College Psychology Courses

Our Winter session has started.  I was really excited about the start of this new semester.  Part of the reason is that I only have five more courses (including this semester) before I graduate in June with my Bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science and I'm looking forward to my courses.

I'll have two online classes for college this semester and one in the classroom at the Manchester NH college campus.  I can't say that I'm very good at biology, but I am so looking forward to my class, "The Human Brain."  It will be interesting to learn more about different disorders and what parts of the brain are affected.  Cool stuff!

I'll also have my Introduction to Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences and Social Psychology - Hi Beth!  (Beth was the instructor for my Human Development class too.)

The Intro class is so interesting even though we're only about half way through the first week.  Lots of great online discussions as responses to a posted question from our instructor.

I can't wait to see how these classes unfold.  I wish in some ways that I had started at Granite State College earlier because they have so many interesting classes being offered through the year.  But I'm not complaining!  It's because of Granite State College's flexible class schedules and different formats (classroom, online, and weekend intensive) that's allowing me to graduate in June!  

I'll let you know how things progress!

mary

A colleague of mine, Dr. Claudia Stanny, who's a psychology professor at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida, was telling how, when she was in college, she didn't really know what to do when she "grew up."  At that college, she was required to take one psychology course for her general education requirements.  So she bought a little booklet with comments from students about the professors.  (These days, those lists are all online!)  

She was looking through the booklet and found this comment about one of the courses:  "...if you only take one psychology course here, take this one with this professor."  So she did.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  She changed her major to psychology and now is a professor.

How wonderful if every single person who ever takes a course - in high school, in college, online or in a classroom, could look back and recall that one special course!  

Inspiration is so important to human beings, and finding - sometimes stumbling across - something that changes your life...well, it might not get any better than that!

At Granite State College, we want every one of our students to have a life-changing experience.  We offer many different courses and areas of study.  You'll have an advisor who will guide you through required courses, courses in your major, and some extras.  If you're not sure what you want to do "when you grow up," your advisor can help you with looking at different areas that might interest you.

And maybe you'll be lucky enough to look back one day and say that your college experience changed your life!

I watched a "60 Minutes" episode recently, where a half dozen people who have "superior autobiographical memory" were interviewed.  (The group included Marilu Henner, whom I remember fondly from a sitcom called "Taxi.")  The segment was called "The Gift of Endless Memory," and Leslie Stahl interviewed five people who didn't have just "great" memories.  They could remember everything that had ever happened to them, and when.  Given any date, each could remember tiny details of the day, and of course, the interviewers made certain to verify these memories.   

The researcher involved,  Dr. James McGaugh, is a professor of neurobiology at the University of California Irvine, and he's a well-known expert on memory.  He would ask these subjects (there are six known in the world), what would ordinarily be difficult or impossible for an ordinary person to recall, but could be verified by records, such as which days of a month twenty years ago, that it rained.  When they showed one subject being questioned about the weather twenty years ago, she not only recalled which days it rained, but the weather for the days before!

Psychology courses often delve into how memory works.  At Granite State College we have a lot of psychology courses and behavioral science classes, both online and classroom courses (the classroom courses take place in one of our nine NH state college campuses), including some we call "five-week intensives," that are accelerated courses.  You'll read a lot, and become immersed in your subject, but at the end of five weeks, you'll be impressed with yourself, to realize that you've completed a whole college course!  And the only shortcut is the length of time it took to finish the course.  You'll still be learning the same things you'd learn in a full-length course!  (But we can't promise that, like the people I've described, you'll remember everything for as long as you live!!!)

At Granite State College, we find ourselves emphasizing "adult learning," but once you finish high school, it's true that all college learning is "adult learning."  And our learners range from just out of high school to senior citizens!  (The oldest student I've had so far was 71 years "young" and the youngest was 17!)

Oh, and back to that fascinating segment on "60 Minutes":  I loved when Marilu Henner said, "You know what I love? I love when people get so flattered, Like they go, 'Wow, I must've really made an impression on you.' And I go, 'No, no, believe me - I remember everything' '"  And the fact that these people seem to have just a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder):  they like to keep things in order and to collect things.

But the thing that's also stuck in my mind over the last week is that of the five subjects on the show, only one - Marilu Henner - had ever been married.  (And she'd been married three times.)  Is it possible that being able to remember everything (including arguments and hurt feelings) might make a long-term relationship more tenuous?  Maybe it's important for our social "grease" to be able to actually forget details.  (Ah, that's something that I should bring up in Social Psychology course, one of the online adult education classes that's coming up!)

So, I'm wondering if maybe that not-so-great memory of mine may have contributed to the longevity of my marriage.  (We just celebrated our 42nd anniversary.)  Well, there certainly aren't any proven "magic pills," but you never know...

Here's a link if you want to watch the "60 Minutes" segment.

Another twelve weeks has come and gone at Granite State College, and I am emerging on the other side of this term changed once again.  Perhaps 'changed' isn't the right word, as each class has enhanced or refined who I am as a person.  I don't believe that one can actively engage one's mind and learn new concepts without being impacted.  A truth, once learned, becomes a part of who we are.  Once our eyes are opened, it would be utter foolishness to close them again to what we have seen.

Learning doesn't stop at the classroom door.  Some people consider their educational career to have been completed upon receiving their high school diploma; others equate learning with adult continuing education programs, and "pause" between courses.  What I've found from taking my behavioral science classes, as well as the core and elective classes, is that the readings, discussions, and assignments throughout the terms have stirred my hunger for knowledge.  

I've often filled the between-times trying to learn more about the subjects I've already learned, or trying to satisfy my curiosity about thoughts and ideas yet to be explored.  A simple search for "behavioral science" on YouTube results in many videos illustrating the psychological concepts discussed in textbooks and classes.  Another favorite site of mine is http://www.sciencedaily.com, which I've used extensively both in my classes and for my own interest.

One of the many benefits of being a recipient of adult higher education at Granite State College is that it has prepare my mind to be a lifelong learner, not only in the classroom or through the online adult programs, but in the great classroom of life.

There is knowledge waiting to be discovered everywhere.  Whet your appetite and prime the pump at Granite State College.

Hi all.

Only a few more days until I finish these three courses of the fall semester.  I really enjoyed my Human Development class with Beth Benoit (Hi Beth!).  Beth is my instructor as well as a fellow Granite State College blogger. 

I'm finding my degree specific classes for the bachelor's in Behavioral Science to be so interesting.  I want more of it!  This may later prove to fall under the category of "be careful of what you wish for," but I don't think so.  Beth will also be teaching my online course for Social Psychology, one of the behavioral science classes, and I imagine I will enjoy that just as much as I've enjoyed this one.

It's so nice to get to this stage of my life and really know what I want to focus on and that is to help others.  Not that I regret the past, but now I feel more focused and ready to stretch myself to new experiences.  When I was in my 30s, going back to school wasn't even a blip on the screen for me, but now... I can't believe how many cool things I've gotten a chance to do in my 40s!  A few weeks ago, I received my GSC reminder to submit my "Intent to Graduate" form.  How exciting!  Two more semesters and I'll have my bachelor's from GSC, the center of adult education.  I can hardly believe it.

We're  capable of accomplishing so much and life can be so rewarding.  I have my ups and downs too, but, wow, life is good!

If I don't write again until after the holidays.  I hope your holidays are everything you hoped for and that you have a wonderful new year!

I wanted to share news about a recent addition to the faculty ranks at the Portsmouth NH college campus here at Granite State College.  Teaching two courses this coming Winter Term will be Dr. Rachel Rogers.  Rachel holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and will be teaching the following Portsmouth courses:

PSY 609, Cognition and Learning on Monday evenings

PSY 608, Social Psychology on Tuesday evenings

Granite State College is thrilled to have Rachel's talent in our classrooms, and as she notes: "My primary goal for teaching is that the students will be excited about learning and about how the things they learn in class can inform and be applied to other aspects of their lives." 

Granite State: Portsmouth NH College Students

Hi.

I thought I would write a bit about the degree that I'm pursuing.  I'll be receiving my bachelor's in Behavioral Science in June of next year (2011).  What got me interested in Behavioral Science was the community service work I had started while at Nashua Community College.  Some of the community service was helping at the local soup kitchen or helping homeless vets with creating resumes and checking online jobs boards.  I am a volunteer advocate for victims of violence and have also helped with Habitat for Humanity.  I get such good feelings from volunteering in these groups, it's amazing. 

I wasn't sure if I wanted to focus on psychology, sociology, and social work, but the Behavioral Science degree offered at Granite State College was perfect to sample a bit of each of those areas.  What was interesting too was after taking a quick look at other local colleges, Granite State College appeared to be the only one that offered a Behavioral Science degree.  So far I've taken Counseling, Human Development, and Victim Rights and Advocacy.  Exactly the topics I'm interested in.  Next semester I'll be taking Intro. to Behavioral Science Methods, Social Psychology, and The Human Brain.  Cool courses!  I can't wait.  Which reminds me, don't forget to sign up for courses starting Nov. 22!

It's hard to believe that I'll have my bachelor's in Behavioral Science in less than a year.  Granite State College is helping me obtain my dream of having a bachelor's degree and maybe even move on to another University System of New Hampshire University's to pursue my Master's.  It is soooo exciting!

Being enrolled in two upper level psychology courses means a lot of research papers. That means at least 25+ sources of different sources of information, between the two papers. The easiest place to go for me is the EBSCOhost Database. In the online library on the Granite State College website, I have access to over thousands of articles, books, journals, etc. You have the option to create your own account and folder to save found material. I have used it several times in the past and I know it will be used a lot in the future. It's so nice to know I have such a great resource at my fingertips every time I need it, especially so I can write two great papers.

There is also a great new academic resource coordinator at the Conway NH college campus. I can't wait to bring these papers to him to look over, and help me polish. I also want to check out the library, I have access to any book in New Hampshire by being a student here. There really are so many resources at Granite State College, with a lot of dedication, it's hard not to succeed. :)

This past week in my Upper Level Psychology Class we had a guest educator come in and give us some really cool hands on examples of Occupational Therapy. I think it was such a great way to learn about the senses, and how we learn. It was so cool to get to experience things such as brushing, hands on. It was a great way to stimulate all the senses, and I really felt like I learned a lot. It helps to break up the class, as well as incorporate different learning techniques.

This isn't the first class at Granite State College that I have taken that incorporates hands on activities. I have taken several other course that have also used visual stimuli to enhance the learning, or to explain a certain procedure. It's something that is really nice that the college can offer to students. It also offers a chance for the community to get involved in 1. our education, but also the college. We really get to use some great local resources to help enhance the already diverse learning environment.

When I was growing up as a child we had a poster hanging in the school that said it takes a village to raise a child. After the experiences I have had a Granite State College, I believe that. I look forward to many more classes that will offer a new way to teach me something out my future career.
 

I've been thinking a lot lately about what inspires us.  Like what inspires us to run a marathon...not give up on a project...try something new...try to fix something you didn't think you could fix...or (of course) go back to college?

But I'm going to digress here to write about something I never thought I'd experience:  This summer, I went to a week-long workshop in Maine for musicians - mostly harpists - and I had the time of my life.  Now, you may have seen that startling billboard I wrote about a few weeks ago, which features me playing a violin on which I'd only been taking lessons a few months. (They told us to bring something we liked to do.  I couldn't bring my harp because it was pretty big, so I dragged my new violin along.)



 And I've been bumbling along on my harp only a little longer.  But this workshop wasn't just for professional musicians (which I'm not).  It was for people who are inspired by music, who just like to think about what inspiration really means and want to play around with how you can use the inspiration of music to enrich your life.

More about that in a minute...

So what inspires you?  Is it something your mother or father said to you?  Or your grandmother?  Or something you read?  Does it seem to come from inside you?

The concept of inspiration is a fascinating topic in psychology, because we try to examine it when we're looking at motivation.  If you've taken an Introduction to Psychology course, you probably remember Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs."  But even if you haven't, it's pretty cool, and looks like this:



The idea is that the basic things you need, like food, water (and oxygen) must be met before you can go on to less basic needs, like making sure you're safe from being gunned down in a war, etc.  Okay, so where would playing a musical instrument fit?

Wow, think about it.  What if you're the life of the party and love to play your guitar for everyone around to sing along?  Well, it seems that might fit the third level:  It would help you feel a sense of belonging.

But what if you only like to sit all by yourself and play your flute?  Well, that wouldn't fit your social needs, or your sense of belonging, would it? Because you're playing all by yourself.  Ah, maybe you just love music.  It might fit your self-esteem needs!  But more likely, especially if you don't play your flute for anyone else, it might just fit your self-actualization needs:  You feel like you are who you want to be when you play your flute.  (Remember the recruitment slogan for the Army from a few years ago?  "BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE...IN THE AAAA--RMY!")

So I want to share a little about that amazing workshop for musicians, where I "had the time of my life."  

It was held at The Celebration Barn in South Paris, Maine.  http://www.celebrationbarn.com/  Most people at the workshop stay at the Barn, and meals are there too.   Here's one participant's description:

"The Barn was a great place to 'incubate.' Put twenty performers from around the world together in the Maine woods, mix vigorously day and night for truth in movement and improvisation, then fine tune the results in performance on the weekends."

Deborah Henson-Conant (a world-famous harpist who plays a hip electric harp she straps on!) and Karen Montanaro, a mime and a ballerina, ran the workshop.  http://www.celebrationbarn.com/w-music.html

It was a fun, fun experience.  And when I came home, I felt like I really COULD play the harp and the violin, and have fun with them.  Here's me at my harp...  But it especially reminded me how important inspiration is to all of us.  

Pay attention to what might be inspiration.  You might just surprise yourself.  Take a look at Granite State College's offerings.  Is a college education in the future, for you to have "the time of your life"?

They say friends are the secret to a happy life, and I fully agree. I have made so many wonderful friends since I began my career at Granite State College. I'm currently enrolled in two psychology courses at the Conway Campus and there are so many returning classmates, it really helps the process to know there are other adult learners just like me, working and going to school. Like anything else, it's more fun when there are friends there to share the learning, fun, and especially all the hard work. Thanks to all my college friends that help make the journey more fun :)

 
I've fallen in love with the stories people tell in a new project called "Story Corps."  I first heard them on NPR's Morning Edition.  They have their own website and today are being featured on youtube.

I always mention them in my psychology classes, because these slices of life often hold a nugget of inspiration, especially when considering human lifespan development - a course I teach often at Granite State College.  (In case you'd like to see what a course like that is all about here's the syllabus for an intensive course that I taught recently, that covered the whole course in just five weeks.)

Here's a favorite Story Corps story of mine, where a young woman interviews her mother, who was an immigrant.  Her parents cleaned offices at night, and she and her brother remember going to the offices with their parents, since they couldn't afford a babysitter.  The best is at the end, where she asks her mother if she would do anything differently, and her mother answers she wishes she'd spent more time with her when she was a child, but there was so little time with working, raising children and going to school.  Her daughter replies that seeing all that her mother did to get an education helped make her determined to go to college and get her degree.

Reading the comments at the end of the clip, I'm betting it will inspire a lot of people to get that college degree.

Wow, summer sure did fly by! I can't believe that it's already almost time for fall semester to start. I don't know about you, but I had an eventful summer. I got married, moved into a new house, and went on a few really nice vacations.

Now that my summer off is almost over and fall is upon us it's time for me to start thinking about what classes I wanted to take for the fall semester at Granite State College. The Conway campus has some great classes to offer this fall, especially for my major: behavioral science. 

Living in the White Mountains means that during the fall, my two jobs are very busy and  it could be a challenge to also try to take classes. With the convenient evening college classes at the Conway NH college campus, I can make a schedule that really works for me. I also have a great advisor, who can help me figure out which courses will work best with my busy schedule. That's one of my favorite things about GSC: there is always someone there to help you throughout your education journey.

I'm going to take Art therapy, and Cognition and Learning this upcoming semester. Both are Psychology classes, and both seem really interesting. I'm not a great artist, but I love the challenge of taking a class that will teach me more about something I'm not the best at. I feel that's an important part of the college experience; to try to be challenged as often as possible. I think Cognition and Learning will help me build a better foundation to achieve my career in behavioral science. I can't wait to meet my new professors and new classmates. With one more month to go, I need to order my books and supplies. I love that you can order them directly from the Granite State College Website, it makes it so easy to be prepared for the first night of class.

I hope to see you on the Conway NH college campus in a few weeks :)

Having my first child at age 22, I learned really quickly that there is no manual for child rearing. No matter how great my intentions were, no matter how many books I read, nothing prepared me for the lifelong teaching I was going to be doing when my little man arrived.

A friend of mine helped me get my life back on track. She helped me set up goals, and one of them was to go back to school and get my degree. She even drove me to Granite State College so that I could get the ball rolling on my journey through on-line classes for college. I think the fact that I decided to go with behavioral science classes has helped me gain the knowledge to better my son's life.

People are correct when they tell you that their is no manual on how to raise kids. But, what I am learning through all of my courses is helping me piece together great concepts in how to raise my son he becomes a well-rounded individual. As an adolescent once myself, I know you cannot force your children into getting good grades and volunteering to help the community. I have, however, learned in my adolescent psychology course that there are ways to raise a child to want to do those things, to strive to be a upstanding student and citizen. There are ways you can protect your children from the temptations of sex and drugs without being by your child's side all the time.

The knowledge I am gaining from my classes is not only helping me earn my degree, but also helping me in specific areas of my life. You can sit and talk to me until you are blue in the face about how you raised your child and how it worked for you. Every person and every child is different. I think that studying this information has helped me better appreciate the knowledge that I have gained and helped me understand how I can put these concepts into practice and help my son to be a strong, intelligent, proud and independent individual.

I am currently taking two courses on-line for the summer semester. These are not my first classes at Granite State College, but I have had a chance to get my feet wet and feel more confident and know what's expected of me as an on-line student.

Since on-line courses are different than in-class courses, there are different expectations. In most classes you are expected to read the chapters assigned, write a post on the discussion board, and then respond to at least two other students posts. It does not get more simpler than that, and that's what I love about adult on-line classes.

Recently, I have been noticing that there are many concepts you are taught in one class that are repeated in many other classes. For example, in my interpersonal communications class I learned how cultures vary in their norms. As U.S. citizens our culture is individualistic, as we prefer competition and individuality. Other countries, like Japan, have a collectivist culture and prefer to do what is best for the community as a whole, rather than what is best for the individual. This concept has appeared in three of my classes so far!

Also, because I am focused on child psychology, most of my psychology classes have repeated some main themes. This is really helpful to me, and I also assume it is very helpful to others, since repeatedly hearing concepts over and over again can help you retain that knowledge. I am kind of relieved to know this is what to expect in the future, since I am the first in my family to go to college and it makes me kind of nervous that I may not succeed. It is nice to know that Granite State College is here for me and to help relieve that worry from me!

During my behavioral science classes at Granite State College, I had the chance to take an assortment of different classes with a variety of instructors. Almost without exception, I enjoyed my classes and found the professors were knowledgable about their subject and seemed to enjoy teaching adult college classes a great deal.

Now that I'm done with my time at GSC, I wish I had had the time and opportunity to take  advantage of more classes. When talking with my fellow classmates, conversations would often turn to classes that were highly recommended or a professor that was held in high regard.

As challenging as it may seem to meet the requirements for your studies, unfortunately there will be many classes of interest that remain unexplored, or professors that you never got to experience as your instructor.


I would have loved to take more classes with Dr. David Lawson whom I had for "The Human Brain" or Craig Nevins who taught "Society and the Individual". Beth Roth was my instructor for two difficult reserch classes and she often believed in our abilities more than we did. I took an independent study with Kathie Minaert and I think I would have enjoyed having another class with her as well.

The classes that intrigued me but never had the opportunity to take are numerous. There are many art classes offered but only one was needed for my course requirements. There are also English, humanities, psychology, health care and behavioral science classes that I just didn't have room for. Social science classes and sociology classes covered a broad range of interests, and regrettably, I was able to sample just a handful of these.

I hope your journey towards your degree from Granite State College is as rewarding, enjoyable and interesting as mine was. Take that first step, even if your educational goals seem too distant. The process of "getting there" was half the fun!

I find Netflix' recommendations for movies you might like, based on your previous choices of movies you've rented, a very interesting - but also kind of scary - idea, especially from the standpoint of social psychology.  And other DVD businesses such as Blockbuster have similar techniques to recommend further movies based on your interests.

In social psychology (you can take a course in it online at Granite State College!), we examine what influences people to make the choices they make.  Just think of all the things involved in your feelings about whether Netflix might be making good recommendations for you:  
1.  You chose to enroll in Netflix.
2.  You're paying to use it.
3.  They make an effort to appeal to you with user-friendly statements like this:
I have more questions about watching instantly on my PC. Where can I get answers?

So you end up feeling as though they really want to help you and somehow "know" you.  And you know what?  You're right about them knowing you!  They do know you.

But they're not really your "friend," of course.  (That can be the subject of another blog...whether "friends" on Facebook really are, well, friends.)  They're basing their information on carefully calibrated software that tracks your choices.

Lots of people are getting leery about having software seem to know them.  Once you take a course in social psychology (and you can do it entirely online.  Here's a link to Granite State College's behavioral science courses:  http://www.granite.edu/academics/degrees/bachelor-degrees/behavioral-sciences.aspx), you may be surprised at how much more you feel YOU know about what people are thinking, what you can know about other people, and even what advertising uses to influence your choices, from selecting DVDs to buying cell phones!

There are plenty of "Psychology Courses You'll " at Granite State College.

 That phrase - "Can you hear me now?" - is popular in ads for a cell phone server, and now even in jokes.  Everyone seems to recognize the phrase.

I think one of the interesting things is to consider it from a psychological viewpoint.  For example, if a person is in a group, even a noisy group, but hears his/her own name, why is it more likely that they'll recognize their own name, even if no one else does?  

You can ask your friends, "Did someone just call my name?"  And they probably didn't notice it.  But you probably did.   It's called the "cocktail party effect."  (Lots of research has been done on this, from the original by Colin Cherry in 1953 to more recent research by Adelbert Bronkhorst in 2000.)    When I teach this concept in the classroom to young twenty-somethings, I refer to it as "the keg party effect," since I don't think they're too familiar with the concept of a "cocktail party"!

So if you're talking to friends, even if it's pretty loud, and someone calls your name, you're likely to hear it.  So why did YOU hear your own name?

Ah, time for social psychology to kick in.  (Yet another bump for taking an online psychology course - of course, ideally, at Granite State College!)  

Okay, here goes: We are more tuned in to things that are important to us.  It's called egocentrism.  It doesn't mean you're "stuck up."  It just means that  you orient yourself as the center of your own interests.  

Well, who doesn't?  And when do you not do this?

That's a huge challenge for psychology to dissect.  When is self-interest just - well - selfish?  And when is it explainable by considering the things we expect to consider with regard to ourselves?  Some current thought even suggests that the only way to get attention in the post 9/11 world may be to take extreme measures.  And of course, that also includes the actual 9/11 tactic of blowing up the World Trade Center to draw attention to a goal.  This was discussed in an interesting article by Neal Gabler, which appeared in the Boston Globe recently, entitled, "Screaming extremism."  (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/04/24/screaming_extremism/_ 
The world of learning is an exciting world.  It never fails to challenge.  Maybe that voice inside is asking you, "Can you hear me now?"

 I read an article in the New York Times by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (article) bemoaning the fact that all too often, responses to one of her articles include ugly, mean-spirited comments. She described a piece she wrote for Salon about suffering from postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder after the traumatic delivery of her son.  A slew of nasty comments followed.  

She wrote:   
 "I don’t write this to say how hurt my feelings are. Rather, I’m confused. It’s O.K. if people would like to debate the merits (or lack thereof) of the opinions and facts discussed in my work. It’s also O.K. with me if people simply don’t like my work. What confounds me is why online commenters are so gratuitously nasty; why, when given the opportunity to have an educated disagreement with an author or other readers, they use the space allotted to spew venom instead of presenting a well-reasoned argument."

One of the thoughts she had was that perhaps it's the anonymity that allows such cruelty.  I completely agree.  Happily, for our Granite State College blogs, all responses are "vetted" by our enthusiastic and hardworking middle-person.  As a matter of fact, when first asked to write a blog, that was my first question, since I know how thin-skinned I am and nasty responses would be likely to crush me.  Kate B. assured me that all responses go through her first, so anything nasty would never see the light of the internet.  "Phew," I thought.

One of the things we know from studies in Social Psychology (which you can take in an adult online course at Granite State College - here's a list of online courses), is that being anonymous can contribute to people doing things they wouldn't be likely to do if they could be identified.  It's called "deindividuation."  Think of the actions of people in the Ku Klux Klan, for example: They wear white hoods to disguise their identities.   Negative behavior is also more likely to take place under the cover of darkness or in a crowd - when it's harder to identify someone.  You can probably think of a lot of things that people do if no one can actually identify that they are the person doing or saying it.

Kathleen Taylor, the author of Cruelty:  Human Evil and the Human Brain, is quoted in the article, and says, interestingly, “We’re evolved to be face-to-face creatures.  We developed to have constant feedback from others, telling us if it was O.K. to be saying what we’re saying. On the Internet, you get nothing, no body language, no gesture. So you get this feeling of unlimited power because there is nothing stopping you, no instant feedback.”

So the suggestion that people who respond online should have to provide their name is probably an effective one.  (Providing they use their real name!)  There are a lot of thought-provoking ideas you can learn in a psychology course!