PSYC'D Issue I by Psyc'd Magazine

PS C’D TM

WHY CHOOSE

PSYCHOLOGY? REASONS BEHIND WHY STUDENTS PURSUE THIS FIELD OF SCIENCE

SurvivaL guide

Undergraduate TIPS STUDENTS FIND USEFUL TO SURVIVE THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF UNIVERSITY

Graduate School Need to Knows

APPLYING ABROAD VS. LOCALLY

HOW TO: BALANCE YOUR RELATIONSHIP AND SCHOOL

Issue I | February 2014

+10

Challenges

faced BEING a student IN tHE FIELD OF pSYCH

How can you tell if someone is lying to you?

So You’ve

Graduated

WHAT NOW

whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s featured inside... stories

Reasons behind why students pursue this field of science

Why Choose Psychology?

Undergrads discuss the challenges faced while being enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Psychology programme

10 Challenges of Being a Psychology Student

03 09

Can balancing both be done effectively? Is it better to prioritize one over the other? Should you just not pursue a relationship at this point?

How to Balance Your Relationship & School

Everything graduates need to know about life after your bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree

So Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Graduated. What Now?

Face it, graduate school is a different ball game than previous years. Read up more to find bullet proof tricks and tips of graduate school.

Need to knows of Graduate School

Here are some tips and tricks from body language experts you can use to tell if someone is lying to you.

How can you tell if someone is lying to you?

21 25 27 31

Tips students find useful to survive the first three years of university

The Undergraduate Survival Guide

PS C’D MAGAZIN

Creator & Graphics Designer

Writers Davia Andrews

Alexandra Daley

Shontel Baptiste Chadd Coore Alexandra Daley Joan Ewan Chardae Hanson Mourice- Ann Hudson B’andra Haughton Shavon Hutchinson Joanne Mason, BSc. Chantalli Morrison Marsha-Lee Mundle Ballecia Richards Felicia Richards Deborah Smith Jeremy Spence Bridgitte Stuart

Editors

Alexandra Daley Christophe James

Surveyors

Alexandra Daley Jeremy Spence

CONTENTS

01 About Psyc’d

background information to the magazine and its vision and purpose..

Why Psychology? 03 reasons why students choose to pursue a degree in psychology.

The Stereotype 05

what are some of the common stereotypes concomitant with pursuing a degree in psychology?

Areas in Psychology07

exploration of the different careers of psychology.

Maintaining First Class Honors Through To Graduation

how to maintain the highest class honours upon graduation.

Featured Psychologists

Guide & Tips to Study And Note Taking 15

Advisors Mr. Micheal Gordon, MSc.

17 Research Experience

Dr. Peggy Drexler Mr. Carlos Hidalgo

Dr. Ishtar Govia, PhD. Dr. Garth Lipps, PhD. Dr. Tracy Mcfarlane, PhD.

tips to studying effectively and taking notes in lectures

I it is imperative that a student in psychology has research experience. \

CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS

Where Would We Be IN LIFE Without Positive Social Support 19 the importance of social support,and its pros and cons.

23 F

Advice Column from F inal Year Students

Fstudents in their last year of university share their experiences and give advice to those coming up in the system.

Featured Psychologist Article 35 article by dr peggy drexler entitiled “your social life Iis not your social media”’published october 17, 2013 in psychology today.

Psychology Fact

an interesting psychological fact will be featured.

Articles Featured Articles From Psychology Students

this is a free for all section where writers discuss issues and enticing topics regarding psychology.

Poll: Do you believe you are making the right academic choices as it regards your preferred career choice?

The Psychology Conference 49 2014

Featured Self Test : 51

for this issue, readers will be able to test

themselves on which career is right for you?

D ’ C PS

ften times students of any university are tested not only on their intelligence, but their ability to recall, application of knowledge, decisive thinking, reading skills and the capability to manage their time. Students in psychology are required to perform all these tasks while gaining competence in various laboratory and research skills, constructing proper research studies as well as analyze theories which are the foundation of the science. Undoubtedly the workload of a student in the field, given the combination of courses, can be quite comprehensive. Still, this allows students to strengthen their critical writing skills through a range of diverse assignments; at the end of which, most times, outstanding pieces of work are created through the proper utilization of one’s talents and application usage. Psychology is an interesting topic/field and is found in most aspects of human life. Having a passion for the field of psychology and currently pursuing a first degree, the creator of the magazine has experienced various areas of the science and understood just how beguiling it can be. The idea also came about due to the experience she has had in graphic design, her second love, especially designs for logos, flyers and magazines. With that said, she came to the conclusion that by combining these experiences, a creative medium through which psychology majors can voice their “opinions” and express their “views” would be a great idea; thus, taking the initiative to create a magazine fit that description perfectly.

How did the name ‘Psyc’d’ come about?

I conceptualized the name ‘Psyc’d’ due to the phrase I usually leave with my friends for the day. I would say “Stay Psyched!” to mean to stay in the right frame of mind or to stay motivated/happy/confident, which usually improves their mood/ makes them smile since they interpret it as me having a love for psychology.

E N I Z A G A M

T U O B A

‘Psyc’d’ is a digital magazine created by the psychology student for the psychology student. Regularly, students are not able to showcase their passion & talents in the discipline so this medium caters to just that. The magazine aims to publish article which focus on the life of students pursuing degrees in the field, current issues and upcoming events among other features with a psychological theme. By being a part of the magazine, writers will voice their opinions and thus gain experience for their work not only as a writer but an individual psychologist.

Vision & Mission statement The vision of the magazine is to see that students are accredited for their talents as not enough mediums are readily available for writers to do so. The mission of the magazine is to achieve the set objectives by the ability of the participants in the project.

The objectives of this magazine are:

• To provide exposure to students in

the field of psychology through this medium.

• To promote inter-relationships between students through the pieces published in each issue as individuals would be able to gather understanding and appreciation for the science.

• To showcase the many talents and

opinions of writers as they discuss different matters in the psychological field and life.

• To make the readers aware of real-life issues and provide aids which can be applied to everyday life.

• To create a social support unit that

older students in the system can lend to the younger students as to many issues experienced over the years.

• To keep writers motivated by getting exposure for their work.

• To maintain reader’s interest in each

issue and increase subscriptions as the year progresses.

• To eventually gain recognition from

an international standpoint from writers in the field from different parts of the world as well as exposure for the magazine.

W H Y

hey call me Daphne*. The first time I was interested in psychology was the first day I was introduced to the word ‘genius’. I always liked that word. When I was younger I saw it as the power of influence and I liked how a powerful and knowledgeable mind could make things happen with just the simplest of actions like throwing a stone or having a conversation. Growing older, I started to see and experience more of the world and the ‘glitches in the system’. Maui*, my homeland, was going through one of the longest recessions in our history and every small social problem started to have horrific consequential effects. Friends stressing because they can’t pay their little sister’s school fees, their parents getting more violent, then they themselves started to get violent as their view of the world just started to deplete into hopelessness. Suddenly a torrent of “bad mind” started to ensue between schoolmates and grudges held on to as tightly as currency. High schools started having massive fights and feuds against each other. I started to see a dark change in people’s values and the dangerous turn in the music and dance. Like a domino effect I started to see my country crumble into a deranged twisted reality where killings are celebrated, promiscuity and unfaithfulness are encouraged and corruption is seen as an inevitable norm. I saw the psychology of individuals and groups playing out at that point in time – through psychology it was created and through it, it can be fixed. Entering University opened my mind to how far-reaching psychology was. You learnt of how manipulated you were throughout life or how advertisements peeked our interest without us being able to grasp why. Not to mention how the television and the computer became a ‘God’ we worshipped every day and night in religious dedication and the strong feelings we had when it was taken from us. You learnt just how much of the world is an illusion created by our minds, your family is a mental representation you create of those close to you, your culture, morals and values although necessary are also intangible illusions we give meaning to and with this knowledge you can recreate yourself in anyway you can imagine. Theoretically we can be anything with the right knowledge before us. Learning thus became an obsession of mine. Cognition, thought, memory, attention, focus, perception. How we store information and utilize it is amazing but our memory isn’t perfect and is misunderstood. A clear understanding of psychology puts you head and shoulders above any other discipline in any job. American Psychological Association (APA) and Florida’s Psychology department chairs conducted a study into the utility of a Psychology Major and found that psychology students gained skills which translate into many jobs especially entry-level. These skills make you trainable and are seen as an asset among employers due to training in statistics and research methods, neuroscience, individual and group processes, memory, and psychotherapy. Based on the American Psychological Association/Florida’s study the top ten occupations that employ bachelor’s level psychology majors include management, sales, social work, personnel, health care and financial specialists. Changing a country, protecting yourself from unwanted influences, improving your basic psychological functioning, gaining an understanding of critical thinking, understanding yourself, the social systems of organizations and the dynamics of small social groups, invaluable life lessons and psychological advantages are learnt through these processes. All in all, studying psychology adds to your life skills and knowledge and is always useful in any and every situation.

So I say to you,Why

Not? By: Chadd Coore

The

A degree in Psychology? What are you going to do with that?

STEREOTYPE By: B’andra Haughton

Stereotypes, we all know of them, “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Simply Psychology, 2008. Cardwell, 1996), for a more lengthened definition. They are perceived everywhere, from T.V. shows and movies to groups within or own lives. The idea of “stereotyping” is most often seen in high schools, as expressed by the media, but can this heuristic be carried over into the higher educational world of the tertiary institution? Well, of course! With everything else in our world placed into neat little labeled boxes, why not our majors? This is no different for that of the psychology major. I asked those outside Psychology and here are just a few stereotypes that have been placed on us…

The wanna-be lawyers

Yes….People think that you have chosen psychology simply because you couldn’t get into law. Why? Because this actually does happen. Some think it’s simply a ‘back-up’ choice and this ticks off a lot of psychology majors as we made a conscious decision to choose this major.

Psych majors all want to study mad people

We all know this one. “Oh, you’re studying psychology? So you want to study mad people?” This is mainly because people outside this field do not understand the true variety one can have in psychology. They all think that one’s only option in psychology lies with diagnosing disorders but little do they know that a majority of psychology students actually aim to go into research and testing.

…We can..read minds?

Okay…you must have all heard of this one-“What do you do?” “Psychology” “Oh, so you can tell what I’m thinking?”Since when did a degree in psychology mean clairvoyance? The thing is our supposed “ability” to understand (or attempt to understand) the human behavior, especially through non-verbals, has constantly been confused with KNOWING what someone is thinking. Though it might seem funny at first, this stereotype might probably be the most annoying of them all.

All psych majors have some mental disorder

It is apparently believed that the reason you would ever willingly choose psychology is because you have some mental issue and want to find out what is wrong with you. No, not because you plan to go into a field in psychology to fulfill your burning desire for that career, but because there is something deeply wrong within you which you hope to understand. Sadly, these stereotypes aren’t new and may continue to be with us for some time. But we can’t let it get us down. I mean, even we hold stereotypes of persons in the other majors. We just have to focus on what we want.

Psychology is the study

of mad people.

Careers in By: Shavon Hutchinson

Have you decided to get a B.sc in Psychology? Don`t be worried you made a great career choice. This is strictly from an objective standpoint. Psychology is applicable in any career; from law enforcement, medical, business, family, education and even consumer affairs. Importantly, if you are contemplating switching to a new major, don’t! There are a myriad of job opportunities available for Psychology. Like any job or any area of study one must have a passion for what they are doing .In the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Passion is energy - Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”. If you find that you have no passion for this area of study it is advised that you switch your major and find your passion. Additionally one will have to pursue higher studies after your undergrad years. A Psychologist can only be licensed with a M.Sc, Ph.D., Psy.D (Masters of Science, Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Psychology respectively). Of greater importance, what really is Psychology? Psychology is both an applied and academic field that studies the human mind and behavior. We do research to explain people`s action (how they think, act and feel) .A large part of psychology is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues. That’s not all, In addition to mental health; psychology can be applied to a variety of issues that impact health and daily life including performance enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, motivation, productivity, and much more. Psychology evolved from philosophy and biology. Discussions of these two subjects date as far back as the early Greek thinkers including Aristotle and Socrates. The word psychology is derived from the Greek word psyche, literally meaning ‘life’ or ‘breath’. Derived meanings of the word include ‘soul’ or ‘self.’ However Psychology emerged as a separate and independent field of study when Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental Psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany in 1879. Additionally throughout psychology`s history a number of schools of thought developed to explain human thought and behavior. Though they are sometimes perceived as competing forces, all led to our understanding of psychology today.

n Psychology

Psychologists prefer to use more objective scientific methods to understand, explain, and predict human behavior. Psychological studies are highly structured, beginning with a hypothesis that is then empirically tested. The discipline has two major areas of focus: academic psychology and applied psychology. As psychology moved away from its philosophical roots, psychologists began to employ more and more scientific methods to study human behavior. Contemporary researchers employ a variety of scientific techniques including experiments, correlational studies longitudinal research, and others to test, explain, and predict behavior. Psychology is a broad and diverse field. A number of different subfields and specialty areas have emerged. The following are some of the major areas of research and application within psychology:

Academic/Research Psychologist: They specialize in areas of pure /applied research .They include; Human development, psychometrics(testing), health, education, industrial/ organizational, physiological, sensation and perception, design and use of technology.

Clinical Psychologist: They do psychotherapy and sometimes research, may work in many of these settings ; private practice , mental health clinics, general hospitals, mental hospitals, research labs, colleges and universities.

Psychologist in Industry, Law or Other Settings: They do research or serve as consultants to institutions; sports, consumer issues, advertising , organizational problems, public policy, military training, animal bahaviour. I close with a quote from Vince Lombardi,â&#x20AC;? perfection is not attainable but if we chase perfection we can catch excellenceâ&#x20AC;? Continue to chase perfection in your assignments to be an excellent psychologist!

Whenever I tell someone I’m a Psychology major I always get one of two responses: “Are you analyzing me right now?” or “Oh that’s easy right?” To the first, I usually respond “Yeah. That’s right so make sure you do your part of the group work because I won’t fall victim to the sucker effect”. The fact that people even ask the second question is what exasperates me and leads to me giving them, at minimum, a thirty minute lecture on why Psychology is not, in the least, easy. Here are my ten challenges to being a Psychology major.

Together all your books weigh more than you.1 The volume of reading required for Psychology is insane. Between the required texts, mountains of recommended readings and piles of research

findings, we have to process a substantial amount of information. Not only is there a lot of readings, but many are complex and require more than just ‘skimming’ and ‘swatting’ the information.

Wundt. How do you say that again?

The psychology discipline is full of words that we can’t pronounce or understand. Not to mention major psy-

chologists do not have easy names to spell or remember. Psychologists like Wundt, Pavlov, Piaget, Csikszentmihalyi and terms such as Munchausen, Trichotillomania, Dispareunia and

CHALLENGES TO BEING A UNiVERSIT Y PSY CH OLO GY STu dENT

Aspergers are bound to give any student a difficult time. (In fact, I’m sure that after reading this article you will Google them.)

Sigmund Freud is your homeboy

Freud makes psychology hard to defend. Have you ever tried to explain Freud to your parents or a male

friend? You are most often greeted with “He said what?!” Yes, that’s right, I said Oral stage. Yes, I said Penis Envy. Yes, I know Freud abused drugs. No, I’m not saying you’re attracted to your mother. However, regardless of how crazy he seems, there is no denying Freud’s influence in Psychology, especially in the emergence of the psychoanalytical theory.

APA. You bastard you. Citing can be the most time consuming and

mind-numbing part of the process when writing a paper. I mean, do I really have to cite myself? The answer is yes. In psychology you cite everything and everyone from newspaper articles, previous studies, lecturers and even twitter posts. Even though it is tedious, intellectual integrity is extremely important in the field of Psychology.

Make me define the independent and dependent variable ONE more time.

By: Mourice - Ann Hudson

One of the most dreaded things about psychology is research methods. What is the hypothesis? What is the sampling method? What are the problems inherent in this research design? Psychology students have to answer these questions in ninety-eight percent of their classes. Since Psychology is a real science, we use the scientific method to conduct research (Have that Pure & Applied majors!). Not only do we have to answer these questions but we must also be able to collect and report psychological data.

You haven’t had R.E.M. sleep in the longest time.

Given that other students think Psychology is easy

then how come we walk around with bags under our eyes? Why are all Psychology papers always due in the same week? After a day of two hour lectures, one hour tutorials, group meetings, presentations, quizzes and rushing to get your paper that you stayed up to finish last night turned in by 4pm, you are totally beat. So this means that by the weekend you are irritable and pass out at the dinner table.

You know you just did a psychology exam when

your fingers are bleeding, you used up two pens and you still aren’t sure what you wrote. Psychology exams can be brutal. Often times, in just two hours, you are expected to define, explain, elaborate, interpret, calculate, analyze and apply all that you have learned for the semester. Not to mention that some evil mastermind decided to hold two of your psychology exams on the same day. In fact, for a given semester I

There is a boy in our class!!....Wait.... wrong class.

once wrote two essays for each psychology course giving me a whopping total of ten essays.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the empowerment and domination of women, however there seems to be a

noticeably huge preponderance of women pursuing a Psychology degree. Data from the United States support this supposition, as a 1986 APA report, “The Changing Face of American Psychology” shows that “the percentage of psychology PhDs awarded to men has fallen from nearly 70 percent in 1975 to less than 30 percent in 2008.”2 It would be nice to be able to hear more of the male perspective and to have tutorials that have more than one guy being the voice of his entire sex. (Not to mention the additional eye candy would be appreciated!)

Class=Easy. Exam=When did we learn this again?

9Graduate School. A lot of it.

So everyone should know by now that these three or four years you have spent doing your

undergraduate degree in Psychology is basically like an extended entrance exam to become a “real” Psychologist. After completing your bachelor’s degree it is unethical and for the most part illegal to begin practicing in most fields. This means then, that you need to begin getting as much experience as you can by participating in research studies. You also need to reflect

T-Tests, Z-Tests, too many tests

on what field of Psychology you are most interested in and where you wish to do your graduate studies.

Statistics is one of the most difficult subjects to grasp, especially if you have already decided that you hate it because it includes math. When in the exam you realize that you used the wrong value for sum of x values when

calculating Pearson r and you have to start all over, or when you accidentally deleted your SPSS file – this just confirms your dislike for the course. However, all psychologists must be able to grasp the major demandsof statistics in order to conduct research. For this reason, if you really want to be a Psychologist then suck it up and rock that course! My advice would be to practice, never miss a single lecture, always attend tutorials, always ask questions if you don’t understand and did I mention, practice!

References

1 All quotes are taken from https://twitter.com/PsychologyProbz 2 http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/01/cover-men.aspx

Undergrad Survival Guide By: Alexandra Daley

School in and of itself is a stress and let’s be real, even though we are given student handbooks we are still not well equipped to manage the demands of being an undergraduate. We are not prepared in previous years as it regards ‘breezing through ‘the subsequent three years or so of our academic lives so we use methods of trial and error as well as take the hear-say horror stories as gospel to govern our decisions. If only you were blessed with that little ‘piece of Heaven’, the right tools to ensure smooth sailing through the first three years of university....Hmm.. Guide Well, here my friend is the Undergraduate Survival Guide:

1. Map out or create a strategy plan to the day of graduation. graduation.

Read between the lines of your handbook and don’t expect the administration to answer those burning questions because some wont. You owe it to yourself to account for and complete all the required courses which will allow you to graduate with the degree of your choice and attain good grades. Make careful note of this because when judgement day comes, they will show no mercy when they tell you that you can’t graduate due to courses outstanding.

3. Do something you are passionate about If you don’t get up in the mornings and want to come to school to learn something new in your field, then you’re doing something wrong.

2. Don’t rely on the course outlines alone. The lecturers are your friends. Make use of of your your lecturer’s lecturer’s office office hours. hours.

There are here for the reason, these hours are the difference between a grade A and C. Take advantage of these hours, make it known to them that you are interested in their course even outside of lecture hours. You’ll be happy you did.

4. Work with your lecturer to find out what she/he looks for for in in assignments. assignments.

It really doesn’t make sense to try interpret what is happening on that assignment in front of you due next week Friday. Chances are you missed what the requirements are completely. A quick suggestion, go to your lecturer. Hint: They mark your papers!

5. If you don’t time manage you will suffer the wrath of chaos. Trust me. chaos. Trust me. The more you time manage the more

you will be productive. The more you are productive, the more work you are able to get done, thus the quicker you can submit an assignment. Then you can pick up leisure activities like reading, gardening or watching a new episode of ‘Pretty Little Liars’. Note well: One has to also look at the quality of work submitted. Give yourself adequate time to construct a first and second draft (optional) and give it to a tutor for feedback then with all corrections made, write the final draft and submit!

8. Talk in class. Ask questions. Even Even stupid stupid ones. ones. Loud, soft, chatterbox or quiet, at some point you should really make an attempt to speak up in class and make your opinion known. ‘Ask a question because other classmates want the same answer’. Not only will you clarify what was uncertain, but the lecturer will become familiarized with your face, which boosts your reputation and confidence.

10. Accept the work load with an an open open mind. mind. Be prepared to work like your life depended on it. The sooner you accept that your once straight A profile in high school will potentially see a few Bs…or Cs (God forbid)….the better.

6. Employ effective study habits. habits.

Without proper study habits, it’s more difficult to retain information for recall and application when you need it most. Jung is the father of what?

7. Find a mentor. They are like the fairy god-mothers of university. university. A mentor will guide you on the

journey to your Bachelor’s degree and thereafter(if your lucky). It doesn’t necessarily have to be a lecturer, but a tutor or a student in the year(s) above you. That way you can receive insight and advice as to the do’s and don’ts from persons who already ‘know the ropes’.

9. Read ahead of time and review review review! (Not just just what what you you get get in in class) class)

Let me be frank. Most lecturers are not going to give you word for word about a topic. Lecturers only provide you will a basis on which to do extensive reading outside of class. If you get lecture notes on your student portal it is like the holy grail. You have to read vastly in books, journals, the internet, anything….everything….

If you have any queries, contact me at www.facebook.com/psycdmag

Sincerel y , I was there once.

Maintaining

First Class Honours through to

Graduation

Most psychology students’ dream is to graduate with the highest attainable level of honours or distinction in the field in which they study, be it their Bachelors, Masters or Doctor of Philosophy. Some schools start calculating credits to a degree excluding the first year of undergraduate studies, while others sum all the course credits one has ever registered and completed once enrolled in the institution. Whether it be because the institution believes that students are expected to make poor choices in the first year, especially due to ‘academic workload shock’, or the latter, we all have reached that point where the question “How exactly do I maintain or attain first class honours through to graduation?” as a student. Here are some bullet proof ways in which I honestly believe any student will be able to graduate with first class honours.

Make your courses COMPLEMENT each other.

Hey, instead of just registering for any and every course under the sun, you can make a mental note of a strategic plan you will (in the next few seconds of reading this article) implement to give you value for your tuition buck. You can do one of the two:

a. Register with SIMILARITY

By this I mean if there are courses that are similar to each other (eg. research based courses), you will most likely learn the same thing across the two or more courses and this will in turn boost retention and capability to apply knowledge through practice.

b. Register with a BALANCE

If there are demanding courses that require you to do more than two essay assignments and a final exam, you need to start thinking up a strategy to combat this. If you can do a balance of heavy and notso-heavy work load courses, it will in the long run work in your favour.

By: Alexandra Daley

Do not stress to IMPRESS.

It doesn’t, doesn’t and I repeat doesn’t make sense to try to overburden yourself with a lot of courses, especially if you do not work well under stress and you are about to start your ‘count towards your degree’ courses. Unless you and stress have some secret pact in which you get along and you are in all actuality fine with taking six courses, then more power to you! But, for those left behind, do only what you can manage. Take summers if you have to. It’s better to ace the four courses than just pass the six. Chances are you look crazier doing six courses you can’t handle than you do sane. Trust me, the degree will be there any way you put it; it’s not running away.

3 4 KNOW the mark and strive towards it.

If anyone didn’t know by now, to graduate with first class honours a student needs to have a cumulative GPA of 3.6. Not to mention a required ninety credits (thirty level one and sixty level two and three courses). The sooner you know this and accept it, the sooner you can employ actions to achieving your goal. Believe you can do it and make it count.

Do not just say you want it. Do everything in your power to ‘GET THE GOAL’.

The lecturers can only do their part, tutorials can only clarify so much and notes can get you so far. You have to want to get the goal (make your dream a reality). Sleepless nights, late study hours, research times, and study groups. It’s all solely up to you my friend. The ball is in your court and it’s saying ‘Come and get it.’

Leaving high school and attending college the following year is not an easy task for everyone. Doing so, takes a lot of determination and confidence to move from doing one thing to the next, which may require different procedures and learning within a short period of time. Undoubtedly it is a lot of pressure being an undergraduate; especially when choosing the right courses and electives, meeting new friends or even getting to know your lecturers. As it relates to knowing your lecturers and finding out which courses to take for free electives, being shy or lazy is not an option and if you are, you have to put that aside - otherwise you will end up at the bottom of the barrel. Believe me. Being an undergraduate is the smoothest part of college life, in comparison to doing your masters or /and PhD - which is more compact and acclimated with work. So getting a good hang of it at the undergraduate level may help you manage your time, how much you sleep, study, exercise or even go out with your friends or family and still succeed in college. The bottom line is your success is in your hand. Whenever you fail a course, this is a common experience that can leave one feeling bewildered and abused. “What do I have to do to get an A?” “The test was unfair!” “My lecturer didn’t teach us that” “I studied the wrong material!” etc. you can’t forever go around blaming others as well as your lecturers for your failure in life. People see you as the failure not your lecturer or friends that might have contributed to it. So let’s make a change! Exams tend to promote feelings of fear, dread and worry in many college students. Many myths surround the whole topic, e.g.: that exams are designed to trick you, or that luck plays a key part in your chances of success. Many students think that success is only for: the very clever; the extremely hard working; those with a photographic memory, etc. These feelings all conspire to reduce confidence and turn otherwise capable individuals into nervous wreaks at exam time. As college students, the universal culture of fear, worry and stress has developed around exams. But it need not be like this and you can actually make exams easy. Here are some guidelines, tips to studying and note taking. Which will really make the difference in exam performance. It isn’t just hard work or intelligence that gets you through. In fact many hard working, intelligent people fail through poor exam techniques.

Ewan By: Joan

Guide & Tips t &

How to manage you time efficiently and study effectively

1) Manage your time - prepare a study schedule - plan the term out with courses -develop a weekly calendar

2) Techniques for effective study - question your notes - read - revise/review

3) Taking lecture notes -keep a separate notebook for each course (use sticky notes to revise and insert notes while still preserving lecture order) -take notes in the format of the lecture outline (use black capitals for major points)

A Few Practical tips

Even the best mind set for studying sometimes fails. Some of these failures occur because students attempt to work under conditions that are simply not conducive to concentrated study, so hence are a few suggestions that should assist you in reducing the possibility of procrastination or distraction. 1) If you have set up a schedule for studying make your roommate, family and friends aware of this commitment, and ask them to honor your quiet study time. Close your door and post a â&#x20AC;&#x153;DO NOT DISURBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; sign. 2) Do nothing but study in this place! 3) Use a desk or table, not your bed or an extremely comfortable chair. Try to set up a place to study that would minimizes potential distractions i.e, television, cell phone etc. 4) Study your most difficult or most challenging subjects first, when you are most alert! 5) Start with relatively short periods of contracted study, with breaks in between. It is better to study effectively for 15 minutes and then take a break than to fritter away 45 minutes out of an hour. 6) Finally, study by yourself first! Other students can be distracting or can break the pace at which learning is most efficient. Later, reserve a group study for its own place in schedule.

Tying The Knot Thoughts

I hope that these suggestions help make you more successful academically, and that they enhance the quality of your college life in general. Having the necessary skills makes any job a lot easier and more pleasant. Do not attempt to make too drastic changes in your life-style immediately. Good habits require time and self-discipline to develop. Once established, they can last a lifetime.

to studying Note Taking

In this day and age, the competition for a job is as tough as it can get. It is evident how the hunt for a job can be tedious and can often lead to disappointment for the illprepared(or even sufficiently qualified)applicant. From gaining work experience to earning a second degree, individuals are taking the necessary measures to ensure that they can put themselves at an advantage above their other competitors. But what about research experience? And how does this benefit the young psychology student of today?

importance p gaining of ResEarch h xperience r By: Davia Andrews

It isn’t a surprise that to get a good job these days in the psychological field, one needs a degree higher than the bachelor’s degree. There are a plethora of master’s and doctorate programs worldwide that cater to the needs of different students. These graduate programs aid the psychology student in deepening their knowledge base and most provide hands on experience in the subject at hand. Obtaining one or both of these graduate degrees provides the student with more benefits than if they only had their first degree. Being accepted into these programs, on the other hand, is a whole different story. Since a lot of these programs (especially clinical psychology programs) require research experience to be listed on the application. Some schools even ask for recommendations that can attest to the applicant’s research experience. Without a doubt, research experience obtained during the time spent as an undergraduate can prove to be highly beneficial to those applying for further studies. Not only does research experience aid the psychology student in putting their best foot forward, but it can provide them with the foundation they need to excel in their careers. If you are looking to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in any area of psychology, one should note that this degree is heavily research based and does require prior experience to prove that the applicant can handle the task at hand. Therefore, having a

basic framework of research experience can really benefit this person (and even others who are looking to make their career out of research) by teaching them the proper “do’s and don’ts” from early on. This way, with the proper foundation in place, the individual has a better chance to carry out and understand what is required of them, thus allowing these budding researchers to confidently produce their research, whether in a school setting or outside in the workplace. Lastly and, I strongly believe, most importantly research experience provides an individual with key skills that will help them survive not only in the workplace, but in everyday life. Research experience in an undergraduate setting comes in the form of courses that are monitored by lecturers, assisting graduate students and senior undergraduates with their research papers, and also assisting trained professionals with the research that they are conducting. Taking part in any (or all) of these ventures requires the student to be able to meet deadlines. Not only that, but research experience can teach one the art of assuming responsibility, interacting with others, practical skills (like using the ‘Statistical Package for the Social Sciences’, aka SPSS), working in teams and also discipline. No matter what profession, specialization or walk of life one chooses, research experience does provide necessary benefits.

Where would we Be IN LIFE Where would we be today if we did not have positive social support? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure everyone experiences a great level of stress at some point in their life, but was able to overcome this phase through some form of support. Social support is essential to our mental well being as we cope with the stressors we encounter daily, and we have all relied on our parents and friends at some time or another to provide support during a difficult time. Several studies have identified the positive effects of a good social support network. Social support is defined as support accessible to an individual through social ties to other individuals, groups and the larger community (Ozbay, Johnson, Dimoulas, Morgan, Charney & Southwick, 2007) and Social support can be both intangible and tangible. Intangible social support includes getting advice from friends and being shown adequate attention whie tangible support can take the form of finances (for example, we are supported by our parents when they pay our tuition fees). Some of the benefits of social support are increased self-worth and a sense of belonging since we evaluate ourselves based on how others view us.

We feel the need to be loved and cared for and these are some of the things we achieve when we get positive social support. A third type of social support is informational support anout a phenomenon which may be garnered through others. In essence, the information we acquire from others will support us in any task at hand.

Human studies have found that a low social support system has been associated with physiological and neuroendocrine indices of heightened stress reactivity which includes health problems such as an increased blood pressure, elevated heart rate and exaggerated cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to laboratory stressors (Ozbay et al, 2007). Social support can be viewed as a prevention and a cure for stress thus reducing the chances of developing health problems and positive social support restores and helps to fulfill human well being. Sarafino & Wilson (2011) contended that men have a larger social network than women however women tend to use their support more effectively.

Could this be the result of men failing to vocalize their concerns in order to present themselves as tough to avoid feeling weak? Men fear being labeled as weak and so they bottle their discomforts or problems while women are more likely to voice their concerns which then results in solutions to their problems. Building partnerships with community organizations or school clubs are two of the many ways that one can receive and give social support. In order to expand our social support network, we have to make ourselves more sociable because not only will people want to get to know the person behind the image they see, but this can eventually lead to a lifetime of support and friendship.

References Sarafino, E.P & Wilson, T.E. (2011). Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Interactions- Seventh Edition. Library of Congress: USA

WITHOUT POSITIVE SOCIAL SUPPORT? By: Felicia Richards

l o o h c

s p i h s n io

t a l Re

Growing up, we are told to focus on education, and if we have extra activities outside of school, we should learn balance. Often, the idea of relationships during the educational process is looked down upon. Since, we might get distracted.

Keeping The

Balance By: B’andra Haughton

It makes no sense you tell growing adolescent homo-sapiens that relationships is a “no-no”’, because we WILL engage in them, we are social creatures after all. What we need to focus on is how to balance both our school and relationships because-MODERATION IS KEY.

1. Make a date….a STUDY date

Come on, we’re all University students here and if our significant other (S. O.) just so happens to be another university student… we understand…money isn’t growing on trees. So instead of all the fancy date plans, like restaurants where you get less for the money you spend, or even the usual date ideas, like a movie (I mean, a movie ticket costs about $1000.00 and no one wants watch a movie on an empty stomach). So why not economize, I’m sure all that really matters is being able to spend time with that person and you get to study for your courses in the meantime (especially if you both do the same major).

2. Calm down on the jealousy.

Okay, so the ratio of males-females is approximately 3:7 (University of the West Indies, 2011). With that said, ladies, the chance of your S.O. conversing or being friendly with a vast amount of women is pretty high. You can’t keep him locked up in a box, meaning, don’t restrict or stalk his every move. This might actually cause him to rethink his whole relationship. But, gentlemen, don’t make this an excuse to go around flirting with whomever you feel. With a ratio like that, I’m sure you can understand why your S.O. might feel insecure. Besides, jealousy can have a great impact on your studies as it might act as a distraction. Can you imagine studying for your exam and the girl you saw your S.O. talking with a month ago pops into your head? Just relax.

3.You are NOT your relationship Now, pay close attention, as people often think otherwise. You and your S.O. are NOT the relationship. You are your own person, your S.O. is his/her own person and the relationship is an entity within itself. Therefore, don’t let it run your every thought and action. You must be able to make decisions for yourself, especially with how it will impact your education. Remember, your relationship isn’t going to do your exams for you. YOU are responsible for your success or failure.

4.PRI-OR-I-TIZE

This is probably the MOST important. Why? Because we’re still young, the chance of us settling down with our S.O. and deciding our life plan together is…pretty small. We’re still at an experimental age. We need to understand that even if our current intimate relationship ends, the likelihood of another starting is pretty high, but your education? That’s something that will impact your life for longer than you can imagine.

ADVICE COLUMN 1

Not sure about a particular course? Looking for help with an assignment? Need help with course selection? Don’t know the difference clinical and applied psychology? Why not ask the students who have gone before you? Just like the older members of society who have a lot of knowledge and experience so too do your “older” peers. Who else can you ask about the lecturers and their moods? Who better to tell you that if you want an easy ‘A’ qualitative research is not for you? There is a wealth of knowledge and experience that you can draw from. All you have to do is ask. - Deborah Smith, BSc. Final Year

Ok my advice upon entering as a Psychology Major. Well my first order of business to make myself clear ‘you’ know nothing. You have to enter with a clear mind and start from the beginning. High school gives you a fogged view of the world of work and life. After your have realized you know nothing, the next thing to do is to start finding out about your surroundings- the best spots to eat, to study, the lecturers you want to careful around and the ones that are in a position to give you good advice. The best way to find that out is talk to seniors that have been through it before. So my main advice to you is get to know your department lecturers, tutors and it won’t hurt too much to get to know your classmates. - Chadd Coore, BSc. Final Year

The advice I would give to students is to constantly read, don’t wait to be told what to do. Also be apart of the mentorship programme to be guided by professionals experienced in the field. Not to mention let Psychology be apart of you, not just something you have to study. Join the psychology association which gives you valuable information as to steps to take as a budding psychologist. Finally, do as much research as you can because it it contributes to knowledge in every occupation. - Chantalli Morrison, BSc. Final Year

In need of advice from someone who has experienced what it’s like to study psychology at the undergraduate level? Here are some useful tips •Do your research even though you may think psychology is the field for you. You might like talking to people and giving advice, but psychology entails a lot more than that. •See if the field is in line with your personality trait. Personality tests can help. Visit these links http://personality-testing.info/tests/BIG5.php or http://www.personalitytype.com/career_quiz or http://www.careertest.net/ •Speak to professionals in the field to gain insight on what their job is really like. Google can help, but it is also useful to directly hear from someone. •Get rid of the idea of Psychology being a way to escape Math,you will have Statistics to do. •Try to understand psychology—go deeper than the surface information that you receive from word of mouth or brief readings. •Try to see if you can get an internship with a psychologists in order to give you exposure to some of the tasks that will be required of you. You don’t have to know much about an area to be an intern, that’s the point, gaining knowledge and experience. My first internship was in the summer before I enrolled in my undergraduate degree. •Research on the pay, specialties within the discipline and the nature of each. Also research on employment opportunities locally and internationally. •Get an idea of where and which area you would like to complete your Masters degree in. •Do not limit yourself. It is good to diversify where you attain your qualification. If you complete your bachelors at one institution, do your masters at another. It will make you ore marketable. However, at the end of the day, it is really a personal choice. •Start researching for Masters program by the start of your second year (application process is time consuming and tedious). •Volunteer a lot. Not only will it prepare you with invaluable skills, it will look good on your resume and show that you are not all about the money not to mention that you get to network with professionals in this area and a good recommendation letter is needed when applying for graduate studies - Ballecia Richards, BSc. Final Year

Though overlooked and may be a little bit too overstressed at times, never underestimate the power of simply looking over your course outlines and checking OURVLE daily. Constantly reminding your self of the tasks you have to do may help you to organize your thoughts and approach in completing your course assignments on time and preparing for your exams. Another small note to consider is to put your assignments on sticky notes with their due dates. You may get creative with it and have a different colour representing how many weeks til the due date. Place these sticky notes somewhere you will see them often enough everyday for example on the cover of your note book. It is also wise to include course readings on these sticky notes as well. - Bridgitte Stuart, BSc. Final Year

GOOD LUCK!

Should I wait for a job to come knocking at my door or should I continue pursuing my education at the next level in my studies? These are some of the questions individuals ask when they graduate and are unsure of the next step to take in their life. Even if you don’t know what the practical applications of your degree are, within the three or four years of working for that degree you will realize that you have developed as a person. You would have matured, gained independence and learned how to manage yourself. A lot of us appreciated the idea that once we got that degree, we were assured of a job. We are expecting opportunities to come rushing in as we have that piece of paper that sets us apart from most people who did not get the opportunity to get that level of education. However, there are many actions that a graduate can take when they are unsure of what to do next after getting that degree. Let’s assume you already have an idea of what you want in life, a great place to start is by contacting a lecturer in the field you are interested in who can assist you in getting more information and lead you on the right path. With those persons who are not comfortable with speaking to a lecturer, there is always the career’s office which is found on most college or university campuses where they can recommend ways to access job postings. Another way of making a head start in finding that right career for you is by contacting someone who has the job that you are interested in and learn from them how they got started. On the other hand, you may be interested in pursuing a higher level of degree, for example moving from Bachelor’s degree to Masters’ Degree. If you are looking towards that angle, you have to be in the right frame of mind as sacrifices have to be made such as commitment of time, finances and emotional energy. With every sacrifice made, comes not only the benefit of obtaining that Master’s Degree Title but also knowledge, a wider array of higher employment opportunities along with societal development, and perhaps one of the most outstanding reasons; “A Bigger Pay check”. Despite the commitment required, enrolling in graduate school is a great deal of merit.

We all have different views about life after receiving a degree and the journey that should be taken next. Life is about taking chances so think big, go all out and take great leaps even if you are afraid of failure. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”. -Winston Churchill

So You’ve Graduated

WHAT

By: Chardae Hanson

We all go through university with high ambitions for ourselves; however as graduation swiftly approaches with our much coveted bachelors degree becoming an ever closer reality many of us realize there is much work to be done. Of course there are countless examples of people turning their first degree into full blown careers and fortunes, nevertheless I knew there was a high probability that the University of the West Indies (UWI) wouldn’t be my final stop in a classroom. My love of Shakespeare and Plato would mould my mind to analyze even the most mundane of statements ( What exactly do you mean when you say “tun up?”) ;but would it be enough to land me my dream job?

By: Joanne Mason

Graduate

It was this line of thinking that lead me to pursue a Juris Doctorate (or a degree in mental gymnastics) , so law school it was! I also decided that though I adored UWI (cough) one major and two minors was quite enough for me. I was determined to join thousands of others and become part of the Jamaican Diaspora. So what does the international student need to know about applying to graduate school abroad? ? I would first say that this isn’t a decision that you should make in the latter part of undergrad.

Applicants to many of these institutions number in the thousands and though our island paradise is enough to give you a guaranteed second glance it doesn’t seal the deal. I’ll give you a synopsis of what I would have done differently and hopefully my reflection might save you a future headache.

Bump up that G.P.A

It goes without saying that university can sometimes seem daunting and many times we are tempted to believe those myths that we’re fed (Mr. “so and so” doesn’t give A’s) and ( after mi nah kill miself fi ah firs class!) I implore you to push yourself as close to that mark as possible. I graduated with an upper second (first class would have given me

some peace of mind).

Do not underestimate these entrance exams If I could sing this to the tune of “Wading in the Water” I would. I know many of us have the understanding that between Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination(CAPE) and UWI exams It can’t get much worse (I’m looking at you faculty of the pure and applied sciences) but there is another world of terror awaiting you. For instance most of my university exams extended to two hours max, my LSAT (Law School Admission Test) lasted for four hours with a fifteen minute break in-between. This requires at minimum six months of preparation if you’re a reasonably good student.

Scho l and Applying Abroad Bleaching does not apply here, neither for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Medical College Admissions Test (MCATS). To make myself clear there is no amount of “Boom”, coffee or consecrated olive oil that will carry you through any of these exams. Yes grace does abound but solid preparation gives sound sleep.

The expense.

Since we’re on topic for the exams and preparation, the way you prepare makes a significant difference. The amount you spend depends on how much help you need and the time before your exam. There is an abundance free material available for any of these papers, self prep books if you’re diligent and have an abundance of time, this

might work for you. There is also the option of prep courses online or in person which cost about a semesters tuition.

Live out a story worth telling.

I know you’ve heard this over and over again “UWI your place to shine!” but let me tell you, every potential school calls for some statement to show how “you made a difference” or what experience “changed” you. Now many of us treat school as a job where we clocked in and out of classes. Do yourself a favour and engage your surroundings. Whether it be through outreach programs, theatre, or student leadership. Admission boards try to ensure that they create the most diverse class groups possible, what sets you apart?

Develop good relationships with your professors!

Make sure you’re in good standing with your lecturers. Graduate schools not only want character references but academic ones. We’ve all walked pass those signs on office doors curtly stating “no longer taking any further requests for recommendation letters”. Your rapport should be such that such a message wouldn’t apply to you. To surmise I would say just spend your time in undergraduate studies anticipating your future. The actual application process is off-putting enough without the added worry of not having applied yourself for the last three years. If you find yourself wishing you had done more there is still time to prepare. So your Grade Point Average (G.P.A) isn’t as high as you’d like then make sure you ace the exam. If you didn’t do enough campus activities you can still find outreach programs and better your community. In the words of Mary Ann Evans “it’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Graduate Scho l and Applying Abroad 30

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF SOMEONE IS LYING TO YOU? By: Carlos Hidalgo

Telling white lies and fibs are something that just about everyone does from time to time. In fact, they can even be necessary for your survival. If a woman asks you, “Hunny do these pants make me look fat”? It is in your best interest to say NO, even if you are blatantly lying to your significant other’s face. However, some situations have higher stakes (no pun intended), and having the ability to know when someone is lying to you can be crucial. Luckily, knowing how to tell if someone is lying can be learned by reading the person’s body language. It’s been said that over 90% of communication is non-verbal. This means that there is a lot more to a person than just what they say. In fact, once you get better at being able to “read between the lines”, you will notice that much of what people say isn’t exactly congruent with what their body is saying. So here are some things to look for the next time you think someone is lying to you. (It is important to remember to read non-verbal cues in clusters since an isolated gesture can have a certain meaning given its context)

The

Face

• The mouth cover-The hand covers the mouth as the brain subconsciously tells it try and suppress the deceitful lies being said. Often times, the liar will try and over this gesture up with a fake cough. • The nose touch-Consists of one to several small rubs of the bottom of the nose. According to a study done at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, chemicals known as catecholamines are released causing tissue inside the nose to swell. This is known as the “Pinocchio Effect”. The chemicals cause a slight irritation that urge a person to rub or scratch it. • The ear grab- Happens when the person who is lying tugs or rubs the back of the ear. It also comes in the form of tugging at the earlobe or beding the entire ear forward. • Fingers-in-mouth- This occurs when a person uses the satisfaction that comes from an oral fixation to calm himself down when they are lying. This can also be seen when a person inserts either a cigarette, pen, glasses, or gum into their mouth.

The Eyes

• Pupil dilation- A person’s pupils will dilate up to four sizes. It is important to remember that dilation can also occur depending on the lighting. So it may not be the most effective tool in detecting signs of a lie. • Eye contact- Contrary to popular belief, studies have shown that people will actually hold eye contact when lying. It is believed that these people do so in attempts to try and do the opposite of what would normally be expected. • Blinking-- The average person blinks six to eight times per minute. Each blink lasts about a tenth of a second. However, a person who is lying will increase their blinking rate. • Eye movement- The eyes of a person move when they want to access certain parts of their brain. American psychologists Grinder and Bandler developed this concept in a field of study called Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Eyes that move to the left side do so to RECALL imagery(up), sounds(mid), or for self-talk(down). Eyes that move to the right do so to CREATE imagery(up), noises(mid), or to recall an emotion(down). So a person that moves their eyes to the right (your left) in a sudden and unconscious fashion may be making something up on the spot. Just be aware that these movements can happen in a fraction of a second.

The Arms

• The collar pull- Lies cause a tingling sensation in the delicate facial and neck tissues. Increased blood pressure also causes you to perspire on your neck, which leads a person to pull their collar to allow air to circulate. This also happens when a person is angry or frustrated. • The neck stratch- This is one of the classics signs of a lie. The index finger of the dominant hand scratches the side of the neck below the earlobe. This gesture reveals that the person has doubt or uncertainty. The amount of scratches usually comes in fives. • Crossed arms- Can signify that the person is closing them self off or creating a barrier between them and the person they are lying to.

The Hands

•Open palms - Showing your palms is a way of showing another person that you come in peace. By demonstrating that you have nothing in your hands, you are essentially telling the person that you are not “holding” anything back. Many people who are truly innocent will raise both hands up with their palms facing outward in surrender. Those who may be lying will be more reluctant to do so. Becoming a human lie detector test is a process and is something that you will improve on with time. Again, it is crucial that body language be read in clusters. This will prevent someone from misinterpreting a gesture that may have been purely contextual. As you begin to get better and better, remember that people lie for different reasons. Some of these may be fear, anxiety, confusion, or a number of other things. So be forgiving and use this new skill as a way to better understand others around you and not as a way to simply call them out or make them feel bad. It should always be about improving the quality of both your life and those of your peers. References(Book): The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan & Barbara Pease

Figure this out to win a prize! Post your answer at www.facebook.com/psycdmag

Your Social By Dr. Peggy Drexler

Life Is Not Media

Jessie, a 30-year-old real estate agent, was the last of her friends to join Instagram. The day she signed up, she followed some sixty accounts—friends and acquaintances as well as accounts maintained by clothing brands or celebrities she was interested in. Then she busily set about posting photos. By the end of the month, she was following more than two hundred accounts, most of them people she actually knew, though she had amassed only fifteen followers of her own. Of course celebrities wouldn’t follow her back, she reasoned—but she couldn’t help but wonder why some in her circle of friends hadn’t, either. “I took it very personally,” she told me. “Was it that they thought my life was so boring that it wasn’t worth following? Or were we not really friends after all?” The answer? Well, it could have been both. Or it could have been neither. Perhaps her friends were trying to send her a message. Maybe they didn’t really like her. Perhaps they thought her life was dull beyond belief. Or maybe it was something far more benign than whatever Jessie could, and did, speculate; something closer to user error or an inadvertent slight. Maybe it was simply that her friends didn’t take social media as seriously as she did, and would have been surprised to learn they’d hurt her. But the intention no longer mattered: Jessie had already begun to question relationships she’d felt fine with just weeks earlier.

Social media-induced angst is happening with increasing frequency. Just as businesses and brands use social media to interact with their target audience and monitor consumer interest, people are using social media to gauge how their friends and acquaintances feel about them. “Likes” may be interpreted as approvals. Not “liking,” not following, or otherwise not engaging might translate into snubs. Since social media etiquette is largely undefined, and there are few universally-understood and followed “rules of engagement,” such interpretation is highly subjective and, in many instances, leans towards the worst-case scenario.

Social media has made many aspects of relationships more accessible: Viewing posts from friends scattered around the world can make you feel more connected to them, while the ubiquity of social media can often make it easier to get in touch with someone than more traditional, “offline” means. But social media also helps fuel feelings of isolation and self-doubt. A 2012 study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, for example, found that the longer people spent on Facebook each week, the more they agreed that everyone else was happier and had better lives. For some, that self-doubt can be countered in the same place it originates: through affirming social media interactions. This is part of what keeps users coming back to sites like Instagram and Facebook; favorable attention, when achieved, is an addictive sort of reward. It’s also what makes not receiving those affirmations so dispiriting. Being on the short end of someone’s social media endorsements can create feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, and irritation, while being too generous with your own social media praise can feel one-sided when left unreciprocated. So, then, can the friendship. Such feelings are exacerbated when friends don’t follow you back, in the case of Instagram or Twitter or, worse, quit following or “defriend” you, a circumstance so obsessed-over it has inspired a number of web applications with names like Unfollowgram, Friend or Follow, JustUnfollow, iUnfollow, and Unfriend Finder meant to help users determine who dropped them. When Ben fulfilled a lifelong dream of opening a bookstore, he created a business page on Facebook. Then he invited all 750 of his friends to “Like” it. Barely a quarter of them did, and every day as he monitored his page waiting for the Likes that didn’t come, he grew more and more offended. Hadn’t he always remembered his friend Lisa’s daughter’s birthday? Wasn’t he a caring friend to Danny? And what about Mike, his best man? Friendship, for Ben, became about score keeping. When those friends who’d let him down on social media called on him in real life, he found himself being frosty. Sure: It’s normal to feel irritated when a friend responds to another friend’s tweets, but never yours. And it’s understandable to feel a twinge of jealousy when you see two friends having fun together at a concert as you sat home watching Netflix in your PJs, unaware they’d made plans without you. It’s even normal, if a new sort of normal, to upload a retaliatory “good time pic” of your own. But it’s important to remember that as far as barometers of friendship go, social media is pretty shallow. It’s unrealistic, and dangerous, to presume you know how someone feels about you based on how they react or respond to you, or don’t, through virtual means, whether that presumption is positive or negative. How people use social media is too new, and too varied. Judging how someone feels about you is what in-the-moment conversations and face-toface encounters are for. It’s called real life—remember that? Your Social Life Is Not Your Social Media |Social media-induced angst is happening with increasing frequency | Published on October 17, 2013 by Peggy Drexler, Ph.D. in Our Gender, Ourselves | Psychology Today

Ways To Utilize The Power Of As a psychology major in the final year of my undergraduate studies, I am well aware of the stigma, limitations and general misunderstandings that have surrounded the discipline for years. Among the masses, it is not uncommon to hear phrases such as “why you want to talk to mad people?”, “You just want to read people’s mind” or even “why you wasting your time on a degree you’ll never use?” The reason for this negative outlook by the layman is due to a sort of ‘mystification’ that has been attributed to the field. In a nutshell, all things psychological have been placed under the umbrella term “madness” with there being no ‘real’ understanding of what psychology really means. Whether as a whole or among its various fields, it is actually about as the language used within the discipline, both in articles and textbooks, tends to be very highbrow and extremely technical and in all honestly a little dull. In combination with the prevalence of using psychology as means of assessing abnormalities with people mentally, has resulted in a ‘glass half-empty’ view of psychology as it is firstly, not very digestible to the public at large, and second, in the last few decades has placed a hyper focus on illness and pathology, a move which in fact serves to alienate further, those members of the general public deemed ‘normal’ and healthy.’ This then opens up the question of: Is Psychology just for those deemed mentally ill? And the simple answer remains of course NOT! Psychology is meant to be a discipline, which through the study of mental processes and emotions identifies, tries to define and hopefully solve the issues of the society at large. Therefore, in layman’s terms, it is not just about ‘mad’ people but for those who are quite sane. Sometimes confused with the ‘gimmicky’ nature of popular psychology (the stuff Selfhelp books are made of), positive psychology seeks to find and mobilize all that is right with people. Therefore it wishes to improve the quality of one’s life by focusing on the areas that make life worth living and provide optimal human functioning. The main pillars of this branch of psychology as opposed to DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) classifications are instead the psychological underpinnings for happiness and morality; as it focuses on one’s well-being and human flourishing. While positive psychology in its scope may sound like what Disney movies are made of or taking a ‘glass half full’ approach, it is in actuality a highly progressive stance and goes against the ’natural’ tendency to ruminate on the bad. By utilizing positive psychology, certain core values (e.g. love, humanity, wisdom and temperance) are placed at the fore, our attentions turn on our positive traits, abilities, experiences, emotions and institutions forming a new perspective which emphasize our strengths in our current situations. While this may sound like a big task, here are three very easy and fun ways to utilize the power of positive psychology and help us to see the glass as half full. One of the most common ways is through journaling; we don’t just mean writing down what happens. Time should be taken to offer yourself some productive, in depth and practical reflection of your days and your thoughts. This is not about blaming or regret but about reflection, so look at the good and emphasize why it was good. Journaling is about learning yourself and your experiences and by doing this daily or weekly, one can held find greater meaning to life, thus improvements are made as a person. In that same breath, mindfulness mediation is also a great way to go. By taking a few minutes each day (I prefer to end my day this way), be still, quiet and reflect. It doesn’t have to be long; it just has to be undisturbed! We are so active we never take the time out to just be and think. You won’t regret this one!

Seeing the glass Half

Positive Psychology

By: Jeremy Spence

The last idea is to make a gratefulness/experience jar. In much of the same vein of journaling this is a really cool way to get your feelings on paper. Often times we don’t stop to think of the good that happens in our life, be it a compliment from a stranger, ‘thank you’ for holding the door, or someone buying you lunch. By noting the experiences you are grateful for it makes you more aware of the little things that brighten your day and it makes you more conscious to return the favour. By getting a transparent jar and jotting down those little ‘happy’ moments on colourful sticky notes, not only do you have something to look back on on those ‘rain cloud’ days, but it makes a great room decoration which at the end of the year you can reflect on. In the end these are just a few little things you can do to practice positive psychology, and if you are interested in learning more, the YouTube channel T.E.D X Talks has TONS more ideas. Positivity is a force in motion and when you start seeing that glass half full, you’ll be surprised how the world can change!

- Full

are psychol gist realy

MinRdeaders? 41

Believe it or not, some persons among us do believe that psychologists are psychics - people who are said to be able to read the mind and have the ability to identify information that our normal senses do not have the ability to do, called extrasensory perception. Such extrasensory perception is said to cause the psychic to define characteristics about a person who is not directly in contact with them through access of the individual’s belongings. This is called psychometry (www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-psychic.htm). Before doing my in-depth research on the discipline of psychology, whenever I made it be known to others that I have an interest in venturing into this area, the first response would be, “yuh wah fi work wid mad people?” or “yuh a go learn how to read my mind man?”. Additional insight gained on the perception that some persons think psychologists can read minds was during my internship. A masters student in clinical psychology told me of her experiences with guys who approached her. When they discovered her area of study, they would behave weirdly and make the statements such as, “oh, so your reading my mind now, psychoanalyzing me and ting?” or they would lose some amount of interest maybe because of the fear that “she can read my mind if I am lying”. Funny right? It is to me since I have the knowledge that psychologist are no such persons. Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mind and this discipline seeks to explain how we think, feel and act. Our arguments and findings are based on scientific research and not mere speculations and intuition. We do not have the ability to read one’s mind, but we do study the brain and its functions using various tools such as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and the Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) Scan. We scientifically observe, analyze and try to predict behavior based on these scientific studies and findings. What is the scientific method? The scientific method is an array of techniques used for obtaining new knowledge, investigating phenomenon and adjusting or adding to preceding knowledge. The method used must be based on quantifiable and empirical evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. (For more information refer to this link http://www.psychology.sdsu.edu/advising/general_frame_right.htm. ) As students of psychology we should be knowledgeable about our discipline in order to clarify the many misconceptions that others have, including but not limited to what is discussed here. So if you should hear someone mistakenly classifying psychologists as psychics, remember the process through which psychologists attain information on various phenomenon and enlighten them. After all, it’s never too late to learn something new. Make a difference.

By: Ballecia Richards

TO CRAM? ------OR NOT------

CRAMMING

TO CRAM?

That is the question.

By: Marsha-Lee Mundle

Sue-Lee* is an undergraduate student at the University of the West Indies Mona. Her major is Psychology and she is in her second year of study. Sue-Lee is the Secretary at her church as well as the Youth President. She is the Vice President for the Youth Club in her community as well as the head of the Planning Committee at a club at school. In addition, Sue-Lee has to spend at least eight hours per week in volunteering activities as a condition of her scholarship. She also works 12 hours per week because she really needs the extra money. Sounds hectic? It is. This is why Sue-Lee says she only has time to cram for exams, not study or practice, but cram. Is Sue-Lee right for doing this or is she making one of the biggest mistakes as a student? She says she barely has time for herself and merely does what is necessary to complete assignments and pass exams – she crams. Her current Grade Point Average (GPA) is 4.03. The Oxford online dictionary defines “cram” as to “study intensively over a short period of time just before an examination”. Cramming is a phenomenon that every student can attest to indulging in at some point in their academic lives. For some students with busy lives like Sue-Lee, cramming becomes a necessity, while some students are just plain lazy and love to procrastinate. Students often wait until a day or even the night before an exam to get all the material into their heads. This is often a very tedious process that leaves one feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Try to fit thirteen weeks of information into twenty-four hours…now, there’s a challenge! With such an enviable GPA, cramming clearly works for Sue-Lee, or does it? Sue-Lee confesses that she can hardly remember most of the things she learnt during her first year – she used the information to pass her exams, then the information passed from her mind. This is the way cramming works. It may help in passing exams but what about retention and application of material? What will happen when Sue-Lee enters the workplace if she continues to cram? One’s degree cannot be applied to a job; instead he or she has to apply the knowledge and skills gained during reading for the degree to completing tasks in the workplace. The goal of a university education is not for you to pass exams, but rather to equip you to be effective in a work environment. Cramming does not help this! So to answer the question – if you are someone who really just wants to pass exams and graduate, then cram on! However, for those of you who want an education and not just a degree, cramming cannot help. It is at best ineffective, and defeats the purpose of getting an education. Cramming is not your friend.So please, tell Mr. Cram to scram! Learn, don’t just regurgitate. *Fictional Name

Book Review: The Ninth Life of Louis Drax Louis Drax is a boy like no other. He is brilliant and strange, and every year something violent seems to happen to him. On his ninth birthday, Louis goes on a picnic with his parents and falls off a cliff. The details are shrouded in mystery. Louisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother is shell-shocked; his father has vanished. And after some confusion Louis himself, miraculously alive but deep in a coma, arrives at Dr. Pascal Dannachetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebrated coma clinic...Full of astonishing twists and turns, this is a masterful tale of the secrets the human mind can hide.

Although a relatively small book, and one that will compel you to finish it once you open the cover, this book is not an easy read. Oh you’ll fly through the pages easily enough, but the story of young accident-prone Louis Drax is not a happy one. This dark psychological thriller may be unsettling to some, particularly if you are a protective mother of an only child, and you may find yourself trying on the shoes of Natalie Drax, said shoes being pretty uncomfortable to live in. Few readers can escape unmoved when being told of a child who has escaped death eight times in eight years, only to fall off a cliff on his ninth birthday, under suspicious circumstances, to his apparent death. Miraculously, Louis lives to fight another day, but this time he’s in a coma, in a special clinic, “talking” to us through an imaginary and gruesome companion. Always a difficult and precocious child, the comatose Louis still manages to stir up trouble for not only his mother, but also his doctor and one-time psychiatrist, and the police find themselves dealing with something quite out of the ordinary. Certain conclusions can be drawn quite early in the book, but do not detract from the clever story telling. This one grabs your attention and holds it until you reluctantly turn the final page. - Amanda Richards, November 13, 2005

Here is the breakout novel--a literary thriller that’s almost impossible to put down--for British writer Jensen (Egg Dancing, 1996).It has already been optioned by Miramax, with Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain) set to direct. It is narrated both by nine-yearold Louis Drax, who is in a coma in a clinic in Provence, and by his doctor, Pascal Dannachet. According to Louis’ mother, Natalie, Louis was thrown off a cliff by his angry father, who has subsequently disappeared. As Dannachet, who has grown increasingly estranged from his wife, probes the Draxes’ family history, he is soon smitten by emotionally needy and vulnerable Natalie, although certain elements of her story don’t seem to add up. Louis’ distinctive narrative voice is instantly gripping; referring to himself as the Disturbed Child, he relays in a grimly funny, precocious voice the many accidents he has suffered in his short, unhappy life. Because Louis’ narration is so singular, Dannachet’s suffers by comparison. This is sure to remind readers of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [BKL Ap 1 03]. Joanne Wilkinson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved - Booklist

POLL

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE MAKING THE RIGHT ACADEMIC CHOICES AS IT REGARDS YOUR PREFERRED CAREER CHOICE?

A total of 265 persons participated in the survey to examine how many individuals are in fact making the right academic choices as it regards their preferred career choice. Of the two hundred and sixty five participants, 51% were male and 49% female.

Of the overall number of participants, majority of the applicants in years ‘one’, ‘two’ and ‘other’ said they were certain that they were making the right choices (11%, 19.2%, 3.01% respectively), whereas most of year ‘three’ participants admitted that they were uncertain(16.6%).

Featured Event: THE

UWI Mona Psychology 2 Conferenc e 0 1 4 By: Shontel Baptiste

The much raved about Annual University of the West Indies Psychology Conference is set for Thursday, March 6th and Friday, March 7th 2014. This conference will be hosted by the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. The invited speakers for this year are: Dr. Jozelle Miller –PhD in Health psychology Dr. Deborah Duperly-Pinks – Social Psychologist Dr C. Jama Adams - Clinical Psychologist Dr Kim Mizrahi - Social Psychologist and Director at Carbon Six, a Strategic Research Company. This year’s two-day conference will focus on research and findings on the role of contemporary psychology in the development of a healthy mind, body and spirit, the influence of the society and culture on our wellbeing, as we are all social beings and also developmental influences during childhood, adolescence an aging. Our guest speakers will be presenting the theme as reflected in their sub-disciplines of Organisational, Community, Clinical and Health Psychology and impactful demonstrations, workshops and seminars from these areas will be offered throughout the duration of the conference to all attendees. Climaxing the conference will be a Healthy, Mind and Body Jam, offering a virtual experience of achieving health of the human body. This conference is a must-attend event for Psychology students as they will garner much insight on research skills, developing new ideas, mental health experiences and Caribbean factors in treatment, research and policies. Participating in the conference will provide students with a remarkable opportunity, especially those who are unsure of the sub-discipline they wish to pursue – they gain a better idea of the route they wish to take. The planning committee, Dr. Tracy McFarlane, Verol Billett, Tashana Clemmings, Daria Delancy, Nickeisha Ricketts and Cecelia Samuels, has done an exceptional job in strategically organizing the presenters and all that the conference encompasses - a tedious job indeed! Participants will leave the conference with - An in depth understanding of what constitutes a healthy mind, body and spirit. - How to achieve this health. - Backgrounds on organisational, community, clinical and health psychology. - An understanding of the impact of sociocultural and developmental influences on wellbeing. - Build relationships with presenters and gain more understanding as to experience in the field. - And much more...

“Health is a state of complete harmony of the mind, body and spirit…” Planning Committee

Invited Speakers for the Conference

Dr. Jozelle Miller Health Psychologist

Dr. Deborah Duperly-Pinks Social Psychologist

Dr. C. Jama Adams Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Kim Mizrahi Social Psychologist

For those who haven’t already, register now via: myspot.mona.uwi.edu/spsw/registration and join us.

SELF TEST: WHICH CARE Picking a career is never easy, especially when there are so many options to choose from. Take this 10-question quiz to learn more about the psychology careers that are best matched to your interests and personality Question 1: Do you enjoy working directly with people to help them overcome problems? A. Not Really B. Sometimes C. Yes

Question 2: Do you enjoy solving theoretical problems? A. Sometimes B. Yes C. No

Question 3: Do you enjoy classes that focus on experimental design? A. Not really B. Somewhat C. Yes

Question 4: Are you good at math and statistics? A. No, I do not like math or statistics. B. Yes, I enjoy working with numbers. C. Somewhat. Math is not my favorite subject, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m okay with numbers. Question 5: Do you enjoy working to solve practical, real-world problems? A. Yes, I enjoy solving real-world problems

a great deal. B. No, I prefer to focus on theoretical problems and debates. C. Somewhat, I like to see my work being put to practical use.

EER IS RIGHT FOR YOU? Question 6: Would you enjoy working with clients in a doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, hospital or mental health clinic? A. Maybe, but it depends on the nature of the job. B. Yes, this type of work setting would be ideal. C. No, I would prefer not to work directly with clients in this type of environment.

Question 7: Is earning a high salary important to you? A.Yes, a high salary is essential. B. No, the rewards of my job go beyond monetary reimbursement. C. Somewhat, but work satisfaction is also important.

Question 8: How long are you willing to spend in school in order to work in a psychology profession? A. 7 to 9 years B. 5 to 7 years C. 4 to 5 years Question 9: Are you able to deal with high stress situations with people who may be psychologically or emotionally unstable? A. Possibly B. Yes C. No Question 10: Do you enjoy working with children? A. Yes, absolutely. B. Sometimes C. I do not mind, but I prefer to work with adults.

Submit your answers at http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-psychologycareerquiz.htm and see your results!

Davia Andrews Writer BSc. Candidate, Second Year

Shontel Baptiste Writer BSc. Candidate, First Year

Chadd Coore Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

Mourice-Ann Hudon Writer BSc. Candidate, Second Year

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;andra Haughton Writer BSc. Candidate, Second Year

Shavon Huchinson Writer BSc. Candidate, Second Year

THANK YOU

Alexandra Daley

Creator, Designer, Editor, Writer

BSc. Candidate, Second Year

Joan Ewan Writer BSc. Candidate, First Year

Chardae Hanson Writer BSc. Candidate, Second Year

Joanne Mason, BSc. Writer BSc. in Psychology Graduate

Chantalli Morrison Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

Marsha-Lee Mundle Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

WRITERS

Ballecia Richards Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

Felicia Richards Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

Deborah Smith Writer BSc. Candidate, Final Year

THANK YOU

Jeremy Spence Writer, Surveyor BSc. Candidate, Final Year

Bridgitte Stuart Writer BSc. Candidate, Fiinal Year

WRITERS

Credit masterfile.com

Credit rueeducation.blogspot Credit ido-doi.com

Credit paniparanoja@deviantart

Credit gurl.com

Credit afro.com

Credit focusit.ca

Photo Credits

Credit salinas.com

Credit thinkstock.com Credit alexandercitykiwanis.com Credit madamenoire.com Credit shuttershock.com

Credit topxlists.com

Credit urbanmecca.net

Credit foxnews.com

Credit 123rf.com

Credit becomegorgeous.com

Credit homeandheart2blog

Credit shuttershock

Credit essence.com

Credit hellobeautiful

Credit 123rf.com

Credit empowermagazine.com

Credit johnlund.com

Credit freebackgroundimages.com

Photo Credits

Credit 123rf.com

Credit - winterwolf Credit aaronfoo.deviantart