negative reinforcement can be nice on the eyes!

while studying for another psych exam (this will be the second in as many weeks) today, learning about the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli and responses, i realized that there was one major negative reinforcement that was impairing the amount of information i was able to input (which i also learned i would forget as soon as i learned it, so really i don't know what the point was).


imagine if you will, picture in your minds, chris pine! if you are unfamiliar with who chris pine is, here is a little visual stimulus that will wet the palate of your cornea:

famous for his portrayal of captain james t. kirk in the new star trek movie

now that you have a visual reference, try and imagine studying with that piece of delicious goodness sitting not 20 feet from where you are! let me tell you, it is next to impossible! especially when he is dressed in a perfectly tailored black 3 piece suit.

what little i did learn today was very quickly forgotten b/c there isn't much else your sensory receptors can handle when they are being overloaded with a pair of very fine eyes... and a few other fine parts too. 

i realized while sitting in the coffee shop this afternoon what exactly a negative reinforcement is and how it applies to our everyday lives. i clearly didn't get any studying done this afternoon b/c of the chris pine look-a-like, and therefore, i should have gotten rid of him. in retrospect, all i can see myself doing is staring, mouth agape, drool running down my chin. i don't think i would have had two sense about me to go and tell him to leave b/c he was distracting me. this afternoon, i welcomed the distraction... tonight, i welcome caffeine! 

on a different note: i got back the marks for my first psych exam. 75%! i will confess, i know i could have done better. however, i have a saying and it goes something like this: sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! for the time being, i will take that 75% and relish in the fact that i am still in it! i just hope, for my sake, there are no more chris pines that will be popping up around town, b/c then i'd be making my way through the doors of a funeral parlour sooner than i would like!