https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6 en-us 2018-04-27 01:50:20 UTC 2026-01-06 04:15:55 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Dartstarget.png eloohauis https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/255882548 My family is a little strange in that we ride penny-farthings in events like parades. While to me it is so simple to ride, many people are amazed when they see us pass by and can't help but ask questions.

One of the most common questions that we get is "how do you ride that?" To me, I just jump on and go, there's nothing really difficult about it. Actually, having to describe to someone step by step how to ride is actually pretty hard and while I've definitely gotten better at describing my actions, it still difficult to put into words exactly what I am doing. This is because the action of riding the bike is stored in my procedural memory system and is non conscious or automatic to me. 

Over the years that I have been riding the bike, I have definitely gotten better at describing what I am doing. Having to consciously think about how I am actually riding the bike has allowed me to put the information into my Declarative Memory System and allows me to consciously say what I am doing.

]]> 2018-04-27 02:53:49 UTC https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/255882548 eloohauis https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256063118 I worked in a nursing home while I was in high school. While I just worked in the kitchen I still had quite a bit of contact with the residents that lived there. I interacted with the residents during meal time but also was able to observe what they did during the day time as well.

One significant difference between those that are younger and the elderly living there was their lack of coordination and overall ability to move. Many of them were confined to wheelchairs or had a walker. I had never realized how necessary movement is to our everyday lives and that we take it for granted because most of the residents depended on the care of the CNAs to transport them from place to place.

I learned a great deal about the effects of aging on the human body during my time there. Those living there struggled with posture, coordination and overall were just slower to react. Some of the times they would have games in the dining room between meals. This is where I really got to see the effects of aging as their movements were slow to respond to things such as tossing a beach ball. This slowing of reaction times was due to slower neurological processes and them overall being more cautious. Being cautious to them is a way of life because falling was something that they were aware of and so their movements were more planned in order to prevent that. ]]> 2018-04-27 15:44:51 UTC https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256063118 eloohauis https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256114452 Growing up with 3 younger siblings was a challenge of its own. Especially when I was younger, I was always competing for the attention of my parents. However, I thought that once I went away from school that would change.

I love to talk with my Mom on the phone, but sometimes it can be a little frustrating. Often times I'll be talking and then I will ask her a question and get no response. Usually it is one of my other siblings in the background that she is paying attention to instead or she'll be doing some other task around the house. Either way, it results in her not hearing what I said, me repeating myself and wondering if she had heard any other part of whatever I had just said.

My siblings or the other task that my Mom is doing is a type of interference that is impeding the conversation that we were having. While her goal is to multitask by talking to me at the same time, she cannot do both tasks equally well. Actually, some of the times her talking on the phone is completely prevented by whatever else she is doing. This also means that neither of things that she is doing is automatic because at least one of the tasks is not being performed as well as it could be. In other words, my Mom does not have the attention capacity that is needed to talk to me on the phone at the same time as doing her other tasks.]]> 2018-04-27 17:49:51 UTC https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256114452 eloohauis https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256133314 One of my favorite activities is crocheting. I really got into it in high school and could crochet just about anything. However, when I first learned to crochet my stitches were messy and my rows were uneven. I also had to say how to do it in my head. I constantly repeated, "through the loop, over the hook, pull through two loops, pull through the last two", with every stitch I made. I was in the cognitive stage of learning at this point. I improved a lot during this stage, however some of the projects I made were good and others were pretty bad. This was because I was trying out different things, like how tight should I pull the yarn with each stitch. 

Eventually, I entered the 2nd stage, the Associative stage. In this stage I got pretty good at crocheting. I would try out new stitches. As well I figured out the best, most effective strategies, my work turned out better and was more consistent overall. I was also able to start detecting errors as I was making them and able to correct them before it was to late.

Because of all of the practice that I have had, I would now consider myself in the autonomous stage. My Grandma is always impressed by my ability to crochet and talk or watch TV at the same time. Especially when I am doing simple stitches, the movements are so natural to me now that I do not even have to look at what I am doing some of the times. Furthermore, I am even better at correcting my errors as  I am making them, which means that I end up having to rip out less stitches if I do mess up.]]> 2018-04-27 18:35:32 UTC https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256133314 eloohauis https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256191839 I have never been a good typist. Despite the fact that I have been typing since I was a young child and that it is such and important skill in today's society, not until recently have I been able to touch type without looking at the keyboard. I have gotten a lot better at it as I have needed to do so much typing in my college years. Being able to type fast is important time saver, because the longer that I have to spend on typing different assignements that I need to do for class, the less time I have to other things like study or get other homework done.

The speed accuracy trade off, or Fitt's Law, is a often a huge factor in my typing abilities. The faster that I try typing, the more I miss the keys that I am trying to hit  and the more I end up having to backspace to correct the errors that I have made. Contrary to that, the slower I go the more accurate my typing is and the less mistakes I have to go back and correct. The issue then for me is, is  it actually faster to type slower because then I will have to backspace less to fix my errors or is it faster to type fast and just use the backspace key a lot? Even as I am typing this I am debating whether or not I should slow down my typing speed in order to be more accurate in my typing. Therefore, I try to balance how fast I am typing with how many errors I willing to have in order to be most efficient in typing.]]> 2018-04-28 02:56:11 UTC https://padlet.com/eloohauis/2jrwbp56cmp6/wish/256191839