The Milgram Experience

I have always been fastinated with the human brain and what little is known about it. Humans have been alive for thousands of years and  with all the technology and knowledge today, I can't understand why there is limited knowledge of the human brain. During the Migram Experience, It was interesting to me to see how children responded to the temptation of a marshmallow sitting before them, why would one choose to eat the marshmallow and another child would not?
     Even more interesting to me was a decade later seeing how those same exact children under observation were compared to each other. The children that did not eat the marshmallow, seemed to have more patience and perserverance. The children that ate the marshmallow, were said to have been less patience, and made negative decisions in life choices.
     I share a different point of view. Trying to see it from each childs persective. The child that ate the marshmallow wanted instant gratification. One marshmallow was good enough to them. The children that got rewarded for waiting got two marshmallows instead of one, learning that waiting got them more. But lets say it was something more valuable to a child? What if the children were infants, teens or adults do the results mean the same thing? Are you being molded or conforming to what others believe is the right thing or are they your beliefs?
     I stumbled across these questions, as I asked myself what I would do if I were the kid in front of that marshmallow. What does it mean if I dont even like marshmallows? As we grow, don't we learn what is important to wait for and what isn't? I think I would have eaten the marshmallow. I know I am the type of person that likes instant gratification. Although I do know and understand that not everything...in fact hardly anything at all thats worth something comes to us instantly.
     I feel the Milgram study was indeed interesting and would be very interested to find more studies and different views on the subject. Part of the Milgram Experience that I agreed with , from my own personal experiences with children, there are different behavioral and personality patterns that prevent children from growing into healthy young adults, that can display emotions in the proper context. With more studies, and more discoveries made about the human brain all the time, a better understanding and available treatments and possibly preventions can be made.

The Mozart Effect

   When I read the Mozart Effect and the ways it effects us was very interesting to me. That's when I decided to try it out on myself. First of all, I have always been the type of person that needed a silent learning enviroment. Secondly, I acknowledged the fact that no matter how much I love music, it was very distracting to me, regardless of what I am doing. And lastly, I wondered if this experiment would work on me.
      I began my homework one weekend morning, and my boyfriend put on eighties music. I was so distracted by it, that all my focus went to the music, and my homework sat, unfinished. I turned off the music and sat in silence and began my homework again. The irony is that I was reading the Mozart article at the time, and after reading it, I decided to give it a try. I turned on the classical masterpieces and began my homework. Some of it was too loud for me to concentrate fully so I turned it down just to where I could barely hear it.
       As I began my homework, I noticed something that sounds silly. I felt smarter. Not only could I read, but fully comprehend the importance of the material and my focus felt right on. I completed all of my homework, and I feel I did a great job. It has been three weeks since I read that article and everytime I read a book do homework, or even clean, I find that putting on classical music keeps me positive and motivated. There isn't anything for me to focus on because I don't know the music and there are no words. It the best combination for me.
     Now I can look at this two different ways, I can either just be getting old a nd like the calming effects that classical music has on me, or I can think of it as my thinking cap, helping me continue and improve my concentration, focus, and comprehension. I know I have made a conscious decision to continue listening to classical music during homework and I intend to also put some classical on my ipod for the school library, where I noticed I struggle to stay focused the most. The Mozart Effect works on me!