Psychology

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder- continual and uncontrolled worry about several things. Creates tension and stress.

1.1. As I have gotten older, I've realized I might have anxiety, I think it gets worse as I get older because there are more responsibilities, things to do, pressure, and I am getting closer and closer to my future.

1.2. I tend to worry a lot, even about things that aren't important. I get restless and I can't stop thinking about the little things, I always have to make sure I've done everything to my best ability, which causes worry.

1.2.1. Low Priorities

2. Insomnia- difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Sometimes leads to daytime drowsiness

2.1. Insomnia is important to me because I suffer from it. I've talked to my doctor, we've tried everything from trying a different bedtime routine to taking melatonin- a sleeping pill- but nothing seems to work.

2.2. Insomnia affects me because I often end up really tired throughout the day, which affects my attitude, mood, and my school work. Getting out of bed in the morning is the worst part of my day, and falling asleep at night sucks because some days I'm super tired, but I can't fall asleep and I tend to wake up at least twice or three times a nigh, and I can never go back to bed.

2.3. I think insomnia gets to me because I always have a lot going on in my life and in my brain, so all I can do is think and plan because I am a worrier. I can never get my brain to rest.

3. Fluid intelligence- ability to think abstractly and reason at a fast rate.

3.1. This important because I thought if people were able to think fast, they would think fast for the rest of their lives. It was interesting to learn that it decreases with adulthood, which makes sense.

3.2. In my family, intelligence and success is a big thing. Being the oldest and having many successful doctors and dentists as older cousins, there is a lot of pressure to follow. I want to become a doctor and I've realized that fluid intelligence is key since it is a competitive field.

4. Testing Effect- long-term memory is strengthened when learning is devoted to testing how well one remembers information through testing.

4.1. All my life I've taken rigorous courses, and as I've gotten older, I've realized the course work has gotten larger and it's hard to remember specifics. I used to spend my days looking over my notes for hours and then taking a test. I've realized this wasn't the best because I didn't really know what I know and what I don't know till test day.

4.2. Now that I've learned about the testing effect, studying is more efficient because I spend less time going over what I already know, and I spend more time learning what I don't know.

5. Pre-operational Stage- stage 2-7 years where kids learn language, create memories and use their imagination, and know the past and future.

5.1. This is important to me because some day I hope to become a pediatrician because I love babies and toddlers. I'm passionate about biology, children, and now I am fond of what is going on in their brains and how it develops. I've always wondered how the process of learning a language as a child works and how they have such a big imagination.

5.2. I have a three year old sister and knowing how the pre-operational stage works, I feel like I understand her personality much better. It's cool to see her big imagination and her role-playing. She is a smart one- she knows two languages very well, english and arabic. I've noticed that lately she has caught on and remembered things, so now I have to be extra nice to her and make sure I don't hurt her feelings. I also have to watch what I say and I can't really hide anything from her because she remembers.