Pang LoR's IB Psychology Blog

Gregorc experiment

2007-04-04T18:17:00.000+07:00

Today we did another experiment in class called the "Gregorc Style delineator" which is self assessment instrument for adults. The test is basically composed of a list of words, 4 per group, with empty boxes on one side. We were supposed to rank them 1 to 4, 4 being very like "us" and 1 being not like "us". According to Gregorc, this will help determine who we are. After finishing the test and adding my points. I got the following results:

CS: 19
AS: 23
AR: 26
CR: 32

CS stands for Concrete sequential, AS stands for abstract sequential, AR stands for abstract random, and CR stands for concrete random. I am therefore, clearly, a concrete random person. A score of 25 25 25 25 is the perfect score which means the person is balanced in everyway.

I next checked the key for a concrete random person, it is as follows:
What Do They Do Best?
Inspire others to take action
See many options and solutions
Contribute unusual and creative ideas
Visualize the future
Often a different way to do things
Accept many different types of people
Think fast on their feet
Take risks
What Makes Sense to Them?
Using insight and instinct to solve problems
Working with general time frames
Using real world experiences to learn
Trying something themselves
What’s Hard For them?
Restrictions and limitations
Formal reports
Routines
Re-doing anything once it’s done
Keeping detailed records
Showing how they got an answer
Choosing only one answer
Having no options
What Questions Do They Ask While Learning?
"How much of this is really necessary?"
http://www.csrnet.org/csrnet/articles/learing-styles-CR.html

After reading the results, i feel that they actually match me to some extent. For example, i am really someone who hates to check something i already done and hates limitations and rules. However, i never ask my self whether what am learning is "really necessary" because i feel learning has no limits. Apart from this point, I am very similar to what the results of the Gregorc test states.

I think there could have been many weaknesses in this test, especially when it is done with a person who's native language isn't English since the person may not fully understand the meaning and connotations of the words they had to rank. Even though i feel that i am comfortable with English, I am still unsure with some connotations of the words. This could've caused the person to fail to properly rank the words. Also, the ranking greatly depends on the mood and feelings of the person at a specific time which could change all the time.

However, I feel that this experiment was not only accurate to some extent, but was also interesting to do. It would be interesting to do this again at some point in the future to see the development of ourself.

Entry 13 : MEMORY UNIT BLOGS

2007-03-13T10:19:00.000+07:00

Entry 1 - first memory

During this class, we discussed memory by recollecting our very first memory during childhood. The mean age of the class was between 3-4 years old. However, my first memory was somewhere between 1-2 years old. I remember that I was at my old house. I felt very confident of myself that I could prepare my own hot milk since I’ve seen my mother did it several times. It seemed very simple, basically adding powdered milk and pouring hot water. I therefore added some powdered milk and went to the thermos to pour some water. However, I wasn’t careful while pouring the boiling water causing it to pour all over my hand. It was very painful, but I didn’t cry. I simply sat on my sofa and pretended that it didn’t happen since my parents might scold me for fooling around. I rubbed my burn hand on the sofa until the wound got worse. Later, my parents finally found out.

The majority of the class (7 people) remembered a positive memory such as drawing, eating, or playing. Five people (including myself) remembered a negative memory such as being burnt, throwing up, or crying. According to Mr. Anthony, remembering something at an age less than 3 years old is impossible since our brain is not fully developed yet. It is therefore conclusive that our early memories are only remembered by their emotional effects towards us. Also, memories are malleable which means they are changeable and reconstructed due to several factors such as being told about it from our parents or recollecting it from pictures. Furthermore, our memories are viewed as a “video camera” since we see ourselves in the memory rather than seeing the things we were doing.

Entry 2 -short term memory

When dealing with memory, it is evident that people tend to remember the first and last part of the memory well, but miss the middle. Short term memory is a type of memory that is pertained for a very brief period of time. Today we did an experiment in class to test our effectiveness of our short term memory. Mr. Anthony read out groups of numbers, increasing by one digit after each one. We were to listen quietly then write it down once the number is completely said. The first group was 3 digits long while the last group was 12 digits long. My score was 9 since I was able to memorize the digits correctly till the group with 9 digits. The class average was 6.5. Therefore we concluded that our memory was somewhere between +/- 7. The longer the digits, the more difficult it is. I found that I missed the middle portion of the groups, but managed to remember the first part and the last part of each group correctly. Not remembering the digits correctly may be a result of various factors such as distractions from our environment. However, one great difficulty that we faced was the lack of pattern in these numbers which caused it to be extremely difficult to memorize. We therefore tried again with 16 digits. This time, Yuki was able to memorize all 16 digits and recite them correctly since she found the patterns in the digits to be the starting and ending years of the world wars. A solution to short term memory problem is to group the numbers into sequences that we are more familiar with. For example 1914191819391945 could be grouped as 1914 1918 1939 and 1945. This creates a pattern and makes memorizing these digits easier. By doing this experiment, we managed to determine the capacity of our memory.

Entry 3 - meaning enhances recall

Today we explore the capability of our long term memory by doing an experiment called “meaning enhances recall”. In this experiment, a set of 20 words on separate pieces of paper are shown to us and also read out. At the corner of every piece of paper, a letter A or B is present. If a letter A is present, we must think of the number of syllables the word has. If a B is present, we must think whether the word is pleasant or unpleasant. After the 20 words have been shown and read out, we must write down the words on a piece of paper, not necessarily in order. I got 16/20 words correct, 8 A words, and 8 B words. The mean of the class for A words is 5.09 while the mean for B words is 7.09. The total mean is 12.27. The majority of the class (7) remembered more B words than A words. Two people remembered equal numbers of B and A words. Two people remembered more A words than B words. B words are more memorable because it is associated with pleasant or unpleasant feelings, which gives meaning to the word. On the other hand, counting syllables has no meaning and therefore less A words are memorable. However, it is impossible for us to block our association of an A word since the word may remind us of something in our experience despite the directions to only count syllables. This experiment illustrates the memory model where the words on the papers are the external events we are being exposed to. These words are processed through sensory memory by sight and hearing. This process may result in lost of certain details. It is later encoded into our short term and long term memory, where only certain words are correctly remembered. When we are asked to write them down on a piece of paper, the process of retrieval occurs where we retrieve our memories of the words and write them down. This experiment therefore illustrates our process of memory and retrieval.

Entry 4- all purpose memory activity

In our experiment today, we listened to 14 words that are said continuously. Once we heard all the words, we had to write as much as we remember down on a piece of paper in any order. The words were as follows: bed, quilt, dark, silence, fatigue, clock, snoring, night, toss, tired, artichoke, turn, rest, and dream. I managed to remember 11 words total. The class results are as follows.
However, we found something amazing about the results when 3 people out of our group of 10 wrote down “sleep” when it wasn’t one of the words. This is because all the other words are related to “sleep” so the person automatically thinks that sleep is part of the set of words spoken. This effect is probably due to memory reconstruction, where the person relates the set of words to sleep and therefore resulting in writing down the word “sleep” itself. From the results, we can see that the first word and the last word were remembered by most people. The words in the middle are remember by less people. This phenomenon is called serial position effect where primary and recent words are more likely to be remembered. Some words like “artichoke” are also remembered by a majority of people due to its “uniqueness” and our unfamiliarity of the word. It is also notable that “fatigue” is remembered well probably due to the sound of the word. This is called semantic distinctiveness. The word “night” was said 3 times and is therefore not included in the graph since it would be impossible for a person to disregard a word that is said three times. This repetition of words is a technique called rehearsal which helps the person recall a memory more efficiently. Another technique is chunking which could be used with the words “toss” and “turn” since it usually comes together. However, since we might not be that familiar with the phrase “toss and turn” not everybody chunked both words together. These techniques contribute to the remembrance of a certain memory, hence the name “all purpose memory activity”.

Entry 5 – the rumor chain activity

The following story was told to a person and will be later transferred to a second and third person according to this model: 1 to 2 to 3

A QANTAS international 747 that was going to Los Angeles took off from Bangkok international Airport. A passenger near the rear of the aircraft announced that he was hijacking for the Peoples’ Revolutionary Army.

The Hijacker then held a 357 magnum gun to the head of Jack Straw, a flight attendant, and forced him to open the cockpit’s door. There the hijacker held the gun at the head of the pilot, Jane Smith, and forced her to change course to Cuba. While the pilot radioed Bangkok to report the situation she suddenly threw the microphone at the hijacker who fell backwards through the open cockpit door and onto the floor. The angry passengers forced the gun off him and tied him up. The plane returned To Bangkok and in a few minutes the hijacker was arrested.

As the story was told from the first person to the third person, there were several facts that we observed. Certain details where missing out. This is called leveling where the memory is being simplified according to what the listener feels is important. The plot of the story, however, remained the same. For example, the detail that the hijacker was from the “people’s revolutionary army” was left out, but did not affect the flow of the story. Another observation that we noticed was the emphasis of certain material. This is called sharpening where certain aspect of the story was emphasized. For example, the plane number (747) and the gun (357 magnum) remained throughout the experiment despite minor changes. The last aspect, assimilation, is the changing of details to better fit the subject’s own background or knowledge (schema). When the first person heard about Jane Smith, the pilot, she changed it to “air hostess” since her schema of a female staff on the plane matches “air hostess” and not pilot. This activity is a small scale imitation of what could potentially happen when an eye witness is asked to recollect the crime. Changes in memory may cause the alteration of the truth.

Entry 9 : Humanistic assumptions

2006-11-27T16:13:00.001+07:00

The first assumption of the humanist approach is that behavior should be understood in terms of the subjective experience of the individual. This means that if a behavior is to be understood, the person producing the behavior should be understood such as how he/she views the world (phenomenological viewpoint). This assumption greatly contrasts the assumptions of the psychodynamic perspective and the learning perspective which paid no attention to the individual's subjective experience. Another assumption is that people are not dependent on past experiences or current circumstances and that their acts are not merely response to a stimuli. This assumption also greatly contrasts the learning perspective which believed in stimuli/response behavior and the psychodynamic perspective which stated that people are dependent on past experiences.

Entry 9 : Humanistic assumptions

2006-11-27T16:13:00.000+07:00

Entry 8 : What I think about existentialism

2006-11-23T21:17:00.000+07:00

Existentialism poses questions on life such as why are we here? and who am I? It discusses the philosophical aspect of life and attempts to understand it. I like the idea of studying life and trying to understand it and I feel that existentialism may contribute to making this world a better place. Existentialist ideas are very amusing to ponder upon and will enhance us to reflect on ourselves. However, I feel that the big ideas in existentialism are too generalized and lack a tangeable example. For example, one of the big ideas states that we search for the meaning of our existence and the meaning of our death and suffering. It however doesn't explain in depth how and why we do so. In addition, these statements are rather subjective and may depend on personal beliefs. Lastly, I feel that existentialism will continue to be a debatable topic and may result in a never ending list of unanswered questions.

Entry 7 : essay 3-Neo Freudians ^ ^"

2006-09-28T14:08:00.000+07:00

Among the Neo-Freudians, who were considered to be Freud’s protégés, were Erik Erikson and Alfred Adler who generated theories based on Freud’s earlier studies on human personality and behavior. After they sever ties with Freud, Erik Erikson’s developed theories on the lifelong process of human personality development while Adler developed his theories on the motivation to strive for success called ‘striving for superiority’. Despite the fact that both Neo Freudians proposed their own theories, Erikson’s and Adler’s works are very similar with Freud’s works in many aspects such as the existence of the unconscious, but also different in others such as their focus on the ego rather than the id, which further contributed to the psychoanalytic theory. These new ideas caused a new break-through of understanding in the psychoanalytic field, innovated various new explanations about the human personality and behavior, and served as a basis for later psychologists.

WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY FIRST ESSAY!!

2006-09-07T14:15:00.000+07:00

I wrote my first essay on the historical and cultural context of Freud's theories on human behavior. From this, I learnt to be more careful in choosing words and distributing information (because one word may cause me MANY points!!). I also learnt about how tough the IB grades (my official first C grade in essay writing). I learnt to expect less and work more. I also learn to put more effort on being on topic and writing "intelligently". I feel that being able to write a good essay in the future requires full understanding and knowledge of the topic.

Entry 5 : What I feel about little Hans and Freud after reading his case study on little Hans

2006-08-30T15:20:00.000+07:00

I think Freud is rather a risk-taker. He seems to be guessing half the details of little Han's condition. I think his theories are somewhat believable, somewhat unrealistic, and somewhat biased. His ideas about little Hans connecting a carriage to his mother being pregnant is possible. However, Freud's connection about Hans' fear of horses and his fear of his father and his fear of his mother giving birth is very opinionated. Most of his ideas are merely his deductions from given information. The Oedipal conflict is also very doubtful. I feel that it is impossible for all human beings to develop similarly psychologically. I think it depends on the parents of the child. A good example is an orphant, who can never face the Oedipal conflict, since he/she does not have a parent to begin with. However, I could say that Freud is sucessful because little Hans recovered from his conflict. I think Freud focuses too much of his attention on the link between our sexual drive and our mind. I don't think that most of the things we do are motivated by our sexual drive, especially for little children. Therefore, I feel that Freud is not always accurate on his findings and his theories. However, we can never surely understand what is right or not, since the patient himself/herself is not capable of comprehending oneselves as well.

I think little Hans is a unique case for his age. I do not recall being very curious about the world at his age and connecting certain fears with an object. I think it is very rare that a boy would connect a horse to his parents, even though not completely impossible, since children hardly have any understanding of symbolism. I think little Hans lacks an intimate/sincere relationship with both his parents, and he is a deep thinker. I feel that little Hans was actually afraid of losing his mother's attention rather than being afraid of his father according to the Oedipal conflict.

Entry 4 : Presentation on 20th century events

2006-08-22T15:19:00.000+07:00

What my group presented in class today about 20th century events conveyed the same findings. Since Sigmund Freud went through WWI in his lifetime, his views on human changed and he began to think that humans are violent and cruel. Wars gave evidence of violence as well as our death wish. Without the war, I think Freud would not have viewed humans in this way.

Entry 3 : Best of the Century

2006-08-21T09:23:00.000+07:00

Psychology is a field that has developed over the century in which many psychologists have paid their contributions in developing many theories and approaches on this topic. These contributions greatly influenced and shaped modern psychological theories and practices and gradually improved psychology over the years. In the 19th century, psychological treatment was expensive and time consuming. In addition, they were not very effective. Fortunately, psychology has been modified in the past centuries. Nowadays, treatment is available almost everywhere, even in books and online. Individual and group therapies and seminars are held frequently. Psychological treatment is no longer afforded only by the rich, but by everyone. Behavior therapies are now present, and are a combination of several different main theories and practices combined to enhance successful results. Practices are being modified and adjusted to suit various clients of different ethnic backgrounds, which helps facilitate treatment. Psychotherapist and psycho pharmacologists interchangeably refer their patients to each other to better diagnose them. The drastic alteration of psycho-therapy greatly impacts our modern understanding of the nature of people and caused various new theories and practices to emerge.
Many psychologists have contributed to the long history of psychology, among which is Jean Piaget. Piaget said that children do not understand the concept of “conservation.” Conservation is the idea that matter does not change quantity despite its container. According to her experiment, when milk is poured into a large bowl, the child claims that there is less milk. This experiment was the first to prove that human intelligence had to be developed as the human grows. Personally, I think this discovery has a great contribution towards psychology because it enables the therapist to diagnose patients of different ages differently. With this knowledge, we could also anticipate growth of intelligence in humans.
Ellen Langer proposed her experiment on the effect of thinking on the lifespan of life. Her experiment proved that a group of senior citizens who were more engaged in daily activities live longer than the ones who were indifferent to daily life. I feel that this study could stimulate elders to be more active in everyday life and could prove to be a method in lifespan extension.
Matina Homer conducted an experiment that distinguished the sex roles in modern society. An experiment was conducted on two honor students, a male and a female. The results concluded that females feel inferior to males in a competitive situation. This study proves that despite the common belief that both genders are equal, there is still a feeling of female inferiority when both genders are confronted. By understanding this, we could eliminate this feeling of inferiority from females by reinforcing that females and males are both equally competitive genders.
Howard Gardner claimed that intelligence is not merely based on how “bright” someone is, but there are many types of intelligence, thus resulting in his theory of “multiple intelligence”. The theory of multiple intelligence states that the word “intelligence” should include many areas, such as musical intelligence, self-knowledge, and bodily kinesthetic intelligence. Gardner argues that judging people by their “intelligence” is unfair. I agree that this is true and it is very unjust to judge people from their “intelligence.” However, even though there are many different aspects of “intelligence” as suggested by Howard, they are still not practical and common enough to be used as an official test. Therefore, I think it is best to use the normal system of Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
Hans Seyle was the first to apply the concept of stress from physics to human beings by identifying that humans react to environmental threats in various ways and that illness, mood, and performance is influenced by stress. He also stated that it is important to identify what stresses us and what makes us happy. Since stress is one of the major problems that people have, understanding this would help everyone have a productive and happy life. I think it is utterly important to identify our strengths and weaknesses as well.
I think Albert Ellis believes in the cognitive perspective. His study on rational-emotive-therapy (RET) states that our behavior and emotions are influenced by our thoughts, which is what the cognitive perspective specifically states. Ellis’s works focuses on changing his patients’ behavior by changing his patient’s irrational thoughts into rational thoughts. As a result, his patients will alter their emotions and behavior as well. RET had proved to be a very successful, effective, and efficient.

Entry 2 : The BIG Issues!

2006-08-17T14:12:00.000+07:00

In class today (August 17, 2006), I did a survey about my opinion on big issues in psychology. The big issues includes believing people being rational or irrational, believing in change or stability, and believing in nature or nurture. Primarily, I believed in people being rational, change, and nurture. However, when the results came out, I was surprised to find that what I believed about myself was WRONG! I actually believed that people were irrational (6/25) and that nature (15/25) is more important than nurture. However, my views and change and stability remained as I expected (5/25).

Entry 1 : "Why do we do the things that we do?"

2006-08-15T09:35:00.000+07:00

I believe that people behave certain ways due to 4 factors: basic instinct, personal desire, life experiences, and present situations.

I think people initially react to situations with the most primary behaviors. For example, we react to sadness by crying, we react to happiness by smiling or laughing, and we react to anger by shouting or destroying. It is notable that these reactions are common in MOST people, in other words almost everybody react the same way! This could only lead us to conclude that these behaviors were passed to all of us by a common ancestor. However, there may be some exceptions depending on the person's life experience, for example a person who repeatedly failed a subject may eventually get used to it and feel comfortable with getting a low grade. Similarly, a person who is used to a luxurious life may appreciate their facilities less than someone who never had one.

Another factor that may influence our behavior is personal desire. When a person wants something very badly, they maybe inclined to behave in an uncommon or immoral way. For instance, a person who is in debt may seek to earn money by stealing, which is more convenient than by working. Conversely, a person may also work harder for what they want, for example a child who wants a new mp3 may do extra work to earn enough money to purchase it. Therefore, personal desire could be both motivation for both good and bad behaviors.

Life experiences, in my opinion, is the most important factor that influences behavior. What we have experienced will definitely have an effect on what we do. For example, if we burnt our hand once by touching a steaming kettle on the stove, it is likely we will not repeat it. In other words, people will not repeat something that is painful physically or mentally. This is because we learn that it is dangerous or painful the first time we experience situations. Another example could be the way we response to something. A person who was repeated bullied when he/she was a child will either fear bullying, hate bullying, bully others, or develop an immunity against it. Therefore, our life experiences plays a great role in shaping how we behave and react to situations in life.

Lastly, I believe human do things a certain way partly because of the situation they are in. In a desperate situation, people can be forced to do something that is against their morals. For example, when a person is attacked in a dark alley at night with a knife and they fortunately got hold of the knife, they will likely defend themself by hurting/killing the attacker. It is terrifying and amazing that humans are capable of doing anything, out of desperation, that will help them survive . For instance, it has been known that some soldiers eat their fellow comrades due to lack of food during wars. Desperation, therefore, can be one of the most effective drives for people to behave in a certain way.

Humans behave according to many sophisticated reasons. Some may be shallow reasons, and others may be more complicated. However, it is always fascinating to discover the roots to why we do we things that we do. Eventually, I believe this study can lead to the prediction of human behavior and could help predict/prevent something bad before it even happens!!!

Why I chose IB psychology?

2006-08-10T13:37:00.000+07:00

Ever since I could remember, I've always wondered why various people react differently towards certain situations. One of my favorite hobbies is guessing what people around me are thinking and what situations and problem they are dealing with by looking at their behavior and facial expressions.

Psychology, in my definition, is the study of people's behavior. It is how they react to certain situations due to various reasons. Since human beings are the most complex living organism, it would be interesting to study what we think and feel.

I chose IB Psychology primarily because I realize that living in society requires frequent interactions with other people. Being able to understand what they are thinking and how they are feeling, and being able to emphathize with their emotions will make my relationships with others strong and long lasting. Through the study of Psychology, my goal can be achieved. Apart from learning about others, I could learn more about why I feel or react a certain way to situations, which I could not understand in the past. I believe that taking IB Psychology will not only give me a better insight to the world, but will also give me a better understanding of myself.