So this is the end...

It's hard to imagine that this is the last blog that I will be writing for this class. It feels like just yesterday that I was learning how to create posts that were both interesting and informative while talking about the various topics of developmental psychology. But before I bring this little blog to a close I think its time to look back and see what exactly all of these topics have in common.

                   
                                              How cute is this little guy?
It makes the most sense on this "reflective" blog to start from the very beginning where it all began. My very first post looked at the ability of babies to think, which if you ask me was very interesting. As the oldest on both sides of the family I have grown up with my fair share of babies, and from personal experience I can say that babies know more than we give them credit for. However, research also indicates that babies can understand much more than we actually give them credit for. Angela Saini actually had researchers at the London Babylab preform tests (they were completely harmless, don't worry) on her 15 week old son. These tests actually showed that her son was able to understand things that the researchers put before him. Granted he was unable to tell them in words which picture he preferred, etc, but researchers were actually able to tell by how long he looked at various pictures. However, researchers such as Sylvain Sirois  believe that babies "know squat." Obviously, more research needs to be completed in order to have a clear picture of what is actually going on inside those little heads.
                        
                                     Brooke and Gabe - Meg Nowak's son
This theory that babies can think ties directly into the next topic of choice, language. Language shapes our everyday lives. No matter what we are doing, language ties in in some aspect. According to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis language actually shapes the way that we depict our world around us.This hypothesis explains why some tribes can only discern certain colors from each other. Because the tribe only has four words for colors they take longer to tell the differences between colors that may seem very different to us. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis ties directly into how babies think.

Based off of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis it would make sense that babies that are raised in different parts of the world would actually think differently. A child that is raised in a tribe that only has four words for colors would grow up learning these four words and would therefore think differently than a child that grew up speaking English and knew many words for colors. However, if someone believed that babies don't think then the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis would not be applicable.

The next comparison begins with attachment parenting, a controversial style of parenting that is becoming ever more popular in the United States. This style of parenting is based off of the closeness between parent and child, especially between mother and child. Dr. Bill Sears created this parenting style based off of extended breast feeding, co-sleeping and carrying your child in a sling across your
body. All of these characteristics are used to raise children that are confident and secure. However, there is some controversy to this practice of parenting, as it is so out of the ordinary. However, I will touch upon this later.

The theory of right and wrong is one that humans have pondered about since the beginning of time. However, a theorist by the name of Lawrence Kohlberg made strides in analyzing the theory of right and wrong and putting the various steps in words. Kohlberg developed his theory off of the famous developmental psychologist Piaget. Kohlberg believed that the theory of Right and Wrong developed as we developed. The theory of right and wrong actually applies to situations in our everyday lives that we may not even be aware of. Things such as making judgement over whether someone's parenting style is right or wrong for example. 
I know that if I were to see someone breastfeeding their four or five year old child in public I would immediately consider that morally wrong. I could not give justification for why that would be wrong, but I could tell you that it was wrong without a doubt in my mind. This is just one instance that shows how attachment parenting and Kohlberg's theory of right and wrong are intertwined. Another way to look at the interconnection of these two topics is to consider how my viewpoint of attachment parenting may be different if I had been raised by parents who believed in attachment parenting. At this point it is difficult to tell.

This final blog is quickly coming to a close with the last comparison of topics that I have. One of the topics that I was most passionate about was the theory of microexpressions. Microexpressions are the tiny changes in facial expressions that may give further insight into how an individual is feeling. From a first hand experience I have seen how important things like facial expressions are in our everyday lives. It is easy to tell if someone is angry, happy or sad but what exactly is the science behind learning how to read facial expressions? The theory of microexpressions was originally developed by Paul Ekman, a professor of Psychology. Ekman learned that anyone could learn how to read microexpressions and earn a leg up in the social world. But you may wonder how something like microexpressions can tie into the next topic, bullying.
            

If you are blessed enough to have made it through your whole life without being bullied consider yourself lucky, as well as a rare statistic. Bullying is a problem in today's society that reaches beyond the classroom or the school bus and is becoming a problem on things such as social media. Growing up in a culture where bullying is such a big problem, I have been through countless programs that are focused on making sure children know how harmful bullying can be, but the research is beginning to show that anti-bullying programs may not be working. Christopher Ferguson suggests that programs that focus on enhancing positive relationships and finding the reason behind the bullying may be much more successful.

Now you may be wondering how bullying and microexpressions relate, and it is a connection that someone may not make unless they have had direct experience with both factors. As I mention in my microexpressions blog, my sister Megan has a disorder called Aspergers syndrome. With this disorder my sister is unable to read facial expressions, and because of this was bullied throughout elementary and middle school. While all of Megan's classmates were learning the social structures of middle school, Megan was trying her best to try and understand what someones face looked like when they were mad at her, as compared to when they were upset. Meg missed out on many "inside" jokes because she was, and still is, unable to understand sarcasm. Although she has progressed over time, it is amazing to think how important something as innate as reading facial expressions can be when you no longer have it.


Looking back over this blog it amazes me that these topics are all so interrelated. Unless I had stepped back and taken the time to analyze each topic in depth I never would have realized how similar some of these topics are. So for now I say goodbye, it has been a pleasure to give you my view from up here.