The explanation of the new things learned in the eight modules is in this article. In addition, there are realistic situations that are read from books, the internet, discovered from schools, outside of class, in personal life, seen on TV, read newspapers, magazines, and other sources, either really happened. In addition, there is an inclusion of how the new information was objectively gained in personal growth in real life. Ultimately, there is a proper demonstration of a good understanding and application of the knowledge from the different subjects to the advancement of the life of an individual.
Natural Selection and Evolution (Strategies for Learning)
Learning strategies determine the approach for efficiently achieving the objectives that are to be learned. Three things can be significant when applied to studies. During the first reading of an assignment, there should be no interruptions in the process. In fact, the source should be read reluctantly with no worries of remembering what is read. Secondly, it should be reread earnestly while writing some short notes (Carlson, 2017). Thirdly, in the process of note taking, the phrases should be written in complete and the words in whole. After going through the strategies of learning, I finally got to understand the reason as to why I would read my books severally but still found it difficult to retrieve the information in my examination. Moreover, writing the information in my own words help me both in revising for the exams and in mastering whatever I read. Besides, highlighting words or sentences makes the words highlighted appear to be the only important ones which may not be the case.
The nature of learning (Classical conditioning)
By definition, classical conditioning is a form of learning where a stimulus which unimportant acquires the properties of a necessary incentive. In other words, a previously less effective stimulus on behavior gains the ability to evoke an automatic species-typical behavior (Carlson, 2017). I learned that classical conditioning tends to support nurture over nature. I relate it to the degree of hunger I always experience at 8 pm when the curtains of the dining room are opened. It has always been that around 8 pm, supper is ready yet always when the curtains fly open, I find the intensity of hunger increasing due to the readiness of the food. Unfortunately, the same happens even if the curtains are opened at around that time before the food is ready. Somehow, I tend to relate the opening of the curtains with the readiness of the food.
Vision (Visual agnosia)
By definition, visual agnosia is the inability to identify a nonverbal visual stimulus employing an individual sensory modality, even though its features can be detected using that pattern and the person retains relatively normal intellectual capacity (Carlson, 2017). Besides, it is a category of deficits that results due to the damage to the human visual association cortex. Visual agnosia does not cause loss of memory and its victims can read correctly and identify objects when they touch them other than seeing them. Some few years back I had a friend who developed the tendency of making mistakes in identifying objects, at first, I thought it was just jokes, yet the trend persisted. However, when the object could be brought into her touch, she easily recognized the same. Moreover, she read usually, and even the small printed sentences did not give any challenge.
Emotion (Anger aggression and impulse control)
In as much as most people get angry and more aggressive when wronged, the degree of violence and aggression differ from one person to another. This difference may be caused by the environment in which one is brought up. Several other reasons may lead to aggression, for example, for protection, or survival in a challenging and dangerous situation (Carlson, 2017). In our course book, an actual story is given about a boy, Steve. The set up in which Steve is brought up influences his aggression and leads him to jail at last. First, Steve's mother is a teen, and of course, we know how teen mothers may go through several challenges with their children. Secondly, the father who takes part in raising Steve is both alcoholic and a step-father. I believe these are the influencers of Steve's trait of hyperactivity, irritability, and disobedience.
Schizophrenia
It is a mental disorder that is severe and is characterized by abnormal social behavior and inability to understand and differentiate the real from the unreal (Carlson, 2017). I read a story from the internet about a person whose brother suffered from the disorder. The brother who was in a sales job told his family that his fellow sales people were jealous of him. Moreover, he indicated that he suspected a co-worker to have drugged him so as to take him out of the competition. Again, the person with schizophrenia said he had less energy and could not concentrate. Later after he quit his job, he started calling the family from the payphones. It is because he believed his phone was bugged by famous business persons who wanted his new business ideas. Unfortunately, the disorder could not be treated early enough because the disease was not found out by the psychiatrists and the patient committed suicide. It is, therefore, important to contact the Local NAMI in the case of any abnormal behaviors that relates to the disease.
Sleep and biological rhythms (Function of REM sleep)
Rapid Eye Movement sleep is the deepest phase of sleep in mammals and birds that mostly occur in the early hours of the morning. This stage helps in forming new memories, stimulating the central nervous system and restoring brain chemistry to a reasonable balance. The phase is characterized by rapid darts of the eye, vivid dreams and low muscle tone throughout the body. Besides, breathing becomes irregular, the brain becomes more active, and the heart rate displays sudden accelerations and decelerations as opposed to the typical situation. Additionally, REM sleep plays a role in brain development in infants and facilitates the massive changes in the brain in adults. It explains the reason as to why children experience more REM sleep than the adults (Carlson, 2017). When going through this topic, I recalled some years back, when I could wake up in the night hours and put the lights on in the room where my siblings and I slept. One night I was so scared when I looked at my younger siblings face, and the eyes were rapidly moving. I slipped out of the room and went to call my parents thinking that my sibling had fainted or worse.
Neurological disorders (disorders caused by infectious disease)
Neurological disorders are diseases that affect the spine, the brain and the nerves that connect the two. On the flip side, infectious diseases are disorders that are caused by organisms like the viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasite. The two most common diseases are meningitis and encephalitis. First, encephalitis invades the entire brain and is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. Moreover, encephalitis can be caused by herpes simplex virus that is causing the cold sores or the fever blisters. Many infectious diseases cause damage to the brain. However, the diseases are not primarily of the central nervous system. An example is the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Carlson, 2017). The characteristics of the neuropathology that is caused by HIV infection is the death of neurons in the hippocampus, basal ganglia, cerebral cortex and the damage to synapses.
Drug Abuse (Heredity and substance abuse)
There are strong general environmental and genetic factors that contribute to drug addiction. Besides, the abuse of any category of drug is influenced by the genetic factors that are peculiar to that particular group (Carlson, 2017). For example, the abuse of heroine has a unique and particularly strong genetic factor. In alcohol susceptibility, an enzyme that takes part in alcohol metabolism, alcohol dehydrogenase plays a role. Suzanne, a 22-year-old heroin addict, was born in a family of a drinking father, when she turned ten years old, her father left her mom and the children and never came back. The mother was forced to move to cheaper rental houses in slums where the drug abusing was rampant. Reportedly, at age 14, Suzanne started drinking and smoking marijuana. Two years later, she dropped out of high school and moved in with a boyfriend, Joel, who introduced her to heroin. Unfortunately, she is so addicted that for her to function properly and feel comfortable, she has to take half a gram of heroin each morning. She found it comfortable indulging into drugs and getting addicted because of both her family history and the environment.
Reference
Carlson, N. (2017). Physiology of Behaviour (11th ed.).
