Vincent Vergara’s Letter to Future AP Psych Students

Dear Future AP Psych Student,

My whole AP Psych semester has been extremely informative. I guarantee you that this class will teach you things about our minds and our brain that you’ve never even imagined. Ms. Halfen’s Psych class made me realize how interesting we are! You should be glad that you’re about to learn and have fun in her class. But, before you start thinking that this class will be a blowoff, stop right there. This class is nowhere near a blowoff class. In Halfen’s AP Psych, you will learn new things every single day and she expects you to listen and pay attention. She’s doing this for you! She’s helping you prepare for the AP Test in May, so always pay attention to what she’s teaching you! My advice for you would be to always take notes and do your part on group activities (content digs, etc.). Don’t let your group members do everything! Social Loafing is NOT acceptable! ;) Also, in order to be successful in this class, do your vocab! The vocab is there to help you learn all of the terms for the upcoming test! Don’t procrastinate or rely on your test grade for the daily grade, because you might do bad! So do your vocab DAILY and get that easy 100! My two last tips would be to do your best and have fun! This class will open your eyes and make you realize how interesting our brains are and what makes us ourselves. Now, I want to talk about my favorite and least favorite activities! My favorite activity was the goose chase and the Quizlet live. Those were extremely effective and helped me a lot for the upcoming test. My least favorite activity was the content digs. I didn’t like it because I’m more of a Notes and PowerPoint person, so searching through the books weren’t my favorite task. But, I do get that it will help us for tests and give us a taste of what’s to come in the next unit, so I still did my best to complete them and not let my group down! Lastly, I’d like to thank Ms. Halfen for her hard work to help us get ready for the AP exam. I truly feel confident that I did well on it, because of all the learning that we did in her class. Halfen’s AP Psych rocks! Have fun! :D

Best Regards,
Vincent Vergara
2019 AP Psych Student

Wanna know more about the AP Psych Curriculum?
Visit the College Board website for more details - https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-psychology/course-details

Vincent Vergara’s Psych Memes

Hello, Everyone! In this week’s blog, I will be making five memes that relate to psychology as a whole or a particular vocabulary term. I will also attach a link to a website that relates to the meme, so you can further understand the meaning of the meme and the vocabulary word. Let’s get started!

Meme #1 - Id, Superego, and Ego

Link - The Id, Ego, and Superego

Meme #2 - Bystander Effect

Link - The Bystander Effect

Meme #3 - Spacing Effect

Link - The Spacing Effect

Meme #4 - Social Loafing

Link - Social Loafing

Meme #5 - Type A & Type B Personalities

Link - Type A and B Personalities

Vincent Vergara’s Anything Blog

Hello, Everyone! In this week’s blog, I will be choosing a topic of my liking and will be tying it to psychology! The topic I chose was basketball! As you all know, I am very passionate when it comes to the sport of basketball, so I will be talking about the sport and its psychological factors and features. Let’s get started!

The Brief History of Basketball

This is Dr. James Naismith. He is known as the inventor of basketball. He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada.

Basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during cold months. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style ball. He published 13 rules for the new game. In modern day basketball, a rubber ball is used and the baskets are made out of a metal rim with a net and is attached to a fiber glass backboard, 10 feet above the ground. When basketball settled and established rules during the 1890s, the National Basketball League was created. The American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association then followed during the mid-20th century. As we all know, the NBA is the biggest and most well-known basketball league today. 

The Psychology of Basketball

There are countless amounts of psychological factors in the sport of basketball. I will be talking about topics like dealing with pressure and the mental effects of certain situations to a basketball player. To begin, basketball psychology is the study of how a person’s behavior and mental attitude shape their performance on the court. In the sport of basketball, a person should not only be focused on being a great athlete and taking care of their body, but they also need mental toughness. Even in the simplest basketball tasks like the free throw, the mentality of a person is always a bigger factor than the body movement and technique. The body movement and technique of a person when shooting a free throw is all dependent on their mentality. If they are easily pressured, it wouldn’t matter how great they shoot free throws when they’re alone. The mental toughness of a player can also be evaluated based on their body language when they’re under pressure, facing adversity, and dealing with an unexpected event.

In conclusion, basketball is an extremely mental sport. A player’s mental toughness is more important than their motor skills in basketball because bodily movements are dependent on their psychological tendencies and skills. Becoming better at dealing with adversity is as important as practicing free throws and three pointers during practice. The mentality of a player can either make or break them according to multiple sources, which proves how important psychology is to the sport of basketball. 

In other words, being intelligent, mentally-tough, and being able to accept criticism is better than being a skilled player that is mentally weak and short tempered. 

Basketball is a mind game! Mental Toughness is Key.

I’ve read many articles about the psychological background of basketball for this blog, and it has educated me more about the mental factors of the sport. So I would like you to read the most interesting articles that I found on my research! I suggest you read an article or two! :)

Body Language Article : https://usatodayhss.com/2017/how-coaches-evaluate-body-language-during-a-game/amp

Mental Attitude Article : http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/youth-sports-psychology/how-mental-attitudes-shape-performance/

Basketball Psychology Articles : http://www.sportspsychologybasketball.com/

Vincent Vergara’s Personality Tests

Hello, Everyone! In this week’s blog, I will be exploring my personality! I will be taking several personality tests from the internet that Ms. Halfen provided. After taking the tests, I will be summarizing the test and results, tell you what I feel about them, and explain why or why isn’t the test valid or reliable. Let’s get started!

First Test : Jung Typology Test

According to the Jung Test, my personality and decision-making is “ENFJ,” which means that I am more of an extrovert than an introvert, I value intuition, feeling over thinking, and judging over perceiving. This personality test shocked me because I usually think through things first instead of going with my “gut feeling.” I expected the other three letters to be what they are. Overall, I think that this test is reliable because of how much specific questions were asked and the very detailed result evaluations were helpful as well.

Second Test : Perfectionism Test

In my Perfectionism Test, I found out that I am definitely a perfectionist. I knew that I was ever since I can remember, but I didn’t know I was really that much of a perfectionist as this test showed. According to the test, I possess a healthy level of perfectionism, but it varies throughout different things and activities. All in all, I think this test was pretty accurate because it asked very detailed questions that involved how much of a perfectionist a person is.

Third Test : Happiness Test

In this test, I answered questions about my well-being and how happy I truly am about my current state in life. I am a bit confused about the results of this test because it says that I’m about 50% cynical but it also says that I’m generally mentally healthy on the description of the results. Either way, I think that this test was a bit unreliable because the questions it asked were very one-sided and I felt that it forced me to pick a certain side even if I felt like it wasn’t the right choice. It was an interesting test overall.

Fourth Test : Altruism / Egoism Test

In this test, I tested my Altruistic and Egoistic personalities. I personally thought I was more of an altruistic person than an egoistic one, and this test proved that. According to the test, I tend to go out of my way to help others and do good things to others without even being asked. Although I don’t do it as often as I want, I do try to help other people whenever I can because it truly helps me feel better about myself. All in all, I think this test is an accurate representation of how altruistic a person is. The questions they asked in this test were very straightforward and unbiased.

Fifth Test : Self-Control Test

In my final personality test, I wanted to learn more about temper and self-control. I was asked several questions about behavior in certain situations and self-control in this test. The results didn’t surprise me because I can usually behave appropriately for given situations. I sometimes tend to get a bit frustrated at times but I can suppress my emotions fairly easily. This test was overall a good indication on whether a person has the ability to act appropriately in certain situations or not, because the test was very in-depth and precise in my opinion.

In conclusion, these personality tests were very fun and interesting. I enjoyed doing the tests and figuring out my personality. Although the results should be taken with a grain of salt, these tests are still pretty interesting to me.

Interested in learning why or why you shouldn’t take personality tests seriously? Click on this link to learn more about it! - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/25/483108905/personality-tests-are-popular-but-do-they-capture-the-real-you

Are Personality Tests Accurate?

Vincent Vergara’s Senses & Stuff

Hello, Everyone! In this week’s blog, I will be choosing one of our senses and research about the coolest and most interesting facts about it. I decided to pick our sense of sight. Now that I’ve told you what this week’s blog is going to be about, let’s now talk about our vision!

I found an article that talked about the human’s sense of sight and how it is our most dominant sense. The article states that our vision is the most important sense we have because of how much information our eyes retrieve and process. But because of how essential vision is to humans, it is also the most sensitive sensory organ in our body. According to the article, there is over a 50% chance of visual and visual-cognitive disorders in neurologically impaired patients, such as those with traumatic brain injury. Also, the article states that there are over 7 total visual motor abilities (fixation, convergence, pursuits, etc.) that allow us to effectively process information. There are also 6 types (visual memory, visual closure, etc.) of visual perception that is involved in the processes of information retrieval of our vision. All in all, the article was telling us that our vision is the most essential sense we have and we have to keep it safe and healthy in order to effectively communicate and process the information around us. This topic was very interesting to me because I’ve always heard how vision is our most influential and most important sense, but I never really understood why and how that was true. But after reading this article, I now know why and how our vision is so important to us.

Article Link - https://www.brainline.org/article/vision-our-dominant-sense

Thanks for reading! Hope you learned something new! :)

Vincent Vergara’s Life Story

Hello, Everyone! In this week’s blog, I will be talking about my life. From the moment I was born, to me graduating High School and College, and to even spending my last days in this world. Let’s get started!
I was born in the country of the Philippines on October 26, 2001. In the heart of the great city of Manila, I learned how to walk, talk, read, and write. During my early months, my family said that I was a very happy baby. They said that I would smile for a whole minute while I was sleeping and laugh continuously when I saw a teddy bear. But my only downside was that I would cry for a long time if no one was playing with me or giving me attention. I spoke my first words when I was only 5 and a half months. My first words were “ball” and “papa.” At only 9 months, I took my first steps. I was apparently a strong and energetic baby. Years later, I started going to a Preparatory School in Manila. There, I learned how to read and write. I was hyperactive in my childhood days. According to my parents, I would dance and run around the house to gain attention and make my family laugh all the time.

This is a 4 year old me, my 2 year old sister, and my Uncle.

A good example of how crazy I was.. (Why was I in a box?)

I lived in the Philippines until I was 10. My first 10 years were just filled with constant goofiness and attention-seeking actions. I moved here in the US in 2012. When I got here, I spent my middle school years at Dulles Middle School. I finished middle school, and now I am here today at Dulles High! I’m working hard here at Dulles to pursue my dreams of being an engineer. I’ve been wanting to become an engineer since I was 9 years old. Currently, I am just doing my best to place myself in a successful path by keeping my grades up. Now that I’ve talked about my past and present life, I will now make some predictions and tell you about how my life will unfold after my high school years.

After graduating high school, I will attend the University of Houston and graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering. After graduating college, I will work as a Computer Engineer in a company based in Houston and save up until I’m around 27 years old and marry the love of my life at an ancient Catholic Church in the Philippines near a white-sanded, clear-watered beach. I want 3 kids, two boys and a girl. One of the boys will be named Kobe for sure. The other two will be determined in the future. When I turn 60, I will retire. I will be spending my last decades with my wife and my grandchildren. I will probably move to the Philippines and convince my wife to spend our last year’s together over there. After a few decades pass, I’d happily leave the world when I’m around 90-95 years old.. But for now, anything can happen.. Thank you so much for reading my life story! Hope you enjoyed! :)

Wondering why I want to go back to the Philippines so bad? Click this link and enjoy the beauty of my home country! : https://itsmorefuninthephilippines.co.uk

Vincent Vergara's BioHero

Hello, Everyone! Today I am going to learn about the different parts of the brain and the neurotransmitters that allow them to carry out their vital functions. The brain part and neurotransmitter that I got was based on my birthday, October 26, which means I got Broca’s Area for the month and Serotonin for the day. Broca’s Area is the region of the brain that contains neurons involved in speech and allows us to speak properly and form a strong grammatical structure. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates our feelings and emotions, but more specifically, it gives us our sense of well-being and happiness. Serotonin is also responsible for our mood and anxiety about certain situations. Now that you know my brain part and neurotransmitter, I would like to introduce my BioHero, HappyTalker!

“Hello, I’m HappyTalker! Let’s be friends!”

During HappyTalker’s childhood years, he experienced a lot of love from his family and friends. He grew up with a great relationship with everyone he knew. Because of this happy environment when he was young, HappyTalker became a very friendly, outspoken guy who wanted to become friends with everyone. When HappyTalker started going to school, he realized that not everyone is like him. Not everyone is joyful and enthusiastic like he is. Some were shy and quiet, unlike him, open and extroverted. So, he decided to become who he is now! He became a caring, compassionate, and loving friend to everyone by talking to them using his advanced communicating skills. He helped all of his lonely peers feel more comfortable and accepted by having friendly conversations with them using his Broca’s Area and figuring out how to help them. Due to his kind attitude towards others, he was given the nickname HappyTalker because of his positive and joyous outlook in life (Serotonin) and his great speaking skills (Broca’s Area). 

To learn more about Broca’s Area and Serotonin, click the following links:

Broca’s Area - https://www.britannica.com/science/Broca-area

Serotonin - https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin

The Super Squad:

Broca Dope - https://richardle2019psych.blogspot.com/2019/02/week-3-february-22-2019-here-i-come-i.html?m=1 / Broca Dope is here to help me speak out and communicate to change the world!

Happy Feet - https://elenalouispsych2019.blogspot.com/2019/02/superheroes.html?showComment=1551031643391&m=1#c2930030164867496771 / Happy Feet can really help me bring joy to others and help the world become a happier place!
HappyVision - https://leslieh2019psych.blogspot.com/2019/02/week-3-bioheroes-happyvision.html?m=1 / HappyVision is another HappyHero that can help me and the Super Squad eliminate negativity!