Self-assessment

After a month I will have been finished the first course of my studies of psychology at Mykolas Romeris University. Also, all years I had English lessons. I think, at this year we had a lot of work. We were writhing ESP tests on the internet, blogs, summaries. Also, we were speaking about a lot of psychology topics. We were doing listening, presentations and writing tests from definitions at class. It is quite hard to assess myself but I will try to review that I had learned.

Firsly, at second semester there was a new challange where we were writing tests on the internet from every topic. I found it quite easily, because we were writing it at home and I could look at book and check the grammar of definitions. Also, I could say that it was enjoyable to me and didn't take much time.

Secondly, there are also a new excercise for us - blogger's writing. I found it quite interesting. On another hand, sometime it was a little bit hard to find a good information from the internet or other references. Also, we could not only write blogger's but also to read our friends blogger's and comment it.

Also, at this year we were writing some summaries. Firstly, it was very hard for me to summary the text using another words. But the last marks of my summaries was really good.

Finally, it was harder to write ESP tests at class. It was hard to remember all definitions. On the other hand I think it will be very usefull in the future.

All in all, I think that I really made some progress in my English during this year.

Laughter

As you know, laughter is a fundamental of everyday life. In psychology, laughter is an audible expression or appearance of merriment or amusement or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure. Also, laughter is universal. It doen't have nothing in common with speach we are speaking or with our nationality. We all laugh. Psychologists have compared laughter to speaking in tongues: we can't control what we laugh at, or the sounds that come out of our mouth. There are many benefits of laughter and I will write about them shortly.

From old times it is said that laught is the best medicine. Firstly, laughter is the good antidote to stress, bad mood, conflict and pain. It is proven that laughter relaxes the whole body. In other words, a good laughter relieves stress and muscular tension. Also, laughter protects the heart so it helps to distance from heart attack, or other serious diseases. Furthermore, laughter triggers the release of endorphins that promote a sence of well-being. So, laughter can improve our health without spending money.

Laughter helps not only to physical but also to our emotional state. In fact, it makes us feel well-being and helps us to keep positive. Psychologists say that laughter helps relax, reduces our daily stress and increases energy. Moreover, dissolves distressing emotions. As you know, we forget our bad mood than we are laughting. In the same way, humor allows us to see a situation more positive and helps us to take more realistic conclusions. So, as you see laughter is very important to our psychological state.

All in all, laugher is one of the rare things which doesn't have disadvantages. So don't be sad and laugh as much as you can.

References:

1. http://helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

2. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200011/the-science-laughter

3. http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Laughter

Psychology of conflict

Conflict is one of the basic phenomenon in our lives. Conflict affects our emotions and behaviour almost every day. In psychology conflict can be defined as negative emotional state caused by having to choose between two or more incompatible goals or impulses. Conflict involves two or more opposing forces. There are two basic types of conflicts and I would like to write shortly about each other.

One of the most known type of conflict is psychological or internal conflict. This type of conflict may occur just in one persons mind when opposite thoughts are "fighting" inside his head. S. Freud said that in this type unconscious id are battling with superego. According to S. Freud our personalities is always on this type of conflict. Second type of conflict is known as social conflict which occurs in two or more people. Interpersonal conflict occurs when two individuals are conflicting about certain topic (for example, mother and daughter are conflicting about daughter grades in school). Intergroup struggles occur then two groups are arguing. The most know example could be The first world war. Individual opposing a group conflict occurs then one people disagree with all group opinion or all group disagree with one people opinion. The good example it could be then teacher is arguing with her schoolchilds about date of the test. Intragroup conflicts occurs then members of group are all against each other on a task. So, there are two basic types of conflict known as social and psychological conflict and no one knows which type occurs more often.

What reasons for conflict are? I think it could be very wide answer to this question because people sometimes argue even if there are no serious reasons for that. Some conflicts are caused by primary reasons such as a lack of water, different perceptions, values and interests. Also, conflicts could be a consequence of one people bad mood and it can affect sour conversation with another people. In fact, most conflicts are caused by teenagers and their parents disagreements in one certain subject. All in all, it is hard to say the main reason for conflict because we are all different and everyone has his own opinion about certain thing so there are million reasons why people argue.

Many people think that conflicts just separate people from each other and has no benefits. That's not true. As all phenomenons conflict has its own advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, conflict enables a person to become aware of problems in relationship. Secondary, it stimulates interest and curiosity. Thirdly, conflict causes decision to be made more carefully. Also, it promotes self-knowledge. So conflict is very nessesary everyday phenomenon without we couldn't fulfill our personality.

On the other hand, conflict can arise in all aspects - both personal and professional. One of the conflict disadvantage - decreased productivity - can have serious consequences for a business. The stresses of unresolved problems could affect person's ability to work. Also, unresolved conflicts can lead to low morale in business or another types of organizations. Moreover, conflicts can generate feelings of apathy. If people think that problem cannot be solved, they might just given up on it. Also, there are more others disadvantages of conflicts but they all frequently cause stresses and it could lead to severe heart diseases.

All in all, conflict has its own advantages and disadvantages, sometimes it could bring benefits, but everyone could be more emphatic and try to create a perfect relationships between each other.

Psychology studies at MRU and Kent

To begin with, I am studying psychology at MRU and I have just finished only first semester of my studies. Also, I have never studied this subject at any other university so it is quite difficult for me to compare these studies. However, I chose Kent university to compare with MRU, because I am interested in studies of psychology at this university and I would like to go there with Erasmus programme.

Firstly, Kent university offers a range of degree programmes such as tree-years Social Psychology, four-years Applied Psychology and a four-year degree with a year in Europe. On the contrary, MRU has only one Bachelor's degree programme. Furthermore, Psychology Department at Kent university is located in a modern building with 39 research laboratories and this university has one of the largest collections of books on social psychology. So here you can gain more practical experience and there will be no problems to find some books. What is more, it is the best practise of English, because you must often speak in this language and listen lectures.

On the other hand, there is some disadvantages of studying at Kent University. Firstly, studies are much more expensive than in Lithuania universities. Secondly, I know how hard is to leave your family and friends abroad. Finally, you must read everything in English and you need much more time to do your homework so you haven't got enough time to your personal life.

All in all, I would really like to study at Kent university. I think I would gain very good experience, improve my English and meet some new people.