TRAVERSE: Psychology Online Magazine

QUE, A. | SOLLA, E. | LEONARDO, P.

2ND SEMESTER 18-19| PSYCHOLOGY 101 WFV-1

TRAVERSE

PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY IN MOVIES AND BOOKS
IN OUR DAILY PSYCHOLOGY IN PICTURES AND VIDEOS
LIVES PEER REVIEWED PSYCHOLOGY ARTICLE

PSYCHOLOGY FOR US

PEER REVIEWED PSYCHOLOGY ARTICLE
TINYURL.COM/TRAVERSEPROCRASTINATION

WHEN

Procrastination is probably the most common time management problem that
university students face. Procrastination derived from the Latin verb procrastinare
meaning “to put off tomorrow” is a habit that undermines student productivity.
This can manifest itself in a variety of ways from delaying school papers to just
sitting and browsing through the internet.
American studies reported that more than 70% university students exhibit
procrastination. There is an entire body of research that links this behavior to a
lack of motivation, laziness, anxiety, and fear. In general, we assume that
procrastination is simply a matter of determination and commitment, but in
reality there are many factors that affect procrastination. According to Saddler,
these factors can be categorized into internal or external. Internal factors come
from the individual themselves, for instance, self-regulation and intrinsic
motivation. Among the external factors is how students perceive themselves
based on the evaluation from others. The negative feedback that students receive
from their peers and professors can impact how they evaluate themselves. Even
so, these factors need to be perceived by the students in a negative way before
leading them to procrastination. Self-efficacy plays a big role in this scenario as it
reflects confidence in the ability of the students to control over their own
motivation and behavior when performing a task.

Many studies have explored the connection between locus of control and academic
procrastination. Locus of control, in this context refers to the extent to which
students believe that they have control over the factors that affect the outcome of a
task. Several studies hypothesized that internal locus of control can minimize the
impact of “learned helplessness” on academic procrastination. According to Carden,
learned helplessness among students is a conditioning process in which they
consistently perceive that there is nothing they can do to control the outcome of a
task and as a result they make less and less of an attempt to do so. A discouraged
student who receives a negative remark from a professor because of a failing grade
on his Psychology exam might begin thinking, “No matter how hard I study for this
exam, I will not pass” or “I’m the least bright student in the class”. This effect of
learned helplessness is a lack of self-confidence that can ultimately lead to academic
procrastination. On the other hand, a study among college students has found that
when they possess a higher internal locus of control, they are more resistant to peer
influence and are more inclined to credit themselves for the outcomes. Furthermore,
they tend to do better academically and have lower chances of resorting to
procrastination due to helpless feeling.

Kususanto Prihadi and his colleagues from the HELP University in Malaysia carried
out a study to explore how locus of control comes into play in the relationship
between learned helplessness and academic procrastination. The study revolved
around three variables, namely, the locus of control, learned helplessness, and
academic procrastination. The study banks on the idea that academic
procrastination is a result of how university students perceive the expectations of
their professors towards them. When they see that their teachers perceive them as
low-performing or academically unwell, they tend to be academically helpless,
which now leads them to high tendencies of procrastination. A simple matrix was
developed in order to illustrate this hypothesis (Figure 1), which made the context of
the study easier to grasp since the relationships among the three variables can be
understood just by looking at how the matrix was presented.

To gather data from
participants, the researchers
made use of the snowball
sampling technique, which
basically is like the domino
effect. The idea is that the
researchers gather some
participants, and then, the
participants recruit other
participants for the study, and
so on. This technique, just by
looking at it in theory, is cost-
effective and efficient especially 

if the study needs a great number of participants. However, the problem comes
when the mechanism used is not able to filter those who are not actually qualified
to become part of the research study, thereby possibly contributing to a higher
margin of error. For this particular research effort, there were 60 students involved,
all coming from Penang, Malaysia, with ages ranging from 18 to 24 years old. They
were recruited to take part in the study through social media programs such as
Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram—which are all open-source and are public
spaces. Practically speaking, using social media to obtain participants is faster and
cheaper; however, it also comes with many disadvantages. First is that, everyone
can participate. In as much as social media allows researchers to have a wide reach
of participants, there can be tendencies that people who are not meant for the
study also participate. Next is that in a way, sampling can be limited since not all
target participants have access to the internet. Doing online surveys can also lead
to inaccurate results since there are too many distractions that a person might
encounter while answering a survey through his or her mobile phone or any other
gadget. Lastly, there are no trained professionals present immediately who can
address issues or confusions when participants have one. This may lead to
inaccuracies in data since participants may interpret some confusing instructions
solely by themselves and not the way it was meant to by researchers.

One of the merits of this research is the use of validated scales of measurement
in assessing factors such as self-esteem, locus of control, and procrastination
level. Such factors are heavily qualitative and are really somehow difficult to
assess, but with measurement scales that are validated by experts from different
institutions/universities, the likeliness of having errors are lessened. Some
concerns would just remain on the side of the participants—they are given these
surveys and that online, the hanging question is, did they fully grasp what they
answered? Were they able to fix confusions by themselves? Were there instances
where they were triggered by some provisions in the survey or scales. Always in
psychology, debriefing is a must, especially when dealing with matters that
might trigger emotional traumas or past experiences, and this is what online
surveys lack. The participants may have just clicked their way through the whole
survey without really understanding what is noted, unlike when it is a face to
face interview or one on one survey wherein the participants are accompanied
by legitimate professionals. In this way, however, the participants may be
pressured to provide personal details or information. Meanwhile, the biggest
flaw of the research is the use of snowball sampling. This sampling technique is
used only on instances where target participants are rare. In the case of this
study, university students who procrastinate are not, given the fact that this
study also provided a statistic that 70% of university students procrastinate.

The results of the experiment prove that procrastination isn’t just a problem for the
individuals, procrastination isn’t the only choice the individuals have.
Procrastination is a choice that is given to them by the people around them. Their
peers, their parents, people from their community shows that if an individual think
that he or she cannot accomplish or do their jobs, they should just procrastinate it.
 Which leads to individuals feeling more helpless for the reason that they already
feel that they cannot accomplish their assignment or task, and their community
thinks that they should just procrastinate it. The children cannot simply escape this
perspective of the community for the reason that when they are in need of help
they would ask for help from those around them. Specially from their parents, and
when their parents aren’t really open for suggestions and at the same time change.
Then procrastination would affect the performance of the students. Although the
quality of work that the student/individual makes isn’t really bad, but the one that
is really affected is the belief of the individual that nullifies the helplessness they
have endured from the people around them or from their failures. They are
planning for a larger study that contains more participants, and more variables that
would be accounted for.

Achieving and getting results from their experiments that students who perceive
their assignments are overwhelmingly beyond their capabilities tend to
procrastinate. However, this perspective of helplessness is a learned from their
environment and it is a belief that the students does not have the capacity to finish
their work on time.  Which makes the situation a problem for the community itself
not just the students or the individuals who were procrastinating, but their peers
and their environment during their growth. As an advocate of free information and
the right of literacy for all, this study shows that people aren’t always open to help
others even if they are there peers, maybe for a lot of reasons. Although there are
already external factors and institutions that should help us be more open to others
specially to those who are in need of help. But the opposite is shown that the act of
helplessness and that there is no one to help us or the individuals. Being an
advocate that everyone has the right to not be restricted to information especially if
that information would help an individual grow and be a better person, but of
course everyone has a different perspective of things and at the same time of
having respect for other peoples right. I do believe that if one wants to be
respected that individual must first respect others, especially on peer to peer levels
and with family members.

As an educator, I do agree with the results of the study. Learned helplessness
does not necessarily dictate a person’s capability of submitting a requirement
on time. Based on personal experience, the drive to submit requirements on the
dot really depends on their own decision and hard work, and long as the
students are responsible of the events in their life. Personally, as someone who
has this tendency to feel helpless, I really make it to a point to actually motivate
myself by thinking that my thought of me failing on doing something makes
me even more driven to not let it happen. On the other hand, I do believe that
the conclusion “procrastination will not happen when the student felt
empowered” was somehow misleading. First is that how do we measure “being
empowered”? And can empowered people actually be removed from the
equation of procrastination? I think not. Even the brightest of the brightest and
happiest of the happiest can procrastinate at some point, depending on the
circumstances that we are encountering. One thing is for sure, I am one with the
study in saying that educators must always avoid in hurling negative remarks to
students, as it only does not make them ashamed of themselves and lessens
their self-esteem, it can also have an impact on how they treat their co-learners
and how they look at life not just in the classroom, but in the larger sense.

PYSCHED

PSYCHOLOGY IN MOVIES AND BOOKS

When it comes to being Approach them calmly about
honest with your parents, it a situation you'd want to tell
can be tough. You're afraid them. Try to collect your
they might just scold you for thoughts prior to talking to
something when you're finally them so you're not stumbling
being honest with them. So all over the place. If you have
here's a trick to get it out of to, write down your points so
your chest, with no fear. you can discuss them properly

BATMAN: THE KILLING
JOKE (ARVIN)

The graphic novel that focuses
mainly on how the joker (arch
nemesis of batman), became
the joker. The joker is usually
portrayed as being crazy and
hysterical, this story shows what
he has to go through to become
the joker that wants everyone
to smile. In this story the Joker
tried to mentally harass
detective Gordon by recreating
the psychological torture that
he went through. Although this
story isn’t just about the joker
himself, this also shows the
other side of batman, the time
when he killed someone out of
anger.

Joker being the joker, making everybody smile forcefully is his way of
saying hello. The joker is the psychotic clown of Gotham city and the main
enemy of Batman for years. The way of striking fear is pretty different
compared to how the batman strikes fear throughout Gotham city. The
Joker wants everybody to fear him by threatening them with his jokes and
his dreadful smile. At first it sounds good hearing a joke and making
everybody laugh, but not with the joker. Hearing a joke and tossing a
laughing gas afterwards are pretty sick and lowly moves to make people
to laugh and succumb to what he wants. While batman on the other hand
strikes fear through silence, leaving people with what he has done, not
what he wants to do.

I deemed it to have a connection in psychology for the reason that this
graphic novel those show how the external factors and at the same time
how depression makes us a different person. From a working father who
worked his best to raise his family was faced with problems that are far
out of his reach. We can see how depression and the lack people who
understood him turned him into a psychopath. While on the other hand a
vigilante who uses his fear to strike fear on others. Using his fear to keep
him motivated, keep him awake from the chains of reality, to keep his feet
on the ground. But of course everyone has their limits, and this shows that
even Batman has a limit to his fears and his angers.

I really liked it for the reason that it shows how out emotions affect our
cognition, how people can change just because they don’t have anyone
else to turn to. How one incident in our life can change a person so
drastically there is no more turning back. This shows how we normal
citizens should not just be literate enough to keep up with what is
happening in our society, but at the same time let us have an open mind
to care for those who are in need. Specially those who are battling their
own dark thoughts, and those who are in need of our care and
acknowledgement. Specially here in the Philippines where our fight to
raise mental health awareness is just starting. We must persevere to know
more about it and live it in our normal lives for we aren’t the only who is
living in this planet. There are always other people out there besides
ourselves to think and care about.

UP! (2009) [EUGENE]

Disney’s Up is a perfect embodiment
of the concepts on the development
across lifespan, with great emphasis
on aging. The movie revolves around
the story of a man named Carl who
met his friend-turned-lover-turned-
wife, Ellie, in the most unexpected
way possible.  The destinies of the
two were bonded by a movie about
the Paradise Falls, a lost place
somewhere in South America. Their
love was fueled by the very same
adventure that they are longing to—
to search and explore the Paradise
Falls. In the course of their love
story, they promised to bring their 
house in the long-lost place. Personality-wise, they seem to be very
opposite—Ellie is hyperactive, while Carl is the reserved one. But their
differences actually complimented each other, making them a perfect
pair.  Like any other relationships out there, be it romantic, familial, or
friendly, the partners had their own share of issues and challenges
throughout their married life—some being financially, childbearing, and
of course, health issues. The two were living the life until Ellie died due
to old age, leaving Carl alone, longing for more adventures that he can
do if Ellie was still alive.

The movie showed how the two’s relationship progressed through time,
and how their individual personalities changed as they grew up.
Looking at it through the lenses of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of
Development. Three stages were evident in the movie. First is the early
adulthood stage where the two had been able to exchange vows and 

live life together as husband and wife. It is safe to assume that they
were both able to achieve intimacy instead of isolation. It was also
during this stage where they prepared for the birth of their first child,
but due to unfortunate circumstances, their child was not able to
witness the beauty of the world. And so, they had to move forward.
During their middle adulthood stage, Carl made efforts in order to help
Ellie from the trauma and stress that she had to go through. They had
plans of making it to Paradise Falls and started it by saving money.
However, the money that they were able to save was constantly used
for sudden issues that needed to be fixed immediately. Because of the
efforts made by the two to keep their relationship intact despite of the
problems they have faced; they were able to avoid stagnation and still
make memories worth remembering. Lastly is the late adulthood stage,
where they already reached the last years of their life. Ellie died due to
old age, and Carl was left alone in despair. It was very evident that he
was still in shock and was still in denial about Ellie’s death. One can
only imagine how depressing that instance was for Carl. Indeed, having
to say goodbye to the love of your life and accepting their departure
might take a lot of time to swallow. In this final stage, Carl had to face
regrets and only think about his unfinished business—which was to
take their home to the Paradise Falls, with Ellie in the original plan.
The movie showed how Carl continued with his daily routine, only now,
without his partner.

The movie was also centered on the
idea of growing up, which is
explained by various theories on
aging. The movie showed, just in
the beginning, how the two aged,
starting from their childhood up to
the death of Ellie. Regardless of the
aging theory that we use to look
into the situation, be it the cellular
clock theory, wear and tear theory,
or free radicals’ theory, one thing is
for sure—biological and
environmental factors affect the
aging of Carl and Ellie, like any
other individuals. Their cells might
have reached it breakup point, their
organs might have failed to 
maintain its supposed function through time, which might
explain the different health concerns or issues that was
manifested in the movie. These physical challenges were also
accompanied by emotional ones, especially in the trying times
that the couple had to face, their hopes of having a child being
the greatest. Like us, they also had stressors, but they chose to
still bank on their love for one another to get though and go on.

Up is just one of the perfect movies about love. Without a doubt,
Carl and Ellies love met the three elements: passion,
commitment, and intimacy. The movie just showcased how they
dedicated their lives for one another and how they are willing to
sacrifice for their collective good. In less than two hours, there is
no doubt that this movie made me think about how my life will
end up. Will I have a stable career in the future?

Will I meet the love of my life years from now? Or will I even have a
partner? Movies like this tend to make me emotional, and I am not
hating it. The feeling of questioning your entire present self and the
possibilities in the future is interesting. A lot of things can happen
in a minute, what more in a year or a decade? As generic as it may
seem, life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes, we are happy.
Sometimes, we are sad. Sometimes, we are something. Life is just
like that, full of mysteries and adventures. What is important is how
we choose to do things that makes us contented, so that in the end,
we do not regret. Failures are part of the celebration, but we must
learn from them instead of making them our reality. In all ways, we
must learn to move forward and create a new path for our
succeeding chapters.

BLACK MIRROR’S HANG
THE DJ [EUGENE]

Love is, indeed, a very complicated
thing. As the song goes, it moves in
undoubtingly mysterious ways. But,
have you ever thought of a way to
make love more complicated? Black
Mirror happens to be the answer!
Known to provoke and disturb the
minds of its viewers, Black Mirror is a
series based on Netflix that showcases
different takes on the rapid changing
progress and development in science
and technology, mainly revolving on
issues about love, adolescence,
afterlife, among other things. In Hang 
the DJ, Black Mirror tackles the issue of attraction and love alongside
online dating applications. The idea is that downloading and signing in
for a dating app automatically brings you to a new dimension, a world
inside that dating app, with yourself having characteristics based on
what you provided when you were signing up. You get to meet people
in that other dimension, hang with them, have sex with them, but on a
prescribed period of time, which the app decides on to by the way. One
can stay with another user for hours, days, and even years. After many
pairings, the application then finally decides on who your “ultimate
perfect match” is, which will now appear in your dating matches in the
real world. It is like the application is testing the waters inside the
“other” dimension, see if the relationship will work, before informing
you in the real world that a specific person is your 99.8% match.

The main protagonists (Amy and Frank) in the movie happened to be
new users in the application system. They were the first match in the
“other” dimension but failed to maintain the connection since they were
just paired for 36 hours and were filled with awkwardness. They parted
ways after the prescribed time period and went on dating other people
in the dimension. For Amy, the second match was a charm at first, a
man with a great physique and claimed that they should start off their
day with sex as it greatly breaks the ice and is an overview of
compatibility”. Meanwhile, for Frank, it was a disaster. She was matched
with a grumpy woman who just hates him and even questioned the
application’s decision on their prescribed period, which was one year.
As time progressed, they saw themselves discontented with their
match, as it just went on and on, the same routine every day—eat, walk
together, talk, then sex, sex, and sex. At one point, Amy and Frank met
again in a gathering, and there, they felt a certain connection between
them, that they are really meant for each other. Years passed and they
were matched to other individuals in the dimension, doing the same
routine. And then shortly after, Amy and Frank matched again. However,
they decided to not look at their prescribed period and just enjoy and
live life together. For them, this time, it went great and looked like they
were the ultimate match. But Frank was tempted to look at the

prescribed period, with the consent of Amy, which then lead to the
timer recalibrating itself, leaving them with only 22 hours together.
Upon knowing, Amy felt mad at Frank. Again, they went on the same
routine with their new matches, with no intimate feelings unlike that of
them together. One night came where they were informed that they
already matched with their ultimate pair, but before that, they were
given the chance to settle things with only one person, where they
chose each other. Instead of just talking, they risked the chance and
ran together, though forbidden, and resulted to them matching in real
life.

Interpersonal attraction can really be caused by a lot of different
factors according to psychology. In this case, it greatly is affected by
proximity and similarity. Since the application allows the users to
indicate their likes and dislikes, their personal information and other
details, the matches are probably based on who among the participants
are most likely to compliment each other. Another thing is proximity
since the application finds people around the area near the user. Now,
we have the three components of love according to Sternberg, namely,
intimacy, passion, and commitment. Looking into the cases in the other
dimension, some matches are solely bonded by passion—revolving on
physical attractiveness and sexual desires. When it comes to the love
exhibited by both Amy and Frank, the three components were very 

evident. On their first encounter, they already had that unexplainable
connection between them, which was sparked on their second
encounter, where they expressed their attraction in all forms possible,
one of those is having sex, finally. They cared for each other every day
and had deep conversations which was not seen on their other
matches. And more importantly, they were willing to take the risk just
to fight for their love until the very end, showing their commitment to
each other.

Love may not be easily explained objectively, as it differs from person to
person. Hang the DJ proved that love is not a simple game, rather it
involves two people who are not just emotionally and physically
attached with each other, but are willing to take principled risk just to
prove their lifelong commitment to each other.

PSYCH IN OUR DAILY LIVES

Travelling with a person you just to get away from the
know you trust can be a real concrete jungle, and go back to
rewarding thing for your your roots. Take a rest with your
relationship for him or her. BFF somewhere you guys can
Sure, you two might just be totally chill and hang out and
friends, but travelling allows talk for hours with no awkward
the both of you to grow and silences. Try to make a good
learn more about each other. experience out of it by really
Take the time to go out on a enjoying every single moment
small trip, even just a road trip with your buddy.

PROGRESS

TAKING A SHOWER1

2Gives me time to focus on
myself and what I need to do
for the day and at the same
time wake me up. A day
starter, to keep me going
through the day with goals
and plans on what I have to
do. - Arvin

DAILY MEDITATION

I usually do this before
sleeping or after waking up,
just so that I can finalize my
thoughts, remember what I
have to do. And make me
mentally ready for the day or
sleep I would embark on. This
makes me emotionally ready
for the day. - Arvin

3 DAILY WALK/EXERCISE

I love walking, and walking4
helps me in when I am really
stressed. It helps sort my
thoughts and make a concrete
plan or solutions for my
problems. - Arvin

PLAYING GAMES

Playing PC games is my way to
distress, to get things out of
my mind and help me cope up
with my problems with life.
Having my focus on another
thing, and another story helps
me cope and at the same time
gives me suggestion and
perspectives I can understand
and explore. - Arvin

RTRS AND5
MOBILIZATIONS
6
As part of the student council
and progressive organizations, I
do RTRs quite often mainly with
the purpose of social influence, to
make students aware of certain
issues in our society and
encourage them to take part in
bringing social change, even in
their own little ways. (Video link,
see me at 1:24:
https://tinyurl.com/PsychMobVid)

ORG WORKS

Being part of an organization, day to
day interactions with my orgmates
have let me learn things I have never
thought of before, but when it comes
to work ethics, I really try to separate
my “as a friend” side and “as an
orgmate” side with my co-members.
This is quite frustrating since some of
them have the tendency to do social
loafing, since they know that there are
other members in the organization
who will do the work for them instead.
Fortunately, social facilitation is still
evident since we really try to learn
and improve ourselves based on our
experiences.

7 BROWSING FACEBOOK
AND TWITTER

I know that social media
applications just brings a lot
of stressors in me since I really
have this tendency to
compare myself to other
people. But alongside that,
social media gives me the
relief that I am well informed
about what is happening not
just in our country, but
specifically on my friends,
family, and or course, my
crush.

SINGING IN THE 8
SHOWER

The comfort room is a very
sacred place for me because
this is where I am able to do
things that I cannot do around
other people, like sing
whatever and however I want.
This is my coping mechanism
whenever I want to disconnect
from the world and forget the
problems that I have even just
for a short period of time.

KEBAB9

When you are struggling with the
daily hassles of life and you have no
one to turn to but food. Yes, food
ALWAYS solves the problem. I can’t
help but to give in to my food
cravings when I’m stressed out.
Usually after a long day, I treat myself
to dinner at my favorite
Persian/Indian place called Abdul:
Kebab and Curry. Somehow, I have
forged a deep relationship with
kebabs. #StressEating - Patrick

MELATONIN FOR SLEEP

The only magic pill I need. I
have had issues with my sleep
since my teenage years and
melatonin does help me fall
asleep faster. #Sleep
#WellBeing - Patrick

01

LIFE TALK

PSYCHOLOGY FOR US

When it comes to being Approach them calmly about
honest with your parents, it a situation you'd want to tell
can be tough. You're afraid them. Try to collect your
they might just scold you for thoughts prior to talking to
something when you're finally them so you're not stumbling
being honest with them. So all over the place. If you have
here's a trick to get it out of to, write down your points so
your chest, with no fear. you can discuss them properly

THE POKEMON BRAIN
BY EUGENE SOLLA
REFLECTION ON

TINYURL.COM/TRAVERSEPKMN

Our childhood experiences can really have a great impact on our
development as we progress in our life. During our childhood, we
discover things, we explore things on our own, and from these, we
learn from the environment surrounding us, surprisingly even from
the movies and anime series that we have watched all day long
when we were young. A study on Stanford University has found out
that Pokemon enthusiasts develop this pea-sized region in their
brains dedicated for recognizing and naming the various pocket
monsters in the Pokemon world. Jesse Gomez, the primary scientist
behind the study, was inspired by the idea of the “Jennifer Aniston
neuron” or the grandmother cell, whose purpose is to recognize
famous actresses. Gomez believed that if some individuals are able 

to develop certain regions in the brain dedicated in recognizing
specialized object sets, it is possible that there are regions in the
brain dedicated for Pokemon species. As per experiments on
Pokemon experts and those who are not familiar with the game
(control group), results showed that the experts had a specific
region in the brain that has been found to be active when shown
with pictures of Pokemon characters, as compared to the control
group. As a Pokemon fan himself during his childhood days, Gomez
believed that our brain has this capability of adapting to what we
are inclined to especially in our early years. He even said that we
are not limited by our brain, but by our experiences during our
childhood.

According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, our cognition starts at
birth wherein we realize that concepts and mental images represent the things
surrounding us. At our preoperational stage, young children can already refer to
objects with words/pictures and do pretend play. As a Pokemon fan myself, I
remember myself being so invested to Pokemon, to the point that I always ask
my parents to buy me CDs that I can watch, action figures that I can display in
my room, and texts or “pogs” that I can use to play with my friends. I even
remember myself memorizing all the names and evolutions of Pokemons, and
even pretend how they talk and how the other characters in the series like Ash
and Team Rocket deliver their famous lines. Up until now, I still am very familiar
with the names of the Pokemon, except those versions that were released when I
was already in college. At concrete operational stage, children are able to
preserve, question, and relearn their thinking and understand analogies. This is
where the types of Pokemon enters, like recognizing what type is stronger than
the other or what move is effective against another Pokemon. These stages in
Piaget’s cognitive development plays a key role in the study suggested by Gomez,
as children really learn from the things that they are accustomed to when they
were young, and such exposure can lead to changes on how their brain organize
itself to preserve remarkable and memorable ideas.

        This study may also be backed up by the concepts of memory. Such things
that made our childhood might have been stored as long-term memory, since it
took a lot of part in our lives as children. We learn things by encoding them first
in our brain, same is through with learning the names of Pokemon. We encode
their appearance in our brain, and we associate it with their respective names.
Once familiarized, the information is then stored and is up for retrieval when
triggered by a stimulus. As for me, when I am shown pictures of Pokemons, I
immediately give out their names. Dealing with Pokemons is more likely to be
recognition, rather than recall, even as shown in how the study was conducted.
Pictures were used in the experiment and the participants were asked to name
the Pokemon once the picture was already shown.

Being exposed to science basically all throughout my life, I really
believe that our brain has this tendency to organize and adapt
itself depending on the circumstances that surround us at a
certain point in our lives, more so during our childhood days when
we are very receptive and open in encountering new things and
learning from them. As a Pokemon fan since my childhood days
who happens to still remember the characters from the renowned
game and television show, I would want to believe and assume
that a certain portion in my brain is really responsible for
organizing my Pokemon thoughts and memories. However, we
should not discount the fact that this needs further studies to
really validate the results presented by the scientists in Stanford
University. Maybe, the experiments can also be done to other
nationalities, and not just American Pokemon fans, as it may also
have an effect.

        Knowing about this study, I am really curious about the case
of other anime fans. Are there certain portions in our brain
dedicated for recognizing these things? I cannot help also but
doubt the existence of such regions since when we come to think
of it, we are really bombarded by many series, movies, and games—
so does that mean that our brain continuously creates new regions
for it to recognize the characters and elements in the respective
media? Well, this is a challenge to all psychologists and scientists.
For now, let us all bank in the fact that our brains are powerful
organs and are undoubtedly adaptive ones.

PSYCHOLOGY OF MOVING ON
BY ARVIN QUE

REFLECTION ON:
TINYURL.COM/TRAVERSETOGETOVER

Psychology of moving on, honestly speaking once we get used to
loving or being with someone it I very hard to let them go nor it is
very hard not being with them. But as the saying goes “life goes
on”, even if we like it or not, even if we have done everything we
could, people still leave. Now this article discusses on how people
might overcome getting over someone we used to love. And being
on a break up during this semester I was kind of stuck in the
middle whether I should move one and leave everything behind,
despite doing a lot of things for her I still asked the question is it
enough? What have I done wrong? What should I do be better?
And everyone has their own pace in moving on at the same time
everyone has their own definition of being love and loving others.

Fixing the problems may it be from our negative attitudes or the
positive attitudes that we must improve are part of the article.
These are the things they have studied on and at the same time
researched on. That we must solve our fixed mindset and that we
must be more open to suggestions and the perspective of other
people. Respect on how they want to live their or how they want
to perceive things, how they handle problems and things that
they encounter. The research also discussed about the growth
mindset where people are really open to change and progress.
Both mindsets do have their downsides, being too linear minded
makes people very constricted at the same time selfish most of
the times. While on the other hand being too much of an
advocate to change makes us leave things more often before we
actually internalize what these things are and how these things
can really help us in our daily life or rather our future.

I may just be ranting, but I want to rant it in a way that people
would find out or learn that there is always a beginning and there
is always, that everything finite and we just have to live on in
order to progress and be able to find what we really want in our
life. If there is such a thing as destiny, then we may find our
destiny.
It may be hard, but if there is something I would like to take away
from my psychology 101 class is that people are always going
through something, may it be hard and heavy or it may be light
and easy to share to others. Still we must remember to respect
their thoughts and their perspective, to show that there are still
people for them in good times and in bad times. Perspectives are
our way of coping up with what we have endured and at the same
time it would be our progress in life. May our life be easy and
carefree or may it be gloomy and dull, but there are still a lot to
learn and at the same time a lot to figure out by ourselves. Self-
growth, that we must not always rely on others for our own
happiness, and to respect other peoples pace on living their lives.

CARPE DIEM!
BY PATRICK LEONARDO

REFLECTION ON:
TINYURL.COM/TRAVERSENVSN

The “Nature versus Nurture” debate has always piqued my
interest. This topic has been discussed in my Sociology 101
class and I further gained more understanding of it in
Psychology 101. Personally, I believe that both nature and
nurture, with nature being influenced by genetic forces and
nurture being the environment where people live, have a
profound impact on a person’s life.

What fascinates me is how much these two key factors –
genetics and environment – can determine a person’s chances
of success in life. Although one can argue that success is just a
social construct, a subjective concept that is hard to measure,
for the purpose of this paper let’s define success as having
achieved one’s goals and dreams, not necessarily being
wealthy, and having a lot of tangibles. So to what extent do
environment and education shape our fate of having a better
future, and how responsible is genetics for our intellect and
personality? These questions have long been explored by
psychologists and sociologists alike. Recounting my formative
years, my siblings and I were raised in a relatively comfortable
home environment and were sent to good schools. I am
grateful for this privilege, however I cannot help but ask myself
the what if questions. What if I were raised in poverty without
access to good education and safe environment? Would I still
be the same person I am today? Would I have different
ideologies and outlook in life? Most likely. One could argue
that a person only has to have the courage and determination
to achieve success in life, but in reality, there are many factors
that are at play. Likewise, a person can have an abundant life
full of opportunities, yet he or she fears to move out of their
comfort zone and reach for their dreams.

Various studies have concluded that nature and nurture have
about equal influence on child development. The longevity of
this discussion suggests that society hasn’t learned that much
and maybe it will continue in the next centuries to come.
However, this subject goes beyond scholarly works and
research projects. To say that that this is a matter of a flawed
system is debatable. Ideally, every child deserves to be
enriched, empowered, and be given access to education
regardless of their social status. The government should
continually create policies and mandates to give opportunities
to the disadvantaged youth as their wealthier peers.
Individuals who belong in the upper class of the society need
to step up to the plate and assume greater responsibilities.

We may never witness a fair world wherein no individual is left
behind, but for now we all just have to deal with reality.
Different people are born in different families and were raised
in different ways, but we can control our own life and we have
the freedom to go a lot further than what society dictates.
Carpe Diem!

References:

Ouellette, J. (2019, May 06). Pokémon characters have their own pea-sized region in brain,
study finds. Retrieved from https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/theres-a-brain-
region-for-pokemon-characters-if-you-played-a-lot-as-a-kid/

Pittman, K. (2007, December 21). On Nature vs. Nurture, Success and Failure. Retrieved
from https://youthtoday.org/2003/10/on-nature-vs-nurture-success-and-failure/

Prihadi, K., Tan, C. Y., Tan, R. T., Yong, P. L., Yong, J. H., Tinagaran, S., . . . Tee, Y. J. (2018).
Mediation Role of Locus of Control on the Relationship of Learned-helplessness and
Academic Procrastination among College Students in Penang, Malaysia. International
Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 7(2), 87.
doi:10.11591/ijere.v7i2.12597

To Get Over a Breakup, Change Your Mindset. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201609/get-over-
breakup-change-your-mindset