Jonathan James Hansen

Monday 28, 2013

Psychology 111

Response paper 2

The experience I’m choosing is from a time when I've never been more scared of death than ever before: I almost froze to death because of a stupid mistake I made.

The following are the parts of the brain that I used during my traumatic experience.

Occipital lobe – visual information: it was the middle of the night so this didn't help me out as much as it could have but I’m obviously grateful now that I could see in the dark for the time that I was in it. Because of the ice that was covered in snow that made it difficult to determine what was solid ground and what wasn't. My limited vision, not to mention the fact that I was wearing glasses and had poor vision anyway, ended up costing me a nights worth of sleep and almost death.

Parietal lobe- info about touch: in the experience that I had my sense of touch was limited given the fact that my body was going numb and I almost couldn't concentrate on what I was doing, now that I think about it was the fight or flight instinct/ adrenaline rush (I don’t know which part of the brain makes adrenaline possible but I attribute that (and Heavenly Father) to my successful self-rescue) that allowed me to make holes in the icy snow and get out and make my way back to the camp I was staying at. And the sensory receptors in my skin were no longer numb I could feel the warmth of the fire again and I knew that I would be OK.

Temporal lobe- hearing and language: this was also key to my experience; it’s something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I can still hear the sound of the water thrashing as I tried to get out of it. I was stuck, numb from my chest down. After I got out I could hear myself breathing really hard I also recall hearing both my brothers and my dad’s voices as they kept the camp fire going to keep my warm. I remember hearing myself pray. It’s funny that the first reaction that I had was to pray

Frontal lobe- planning, judgment, and memory: Your memory is a powerful thing, it affects your planning and your judgment. My memory for example is forever scarred by that experience, but I know that I’m a better person because of it. My memories directly affect the way that I live my life. Because of that experience I can always sympathize with people who are cold, it also triggers a memory, that memory, just the act of thinking about it, sends shivers down my spine. That experience, though I wouldn't wish it upon anyone ….. ever, taught me things that I couldn't have learned any other way. It affected the way that I plan things as well. I’m always thinking of ways that I can improve or of things that I might need because I never know what my day will be like so I always have to be ready.

In class we've talked how going true these kinds of experiences can make you a better person. It can give you the courage to tell yourself that you can get through hard things; you can survive and live past those kinds of experiences. Our brains are amazing things. God sure knew what he was doing when he made them.