SELF - ASSESSMENT

When my ESP course started, I thought it would be very difficult. There were a lot of activities to do, such as ESP definition tests, moodle tests, short talks, power point presentations and so on. Actually, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, because the most information was clear, but still it required a lot of effort and endurance.

Now semester is coming to the end and it would be great to evaluate my own achievement. Definition tests are still something invincible for me. It was too difficult to understand and remember all of those definitions.

Moodle and online tests were my favorite part. Actually, I love them. It is very useful and still it is fun. Those exercises learnt us to pay attention to the most important things.


Online listening practice and traditional listening themes were interesting, but sometimes for me it was hard to 'decode' English pronunciation. But thanks to this, I know where my vulnerability is and I am going to make it disappear in future.

Power point presentations and short talks were useful not only because of knowledge we get, but also because it was an opportunity to express your mind and feelings, to show your creativity and even develop our courage of speaking in public. Especially I enjoyed when discusses between my classmates were born.

To sum up, I would like to say, that I do regret that I have not tried hard as I could this semester and if I had a chance to start from the beginning, I would do my best. But still, all these things helped me to improve my English skills and gave me an opportunity to specialize in my area (psychology) in foreign language.

Psychology of Motivation

Ever wondered why some people seem to be very successful, highly motivated individuals? Where does the energy, the drive, or the direction come from? Motivation is an area of psychology that has gotten a great deal of attention, especially in the recent years. It involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that active behavior. In everyday usage, the term motivation is frequently used to describe why a person does something.

There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior, such as enrolling in a psychology class. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist, such as taking more psychology courses in order to earn a degree although it requires a significant investment of time, energy and resources. Finally, intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, one student might coast by without much effort, while another student will study regularly, participate in discussions and take advantage of research opportunities outside of class.

Psychologists have proposed a number of different theories of motivation:

Drive theory. According to this theory of motivation, people are motivated to take certain actions in order to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. For example, you might be motivated to drink a glass of water in order to reduce the internal state of thirst. This theory is useful in explaining behaviors that have a strong biological component, but the problem is that our behavior is not always motivated purely by psychological needs.

Instinct theory is derived from our biological make-up. All creatures are born with specific innate knowledge about how to survive. Animals are born with the capacity and often times knowledge of how to survive by spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing. These innate tendencies are preprogrammed at birth, they are in our genes. Humans have the same types of innate tendencies. We are born with particular reflexes which promote survival. The most important of these include sucking, swallowing, coughing, blinking. Newborns can perform physical movements to avoid pain; they will turn their head if touched on their cheek and search for a nipple; and they will grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands.

The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people take certain actions to either decrease or increase levels of arousal. When arousal levels get too low, for example, a person might watch an exciting movie or go for a jog. When arousal levels get too high, on the other hand, a person would probably look for ways to relax such as meditating or reading a book. According to this theory, we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, although this level can vary based on the individual or the situation.

Humanistic theories of motivation are based on the idea that people also have strong cognitive reasons to perform various actions. This is famously illustrated in A. Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which presents different motivations at different levels. First, people are motivated to fulfill basic biological needs for food and shelter, as well as those of safety, love and esteem. Once the lower level needs have been met, the primary motivator becomes the need for self-actualization, or the desire to fulfill one's individual potential.

Remember Sigmund Freud and his five part theory of personality. As part of this theory, he believed that humans have only two basic drives: Eros and Thanatos, or Life and Death drives. According to psychoanalytic theory, everything we do, everything we have and every emotion we experience has one of two goals: to help us survive or to prevent our destruction. This is similar to instinct theory. However, Freud believed that the vast of majority of our knowledge about these drives is buried in the unconscious part of the mind.

Researchers have developed a number of different theories to explain motivation. Each individual theory tends to be rather limited in scope. However, by looking at the hey ideas behind each theory, you can gain a better understanding of motivation as a whole.

Summary: The Mystery Of Memory

Memory is very mysterious thing. But its secrets are being investigated about a century from now. Psychologists were first who tried to find out memory's secret.

First of all, remembering is the process of recalling information from longer term memory to 'working memory'. Procedural memory, which is more stable, will help us to remember how, for example, to ride a bike, while declarative memory is about remembering how looks this bike.

Next distinctions - recognition and recall. All of us know that sometimes is so hard to recall someone's face and so much easier to recognize person's face you have seen before.

Photographic memory, also called 'eidetic', a lot of people have in early childhood. Snapshots and fragments associated with smell, taste or color - that is how children below the age of eight seem to remember.

How memories are made? The human brain contains from nerve cells which can connect to its neighbours. Every time when new memory is made, a new pattern of connection is created and it stores new information. Just like the moment in taped on a video recorder.

Sometimes we need to remember someone's name. And there is a list of questions which will help us to do that. For example: where did you meet that person? What was he wearing? What is the first letter of his name? What did you discuss? Nearly each of these features are stored in a different part of brain.

The aim of neuroscientists is to understand how all these different regions and brain processes are related.

Psychology of Laughter

During states of high emotional arousal (whether joy or pain) we often use non-verbal sounds to communicate our feelings. For example, while angry we may scream or yell. Laughter is another one of these non-verbal sounds. It is typically seen as an expression of happiness, joy, surprise, and sometimes even stress.

First of all, as our social world develops further, we share laughter with others in a myriad of different ways. Sometimes we even find ourselves laughing just because other people laugh, even if we don’t know why they are laughing. This demonstrates a kind of behavioral and emotional contagion involved with laughter (probably as a result of empathy).

Second, when neuroscientists look into our brains while we laugh, they find a lot of neural activity that suggests our brains “get ready to laugh” whenever we hear it. This suggests that laughing may be something that is supposed to be shared between individuals. Laughter produces endorphins in our brain that make us feel immediately better and relieved afterward. Ever had a good long laugh, where your stomach begins to ache, and you feel like a million bucks? Laughter is a great way to create and share feelings of pleasure and joy with others.

Also, laughter has shown to be really good for your physical health. It can relax your muscles, lower stress hormones, boost your immune system, prevent heart disease, even it is used in therapy in diabetes care, because laughter raises good cholesterol and lowers inflammation in our heart.

One more thing is that sometimes we laugh in really stressful situations. This is a healthy coping mechanism and it can be seen as an important reframe to an otherwise unpleasant experience. Laugh can help us to minimize physical, mental and emotional pain by looking at a situation from lighter side.

In conclusion I would like to say once again that laughter is the best medicine, indeed. It’s kind of natural antidepressant. I have always believed that laughter should be an essential part of our daily routine. We like being around laughter, because it is contagious, and because it makes us feel so good.

Psychology at MRUNI and University of Dundee

Almost half a year ago all of us made a significant decision - where to study. Some of my friends stayed in Lithuania, in their home town, some of them decided to try something new - foreign countries. I'm going to compare 2 universities - MRUNI and University of Dundee in Scotland. 

Bachelor’s degree in Psychology offered by the Department of Psychology at Mykolas Romeris University is a full-time, 3,5 year undergraduate programme targeted to the students who have secondary education or high education certificate. It gives students a comprehensive general coverage of the central topics of psychology. Courses provide students with the knowledge of research, theories, and their applications in psychology. The programme also gives an opportunity for some specialization through the optional courses. Students of psychology become sought-after professionals due to their ability to understand human behavior, collect, analyze, and interpret data, master statistics and experimental design. They also develop the competences to apply gained knowledge in pursuing their personal and professional goals.

Another university is the University of Dundee. Psychology course here lasts 4 years. This university is well equipped with dedicated computer labs and a common room for students to socialize and relax, because this university likes foreign students a lot. Actually, the aim of this course is almost the same like in MRUNI - to learn students how to use a wide variety of approaches to answer questions and have the opportunity to play an active part in furthering our understanding of the human mind and behavior. 

In conclusion, I'm studying at MRUNI and a friend of mine studies in Dundee. I'm satisfied about my choice and he is. But the question is 'what is the difference?', are there any cons about these universities? There is  actually one - location. My friend says that he misses Lithuania so much and it means a lot. It's hard to concentrate on studies if you are not happy enough.