Throughout this course, I expect to learn a lot about how the brain works in a physical sense (the structure, biology, chemical mechanisms, etc.) as well as a mental one (thinking, perception, memory, etc.). I hope to end with a better understanding of how the structure and scientific processes in the brain are connected to those mental processes. I feel as though we live our lives without thinking about what drives us to do and think certain things, but that being aware of actions such as these are very important to understanding ourselves. This is why I am hoping that this course will lead to my being more conscious of my thoughts and actions on a daily basis.

The assigned reading gave a very thorough introduction to the basis of psychology. It was very eye-opening to read about all of the different careers in the psychological field. It is a common misunderstanding in our society that all psychologists work in an office with a couch where clients lay all day to spill out all of their feelings, however this vision couldn't be further from the truth (in most cases). While some psychologists work to help patients sort through their feelings and thoughts, they do so much more than that and can work in an endless number of settings. Also, I never realized that statistics play a big role in psychological research. I took AP Statistics last year, so seeing the topics that I learned about in that class connect to another subject (that seems like an entire different world than stats) is compelling. I feel as though I will get to use that previous knowledge and apply it to a more real-world subject- considering it is much easier to personally connect to psychology than statistics. Overall, the reading was already very thought- provoking. I am interested to continue on to learn more about the brain specifically.