Adverse Childhood Experience

Childhood Development

Trauma

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was a typical Dr. in her residency when she came across research that led to her complete change of how she approaches her clinical study, which led to a complete change in career. Dr. Vincent Felitt discovered that trauma as a child can lead further developmental issues which led to a program called aces which means averse childhood abuse. this study showed that many kids were being misdiagnosed with ADHD when in fact that wasn't the case and it was actually this abuse they went through. Below is a diagram on some of the issues that were related to these studies.

Personal Experience

This community is called a colonial it is a normal community

in south Texas where hundreds of below poverty families live

and it's normal yet most of America doesn't even know they exist. 

In the study it talk about anyone with a score of 4 or higher is at the top of the list fore these issues. I have an ace score of 8 meaning this study effect me as I went through physical verbal and emotional abuse. This changed me and how I view the world and people and I wish to help the people that have gone through the same situations. In the summer I typically go on a mission trip to help with the McAllen part of Texas  which many of these children I know have high scores on this chart as I do which means there at risk as well and I wish to be there for them and help guide these children and young adults in a path that best suits the lord and helps them develop into the best person the can be just by being there for them and giving advice. I feel like everyone should take there ace test and find out how at risk they are as a score higher then four leads to higher risk for future health problems.

What are we gonna do?

I feel like we need to educate all medical professionals on the issue and implementing into all medical practices as it is an important topic that could literally change someone's life. This could also lead to misdiagnosis of children and adults who have gone though some or many of these as it is already happening. We need to educate the general public as well so they know the causes and risk associated with these experiences and so they can better serve their children.

Sources

Starecheski, Laura. “Take The ACE Quiz - And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean.” NPR, NPR, 2 Mar. 2015, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean.

Harris, Nadine Burke. “How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime.” TED: Ideas worth spreading, www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime.

Sensation and Perception

Sensation and Perception

Perception

When I think of perception I start thinking right away of the dress that everyone fought over on social media for weeks I personally saw white and gold, but if I squinted my eye's I could see it's true colors. This is just one way our mind plays tricks on us. The dress appears to be white and gold because of the very bright background. Our eyes see this brightness and associate it with the dress tricking us to see it as gold and white. Our minds are constantly creating false images another example of this are magicians who take advantage of your attention and use that to make it seem like there trick is impossible, but it was just that you were distracted. Here is a link to a video by mind warehouse about a few tricks that are revealed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFY-DRQS04
 

Sensation

Humans have five senses normally, unless they lose one. One interesting thing is that the loss of one can heighten others. Such as when blind people have "facial touch" where they can feel what is front of them without actually touching it or seeing it. Some people also call it hyper sense. I believe sensation is one of the strongest feelings that humans have, as it literally ties almost everything our brain processes together. As of recently they believe that eco location is possible among humans and that ultrasound can be used as a way to "see". An example of this in effect is in 2009 research found by Juan Antonio Martínez Rojas showed that clicking sounds could be used to hear the reflections of sounds off of other objects. The reason for clicking sounds are because they will normally very familiar in frequency and pitch. I think it would be cool for this field to be studied more as I had a blind friend growing up and I always felt bad that she couldn't see some of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen.

Citations 

Rogers, Adam. “The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress.” Wired, Conde Nast, 3 June 2017, www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/. 

Thaler, Lore. “Using Sound to Get Around.” Association for Psychological Science, www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/using-sound-to-get-around.

Brain and Behavior

Source: www.edsurge.com

The Human Brain

When I think of the human brain I think of a very complex organ and think of how it would have developed into what it has today from birth and how everyone's brain is different and why?

Understanding the Brain

Before talking about the brain we must first understand how it works. Allan Jones the CEO of the Allen institute of Brain Science has done research on a few ways the brain works. He does this by mapping out the genes that are turned on in our brains and that can give us better understanding of what genes are on and how different things effect the brain. This could lead to a huge medical breakthrough as it could reveal better ways to make medicine and what affects these medications could have on the body. It also shows which RNA structures are being targeted when the brain does certain things and how the body reacts when that RNA is released from the brain.

Future

Source: www.Shuttershock.com

With this new knowledge we can begin to explore further into brain mapping and the effects of everything from medication to trauma and begin to understand why some medications have the side effects they do and how to possibly improve these medications to make them safer with fewer risk and the effects they pose on the body. I think this should be further investigated as it could be life changing and a great breakthrough in science and medicine.

Consciousness

Source: www.motherboard.vice.com

Consciousness is another interesting part of the brain, as it is unique to everyone one. I think this because of perception. Why does one person feel one way about something and someone else feel the opposite? I have always wondered why two people could be so different in similar situations. I feel this is a field that needs more study and it goes back to understanding the brain. As we develop more technology to study this I feel we will be able to better help everyone as it could lead to discoveries to more on how the brain works. This would benefit people in therapy and counseling because new techniques could be invented as more discoveries are found..

Sources:
Jones, Allan. “A map of the brain.” TED: Ideas worth spreading, www.ted.com/talks/allan_jones_a_map_of_the_brain?referrer=playlist-how_does_my_brain_work#t-683934.

Seth, Anil. “Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality.” TED: Ideas worth spreading, www.ted.com/talks/anil_seth_how_your_brain_hallucinates_your_conscious_reality#t-417894.

About My Interest in Psychology

Branch of Study
   When I think of psychology the very first thing I think of is doing experiments on everybody everything from children to the elderly. Wanting to do research on everyone from McDonalds employees to US Navy SEALS. It has always intrigued me that we could learn so much about our brains and how they work and I would like to dive into the research as well looking to find out new reasons why things work how they do in our mind . Which is why I am interested in the field of experimental psychology.

What topics are studied within this branch?
     1. Sensation

     2. Perception

     3.Emotion

     4. Motivation

     5. Cognation

     6. Learning

     7. Memory

     8. Developmental processes

What education or training is required?

        A doctoral degree is usually required but some lower level positions and government officials will accept a bachelors or masters degree. The doctoral program is usually between 4-7 years and consist of classroom, clinical, and laboratory instruction. on average student do 8-12 years of  schooling after high school. The average phycologist will make around $75,000 a year.

What kind of jobs relate to this field?

        Most often they work in private research facilities or universities, but sometimes they will also work for businesses or even the government. The main focus of theses phycologist is statistics, research, and experimentation.

Who are the prominent psychologist/Professionals in this field?
        Psychologist working in field are dominantly in private research facilities and schools as professors


American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/action/science/experimental/index.aspx.

“Career in Experimental Psychology | Learn About the Field.” AllPsychologySchools.com, www.allpsychologyschools.com/clinical-psychology/career-in-experimental-psychology/.

About Me

        Hello my name is Ramon Santiago and I was born in Chicago. When I was born, I had a birth defect and had to go into four surgeries a few days after I was born, which left me with the scars to this day. I moved to Texas when I was four where my family had moved in with my grandma. After living there for a few years we moved out to move in with a guy my mother had been dating. Which all happened around when I was about six and shortly after, they got married. Then when I was in fifth grade I moved to Tye where I started attending Merkel Middle School. I met my best friend that year and we have been friends since. His name is Tristin

        In middle school I started to pick up some extracurricular classes like athletics, band and art. I also had a few of my pieces of work submitted to the Grace to be displayed and recieved an art award. Also around this time I started to play football, basketball and track.

        In high school I decided to keep running track and playing football but art and basketball just didn't fit into my schedule so I had to drop them. I also kept playing in the band which I ended up going to state during my senior year. I was a starter on varsity football my junior and senior year until getting an ankle injury my senior which brought  an end to my sports career leaving me to focus on band. I played the tenor saxophone and piano in concert band. I also played the drums in jazz band where I made some of the best memories of my life. Such as when I went to the Eastland jazz festival and Dr. Cottrell gave me an outstanding musician award. I also managed to be friends with a majority of my high school because of my outgoing personality which led me to getting homecoming king along side one of my best friends Kiersten who was the queen. I also met the women I have been dating since my junior year in high school; who has made a significant impact on my life and has been there for me sense we met. Her name is Alexix.

        I am currently attending Hardin Simmons University where I have met many friends and made lots of fun memories where I hope to make many more as the years continue.