Week Ten: The Grief Process

                This week’s reading from Chapter 16, I found that the grief process was incredibly stimulating, knowing that there is comfort in the process.  The first step of the grief process is to be able to acknowledge the reality of the loss of your loved one.  This is often the hardest step to overcome, simply  because, if your loved one was incredibly close to you, they doubtless had an impact on every facet of your life.  It is way too easy to simply deny that your loved one has deceased, and that their life if forever gone.  The second step, is to work through the emotional turmoil, finding your own way to express the complete range of emotions that losing your loved one surfaces.  It is highly important to realize your emotions, instead of repressing them and trying to avoid them.  The third step is, you have to be able to adjust to the environment where the deceased is absent.  The closer your lost loved one was to you, the harder this step is to overcome.  You have to be able to able to live your life to the fullest, even with your loss.  The fourth, and final step, is to loosen ties to the deceased.  Strange as it sounds, being able to “let go” of your loved one may be the hardest step to fully accept.  This is because it is incredibly hard to finalize your goodbye to your lost loved one.  Death is permanent, and irreversible, a part of life, in fact, but knowing this does not make this does any easier to accept. 

                I haven’t personally lost anyone that was incredibly close to me, however, I do know quite a few friends who have.  For example, my friend lost her two babies.  She lost them when she was five months pregnant, when her water broke too soon.  Needless to say, both of her babies died.  She went through the grief process, and it was not at all easy for her.  Over time, however, she was able to accept their loss, and move on with her life.  She was just able to give birth to her first child, and this baby has become the light of her world. 

                I would like to learn more about the grief processing and avoidance study that was done in the United States and China.  Especially relating to the part about how women show more of their grief processing than men do. 

Week Nine: Longevity

From this week’s reading I found the section on longevity intriguing. Longevity is defined as the number of years an individual can expect to live. The two factors that determine longevity are genetic and environmental factors. Now that longevity has been defined I can discuss the three of longevity. I did not even know that there were three types of longevity.  The first type of longevity is average life expectancy, also known as median life expectancy, and this is the age at which half of the people born in a particular year will have died.  The textbook contributes that the reason why the average life expectancy has increased in the United States in the twentieth century is because the decrease of infant mortality and the improvement in medical technology.  The second type of longevity is useful life expectancy, and this defined as the number of years that a person is free from any debilitating chronic disease or impairment, and the third type of longevity is maximum life expectancy.  This third type is the oldest age to which any person lives. 

My friend’s great-grandparents are a perfect example of maximum life expectancy.  His great-grandmother is 102, and his great-grandfather is 98 years old.  This is interesting to me because the textbook states that humans are limited to 120 years of life.  His whole family has amazing genetics for longevity of life. 

I would like to learn more about ethnic and gender differences in longevity because, if there was any improvement that could be made to countries with a current low life expectancy of longevity, then maybe the improvement would increase their life expectancy average.

Week Eight: Type A and B Behavior Patterns

This week I found the behavior patterns interesting. There are two types of behavior patterns and they are type A and type B. Type A individuals tend to be very competitive, angry, inpatient and restless, whereas type B individuals tend to have the opposite behaviors of a type A person. I was amazed to find out that type A individuals are twice more likely to have heart disease than those who are type B. Even though types A people are more likely to suffer from cardiac disease they however recover better form heart attacks than type B people. I guess this is good news if you are a type A individual like me. In addition, the book stated that type A individuals recover better from heart attacks because they are motivated to stick to their diet and exercise regimens.

I am a type A person to the extreme. I am indeed am very competitive. I have to be the alpha and win. Just the other evening I was Scrabble with my sister and I got very angry at her because she blocked my 30 point word. Let’s just say I did not speak to her for the rest of the night.

 I know this is off topic from the rest of my blog, but I would like to learn more Hormone replacement therapy because there are many risks but there are also benefits. The book said that the Hormone Replacement therapy resulted in fewer hip fractures but it also had a greater chance of developing breast cancer, stroke and heart attack. To the benefits outweigh the risks.

Week Seven: Primary and Secondary Mental Abilities

From this reading, in chapter ten I found primary and secondary mental abilities interesting. Primary mental abilities are groups of related intellectual skills, whereas secondary mental abilities are broader intellectual skills that include and organize the primary abilities. The five main abilities are number, word fluency, verbal meaning, inductive reasoning, and spatial orientation. The number ability involves the basic skills of mathematical reasoning. The second ability is word fluency and this is how easily an individual produces verbal descriptions. The third ability is verbal meaning and this is an individual’s vocabulary capacity. Inductive reasoning is the ability to infer from particular facts to general concepts and the last ability is spatial orientation and this is the ability to reason in a three dimensional  world. These are just five of the 25 skills. These are the only ones the book discusses.  Secondary mental abilities include fluid and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence stresses the abilities that make an individual a flexible thinker. Sudoku, cross words, word searches and mazes are way to test fluid intelligence.  Crystallized intelligence is the knowledge that one has acquired through life experience and education. This knowledge includes the comprehension of communication, judgment, and the ability to remember many other things.

In the book it states that crystallized intelligence improves throughout adulthood and I believe it. When I was younger my crystallized intelligence was horrible not just because I was young and lacking life experiences but because I genuinely was not that smart, but with time I have improved this by reading more and by doing intellectual activities such as discussions and trivia games.  In the book it mentions the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and that this game was based off crystallized intelligence. I remember thinking to myself when I was younger that it would be fun to go on that show, but I thought I would be too dumb for it. Now that I know that it is based on crystallized intelligence it kind of takes the fun out of it. 

I would like to learn more about the Seattle longitudinal study (p.374). I found it quite intriguing especially the differential changes in abilities over time.

Week Six: Kohlberg's Theory

From this week’s material I found the three levels of moral reasoning interesting. There are three levels of moral reasoning and each level is divided into two stages, for a total of six stages. The first level is known as the preconventional level and this is where one’s reasoning is based on external forces such as receiving a punishment or reward. The first stage is known as obedience orientation and one’s moral reasoning is founded on the idea that adults know what is right and what is wrong. The second stage is instrumental orientation this is where one’s morals stem from their own needs.  The second level is the conventional level. This is where one’s moral reasoning is built on society’s expectations or what others think them. The first stage of this level is the interpersonal norms and one’s morals are centered on winning others approval, whereas the second stage focuses on social system morality. In this section one believes in maintaining society to promote the good of all people. The last level of Kohlberg’s theory is the post-conventional level. This is the level where one’s reasoning is grounded on personal moral code and is not dependent upon external forces. The first stage of this level is based on one’s belief that laws are good for everyone, and the last stage is universal ethical principles in which one believes that everyone share the same morals and values.

As I child my moral reasoning was at the preconventional level. My morals were strictly based upon if I would receive a punishment or a reward for my actions. My behavior and thinking was based on if I would get a reward for a good behavior, and if it was a bad behavior I wouldn’t do it because I did not want to face the negative consequences. Now that I am an adult I like to think that I have reached the post-conventional level. I do have my own moral and code of ethics and it is not biased by anyone opinions-it is what I personally believe. 

I know that there are cultural differences in moral reasoning, but I would like to know more about different countries and what their morals are and how does moral reasoning affect their values.