SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION PAGE 6

VOLUME XIII, ISSUE VI

2013

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MINI BANG: PSYCHOLOGY

PARENT ADOLESCENT STRESS PAGE 8

Vivian Li

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MINI Bang

Dear readers,

My name is Geoffrey Ching, and I’m Big Bang’s new Editor in Chief for 2012- 2013. This year, I’m looking forward to continuing the awesome work of last year’s Big Bang team with the help of my new Big Bang team—you can find their bios near the end of this Minibang issue! As I mentioned before, I want to continue with last year’s Big Bang executive team’s goal of expanding the area of Big Bang distribution beyond Churchill and its feeder schools. Of course, we have our Facebook page (http:www.fb.comBBSciMag) which I’m sure you’ve all liked and our Twitter page (http://www.twitter.com/BB/SciMag) which I’m sure you’ve followed. Did I forget to mention that we publish our articles online on our website (http://bbscimag.wordpress.com/)? With all these awesome measures in place, I’m sure that you can access our awesome science articles with ease. In addition to these already existing online measures, the Big Bang executive team this year would like to make Big Bang more fun and informative for you to read! How can we do that? You can get involved! Send us some ideas at bbscimag@gmail.com and we’ll take your ideas into consideration. We’d love our readers’ support in making Big Bang a source of fun and informative science for you and all those in our community. Finally, I’d like to thank all of you readers for supporting us through these years, and for your continuing support. You readers make the Big Bang magazine who we are, and as you change, so will we to best deliver fun scientific information to you. All of our columnists, editors, and executives, old or new, have worked hard, and will continue to work hard to provide you reading pleasure.

Happy Reading,

Geoffrey Ching Editor In Chief

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Stress is called the silent killer.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS The first step towards exploring our magazine.

A Letter For the Readers 2 A message from our Big Bang Editor-In-Chief, Geoffrey Ching.

Parent Adolescent Stress 8

Exercise Addiction 10

Stress can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pain and an irregular heart beat.

Addiction To Social Media 6

Crossword 12

Test Anxiety 4

Biographies Of The Execs 14

Eureka! 13

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MINI Bang

An early study by Irwin G. Sarason in 1961 demonstrates the negative effects of test anxiety from examinations. In his study, Sarason separated 191 psychology students into two experimental groups. The moderately difficult condition involved subjects who were told that the problems they were about to solve were difficult and that they were not expected to perform well. In the easy condi-tion, subjects were informed that the problems were easy. Subjects in both conditions worked with thirteen identical anagrams. Sara-son suggested that the easy condi-tion put a personal threat on the

subjects, as failure in completing the tasks may influence one’s self-esteem. Results showed that, in the easy condition, subjects classi-fied as highly anxious by the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) performed poorly. Sarason’s study demon-strates that high test anxiety in an evaluative situation is related to poor performance. Although the study only involved college stu-dents, they are close in age with high school students and the re-sults of the study may be, to an extent, generalized to high school students Physiological symptoms of

Has there ever been a time where you were overwhelmed by nervousness before a major ex-am? If your answer is yes, then you have probably experienced test anxiety. Test anxiety is a situation-specific type of stress that is stim-ulated by examinations. It occurs among students of various age groups. The four major causes of test anxiety are concerns over possible consequences of exami-nations, the way in which one’s self-esteem may be influenced, other people’s judgments, and arousal of fear by authorities.

SHARON CAO, VIVIAN HAN, MARY WANG, KEVIN WANG

Stress can cause hair loss.

TEST ANXIETY

Jamie Bu

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Psychology

test anxiety include an upset stom-ach, sleeplessness, and irregular eating patterns. Test anxiety is also a type of stress, which may affect the immune system. In a study by Kiecolt-Glaser et al. in 1984, re-searchers examined blood samples taken from medical students one month before examinations and on the day of the examination. The results of the research demonstrat-ed decreases in the amount of T-cell activities in the second set of samples. T-cells are white-blood cells that are responsible for gener-ating immune responses to infec-tions in the body. This suggests that stress provoked by examina-tions may have a negative effect on the immune system. Although the study involved only medical stu-dents and may not be generalized to the public, it is sufficient to sug-gest one health concern related to test anxiety.

There are several proposed treatments for test anxiety. Sys-tematic desensitization is a method that attempts to reduce test anxie-ty by continually exposing students to the evaluative situation. A meta-analysis by Georgiana Shick Tyron (1980) indicated that desensitiza-tion reduces anxiety, but does not improve grades. Self-controlled relaxation can be used in conjunc-tion with desensitization. Partici-pants can be taught to make anxie-ty a cue for relaxation. Tyron’s me-ta-analysis demonstrates that this method is generally effective as four out of five studies reported improvements in grades of stu-dents. Test anxiety can also be treated through manipulating cog-nitive processes. Researchers such as Wine (1971, 1980) suggested attention-focusing procedures to eliminate test-irrelevant thoughts. Participants are usually taught to repeatedly imagine a non-anxious

reaction to an evaluative situa-tion. Tyron found the cognitive process treatment to be largely effective in reducing anxiety while two out of four studies re-ported increases in grades. Test anxiety treatments can also be focused on improving studying skills. Tyron’s meta-analysis found this method to be effective to an extent when used individually, but more effective when used along with desensitization. Still feeling anxious about that examination coming up? You can beat test anxiety now that you know about its nature, relevant re-search, and a possible solution.

Sources: www.web.psych.washington.edu/,

www.jstor.org/

The most stressful job is a surgeon.

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MINI Bang

We are a generation that has grown up with huge advances in technology and our use of the in-ternet and social media has become a part of our daily lives. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter offer diverse ways to interact with others, and their accessibility makes them hard to resist. However, the addictive quality of social media can have nega-tive effects on health. Is it an addiction? Addiction is characterized by an inability to control the compulsion to do a specific activity. While the existence of social media addiction has been debated, many researchers see a link between this addiction and impulse-control disorders. This

means that individuals addicted to social media feel a compulsion to repeatedly use social media to experi-ence a positive psychological effect. In a study con-ducted by researchers from the University of Chica-go’s Booth School of Business, participants were polled several times during the day and were asked various questions about their desire to access social media (Meikle, 2012). This study suggests that a high rate of “self-control failures” was associated with the use of social media. The lead researcher, Wilhelm Hoffman, suggests that social media has such a strong pull “because of their high availability and also be-cause it feels like it does not ‘cost much’ to engage in these activities, even though one wants to re-sist” (Meikle).

IANNAH ALINDOGAN, SHANIA AU, HEATHER CHO, LUCY LI, SHIRLEY WANG

The term stress derives from the latin word stringere, which means “to draw tight”.

ADDICTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA

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Psychology

Hoffman draws attention to an important point: social media does not seem to “cost much.” This makes social media addiction much easier in compari-son to an addiction to alcohol or smoking, because these established addictions and their negative health effects are well known. However, social media can also have a detrimental effect on health that should be recognized. ADHD Inattentive ADHD is a form of ADHD that is characterized by boredom, and the inability to focus, sometimes occurring in frequent social media users. The internet offers instantaneous gratification and entertainment, making other activities feel boring in comparison (Cabral, 2011). This is something that many adolescents can relate to, as the internet often becomes a way to procrastinate, making it difficult to focus on other activities that lack the same rapidity as the internet. Anxiety Social media has allowed people to have indi-rect interactions, which can be beneficial to people

who feel uncomfortable with interacting directly with others. However, a set of studies conducted by Anxiety UK (2012) found that using social media could also increase feelings of anxiety. More than half of the participants in the study reported that technology changed their behavior negatively, due to “factors such as negatively comparing themselves to others, spending too much time in front of a com-puter, having trouble being able to disconnect and relax, as well as becoming confrontational online, thus causing problems in their relationships or job” (Anxiety UK, 2012). The usefulness of social media should be bal-anced with its harmful effects, and we should recog-nize the degree to which we are dependent on social media as well as the harmful effects it could have on our psychological health.

Sources:

www.anxietyuk.org.uk,

www.elon.edu,

www.guardian.co.uk

Stress makes the blood “stickier” to make blood clots occur quicker in case of an injury.

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MINI Bang

SALLY CHOI, ANDY JIANG, KYLE OH, YI SUN, WINNIE WU

Dark chocolate negates some stress hormones.

PARENT ADOLESCENT STRESS

Life as a high school student can often be very stressful. Peer relationships, assignments, grades, and hectic extracurricular activities can all pose as potential sources of stress, but even after the bell rings at the end of the day, stress can also find its way to the home. Ado-lescence is a period beginning at puberty marked by many changes as a child undergoes the transition

into adulthood. This period is char-acterized not only by physiological changes, but also by behavioural changes, which often lead to par-ent-adolescent conflicts (Arnett, 1999). These conflicts can have many causes and may lead to stressful experiences that can im-pact health. Many of us have experi-

enced the stressful episodes of parent-adolescent conflicts, but how exactly do these conflicts arise? According to psychologist G.S. Hall, parent-adolescent con-flicts arise from the discrepancy between the adolescent and the parent’s perception of their rela-tionship (1904). Adolescents strive for independence and resist adult authority, whereas parents still think of their kids as young children and increase, rather than decrease, their protective behav-iour. These conflicts often stem from minor issues such as person-al appearance and curfews. Re-search suggests that although parents and adolescents may ar-gue over these small mundane issues, they are more likely to agree on a set of basic core val-ues, such as the value of honesty and the importance of education (Smetana, 1988). They still hold common core values and the par-ent-adolescent relationship re-mains undamaged by the fre-quent conflicts. Parent-adolescent conflicts may be minor everyday occur-rences, but research suggests that these arguments can elicit stress-ful feelings and, in turn, various negative health effects. In a

Yuqing Du

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Sources: Arnett, J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered, Hall, G.S. (1904). “Adolescence: Its Psychology and its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion, and Education”. Garfinkel, B., Hoberman, H., Parsons, J., and Walker, J. (1986). Adolescent Stress, Depression and Suicide: Min-nesota study. Fulgini, A. J., (2009). “Teenage Stress” Psychosomatic Medicine.

Psychology

Chronic stress can reduce the efficiency of your immune system.

study, Garfinkel et al. (1986) pre-sented 4300 Minnesota high school students with a list of common life events and asked the students to pick those that they considered to be stressful experiences. Some of the most commonly chosen events from this study include “increased arguments with parents” and “trouble with parents” (Garfinkel et al. 1986). Thus, for many high school students, a source of stress throughout their adolescent years stems from countless arguments with their parents. Stress not only creates feelings of anxiety, but

studies have also shown that long-term stress, especially stress relat-ed to school life, can result in de-creased immune activity, and in-creased susceptibility to disease (Kiecolt-Glaser, 1984). According to Andrew J. Fuligni, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, stress during adolescence may also have a nega-tive impact on health in adulthood, including increased inflammation leading to the development of car-diovascular disease (2009). Today, research has yielded an emerging body of evidence that point to-wards a strong link between stress

and detrimental health effects. Adolescence is a stage in life that we all must undergo, but during this period of our lives, we are faced with unexpected chal-lenges that at times may feel stressful. Conflicts with parents are a natural occurrence during adolescence, but by being in-formed of the potential effects of stress, we can poten-tially reduce our chances of develop-ing various health ailments.

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MINI Bang

Cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, gam-bling, sex; all of these substances and behaviors are generally perceived to have addictive -- or at least alluring -- properties. However, in many of the ram-pant discussions regarding addictions, on both the educational and political level, exercise is rarely mentioned. Perhaps this lies in our perception of ‘exercise’ as a necessity. Unlike drugs, exercise has a positive connotation, and this is one of the main rea-sons we tolerate exercise more than drugs or gam-bling. However, in the world of clinical psychology, the word ‘addiction’ is not so loosely founded on perceptions of right and wrong (i.e. what is accepta-ble and what is not). Instead, addictions are based on two largely accepted symptoms exhibited by ad-dicts: tolerance and withdrawal. When an addict be-comes tolerant of a substance or behaviour, his or

her body not only becomes familiar with it, but also starts depending on it to function ‘normally’ or even to survive. If the addict is deprived of this substance or behaviour, he or she will experience withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, irritability, and discomfort -- some of which may be fatal. The presence and se-verity of these symptoms are used to diagnose the extremity of the addiction. Having established the principles behind addic-tion, it can be noted that certain athletes deprived of exercise have exhibited withdrawal symptoms. Dr. Eugene Aidman and Dr. Simon Woollard of the Uni-versity of Ballarat in Australia conducted a study to investigate withdrawal symptoms exhibited by com-petitive runners addicted to exercise and found two symptoms of exercise addiction. They found that most periodical runners will display some sort of variation of common withdrawal symptoms when deprived

SHARON BANG, SIMON HUA, YUCHEN LI, SEAN LIU, BEN TANG

Ancient Greeks found relief from stress by chewing a gum made from a resin.

EXERCISE ADDICTION

Dopamine please!

Anson Yam

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from scheduled runs -- especially “higher levels of tension, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion, and heart rate, and significantly decreased levels of vig-or” (Aidman & Woollard, 2003). They also noted that the severity of the symptoms is often associated with how addicted the runners reported themselves to be. Some factors may have extrinsically affected the-se results, such as the period of time the addict is deprived for and the amount they projected them-selves to be addicted (Aidman & Woollard, 2003), but the results strongly support the idea that exer-cise can turn into an addiction. Exercise is an important part of a healthy life-style but, like almost everything else in life, too much

of it could have extremely harmful effects. Therefore, it is necessary to watch the amount of exercise we do, and to control ourselves. It is not wrong to take a break for a day or two after a strenuous fitness rou-tine. Yet to truly prevent this addiction from occur-ring, we have to make everyone aware that there is such a thing as exercise ad-diction. So go out and spread the word, and we could all strive to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Source: Aidman, E.V., Woollard, S. (2002). The Influence of Self

-Reported Exercise Addiction on Acute Emotional and Physiological Responses to Brief Exercise Deprivation.

Psychology

Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.

Jamie Bu

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MINI Bang

GARY MOON

The vast majority of all doctor visits can be traced back to stress related or triggered conditions.

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NAOMI HOQUE

Entertainment

Post-traumatic stress physically changes children’s brains.

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MINI Bang

Geoffrey Ching: Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Ching is the Editor in Chief of Big Bang, and he works with all the other execs to ensure smooth pro-duction of the Big bang. He was at Churchill starting from Grade 8 in the Synergy program, and went onto the Pre IB program. He is in Year One of the IB program, and enjoys playing sports like ultimate and track. Unlike the other Big Bang execs, he is not cool enough to play Pokémon but still manages to procrastinate somehow someway. If you have any questions for him about Big Bang, contact him at bbscimag@gmail.com!

The top three cities with the most amount of stress within the population are Chicago, L.A., then NY.

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE

EXECUTIVES!

Wendy Zhang: Production Head Wendy is one of the production heads. She is an active member of Churchill who founded the Churchill Cancer Charity Club. She is also involved in many clubs and teams such as Polyglots and the senior badminton team. She loves listening to music, playing badminton and making fun of people.

Vivian Li: Art Coordinator So Vivian Li (not to be confused with any of the three other Vivians) is your neighbourhood bigbang art coordinator and an IB year one kid. She arts a lot, is on the badminton team, debates aggressively (come at me!), enjoys going to MUNs, and loves the environment. She’ll probably harpoon you if you drink from plastic water bottles regularly. Vivian is very friendly and personable, though, promise! So please don't hesi-tate to talk to her about mostly anything at all. She also doesn’t write very good bios, so don't judge her too harshly.

Alina Wong: Editing Executive Alina Wong has attended Churchill since Grade 8, and is currently a Year One IB student. She is a part of the school track and field team and dragon boat team, as well as Theatre Churchill. Her life is a constant cycle of procrastination, eating food, and sleeping (though this last one could use a lot more attention). In her spare time, she enjoys reading Harry Potter and training to become a Pokémon master. As Big Bang’s new editing executive, Alina hopes to bring new ideas to the science journal for its lovely readers!

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Jennifer Zhang: Production Head Jennifer Zhang is one of the production heads out of two. She photocopies ALL the pages for the Big Bang Arti-cle with fellow production head, Wendy Zhang. She enjoys all things Pokémon and she also likes pie. Arriving at Churchill in 2009 as a grade eight student, she is currently in the International Baccalaureate Programme (2013-2014). She is often really random. Please send your Pokémon this way (or Alina Wong’s way).

Anson Yam: Layout Executive

Anson Yam, layout exec, wishes he could be playing competitive pokemon instead of preparing for a design lab on top of a french journal and a paper three essay. He is, at the time of writing, switching between an online manga reader and a facebook game instead of focusing on the task at hand. Clearly his unparalleled focus is what allows him to be the most efficient layout executive. He enjoys pushing the most important things he has to do to the very last minute, and so is wasting time by typing up a bio for an extracurricular ac-tivity instead of studying.

Biography

Men are more likely to develop certain disorders stemming from stress.

Grace Nie: Secretary Grace Nie, secretary and treasurer, spends her free time looking at pictures of guinea pigs online and reading Fashion4Pashion's daily tips on today's hottest trends. She is a great problem-solver: one time she finished a puzzle that said 2-4 years in 6 months! She aspires to be famous, having once been told of a movie star and pop singer destiny on an online career quiz .

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Read an interesting, science-related news story, preferably

Summarize the article in your own words; we will not publish plagiarized work. Be sure to add a dash of style to make your ar-ticle a great read, and cite the article’s source and publication date.

Email it to us!

bbscimag@gmail.com Like us on Facebook at fb.com/BBSciMag

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/BBSciMag The Big Bang Science Journal is a monthly publication of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Its primary focus is on exposing students to current events

and scientific news from around the world.

Big Bang Science Journal. All rights reserved. © 2009-2013

CREDITS Dr. Gabbott

Geoffrey Ching

Anson Yam

Alina Wong

Vivian Li

Vivian Li

Jennifer Zhang

Wendy Zhang

Grace Nie

SPONSOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LAYOUT EXECUTIVE

EDITING EXECUTIVE

ART COORDINATOR

COVER ARTIST

PRODUCTION HEADS

SECRETARY

SENIOR EDITING ART

Jamie Bu Yuqing Du Naomi Hoque Lina Kim Vivian Li Vanessa Mok Anson Yam Jessie Zhang

ALUMNI

Andy Jiang Eugene Hwang Vania Hung Dorothy Lau Vanessa Lee Elisa Liu Sean Liu Claire Ping Maggie Wang Brandon Woo Winnie Wu Tiffany Yang

LAYOUT

Camile Claros Nick Li Anson Yam

COLUMNISTS

Do you want to see YOUR story on the

front page?

Gary Moon Shania Au et al. Sharon Bang et al. Sharon Cao et al. Sally Choi et al.

Solution for February Crossword

Kelly Chen Jeffrey Ding Adam Hwang Leo Lai Luke Liu Vivian Wong Silvia Yip Judy Zhu