Growth Mindset VS Fixed Mindset

Happy Sunday all! I hope you've all had a great week, wherever you are in the world. I've mainly been busy prioritizing my self-care throughout this week by not spending too much time on the internet, as spending too much time on the internet does genuinely kill my productiveness.

Anyway, as the title states, I shall be explaining what is a growth & a fixed mindset, as well as explaining the differences between them both. This was another one of those psychology studies which I have learned about back in my 1st year of my Public Services course at college, but had never gotten round to sharing it onto here. The fascinating aspect about this study, is that it can be used to analyse other people's minds. This can mostly be effective for when you are watching studying answer some questions in a classroom. The same method can also apply for when your mind is being studied by somebody else.

What is a growth mindset?

A growth mindset is where you are always looking for ways to learn & grow. This is very commonly used when it comes to making a mistake. For example, when you see somebody being asked to work out a question on chemistry, and they get it wrong, they would want to know where they went wrong in order learn from that mistake.

What is a fixed mindset?

A fixed mindset is where you like to think you are perfect all of time by not making any mistakes. In fact, you try to avoid making mistakes all together for the sake of looking like a genius all of the time. For example, when you see somebody in a classroom copying somebody else's answers in chemistry, because they are too headstrong about making mistakes if they were to provide their own answers. The trouble is that person won't be able to learn how they got their answer in chemistry, as there are no mistakes to help them learn.

Here is the attached picture that shows the characteristics of the 2 contrasting mindsets. Although I may do a separate post on here fir another time, which involves discussing each of them in more detail.

*I began this post on the 29/10/23, but didn't finish it until the 31/10/23*

The psychology behind social media influencers

Good evening everyone, and happy Friday! I hope you've all had a good week doing whatever you've been up to.

As for me over here, I've been busy for the first 3 days with my extra credit, then I had 2 days of doing nothing. As of right now, I thought about doing another blog post, since I currently have nothing else more important to do. 

As the title states, I will be explaining the psychology of what makes people think they are social media influencers. I was actually doing my research on this whilst on my lunchbreak on Wednesday. 

What is a social media influencer?

A social media influencer is a type of person who likes to make themselves look, as well as be popular across every social media existing. They do this by constantly posting what they like doing, with the sole intention of attracting followers, and people liking their posts. 

What makes social media influencers popular in today's society? 

Social media influencers are becoming increasingly popular by the second of every day due to the amount of money they are making just by posting on their social media. This can also be done due to the fact that it's easy to become addicted to social media. On the subject of social media addiction being easy to get into, a lot of people use it to create their own businesses on it to earn money. If we even look at the term 'influencer' this is where social media influencers encourage other social media influencers to get involved in the world of social media influencing by purposely making posts that will make their followers think: "Wow! They look really cool doing that!"

Why do people behave like a social media influencer?

This is because they follow a lot of already social media users all over social media, and they feel like they want to be like them by mimicking their influential behaviour on their social media. Doing so also helps these people, who are under the influence of social media influencers, to feel like they are being social with every single person they are connected with on social media. This would be known as the now typical social interaction. *If anyone reading this is old-skool in terms of this topic, I suggest you take your allergy tablets*

Conclusion: I think we can all agree that social media influencing will STILL continue to get competitively popular in general as time will go on. Moreover on this, social media will still be an effective tool to use when it comes to promoting, marketing or campaigning, which will encourage influential behaviour to their followers. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong use when it comes to social media influencers, as they can make post their own content on literally anything at all to attract their social media audience. I personally am not into social media influencing, so I do not want to showcase my opinions on here, as it could cause controversy. Link to my research source: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/media/news/blog/are-social-media-influencers-really-that-significant

Anyway, hope you've all found this topic post beneficial by gaining a useful insight into what social media influencers are all about, and I shall be back very soon.

*I began this post on the 20/10/23, but didn't get finished until the 21/10/23* 

Why going to an education setting with so much opportunities can make a person thrive in life

Evening all! Hope you're all enjoying your week so far, whatever you're doing. I'm just trying to keep myself as busy as possible with my extra credit & any upcoming work I have with Disability Challengers.

As the title states, I am going to be discussing why an opportunity-filled education setting can really do people with gifted mindsets the world of good. What I mean by this, is how academic people want to be able to excel, as well as show off their learning ability in an education setting like no other.

And I will be using Epsom College for my chosen example.

Why did I choose Epsom College as my example?

I chose Epsom College, because it has so many learning opportunities like no other place does. Well, that's my opinion anyway. In comparison to other education settings, I see that this one has every single opportunity in stock, whereas other places don't. (Not trying to cause offence here)

What really helps support my option, is that I have watched the virtual tour on YouTube. The video consists of 2 students giving you the tour of the place, as well as talking about what their educational life is like for them there. Here's the video in case if you're interested to see for yourself: 

How does Epsom College cater for the needs of the gifted?

For starters, Epsom College considers the fact that there are (and still will be) people out there who want to wish to be well educated. Not just to be educated, but to be educated to the very best of standards. 

This is done in such a way, because the students who attend there, have an inquisite mindset by wanting to develop their interest in something in every single approachable way possible. It's as if their mindsets are constantly barking at them to be able to learn every bit about what their interested in that will help them what they want to do in the future.

Is there any evidence that those students do well in life after Epsom College?

Yes there is! According to the website, there is evidence that shows the support students get while applying to universities across the UK & abroad. Evidence in the website also include careers talk, discussions of their academic ability & seeking work experience. 

Conclusion:

Not every educational setting has to be made out as a stereotypical "Normal place of learning." Primarily because this particular education setting just happens to stand out more than the rest. As a matter if fact, non-typical education settings seem to achieve more praise due to how well they stand out.

WHY AM I SO INATTENTIVE?!

If you have been reading through, or still have been reading through my blog posts, you may have seen that I have been slacking on getting them finished on the same date I have started them. This is due to the fact that I now have so many things going on in my life now that simply takes away my free time to be blogging on here. 

As much as I do genuinely enjoy being busy, I also find it annoying that I am becoming too busy to be active on here doing what I love doing. Hence, I rarely have any time to be looking into what is happening in the world of psychology. Hence, my reason('s) for feeling so inattentive lately.

If I was to be honest with myself at this point, it would be that I have been feeling drained when I try to type on here. To add onto that statement, I feel like I have to put pressure on myself just to keep myself active on here, let alone come up with another post to publish.

It's not that I do not enjoy blogging anymore, or that I do not have a passion for psychology anymore, (because I still do) it's that I am now in the process of providing better future opportunities for myself. This had meant I want to put my focus onto doing that, rather than worry about trying to keep active on here all of the time.

So if you see that I am hardly active on here at the moment, or slacking to get anything published by taking as long as 5 days, you'll now know why. 

The best way to understand people's behaviour

This is a post which will be relating to my job as a disability play/youth worker. Not only that, but I will also be dishing out tips & advice for the best way to get to understand children & young people with complex needs.

What does a play/youth worker do?

A play/youth worker is a member of staff who works on play or youth scheme, (or in my case, Disability Challengers) and basically gets to work with children & young people while they get to have fun playing on scheme.

However, a playworker doesn't just play with children & young people, a play/youth worker also has an important job to ensure everyone is safe while playing on scheme. This is essentially called safeguarding.

Going into safeguarding, I, as a play/youth worker, must keep my vigilance at all times when it comes to children & young people's behaviours. This is because behaviour can either be represented verbally or physically, which could eventually become a risk to everyone on scheme, as well as themselves. If a behaviour really was to escalate into the too dangerous category, then a play/youth worker will have no choice but to perform a safety intervention. (SI) This is where a play/youth worker (who MUST be trained in SI to do this) physically removes a child or young person off from another person if they are physically hurting them.

All in all though, a play/youth worker ensures any child or young person has the best day on scheme regardless.

What is the best way to understand children & young people with complex needs?

We always do a briefing 15mins prior to the children or young people coming onto scheme. This helps us to get to know the children or young people who will be coming in for the day, as we get to read through their information sheet. Or as we call them, CIS's.

I'll use the example if I was to going get put with a 1:1 child or young person for the morning & another for the afternoon. I usually let that 1:1 child or young person do what they want to do, so it helps me to understand what they like to do best on scheme. I also pay close attention to how they communicate, whether they use a device, body language, noises or just verbally talking. No 2 people I work/interact 1:1 with are the same. 

If I was to bullet point some handy tips for you all when it comes to working with children or young people with complex needs at a place like Disability Challengers, they'll be things like:

• Always communicate to non-verbals using sign language, as they would benefit from this more
• Ensure you read through their CIS's thoroughly, so you know how to handle them on scheme
• Never show your impatience with trying to get your 1:1 to do something, like going to the toilet, as A) It will make yourself look unprofessional, and B) It may traumatize them
• Never punish a child or young person if they did something wrong on scheme, like hitting someone, as it is not our protocol to give them punishments
• Always listen to what any child or young person comes up & says to you on scheme, as they feel like they can open up to you about anything on their mind
• If you get asked to hang around with the non-1:1's on scheme, do try to interact with them all, because some of them may feel lonely without staff interaction
• In relations to hanging out with the non-1:1's on scheme, try to get them all playing together

I think that's pretty much everything covered for this long post now. 

Anyway, I hope my personal insight to what I do at work, as well as my tips has provided sine useful insight for anyone wishing to work as a play/youth worker one day.

If anyone has made it all the way down to this point, I just like to thank you for taking the time to read all of the way through, and I shall hopefully be back very soon with another post!

*I began this post on the 12/8/23, but didn't get round to finishing it until the 18/8/23*

Why de-cluttering your room can lead to increased brain power

Evening all, hope you've all had a good & productive week! I certainly have, as I've been working at youthscheme from Monday - Thursday.

Moving swiftly on, as the above title states, I know it's somewhat random, but it's the only article on PsychologyToday I could find that was interesting enough to talk about. Well, I for 1, think this article is interesting, because it tells you the different state of minds of living in a cluttered environment & a de-cluttered environment.

Key takeaways: Let's say if you was to live in a household, where there was constant clutter surrounding you, and if you wanted to focus on doing 1 thing, like looking for something, your mind will end up feeling scatty, as you won't be able to find what you are looking for due to the ridiculous amount of clutter that interferes with your focus. This is because living in a cluttered environment has a tendency to make you into an unorganised person, as it will get your mind into the habit of being generally unorganised.

But if you was to live in a household, where everything was neatly organised, (like my bedroom for instance) you wouldn't have any trouble with looking for something, as your mind will be able to recall where that something is everytime. This is what makes you an organised person, as you get your mind into the habit of everything being structured.

Moreover from the 2nd paragraph, being in an organised environment by constantly de-cluttering, helps to increase brain power. Why? Because de-cluttering helps you to focus on any task you need to prioritise. This is something that I benefit from when I constantly keep my bedroom de-cluttered. For the record, I HATE LIVING IN CLUTTERED CONDITIONS!

Think I've covered everything now, so here's the source link, for those interested to read more on how I got my information: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/social-instincts/202308/why-decluttering-your-room-can-lead-to-increased-brain-power%3famp

*I began this post on the 6/8/23, but didn't get to finish it until the 9/8/23*

Turns out that learning about psychology is just a hobby...

Good TGIF everyone! I know it's been 3 weeks since I had last made a post on here, let alone being active on here at all. To put simply, my worklife basically took over me. This meant I barely had enough time to be blogging on my site. Plus, I was away for 10 days just to kick back & relax from my busy life, which was indeed much needed! That aside, I've been feeling pretty good about myself lately.

As of now, I currently have enough down time to be active on here, as well as being able to make a post. And this post (as the above title states) shall be dedicated to something that I have learned recently in terms of the very topic of psychology. 

As it turns out, learning psychology is just a hobby...

What makes learning about psychology a hobby? 

Overall, I would say that learning in general can be classified as a hobby. This is because you can learn about something by reading, researching or just doing something practical to learn about something you want to do.

Going back on topic here, in terms of psychology being a hobby, there is a huge amount of creativity that plays a part in psychology. Being creative in something can also be classified as a hobby, as it shows you enjoy creating with things.  

*This post actually began on the 21/7/23, but got published on the following day (22/7/23)* 

Where do children inherit their intelligence from?

After a long 4 month hiatus... I FINALLY have the time to come back blogging on here again! Rather then revisit on all of my reasons why, I'll just cut the long story short by saying that I had many life priorities to deal with since my last proper post on here, and quite literally many as well, which left me with no choice but to put myself off from blogging during that time. It was even longer than I had originally thought I was going to be off for.

Back to my titled above topic, I was curious to know where intelligence comes from, and especially in children. This was something I was actually doing research on bit-by-bit during my said hiatus period. Although I was looking into several articles about where do children inherit their intelligence from, just to be sure that I was going to get the same response to help me find the answer into that piece of research.

As it turns out, the final result into this research ended with that children inherit their intelligence from their mothers.

Why? This is because that intelligence is carried on something called an X chromosome. In which, woman have 2 while men only have 1. Not to criticise men in any way, but as women have 2 X chromosomes, their children are likely more to inherit their intelligence from those 2 X chromosomes.

What is an X chromosome? Because I am no expert on biology or science, I'll share this link of my finding's for you to see for yourself: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/chromosome/x/#:~:text=The%20X%20chromosome%20is%20one,the%20total%20DNA%20in%20cells.

An X chromosome has also been believed to be a gene known as a conditioned gene.

A fun fact for you all, there was a laboratory study which had involved using genetically modified mice! The purpose was to see if any of the mice had maternal or paternal genes in 6 part of their brains. This was to see which of them controlled different cognitive functions such as, eating & memory habits.

There was another study where researchers from Glasgow took a more human approach. It had consisted of doing interviews with 12,686 young people from ages 14 - 22 every year from 1994. The determining results of these young people had included education, race, socio-economic status. However, despite this, the Glaswegian researchers found that the most accurate result was still the IQ of childrens' mothers.

Moreover, the bond of a mother & child is a crucial aspect for connecting intelligence together between the two, as researchers from the University of Washington found the link of mother & child bond & brain growth. The strong bond of a mother & child is then followed by allowing their child to explore the world, as they get given a sense of security. As a bonus, a close mother & child bond will help the child to solve problems, as well as unlocking their true potential.

That's all to say for this post now.

So if there's anyone out there who is keen to know where child intelligence comes from, you have your answer right here!

Here's the link to my research evidence: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-intelligence-iq-mother-inherit-inheritance-genetics-genes-a7345596.html

Since my work/study timetable isn't so manic anymore, I shall make time for another blog post next Monday. Stay tuned!😉

 

Academic VS Practical (My perspective)

This is something I've been curious about for ages now, but recently, I was looking into it more than ever, so I thought about using this post to summarise the differences of how these 2 ways of learning work. (Psychologically, of course!)

In case if anyone here is unaware of the differences of being academic & practical, they have the psychological capacity of showing how oneself can learn. If oneself is academic, that means they learn by doing written examinations. Whereas, if oneself is practical, that means they learn by doing hands-on tasks. 

Luckily for me, I personally am both of those things. This means I'll have an equal say of how being academic & practical works in full effect.

Academic: The first sign of realizing you are academic is having a keen interest in writing. Although, having a keen interest in numeracy can also count as playing a role in showing signs in early academic development as well. The more good you become at doing these subjects, the more your mind becomes actively keen to further investigate the many ways of how you can make a difference to the world, as you utilise your developmental academic skills into perfect form, so it helps you to aim high as the sky in life. I mean, doing a lot of research can certainly encourage people to become academics, as doing research helps you to gain knowledge about anything at all. Or alternatively, if you're more into reading, then that too can count as inhaling knowledge to the world.

Practical: The first sign of realizing you are practical is having a keen interest in doing things with your hands. When I say that, I could be referring to building models out of Lego or trying to fix random objects. Unlike being an academic here, being a practical shows that you are eager to fit into the practical working industry. Relating to being an academic here, you can utilise your developmental practical skills to aim high as the sky in life. I'd say the most beneficial aspect about being practical is having the capacity to finding the best problem solving solutions, when needed.

Can they work well together?

Coming from me, yes they can! Although, it actually really does have a dependency on what carer path you are looking towards. There are some which are lucky enough to require both traits, but there are some which require being good one or the other.

Conclusion: It is honestly not a bad thing to be just academic or practical. Even both combined for that matter, as long as you require one of these aspects which makes you happy to do whatever it is that you do in life, then that's a match made in heaven. In all of what I've discussed, the one thing I had found fascinating was the fact that there are colleges/universities out there with either just academic or practical courses or both combined, so I'm glad that they are taking these learning traits into consideration.

However, please do bare in mind that this is how I tend to vision the 2 learning traits as an individual with its own view on something, so do not be criticisable by saying that I've got no right to judge the 2 without proving that I am right. When doing a perspective view about something, there is no right or wrong answer in any shape of form, as different people have their own right to share their own perspectives about how they vision something. 

What does it mean when you dream about someone?

Hello my people! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend thus far. As for me, I've been back at my busy everyday college routine once again.

During my productive week off, I was curiously looking into the fascinating topic of dreams. To be more specific, I was looking into what happens when you dream about someone, and of course, why!

*Disclaimer* This evidence was looked into before publishing. I didn't just make it all up as I went along.

You see, sometimes we have these dreams, where we can actually see somebody (or more) in them. The overall question is: Why do we dream about them?

Research has shown that we dream about people we know, based on how we feel about them. With that said, these type of dreams could be telling us to pay more close attention to that person we keep thinking about. Whilst our mind is unconscious, it is trying to connect the dots to help us find more evidence.

All in all, it is a fascinating experiment to acknowledge how our unconscious mind can communicate with our conscious mind. 

In order to ACTUALLY dream about someone, our mind has to be constantly thinking about them. This will only make it harder for our mind to erase them. More to that point, this is a clever way of manipulating our dreams, as our mind has the capacity to dream about ANYTHING at all.

The misleading thing in all this, is when we dream about someone, are THEY dreaming about US because they are missing us? Although, it may be satisfying to think that's the case at first. However, the truth is, it really isn't. When we are dreaming about someone, it is a summarization of OUR life, not theirs.

I should think that answers that particular question on anyone's mind!

Just in case if any of you are wondering about my evidence, here is the source link: https://www.psychnewsdaily.com/what-does-it-mean-when-you-dream-about-someone/

Why is #Anxiety linked with #MentalHealth?

Disclaimer: This will be a follow-up post, in relations to my previous special post. See here: Just a little something for #WorldMentalHealthDay 

Hello and Happy Friyay! Yes, I've been in a great mood this week and I've hope you all been the same way too throughout this week. 

As of such, I've been wanting to talk about for awhile (until it was actually the most convenient time to talk about it. I'll explain in a bit) why Anxiety is linked to Mental Health.

From where I stand, I see this topic of discussion somewhat personal to me, as I suffer from Anxiety time-to-time, hence my reasons for a lengthily break. However, as I'm sure you all know by now, talking to an audience by writing/typing really helps me to feel better about myself, as well as taking a huge weight off my chest. 

Whenever it DOES happen, I start to think about the worst case scenario('s) in regards to what's going to happen? Or will it even get better? In shorter terms, all of the mentioned can be referred to as 'Overthinking'

Reason and being the most foremost as to why it links with Mental Health, is because you will be thinking of too many things at one time, (basic definition of overthinking) causing your mind to overload and therefore not being able to cope with anything for a short period of time, as your potentially putting yourself off your own focus.

Well, I say a short period of time, as it never lasts forever, but in reality, it all really depends on how long YOU go through it all.

The best advice for trying to avoid your Anxiety by overthinking too much, is to take everyday as it comes. Do everything one step at a time, so your mind will be able to adapt to the one priority you intend to prioritize first, in order for you to succeed at trying to accomplish something. My biggest example of this would be coursework. With that said, I'm sure many of you can relate to that too.

Furthermore, keeping with the "Do everything one step at a time" strategy will make life a hell of a lot easier for you when you try to get any work done, as well as making you feel good about yourself when you acknowledge that's the strategy to success.

I hope I've taught you all something, by gaining a more in dept understanding of why that link is strongly paired between the two factors. 

Bottom note: Research definitely helps to gain more knowledge.

Thank you for reading, please do feel free to notify me and I hope to publish again soon!  

"The internet is like a genie in a lamp" My own definition with added psychological explanation

Yes, I am fully aware that this title may sound strange to most or even all of you, but once I begin my explanation about it, you'll understand what I am talking about.

This is a definition which I've come up with ages ago now, so I thought about sharing its meaning, as well as what people think about when using it.

What does this definition mean?

It means, that when you think about anything you wish to look for on your mind, you type it up in the search bar on the internet and... BOOM. The internet finds EXACTLY what you wanted to look for! Example given: You want to find out the best Spanish recipes

 

Why does a genie relate to this definition?

You know when you rub a genie's lamp or bottle and they appear straight away? You then say: "I wish I can play my favourite computer game on the internet" Before you even know it, you get your wish granted and you're playing your favourite computer game on the internet, as it felt like yesterday enjoying them good times, except it could've been years ago.

It is the same scenario when you type in your wish to play your favourite computer game in the search bar on the internet, so it appears straight away and you therefore, have your wish granted.

 

What does this definition make people think?

As these 2 scenarios link very well with each other, it makes people think that the internet is the best way to fore fill you down time, by wishing what you would like to look up on the internet and see if you get that wish granted.

This could be the most typical reaction of most people: "WOW! The internet is like having your own genie in your computer/laptop, as I can look up anything!" Which is very true in that statement, as the internet is purposely hand created, so it can help the public find useful information with whatever they need to use for in their work purposes.

Since one source of internet became increasingly popular for the worldwide public to use, there were many other sources created, such as: Bing, MSN, Yahoo and Google Chrome. (Which is my personal favourite) More people began responding with: "I love the internet so much! Every source has what you are wishing to look for!"

Final conclusion: The internet will always be the best source for looking up stuff, as it comes up straightaway and the answers can appear on multiple browsing sites! "Just like a genie!" (A quote from Spongebob Squarepants)😂

Thank you for reading through. Please feel absolutely free to comment your thoughts below or tell me in person and I shall hopefully make another post in 2 days time!

Have a good night.

  

How does your mind play tricks on you and how can you deal with it?

Ello all, I hope you're all enjoying your week so far... For me, I had a great day at College yesterday, and I did some Maths revision this morning. (Just in case I need to retake my final exam the following month)

In this post, I will be highlighting all of the ways that your mind plays tricks on you... as well as the best ways of how to overcome them.

Remember: 

YOU are capable of being your own worst enemy, so always be careful with what you think about.

Keep repeating those words.

Example 1:

You are at home currently doing some English revision, when all of a sudden... you begin to struggle with how to answer one particular question and your thoughts have gone all "blank" as you cannot think about anything at all.

At this stage, your mind starts playing tricks on you by muttering these kind of words: "You'll never do it, so just give up now" "I'm such a disappointment" "I will always be stupid, because my friends can do these easily but I can't"

One way of managing these mind tricks, is by memorizing all of your previous achievements when doing revision tasks, as they will help encourage you find the success in completing them, Another good way is just to simply take a break, so your brain will be able to recharge its batteries in order to help you think better.

(These are all of the things I do, when I experience these problems whilst doing revision - They really help!)

Example 2:

You are on your own somewhere, with no one else around in sight, (let's say in your bedroom) then out of the blue... you start to feel angry about something you did in the past or even just recently which you were not proud of.

Again, your mind starts playing tricks on you, however this time, you experience something called: "self confrontation" which means, you say bad things to yourself in order to make you feel bad or imagining yourself saying these bad things to another person and imagining THEIR anger. This is where you unnecessarily compare yourself to somebody else, as your "self confrontational" mind tricks have now built up your intensity level to no longer think straight.

The best and foremost way of handling it, is to break the habit of comparing yourself to other people and not dwelling about your past, so you will be able to ensure yourself to keep on pushing through with your life no matter what. Although, using "self confrontation" may actually be a good thing for you, as it helps to practise test the mental strength of your own mind, so when someone starts having a go at you, you'll be able to soak up their negative words like a sponge by doing all of that practise.

(Believe you me, this is something which I do almost on a daily basis! And it works a treat in reality!)

Thank you ever so much for taking your time to read through this long post. Please do feel free to comment or message me in person about a similar experience you may haver had before.😊

But just before I end this post, I thought about sharing one of my favourite songs with the above title. 

*Warning, this song contains explicit words*