The benefits of collaborating with others is it helps us learn to work as a team and become more thoughtful towards others.  It’s good to not be so self focused all the time when studying as this prepares us for future employment opportunities. The chances are unless we become self employed psychologists we will all end up working as part of a team.  It is important to be able to understand the needs of others you are working with and be able to complete work within a time frame that suits the whole group.  Being able to work fast on your own is brilliant but there will come a time when you have to work with others who are unable to work that fast and you need to be able to sympathise with their situation and work along side them.  Each person has different methods of completing work so I think it’s a good idea to try and figure out sooner rather than later who does best at what and who doesn’t do so good at certain things.

I’ve learnt that it is important to try to understand each others personal needs as well as professional needs.  I am not saying people have to become best pals but it’s good to be able to spot situations where another member of the group may need support and prompting.  I think this increases trust and respect within the group.  I’ve found that each member of my group all have their cute little quirks about their personalities and I think we have done well getting to know each other, working around each others weaknesses and promoting each others strengths.

Psychology students benefit from working in groups as this helps us become familiar with what is a common occurrence in the field of psychology.  Whether it be teaching, counselling or working in a psych ward the chances are we will all be required to work with others when we graduate.  Working within a time frame as a group also gives us a taste of what it will be like to meet deadlines under pressure within the field.

1. Get enough sleep: Going to bed at a decent time and waking up early is important. This keeps me refreshed and is a good way of keeping to a routine. If I oversleep I feel grotty and even more tired and if I don’t sleep enough I just end up feeling a bit strange.
2. Skipping to the end of a chapter is actually quite a good idea I thought. It is obviously important to make sure you are reading what you are supposed be revising for within the actual chapter but for a quick revision refresh the day before I think this is a good idea.
3. Don’t over revise. I think it is important to stick to a plan as to when you’re going to revise, set breaks and don’t revise to late in the evening.
4. Keep healthy: Don’t compensate healthy eating and exercise for endless hours of revision. Sticking to a routine enables me to keep healthy and remember the things I need to do to feel good about myself.  If I just sit around studying and eat rubbish and don’t work out then I  probably won’t feel like revising after a day or so.
5. Take notes at the end of each section to save time. Pausing constantly is distracting.
6. Use the lecture slides. Even if I have gone to a lecture and took notes I still re-watch the slides. Quite often my attention span is bad during lectures so replay is a must for me.
7. Wikipedia never hurt anyone. Wikipedia is also a good way to quickly refresh your brain last minute. I’m not saying don’t revise and then use Wikipedia last minute that’s a bad idea but on the bus on the way to uni, this is actually a handy idea.  All the information is categorised as well.
8. Don’t read things you don’t have to read!! (Note to self). I started revising the other day and basically started reading the whole section instead of skipping to the part I knew I had to know for the exam. I mean I kind of wanted to know everything and then knew I was wasting time. This was a bad idea and I ended up falling a sleep reading.
9. Repeat the information. Repeating the information to other people has helped it stick in my mind more. There has even been times when other people have corrected me if I got something slightly wrong or even the wrong way round.
10. Relate to the information. I’ve found quite often during lectures I’ve been able to think of someone I know or a situation where I could have benefited from the information being shared with me and this has helped me remember it. Especially when I’ve thought of someone I could help with the information because I then end up trying harder to remember it so I can tell them about it after.

Research Digest:

Research Digest is a psychology blog that each week breaks down a psychology study.  The blog publishes the results of the study as well as highlighting issues with the research methods.  The website also has a link to the magazine ‘The Psychologist’ which is a magazine that publishes recent studies each month, this is a great way for psychology students to access information easier and can offer ideas as to what include in assignments.  Each month the website publishes a blog by a guest writer, either a popular psychologist or writer.  The website provides readers with interesting information about everyday psychology and this weeks study is about the psychological benefits of having a Facebook hiatus.

The website has categories to help navigate the reader to what type of studies they would like to read such as: personality, cognition, social, mental health, developmental, emotion, brain Et cetera.,  You can also find jobs in the field under the section ‘Jobs In Psychology’ which links the reader to The British Psychological Society home page.

The website is avaliable as an app to download on mobile phones which is really handy and you can also subscribe to weekly emails but lets face it no one likes recieving subscription emails so it’s probably more convenient to download the app if you want to access the site regularly.

One downfall of the website is there is a lot of meaningless advertisements which takes up a lot of space on the web page.  However, fortunately the app layout is rather neat.  The studies are listed under the sections and you can simply slide across to which ever you would like to read.  Their is a brief description and images whereas on the actual website this layout is not available.

The website is a brilliant tool for psychologist and psychology students to keep up to date with information and the critical analyses of the studies published on the website is interesting and convenient.

Review of Psychology by G. Neil Martin, Neil R.Carlson & William Buskist 2013. ED

The book introduces psychology and discusses its development into modern psychology.  It overviews methods and ethics, introduces socio-biology and evolutionary psychology, includes a part on neuroscience which is the study of the brain itself.  The role of sensory processing is discussed such as: vision, sound/audition, taste and smell/gustation and olfaction and somatosenses and also perception of space and emotion, form and visual perception.  The book also discusses learning and behaviour which includes classical and operant conditioning which then leads us to chapter eight with an overview of sensory memory, short-term and working memory, learning encoding, remembering, long-term memory organisation and the biological basis of memory.  The nature of consciousness is discussed with a focus on hypnosis, sleep and attention. Also discussed are language skills, how they are acquired and language disorders.  In chapter eleven intelligence and thinking are overviewed.  This includes theories behind intelligence such as the general intelligence factor, the testing of intelligence, the roles of nature, nurture or heredity and environment, aging and intelligence and thought.  Chapter twelve discusses developmental psychology which starts from conception/prenatal and ends at adolescence.  Chapter thirteen is about motivation and emotion such as: sexuality, aggression and eating and drinking.  Personality is discussed in chapter fourteen, this includes trait theories of personality, heritably traits, social learning, the psychodynamic approach which focuses on the conflicts of the conscious and unconscious mind, and the humanistic approach.  The book also discusses social cognition and attitudes, interpersonal and group processes, health psychology and abnormal psychology.

The book gives a great overview of psychology for the beginner or first year undergraduate.  However, there are sections where the book fails to aknowlowledge updated information.  Such as in the developmental psychology section. The book does not take into consideration that most developmental psychologists now consider development to continue throughout the human lifespan, or from ‘cradle to grave’ which is a common phrase in the field.  The book could also be accused of attempting to separate people suffering with mental health disorders from the rest of the world by titling this section ‘abnormal psychology’.  Some would argue that these behaviours are completely normal in the twenty first century with 1 in 4 people experiencing mental health problems each year and 1 in 6 experiencing regular mental health issues.  For A 2013 edition the book also forgets to include important symptoms of mental health diagnoses and only very briefly discusses a few disorders.  It could seem from a reader’s perspective that the book also classes psychopathy, narcissism and sociopathy as the same disorder, blurring the line between the three.

Despite some minor faults and missing information, Psychology is a great book for first year undergraduates.  It touches base with many necessary topics that psychologists require knowing in order to provide a high-quality standard of care and work.  It is a great introduction to the field and manages to touch base with a great handful of topics.  I would recommend the book to undergraduate students as it is a great way of becoming familiar with the topics.

I would recommend reading any of the journal articles suggesting material on social media.  It was quite interesting to find out how common it is for people to conduct surveillance on their other half through social media, particularly women spying on their partners. There is one particular study,  (Fox and Moreland, 2015) where a participant discusses his girlfriend falling out with him in real life because he wasn’t commenting or liking her social media posts.    I found this rather amusing.

There are some really cool journals on dopamine receptors and how these are active when people are engaging in social media behaviour.  Dopamine is linked to addiction and these receptors are more active in the brains of people who have certain mental health diagnoses.  Here are some journals that provide information suggesting links between social media addiction and some mental health disorders such as ADHD, OCD, Torretes Syndrome and PTSD … (Thierry et al., 1976, cited in Comings and Blum 2000),  (Comings and Blum, 2000).

There is also some very interesting links to journals suggesting new methods to treat PTSD.  A  couple of journals are based on the clinical trials of MDMA and it’s benefits and it’s effects on the brain (Doblin, 2011), (Liechti and Vollenweider, 2001)  I have also provided some journals on CBD oil and it’s effects on the brain and how it can treat PTSD, (Leweke et al., 2012), (Potter et al., 2011), (Passie et al., 2012).  If anyone is really interested in alternative methods to treat PTSD and many, many other physical and mental health disorders, this website has links to LOADS OF JOURNAL ARTICLES.  I think if you are writing about health and wellbeing in the future you might be able to make use of some of the journals this website links you to: https://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com/education/.  When you C&P the link there are links to studies for about 100 health issues.

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1. Read feedback and act on it:  There was only one occasion when I only read a few of the comments in my feedback and that was because it seemed like it was the same throughout and I also new exactly where I had gone wrong in the essay.  Apart from that I always read the comments and feedback and take a mental note of it and apply it in future assignments.
2. Attendance:  Attending lectures and seminars is very important. Often people will say it isn’t, just watch the replay but when I have done that I’ve had a number of unanswered questions when it came to starting the assignments and have then had to message people and ask questions about things they may not remember off the top of their head.
3. Schedule:  I always try and schedule days in the week to start assignments or specific days for each task.  For example this week I spent today (Tuesday) and Monday doing the Edublog, Wednesday I will revise for my exam and do some questionnaires, Thursday I will finish off a poster, Friday and Saturday I will revise.
4. Routine: It is important to include studying in your daily routine even if you don’t get much done on a specific day as it’s very easy to decide not to study and fall out of routine. If this happens you are likely to end up completing assignments last minute.
5.  Planning: It is important to plan a head and think about what needs to be handed in when and how long on average do you think it will take to do each task and then add some time incase anything goes wrong or something important comes up.
6. Essay structure: I’ve always found it hard to get into the ‘vibe’ of writing an essay. Often because of other problems I can find it very hard to concentrate or even think of the simplest introduction. To get my way around this I find it best to actually start with the middle part of an essay.  By doing this I get right into reading journal articles and then end up having a flow of ideas and then the introduction and conclusion write themselves.
7. Word count time scale: Due to the fact it takes me a lot of effort to concentrate probably 70% of the time I have recently been setting myself goals for daily word counts. I will aim to start an essay three weeks in advance giving the fact that there will be days I am unable to concentrate at all and then calculate how many words I will need to aim for each day.  So for example I could aim to write 250 words a day but have 3 days where I can only manage 100 words in 5 hours and then end up having two days where I am on a roll and write 400 words in a 3 hours. If I get stressed because I haven’t achieved much in a few days and then suddenly produce 400 words in a few hours I know I can then give myself a break and relax. I think this is a good tip for anyone with concentration and cognition issues.
8. Don’t over study: When the course first started I was very eager and overworked myself.  I wasn’t giving myself time to relax. It’s important if you feel like you’ve over done it or are getting stressed out and having a bad day to just stop and give yourself a break but at the same time don’t get out of routine.
9. ALWAYS PROOF READ OUT LOUD: On one essay I got a lower mark and I realised I didn’t proof read out loud.
10. Get someone else to proof read your work:  There has been times when I have proof read my work out loud and then read it out loud for a second time and noticed dozens of errors, this is why it is important to get a second opinion, maybe even a third.

Take a break in marjon woods-2knn0jj

Although at times I have sought support from lecturers, my favourite place to go to clear my head on campus is The Marjon woods.  The woods have always been my favourite place.  Even when I’m not at uni I like to spend my spare time in nature, alone.  I find the atmostphere calming and it’s nice to be around all the cute little squirrels and birds and listen to them all hanging out and having squirrel and bird fun.  I like to wonder what they’re talking about in their animal language, it takes my mind off all the other stupid thoughts looping around my head.  I like the smells and the sounds and the details of the art in natural settings. I also find taking pictures of trees really boosts my mood and seems to be quite a hobby of mine; in fact my Instagram is full of pictures of trees.  I enjoy reading and singing and meditating under the trees and the occasional nap.  I think it’s important to seek support off others but it is good to be alone with your thoughts in a natural setting.  Quite often when people feel like they need to think something through they’re actually thinking it through whilst watching TV or  driving.  I also sometimes feel a bit to self conscious to turn to others for support so will just go off into nature and I’ll feel better pretty quickly.

What happened: My friend passed away three days after my 22nd birthday this year, she actually went into a coma on the evening of my birthday.  I had gone to visit her at the hospital with some chocolates and was told I would not be able to give them to her or leave them for her family as her family would not be returning.  After collapsing in the hospital and being escorted out I headed back towards the city centre crying the whole way home.  As I got off the bus I received a text message confirming her death.  We had been very close the year before until she hooked up with a guy who I was seeing who we were both very close too.  I then ended my relationship with both of them very dramatically.  I had seen her in the weeks before her death three times. Once on Mutley Plain with her boyfriend walking his dog, once the day they were moving in to their new home together whilst she was carrying stuff into the house, and once more a week before she died just round the corner from my house.  Each time I chose to ignore her, not because I was still angry at her but because I didn’t want to fight.  The last two times I was very close to running up to her and hugging her and telling her I missed her.

What I was thinking and feeling at the time: The sad thing is I was one of only a few friends that went to visit her in the hospital. On the first day I sat there with her boyfriend before he went in, I spoke to her mum and her sister before they went in and then I left and returned on the second day to find out she had flown away with the angels.  Whilst I sat with her boyfriend in the hospital I didn’t accept that she wasn’t going to make it, despite the fact the ambulance had been called forty-five minutes after her heart attack.  I felt terrible because her and her boyfriend were truly made for each other and I didn’t really want to be in a relationship with him in the first place to be honest.  I just wanted to be friends with him but I spat by dummy out like a child when he chose her over me.  I felt awful about those times I walked past her in a rush to get my chores done thinking , ‘Oh I’m sure we’ll see each other at a gathering soon and we will make up.’  I can honestly say the word for my feelings at the time is ‘dark’, just really really dark.

What sense can I make of the situation: What I can make of the situation is you really do only live once, look after yourself and your loved ones. If you’re going to fight over petty situations, hurry up and kiss and make up before it’s too late.  Don’t be quick to throw a friendship away.

What else could I have done? If I could change anything about it I would of course change it all.  I wouldn’t of spat my dummy out as if she had stolen my property, I wouldn’t have ignored her in the street.  I would have spoken to her much sooner, I would have spent more time with her, I would have most probably spent my birthday with her and then maybe quite possibly she wouldn’t have died.  If I hadn’t moved out of the house I would most certainly have been there to help.  There is a number of things many of us could and couldn’t have done to improve the outcome of that evening, the matter of fact is we need to look after our health.

If it arose again what would I do?  If a situation like this happens again… well it will, that’s the point, everybody dies, just not at 23 years old.  I think I’m at a point in life where I accept death, I have my own version of ideas as to what happens when we leave and it gives me comfort.  However, if there is ever an opportunity to fall out over a boy again I would chose to just laugh the situation off and give my friend a cuddle or I wouldn’t have been such a coward and would have rebuilt our friendship before she left us.

Why reflective writing/thinking is important: Reflective writing is important as it enables people to view the situation in a different perspective  and it helps us to analyse our own behaviour. If writing about a relationship issue or incident it helps people to feel empathy for the other person and influences us to engage in awareness of our own faults in the situation.  I first started using reflective writing when I was about 17.  I was given a copy of, ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus’. In one particular section the book discusses how reflective writing is important in resolving relationship disputes.  You can choose to write a letter to a loved one and give it to them, throw it away or put it in a love letter box.  The idea is it is a good outlet that doesn’t harm the other person and you can decide after if it’s appropriate to give the person the letter or not.  I’ve found that even writing letters in my head has helped me overcome issues with particular people in the past and helped me make more sense of what my issue is. I think reflective writing/critical thinking is an important part of self development, progression in relationships and spiritual growth.

I am really happy with all I’ve learnt this term. I am surprised that I did better on the first two essays compared to the last but it has reminded me not to get too proud or cocky. I’ve learned so much which has opened my mind even more. Before starting university I was naive about my way of thinking and thought that many people thought the same but I am gradually learning that life is the complete opposite of what I thought.  I feel like I have learnt so much which will guide me through bad times in life and help me to guide others. At the start of the course I had some rather bizarre ideas I wanted to explore (which I will in my spare time) but now I feel I am at a crossroads and am not sure what I want to do with my degree once finished. I do know I love psychology and I want to help people and share compassion with others though. I am quite exited for what’s coming next on the course and for the next two and a half years. I’ve enjoyed it all so far and I have achieved better grades than I thought I ever would. Choosing to study psychology is probably the best choice I’ve made in a while.