explain, "In reducing self-doubt, it eliminates the motivation to heal, improve, and repair, leaving in its place a chronic and impotent resentment. It keeps their consciousness locked on how unhappy, even "damaged" they are at the hands of their partners."  The main point of the article is that to keep a marriage healthy and strong, you must be able to effectively heal and repair problems, which is only achieved when both parties involved are motivated to do so.
The article can be found at:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/200909/the-marriage-quiz

Discussion Questions:
Is the motivation to keep a relationship working all it takes?
What happens when one party is motivated to work at the relationship but the other it not?
 

I was reading the post "Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works" I started to think about my current jobs that I have, and whether or not I feel I receive enough recognition from my employers. I came to the conclusion that I don't feel like I do. However, all of this tweaked my interested in how after a while goals seem to not motivate people, or employees.
While searching for information on this I came across this article from the Harvard Management Update called "Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation." In this article, it states there are three main goals for employees, which include Achievement, Equity, and Camaraderie (Relationships within the workplace). This article also stated that if any of these three goals are not met then employees will be less motivated to do anything else. The main idea I received from this article is that Managers need to step it up and coach and work with employees to determine goals that will be satisfying, and continuing to do so when enthusiasm starts to lack. Also Managers need to communicate with their employees, and instill team building exercises in order to build relationships between employees. If all of these are met then employees will be more motivated to continue working to their full potential.
I feel as though my employers could benefit from taking into consideration these helpful hints.

Does anyone else feel less motivated at work, or feel as though their employer/manager could benefit from these tips?
Is there anything that you would disagree with?

For the full article visit this link:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5289.html

This is an article about how social support can play a key role in your health. Everyone knows how it feels to have friends; someone they can go to when they are going through that hard time in their life. What people question how important that friends precence has on their health. THis CNN story is about a guy who is diagnosed with Cancer and to help him through his treatment joins an online website which is created to give him social support through his recovery. Its an interesting article that also has a video clip that goes along with it!

Video:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/15/social.support.benefit/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/15/social.support.benefit/index.html

In another class of mine we are learning about the power of "flow" that intrinsically motivates specific courses of action. In a short video clip, author and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi briefly highlights the concept he has termed "flow", which is a state of extreme focus and concentration on a given activity. All this focused attention leads an individual to essentially remove him or herself from the realm of reality, dissociating all real concepts of time, hunger, relationships, etc.

The main underlying question Csikszentmihalyi attempts to answer is: what contributes to a life worth living? His description/definition of flow derives from Eastern spiritual philosophies of attaining internal ecstasy through meditation, ritual prayers, and such. He realized this term "flow" after interviewing several artists, CEOs, sports figures, and musicians who frequently described their experiences (directly or indirectly) as a state of flow.

Finally, Csikszentmihalyi describes the importance of achieving flow by ascertaining a perfect merger of skills and challenges; usually this requires a higher measure of the two variables. It has been widely accepted that in order to become an expert in a (creative) field, one must possess at least ten years of dedicated, persistent, and rigorous practical training and experience. He describes expertise as being able to change something and improve upon it to make it better than it was before.

Supporting Websites
- The video can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html
-  A brief overview of flow via wikipedia is located here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

Discussion Questions:
1. How do you channel your flow?
2. What activities enable a state of flow?

This is an interesting topic that I also posted in Otto's B-MOD class.  I have always felt that the concept of sport/competition reveals a lot about one's character.  In sport, you witness one's behavior and oftentimes their coinciding motivation and emotion.  My father was a HS football coach for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching his athletes practice and play and the way he treated each individual. That also has led to my interest in sport psychology. From athletic performance, confidence, etc., there are many behaviors that take place on the field or on the court that can be modified based on certain other behaviors and actions. 

In the article below on economy of sports, it talks about a coach's decisions within the game of football. Now one would think the coach's decision most times would maximize his/her team's chance to win. However, as the article shows, this often isn't the case as their behavior/decisions depart from what gives them statistically their greatest chance to win. For instance, while most coach's choose to punt the ball on fourth down, the numbers show coach's should actually go for it in a majority of situations. It also talks about the numbers concerning teams' behaviors and approaches on other occasions such as first down, second down, etc. as well as field position and decisions on field goals/touchdowns.  Now, what is it that motivates coach's to either follow the norm or break off into their own style or pattern of play?  What influences their behavior; what aspects of emotion?

I would suggest taking a look at the link below. If it doesn't work type "David Romer do firms maximize" into google and it should be one of the first links.  While the article is pretty long, scroll down to the discussion part of his paper or certain parts that may be of interest to you.

http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~dromer/papers/PAPER_NFL_JULY05_FORWEB_CORRECTED.pdf

Why are coach's so conservative or why do some of these behaviors occurs when statistically they aren't maximizing their chances to win?

Here's a short article I found.

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services-advertising/4216318-1.html

It's a Point/Counterpoint about using fear as a motivator in the workplace.  The side against says that fear only works short term and can cause unforeseen consequences.  The side for says that fear can be a great motivator if you keep your distance and set reasonable consequences that you follow through with.

Which side do you agree with?

Whenever  a manager at any of my previous jobs recognized that I was doing good work or gave me good or constructive feedback on something I had worked hard on it made me feel really good. But I do not think that this happens often enough in workplaces. This article talks about some strategies for recognizing employees hard work.

            One of the main points made is that human resources cannot be the main component in recognizing employees. They do not have enough regular contact with the employee. The manager needs to recognize and give the recognition to the employee. Human resources can figure out what is working with employees and give this knowledge to the managers. If the company has a specific program that they use for recognizing employees for great work, then make sure management is trained in this. I think employee moral would definitely improve if they got consistent and genuine feedback from their management and work may improve also.

http://humanresources.about.com/od/rewardrecognition/qt/recognition1.htm

 

The New York Times recently printed an article about how men are increasingly likely to marry women who have more education and higher incomes than they do.  The article is based off of recent census data of Americans 30-44 years of age.  This age range is the first generation to have more women with college degrees than men.

The article states that in 1970, 4% of husbands had wives who made more money.  By 2007 that figure rose to 22%.  It also pointed out that this figure will continue to rise, especially in our current economic state.  During the economic downturn 3 out of 4 of those who were laid off were men.

In terms of marriage, it has been established that men receive more benefits from being married than women do from the standpoint of mental and physical well-being.  Now as the income gap changes, men are becoming increasingly reliant on their wives income for their economic well-being as well. 

Many of the women interviewed for the article complained about trying to find a man who was not intimidated by their income.  They complained of being dumped because they were considered "high maintenance" because they did not need someone to take care of them or because the man was insecure about money. 

People generally enter relationships to satisfy their needs for relatedness and intimacy.  To fulfill these needs the relationships need to be communal relationships.  These are relationships where those in the relationship each bring something into the relationship and try to satisfy the others needs.  Evolutionarily, men have been the partner in the relationship that satisfies the physiological needs of food and water, while women satisfy the men's need for sex.  Men provided physical resources, while women provided reproductive resources.  Women who have their own resources no longer need the men, which makes the relationship feel less like a communal relationship for men.  This can be unsettling for both members of the relationship and keep the need for relatedness or intimacy from being satisfied.  This may account for some of the women's complaints of men not wanting to be in a relationship with them.

As someone who is planning on attending graduate school, I found this article interesting and got me thinking: 

Does making more money make a difference in how you feel about another person?

Would you feel insecure or intimidated if your significant other made significantly more money than you did?

Would an income difference be enough motivation to date or not date another person?

The article can be found at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/us/19marriage.html?em

 

Why do today what could be put off until tomorrow? Perhaps the most common form of self-sabotage, procrastination is a concept that we are rather familiar with as college students. Psychology Today offers us ten insightful reasons as to why this has become one of our favorite ways to avoid doing those things that we would rather not do.

For some of us, it has become a lifestyle choice. We miss out on many things we would have enjoyed because the opportunity has passed us by. While many could deem this a personality trait (e.g. Jim is just the kind of person that is never on time), it does seem to have a significant impact on others that "have their lives figured out." My favorite example demonstrating this would be how one does their Christmas shopping. There are those that get it done six months beforehand, those that do it right after Thanksgiving, and others that leave it until the night before.

The article goes on to say that we as a society do not take procrastination as a serious problem. It is an issue of self-regulation. By not calling people out on their ways, we are allowing for the behavior to continue. Also, procrastination isn't an issue of time management. Procrastinators are aware of the time but are somewhat optimistic about how much they can get done. The example given here is that giving a procrastinator a daily planner is like telling a depressed individual to cheer up--it just doesn't work.

We must also take into account that procrastinators are a product of their environment. They were not born to act as they do, but they do not directly develop these behaviors from their parents. It could be that an individual displays procrastinating behaviors to rebel against what they are being forced to do by an authoritarian household figure. They may internalize what they are "supposed to do" and never learn how to regulate their own behaviors. Often times these individuals turn to friends who are accepting of their excuses for help. It must also be noted that these self-regulation problems are related to a greater probability of disengagement and substance abuse issues.

Procrastinators lie to themselves. They tell themselves that they will be more up to completing their assignment the next day when in all actuality, they know that they wont. They justify these behaviors by saying that it isn't that important that they do the task anyway. It is just a five point assignment. What difference is five points going to make? Another common excuse used is that we "work better under pressure." I have personally experienced this form of procrastination, and I find that it causes me more stress than anything else. For some reason though, I can convince myself that my best work is done right before it needs to be handed in for a grade. Perhaps I am squandering my resources as the article says?

In addition to this, there are always so many things that need to be done besides the task of priority. There are dishes in the sink to be cleaned, laundry to be folded, and rooms to be straightened up. Why on earth would I want to write an essay when I'm surrounded by this mess? We do this as a way to distract ourselves from the fear of failure we feel by putting things off until the last possible moment.

Most interestingly, there are three different types of procrastinators. First are those that seek the arousal or thrill of meeting a deadline just in the nick of time. Next are those that avoid the fear of failure or success. They are very concerned about what others think of them and would rather be blamed for lack of effort than ability. Last are those that just can't seem to make a decision. By not making a decision one way or another, they can't take the blame for the outcome of their circumstances.

To conclude, procrastination is a topic that should be taken seriously. College students demonstrating procrastinating behaviors were found to have more compromised immune systems, gastrointestinal problems, and greater instances of insomnia. Others will suffer due to our choice to put things off--in the workplace and in the classroom. In the end, we must remember that we do hold the power to change our behavior and doing so will have a great impact on how we lead our lives.

You can find this article at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/procrastination-ten-things-know
 

 

  

Some people are not morning people.I am the opposite. I'm a morning person. I don't have a problem waking up at seven so I can be in class by 8 AM. However, waking up early has never been a problem for me based on one of two reasons and they are my stomach growling and the possibility of having to go to the bathroom. That's what usually motivates me to get out of bed so early each morning. I have never been the type of person who goes to bed at 3AM and then sleeps till three in the afternoon the very next day. Don't those people realize that they've wasted a perfectly good day by choosing to do an effortless activity such as sleeping?! Anyway, when I wake up in the morning after showering the first thing I do is eat breakfast because if not I feel gross until I do finally eat something.The other people I don't understand are the people who skip breakfast, its by far the best and most exciting meal of the day! By the time I eat and decide what to wear I look at the clock and it usually says 7:45 or after and I realize I better haul you know what if I want to make it on time and not look like a dork walking in late. On the way to class one of the best motivational things besides eating a delicious breakfast is turning on  my i pod and deciding what song I should listen to. I usually just end up putting it on shuffle and let it decide for me, since I've never been good at making decisions.Listening to music in the morning is really the best part of getting pumped up for a long day ahead of reading textbooks, studying, and listening to really long lectures.Not only is music motivational, but music has a tendency to boost your current mood into something better. And what a better time to do that than in the morning when you need that extra incentive to walk ten minutes across campus when its five degrees below zero and the wind is blowing snow right into your face. That is the time when music really comes into play, when you have your i pod on your favorite song turned up a little too loud you trick your mind into thinking this wind blowing snow right into my eyes isn't so bad as long as I have my favorite song on at the moment life is good as we all know it can be sometimes.  By allowing yourself ten minutes of downtime of listening to your favorite song or artist on the way to class it has relaxed your mind into thinking that everything that you were worrying about the night before and were stressing aimlessly about until you finally fell fast asleep is going to be okay. That  fight you had with your roommate, boyfriend, or girlfriend about the most stupidest thing in the world will eventually work itself out and you'll all be friends again in the end,  the test that you stayed up all night for strung out on a pot of black coffee you'll probably pass with at least a C, you'll have to ask mom and dad once again for money because SSSHH don't tell anyone but you accidentally rear ended someone while you were texting but you decide not to tell them all the details because they probably wouldn't believe you anyway....you start to put all your worries aside and tell yourself that everything is going to be okay...it has to be okay because its time to put the i pod away and snap back from la la land and into reality because you have arrived at your 8 o' clock class. 
  http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/staff_top_10/top-ten-songs-i-listen-to-the-morning-after.htm
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/04/7-simple-ways-to-burst-out-of-bed-each.html

After reading the post about possibly motivational/inspirational music, I couldn't help but think about motivational/inspirational movies. With that in mind I developed a general formula for all of the movies I have ever seen that are supposed to be motivational/inspirational whether I liked them or not.  I think it generally goes something like this:
Character introduction: We don't know everything yet, but soon learn there is a goal/problem to solve. Protagonist is not perfect but this makes him/her more real (human). Introduced to Antagonist(s).
->Something happens to give protagonist a chance -> Antagonist cheats/gets the upper hand-> Hope seems lost-> Hard work/people come together (Usually in the form of a montage) -> Motivational speech -> The most important event of the movie (climax); The result is in question but always has a happy ending
Also there is almost always a great theme song that is played throughout the movie.  

I think the main reason movies that are considered "motivational" or "inspirational" include some kind of emotional connection with the protagonist. This is usually the result of identifying or empathizing with the protagonist and their situation.
A couple of my favorites that follow this formula that immediately come to mind are The Karate Kid, Goonies, Cool Runnings, and Mighty Ducks (think the flying V) as a result of my 1990's childhood.
Anyone else notice this formula or think I should to change mine in some way? Think of any other movies that follow this pattern? Are they usually good or just too cheesy?
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

This article is about how our emotions play into the workplace, whether it happens to be your emotions during a presentation, when pitching an idea, etc.  But it also says that 1. emotion gets our attention, 2. emotion dictate actions, 3. emotions drive performance, 4. emotions are highly infectious, and much more.

I chose this article because I am a senior and am starting to think about getting my first real job.  Since I´ve never had a ¨real¨ job before I don´t know quite what to expect.  I hope to be a Spanish interpreter, so I could work in many settings, but I of course think of settings that you would see on television.  Do you ever notice how dramatic and emotional things can be during a workplace episode?  Think about shows like Criminal Minds, emotions are heated everywhere.  Obviously life isn´t usually that exciting everyday, but think about it...how do you act when you are working?  How are your emotions on any given normal day? 

Do you remember a specific time where there was a really good or bad day and your emotions got the best of you at work?  What did you do about it afterwards?

Here is the link, it´s fairly short, but I just wanted to ask some of those questions to get the ball rolling...www.gbj.com/content.cfm?action=story&WikiID=8086.  The article is from the Gwinnett Business Journal from January 2010.

I found this website which has a lot of good information explaining how and why most people have a fear of crime.  I started my search trying to find information about why many women fear walking home alone and also why the idea of NOT walking alone in the dark is something that is constantly repeated to us by family and friends.  I began to wonder if this fear was inherently positive or negative for women to carry.  This article talks about the fact that the likelihood of being a victim of crime is so miniscule, however does that make the actual fear of being a victim obsolete? Should women be afraid so that they are more cautious or should we listen to the facts and walk home alone because we technically only have a one in ten thousand chance of being a victim? Is fear of crime a larger social crime than fear itself as the author states? I would be interested to find out. 

Throughout my college career I have intentionally avoided online classes because I tend to procrastinate far too often.  When I found out this class would contain a large amount of work online, I was a little skeptical.  Since many other people I know tend to procrastinate as well I thought it might be benificial to research how to succeed in an online class.

The article begins by explaining that it isn't unusual for soemone to become distracted while taking an online class, and that motivating yourself is very important. One way to cut down on distractions is to find a quiet workplace where you can conistently get work done. 

Secondly, it is important to creat both short and long term goals for the day, week, month, and class.  Setting small goals will give you small, but instant gratification while working towards the long term goal.  Be sure to stick to the deadlines.

One way to motivate yourself to reach your own personal deadlines is to create your own personal rewards.  When you accomplish something take an extra long break have dessert, etc.

Ask fellow students and the instructor questions; just because it is an online class doesn't mean you are all alone.

http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/46784.aspx?p=2

There is the article, and a lot if it sounds similar to ways to succeed in any class setting, not just online.  I think many of the points brought up are good ideas, and it's nice that Dr. Maclin makes it clear when the deadlines are.  Let me know what you guys think are good and bad about the article.  Do you have any suggestions to better motivate yourself and to make online classes easier? 

http://www.hrmguide.com/worklife/men_more_likely_to_leave.htm

This article talked about the differences in gender, was it men or women experiencing more conflict?  You would think it was women immediately because women are supposed to take care of the kids and hold the family together.  So what happens now that they are taking "a more active role in the workplace?"  Husbands are needed to step up to the plate and split the role of parenting.  Which in turn causes them to have increased conflict.  This can in turn effect motivation, turnover, and income for the family if one parent leaves their job.  They also stated that cell phones and e-mail make it so people can constantly be contacted.  What happened to personal time?
Let me know what you think of the article!

What do you think businesses can do to stay away from causing conflict at home?  Those of you who work, do you think your manager should be able to contact you 24/7?

0I found this article about controlling your emotions at work rather interesting.  It gave examples of what could cause your emotions to flair up at work, such as excess overload, personal frustrations, or even underperformance by other employees or team members.  There are many ways to control emotions at work so you are thinking rather than just speaking.  We all have had our days at work, but wouldn't it be helpful to know some tips to relieve those emotions so you dont yell at your boss or talk down to another employee, and regret it later?

Here is the article link that tells more about controlling your emotions at work: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2007/jan/16emotion.htm

 

10 ways to help control your emotions at work:

(1) Weekend get aways or just time to relax, (2) share work problems with a partner/spouse, (3) build your own support system, (4) communicate, (5) delay your reaction, (6) time management, (7) work on your PR skills, (8) organize, (9) upgrade your skills, and (10) destress at work.

 

Can you remember a time where you were in a situation and tried to control your emotions and it worked? or perhaps did not work? How did you feel and what did you do to control the emotions or not control the emotions while on the job? 

and this is the quiz: http://www.self.com/fooddiet/polls/motivation/motivation 

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0317/p15s01-wmwo.html

This is an article that discusses what to do and what to avoid in order to maintain and/or increase motivation in the workplace. Gregory M. Lamb writes about how many employees today feel "trapped" in the workplace because they are not motivated or challenged at work. Contrary to popular belief, employees have reported in a recent study that when it comes to how much they like their jobs salary is not the most important factor. Ranked number 1 on the list was "important work [that] gives a feeling of accomplishment." There is a list of things to do in order to help managers keep the morale of their workers high such as paying according to performance, networking, and praising those who are performing well.

Which of the tip(s) mentioned in the article do you think would be most effective in increasing employee motivation? Can you think of a time where you felt "stuck" in a job--What contributed to that feeling?

Susan, from the blogging cite What Motivates You? has brought the attention of what she calls the "Negative Nelly" to the morning office meetings. The situation is how quickly the mood can change from a positive work environment to a negative environment in a manner of seconds and raises a few question on how would you deal with this. Some of the questions she asks are:

1)      Ignore 'Negative Nelly' and the behavior that she is portraying

2)      Pull 'Negative Nelly' off to the side and share with her your concerns about her behavior and negative attitude

3)      Leave the meeting

4)      Participate in the meeting by displaying a positive attitude and behavior and pull the environment back from a negative one to a positive one.

These questions all have to do with what motivates you to get back to an environment of comfort within yourself and the assumption of others.  Susan also states these ideas also are critical with your own everyday moods. Or possible could this negative force be a glimmer or glimpse of you?

So for instance would you on a good day come in to the meeting see 'Negative Nelly' and then bolt out the door or would you have tried to pull the meeting back to a positive environment? And what would you do if you realized that you were this 'Negative Nelly' or as Susan also states it 'Ned'? Would you be motivated enough to change or continue to make your workplace un-enjoyable?

The website the blog by Susan can be found at http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/what-motivates in case you would like to read her tweet as well.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/257501/top_ten_motivational_songs.html?cat=33

 

The above article talks about the top ten motivational songs. Some of the songs I agree with and believe they do motivate you while listening (Eye of the Tiger- Survivor). Other songs however, seemed to be more inspirational (Tomorrow- Annie), which leads to the question is motivational different than inspirational? And is there actually a way to find a song that motivates all individuals or are motivational songs a personal preference?

http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=1121

(click on this link, scroll down to the bottom, agree to use this test for personal purposes only, then click get started)

I found this quiz online that gives insight into your 'emotional IQ.' It was kind of fun to take the quiz, but it was also kind of challenging at the same time.  The website states: "Emotionally intelligent people have an easy time overcoming difficulties in their lives and they are generally able to control their moods. It's easy for them to motivate themselves to overcome obstacles and reach their goals. In addition, they find social interactions to be quite easy and fulfilling, for several reasons. They are comfortable allowing themselves to get close with others, and feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to establish intimacy. They also report having an easy time offering support to others; likely due to an empathetic nature and a solid ability to offer advice."  Given this, I don't think my final score that I was given was completely accurate, but it was still interesting to see how this particular site chose to measure emotions.

As discussed in the Reeve textbook, the aspect of emotion is a broad range with many components. Chapter 12 explores the many different ways that emotions come into play in our everyday lives.  By reading things such as facial expression, bodily functions (such as sweating), and the cognitions that occur while experiencing an emotion we can measure how each person handles that emotion.  This test uses some of these aspects to evaluate the stability and control someone has over their emotions.  

Do you think your scores were accurate? Why do you think they ask some of the questions that they do? What did you think of the format of the quiz (as far as the situational questions they ask)?

 

 

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95949912

 

I found this NPR article on motivating school children to be rather interesting and perhaps somewhat controversial. It talks about paying children according to their attendance, quality of work, and behavior in class. My initial reaction to this story is that this type of program is a great experiment. We already spend tremendous amounts of money on education, but continue to get very poor results in many schools. I think money has sometimes been mindlessly thrown here and there, and we don't see any good come from that. It has sometimes been said that raising the teacher pay will bring in higher quality people or that bringing in various new classroom materials will help students learn, but the problem seems to be deeper than that.

As was mentioned earlier on our blog, one major problem is "stupid homework." By no means am I referring to all, or even most, homework, but in my educational experience I have had plenty of assignments that have just been downright meaningless. You waste a great amount of time, learn nothing, and feel like you've lost a few brain cells in the process. Another part of the problem is that the belief that homework/studying is unpleasant and to be avoided has been instilled in many of us from a very early age. There seems to be a negative connotation with learning, and I think we should work harder to change that, perhaps by doing more to support "science is fun" programs and others like it. If students perceive educational activities as fun, they will find greater energy to put into their learning.

I also think schools can put too much emphasis on grades, which can subsequently cause some children to focus only on letter grades and many others to become apathetic about the education system. Although I have generally got rather good grades throughout my academic career, and a certain amount of assessment is surely needed, putting so much of the emphasis on a few short (and sometimes poorly written) tests does not seem to be the best approach. Sometimes such tests tell you very little about the students except perhaps their abilities to discern/anticipate what information will be asked on the test and cram accordingly. I think many students feel this way, and they feel discouraged when think that they will not be fairly evaluated.

This may be more a problem in the high school and college environments, but I think another very serious problem with our education is an overwhelming lack of clarity in certain classroom environments. Sometimes students are required to read very old texts that are written in an English language that is very different from our own. It is unreasonable for students to be required to read these texts without any guidance from the instructor - the professor should be there for a reason. In college, I know of at least one professor who gets away with murder by having "discussion-based" classes in which the student is given no other instruction than to "read the textbook" - such professors contribute nothing yet get paid in full. When teachers do not present material in a clear, thought out, and interesting manner, the student can become very discouraged and the learning process is heavily impeded. It is a far from ideal outcome to cause some students to have anxiety attacks and others to give up entirely. More needs to be done to address this problem.

The controversy that arises from this Pay-To-Behave experiment also merits attention. A question that inevitably arises is, "Even if these financial incentives greatly increase academic performance, is teaching children to learn solely for money to be desired?" Some would probably argue that it is no different than receiving an allowance for doing chores or a paycheck for a job, but I am still not entirely sure how I would feel if I were one of the parents. I am not sure I would be comfortable sending a child through this program if I thought it would cause them to place money above everything else.

"Obesity is considered the most common dietary crisis faced by a lot of Americans today. Many children face emotional and psychological effects. Children feel shame about being overweight or obese that can negatively impact their school work and their social standing.

Kids who are unhappy with their weight may be more likely than average-weight kids to develop unhealthy eating habits and they may be more prone to depression, as well as substance abuse."

I have noticed that the way children grow in society has a lot to do with how their parents, family and friends eat, which is the ways they choose to eat. Sometimes obesity can be stopped, but other times it has to do with a child's genetic makeup. There are ways for children to not end up like the rest of America's obese society. America is now the capital of obesity.

he original article is posted below

http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/causes-of-childhood-obesity-emotional-effects-of-obesity-in-children-639260.html

After you have watched a movie, you should blog your general impressions of the movie (by 5pm on thursdays) and provide 1 example from the movie (scene, character, etc) and how it relates specifically to a theory or construct in Motivation and Emotion.

Your full analyses are due the following Tuesday turned in via eLearning (aka WebCT).

 

 

Your movie reflections should be posted by 5pm on Thursdays. Your full analyses are due the following Tuesday turned in via eLearning (aka WebCT).

 

Your movie reflections should be posted by 5pm on Thursdays. Your full analyses are due the following Tuesday turned in via eLearning (aka WebCT).

So how should you go about finding information to post on the blog? Well first, think about where you get your information about the world, and what kind of information you typically seek out. Are you a political junky? Do you prefer entertainment news? Do you read mostly websites? Listen to talk radio? Read magazines or newspapers? Do you watch television news programs? Or do you prefer cable tv programming? Whatever the source, even if it is a hard copy newspaper or a network television show, they will almost always have an internet component to refer to. So the next time you hear, read, or see something that you think relates to the class, find that information on the internet and post it!

Now the above strategy is a great one if you already are tapped into some news sources, but you may not hear, read or see something related to the course as often as you would like or need. So then you have to seek out some information. You can seek out information in one of three ways:

1) Increase your exposure to information about the world by starting to read, listen, or watch more and different programming/sources than you currently do.

2) Google. (www.google.com)  Learn to google effectively, and using the variety of options to make your searches better (good key words, using the image, news, or google scholar tabs).

3) Stumble Upon. (www.stumbleupon.com) Stumble is a website where you designate your interests, and when you click on the stumble button, it will pull up a website related to those interests that it thinks you'll like. If you do, click thumbs up, if it's not quite right, click thumbs down. It will become better at finding sites the more you use it.

Have a favorite source of information you want to share with others? Post it here as a comment.

Happy surfing, and posting!

http://www.duke.edu/~leary/

At the most general level, my interests are in social and personality psychology, centering around topics involving the self, interpersonal motivation and emotion, and interfaces of social and clinical psychology. I have been particularly interested in how people's behavior and emotion are affected by their concerns about others' impressions, evaluations, and acceptance of them. Recently, I've also become interested in the ways in which people's inner self-talk creates personal and social problems.

 

http://www.psych.rochester.edu/faculty/deci/

I examine a variety of issues in human motivation, isolating basic processes and testing their application to education, health care, parenting, mental health, and work organizations in the US and across cultures. Using both laboratory and field methods, my work focuses primarily on the nature and development of self-determination. For more detail, please see the Self-Determination Theory website.

http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/

http://www.psych.rochester.edu/faculty/ryan/

Richard Ryan is a clinical faculty member whose research focuses on the effects of social contexts on human motivation, personality development, and well-being. His current research interests include: the acquisition and impact of materialism and other extrinsic goals in human development and culture; facilitation versus undermining of intrinsic motivation and self-determination; the determinants of subjective vitality and "energy"; and the sources of within-person variability in attachment, well-being, and life satisfaction. He is also involved in applied motivational research in the domains of health care, education, sport, religion, work, psychotherapy and virtual environments. 

A journal that publishes empirical and theoretical work on motivation and emotion.

http://www.springer.com/psychology/journal/11031

This is a fun, interactive exercise...choose the eyes and the mouth to 'make' different emotions.

 

http://198.45.22.27/connectext/psy/ch10/facex.mhtml

 

Do motivational posters really have anything to do with what we know scientifically about motivation?

http://www.thefuntheory.com/

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it's change for the better.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122221202

Managers have long assumed employees will work harder for fiscal rewards. In Drive, Daniel Pink argues that people will do more if they are given the opportunity to work on their own time, to be creative, and to do good.

These books make for good readers or book analysis assignments in Motivation and Emotion courses.

The Happiness Project

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006158326X/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0061583251&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JNB56TH4MYTJSNBN8KF

The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Brain-Science-Genius/dp/B002PJ4GWM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290295026&sr=8-1

Black and Blue

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440226104/ref=pd_sim_books_2/102-0916068-4077719?v=glance&s=books

Born to Be Good

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Be-Good-Science-Meaningful/dp/0393337138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264518276&sr=8-1

The Compassionate Instinct

http://www.amazon.com/Compassionate-Instinct-Science-Human-Goodness/dp/0393337286/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264518276&sr=8-2

Emotions Revealed : Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080507516X/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-7445806-9744127?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/046500802X/qid=1136508954/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195158067/qid=1136509075/sr=1-38/ref=sr_1_38/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Intrinsic Motivation at Work: Building Energy & Commitment

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576752380/qid=1136507405/sr=8-13/ref=pd_bbs_13/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425179613/qid=1136508118/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Ladder of Years

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804113475/qid=1029961623/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2777705-2011124

Learning and Motivation Strategies: Your Guide to Success

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130330639/qid=1136508276/sr=8-31/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i31_xgl14/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Lives on the Boundary

http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Boundary-Achievements-Educationally-Underprepared/dp/0143035460/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263305507&sr=8-2

Loneliness

http://www.amazon.com/Loneliness-Human-Nature-Social-Connection/dp/0393335283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264518354&sr=1-1

The Long Walk

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451196716/qid=1136509619/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

A Million Little Pieces

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307276902/qid=1136510045/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The Mind at Work

http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Work-Valuing-Intelligence-American/dp/0143035576/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263305820&sr=8-3

Motivation and Goal Setting: How to Set and Achieve Goals and Inspire Others

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1564143643/qid=1136507405/sr=8-8/ref=pd_bbs_8/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590560310/qid=1136510268/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Ordinary People

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140065172/qid=1029961752/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-2777705-2011124

The Power of Positive Thinking

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449911470/qid=1136508516/sr=8-9/ref=pd_bbs_9/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Talent is Overrated

http://www.amazon.com/Talent-Overrated-Separates-World-Class-Performers/dp/1591842247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262749495&sr=8-1

Toward a Psychology of Being

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471293091/qid=1136509478/sr=1-10/ref=sr_1_10/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Unstoppable: 45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance and Triumph from People Just Like You

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570713383/qid=1136508365/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7445806-9744127?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Why School?

http://www.amazon.com/Why-School-Mike-Rose/dp/1595584676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263305820&sr=8-1

Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140255265/qid=1136507470/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-7445806-9744127?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

http://www.amazon.com/Other-Wes-Moore-Name-Fates/dp/0385528205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314713209&sr=1-1

The Kitchen Daughter

http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Daughter-Jael-McHenry/dp/B005GNJMD2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314713855&sr=1-1

The Help

http://www.amazon.com/Help-Movie-Tie--Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0425245136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314713884&sr=1-1

Little Bee

http://www.amazon.com/Help-Movie-Tie--Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0425245136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314713884&sr=1-1

Step Back from the Baggage Claim

http://www.amazon.com/Step-Baggage-Claim-Jason-Barger/dp/0615226663

The Kite Runner

http://www.amazon.com/Kite-Runner-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/1594480001/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315431928&sr=1-1