One of the biggest problems I've been having this year as a nursing student is with my memory. Especially in anatomy and physiology. I can study all I want, but I do not retain the information that I need. My brain refuses to hold it in.
During class we talked about the stages of memory. Sensory memory, just needs to retain enough information to remember not to bump into walls, trip over our own feet, touch a hot pan simple things like that. Short term memory helps us remember if we locked the door, where we set that book we were just reading, the names of celebrities latest flings ect. Long term memory is what enables us to keep and retain information for use at some point in the future. It can be lost, but not as easily as short term memory.
Where I'm having the most difficulty is transfering the information that I study from short term to long term memory. There are different ways to do that, but what I've been trying so far is repetition and recall. It's not working though.
I study, study, study and then test myself, but it's just not sticking around enough. I try to give myself enough time to get it all together but with all the different amounts of information I need to know, for school, work and life it's hard finding room in my poor overworked brain.
I need a better way to transfer things from short term to long term, and I don't think I'm going to be able to do it on my own.
My idea is to get a friend, who is already a nurse, to help me study. The challenge of not wanting to appear stupid in front of him should give me that extra push I need to retain the knowledge. And I hope that it will help come exam time. We have our first study session planned for later this week, so we'll see how it goes.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Psychology Assignment 5
So it's been two weeks since I've started the official operant conditioning of D-Man's hitting habit. It's still a work in progress but it's slowing improving.
I know that my parenting technique involves a lot of psychology (no matter how much I claim to not like or pay attention to it). I use operant conditioning all the time to teach my kids, the same as my parents did with me. It's just way more official when I'm giving details out instead of just doing it instinctively.
So we're all almost healthy again, the boys are over their colds, and I'm getting better slowly. D-Man has improved over the last two weeks. He'll still swing out when he's mad, but he's stopped smacking his brother all the time. He's changed to yelling at everyone, but since I yell too, I know where he gets it from. Yelling I don't mind as much (I'll still try to stop it, but to me hitting is way worse).
Fortunatly I've only had to resort to time outs twice. Both times were after a long day of daycare/babysitter while I was busy with school/work. To make matters more difficult, we're weaning from nursing during the day too. So his main method of comfort and soothing isn't there anymore. So not only does he need to learn how to act when he's mad, he has to find a different way of making himself feel better.
This process isn't going to take two weeks and be finished. I have a feeling that it will take a while, and be a life long learning experience.
I know that my parenting technique involves a lot of psychology (no matter how much I claim to not like or pay attention to it). I use operant conditioning all the time to teach my kids, the same as my parents did with me. It's just way more official when I'm giving details out instead of just doing it instinctively.
So we're all almost healthy again, the boys are over their colds, and I'm getting better slowly. D-Man has improved over the last two weeks. He'll still swing out when he's mad, but he's stopped smacking his brother all the time. He's changed to yelling at everyone, but since I yell too, I know where he gets it from. Yelling I don't mind as much (I'll still try to stop it, but to me hitting is way worse).
Fortunatly I've only had to resort to time outs twice. Both times were after a long day of daycare/babysitter while I was busy with school/work. To make matters more difficult, we're weaning from nursing during the day too. So his main method of comfort and soothing isn't there anymore. So not only does he need to learn how to act when he's mad, he has to find a different way of making himself feel better.
This process isn't going to take two weeks and be finished. I have a feeling that it will take a while, and be a life long learning experience.
Psychology Assignement 4
Slow and steady wins the race right?
The operant conditioning process is quite a bit slower than the classical conditioning. I do know that I'm working with a toddler compared to a cat, but still.
D-Man still takes his anger out on his brother, maybe not all of the time now but still most of the time. The time ins work, but they're time consuming, and I'm pretty busy right now, with packing to move, getting back from vacation, school and everyone being sick.
That's another big issue, the conditions of the experiment have changed. When I first started this, everyone was healthy, but now both boys have got really bad colds, and I've got pneumonia. So it's making everyone's fuses a lot shorter, and making it so that learning just gives headaches instead of inspiration.
We're still working on it all though. I can see D-Man starting to think before he hits, where as before he would just swing out. Now he's making a deliberate choice to be mean, and he knows that there will be consequences.
It's only been a week, so we'll see how it goes next week. Hopefully everyone will be healthy again to make the process easier.
The operant conditioning process is quite a bit slower than the classical conditioning. I do know that I'm working with a toddler compared to a cat, but still.
D-Man still takes his anger out on his brother, maybe not all of the time now but still most of the time. The time ins work, but they're time consuming, and I'm pretty busy right now, with packing to move, getting back from vacation, school and everyone being sick.
That's another big issue, the conditions of the experiment have changed. When I first started this, everyone was healthy, but now both boys have got really bad colds, and I've got pneumonia. So it's making everyone's fuses a lot shorter, and making it so that learning just gives headaches instead of inspiration.
We're still working on it all though. I can see D-Man starting to think before he hits, where as before he would just swing out. Now he's making a deliberate choice to be mean, and he knows that there will be consequences.
It's only been a week, so we'll see how it goes next week. Hopefully everyone will be healthy again to make the process easier.
Psychology Assignment 3
The next topic I'm going to cover is Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning is a form of learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the consequences of the behavior. Basically, you change how you do something because of the reaction you get.
D-Man has a violent streak in him, he's very alpha in personality and I don't think that helps with aggression. Lately he has been hitting his brother when he gets mad at something. It doesn't even have to be something his brother has done, just if Mister M is close, D-Man takes his anger out on him.
The reasons behind that could be a study all their own, but for the purposes of this assignment, and my own understanding. He takes his anger out because he knows it's safe, his brother will still love him and play with him after, and he's closer to his brothers size which makes it less scary.
What I'm going to be doing to help break this habit is using a mixture of Time Ins, time outs and verbal cues. Time Ins are when the person in charge takes the miscreant away from the scene of the crime and spends solo time. Calming him down, talking to him and basically making him pay attention to what I have to say by removing all distractions. Time outs are solitary, 1 minute alone in his room to think about what he's done. For my own parenting, I prefer Time Ins, I only use time outs when I'm beyond mad and just need a minute to myself. (Children are born knowing how to push their parents buttons). The verbal cues will be simple like, hitting hurts your brother, not nice to hit things like that.
I'll be starting this all today, and update with how it goes!
D-Man has a violent streak in him, he's very alpha in personality and I don't think that helps with aggression. Lately he has been hitting his brother when he gets mad at something. It doesn't even have to be something his brother has done, just if Mister M is close, D-Man takes his anger out on him.
The reasons behind that could be a study all their own, but for the purposes of this assignment, and my own understanding. He takes his anger out because he knows it's safe, his brother will still love him and play with him after, and he's closer to his brothers size which makes it less scary.
What I'm going to be doing to help break this habit is using a mixture of Time Ins, time outs and verbal cues. Time Ins are when the person in charge takes the miscreant away from the scene of the crime and spends solo time. Calming him down, talking to him and basically making him pay attention to what I have to say by removing all distractions. Time outs are solitary, 1 minute alone in his room to think about what he's done. For my own parenting, I prefer Time Ins, I only use time outs when I'm beyond mad and just need a minute to myself. (Children are born knowing how to push their parents buttons). The verbal cues will be simple like, hitting hurts your brother, not nice to hit things like that.
I'll be starting this all today, and update with how it goes!
Psychology Assignment 2
So it has been one week since we've started training the cat to give her some more exercise. It's been going well! I started with blowing a whistle, shaking a treat bag and rewarding her when she gets to the top with two kitty treats (not sure if I mentioned the amount before).
After one week, we've cut the bag shaking out. Now we blow the whistle, and reward her with only one treat when she gets to the top. She seemed to be a little confused at first, with the missing sound of the bag, but when we blow the whistle she'll react as planned.
I'm a little amazed at how easy it has been to teach this old cat new tricks. She's got a bit more spring in her step too, and doesn't spend as much time napping under the bed. Hopefully when we keep this up, she'll feel young again (and not look so much like a pudgy raccoon).
Psychology Assignment 1
For the next 7 posts I will be completing an assignment for school. It has to do with psychology in my life and how I perceive it. So please, have patience with me. I will get back to our regular scheduled blogging about random things shortly! Thanks guys!
Classical Conditioning
A quick definition of classical conditioning is: two stimuli are presented together over and over, until the response given to one becomes associated with the other.
We have two cats, Goblin and Tootsie, both are pretty good cats, but Gobber's has become a little lazy in her old age (14 years old now). So our task for the next week or two is to see if we can train her to run up and down her kitty climber when we blow a whistle.
She usually runs up and down it a couple times a day, but I want her to get up it 4-5 times a day for some exercise. I'm starting slow, by rewarding her with a treat each time she does it.
The way the sequence will work, she'll be at the climber of her own choice, I'll blow the whistle and shake the treat bag, when she gets to the top she'll get a treat. We'll repeat this for a week and then try it without shaking the treat bag.
I'll update next week!
Classical Conditioning
A quick definition of classical conditioning is: two stimuli are presented together over and over, until the response given to one becomes associated with the other.
We have two cats, Goblin and Tootsie, both are pretty good cats, but Gobber's has become a little lazy in her old age (14 years old now). So our task for the next week or two is to see if we can train her to run up and down her kitty climber when we blow a whistle.
She usually runs up and down it a couple times a day, but I want her to get up it 4-5 times a day for some exercise. I'm starting slow, by rewarding her with a treat each time she does it.
The way the sequence will work, she'll be at the climber of her own choice, I'll blow the whistle and shake the treat bag, when she gets to the top she'll get a treat. We'll repeat this for a week and then try it without shaking the treat bag.
I'll update next week!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Semester 2!
So I've now finished the first three weeks of Semester 2. This program has a pretty heavy course load, but I'm finally working at the Hospital so it's sooooooo much nicer!
I have class Mondays from 8am-12pm, an hour break, 1-3pm, an hour break and then 4-5pm (communications, which I loathe, but it's an easy credit and I have no choice lol). Tuesdays I'm off! Wednesdays I've got clinical at the hospital on the dialysis unit from 7am-7pm, it should be pretty interesting! Thursdays I've got class from 8am-12pm, a two hour break then class from 2-5pm. Finally on Friday I've got class from 10-11am a two hour break and then class from 1-5pm. (Classes are a mix of lectures, seminars and labs). It's going to be fun come exam time.... :(
In total I'm taking 8 different classes. The labs are pretty fun, skills lab is great, we get to learn and practice everything before we have to do it on real patients, mandatory pass for tests and exams though, if you flunk one you're out of the program.
Mister M is back at school and he is loving it. He has had some issues at his after school program though. There is a little girl (a year or so older than he) who is a bully. She's been calling him chubby, and making up rhymes about him. It's gotten worse with winter because he has a puffy coat to keep warm and she's an obnoxious little brat and uses that as fodder. I finally had enough and went to talk to the program ladies. They had no idea, so they said they would keep an eye on it (back in November). It started up again, but this time Mister M was brave and was able to tell the ladies himself (with some support from mama bear of course). They had a meeting with the brat and Mister M and it seems to have resolved itself. I'm still keeping a close eye on the situation though. I will not tolerate a bully of any sort... especially one who's targeting my kid. 
D-Man has finally completely accepted his daycare lot in life. He fusses when I drop him off but there are almost no more tears, and he's made some little friends which is super cute too. He's starting to talk more now, and clearly. I was a little surprised by how long it's taken him to start, Mister M was talking at 6 months old (didn't crawl or walk until after 1 though) and D-Man is way more physical. He still babbles a lot, but he's getting real words in there now!
I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind... I went out, and as a spur of the moment surprise bought the boys a drum set and a guitar... it's loud lol. They love it, Mister M is the guitarist and D-Man the drummer, they have quite the little jam sessions!
We're moving March 1st!!! (well we get the keys then, but we'll be in Jamaica until the 4th lol). We've found an awesome house to rent! It's got three bedrooms, kitchen, living and dining room. Full bathroom, backyard, deck and GARAGE!!! It's a side split house, so the basement has a small two piece bathroom, storage, laundry room, back entrance and rec room which we are turning into a bachelor apartment for my brother. He'll share the kitchen and shower with us, and I'll share the laundry and storage with him. It's perfect, and the landlords are awesome. The rent is good too considering we get a whole house (and rent in Peterborough is on par with Toronto for some reason) $1280++ a month which I've budgeted to be about $1700 a month (any extras going into the emergency fund). I can't wait to get in and start decorating! The landlords even said they would pay for all the paint and supplies if we do the work which is perfect! The only downside is it's across town from where we are now, putting us out of Mister M's school zone, but since I drive him there and back every day I don't see how him staying there would be a problem.
I have class Mondays from 8am-12pm, an hour break, 1-3pm, an hour break and then 4-5pm (communications, which I loathe, but it's an easy credit and I have no choice lol). Tuesdays I'm off! Wednesdays I've got clinical at the hospital on the dialysis unit from 7am-7pm, it should be pretty interesting! Thursdays I've got class from 8am-12pm, a two hour break then class from 2-5pm. Finally on Friday I've got class from 10-11am a two hour break and then class from 1-5pm. (Classes are a mix of lectures, seminars and labs). It's going to be fun come exam time.... :(
In total I'm taking 8 different classes. The labs are pretty fun, skills lab is great, we get to learn and practice everything before we have to do it on real patients, mandatory pass for tests and exams though, if you flunk one you're out of the program.
Mister M is back at school and he is loving it. He has had some issues at his after school program though. There is a little girl (a year or so older than he) who is a bully. She's been calling him chubby, and making up rhymes about him. It's gotten worse with winter because he has a puffy coat to keep warm and she's an obnoxious little brat and uses that as fodder. I finally had enough and went to talk to the program ladies. They had no idea, so they said they would keep an eye on it (back in November). It started up again, but this time Mister M was brave and was able to tell the ladies himself (with some support from mama bear of course). They had a meeting with the brat and Mister M and it seems to have resolved itself. I'm still keeping a close eye on the situation though. I will not tolerate a bully of any sort... especially one who's targeting my kid. 
D-Man has finally completely accepted his daycare lot in life. He fusses when I drop him off but there are almost no more tears, and he's made some little friends which is super cute too. He's starting to talk more now, and clearly. I was a little surprised by how long it's taken him to start, Mister M was talking at 6 months old (didn't crawl or walk until after 1 though) and D-Man is way more physical. He still babbles a lot, but he's getting real words in there now!I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind... I went out, and as a spur of the moment surprise bought the boys a drum set and a guitar... it's loud lol. They love it, Mister M is the guitarist and D-Man the drummer, they have quite the little jam sessions!
We're moving March 1st!!! (well we get the keys then, but we'll be in Jamaica until the 4th lol). We've found an awesome house to rent! It's got three bedrooms, kitchen, living and dining room. Full bathroom, backyard, deck and GARAGE!!! It's a side split house, so the basement has a small two piece bathroom, storage, laundry room, back entrance and rec room which we are turning into a bachelor apartment for my brother. He'll share the kitchen and shower with us, and I'll share the laundry and storage with him. It's perfect, and the landlords are awesome. The rent is good too considering we get a whole house (and rent in Peterborough is on par with Toronto for some reason) $1280++ a month which I've budgeted to be about $1700 a month (any extras going into the emergency fund). I can't wait to get in and start decorating! The landlords even said they would pay for all the paint and supplies if we do the work which is perfect! The only downside is it's across town from where we are now, putting us out of Mister M's school zone, but since I drive him there and back every day I don't see how him staying there would be a problem.
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