What to Blog About?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I am trying to decide what direction to go with this blog.  I figured it would be easy, because I could just blog about what I have interest or experience in.  But this is such a broad area, and I am having difficulty narrowing it down.  I have experience in mechanical, biomedical, and electrical engineering.  I work on cars a lot, have the knowledge of a mechanic, and know how to do autobody work and paint cars.  I also have an extensive collection of tools and am constantly building things.  I have a pet bullmastiff that my wife blogs about.  I keep a saltwater reef tank as a hobby, and have various corals.  I designed the lighting and filtration systems for the reef tank myself.  I do secret work at a research institute that I am not allowed to talk about.  I have cut up cadavers for research before.  I have written numerous journal articles, and many more papers and review articles.  I have invented several medical devices, two of which have been patented and are in varied stages of development.  I have designed waste treatment systems for chemical plants, designed mechanical robots for building batteries, designed new age lead-acid batteries, designed glucose testing devices for diabetic patients, helped develop new treatments for early detection of retinoblastoma (eye cancer) in children, and numerous other things, some of which are not patented yet, so I can't talk about them.  These are some of my interests, but I am not sure where to go with it yet in this blog.  I have other blogs as well, and my wife does, so I will try not to overlap too much.  If you have any requests or interests, let me know.  I could share some of my research from grad school or from undergrad as well, if nothing else seems to be of interest.

What Kind of Car Should I Buy?

So I am in the market for a new car.  I've had several Fords, and I have been happy with them so far.  I had a Honda Accord, and I liked it a lot too, until it got totaled.  I currently have a Ford Contour, a Ford Mustang and a Chevy Malibu.  I hate the Malibu.  It is always having problems and breaking down.  So the question is:  Foreign or Domestic?  I don't want to spend a lot of money on the car, preferably less than $3,000, so it will be a used car.  Just something I can drive to and from work to put less miles on the Mustang.  So what kind of car should I buy?  I'll have to look around a bit, but comment below if you have any input.  Also, if you know of a good online method for buying cars, I would be interested.  I've tried ebay motors, and craigslist with some small success. 

Social Cognitive Theory of Human Development

Social cognitive learning theory focuses on the idea that people can learn through observation of others around them.  This learning can occur without the stimulation of reinforcement, but can occur through imitation as well.  However, this theory indicates that imitation is a somewhat complex mechanism, and involves the internal cognition of whether or not an action is desirable to imitate.  Albert Bandura, the champion of the social cognitive theory, indicates that experience of different behaviors helps people to develop a sense of self-efficacy, which helps the person to determine their own abilities and then allow them to choose which behaviors to imitate accordingly (Vail & Cavanaugh, 2010).

Social cognitive learning theory mainly addresses the sociocultural aspect of human development, with outside influences playing the chief role in determining what is learned by the person involved.   However, this theory of human development also addresses psychological factors, as the person has to actively interpret the events going on around them in order to learn through observation and imitation, as well as to determine which actions to imitate (Bee, 2000).

Social cognitive theory emphasizes nurture as prevailing over nature in the recurring issue of nature vs. nurture.  Involved within this theory is the belief that it is outside influences that determine what is learned through observation (Hockenbury, 2002).  This is the embodiment of nurture, and does not have much to do with the idea of nature as it pertains to human development through observational learning and imitation.

One strength of the social cognitive theory is that it is scientifically testable, with results that can be operationally measured (Hockenbury, 2002).  Another strength of the social cognitive theory is that it is practical in its ability to be applied.  Based on the conclusions attained by the experiment, adults can create an environment desirable to be imitated, and foster positive growth in nearby children. 

On the other hand, the social cognitive theory has its weaknesses.  One weakness of the social cognitive theory is that it tends to focus too much on a limited number of specific variables, when in actuality there may be a whole host of different influences on behavior other than those observed (Hockenbury, 2002).  Another weakness of the social cognitive theory is that it does not take into account the individual differences inherent in children, and thus cannot be applied universally (Bee, 2000).

Social cognitive theory can be used to address several research questions.  One such research question is posed as follows:  Will a person surrounded day in and day out by other people who all have similar education and career goals to each other be predisposed to pursue a similar education and career pathway to those said individuals?  This research question focuses on the influences of imitation and the recurring issue of nurture as it pertains to human development, and in this case, educational and career goals.  Based on the premises of the social cognitive theory, it can be hypothesized that a person will be predisposed to pursue similar goals to those which they are surrounded by.

References

Bee, H. (2000). The Developing Child (8^th edition). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Hockenbury, S. E. (2002). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

Vail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2010). Human Development: A Life-Span View. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

So Today I was Stuck in an Elevator

So today I was stuck in an elevator. I work on the 7th floor of a research building in the downtown of a certain mid-south city. My first clue that something was wrong was that the power was out in the parking garage, and my key card would not lift the gate to let me in. However, that isn’t much of a problem if you remove the gate from the machine. So after the gate was taken off and set aside, I could pull my car in quite easily and park. Over one hurdle and on to the next. As I approached the building some woman came frantically derping out of the building calling for someone down the way telling them the power was out and the elevator wasn’t working. Okay, I thought. Who cares? Use the stairs - that is what they are there for. So I go into the building, which unfortunately has a charter school on the ground floor. Because the power was out, nobody knew what to do, so there were a couple hundred kids all milling about, calling me “sir” and asking what was going on. “I just got here” I replied, not knowing what to say to these inner city kids who went to a charter school so they wouldn’t get shot at the local schools. So I tried the stairs. I knew that when the power fails, the stairs are supposed to unlock in case of a fire hazard, so firefighters can get up, and employees and personnel can get out. Not the case today, however. So I tried swiping my card, and got the familiar beep, but then the green LED faded to dull. I tried the door, but alas, it was still locked. My assumption was that the sensor had just enough capacitance stored within it to read my card, beep, and then die. So I know that there is another set of smaller, single-file stairs within the building. So I go to the other set of stairs, and it is unlocked. I go inside, and under the dim glow of the emergency lights begin my ascent to the 7th floor. It is a long ascent, with each level taking three individual flights of stairs. However, I soon am disappoint. There is an emergency door between the third and fourth floors. It is like a chain-link fence gate that goes from floor to ceiling, and covered in plexiglass. Oh, and it was locked. I have no idea the purpose of the door, and I have no idea why it is called an “emergency door” when it prevents people from traversing either downward or upward on the emergency stairs. So while I was walking up the single-file stairs, I heard a lot of noise below me, and it was progressively getting louder. It seems as if the several hundred students from the charter school were all coming up the stairs because of the power outage. This took a long time… I don’t know why it took so long, other than the fact that the kids didn’t want to be in school and wanted to take as long as possible. It was kinda funny at one point. I could see down the stairs a little way, and this white woman came barging through yelling at the kids “TO THE RIGHT” and then they moved as far as they could and she barged through. She had nothing to do with the school, but worked on one of the upper floors, so it was funny to see her get exasperated. Some people here don’t like black kids. Oh well. So eventually I got downstairs, and when I did the power turned back on. So I got on the elevator. I had to press “7” a few times, but eventually the elevator started moving. I then got all the way up to just past the 6th floor, and the elevator stopped and the lights turned out. I stood in darkness cursing my luck for about 5 minutes, and then the backup power came on. The elevator took me down to the basement and the door opened. Not wanting to get stuck, I got out in the dark creepy basement. There is nothing down there. Just some walls and some storage and some electrical equipment. Only a couple of lights. So I am standing waiting for the power to come back on, and then the lights go out. So I get out my phone and use it for a light, thinking the devil is going to come kill me, and ten minutes later the power comes on. I then get in the elevator and go up to work. So that is the story of why it took me over half an hour to get from the parking garage to my office. Hope this was as entertaining for you as it was for everyone else I told this story to.