Some psychology for you to ponder...

September 18, 2012

Since I can't seem to focus on anything, I decided to write another blog post, just because of the sheer fact that I love blogging and I had stuff that was on my mind. So I have decided to talk about something that was pondering my mind all day....

In math class today, before we started learning the wonders of Sine Law (again), I was encapsulated by the wondrous words of my beloved DEAR book. It was called "The Psychology Book: Big Ideas simply explained". The title is pretty self-explanatory, but for those who don't understand I will clarify for you. It discusses various theories within the psychology world and the proof behind them.

Today I managed to read through three of those theories. All of which were very intriguing, especially since I have such a great interest in psychology.

The first theory was conjured up by G. Stanley Hall which discussed that "Adolescence is a new Birth". In his book entitled "Adolescence" (written in 1904), Hall believed that when you come about a certain point in life (that being in your teenage years), you transform into a new person. That you come out as a stronger and more mature individual. He was highly influenced by the work of Charles Darwin and the "theory of evolution". He stated that the stage of adolescence "craves strong feelings and new sensations...monotony, routine and detail are intolerable. Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for opposition." (The Psychology Book, page 46). This makes sense, because I can guarantee that most have us, in fact all of us have experienced these said feelings at some time in our lives.

His theory went as so:

·         First, human development is determined by nature, which is a repetition of our so-called "ancestral record".

·         He stated that a child (as a matter of fact all children) has animal-like dispositions and goes through several stages of growth, which relates to Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory (for those of us who took Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology course last year) which was developed after Hall's theory in 1950.

·         Then when an individual becomes an adolescence (teenager), the evolutionary momentum subsides (stops). At that time, that person undergoes a change, called "individual change."

·         At this time (as some may know it as the "wild times"), the person becomes increasingly rebellious, sensitive and self-conscious. Which makes them prone to depression.

·         Finally, the person emerges as an "adult", a more mature and "high-order" individual.

Therefore, he inferred that through this process of development implies that "adolescence is a new birth." Hall also believed that teenagers were highly susceptible to developing depression, a mental disorder in which an individual encounters severe thoughts and feelings of sadness, with a lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life. He called this the "curve of despondency", which starts at the age of 11 and hits its highest point at age 15, in which it then decreases gradually until the age of 23. From this, he was able to interpret that self-consciousness that one has leads to self-criticism, which then later results in a total change of self (personality, feelings, actions...).

However, while his work may have appeared to be particularly negative on teenagers, Hall discovered that because teenagers have more advanced reasoning skills. And as a result are able to read "between the lines" while allowing their sensitivity to a given situation to influence their reasoning and make it stronger and more valid.

G. Stanley Hall

Hall's book entitled "Adolescence"

He went on to say "Adolescence is a new birth, for the higher and more completely human traits are now born."

The second theory was by Alfred Binet, who said that "the intelligence of an individual is not a fixed quantity". Alfred Binet too was also highly influenced by other peoples work, which included those of: Charles Darwin, Francis Galton and Wilhelm Wundt.  Darwin, who created the debate in his book "The Origin of Species", whether intelligence was inherited genetically or that it could be influenced and changed by external factors. Galton, who was conducting his research in London, England concluded that intelligence was "fixed at birth". And around the same time there was Wundt who was studying the idea of introducing the idea of an intelligence quotient (IQ).

Alfred Binet

After studying at Salpetriere hospital in Paris, France, Binet conducted a study on his own children, in which he discovered that a person (more specifically a child's) frame of mind was crucial to learning. In 1905, Binet was accompanied by a man named Theodore Simon in his research. During that time, they developed a test that could establish a reading of a person's intelligence. They called it the "Binet-Simon test", which was essentially an IQ test. To test his theory, they took children and separated them into 5 groups, according to age. They then subjected them to testing, 30 tests as a matter of fact. Each task was designed to test the child's cognitive and developmental abilities as well as their problem solving skills. These tests increased in difficulty, going from following a beam of light and defining words to reproducing drawings from memory and answering challenging questions.

By the end of his research and after many issues concerning this method and the reliability of his test, it was concluded that intelligence is not a permanent thing and that it changes as a person develops through life. That the number reflected on an IQ test is simply a mean of determining how far along a person's problem solving and thinking skills are developed. Not how "challenged" or "smart" they are.

So next time you get the chance, try an IQ test and see what the results are. I bet they'll boggle your mind. And while you're at it consider this question: "Do you think that IQ testing is an effective and accurate way of determining one's intelligence?"

The last theory is an approach in the Memory Studies field of psychology. It has no given name and is more of a fact. This theory, presented by Hermann Ebbinghaus believed that within 24 hours of learning something, we end up forgetting 2/3 of that information.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Ebbinghaus conducted many experiments to try to aid with memory retention. One of which included using "nonsense syllables", 2 300 sets of syllables 3 letters long which followed the standard consonant-vowel-consonant sequence. His experiments later showed that:

·         Memory loss occurs fastest within 9 hours of learning something

·         The things that were forgotten can be relearned faster than learning something for the first time

·         Over-learned (or "studied beyond mastery") material is remembered for a longer period of time

·         Things that are learned at the beginning and end of a series are more easier to remember

·         Meaningful things are remembered for approximately ten times longer than random facts.

·         A repeated learning sessions over a long period of time improves ones memory retention

The chart that Ebbinghaus developed showing the memory retention (%) versus the amount of time.

By the end of his studies, Ebbinghaus discovered that not to his surprise, he was able to remember things that he spent the most time studying. Also, that the best time to start remembering something is immediately after you learn it (within the first hour of hearing it). That way, your memory will be able to recall and refer back to it easier than trying to study it all towards the end of a term (eg: exams).

This has given me an idea to change the way I study for tests, quizzes and exams. As opposed to waiting until the night before to study all of the material in the Unit, which turns out to be about 200 pages worth. Spreading it all out within the span of a few days, or weeks depending on the extensiveness of the task. Studying little bits of information at a time

For example, on Wednesday I have a biology test on the Biochemistry Unit. How I planned to work this out is as opposed to my schedule looking like this:

·         Tuesday-Monday (the following week)-put it off and hope it goes away

·         Tuesday: study all aspects the night before and hope I can remember everything by tomorrow

It will look like this, starting with the things we learned first:

·         Tues: Functional Groups (Structures/Names)

·         Wed: Functional Groups/ Carbohydrates

·         Thurs: Carbohydrates

·         Fri: Proteins

·         Sat: Lipids

·         Sun: Nucleic Acids

·         Mon: Nucleic Acids

·         Tues: Quick recap of unfamiliar concepts

(I kid you not; this is how my test schedule actually looks like at the moment. Except I have specific times to study on my schedule.)

By doing this you can reduce the amount of time you study, while still being able to retain more information than "cramming". It is also flexible because by planning ahead, you are able to change how much and what you study, according to how much existing knowledge you already have and other factors which may interfere (other homework, projects, work...)

Well, I'll see how that works out on Wednesday, as you see I am one of those people who cannot memorize anything at all.

Because I find this all to be just simply fascinating, every week I 'll post about one of the theories or some kind of interesting article (like I did in my last post). It's just something to keep you occupied while you read this magnificent blog of mine.

I see that I have gotten sidetracked once again so I will end this little blog post with a little message.

"In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing."

~Philip Gilbert Hamilton

Anyways, off to go write this campaign speech and study for my Bio test.

Until then,

~Shannon~  ✌.(ʘ‿ʘ).✌