DECEMBER

Christmas gets most of the press this time of year, but December is a month full of religious and secular festivals and holidays, along with some wild and wacky days as well.

Here's a reminder of the major holidays this month, along with a collection of the most bizarre holidays gleaned from the corners of the Internet. We can't vouch for the authenticity of some of these lesser known observances, but if you need a moment to forget the stress that sometimes comes with the major holidays, there's got to be a few here to make you smile. 

Forget the 12 Days of Christmas. Here's a whole month of ways to celebrate:

• Saturday, Dec. 1: AIDS Awareness Day; Eat a Red Apple Day
• Sunday, Dec. 2: First Sunday of Advent; National Fritters Day
• Monday, Dec. 3: National Roof Over Your Head Day
• Tuesday, Dec. 4: Santa's List Day; Wear Brown Shoes Day
• Wednesday, Dec. 5: Bathtub Party Day; Repeal Day—the 21st Amendment ends Prohibition; Ninja Day
• Thursday, Dec. 6: St. Nicholas Day; Mitten Tree Day; Put On Your Own Shoes Day; Miners' Day
• Friday, Dec. 7: Pearl Harbor Remembrance; International Civil Aviation Day; Letter Writing Day; National Cotton Candy Day
• Saturday, Dec. 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception; Hanukkah begins at sundown; National Brownie Day; Take It In the Ear Day
• Sunday, Dec. 9: First full day of Hanukkah. This Jewish festival of lights lasts for eight days; Second Sunday of Advent; Christmas Card Day; International Children's Day; National Pastry Day; Salesperson's Day; Choral Day
• Monday, Dec. 10: Human Rights Day
• Tuesday, Dec. 11: National Noodle Ring Day; Mountain Day
• Wednesday, Dec. 12: Poinsettia Day
• Thursday, Dec. 13: Ice Cream Day; Violin Day
• Friday, Dec. 14: National Bouillabaisse Day; Monkey Day
• Saturday, Dec. 15: Bill of Rights Day; National Lemon Cupcake Day; Cat Herders Day
• Sunday, Dec. 16: Last day of Hanukkah; Third Sunday of Advent; National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
• Monday, Dec. 17: Pan American Aviation Day; Wright Brothers Day; National Maple Syrup Day; Underdog Day
• Tuesday, Dec. 18: Bake Cookies Day; National Roast Suckling Pig Day
• Wednesday, Dec. 19: Look for an Evergreen Day; Oatmeal Muffin Day
• Thursday, Dec. 20: Go Caroling Day; Games Day
• Friday, Dec. 21: Winter Solstice, First Day of Winter; Forefather's Day—celebrating the day Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock; Humbug Day; National Flashlight Day; Look on the Bright Side Day; Hamburger Day
• Saturday, Dec. 22: National Date Nut Bread Day; Haiku Poetry Day
• Sunday, Dec. 23: Fourth Sunday of Advent; Festivus "For the Rest of Us"; Roots Day
• Monday, Dec. 24: Christmas Eve; George Washington's Birthday; National Chocolate Day; National Egg Nog Day
• Tuesday, Dec. 25: Christmas—Christian observance of Jesus' birth; National Pumpkin Pie Day
• Wednesday, Dec. 26: Kwanzaa, which lasts through Jan. 1; Boxing Day; Thank You Note Day; National Whiners Day
• Thursday, Dec. 27: Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day; National Fruitcake Day
• Friday, Dec. 28: Card Playing Day
• Saturday, Dec. 29: Pepper Pot Day; Tick Tock Day
• Sunday, Dec. 30: National Bicarbonate of Soda Day; Bacon Day
• Monday, Dec. 31: New Year's Eve; Unlucky Day; No Interruptions Day

THANKSGIVING

Every year Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This day was historically a religious observation to give thanks to the almighty God. The occasion traditionally celebrates the arrival of the first pilgrims to America.

Thanksgiving Day is a time to feel gratitude for the good things in life. This is a day of festivity, family reunions and lavish feasts. In the USA this day is considered as one of the major family celebration generally celebrated at home with family and friends. The traditional dishes like Roasted turkeys, Cranberry sauce, Corns. Potatoes and Pumpkin pie are included in the Thanksgiving meal.

People celebrate this day with a great enthusiasm with their family and friends and sometimes give gifts like flowers, jewellery, baked cookies, chocolates etc to their near and dear.

BEHAVIORISM

Behaviorist Approach

Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2017

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Behaviorism (also called behavioral psychology) refers to a psychological approach which emphasizes scientific and objective methods of investigation. The approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment.

The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John Watson wrote an article entitled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it', which set out a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis

***Psychology has been defined in different ways. Some people have defined psychology as an art. Other people have defined psychology as a science. Many text books define psychology as the science of mind and behavior. Psychology involves the study of human nature and/or behavior. Different opinions come from different perspectives.***

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Eric Pettifor at GIGANTOPITHECUS defines psychology as "an art which presents itself as science". Eric is most interested in the area of personality psychology. His web page provides various psych links to sites that cover areas of humanistic psychology, teaching clinical psychology, consciousness, and the Canadian Psychological Association.

H. D. Hamm Ph.D., who authored and maintains a site for Northern Michigan University, defines psychology as the "scientific study of the behavior of humans and animals". Dr. Hamm states that "there are many areas of psychology, each attempting to explain behavior from a slightly different perspective". He gives a brief discussion of what psychologists in different areas are concerned with.

Tom Bolling at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington defines psychology as a science of description and application used for the "interpretation, prediction, development, and improvement of human behavior" and that psychology was originally a branch of philosophy.

The general psychology students at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida provide a number of psychology definitions in their unique presentation of "Definitions of Psychology" which they've gathered from several sources.

Burrton Woodruff at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana developed an HTML Teaching Resource (WH3) called "Definition of Psychology" where he gives many definitions of psychology.

Castleton State College in Castleton, Vermont provides a broad definition of psychology, lists the skills that a student can gain by studying psychology, and gives examples of possible careers for psychology graduates.

THE GUIDE FOR FINAL EXAM 1ST AND 2ND ROUND ARE THE BIMESTRAL EXAMS.

What is the Scientific Method?

The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. Does this mean all scientists follow exactly this process? No. Some areas of science can be more easily tested than others. For example, scientists studying how stars change as they age or how dinosaurs digested their food cannot fast-forward a star's life by a million years or run medical exams on feeding dinosaurs to test their hypotheses. When direct experimentation is not possible, scientists modify the scientific method. In fact, there are probably as many versions of the scientific method as there are scientists! But even when modified, the goal remains the same: to discover cause and effect relationships by asking questions, carefully gathering and examining the evidence, and seeing if all the available information can be combined in to a logical answer.

Even though we show the scientific method as a series of steps, keep in mind that new information or thinking might cause a scientist to back up and repeat steps at any point during the process. A process like the scientific method that involves such backing up and repeating is called an iterative process.

Whether you are doing a science fair project, a classroom science activity, independent research, or any other hands-on science inquiry understanding the steps of the scientific method will help you focus your scientific question and work through your observations and data to answer the question as well as possible.