The Psychology of Babies

According to research conducted in Brigham Young University, which performed memory tests on the 5 month old babies, babies actually remembered the shapes, which were introduced to them through happy voices and faces. Studies had also indicated that young babies were highly tuned to several emotions which even included animals’ emotions. The researchers thought that the positive impacts heightened the attention arousal and system of the babies. It was wondered as to whether the parents who were fond of talking and playing with their five month old babies knew if their children remembered such memories a day later. They, therefore, believed that through using such system, the ability of such children to not only process but also remember the geometric patterns was improved (Ross).

Babies Remember Nothing but a Good Time

A new study conducted by BYU further asserts that, indeed, the children were capable of remembering such good times. Babies were more easily capable of remembering something especially if it was attached to positive emotions or the affect which accompanied it. It can further be revealed that despite the fact that people have done lots of studies regarding the memory in infants through studying the discrimination that was prevalent in the emotional affect, it was prudent for new studies to focus on how such emotions were capable of influencing the memory of young people (Dunstan).

It should be noted that despite the fact that young children do not talk, there are various ways that researchers can use in order to analyze the way through which babies respond to different types of testing. For instance, the researchers are able to monitor the movements of the eyes and even ascertain how long the young babies looked at test images. In some of the experiments, the young babies were set in front of the large panel monitor located in a closed off partition where they were exposed to an individual on a screen. The individual on the screen then spoke to them using different emotions, for instance, a neutral, angry or happy voice. After the emotional exposure, the children were then shown geometric shapes. In order to test the children’s memory, the researchers in the study conducted a 5 minute follow up test which was also done in one day.

During the follow up test, the children in the study were shown 2 side by side geometric sets in which one was a brand new one, while the original one came from the study. Based on that, researchers in the study recorded the number of times that the baby was able to look from one specific image to another one and the duration that was spent by the baby on observing each specific image. It was revealed that the memory of the babies did not improve if the shapes had been attached or paired with negative voices. But it was ascertained that the children performed better in remembering the shapes which were associated with the positive voices (Katzmarzky).

Based on experiments and research studies done, it was clear that indeed, the positive impact was capable of heightening or rising both the arousal and attention system of the young children and by using such systems, researchers were able to raise their ability of both processing and remembering the “geometric patterns” (Clark).

Eating Disorders

Despite of what is thought by most people, it should be noted that a feeling of guilt does not in any manner or way help in the processes of “goal setting or dieting”. Indeed, it should be realized that the inclusion or composition of exercise of “a feeling of guilt” after the binge in the “cheating routines” of people is prone to work against people thus leading them to the “cheating spree” in a short duration. It is quite a genuine fact that parents in the contemporary society are faced with numerous challenges associated with fostering of both healthy food habits and attitudes. At most times, this will normally comprise of a tricky balance of firmness and relaxation. It has further been known that those parents who usually regulate and restricte the food choices normally do not foster a confident and relaxed approach towards food. There is, therefore, a dire need for role modelling and guidance in order to help the young people on the issues that have to do with diets and eating disorders (Thorp).

Eating Issues in the Adolescent Girls

Parents encounter numerous new challenges especially when it comes to the “slippery-slope time” for the adolescent girls even if the childhood eating disorders or issues have either been non-existent or minimal. Parents have been in dilemma as to whether to freak out or encourage in cases where their normal weight teens are in need of dieting. They therefore fail to decide if they should call therapists when their daughters say they are fat or whether they should just have a talk with them.

Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something!

Thanks to new technologies, it has been determined that most of the young people as well as adults spend a lot of their time just sitting in cars, in schools and even at home either playing computer games or watching television as opposed to active pastime. However, what young people fail to understand is the fact that such labor-saving devices actually come at high cost. This is because before the advent of such technology, the human population lived in both agrarian and hunter-gatherer cultures and as a result, the regular movements were capable of supporting their natural metabolic processes. Young people have failed to comprehend that their bodies are not able to function well if they just sit around. Recent studies have indicated that prolonged sitting was closely related to depression, anxiety, inflammation, anxiety, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 Diabetes and cancer.

It will be prudent for young people to note that prolonged “sedentary behaviour” cannot be compensated through regular work outs. This is attributed to the fact that indeed, if the individual sits at the computer for a long period of time while working, and then goes to the gym to carry out high intensity workouts for approximately three to four days a week, he will still suffer as a result of the adverse impacts of prolonged sedentary hours (Karen).

What Ought to Be Done

There are various measures that can be taken to ensure that “too many sedentary hours” are avoided by all. This includes taking short breaks of about 5 minutes to stand up and have a walk around. Studies have indicated that these can greatly help in the restoration of the body’s normal functioning, thus, reducing chances of cardiovascular risk occurrences as well as enhancing glucose metabolism. Despite the fact that more research is required in order to fully comprehend the process, it should be noted that health psychologists are continually establishing interventions aimed at the reduction of this problem. For instance, the use of sitting on the exercise balls ss opposed to the use of standing desks.

Changes can therefore be made to improve the lives of not only children but all people through:

• Ensuring that children take good active exercises on a regular basis
• Taking of regular stretch breaks while watching TV or playing computer games.
• Encouraging children to take short breaths and releasing them slowly.

Can Reading Fictional Stories Make One Become More Empathetic?

There are various reasons that neuroscience has put forward in order to explain why reading fiction stories can make an individual’s brain become more empathetic. After mapping of the brains by the Neuroscientists, it was discovered that through reading fiction, a person is able to tap into the brain networks of the characters and make their experiences become one’s own. It is strongly believed that when one becomes fully engaged in reading a story that is fictional, then the brains “literally lives vicariously” through the neurological levels of the characters.
For instance, according to researchers based at the Carnegie Mellon University, when one reads a chapter of either the “Sorcerer’s Stone Lights Up” or “Harry Potter”, one’s brain regions will be as involved as if one was watching somebody move or even see the flying of a broom in the actual world. Indeed, neuroscientists across the worlds have been using the “brain imaging technology” in order to hone upon the specific neural networks and brain regions, which are activated when an individual reads fiction. Conclusively, it seemed that through reading fiction, the readers’ ability of putting themselves in the shoes of other people and flexing imagination easily occurred.

In addition to that, it was ascertained that reading fiction was capable of enhancing the theory of mind. The theory refers to the ability of attributing the mental states, for instance, intents, beliefs, pretending, desires and knowledge not only to oneself, but also to other people, and to comprehend that other people have desires, beliefs and intentions which are different as opposed to one’s own.

Why Over Scheduling Kids Is Bad

Children, just like adults, become stressed because of having too much to do. Excessive workloads for children can have a negative impact on their lives and therefore there is more that needs to be done to ensure a conducive environment for the children is created. Children should be helped to learn how their time can be managed more efficiently and effectively. While some of parenting experts argued that over scheduling the children did not cause them any harm, others were of the opposite opinion. Some of them, therefore, argued that too many activities for the young people was a great problem (Feiler).

Parents were blamed for being interested in their children’s lives too much, thus making them participate in numerous activities aimed at competing with other children. It was further argued that there were higher risks of distracting the young people out of their natural development through engaging them in lots of activities before reaching 11 or 12 years old, because it is during such a period of their lives that self-consciousness is developed. There is, therefore, a dire need for the children to get enough time for free play time, lying around and even having activities that are non-goal oriented with their parents.

On the other hand, psychologists have argued that there is nothing wrong with having children indulge in too many activities, especially those dealing with enrichment, so long as the parents ensure that their children have ample time free from activities as well. They, therefore, assert that it is good for children to be scheduled to have musical activities or even sports and other activities that should be organized and supervised by mature people. Indeed, it was established that outside activities are capable of making the children become all rounded people. However, they further noted that problems arise when parents become interested in putting too much scrutiny on the performance of the children in their activities, since doing so makes children lack the fun that they initially intended to have (Wedge).

It is prudent to note that scheduling can either be termed as being too bad or good for the children, if first of all, it is determined whether the motivation for the activities that the children are engaged in is coming from the child or from their parents. If the motivation for the activities that the child is engaged in comes from the child, then over scheduling in that case will be quite constructive. However, if the motivation to engage in such activities arises from the pressure of the parents, then such over scheduling is not only punitive for the young children but also harmful for their growth.

Parents should always be careful when dealing with young people, especially those aged between 13 and 19, because this is a transitional stage that marks the end of childhood to adulthood. This is also due to the fact that the transition period brings a lot of independence issues as well as self identity.

The Impact of Marketing and Advertising on Children or Young People as Consumers

The United States’ economy is supported by both advertising and marketing, which are known for the promotion of the sale of both goods and services to the final consumers. Both children and adults are included into this category. Despite the fact that most of the marketing in the contemporary world has for a long period of time been targeting the children, there are two major trends which have significantly increased the interest of such marketers in child consumers. One of the major trends is children’s discretionary income coupled with their own power or ability to influences the purchases that are made by their parents. The second trend lies in the fact that the significant increase in the number of the available television channels has also resulted in a smaller audience for the channels. As a result, the digital interactive technologies have also opened new avenues or routes that have narrowed the cast to the young children and therefore led to the enlargement of the children’s media space, as well as the children’s products (Calvert).

At most times, it has been ascertained that paid advertising for the young people or specifically the children has primarily involved the television sports, which usually feature food products and toys that are high in sugar and fat, but very low in nutritional values. However, new marketing strategies have now been developed, which have led to stealth marketing methods as well as online advertisements. For instance, such methods are the embedding of various products in the contents of programs, such as, video games, online programs and films. Such marketing strategies are known to make younger children, especially those who are less than 8 years old, become more vulnerable, since they do not have cognitive skills of comprehending the persuasive intents of online and television advertisements.

However, it should be ascertained that there are various government regulations, which have been implemented by both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission with an aim of providing some form of protection for the children or young people from both the marketing and advertising practices. It has further been determined that regulators have been known to exert more control on the content of the scarce media, and most specifically, television airwaves that are known to belong to the public, as opposed to the content they put on online spaces which are more open. Calvert further asserts that children in the contemporary society are growing up in a marketing environment, which is highly sophisticated and which is capable of influencing both their behaviours as well as their preferences.

The dominance in the use of television sets in most of the homes in the United States, as well as in other places around the world, made advertisers quickly discover that they could use such a medium in order to bring their products and services to the attention of a larger or mass audience comprising of both the old and young people, and therefore deliver a hefty supply of adults and children to business. The contemporary advertising and marketing has permeated the daily lives of the children and in addition to that, most of the products which are marketed to the young children are not only ,unhealthy but they are also known to promote the occurrence of obesity. It is quite unfortunate that most of the children do not comprehend the intention of such persuasive advertisements and even the older children find it difficult to understand the new marketing methods that have now become notorious for blurring the line between the program and commercial content (Media Research).