Paras's IB Psychology

2007-04-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Meaning Enhances Recall

The third experiment we conducted in class tested our long term memory. This time we were given 20 words to remember. These 20 words were divided into 2 subgroups. We have to mentally count the syllable of the word labeled with A, and categorized if the word is pleasant or unpleasant if it is labeled B. As the result of our experiment, the highest score for A was 10, and the lowest was 1. The highest for B was 9 and lowest was 2. The highest total was 19, and the lowest total was 6. The produced the average of 5.09 for A, 7.09 for B, and 12.27 in total. From this we can see that we tend to recall more word that we have attached meaning to it (B) than the one that we didn’t (A). However, the result of two participants of the experiment didn’t follow the occurred trend. After all the experiment is done, Pox, participant who got the highest, told us that he used the method of telling meaningful stories (effortful processing) to himself while listening to those words. From this, we can see that the more meaningful the memories are, the easier it is to be recalled.

2007-04-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Short Term Memory

We did an experiment in class to test out memory skills. Mr Anthony read out numbers and we tried our best to remember the digits. He first started out with 3 digit numbers and increased a digit every time. I could remember 8 digits and the average of the world is 7 plus minus 2. This was used to test our short term memory. We discovered that the hardest numbers to remember were the ones in the middle. This is because of the serial positioning effect. However we can increase our short term memory for numbers by a method call chunking. Chunking is way to group numbers and pick patterns to help us memorize more digits. Numbers are hard to memorize because they have no emotional or memorable attachment to it. And it also because there is no visual aids to help us out.

2007-04-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

My First Memory

Firstly Mr. Anthony told us to be recall back to our first memory that we remembered. My first memory is while I was in nursery school and I was in the class room playing with some small bricks and making airplanes. I think I was about 5-6 years old at this time. We put up all the memories of all the class members and figured the mean average age of when people have their first memory which was around 3-4 years of age. Half of the memories were positive and the other halves were negative memories. This shows that our first memories have an emotional attachment to them. There were some students in calls how said their first memory was at the age of one or two. This is very unlikely because our brains were not fully neurogically developed by then. Our memories are also reconstructed by various elements; this is because our memories are usually malleable. Our view point of our memories is a picture of us looking back at ourselves in an omnipotent way. However our memory then was not in that picture.

2007-04-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Assumptions of the Humanistic Perspective
The humanistic perspective assumes that behavior must be understood in terms of the subjective experiences of the individual rather than the average performance of other people. This is because the humanistic perspective also assumes that every individual, special and unique. The only way to truly understand a person is to study their thoughts and feeling, rather than studying a group of people and generalizing it to every individual. Whereas the learning and psychodynamic perspectives studied a few individuals and generalized it to everyone. In other words, if someone was to understand me they would look into how I am feeling and how I am experiencing the world.

Another assumption in the humanistic perspective is that it concentrates more on the conscious awareness and how it contributes to the present and future rather than the past experiences to explain our behavior. Unlike the assumptions from the psychodynamic perspective which states that the person we become is the result of our previous childhood experiences. The learning perspective also says that our behavior is a result of all out past learning and the effect that the environment has on us. So therefore, my behaviors right now is a result of my present and of the future person I want to become.

2007-04-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

Abraham MaslowScrap book

Biography:
Abraham Harold Maslow was born 1st April 1908 in Brooklyn, New York, to a poor, immigrant, Russian Jewish family. He was their first child, six more were to follow. The parents of the family saw education as a route to advancement in the United States and placed great emphasis on their children's progress in school. Eventually Maslow became lonely growing up and so he found refuge in his books and studies.

In line with his parents wishes Abraham Maslow began to study Law but later, following a transfer in his Law studies from New York to Wisconsin, became fascinated by Psychology becoming involved in researches upon Rhesus monkeys under the supervision of the celebrated Harry Harlow. He later married his first cousin, Bertha Goodman, against the wishes of his parents. After marriage, he moved to In the event he did not graduate in Law but was awarded junior and senior degrees to PhD level in Psychology by the University of Wisconsin between 1930 and 1934.

Maslow then moved to California in 1970, where he died of a heart attack at the age of 62.

Theory:
One of the many interesting things Maslow noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his career, was that some needs take priority over others. For example, if you are hungry and thirsty, you will tend to try to take care of the thirst first. After all, you can do without food for weeks, but you can only do without water for a couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than hunger. Likewise, if you are very thirsty, but someone has put a choke hold on you and you can’t breath, which is more important? The need to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is less powerful than any of these. And these ideas lead him to form the theory of the hierarchy of needs. The lower needs are more important to be satisfied first and then you slowly work up the hierarchy.

The hierarchy of needs is arranged in a pyramid where the bottom needs of satisfaction are more important than the ones above. The pyramid is like a ladder, you must be satisfied with the bottom needs to move up the hierarchy. Maslow arranged the needs in his pyramid from lowest to highest as: physiological, safety, love/belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. These needs involve the infinite desire to grow to your fullest potential.
In 1970, Maslow added two layers to his pyramid – cognitive needs and aesthetic needs (not present in all versions). He placed cognitive needs (the need to acquire and understand knowledge) on top of self-actualization, and aesthetic needs (need to create/experience beauty, balance) on the top of the pyramid.

How Maslow’s theories may have developed from his life experiences:
1. Most importantly his family were Jewish immigrants in America. He was not fully accepted in society. This may have lead Maslow to concentrate on social psychological factors in his theories.
2. Maslow’s family also really pushed him to the academic side and had high expectations from him. He then found refuge in his books, therefore not having a good social life. And then again this might have lead to his theories concentrating on social factors
3. He also married his first cousin against his parents wishes. Showing the need for love and belonging.
4. Maslow did a lot of studying during his lifetime, he earned a P.H.D in psychology and this lead him to gain respect from his collogues and society. (love and belonging/ self esteem)

Personal Response to main theories:
The great thing about the hierarchy of needs is that Maslow arranges it in order of importance. It also shows that as our basic need are satisfied we always seek for more, a further desire and thus never being satisfied until we reach self actualization. Maslow also portrays that the lower basic needs are our physical needs that need to be satisfied and later the mental needs which are higher up in the hierarchy. The newer levels added to the hierarchy, cognitive and aesthetic needs are placed above self actualization. However I don’t understand why Maslow chose to put them at a higher level because if you are already self actualized and reached your full potential then you have already acquired all the knowledge and there is no need or want for it, so therefore the cognitive needs are already satisfied when are already self actualized. And the same goes for the aesthetic needs.

Evaluation and Impacts on My Life:
I really do think that the hierarchy of needs does put our needs in perspectives for us. I do think that it is applicable to almost to everyone because it is also our natural instinct to survive, and this is only fulfilled by our basic needs. But there can be some exceptions to his theory because in some cases it is too ideal for everyone to move up step by step. An obvious example for this may be a poor person with high self esteem.

Maslow’s hieracrchy of needs is a popular theory and I have seen it before, but doing this scrapbook has helped me undertand them even more. Everyone does strive to reach the highest stage of self actualization, but unfortunately not everyone does. Right now I think I would be just about reaching the forth level of self esteem. I feel I am pretty close to reaching this level but they are just a few small things holding me back. I just need to gain a bit more self confidence and do better in things where I know I can, and not being lazy hold me back.

Quotes:
“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.”
This quote reflects back to Maslows idea of self actualization. A person must find out what they are good at. And then continue doing what they are good at to be happy. I guess I would have to agree on this quote because firstly it is very hard to find what you are truly very good at, and every one is good at something or the other. Finding what you are good and pursuing it is what will make u happy in life.

“One's only rival is one's own potentialities. One's only failure is failing to live up to one's own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.”
This quote very much accentuates that everyone is equal and unique in their own way. Similarly every person has the potential to be the best and reach their full potential (self actualization). Since WE have the power to control who and what WE CAN be. It also reflects to the learning perspectives ‘can do’ attitude.

“If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”
This quote relates to the ideas of self actualization, as Maslow said our main goal in life is to reach self actualization and to out full potential of what we can be. And like the previous quote above it is up to us to choose what and who we can be. I don’t fully believe in this quote because sometimes people can still be satisfied with their capability right now and still be happy.

“We are not in a position in which we have nothing to work with. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, and callings.”
This may be too much of an ideal statement, but it concentrates on the optimistic view of the humanistic perspective. I do believe that everyone has the ability to reach their maximum, but we have to slowly develop them and that it is no already there to start with.

Interesting Facts:
There are many famous people who might have reached the self actualization stage, but I chose to represent my idol Roger Federer. At the age of 25 he is the greatest tennis player and a very modest and kind human being. I believe that he has reaches his full potential and is enjoying a happy and peaceful life. I love playing tennis too, and it’s one of the greatest thing that has happened to my life recently. When I play tennis I am relieved from all my stress and everything bad in my life. Like Roger Federer I hope to also find my maximum potential and be the best in what I can be, hopefully it will be in tennis too.

2006-11-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

Existentialism
I kind of do like the idea of existentialism, which deals with the ideas of absurdity, existence, alienation, death, despair with courage and dignity. Everyone, at some point of their lives do face the questions of existentialism. The questions of who I am? What purpose is your life? Why are you here? the ideas of existentialism are really good because it can help people love themselves more and reailize who they are. these ideas are also very deep and meaningful and a part of our lives.

2006-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

What is the historical and cultural context of the learning perspective?

The history and culture of the 20th century have formed the theories of the learning perspective. During this time, the United States governed on 3 guiding principles of efficiency, reform, and progress. Around the 20th century was also a great time for science because of all the new revolutionary ideas. As science grew stronger, Freud's theories on the unconscious and introspection methods were believed to be unreliable. This was the point when a new method was formed called behavioralism. In the early 1900’s pyshcologists like John Watson, Ivan Pavlov and Edwin Thorndike, they constructed the basic structure of behavouralism. The US culture was very optimistic in the view of the future believing that everyone can overcome challenges that they face. It was very popular in US because the theories were simple and straight forward to understand. They believed that learning is changes in behavior which occurs as a result of experience. The behaviorist approach emphasizes the role of environmental stimuli in determining the way we act. After then 1950's the learning perspective died down because because of various critism.

2006-09-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Essay 3 Practice Intro
Sigmund Freud's theories took a while before becoming popular and known thorough out society. As they did other psychoanalysts like Eriksson and Horney opposed Freud's theories and helped contribute a better understanding on human behavior. Erikson’s theories were more positive than any other psychologist at that time and help other view the world in a different way. He developed the 8 stages f human development which said that people develop until the day they die whereas Frued’s 5 stages of development saying that person stops developing once they reach adolescence. On the other hand Horney

2006-09-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

What I learned From My First IB Essay...

I would have to say that I am quite pleased with my first essay. I would say that other than the small mistakes that I made everything was pretty good. I learned that just one small mistake would drop it by a whole letter grade. I also made a few sentences that were too simple. I didn't give a full explanation.
"the no no words in psychology"
discover
proof
truth
proof

2006-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

"What I Think About Freud And Little Hans"

After reading the case study of "little Hans" I was very im pressed and amazed of how Freud came up with those interpretations. And how he linked Hans sexual desires with his mother to the phobia of white horses. I can only imagine of the critisim Freud got from making this case study at that time period. He made very bold and statements about how children think and feel about their mothers at that age. His ideas were very much against what the society believed. I think that Hans would have naturally lose his phobia with horses as he grew up and understood the world better. Especially understanding that girls have no "widdlers" and where baby's actually come from. He would also realize that having sexual desires for his own mother and is very wrong and abnormal and as he would grow up would understand it will most probably repress his feelings and might cause problems later on in his life.

2006-08-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

Vienna In The 19th Century

Vienna was a very beautiful country whit rich culture and successful government. The city is full with great art and architecture. Freud did preferred living in his hometown more than Vienna. This maybe because the governor was anti-Semitic, and so was the city of Vienna. Freud had many problems because he was Jewish himself. This may also be the reason why Freud ideas were so negative. Even though the city was very rich and beautiful there was still a very large gap between he rich and the poor, the rich were rich because of the poor. Vienna was also the first city for psychoanalysis to take place, and this was great influenced by Freud and the WWI.

2006-08-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Best of the Century

Psychotherapy has evolved greatly over time with the advancement of new technology, research and studies. In the early 19^th century psychotherapy was restricted to the rich, but now it is open to everyone. Psychotherapy is now more available to the public than it was a century ago. Millions of people now attend psychotherapy sessions, which allows a person to go to workshops, seminars, or individual sessions with a therapist. There is also a larger variety of ways of getting treatment. For example by using books, cassettes, and computer assisted materials. Case studies was the main type of treatment in the 19^th century, and most of the times get no progress. But the times have changed; people don’t have to pay a lot of money or need to have any mental problems to get some kind of therapy. Now you don’t even need a therapist to get some help because it has evolved to be distributed in to different media. You can now use the modern technology to help a person out. There are also workshops in most parts of the world where we can attend. Therapists are also more educated and have the knowledge to understand the background culture of their clients. In the past therapist were forced to believe in only one method however, they can now combine or create their own methods of treating their clients. Along the years they have been many advancements and breakthroughs in psychology. In this article twenty breakthroughs were described, and here are the five that I find are most important.

A breakthrough that I found that is important was by Jean Piaget. I feel that this breakthrough is important because it shows that we now have a better understanding of children. And when they are children if we understand them better and not just assume that they know the simple easy things. We can teach them and make them a better and smarter person once they grow up. The example of a tall thin glass of milk and a child will look at it and see there is a lot of milk, but once put into a bowl the child will think that some milk has disappeared. And this can be related into many situations where a child doesn’t understand but the adults assume they do. This breakthrough also shows that the mind develops in stages and understands things and different

levels. Once we understand this psychotherapist can give treatment at different levels that will suit the client’s age to get more effective results.

A breakthrough by Matina Homer helped understand why men are more successful than women in society. Matina conducted an experiment that shows that males do better in a competitive situation than women do. In the experiment, both the male and female were given the same test to do but in different rooms. The second time they were given the same test to do but this time they were both in the same room. In the first test the male did poorly, however when the male was put into a competitive situation he did better than the female. This shows why males are usually leaders and that they perform better under pressure.

Another breakthrough that I found important was by Harry F. Harlow. His breakthrough was that when a child is nurtured by the mother it is more effective than if it was a father. Harry also says that it effects the emotionally and it academic performances. he conducted an experiment with monkey’s and proved his theory. Many people do find it offensive that humans are compared to as monkeys, but I agree with him.

The breakthrough by Hans Selye made was introducing stress to the world. He was the first researcher to discover psychological stress and how to cope with it. As we have been taught that stress is bad thing and that it can lead to harmful diseases, but Hans says that stress is not such a bad thing. He says that some people might be better off being busy and having something to do. Because if a person who usually has something to do is put into and environment where he is “stress-free” they might even be more stressed out than they usually are. This shows that everyone deals with stress in different ways and the important things is for us to learn how we need to deal with it.

The last breakthrough is the most important one from me and this was discovered by Erik Erikson. Erik said that intellectual and emotional development happens throughout ones life time. I totally agree with him, even though we reach a certain age one we have developed I still believe that we can still change to adapt to new surroundings or situations.

2006-08-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

THE BIG ISSUE

today in class we were given a survey to do and it shows our views on what we believe on the three major topics in psychology. Irrational vs rational, change vs stability, nurture and nature. We were first asked to see what we believe in and what we think is more important. And once I did the survey it just proved that what I believed was the same where as other peoples survey came out different to what their view were on the topics. Out of 25 I got 17 for rationality, 7 for change and 5 for nurture. The results from my survey are exactly to what I believed. It also realized that other people didn't get the results they expected. Maybe what their sub conscience believes is different from what they themselves believe in.

2006-08-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Why do we do the things that we do??!!

there are just so many answers to this question that in the end there is no correct answer. No one actually knows why we do the things we do. Why do get frustrated over small little things? Why do we talk and act the way we do? Is it because of the experiences we have faced or is it just our nature to do the things we do. Everyone is unique, we are all different, and we all do different things. The things we do might be because of the way we are brought up by our parents or the environment we grew up in. It also just maybe our human instinct for survival and we just adapt to fit into to our surroundings. Then there also may be our sub conscience telling us what to do and we don't realize it. Another factor also may be our culture and religion. As Mr Anthony gave an example in class that there were 2 people from different countries (don't remember exactly from where)and both of them had a different distance in which they usually had a conversation. One liked to have it close and the other abit distance away. So one would move closer and the would just keep moving further away. So that shows that people from different cultures are comfortable about deferment things. I also believe that most human beings are selfish and they do the things they do to benefit themselves either directly or indirectly.

2006-08-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well first of all, when we had to chose our subjects I had no intentions of taking this subject. I was taking econ HL but because of schedule problems I was forced to take the subject. After talking to the counselors the subjectinterested me and I knew even though its not going to help me become a better engineer the subject will help me deal with life and the problems that I will surely face. Overtime, I became more interested in the subject and since I play a lot of tennis I thought that it would help me become a better tennis player. This is because tennis is 90% mental game. and since i will have a better understanding of my mind i will be able to control my emotions and not get angry of frustrated while playing tennis. Psychology will also help any one of us become a better person because we will have a better understanding on why we do the things we do, and maybe have a chance to control some of the bad things. I am still not sure weather I will be able to coupe with the HL standard but I will try best and looking forward to a great 2 years in studying psychology.