Child Psychology

Okay, so before you guys think that History & Philosophy of Psyc is the only subject I took last sem, I also took Child Psychology. It's one of my favourite subjects because we studied an individual's physical, emotional, cognitive and social development from pre-birth to adolescence, and the problems and disorders which can occur at the various stages of development. Plus, my lecturer is a practicing psychologist from Canada, so he made it interesting by giving real-life examples instead of the same stuff which is already in the textbook.

So anyway, here are some of the stuff we learnt:

We learnt so many things about newborns and pregnant mothers and labour that I don't even know where to begin. Newborns are usually assessed using the Apgar Scale, which assesses the newborn's physical condition by measuring the pulse, breathing, muscle tone, general reflex response, colour of skin, etc.

Among an infant's primary emotions are smiling, laughing and crying.

A child's handedness (whether the child is a righty or lefty) can be determined at an early age. You can see in the picture that this girl is a righty.

Educational toys can help children to develop and improve their skills at an early age. Check out her motor skills too, among which is her ability to grip/hold objects.

When talking with babies, adults tend to use "baby language" to elicit a cooing response from the baby.

Language functions as a tool for children to convey their needs. Sometimes children also use it as a form of escapism, such as talking on their own, or while playing with their toys.

Eating disorders: Some children have problems eating - whatever attempt the parents make at forcing them to eat does not work. However, there are also children who overeat, thereby becoming obese/overweight.

Try observing a baby when he is left alone. One second he's looking at something in front of him, the next he's looking on the floor, the next he's looking upwards.

This 1-year-old is in Piaget's sensory motor stage of development. She is exploring the object (it's just a bench) and has discovered that she can climb onto it.

An older sibling can also help in teaching his little brother stuff such as constructing sentences, or opening the water bottle.

Credits to the mini models: Cousins Fawwaz, Zain, Fida and Hanif; "niece" Daania; brothers Zulfadhli and Basyir; and siblings Nusaibah, Rumaisa', Basyir and Hassan.

Credits to the XL model: my father. :-)

Sophie's World

Hey people...once again, sorry for not updating my blog. Yes, it's the usual excuse...so I'm not gonna bother typing it again here. :p

Anyway, one of my assignments for my History & Philosophy of Psychology subject actually required me to read a book, do a book review plus a 3-minute recording of me reading my favourite part. Of course, I could hardly expect stuff like the Twilight Saga or Harry Potter to be in the reading list. Instead, among the titles we got were Confucius's The Analects, Sigmund Freud's Civilization and its Discontent, Ibn Khaldun's Al-Muqaddimah, Hamka's Tasauf Moden, and - oh, joy!! - Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. It seemed like the most fun book to read, and luckily it did turn out to be fun. Well, it was mostly about Philosophy, but the way the author presented it made Philosophy actually seem quite interesting. He used lots of simple metaphors to describe what a certain philosopher meant and the way that philosopher thought. Plus, the book covers almost all the philosophers to ever exist. The story is set in the 1990s in Norway. So I'm just going to literally copy-and-paste my assignment here...but just the synopsis. Let me know if any of you wants a copy of this book or if you suddenly decide to like philosophy. :D

Sophie’s World is about 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen who receives a mysterious letter in the mailbox when she returns home from school one day. The envelope is addressed to her, and in it is contained just one question: Who are you? The next day, Sophie receives a strange postcard addressed to a “Hilde Moller Knag” From then onwards, Sophie’s life changed forever. Everyday, Sophie would receive an envelope containing “lectures” on philosophy by a mysterious philosopher. In the beginning, the lectures explained the meaning and concept of philosophy using simple terms and metaphors but still managed to make Sophie look at the world around her with a newer and broader perspective. In one of the letters and a “video trip” to Athens, the mysterious philosopher introduces himself as Alberto Knox to Sophie. He teaches her many things about past philosophers, their philosophy project and their method of philosophizing. For example, Socrates was more concerned with man and his place in society compared to the forces of nature. His method of “discussing” philosophical matters with everyone he meets by asking questions and exposing their weaknesses, whether the highest-ranking man in the society or a servant doing odd jobs, aroused the irritation of those being questioned by him. Therefore, the people of Athens found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Other philosophers whom Sophie learned about with Albert Knox are Kierkegaard who suggested that it is more important to find the kind of truths which can make an individual’s life more meaningful, Freud and his psychoanalytic theories, and other philosophers like Marx, Darwin and even the natural philosophers of the pre-Socratic era such as Democritus and Empedocles.

At the same time, Sophie has also been receiving mysterious letters addressed to Hilde Moller Knag sent by her father, Albert Knag. She has also been finding properties of Hilde, such as a red scarf belonging to Hilde under her bed. As Alberto Knox was teaching Sophie about the Renaissance, Descartes and Berkeley, Alberto told Sophie that they are both in the mind of Albert Knag and that they have to find a way to escape. It is at this point that the story changes to Hilde’s point of view. Hilde is given a copy of Sophie’s World in a ring binder by her father on her 15^th birthday as a way of teaching her philosophy. When Hilde starts reading, she is caught up in the story and she is sure that Sophie is a real character who is out there somewhere. Meanwhile, Alberto Knox has a plan to escape from Albert Knag’s mind, and they must carry out the plan during Sophie’s philosophical garden party in honour of her birthday, for that is when Albert will return home from Lebanon. As the party becomes more and more chaotic, the climax of the party being when someone rammed the Mercedes car into the apple tree, Alberto drags Sophie and together they “disappear into thin air”. They now live in the spirit world where they are invisible to everyone except for those who are like them, such as Snow White, Peter Pan and other fictional fairy tale characters. They drive to Hilde’s house where Sophie sits next to Hilde and tries to talk to her – but of course, to no avail. Sophie watches as Hilde’s father returns home and is lovingly embraced by Hilde and her mother. She feels envious of Hilde because Hilde is made of real flesh and blood and has a family, something which Sophie felt that she could never have. But Alberto tells her that since they have cut the “umbilical cord” connecting them to Albert, they can now do anything they wish, including returning to Sophie’s home. The story ends with Albert and Hilde discussing the big bang while Sophie tries various methods of attracting their attention, which she finally succeeds in doing when she manages to set the rowboat adrift.

U Life Resumes...

A new semester - new faces (the naive, innocent juniors), old friends, newly-made friends, old luggage from previous semesters (basically the never-ending society stuff), and best of all...new subjects.

History and Philosophy of Psychology

Yawn. Zzz. Yeah, right. Not with the lecturer I got this sem, thankfully.

The philosophical part:

Lecturer shows a slide with a picture of a big, black circle.

"So, can anyone tell me what colour this is?"

Black, duh.

"Very good. How do you know its black?"

Sheesh. Through experience, learning, bla bla bla...roll eyes at the lecturer.

"Hmm...but how is your definition of black different from your friend's definition of black?" (With a big, wide grin on her face)

Blank stares. WTH?!

Why on earth do philosophers find philosophy interesting??? Do enlighten me.

The historical part:

"Why do we study history?"

Easy. To know our roots, learn lessons from the past so that we won't repeat the same mistakes, bla bla bla...

"Yeah, but the past is past, right? What's the point of learning about all these dead people?"

Tell me about it. I'm sure every single student has asked themselves that question each time they flip open the cover page of their History textbook back in high school.

"Think about it. I'll give you an analogy - when you want to marry someone, you have to know that person's history first, right? How many brothers/sisters he/she has, how many past relationships he/she has been involved in, and the cause of the break-up. And why do you do this? 'Coz you'll be investing your future with this guy/girl, so you have to dig up his/her history."

Hmm. When she put it that way, it does sound logical and pretty interesting.

"So how can we relate that with the history of psychology, or any other science for that matter? Because, although the people are dead, their ideas still live on."

Hence the reason we are all sitting in classrooms and slugging away over our textbooks and assignments - to study the "living" ideas of the dead.

Vampires and Werewolves

Ahhh...the main reason behind my silence. The Twilight Saga makes an excellent form of escapism - it still takes place in the real world, but the story provides an escape from reality. For me, anyway. I can read and re-read these books over and over and never get bored! Sigh.

I'd better stop typing...this is not the review yet!

Back in the Blogsphere

OMG. I dunno how long its been since I last updated my blog! I'd like to apologize to everyone, especially for not dropping by your blogs at the very least. Last semester was just crazy with all the research, assignments and the society (Psychology Students' Association - PSYCSTA) work. Sigh. Anyway, its now the holidays. Time to take a deep breath and unwind.

Gaza under Fire

I recently attended an event titled Gaza under Fire which was organized by the Al-Aqsa Friends’ Society. This is the first time I attended one of their events, and I have to say, it was a big success. The main auditorium was packed with local students and international students from many different countries. This is also the first event I’ve attended which had an equal amount of Malaysians and foreigners, and also the equal amount of males and females (usually the females outnumber the males). It was very inspiring to see so many Muslims coming to show their support for Gaza.

There were two talks, several multimedia presentations and a drama show depicting the war scenario in Gaza. Even though a picture says a thousand words, I think video footages are better in this case. The audience was quiet as we watched women on the screen crying for their lost/dead/injured children with the remains of ruined buildings and smoke and dust in the background.

As one of the speakers said that night, this cannot be called an attack anymore. This is WAR. Just imagine, Gaza is only a small piece of land. Yet the Israelis are attacking Gaza by sea, land and air using army tanks and the latest nuclear bombs, which is why the death toll and the number of injuries are really high in just one day.

The people of Gaza have to be creative in order to survive. They make their own bombs and plan strategies such a releasing rockets across the borders and into Israel.

The Israelis are bombing schools, universities and homes.

They do not care whether they bomb children or adults, and for no absolute reason (although they claim that they “have their own reasons” for doing it).

They are so cowardly to attack Palestine in full force using all kinds of military inventions while knowing that the Palestinians have practically nothing. However, they are killing only the bodies of Gaza. They cannot kill the soul, determination and the mind of Gaza. The people of Gaza cry for their lost ones, but they do not regret what they have done. They have been doing this (fighting for their freedom and survival) in the past, and they will continue to do this to the end.

Some of them even thank Allah for the loss of their beloved ones (eg, I lost my mother, Alhamulillah).

There are deaths and injuries every single day.

There's neither fuel nor electricity. There is also insufficient medicine to treat the injured.

My dear fellow Muslims, this not a Palestinian issue. This is a Muslim issue. The issue of the whole Muslim ummah, for it concerns all of us as Muslims. Spread the word, increase the awareness.

Prayer for Palestine

In light of the recent Israeli attacks on Palestine, I would like to invite my fellow Muslims to pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters over there. As we go about our daily lives, it’s hard to imagine that in other parts of the world, our brothers and sisters are fighting - fighting for their life, and most importantly, for their religion. Our religion – ISLAM.

What are our problems compared to theirs? How sad is it breaking up with your boyfriend compared to losing your beloved family members? Or worse, how heart-breaking is it for a little boy to see his father, mother and baby sister blown up right in front of his eyes? Imagine not sleeping because you’re dreading a presentation in front of your lecturer and classmates compared to not sleeping the whole night for fear of not being able to wake up tomorrow.

While we throw away our leftover food, our fellow Muslims are starving or dying of hunger. Everyday, there are hundreds of Muslims killed or injured by the Israelis, be it in Palestine, Bosnia or any other part of the world. But what are we, their Muslim brothers and sisters doing to help them? Are we even aware that all this is happening? Or do we just turn a blind eye and continue about our daily lives, oblivious to the sufferings and the killings of our brothers and sisters?

Most Muslims aren’t even aware about all this. They are blinded by the worldly affairs and entertainment which, unsurprisingly, are created by the Jews and the Western people themselves in order to distract us from what is happening to our fellow Muslims. In fact, we don’t even realize how blessed we are to be able to open our eyes every morning, breathe in the fresh air and go on with our day. Since we are unable or incapable of helping them physically, the best way for us to help them is by praying to Allah. At the end of each prayer, please include a du’a for our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

For My Uncle

While going through some personal stuff, I found a very familiar-looking Hunchback of Notre Dame notebook which contained several short stories I wrote as a child when I was in England and many other childhood scribbles. But I wanted to post this short story because this was how I got the notebook in the first place. This is dedicated to my uncle, Pak Ndak.

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Thursday 24th October.

A wonderful evening

When we came home from school, Aishah found that she had a new Postman Pat Lunchbox. And then, Ayah gave us each a halloween sweet on stick. After that, Ummi said, "And this is the best of all." And she took out a packet that had 3 'renda hair bobble'. They were very nice. After we've prayed and eaten, we said 'thank you' and ate our halloween sweets. They were ever so delicious! And then Ummi and Ayah went out for parents' evening. We played tunnels with Pak Ndak and then he said, "I've got a surprise for you." He went to the corridor and came back with three Hunchback of Notre Dame stationary set. There was a ruler, rubber, pencil sharpener, pencil case and book in each of the pack. We said, "Thank you." When Ummi and Ayah came home, we showed them what Pak Ndak gave us.

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Unfortunately, I didn't write the year I wrote this, but it was the time my uncle came to visit us in England. He was studying in Medina at that time. I remember we had great fun playing with him and showing him our favourite places. Do you still remember this Pak Ndak? ;)

Toys Galore

While packing up the stuff to bring to our new house, my sisters and I discovered a whole cabinet devoted to our toys back in England. Well! My uncle predicted that I wouldn't finish packing my books because I'll simply pick up a book and start reading halfway through packing...his prediction didn't come true since I asked my Ummi to pack the books for me. But it sort of came true while I was packing the toys...we just had to play with them before packing them into boxes. Here are some pictures of the Barbie furniture I previously described in my Barbie post:

Barbie's armchair, writing table, closet, dresser

Barbie in the bathoom

Barbie in the gym

Barbie and her twin babies

Other doll houses belonging to my youngest sister Sumayyah. Only the boot (on the leftmost) came from England.

The Lego set was also something we played a lot of back then. It really brought out the imaginative side in us as we built two storey houses, designed bedrooms, living rooms and various other things. The picture below is a sample of a living room:

See the two Lego people? They're sitting on armchairs/single sofa. The thing in the middle is a fireplace with a clock on the mantel. There's also a fire burning away (the black lego is the firewood, the yellow lego on top of it is the fire) and two lights on each side of the clock. The thing in the middle of the room is the coffee table, complete with a flower in the middle. The yellow legos on the door and windows are the lights, and of course, there's a garden outside the living room. Pretty creative for a 9 year old and a 7 year old.

It brought back some really happy childhood memories. Who knew that playing with your old stuff can leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside? ;)

L.A.Z.I.N.E.S.S.

I am feeling incredibly LAZY at the moment. I've been reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for two days, and I've almost read three quarters of it already. I've almost completed the review for the first four books, but I was too lazy to finish it. I'm walking around feeling as if I'm in the magical world...minus the wand and the ability to perform any magic, of course. Kak Ilah has lent me five of her novels which I can't wait to start - but I have to finish Harry Potter first...I haven't read HP for one semester, which is quite long for me. So, I guess it's back to the sofa with a HP book and some snacks to munch on. Hope I won't be like this boy in the cartoon. LOL. See ya later folks!

Harry Potter

I haven't done any book review for the last few days because I was busy helping my mother pack our stuff to move to our new house. Among the books I've finished reading are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (plus various other books which I'll review later). When I was in England, my friend Khadija had already told me about Harry Potter, but it wasn't until after I'd watched the first HP movie did I feel attracted to Harry Potter. I begged my parents to buy me the books (at that time, there were only the first four HP books published), which they did and gave me as a present for getting good results for my PMR. As soon as I read the first page of HP and the Philosopher's Stone, I immediately fell in love with the story (love at first sight!) and knew that the books were going to be way, way beter than the movies.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone tells of a boy named Harry Potter who had to live with his relatives, the Dursleys, after his parents were killed in a car crash. Later, when he receives an offer letter from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he finds out that he is actually a wizard and that his parents were killed by a very powerful Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort. In this book, Harry faces Lord Voldemort for the first time (second, actually, if you count the time Voldemort tried to kill when he was still a baby) when Lord Voldemort tries to seek the Philosopher's Stone which can give him immortality.

Since I've read HP 1 to HP 7, I can see the difference in Harry's personality in each of the books. In this book, JK Rowling did a good job of portraying Harry as a young, naive and innocent 11-year-old wizard who (sometimes) makes immature decisions, afraid to confide in adults (such as his Headmaster Albus Dumbledore) while trying to get used to his identity as a wizard.

Harry enters his second year at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In this book, Harry faces the heir of Slytherin who has opened the Chamber of Secrets. I don't like this book much because there was a part where everybody avoided talking to Harry because they suspected he was the heir of Slytherin. Only when Harry's best friend Hermione is attacked do they change their minds. Another reason I don't like this book much is the way Harry and his other best friend, Ron Weasley arrived at Hogwarts (by flying Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia) because they started the new term with a whole lot of trouble due to their bad decision-making. But never mind...they're still immature here. But I loved the part where Harry fought the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets...considering the fact that he's only 12 years old.


In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, everyone in the wizarding world and the muggle (people who don't have magic) world are on the alert for a high-profile murderer, Sirius Black, who has managed to escape from Azkaban, the wizard prison. Extra precautions are taken to protect Harry since Black is believed to be trying to capture Harry and bring him to Lord Voldemort. Halfway through the story, however, Harry and his friends learn that Black is Harry's deceased parents' best friend...not only was he the best man at his parents' wedding, but they also appointed Black to be Harry's godfather and guardian should anything happen to them. Harry and his friends also learn that Sirius Black was framed by another old friend, Peter Pettigrew, so they have to save Black from the Dementors (the Azkaban guards). The method used by Harry and Hermione to save Sirius Black in here is really ingenious. Although its kinda disappointing that they weren't able to clear Sirius' name and prove his innocence, there's a reason for it all in one of the later books.


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is my favourite book of the first four books. There's a lot more magic in this book, not to mention a number of useful spells which I wish were real (eg, Accio! No need to keep getting up to fetch that something you've left somewhere). In this book, Harry is chosen as one of the school champions in the Triwizard Tournament...but the mystery is, Harry does not even fulfill the age limit required to enter the tournament! So who submitted his name as a participant?? After successfully performing all three tasks, Harry and Cedric Diggory, another Hogwarts champion, tie for the first place and grabbed hold of the Triwizard Cup at the same time. To their surprise, the Cup is a Portkey (which is an object that can transport you to the designated place when touched) and it transported them both to an empty graveyard, the place where Lord Voldemort has chosen to resurrect himself. My favourite part in this book is the Priori Incantatem chapter, the part where Harry duels with Voldemort. The first death in the HP series also occurred in this book with the death of Cedric Diggory. When Harry returns to Hogwarts, he told Dumbledore that Lord Voldemort has returned. Unfortunately, the Minister of Magic at that time, Cornelius Fudge, did not believe in Harry's story.


In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic is trying very hard to deny rumours that Lord Voldemort is back by using the Daily Prophet to portray Harry and Dumbledore as crazy, etc. The Order of the Phoenix is an Order established during the time Lord Voldemort was still in power (Harry's parents were among the members of the Order before they were murdered). The Order was re-established to start planning various strategies to overcome Voldemort. One of their tasks in this book is to guard "something" in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry from Voldemort. Towards the end of the book, Harry sees his godfather Sirius Black being tortured by Lord Voldemort via his scar, which somehow connects him to Lord Voldemort. So he rallies his friends and they all fly on Thestrals to the Ministry to try and save Sirius. However, it turned out that the vision was merely a trick to attract Harry to the Ministry, because Lord Voldemort wanted Harry to take a prophecy regarding Harry and him. A battle ensued between Harry & his friends and the Death Eaters. The other members of the Order turned up just in time to help them fight the Death Eaters. Unfortunately though, Sirius was killed in the fight. Sirius' death was a big blow to Harry, because he had now lost the man he looked upon as his parent. One good thing that came out of the fight at the Ministry is that the Minister and several other wizards turned up just in time to see Lord Voldemort before he disappeared, so now they have to accept the fact that Lord Voldemort is really back.


Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince starts by describing the deaths and terror faced by the people as Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters start killing Muggles and Muggle-borns. In this book, Harry takes private lessons with Professor Dumbledore - together, they go back into the memories of certain people to learn about Voldemort's childhood as they attempt to understand him. Along the way, they learn that Voldemort had created seven Horcruxes which are hidden in different hiding places to prevent him from dying. Harry follows Dumbledore to a certain cave by the sea to destroy one of the Horcruxes, but when they return to Hogwarts, they discover that it had been attacked by a group of Death Eaters. Dumbledore dies in this book, leaving Harry with the basic knowledge of what he has to do in the future to overcome Lord Voldemort. I can still cry each time I read the part describing Dumbledore's funeral, because Harry is now all alone - his parents, his godfather and now his headmaster have left him in their efforts to protect him from Voldemort.


I almost didn't want to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because this is the last book in the series and that there will be no more Harry after this. But of course, I had to start reading the minute I bought the book. In this book, Harry sets out with his friends to find and destroy the seven Horcruxes created by Voldemort. The ultimate battle then takes place between Harry's side and Voldemort's side. I loved reading the battle part - it seems so much cooler and riskier to battle using magic instead of firing canons of dropping nuclear bombs on the enemy. Thankfully, JK Rowling created a "19 years later" chapter which lets her readers know what happened 19 years later. I don't think I'd be fully-satisfied otherwise.


JK Rowling has an exceptional style of writing regardless when she is describing sceneries or when she's playing with her characters' emotions. She is also quite witty and manages to keep her readers laughing (or crying) at all the appropriate moments besides keeping her readers hooked and wanting to keep turning the page to find out what happens next. Each time I re-read a HP book, especially the last one, I really appreciate the little details written in the earlier books which then play their own role in the end. And to be honest, I don't watch the HP movies anymore because the movie plots are too different from the actual books, so I don't see how they're going to portray the Horcruxes part and stuff. There are too many important details left out...but then again, movie-makers only have a couple of hours to cram in around 600 - 700 pages.


I have repeated all HP books countless of times...and if a new HP book was coming out, I'd read all the previous HP books and surf the HP websites in anticipation of the new book. Oh, the thrill of it! Too bad there are no more HP books coming out though. However, there are other HP-related books such as the newly-published The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which is a fairy tale book mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Even though HP is now over, all I have to do is open the cover of the first HP book to make him alive again. (Sorry if that sounded cheesy.)

Barbie

Last Sunday, I watched Barbie & the Diamond Castle on TV3 with my youngest sister. Needless to say, it was a great movie (especially if you're a Barbie lover) with the theme of friendship. Its mainly about two best friends, Liana (the pronounciation is like Rihanna) and Alexa who share a love of singing. Of course, somewhere along the way the strength of their friendship is tested. You can read the full review here.

I don't know what it is about Barbie that makes me still attracted to watch her movies...perhaps its the excellent graphic used in the movies, or the prettiness of Barbie and her friends (not to mention their outfits and the sceneries!). Or maybe its because I played with Barbie dolls when I was a little girl, so she reminds me of my happy and carefree childhood.

Back in England, my parents bought me and my sisters several Barbie dolls, a great big doll house which was even taller than us, plus some furniture to decorate the doll house with. The doll house had four levels - the ground floor consisted of a kitchen (which had a kitchen cabinet) and a bathroom (which had a toilet, a sink+mirror and a bathtub with a shower curtain). The first floor was the sitting room (which had a chair that could recline complete with footrest, a writing table table+chair and a side table), the second floor was the bedroom (2 single beds, 2 closets, 1 dresser. We even had the accessories such as shoes and clothes, pillows and covers and little hairbrushes and handmirrors). The topmost floor was a rooftop balcony for the dolls to hang out in the evenings. My sisters and I had a blast arranging and re-arranging the furnitures, changing the dolls' outfits and acting them out in various scenes. It's pretty funny recalling it all, but I wouldn't mind admitting that right now, the child in me is crying out for me to grab my youngest sister's doll and start playing with it. Just going to Toys R Us to ogle at the latest Barbie collection is enough, seeing as its not really worth spending my money on it. But of course, the more matured Me is saying...Grow Up!