yuki :: ib psychology*

gregorc style delineator experiment*

2007-04-05T03:27:00.000+07:00

Last class we did another cognitive experiment to find out what each of our learning styles were. There are 4 styles altogether that make up the Gregorc model of the mind:

1. Concrete Sequential (CS)
2. Abstract Random (AR)
3. Abstract Sequential (AS)
4. Concrete Random (CR)

The "concrete" and "random" parts of the model are the 2 perceptual qualities, while the "sequential" and "random" parts are 2 ordering abilities, quoted from Mills's website:

Concrete: This quality enables you to register information directly through your five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. When you are using your concrete ability, you are dealing with the obvious, the "here and now." You are not looking for hidden meanings, or making relationships between ideas or concepts. "It is what it is."
Abstract: this quality allows you to visualize, to conceive ideas, to understand or believe that which you cannot actually see. When you are using your abstract quality, you are using your intuition, your imagination, and you are looking beyond what is to the more subtle implications. "It is not always what it seems."

Sequential: Allows your mind to organize information in a linear, step-by-step manner. When using your sequential ability, you are following a logical train of though, a traditional approach to dealing with information. You may also prefer to have a plan and to follow it, rather than relying on impulse.
Random: Lets your mind organize information by chunks, and in no particular order. When you are using your random ability, you may often be able to skip steps in a procedure and still produce the desired result. You may even start in the middle, or at the end, and work backwards. You may also prefer your life to be more impulsive, or spur of the moment, than planned.

The instructions of the test were to look at lists of words, composed of 4 words each, and rank them from 1 to 4 according to how accurately the word describes our true Self. Therefore, the word ranked 4 will be most like us and 1 the least like us, and we tried to do them quickly and mostly on our first instinct. Then we added our numbers and mine were:

CS: 25 , AR: 25 , AS: 26 , CR: 24

I was very surprised with my scores, because they were close to an equal 25 in all 4 styles of learning. Although I think I am more of a concrete sequential person than any other style, the results show that I am pretty much balanced in learning styles. Surprisingly not one single person got abstract sequential in our class, and I scored in it highest just by one point, so I joined the concrete sequential group because I think I belong more in there. We looked up the characteristics of CS people, and found:

What Do They Do Best?
Apply ideas in a practical way
Organize
Fine-tune ideas to make them more efficient
Produce concrete products from abstract ideas
Work well within time limits
What Makes Sense to Them?
Working systematically, step by step
Paying close attention to details
Having a schedule to follow
Literal interpretations
Knowing what’s expected of them
Routines, established ways of doing things
What’s Hard For them?
Working in groups
Discussions that seem to have no specific point
Working in an unorganized environment
Following incomplete or unclear directions
Working with unpredictable people
Dealing with abstract ideas
Demands to "use your imagination"
Questions with no right or wrong answers
What Questions Do They Ask While Learning?
"What are the facts I need?"
"How do I do it?"
"What should the result look like?"
"When is it due?"

Overall I feel like most of these points describe who I am because I don't like thinking about things that don't have a literal or concrete meaning because I want complete answers about everything; unexplained things frustrate me. I also like to do things step by step instead of randomly jumping around in an illogical way... and I think I am pretty organized with my stuff and my studies. However I don't think I have that much difficulty working in groups; I actually enjoy sharing the thoughts and working together. But I sometimes do get annoyed with unpredictable people so I guess it's true. However, I really enjoy art class because I guess it's a time where you can use your imagination to create whatever you like. Lastly, the last point "when is it due?" is extremely...very true.

it's magical. it's malleable. it's...memory*

2007-04-03T00:53:00.000+07:00

1. What is the relationship between memory and selfhood?
Our memories are created by processes in our brain that link experience with personal emotions felt in each life event. They could be reconstructed as a result of facts “blending” together with false events and people. It is the nature of our memory that shapes up our “autobiographical narrative”, which is the story of our lives as we personally view it. Therefore, our memory constructs the sense of self. Also, it could also be said that memory is a product of the self, which constantly seeks meaning in life and therefore shapes up our experiences and memories.

2. What new discovery about memory do you find most interesting?
I find the discovery that memory does not reside in a single, specific place in the human brain particularly interesting. I once thought that memories were stored in a specific place in the brain, and that if that place was destroyed, then all our memories would be wiped out. I find it very intriguing how the different aspects of each memory—emotions and experiences—are stored in entirely different parts of the brain, yet are still part of one memory. This is significant because then you could never destroy a memory by cutting off a particular part of the brain.

3. How can some memories become indelible?
Memories become permanent and sometimes even haunting when they become so “deeply engraved” in the brain due to the experience of a traumatic event that triggered a particularly strong emotional or stressful response in a person. During this event, the brain releases 2 very strong stress hormones that activate neurons in the brain, tense you up, and is believed to measure the strength of the storage of that memory. The more traumatic the event, the more permanent it becomes. Therefore, when the person is placed in a situation where that memory could be recalled, the emotions experienced then resurface. Other times, the emotional processing occurs beneath our conscious awareness.

4. How can amnesia and repression be explained?
Amnesia and repression could be explained by a problem in the hippocampus, which controls and processes explicit memory (declarative memory) during recall. It is possible that the functioning of the hippocampus is impaired when the situation is traumatic and strongly emotional; however, the other aspects of the memory are still stored in other parts of the brain (such as the amygdala). Although explicit memory is disrupted, implicit memory may not be and therefore it is still possible to be strongly influenced by the particular experience.

5. Explain the following statement: “Memory is more reconstructive than reproductive.
It states that memory is usually not recalled, or reproduced, exactly as it was when the person experienced it; as time passes, some of its elements and details are forgotten (and sometimes we tend to fill in those gaps with our own schemas). Although we remember the general meaning of an event clearly, we cannot exactly recall the small details of what we did and said.

6. What new paradigm of memory is now emerging?
Loftus stated that our reconstructed memories are a mixture of “fact and fiction” that are shaped up by our experiences and emotional impact. Also, a person’s idea of the memory shapes up the sense of self, and at the same time it develops from the self and perception of life.

7. After reading this article, what conclusions can you make about memory?
I could conclude that memory has a very paradoxical nature: it could develop the sense of self yet it is shaped up by the self; it is simple when reduced to the 3 seemingly straightforward processes of encoding, storage and retrieval, yet is extremely complicated in the sense that it stimulates very complex neural networks at multiple places in the human brain. I can also conclude that with the new advancements in the study of memory and technology that will enable these projects, it is possible to find out new information that could cure diseases and improve the way our memory works.

-- yuki

exp #5: the rumor chain activity*

2007-03-15T14:24:00.000+07:00

The 5th memory test was conducted with 3 volunteers. The first person stayed in the room and the other 3 was asked to leave. Mr. Anthony then read out a story about a hijacker on a plane and Pang was told to remember as much as possible. Then Maytee came into the room and Pang was asked to retell the story to him, then he did the same thing when Daniel came in. Daniel then retold the story to the class. Here is the story:

A Qantas International 747 that was going to Los Angeles took off the Bangkok International Airport. A passenger near the rear of the aircraft announced that he was hijacking for the People’s 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 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.

One thing that was very significant that we found is leveling, or simplifying material. We noticed that the story got shorter and shorter as more and more detail was lost. Another important thing we saw was sharpening, or highlighting or emphasizing some material; in this particular story retelling, the details about the gun and the plane stayed even thought the story was retold 3 times. Assimilation also happened—it is changing details to better fit the subjects’ own background or knowledge, or schemas. We found that they were more focused on the schema of the pilot and the flight attendant and forgot about the passengers completely. Also, although in the story the pilot was a woman and the flight attendant a man, as the story was repeated the pilot turned into a man and the stewardess into a woman. They changed crucial information due to the schema in their minds. We then discussed how real eye-witness accounts and rumors are not very reliable some of the time because the story somehow changes each time it is retold.

-- yuki

exp #4: all purpose memory activity*

2007-03-15T13:48:00.000+07:00

Today we did our 4th memory experiment. We were instructed to listen to 14 words, read aloud immediately one after the other. At the end, we were given a while to write down all the words. The words were: bed, quilt, dark, sleep, silence, fatigue, clock, snoring, night, toss, tired, artichoke, turn, rest and dream. The entire class scored pretty high on this test; I was surprised to find that I actually remembered all the words.

Looking at the results, we found 5 understandings about memory. Firstly, this test showed the serial-position effect, which is when the first (primary) and last (recent) items are remembered best. For example, everybody remembered the first word ‘bed’ and 6 people remembered the last word ‘dream’ because we tend to remember earlier items and the things we heard last. Secondly, we found that words that have semantic distinctiveness, or a particular word that has a meaning that stands out or is dissimilar, are remembered pretty well. For example, the word ‘artichoke’ which had no close relationship with all the other words stood out to us and that is why we remembered it. Thirdly, we found that rehearsal improves recall. The word ‘night’ was repeated 3 times, and everybody remembered it and wrote it down. Fourthly, we discovered that we have memory reconstruction, where we fall back on the schema that we already have in our head because the words are related to each other. Therefore, 3 people wrote down a word that wasn’t there: ‘sleep’. This is because sleep was related to almost all the other words; an interesting thing we thought about was that people who wrote down ‘sleep’ were more creative than others. Lastly, we found that chunking helps with memory. The words ‘toss’ and ‘turn’ could be chunked together because they are often seen together in the English language.

-- yuki

exp #3: memory enhances recall*

2007-03-13T10:12:00.000+07:00

Today we did our 3rd memory experiment as a class. Mr. Anthony read out 20 words on 20 separate sheets while letting us see the words as he held it up. The sensory inputs were the sight and sound of the words. At the bottom of each sheet was either letter ‘A’ or ‘B’; we were supposed to count the syllables in the word if we saw an ‘A’ and think about whether it was pleasant or unpleasant when we saw a ‘B’. I remembered a total of 12 words, and remembered 4 ‘A’ words and 8 ‘B’ words.

When we combined the results from the whole class, we found that the highest score was 19, and the lowest score was 6. The mean of the number of ‘A’ words people recalled was 5.09 words, the mean of the number of ‘B’ words people recalled was 7.09 words, and the mean of the total number of words people recalled was 12.27 words. There were 2 people with an equal number of ‘A’ and ‘B’ words, 2 people with more ‘A’s than ‘B’s, and 7 people with more ‘B’s than ‘A’s.

In this particular task, we did effortful processing. The reason most people remembered more ‘B’ words than ‘A’ words is because when we tried to think whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we were giving the words meaning. Meaning enhances recall, and that is why we remembered more ‘B’ words. When we tried to retrieve the words from our long term memory, more ‘B’ words came because it has more ‘power’; we gave meaning to it. Conversely, when we were asked to count the syllables in the ‘A’ words, we were not giving it enough meaning and therefore we did not remember many. The person with the highest score scored very well because he used a mnemonic device to help him recall things easily—he made up his own story using the words. We found that the crazier the story, the more easily we can recall it. Also, we found that those who scored the least either had distractions, misunderstandings, or exhaustion—which are all factors that may affect our ability to encode all the words into our memory.

-- yuki

exp #2: short term memory activity*

2007-03-11T23:07:00.000+07:00

The instructions were to listen to a sequence of numbers and write them down after they were read out. Starting from 3 digits, we went up to 12 digit letters. The most I could remember were 8 digits, and started getting the rest wrong. When we organized the results as a class, we found out that the average number of digits people could remember is 6.5. Comparing it to the average capacity of short term memory of world, with is 7 +/- 2, we were pretty close to the value.

We found that it was the most difficult to remember the digits in the middle, because the first and last digits are most memorable to us. Because we couldn’t attach meaning to it, it is very difficult to remember the numbers with many digits. Also, there might have been distractions in the surroundings or just bad luck. However, we found a solution to remembering things better: chunking, or separating the numbers into different groups, we can process more pieces of information; for example, 1914 1918 1939 1945 because they are significant dates.

-- yuki

exp #1: my first memory*

2007-03-08T08:50:00.000+07:00

The instructions were to recall the first memory that each person in the class experienced. My first memory was when I was about 3 years old and in a Japanese nursery school in Tokyo. I was drawing and coloring on butcher paper with a group of other children in a typical Japanese classroom with a teacher. I remember this blonde girl particularly well because she was really mean to the other kids. Then we shared our first memories, and found that the mean age when our first memory occurs is around 3 to 4 years old.

However, we found out that this is highly unlikely because we can only start remembering things when we are 4-5 years old, and the reason we think we remember things before that is because of pictures and other people telling us about our first memory. Out of all the memories, we found that around half of them were sad (throwing up, falling, crying), and the other half was happy memories (playing, eating, school), and this is significant because we discovered that memories have emotional elements that make them memorable. Memories are usually malleable; they are flexible and somewhat reconstructed from various elements. Most of the time, it is like watching a video of ourselves in an omnipotent way.

-- yuki

assumptions of the humanistic perspective*

2006-11-27T21:14:00.001+07:00

One key assumption of the humanistic perspective is that behavior must be understood in terms of the subjective experience of each person, including the person’s phenomenological viewpoint, or the view of the world. In other words, if humanists want to understand me, they have to study my perceptions, thoughts and feelings because these aspects define the meaning of behavior. Therefore, it is only I who can explain the meaning of a specific behavior. This assumption is very different from other approaches, although it may be the most accessible because of its focus on subjective, personal experience. Since humanists choose to investigate people’s internal feelings and perceptions, they are the most difficult to objectively study, and therefore the theories based upon this assumption are less scientific. In other words, it is difficult for third-party observers to understand me. Psychoanalysts argue that the causes of behavior are due to uncontrollable unconscious processes, and behaviorists focus on the environment’s role on producing responses. They argue that subjective experience is insignificant, and therefore criticize how people’s conscious awareness is irrelevant to explaining behavior.

Another key assumption of the humanistic perspective is that humans are inherently good, and that we tend to strive for self-actualization and rise to our greatest potential in a unique way. However, this assumption is criticized as reductionist and selfish, due to its focus on the individual’s search for self-actualization, which places less importance on and denies the concerns for other people’s chances to fulfill their potentials. In other words, I want to rise to top of my potential, and therefore others are not really that important. This assumption is criticized as too simple, too, because the descriptions of innately good humans and their actualizing predisposition—psychoanalysts and behaviorists argue that there is more to the causes of behavior than that. Also, because humanists study unique aspects of individuals, it is hard to develop general laws of behavior applicable to everyone and results may be biased.

-- yuki

what i think about existentialism*

2006-11-24T00:06:00.000+07:00

I rather like the idea of existentialism, which deals with approaching the absurdity of existence and alienation, death, and despair with courage and dignity--although it isn't easy to comprehend and the questions are pretty frustrating because they couldn't be answered from a single perspective. I agree how "nothing defines me but me"--no one can understand who you are more than yourself. Although it is a dark philosophical concept, I like how it states that anxiety and angst is not just negative; it helps shape up who we are and being happy all the time prevents us from learning about the darker aspects of life and identity. I agree with Satre--that "existence precedes essence", because I think the course of life brings experiences that help us learn more about who we really are, and that we are born as a 'blank slate'...

-- yuki

historical/cultural context of learning perspective*

2006-10-10T22:14:00.000+07:00

The historical and cultural context of the learning perspective, including the “reform, efficiency and progress” world view and scientific developments in the early 1900s, contributed to psychology’s history. It was then that behavioralism emerged and continued to appeal to most Americans until the 1950s because of its parsimonic nature and its basic assumption that the environment could be changed to alter human behavior.

In the early 1900s, science was at its peak and optimism for the future was rising. People believed that it could resolve many problems and questions, and that society will advance due to these advantages of ‘new’ sciences. It was very life-affirming for people in the USA (a new country enthused by ‘new’ sciences with ‘can do’ approaches). This empiricist philosophy influenced the basic principles of behavioralism: that behavior is learned from the environment, and that one could overcome obstacles to development by reform.

Theories developed were very different from Freud’s unconscious and the ideas of introspection, which were impossible to test using scientific methods. Pioneers of the behaviorist approach to psychology—Watson, Pavlov, and Thorndike—focused on more scientific and objective methods to studying human behavior, which drew more people to rely on it. Only observable aspects of human behavior were studied, and the simplest explanations were offered regarding how responses to stimuli in the environment occur.

Furthermore, Darwin’s proposal on humans’ adaptation to the environment, coupled with the capitalist idea that those who conform to varying business situations will be rewarded, influenced another principle of this perspective. According to behaviorists, rewards motivate humans to strive for success and act differently.

Over time, behavioralism became the learning perspective due to insights from other perspectives (biological and cognitive) and additional influences from Skinner, Garcia, and Seligman, who were other behaviorists. However, despite its immense popularity due to its optimistic nature, its popularity declined in the late 1900s because of criticism.

-- yuki

outline, explain, evaluate: the neo-freudians*

2006-09-30T15:37:00.000+07:00

Erik Erikson and Carl Jung were neo-Freudians who built upon Sigmund Freud’s theories on human behavior and the structure and function of personality. Erikson’s main departure from Freud was the theory of the 8 stages of personality development, which emphasized adulthood, contrasting Freud’s great focus on childhood experiences. Jung proposed the idea of a biologically shared collective unconscious in addition to the personal unconscious, modifying Freud’s classic idea that the unconscious is only based on personal experiences. By broadening views on the functioning of personality and elaborating upon the unconscious, Jung contributed to modern psychology and helped develop a further understanding of human behavior.

Jung broke new ground by developing the idea of the collective unconscious, the second portion of the unconscious level of awareness that personality functions upon. The collective unconscious, which Jung said is biologically inherited and shared throughout different cultures, contains ideas and themes that are not related to personal experience. He argued that it is composed of archetypes, or patterns that arrange experiences; its forms are the animus, anima, and shadow. The animus represents the femininity of men, including sentimentality and emotionality; the anima represents the masculinity of women, including assertiveness; the shadow represents the aggressive and sexual urges of human nature. Overall, Jung emphasized on the role of symbols and the idea of complementary opposites.

Erikson proposed the ground-breaking theory of psychosocial stages. According to him, development involves resolving various conflicts in life, including those related to relationships and self-image, and that social drives motivate human behavior. He defined his stages by social interactions. The task of the 1^st stage is gaining trust in oneself and others, and minimizing mistrust. Reliable, caring parents help children develop a sense of safeness in the external world; ignorant parents may cause insecurity and distrust. Erikson argued that stage 2’s goal is to gain autonomy and self-esteem with little shame, which is influenced by the amount of freedom parents provide and may lead to impulsiveness or compulsiveness. Stage 3 deals with learning to optimistically take the initiative with little guilt, and developing new abilities. During stage 4, the child learns social skills and develops competency as the social network expands, and school activities become significant parts of life. Stage 5 involves identity formation and avoiding role confusion by learning to fit into the community, which may cause an identity crisis. Adolescence may be influenced by dating partners, friends and conflicts with parents.

According to Erikson, adulthood begins at stage 6, in which one learns to achieve intimacy and commitment to relationships, instead of isolation. The success in balancing intimacy and independence and isolation means acquiring the “psychosocial strength called love”. At stage 7, the individual learns to contribute to the community and extend love and care to younger generations without expecting compensation and being stagnated. Lastly, in stage 8, the ultimate goal is to achieve wisdom and integrity while feeling little despair of learning to accept the past. This happens if one is able to overcome losses of loved ones and face death without fear.

Erikson, who proposed that personality development occurs throughout the entire life cycle, not focusing only on childhood, altered Freud’s classic theory that personality functions on 5 psychosexual stages. Freud argued that childhood experiences and sexual causes are crucial in influencing personality development; conversely, Erikson stated that adulthood was no less important, and focused 4 of the psychosocial stages on years after puberty. Erikson argued that development is more biologically psychosocial rather than psychosexual, and that basic drives are social ones, unlike Freud’s pessimistic viewpoints of repressed sexual desires and death wishes.

Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious also modified a classic psychoanalytic theory. Freud argued that personality operates only on a personal unconscious, which contains repressed past experiences and inner drives. Conversely, Jung argued that there is a second portion to the unconscious—the collective unconscious, which is shared cross-culturally. Jung also stated that everyone inherits the same universal archetypes that may influence human behavior; on the contrary, Freudian symbols represent sexual aspects. Jung placed more emphasis on mythology and spirituality, and de-emphasized sexual drives. Because of modifications made to certain aspects of classic theories, Erikson and Jung used Freud’s ideas only as a basis, and further developed new, ground-breaking ideas.

Some critics say Jung’s approach of the theory of the collective unconscious contributed to the understanding of human behavior in more mystical ways. It gave modern psychologists a broader view of the functioning of personality and psychodynamics that is very rich in detail, and provided a modification, a different theory they could consider—not just one Freudian theory of the personal unconscious. Therefore, his works provided a deeper understanding of psychodynamics and identified new possible causes. However, there is vague evidence to prove the presence of archetypes, and there may be many different interpretations of its meaning. Critics have questioned the nature of Jung’s theories because he was spiritual and religious. They aren’t falsifiable, as the collective unconscious could not be accessed through conscious awareness; therefore they are unscientific and possibly inaccurate. Although he found cross-cultural similarities in mythology, generalization is difficult. Whether inaccurate or not, Jung influenced modern psychologists’ views, who used his ideas as bases for further studies.

Erikson and Jung proposed new, innovative neo-Freudian theories that contributed to modern psychology, and provided modifications of classic Freudian ones. Both influenced new views of human behavior that have never been studied before. Overall, Erikson’s stages and Jung’s collective unconscious has opened a new approach to understanding psychodynamics.

-- yuki

explain: freudian theories of structure/functioning of personality*

2006-09-30T15:32:00.000+07:00

Sigmund Freud had proposed various theories regarding the structure and functioning of personality. These psychodynamic models of personality include, firstly, the three portions of id, ego, and superego, and how each part influences human behavior. The second theory is concerned with the different levels of consciousness: the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Thirdly, Freud placed some importance on the sexual and aggressive drives and their effects on personality. Lastly, the five psychosexual stages of development shapes up the identity and personality of the adult a child develops into, as its ego develops. An empirical study of Little Hans’ case illustrates each of the theories.

According to Sigmund Freud, the structure of personality is composed of three parts: the id, ego and superego. Firstly, the id is the unconscious part of this model of personality that is the basis of all drives, including sexuality and aggression. It involves the pleasure principle, in which an individual is driven to obtain maximum pleasure—the id seeks for immediate gratification of these desires. Primary process thinking occurs with the id—it does not differentiate between external reality and fantasy, or a desire and its gratification. On the contrary, the superego is composed of moral restrictions of the society and family. It is like the inner authoritative voice that directs one to “do this because it’s moral”, and not “do that because it’s unethical”. The superego is in constant conflict with the id, as it leads people to act morally and do what is ‘right’. It isn’t possible to always be perfect and satisfy everybody, or always be self-centered and obtain immediate pleasure. Because of this, the ego mediates between the id and superego, as it balances the demands of both and also takes note of reality (defined as the reality principle, in which the external surroundings come into awareness). The ego strives to make the most rational decision and shows in our outward behavior, although this is a very difficult responsibility. In Little Hans’ case study, it is possible to see that Hans’ ego is still undergoing development, and could not yet balance the demands of the id and external reality, as he still feels sexual desires for his mother, and feels a childish jealousy and hatred for his sister. He still fears that his mother would shun him aside and pay attention to his sister instead, and hopes for the death of his father; his id says “But I don’t want a baby sister!” Hans is not heeding his superego, which tells him that killing his sister and father off to achieve his mother’s love and care is morally wrong.

Freud also proposed that awareness is divided into different levels of consciousness, and includes the conscious and subconscious (further divided into the preconscious and unconscious), and that they influence personality. These layers make up the topographical model of the mind. The conscious is the portion of the mind which contains the emotions and thoughts that one is immediately aware of at any particular time, and contrarily, the subconscious contains desires, ideas, and feelings that are beneath the conscious level of awareness that cannot be accessed at once. The preconscious, therefore, contains the mind’s contents that could be recalled by choice and brought back to consciousness but with a little effort. However, Freud said the unconscious contains motivations, fears, and thoughts that may be the real reasons behind human behavior—it cannot be accessed simply by recalling, but only through dreams, humor, and Freudian slips. These contents are blocked from conscious awareness through defense mechanisms, such as repression or rationalization, to protect the ego from anxiety and threatening thoughts that may negatively alter the perception of oneself. Freud believed that the unconscious was a very influential part of the mind that affects behavior, and may be expressed as physical symptoms in patients with mental disorders. In Little Hans’ case, he was repressing his sexual curiosity, guilt, and fear that he was developing and pushing the thoughts into his unconscious. Freud believed Hans wished to see others’ widdlers for comparison and display his own to others. He repressed sexual desires for his mother and the castration fear from conscious awareness. Hans’ unconscious contains sexual and aggressive motivations that show in his personality.

Freud also placed great emphasis on drives, pleasure and aggression, as they motivate humans to behave in certain ways and shapes up personality. He placed an importance on biological influences and the survival instinct of humans to obtain the basic needs and gain maximum pleasure, as described in the pleasure principle. When World War I struck, Freud observed soldiers suffering from traumas, and proposed the theory of the self-destructive aggressive drive, which may be one of the causes of psychological conflicts. Freud used comparisons from Greek mythology, comparing Eros, god of love, to the sexual, optimistic drive, and Thanatos, symbol of death, to the aggressive drive and the death wish—both are present but conflicting forces in behavior. Freud stated that both drives are involved with seeking gratification. Little Hans’ behavior was influenced by the sexual drive, shown as feelings for his mother and pleasure in touching his widdler, and by the aggressive drive, as the death wish towards eliminating his father and sister to be alone with his mom. As they shape personality, Hans’ strong drives may be the cause of psychological problems he experienced.

Additionally, Freud emphasized on the theory of the five psychosexual stages of development, which will shape up the personality of the adult one will grow up to be. He stated that during the course of our lives, we are driven by basic drives to obtain gratification of needs, and the expression of these needs change from each stage to another in different erogenous zones. Most stages occur during childhood, placing importance of childhood experiences’ role on determining one’s future personality. At each stage, challenges and are met, and how each individual confronts them is different and could have negative or positive impacts on personality. The first oral stage occurs from birth to 15 months, where the mouth is the focus of gratification. The child learns to delay gratification, realizing that it has to wait for its needs from the parent, and develops a body image that is different from others. Another important experience is weaning, when a child does not receive as much intimate contact with the mother as before, therefore it is the first loss of life that influences he child’s awareness of the external reality and ego formation. The second stage is the anal stage, from 15 months to 3 years of age, with the libido’s focus on the anus, when the child takes pleasure in handling feces. The key challenge is toilet training, because the child’s id doesn’t want to clean up but the parents (external world) think of feces as dirty and unhealthy. If the parents emphasize it too much, the child may grow up to be over-organized, and if the parents always give in, the child will grow up with an unequal balance of heeding the id and the external world, and be messy. The phallic stage, the third stage, is a crucial step in development during 4 to 5 years of age. The child experiences the oedipal conflict, in which the sexual desires for the parent of the opposite sex begin, and the libido’s focus is the penis. A boy develops castration fear and anxiety, as he becomes afraid that the father would realize his desires for the mother and that he will be punished for these feelings. However, a girl may develop penis envy when she realizes she doesn’t have a penis like her mother, therefore she develops sexual attraction towards the father. Eventually, both genders would cease their sexual desires and identify with the parent of the same sex’s values and characteristics. Fixation at this stage may result in an over-sexual nature, or an asexual one. During the fourth stage, the latency stage, there is no focus of gratification as sexual desires are repressed, and social life becomes important to children of ages 6 to 12. Lastly, in the genital stage, sexuality is brought back to consciousness and again the focus is the genitals; however, it is expressed as adult sexuality and symbolic gratification in which the ultimate goal is to have sexual intercourse. This stage covers most of life, as it is from age 12 onwards until death, and was not emphasized by Freud as important compared to previous stages. Concerning Little Hans’ case, which occurred during the phallic stage, the warning that Hans’ mother gave to him (threatening to have the widdler cut off if he kept playing with it to gain sexual pleasure) instilled castration fear in Hans. As Freud said, Hans was seeking gratification by touching and thinking about the sexual organ, and developing the fear of the father, who was more powerful. Hans was referred to as a ‘little Oedipus’, as he wanted to ‘get his father out of the way’ and be alone with his mother.

To understand the development and structure of personality, Freud’s theories regarding the three-part structure, the levels of consciousness, drives, and the psychosexual stages of development should be considered. These structures may influence human behavior and have an impact on personality development, as illustrated by Little Hans’ case study. Also, the theories have formed a basis on the structure and functioning of personality, and the workings of the mind, although they are still controversial.

-- yuki

what i learned from my first essay*

2006-09-07T14:14:00.000+07:00

I found out the toughness of IB grading--I never expected to get a C for my essay. I learned to take good care of using the right words--one word could make a difference and change the meaning of the entire paragraph or essay. Therefore, I think I should revise everything twice in case a 'wrong' word affected the entire meaning of the essay. Also, I've learned to structure my paragraph properly, and use a road map for the introduction to guide the rest of the essay.

-- yuki

discuss: historical/cultural context of freud's theories of behavior*

2006-09-05T23:07:00.000+07:00

Various historical and cultural influences during Sigmund Freud’s lifetime have significantly shaped up his theories of human behavior, whether negative or positive. His psychodynamic theories described the conscious and unconscious, intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts, inner drives, impulsiveness and self-control, and others. Freud’s childhood experiences and influences from people surrounding him greatly impacted his theories. Also, scientific developments during his time were thriving and contributed to his ideas, as well as the disturbing events of the early 20^th century, which accounted for his pessimistic views on human instinct.

Sigmund Freud has developed numerous theories regarding the psychodynamic perspective that have formed the basic ideas for psychological studies nowadays. Firstly, Freud proposed that awareness includes two contrasting levels of consciousness: the conscious, which contains thoughts and emotions that one could instantly be aware of at any particular time, and the subconscious, which contains real memories and motivations that are not usually accessible except through Freudian slips or dreams. Secondly, Freud introduced the intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts—that we are in conflict both within ourselves and with others, which leads to anxiety that everyone experiences during a lifetime. Thirdly, he stated that humans are driven by pleasure and aggression and seek to gratify those desires involving maximum pleasure and violence. Freud also thought about the effects on behavior that impulsiveness, the tendency to act without thinking the consequences through, and self-control, the ability to restrain oneself from this and mind the surroundings, could have. Additionally, he said that childhood experiences play a determining role in shaping up the adult we become—regardless of whether the memories are traumatic or delightful.

During Sigmund Freud’s childhood, experiences including meeting influential people and putting up with traumatic, emotional tension involving his family background have also affected his psychodynamic theories. As a child, Sigmund Freud showed an unusually high intelligence, and was a favorite child. Despite being loved tremendously by his mother, his father treated him with disapproval—however, as he passed away, unexplainable guilt and sorrow struck Freud, and he wondered why. Later, he developed the theory of psychosexual stages and the death wish children feel toward their fathers, as well as the sexual desire for their mothers—from this, he stated that childhood experiences have direct effects on future relationships and personality. He grew up studying medicine and law, defined as a ‘Jewish major’, and met various influential people, including Jean-Martin Charcot, Brücke, and Breuer. Charcot and Breuer prompted his interest in hysteria, and Freud came up with the idea of catharsis (in which recalling events releases emotional tension and relieves patients). It is significant how Freud’s surroundings and others’ ideas during the time could have impacted Freud’s theories.

Scientific theories of Freud’s time played a vital role in explaining human behavior for him. For example, Helmholtz’s theory of the conservation of energy, which states that energy could neither be created nor destroyed, gave rise to Freud’s theory that humans are driven by a ‘psychic energy’, because we are all part of nature. Additionally, after influence from Charles Darwin, Freud related evolution to psychology. Adaptation could be linked to the ego compromising with the id, superego, and external environment, to survive in the society. The id (baby-like self that seeks immediate gratification) could be compared to the instincts of apes—which are the animals we have possibly evolved from. This explains why, in the early part of human development, babies seek to gratify their need and desires instantly. Also, animals’ and humans’ survival instincts are like the real motivations and drives within ourselves.

It is possible to see how the early part of the twentieth century, which was very much disturbing and chaotic, could have affected Freud’s theories. Despite the fact that people were optimistic and inspired by various new advances in science and technology, troubling, depressing events shook the peace of Europe. When WWI struck, science was used, shockingly for many, to destroy cities and part families, resulting in devastating effects. Although Sigmund Freud did not take part in fighting, he observed returning soldiers suffering from trauma and pain, and this altered his views on the basic human instinct: that humans are basically evil by nature and that the self-destructive aggressive drive was just as important as the sexual. He came up with the ‘death wish’—the wish to eliminate and kill rivals. After WWI came the rise of Hitler’s Nazism, during which Freud’s family was captured, his books censored, and his ideas criticized—partly because he was Jewish. Because of this, he proposed that violent behavior and wars were the causes of psychological problems. Overall, these historical aspects directly influenced Freud’s pessimistic views on behavior.

To understand Freud’s theories regarding human behavior, the historical and cultural context of Freud’s experiences and surroundings must be considered. It has led him to develop thoughtful, positive and negative ideas about human instinct and the conflicts of the mind, and the basic psychodynamic ideas that modern psychologists nowadays in the twenty-first century still research on. Although he has shocked the Victorian society and brought taboo ideas into a repressed culture, Sigmund Freud is remembered by his introspective theories and will be for many years to come.

-- yuki

what i think of sigmund freud*

2006-08-30T19:07:00.001+07:00

After interpreting and observing Sigmund Freud's study of Little Hans' phobia of horses, I am half impressed, half critical about his ideas of the Oedipal conflict and sexuality. Although he was brave enough to introduce and link little Hans' behavior to sexuality in the Victorian society (that carefully kept sex hidden), his case study was somewhat unrealiable (and hard to generalize in terms of the society), biased, and tended to be in some way or the other--always--linked to sexual issues. I am not sure that his idea of symbolism--the horse falling down representing his mother giving birth and his father falling to his death--is totally accurate--it isn't possible to prove the true meaning concealed beneath the phobia (as this is a limitation of case studies). However, he profoundly interprets events to be linked together in a clever, meaningful way. Overall, I'm happy that, being successful, he influenced our theories on behavior and helped us gain insight into the depths of our minds.

-- yuki

sigmund freud and 20th century events*

2006-08-23T00:53:00.000+07:00

Numerous events that occured during the 20th century, ranging from the early 1900s when science was advancing and developing at a very fast pace, to World War I and II, in which technology was used as killing machines that caused massive destruction and disastrous, negative impacts on Sigmund Freud, despite the fact that he wasn't one of the soldiers. After the first war, Freud observed cases of traumatic, disturbed soldiers who had gone through the pains and evils of war, and concluded that it is human nature to be cruel, violent, and evil, and that both our death drive (death wish) and sexual drives account for our behavior--therefore people have difficulty choosing between love and death. In WWII, Freud was affected by Nazism and Hitler's hatred for Jews, as members of his family were captured and even killed, and his ideas were criticized and his books burned. From this, he stated that wars are examples of psychological conflict. Overall, Freud's times were difficult and troubled, causing changes in his ideas about human beings.

-- yuki

best of the century*

2006-08-20T22:36:00.000+07:00

Various ideas involving psychotherapy have expanded universally and are now extensively available to people worldwide through media and publicity. Each type of therapy was modified to suit different people from different cultural backgrounds, and more materials supporting psychotherapy have emerged. Activities such as demonstrations, meetings, and group therapy were encouraged, and, also, more support groups for many areas of addiction were constructed. The creation and further development of new types of behavior therapy, including the cognitive approach was popularized, and neurological and biological research regarding emotional disorders advanced. Furthermore, therapists have uncovered more information on influences of religious and spiritual issues on mental disturbances and, in turn, discovered how to aid more people in psychotherapy.

I have selected five of various psychotherapeutic breakthroughs that I believe are to be the most significant and contribute the most to the study of behavior:

Breakthrough 1: Harry Harlow discovered a significant relationship between a mother’s care and love towards a child undergoing early development and the amount of the child’s emotional and intellectual development afterwards. I believe this is very important since it indicates how childhood experiences influence one’s growth in personality, and also supports psychodynamic therapeutic and behavioral studies—if one grows up with a contented heart fulfilled with parental love, one has a greater potential to develop and excel in life. With this breakthrough, it is now easier to understand situations involving patients with disturbing pasts or those who had undergone child abuse and neglect.

Breakthrough 2: Also supportive in the idea of psychodynamic therapy, Martin Seligman put forward that constant unconditional punishment causes severely devastating mental problems that can later develop into depression. I believe this is true because it can take away our morals and confidence, resulting in “learned helplessness”. This significantly confirms the fact that one’s treatment by other people or events helps shape up who we become in the future, and is important because it may aid patients with traumatic childhood experiences.

Breakthrough 3: Ellen Langer showed that to achieve an extended, productive life, one should merely “think”, and keep the mind working all the time. I believe this is very important as it influences people to be more involved in active decision making skills and moves younger people to be occupied with hobbies and activities that could trigger the brain to work harder. Furthermore, I believe that being mindful about the world could benefit ourselves as we challenge our brains more, set ourselves more goals, and become more involved in critical thinking—it gives us something our minds could work for, and we could lead more productive lives. Since our brain processes power our behaviors, this breakthrough may help psychotherapists study how this happens.

Breakthrough 4: The first to recognize psychological stress, Hans Selye, showed that each person have different reactions to stress, resulting in varied moods, illnesses, and actions; some push themselves to work even harder to “deal” with stress, and others sit back and relax peacefully as another way to handle these situations. I see this as a significant breakthrough in psychotherapy because it develops the understanding of issues related to the various possible ways in which a human being responds to surrounding pressures and worries. Also, it influences people not to avoid stress completely, but to live with it—a better way to live a fulfilled life.

Breakthrough 5: The humanistic approach to psychotherapy originated from Carl Rogers, who stressed that the therapist’s willingness, sincerity, and potential for optimism when communicating with a client are crucial to achieving a strong and understanding relationship between the client and the therapist. As I believe that close relationships bring honesty and openness, I think this humanistic approach is a significant step to achieving the maximum results from psychotherapy.stress completely, but to live with it—a better way to live a fulfilled life.

-- yuki

the big issues*

2006-08-17T14:09:00.001+07:00

I have a strong belief that nurture is opposed to nature (7), and am in stuck in the middle between change and stability (10). I had predicted that I'd strongly lean towards change, but results turned out that it probably depends on the situation. I am almost in the middle between irrationality and rationality, although the results leaned a bit on the irrational side (11). This contradicted what I thought in the beginning; I'd thought that most people think rationally and that we all do things with reason, however, my results leaned a bit toward irrationality. My predictions with nurture/nature was confirmed, as I strongly believe that our past and experiences determine who we are.

-- yuki

why do we do the things that we do?*

2006-08-15T09:34:00.000+07:00

I believe our behavior is most influenced by our past and the society or culture we live in (psychodynamic approach); our personality is shaped up by the experiences and memories that occured during our childhood and our parents' actions. For example, a child abused by his parents is more likely to develop into a troubled, cruel adult who might repeat the same action with his own family. Certain people who encountered distressing, painful pasts that have robbed them of morality are probably more likely to one day become criminals, alcoholics, or victims of mental disorders.

Our surroundings-- the culture we live in, the customs we are bound to practice-- also affect who we turn out to be. If everybody around you expects you to act a certain way and conform to the rules, it is difficult to say 'no' and behave differently, therefore certain groups of people usually--although not always true-- have similar lifestyles, thought processes (cognitive approach), and behaviors. Members of different nationalities and racial backgrounds have varied behaviors-- for instance, as Thais, we often find it very impolite to be totally open about what we really feel about something; westerns are more likely to be more flexible and straightforward. To me, I think these factors affect us more than our genetic inheritance (biological perspective), although this plays a role in determining our actions' causes.

-- yuki

motivations for studying psychology*

2006-08-09T18:50:00.000+07:00

"Psychology: the study of behavior and mental processes."

What makes people attain their behavioral characteristics, and what causes the emotions that we feel? One of the reasons I signed up for IB Psychology is to discover the reasons why people act like they act, and think what they think; I want to find out what determines the identity of a person. I often wonder what it would be like to have the ability to delve in others' minds and see exactly what they think. What accounts for the mental depressions and psychoses that certain people undergo? I believe this question is very intriguing and is a well-known topic that I'd like to know more about.

Another area that fascinates me psychology is the things we dream; what do the images actually mean, and how are they created from our subconscious mind? Do they represent anything?

Additionally, psychology is related to every type of career that involves interacting with people, and I hope it will help me understand what peoples' needs are and socialize/cooperate with them well; it could be of help in the future.

-- yuki