Chapter 1

The greatest expectation I have for this class is to learn about the behaviors of myself and others around me. I am interested in learning the parts of the brain that control different behaviors and emotions. Sometimes I look at some people and wonder why they react to a situation the way they do or think a certain way about something. One topic I am excited for is identical twin personality. I have been shown articles in other classes and heard from other students that identical twins have grown up in different places and still maintain the similar personality traits. I want to know if outside forces really impact your true personality. I believe that AP Psych will be unlike any of my other classes this term. I think I will be able to learn things and directly apply them to every day life. Many topics that will come out of this class will be interesting to learn because of this direct application to daily life.


One interesting topic I have come to encounter in the recent years is the Power Balance Bracelet and the placebo effect. Power Balance claims that this bracelet is able to improve strength, balance, and flexibility with a holographic chip that sends positively charged ions through the body. In order to "prove" that the Power Balance works, they test the individual first without the bracelet on, and then with the bracelet on. The individual tests better with the power band bracelet after he has been exposed to the initial test. He is given an advantage of knowing the test a second time through, but is convinced that the reason he "dramatically" improved was because of the power balance bracelet.

Could these tests be performed in reverse order and produce the same results? Likely not. If the individual did each of the tests with the power balance on first and then without you would see the second round of test results improve. The placebo effect of the power balance bracelet played a factor in how the individual performed in the tests with it on. He gets a feeling and sense of improvement from it and believed that it was actually working. "Scientific evidence" is enough to fool many people with this product. This product works as long as people are willing to believe it does.