Ho Ho Ho

Merry christmas to one and all!! Many apologies for not finishing off my previous entry, as god as my witness I will have it done by the end of this week. Christmas has been and gone, but it ain't over till the baileys and mince pies are all gone, and I've got a while until that happens!! Not really given a thought to study this past week as we've been super busy, sometimes I have to stop myself and say 'ahhh, I've got an assignment due in a few weeks'. Nothing like a TMA to bring you back to earth with a bump!! We've had an excellent christmas, including an obligatory pressie of a George Foreman grill-'tis not xmas without one. My main frivolity this yuletide season comes in the form of a new tattoo, a tiny little butterfly on the inside of my left wrist, a symbol of positive transformation in my life-and I didn't pass out while I was having it done which is of course a plus. Anyway, this week I want to finish my entry from last time so I can get experimental design into my head so I can attempt to emerge victorious with my TMA methods questions, then I have to write the TMA. I would like this done pre-new years eve so I can enjoy the festivities before having to dig out the old workout dvds in a futile bid to lose the half stone gained over christmas. Look out for my update on my last entry, and if anyone spots any glaring mistakes (I'm not 100% confident on experimental design so I'm sure there will be many), please feel free to point me in the right direction!!

Merry christmas folks!!

Candyflee xxx

The back of my head and the kids this christmas morning:






Free Hit Counters

Correlations, SPSS and experimental design-it's as complicated as it sounds.

Howdy folks

I thought i'd pop on to do one last update before I head to Doncaster to commence the Christmas celebrations (which, as i'm sure you'll already know, will involved copious amounts of pinot AND Baileys-it is Christmas after all). This past week or so has been a whirlwind-Himself has returned from what feels like outerspace and I've had no trouble at all integrating him back into the domestic routine of housework and childcare-bless him, he's still walking around looking rather dazed. Despite our reservations the children have welcomed him back with arms open-so open in fact that they refuse to leave him alone and are constantly biding for his attention. Really consuming for him but absolutely great for me-I can have a shower without a little head bobbing round the curtain or without the contents of the wash basket being dumped at the end of the bath, causing me to jump around in panic, inevitably getting shampoo in my eyes and having to the spend the rest of the day bleary eyed as if i'm looking through fog.

Anyway-so he's back, the kids have attended all of their xmas parties, done both nativity play and carol concert and all the shopping is done, and I found some great Mr Kiplings mince pies in the coop which was buy one get one free, which leaves me time to study!! I have actually been cracking on with TMA02 and have done the majority of the methods questions and about 400 words of the essay. I hate writing essays, I feel like i'm always letting myself down-I KNOW what the answer is but I just can't get it down on paper how it sounds in my head!

This week's study includes chapter two of the research methods book, chapter one of the SPSS book, study week 10 of the workbook and Audio 4 (which I will admit to not listening to yet, I am going to take it in the car for the journey down 'south'). I found this week quite interesting actually and despite moaning I actually found I enjoyed the SPSS part, although I am confident that it's going to get a lot more complicated before the end of the course! The research methods book was fairly straight forward, and that's what i'm going to look at today....

CORRELATION: A way of 'investigating relationships between two or more variables'. Working out a correlation is a way of using quantitative data to generate general laws. the data used are often either material (ie hormones, things we can physically measure) or behavioural (pretty obvious really). Looking at information this way helps us to come to a 'cause and effect statement'-the cause of one variable of the effect on another variable. We can predict (or hypothesize) on the effect of one variable on another.

We could say, for example, if I give my three year old 2 tubes of smarties, her behaviour will become more erratic and hyperactive (than normal). We can test this theory by taking a group of 10 three year olds and giving them each smarties-the first one has one tube, the second has two and so on (there are obvious ethical considerations here and I would not recommend that you carry this out). You could then also measure the amount of household objects broken between the administration of the smarties and the time when the child passes out exhausted in a heap. The data can then be shown on a scatterplot.



Now, lets assume that our prediction was correct-the more smarties consumed, the more items broken. If you replace the label on the x-axis (the horizontal line) with amount or smarties consumed and the label on the y-axis (the vertical line) with amount of items broken-this is what our scatterplot would (in a round about way) look like. we can see that there is a relationship between the two variables by the way the pattern of dots slopes upwards.

No lets talk about correlation coefficients. This is a mathematical expression of how variables are related and range from -1 to +1. A positive correlation means that as one variable increases so to does the other one (or as one decreases, so does the other one). The fictional results of our smarties test shows a positive correlation-as one variable increases (amount of smarties) so to does the other variable (amount of items broken). On a scatterplot, this would be illustrated like on the scatterplot above, with a line sloping upwards from left to right. The correlation coefficient of a positive correlation would be a number between 0-1. 1 would be a positive correlation, and as the number gets lower the correlation is said to be less strong. A negative correlation is the opposite-as one variable increases the other variable decreases (or vice versa). On a scatterplot, the pattern would slope from top left to bottom right:



The correlation coefficient here is between 0 - -1. Likewise, the closer to -1 the number, the stronger the relationship is said to be. A coefficient of 0 means that there is no correlation.

However, coefficients can only tell us the relationship presented by the data, it does not determine that one variable is in fact the cause of the effect on the other variable-it might be down to other variables, or it might be coincidence.

The next section of the chapter looks at experiments. Generally in experiments, whether carried out in a lab or a more natural setting, the researcher attempts to manipulate a variable to see what effect this has on another variable and measures the outcome. By controlling this the researcher is irradicating anything else that may have an effect as much as possible (the difference between correlation and experiments is the control-correlations are used when the variables cannot be controlled). In order to manipulate the variables, the researcher could provide a certain list of words to be remembered, or could change the amount of smarties given. Changing one thing at a time and measuring the effect would give us a better idea of which one contributes to the effect.

I have to leave it there as we're off to buy wrapping paper! I shall be back later....

Apologies

Howdy

Due to the ridiculously busy time of year we are facing, I am going to have to miss this week's study blog (chaper 5). The the arrival of Himself fast approaching (wednesday!) I want to crack on with the research methods chapter so I can get it out of the way and I can spend a few days without cracking a book open, the blog entries take me a good couple of hours to sort out which I can not spare right now. Not to mention the amount of pressies I have to wrap!!

However, I shall be back to do it during the consolidation week after xmas, after all it is an exam chapter and the whole point of the week is to consolidate lol. I shall definitely do an enrty for these weeks work though as its essential for the TMA.

If, however, this does not get done pre-xmas I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry xmas-I hope you've all been good boys and girls and santa brings you everything you asked for!! I think the elf jury is still out regarding my own present worthiness!!

Until next time!

Candy flee xx

ps am delighted to announce that I passed DD100 with 83-over the moon!!

Warning-TMA results enclosed

Howdy

My assignment results arrived back today. I saw the envelope lying on the mat and I can tell you, the action potentials were going crazy and my hands were shaking when I was trying to open the envelope-is that a bit weird??

Anyway I got-drum roll please-89%. Completely chuffed and a little surprised! I got 88 for the essay (which converts to 59/67) and 30/33 for the ethics questions, meaning 89% overall. And I got 5/5 for the elusive scenario three question, to which I answered respect so was fully expected 0/5 and having to appeal lol.

So there we have it-wait over. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with myself now as the last few weeks seem to have been occupied with etma checking every half an hour, along with nearly biting the poor postman's hand off when he turns up-he must think we have a huge rabid dog living with us. He wouldn't be far wrong.

Until next time!

Candyflee xx

Bio"logical". Or not.

Howdy folks.

Well here we are, study week 8 already. And still no sign on my TMA01 back!! According to my tutor she can't get the etma system to work so she has to post them, which is cool but might take ages as I think they have to go via Milton Keynes to get checked. So I might still be in for a long wait!! I did try to glean my results from her but she couldn't tell me, just saying that 'no-one did really badly', which to me reads, 'no-one did well', lol.

This week's study has been based on chapter 4: 'Biological processes and psychological explanation'. I really thought I would despise this chapter but in truth, I absolutely loved it lol... I think I may possibly be slightly weird. I loved the scientificy bits that just 'are' as opposed to the endless reams of opaque information contained within modern psychology, theory that might possibly being this, or that, but someone else thinks differently from a different perspective blah blah blah. Just nice and simple, 'this is a cell, it's called this and it does that'.

However, there's a lot of info to try and condense this week so i'm just going to skip around the main points. I'm definitely going to do this option for TMA02 part 1 (if I ever get TMA01 back). I'm half tempted to write that part of the assignment now while it's all still fresh in my mind but i'm kidding myself if I think that's going to happen! I loath writing TMA's and so I'm never going to be able to bring myself to do one if I haven't got to-I'll wait until the last minute, I work better under the pressure of the deadline!

Right then...

The chapter talks about reductionism, and how some believe that some phenomenon can be explained by reducing it down to its most basic explanation-in this case, biology. Reductionists think that all psychological behaviour occur only due to biology and the brain. However, the book generally refutes this theory, stating that biology and the environment cannot be made into a dichotomy (that word again!), and that the two are very inter-related, that biology has an effect on the environment (via psychological behaviour), and how environment has an effect on biology. Psychological processes such as cognition, consciousness etc are all emergent properties, products of the components of the brain that don't resemble the original components (I have no idea if I've explained that right but I know what I mean!). Previously it was believed (by Descartes for example) that the brain and mind were two separate entities (dualism), however this is no longer thought to be the case.

Now here comes the science bit (i've come over all loreal lol):

Cells: 'Building block' of an organism, cells have similar properties but many have different functions. Each cell contains 46 chromosomes, which house the genetic material (genes) that pass on information, with the exception of the reproductive cells (gametes, or sperm and egg) which contain 23 chromosomes. Obviously, when two gametes meet they create one cell (zygote) with 46 chromosomes which then divides over and over again until a brand new person is formed (replication).

Genes: Genes influence the body (in terms of hair colour etc) and biology and are contained in every cell. All of the genes within each cell is known as the genotype, which determines the development of an individual. The process of differentiation occurs, where cells start to form in order to serve different functions. However, the environment also plays a part in the developmental process, as talked about above. The product (or 'physical structure') of a person's genotype mixed with the environment are known as the phenotype.

Neurons: A cell which is concerned with communication and makes up part of the nervous system (which handles and processes information). They have two components: the cell body and the process, which is like an extension. Groups of neurons form neural systems which form different roles. Neurons can be found predominantly in the brain but also in the spinal cord, and these two components form the central nervous system. Neurons that are not in the cns make up the peripheral nervous system. Some of the neurons in the pns are known as detectors, and are sensitive to issues such as touch. When these (sensory) neurons are stimulated an electo-chemical reaction occurs. This electrical change is known as an action potential, which travels quickly to convey the information to the cns. The action potential also travels to the motor neurons, which convey messages to muscles, and this leads to action of the muscles (ie moving to get away from pain etc).
These messages travel from neuron to neuron via the synapse (or 'junction') between each cell. The messages are transmitted via neurotransmitters (a chemical) from one neuron (pre synaptic), across the synapse and into receptors in the next neuron (post synaptic). Sometimes this can cause an effect of excitation within the post synaptic neuron, whereby these neurons are likely to exhibit action potentials-or in can cause an effect of inhibition, which has the opposite effect to excitation. Mood and behavioural problems can occur at the synapse. Parkinson's disease for example occurs when certain neurotransmitters are not produced, effecting motor control. Reuptake also occurs, where neurons retake the neurotransmitters they give out rather than them being passed onto the receptors in the next cell. There are several kinds of neurotransmitters that are thought to effect behaviour-for example, schizophrenia is thought to be due in part to abnormalities within certain neurotransmitters. Depression can also be attributed to abnormalities in the dopaminergic, serotonergic and noradrenergic neurotransmitters. This is a good link.

Hormones: Chemicals within the body, with certain ones that effect the nervous system, and therefore mood and behaviour. They are secreted into the blood and get transported around the body, with it's effects occuring at a different site to the one it is originally secreted from. They are released from a gland (for example, the adrenal gland which produces adrenalin and noradrenalin and is located near the kidney and is part of the ans) and travel through the blood and are occupied by receptors at its target organ. Dopamine, serotonin, adrenalin, testosterone etc are all hormones. We all know hormones have an effect on mood-anyone who has been pregnant/knows someone who has been pregnant will know all about the disasterous effect hormones can have on someone who dares to say, 'oh, you're putting weight on, the baby can't be that big'. Believe me, I have issued many an ass kicking over this statement in my time. Blame it on the hormones!

The Nervous System: The brain is a huge part of the nervous system. It can be divided into two parts-or hemispheres. The outer layer of the brain is know as the cerebral cortex, and it can be divided into different lobes such as temporal and frontal. The two hemispheres of the brain are connected and communicate via the corpus callosum, which is made of up a bunch of neuron processes. There has been research into the effect of changes within the brain on behaviour. Brain damage, ie strokes (also called lesions), can cause neurons to die, which suggests that the damage done in these areas of the brain effect that areas functions. There is lots of eval on this on page 269. Brain imaging is a non-invasive technology which allows us to look at the brain and the blood flow within it to determine which areas of the brain are working when certain behaviours are carried out (there are also invasive experiments that can be carried out but these have obvious ethical concerns-please don't get me started on ethics!).
There are two different sections of the nervous system: Somatic nervous system which controls skeletal muscles and behaviour displayed outwardly, voluntary conscious behaviour. The neurons in the motor cortex, part of the brain that deals with motor control, communicate as we have seen with the spinal cord and travels down to the motor neurons in the muscles and controls them, causing a reflex reaction. Then there is the autonomic nervous system, which controls the internal workings via two types of muscle; cardiac muscle (heart) and smooth muscle (which can be found in the walls of blood vessels or example). (Remember back to the excite and inhibit reactions we discussed earlier-these can occur in the heart, for example when we are scared the neurons can get into a state of excitement, or when we are meditating they can get inhibited).

Homeostasis: The body's way of remaining constant-neurons can only work under optimal conditions (ie temperature) and the body exerts control in order to regulate the body and staying at an optimum-sweating for example, keeps people cool. The practise of eating and drinking (behaviour) is controlled by biological factors-our motivation to eat is to survive. Obvious links with evolution here-YAWN!


There was more in the chapter about the visual system but I really can't be bothered to go into it as I think I've already covered the basics here. Onto chapter 5!! I'm not sure how I'm going to fit that in this week, it's my eldest daughter's third birthday this week, as well as my fourth wedding anniversary (although I am still currently sans husband), it's said daughters xmas play at nursery coming up and she keeps pestering me to put the Christmas tree up. Also, I need to learn how to make mince-pies. I have a feeling that biological processes are a doddle in comparison to this-any tips gratefully received!!

Until next time!

Candyflee xx

Learning how learning is learnt-study week 7

Howdy people.

What a week it's been!! For some misdemeanor that I may or may not have committed during the progression of my youth, the higher powers decided to inflict the vilest form of gastroenteritis upon both me and my offspring meaning that this weeks study efforts have been strained. However, I somehow managed between bouts of nausea and general fatigue to finish off this weeks study although to be honest I didn't do as thorough a job as usual as this chapter (chapter 3) is an exam chapter and so I will have to go back over it in more detail when the time comes to get stuck into revision. I'm really hoping that it will make more sense to my delicate brain!

And I've only just got over the flu-I must have cocked up big time somewhere!

Anyway-this week was all about learning. As well as all of chapter 3 and the commentary, study week 7 of the workbook had to be completed as part of the core study, with DVD 1 (observation) and the 'Learning Language' clip from the DVD-ROM making up the optional study component.

The chapter concentrated on three perspectives of learning: The comparative approach (or behaviourism), the cognitive perspective and the socialcultural perspective. I shall tackle each one separately, but again i've only briefly skimmed this chapter and as yet haven't made any notes so there may well be huge holes in my knowledge (well, more so than usual!).

Learning: Acquiring new knowledge or skills.
Like evolution, learning allows individuals to adapt in order to cope better with their environment, although this occurs over the lifespan of the individual rather than over the millions of years lifespan of evolution. The different perspectives have different theories which may lead to different questions and ultimately research and methodology. But this does not mean that one is ultimately right and the rest wrong, but that there may be many different types of learning and they perspectives just provide differing insights.

Comparative Approach.

Studying non-human animals and extrapolating the findings to other species-ie humans. Linked to behaviourism, most closely related to John Watson (click name for Wiki link!). Advocates of behaviourism believe that psychology should be a scientific study of behaviour, without making inferences into mental processes as these cannot be scientifically proven. Watson also believed that too much emphasis was placed on innate behaviour and not on the effect of our environments on our behaviour.

Classical conditioning.

Experiment designed by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936).

1. Dog is given food (unconditional stimulus, UCS) and as a reflex salivates (unconditional response, UCR).
2. A contingency is formed between the UCS and a neutral stimulus (NS), in this case a bell by delivering both at the same time.
3. In time, the dog salivates when the NS is present, even when there is no UCS. The NS now becomes the CS (conditional stimulus) and the reflex evoked by the CS is known as the CR (conditional response).

And this is the bare bones (geddit? dogs, bones? Never mind) of the process known as classical conditioning!

Now our friend Mr Watson liked this approach-the data was measurable and quantifiable and could be wrapped up nicely with a little bow, with no need for second guessing what the dog was thinking. He applied this study to humans, in the case of poor little Albert who Watson conditioned to be petrified of rats-I won't even go into the ethical implications for this!!

These days, people believe that there is more than one type of change going on during the process of conditioning. For example, could the dog not only be mindlessly and unconsciously drooling at the sound of a bell, or could he actively be thinking 'wicked, it's dinner time now', forming an expectancy? Hirsch, 1974; Mishkin et al, 1984; and Toates, 1998 all believed this to be the case.

Operant (instrumental) conditioning.

Where the behaviour of the participant (ie rat) is instrumental to the outcome of the conditioning. Burrhus Frederick Skinner devised the skinner box

A rat is placed in the skinner box and when he presses the lever he is rewarded with a pellet of food. When the frequency of the lever pressing behaviour (or the operant behaviour) increases, the food is positive reinforcement for that behaviour (in other words, it makes the rat more likely to push the lever!). This is also known by behaviourists as the Law of effect, which states that a response which results something favourable (ie, food) will be learned. Also included in instrumental conditioning is negative reinforcement, whereby something negative is prevented by the behaviour-for example, a harsh noise being switched off when the lever is pressed, and also punishment, in the case of the rat we could say that the harsh noise occurred only when the rat pressed the level-this would make the rat less likely to press it. During operant conditioning it is also possible for animals to display discrimination by emitting the operant behaviour in the presence of one stimulus (ie a green light) but not in the presence of another stimulus (ie a red light). Operant conditioning has been used to various ways, including behaviour modification (via positive reinforcement). Skinner, however, was also very adamant that punishment should not be used in this way as it is unethical and ineffective.

Many people believe that it is inaccurate to report human behaviour as merely a consequence of responses controlled by the environment, with no consideration of any other processes of thought which may be occurring. Tolman (1932) created on alternative study whereby a rat was placed in a simple maze with one possible route, the food being placed in goal box which was to the right. The rat was then placed in another map with several different routes, with the straight on route blocked. It was suggested that, without any internal inferences, the rat would just try to go straight on to get to the food as he had done in the first instance. However, the rat would often go through a route that was towards the right, suggesting that the rat was learning to get the food via 'something in the head' as well as just stimuli responses. Goldman et al (1973) also suggested that the animals formed an expectancy for food, as they measured the stress levels of the rats when they did not receive the response that they usually received for their actions (ie no food or less food than normal. The same thing happens to me when I expect there to be chocolate in the fridge and I get there to realise that i've already eaten it. My stress levels go through the roof).

Cognitive Perspective

• Compared to computers due to similar processing of information-received via senses and processed and used to guide behaviours.
• Can describe what occurs in the mind at both a functional (what the mind does) and a process (how the mind does is) level with no need to explain the physical workings of the brain.
• Brain scanning and imaging is increasing being used in cognitive psychology.

Category learning.

Learning that occurs when people are able to categorise entities. Categories enable us to make sense of the world around us, to make plans and predictions.

Bruner et al (1956): Emphasized the importance of hypothesis testing in category learning. Bruner devised a study whereby participants were shown a variety of cards (see pg 192) and were shown one card in particular. They were then asked to pick all the other cards in the same category. The participants developed hypotheses to try to find the right category (ie all cards in this category have three borders) and when each hypothesis was disproved they moved onto another until they found the correct one (known as successive scanning, sort of like a trial and error). However, this method of hypothesis testing was slow and difficult as, although one property may be correct on the card (ie three crosses) it does not mean that the hypothesis was correct. A more successful method is conservative focusing which involves eliminating whole classes of hypotheses by choosing a card which only differed from the previous choice in one way-ie the example in the book states that if the original card had three clear crosses and a single border, and next card chosen may contain three clear crosses and a triple border. If the researcher said that this new card is not in the same category, then all cards with three borders can be discounted. People using conservative focusing learned categories more quickly than those who used successive scanning.

In this study, Bruner used artificial stimuli which had little or prior associations, so that participants' previous knowledge would not interfere with the study. However, the study therefore lacks ecological validity as it does not explain category learning in a more natural setting-natural categories, whose attributes are all linked together for a specific reason and these links and any prior knowledge we have may affect the way we learn categories. Murphy and Allopenna (1994) devised a study whereby participants has to learn categories where each member of the category had lots of attributes in common so could all be linked to the same theme. They found that people did learn categories where the members had lots of attributes in common much quicker due to their prior knowledge.

Jerry Fodor and Noam Chomsky, philosopher and linguist respectively, believed that categories simply cannot be learned because this knowledge is innate (nativism) as opposed to being learned through the senses like Bruner believed (empiricism). They believed that this knowledge most be innate due to the induction problem-basically, although we may think we know something based on our past experience, we have no way of knowing what's going to happen in the future-something may well come along and blow everything that we think we know out of the water, therefore we can not guarantee that the hypotheses that we generate are correct. Any evidence created by empirical studies may later be shown to be wrong. Obviously, many think that this position is extremely far fetched and just plain wrong. One way to balance this situation is to suggest that the type of learning suggested by people in both the nativist and empiricism camp are different-the former suggesting that things are not learned but merely recalled, with no fundamental change to conceptual abilities, and the latter suggesting that there is a complex process going on in the head, involving information processing and changes in behaviour.

Sociocultural perspective

Looks at how our mental processes are influenced and effected by our cultural settings. Suggests that learning involves the use of tools that exist in interpersonal relationships and therefore are embedded in our culture. For example, the use of computers or language that we have available to use are dependant on our cultural setting and affects our learning capabilities. Remember the pen guy from a few weeks back? Yeah, the pen is another tool. Lol.

Saljo (1999) - Tools not only mean physical tools and technologies but also psychological tools such as language. Learning is mediated, or indirect, buffered by the tools that we have at our disposal, and how we 'take up' or appropriate these tools also play a part in how we learn.

The distribution of power within cultures also plays a part-ie access to computers in schools is decided by the powers that be who rule the purse strings and decide how many computers to have etc. Also, the classroom environment in which the children learn also affects learning. See Keogh et all (2000) on pg 205 for an example. Studying learning in this way enables psychologists to help learners to make the most of their skills and surroundings.

Social interactions play a large part in the human experience and, again, language is an important tool in learning, and studies have been conducted to find out which types of interactions are central to learning. These studies can be done in various ways-recording interactions and coding the dialogue and analysing it quantitatively, or analysing it's meaning for themes etc qualitatively (see Mercer pg 207). Language and its meaning is constructed through its origins and the culture in which it is created. For psychologists, how we use language is as important as what the language means.

Enculturation-when people adopt the relevant language in accordance with their cultural context-for example schools and universities may have their own systems and jargon which, in turn, affects how students within these institutions learn. The Jackson quote on page 211 is a good example of this. This is why some children may fail in school-they cannot make sense of the environment and the cultural norms encapsulated within it.

Ok-that's taken me ages and now i'm going cross-eyed lol! Note to self: Read the next chapter properly!! I'm registered to start SD226 in feb but to be honest i'm seriously considering cancelling it because I can't see myself being able to devote enough time to each course to be able to get a decent grade. I think i'm going to stick doing 60 points at a time until my youngest starts preschool, otherwise I simply don't have the time. But at the same time I really want to do it and get it out the way. Decisions decisions!

Until next time!!

Candyflee xxx

Chapter 2, part2.

Howdy! I'm back, and on a saturday too!! Fancy that.

It's raining here so my children have spent the morning running around and beating on each other. Honestly when they don't get to venture into the outdoors their relationship with each other turns from less Karen and Richard to more Jack and Ralph (a la William Golding). Seriously, it can get ugly-and the youngest is only 14 months old.

Anyway-onto the next part of the chapter and we've moved away from asbo chimps to...

Theory of Mind: The ability to see from anothers perspective, to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to be able to predict your own and other people's behaviour and feelings. Also, the ability to be deceptive, based on assumptions. This ability to be able to interact with others is essential in our reproductive success, attracting a suitable mate and forming alliances, therefore ensuring survival.

Studying TOM and it's evolutionary history may point ep's in the direction of why humans developed it as a way of explaning it's contribution to many different psychological characteristics. Looking at chimps for example, who have little or no presence of tom, may suggest that humans developed it after they split from chimps. Archaeological evidence of burial rituals may also suggest a tom present in humans as they may have seen certain rituals as being necessary to enter into the afterlife, indicating an ability to see from the potential perspective of another.

The Maxi Test-

• Wimmer and Perner (1983)-original maxi test (or false belief test). A variation of this was proposed in 1985 by Baron-Cohen et al. called the Sally-Anne test (Gross, 2005).
• In the Sally-Anne experiments, two puppets (called Sally and Anne-just in case you didn't get it lol) were used. Sally had a marble which she puts into a blanket and then leaves the room. While she is not there, Anne moves the marble from the basket and puts it into a box (cheeky sod). Then Sally comes back into the room.
• Participants are then asked where Sally will look for her marble (hopefully not in the same place as my marbles-lost forever I tell you!).
• People with tom are thought to say the basket-they are aware that Sally has her own perspective and will not know what they know as she did not witness it. Participants without tom however will say that the marble is in the box-they don't understand that Sally has a perspective different from their own; they are unable to see someone else's point of view.

When the initial maxi test was done on children it was found that the majority of children 6 years and over had tom, and majority of 3-4 year olds did not. However, it was thought that this initial test was too complex and involved a language barrier, especially for children so young. many variations of the task were carried out, so finding that some children as young as 2 posessed tom (my child does not have this yet-she is still convinced that she is the pivotal point on which the world turns and she wants some chocolate buttons NOW!). Studies have also shown a universal capacity to tom as children across different cultures have been found to possess tom, indicating an evolutionary path. There are lots more figures etc in the book which I won't bother to regurgitate here.

People with autism are also used as participants on the maxi test. Autism is often marked by lack or impairment of social interaction ability. The tests on people with autism showed that they performed 'significantly less well' than the participants without autism.

Non-human primates are also been studied for evidence of tom. Lots of studies have been used, such as the Povinelli (1996) test which wanted to see if an ape would follow the gaze of the researcher, therefore demonstrating that they acknowledged the researchers differing view point. However, it is not known whether this is evidence of tom or simply the ape mimicking behaviour.

Artefacts found by archaeologists are also used to prove the presence of tom, as mentioned above, with burial rituals and art. Baron-Cohen (1999) suggests that tom evolved with the evolution of modern humans, hence the art and burial rituals which emerged at that time. However, with lack of evidence and different evidence and so on, it is difficult to pin point the exact time frame.

I have to leave this here as my youngest is just emerging from her nap-I shall update this entry later!

Ok-I'm back in the land of blog!! And ready to talk about altruism and reciprocity as defined by evolutionary psychology, so here goes...

Altruism according to Wiki is: selfless concern for the welfare of others. According to ep, it is universal as it can be found across cultures, and genetic evidence (as found in green alga) suggests it may be an adapted behaviour. (Obviously one cannot extrapolate from green alga that humans are the same, although my level of brain cells and the levels held by algae are probably about the same right now). The chapter covers three kinds of altruism-

Altruistic behaviour amongst kin:

Although being altruistic suggests a cost to the individuals genes' reproductive success, Hamilton (1964) developed the concept of inclusive fitness, which means that helping your relatives (who will have similar genes to you), will positively effect the reproductive success of your kin, and as reproductive success is about genes and not individuals then this is similar to your own reproductive success. According to Hamilton, the more closely related you are to someone, the more likely you are to behave altruistically towards them.

Reciprocal altruism:

Carrying out an altruistic act for someone not related to you where the altruist repays the favour-'you scratch my back i'll scratch yours'. Requires theory of mind (so that the altruist can make assumptions as to whether or the person in question will repay the favour). However, it is not guaranteed that the favour will by repaid. The prisoner's dilemma game on page 147 shows an example of research into this. It is believed that the person is more likely to reciprocate if they believe they are going to meet the altruist again, and therefore it would be beneficial for both parties to cooperate. A game of tit-for-tat then ensues (known as evolutionary stable theory), which is commonly used by people to decide how to react to others.

Indirect altruism:

Where (and i'll use the example in the book as that's easier!) A will follow out an altruistic act towards B even though B will not reciprocate, then C will behave altruistically towards A, even though C does not benefit at all from the transaction. This kind of behaviour is thought to occur in order to provide individuals with a positive reputation-the more people know about an altruist the more likely they are of wanting to help them out. Therefore being an altruist is a good way for someone to gain resources (is cash) and support from the community, therefore aiding their survival. Altruistic behaviour may also be a way of attracting a sexual partner as it may make them more desirable.

There has also been research into animals and altruism. Research into chimps was carried out which suggested that they sometimes do act altruistically (in this instance, by helping the human researcher to reach something that they couldn't get)-suggesting that the common ancestor of humans and chimps may have had altruistic tendencies. Again, problems with this research occurs as it is done in lab settings and the same behaviour may not be carried out an a more natural setting.

So summerise: Altruism may be a universal evolved response, an adaptation. However, it is difficult to pinpoint when it evolved in humans.

So there you have it-two psychological characteristics as explained by the evolutionary psychology perspective. Phew. I'm very pleased to be able to just move onto the next chapter without having to attempt to concoct something that loosely resembles an assignment! Onto the next chapter....

Good luck folks

Candyflee xx

Chimp sex and digging up dead people: How to be an evolutionary psychologist

Howdy!

And I'm back! I've successfully completed this week's study, after nearly having a heart attack when realising I'd actually have to read the whole of the chapter after the initial ease into the last chapter over two weeks. So, once my heart rate had returned to an acceptable level for an adult homo-sapien (geddit!! Apologies-lame joke!) I was able to crack on with it.

First off I want to say how much I have enjoyed this chapter actually, much more than I thought I was going to. Granted, there are still currently more that a few terms that I'm not entirely sure of at present but hopefully I will be able to wrap my brain around them as time goes by. Although I don't have much time for that, the sterling effort to get ahead was thrown aside due to my major TMA procrastination period, so the next study week actually starts tomorrow. still-I work better under pressure-yeah right!

So the order of business this week:
Chapter 2-Evolutionary psychology
Commentary 2-ABSOLUTELY essential for pulling the chapter together
SPSS CD-ROM installation (already done-i'm a saint lol)
Video clip on chimp behaviour-More on this later!!!

I'm going to start off a bit backwards in this and talk about the themes first (as found in the commentary)-

1) How are humans different/similar to non-human animals and how are they similar to each other across cultures.

2) Change vs Fixity. Although evolution is concerned with change, over long periods of time, there are also fixed aspects-during our lives, we are a product of our fixed genes and DNA.

I think it's important to note the themes first, because most things in the chapter can be related back to the themes.

EVOLUTION PSYCHOLOGY: Human cognition and behaviour occur as the structure of the mind that we inherit is a product of evolutionary process. It is involved predominantly with WHY a phenomenon exists, and it's previous functions, rather than HOW it works, the main function of other psychological perspectives. It uses mainly a scientific approach, uses multiple methods and also draws evidence from other psychological perspectives.

Types of evidence:

• Archaeological-ie fossil evidence and artifacts. These can help to determine lifestyle and biological aspects which may indicate certain psychological characteristics.
• Genetic-characteristics that have evolved must have some genetic component allowing it to be passed down through generations.
• Non-human primates-It is thought that humans split from chimps fairly recently, therefore they are studied as a window into the past and how humans may have been.
• Universality-Evidence of characteristics across cultures may point towards these characteristics being evolved mechanisms.
• Hunter-gatherers-Due to the lengthy period of time spent leading a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, ep's suggest that much of our behaviour originates from this.
• Modern human populations-Studying modern humans give ep's an insight into functions that may have adapted over time and therefore their subsequent functions and possible evolutionary path.

Evolutionary processes: The different selection processes and genetic changes that can be attributed to evolution. They occur over long periods of time and best enable a species to adapt to its changing environment:

• Genetic transmission and diversity-Genes, which are constructed of DNA code instructions for proteins in the body which effect our physiology and therefore out behaviour. Genes are passed through generations via reproduction, and the many different varieties of chromosomes lead to great diversity. Or something like that lol. Oh and there's also mention of mutations but I cannot for the life of me begin to try to talk about that because I simply don't get it.
• Natural selection-'Survival of the fittest'. Where traits (coded by genes) which are most advantageous are passed onto the subsequent generations (reproductive success). This leads to adaptations, the evolved characteristics which increase the 'fitness' of a species. Ep's can use these adaptations to determine their original function.
• Sexual selection-How different traits and characteristics effect the quality of mate that a human attracts, and how these traits are passed down through generations. The higher the quality of the 'mate' then the more likely it is for the offspring to be a high quality mate, therefore the cycle goes on to ensure survival of the species.
• Human evolution-Humans are more closely related to chimps than any other primates. Humans are also homo-sapiens and hominies. This bit was pretty boring so I didn't really take it much of it-must try harder!

Ok-I'll come back to TOM and altruism tomorrow, it's late and I'm missing I'm a celeb! Although I must mention the vid clip first-I was both hysterically amused and intensly grossed out by this lol!! It was very reminiscent of saturday nights in Wolverhampton, what with all the violence and public copulation. Hilarious. I was quite upset when it was revealed that our little trespasser was probably going to shuffle off his current mortal plane though-poor little sod. But it was very interesting to see how they made their own tools and stuff. It was useful to have a more visual explanation of how close humans are to chimps and really weird to see the bonobos monkey walking on his two legs-freaked my out a bit actually, I half expected something from a Pierre Boulle novel to go walking past in the background. *shudder* lol.

Until tommorrow!

Candy flee xx

Free Hit Counters

Hip Hip...

Hooray!! After toiling for many an hour over my personal Everest (aka-TMA01) I have finally finished it-and not only that I have submitted it also. I did intend to hang onto it but the temptation to re-work would be ever present and I thought it best to just say bon voyage and send it on its merry way. Rest assured I shall wake up tonight in a cold sweat in the throws of a nightmare in which I have mis-spelt Marcia or theory or, heaven forbid, the name of the author. Still-what's done is done and I can set about the task of erasing Marcia and Tajfel forever from my mind-an easy task apparently, there are plenty of things I strive desperately to remember yet they still evade me at the crucial moment.

I can now start on the second chapter of the book-but be assured that in between now and then a hefty consumption of pinot shall ensue. All work and no play and all that....

Good luck to everyone struggling over this assignment-I shall drink to your success!

Candyflee xx

Week Four - Back on track!!

*Candy's Recipe for the perfect TMA*

Ingredients:

Far too many course books

1 Head

1 Wall

Method

Beat head and wall together briskly until sense is formed. Consult course books, add newly developed sense and apply to paper. Hey presto.

Ok, maybe not. I have tried this method but sadly it did not work. Foiled again!

I have the worst flu in the history of the world-complete Man Flu (my husband is known to contract this illness on a regular basis). Every sinus track in my head is stuffed up and I feel, well for want of a better phrase. like shit. Yet still I soldier on, the deadline for this TMA looms ever closer, made even more startlingly obvious by the fact that it is now November-therefore the TMA is due THIS MONTH. And not only that, it's due in less that two weeks. Hmm, methinks I need to pull my finger out!!

In fact, I have *kind of* done the second part of the assignment, but my biggest headache with that is referencing-do we have to reference the BPS guidelines? And do we have to write...'according to the BPS guidelines...' everytime we discuss a new ethical implication involved in each scenario?? I need to email my tutor quick sharp lol. I have also done the intro to the essay, but that's as far as i've got, although I have written up a plan (ish). 1000 words don't seem long enough to me!! I don't want to talk about the TMA in too much detail but at the same time I really want to talk about it!!! What are the rules on this-am I allowed to talk about the finer TMA details on here or is that not allowed? Something else I need to find out!

Anyway the focus of this weeks study was chapter one of the research methods book, along with study week 4 of the workbook and the BPS code of Ethics and Conduct (my tip for this is to print it out-it's quite long but it was so much easier to flick through and highlight relevant bits etc. I'm not very good with reading large chunks of info from a computer screen. I like to be able to doodle while I learn!). There's also an additional section of the workbook included under student directed study.

Research Methods Book

This chapter was fairly long and intense (particularly for my phlegmatic brain) so I will try to put some kind of table in here to make it slightly more simple-if I can figure out how to add a table that is lol!!

Ok I can't figure out how to make a table but look, I figured out how to change the colour of my posts! Woohoo, how exciting!

No, i'll go back to black. That colour is far too risque when dealing with a subject so highly interesting as this one (note-that was indeed sarcasm). I'm going to just list some key terms instead of waffling on far ages-here goes:

Objective

Scientific

Generalisable

Experiments

Material data

Behavioural data

Quantitative

Variables

Hypotheses

Tajfel study

Statistics

Sample

Ability to replicate

Outsider viewpoint

Subjective

Hermeneutic

Inner experience

Observation

Interviews

Questionnaires

Symbolic data

Meanings

Themes

Language

Discourse

(Mainly) qualitative

Marcia

Richness of data

(Sometimes) quantitative

Introspection

Is that cheating?? LOL, well it's taken me ages to write that-it probably would have been easier to waffle on about it all!!

There are other terms tackled at the beginning of the chapter which are v. hard to get my head around. So, I shall copy and paste from Wiki-I know, naughty naughty but it's better than my explanations!! They are concerned with the construction of psychological research:

Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief.

Methodology is defined as
"the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline" or
"the development of methods, to be applied within a discipline"
"a particular procedure or set of procedures".

Methods I can do on my own, methods are research methods, ways of collecting and analysing data.

Data-information that is collected from a research study.

All these terms act as a framework within which research is carried out-Epistomolgy deals with the knowledge side of things-how we can know what we need to know and how we can find out about it. From that stems methodology, the 'overall theoretical rationale', how we figure out what methods are best to use and which data will be collected from within a certain psychological perspective. Which then leads to the method which will be decided from the methodology, and ends in data, decided by the method. And that's how we make research!! Tada!!

The chapter than discusses the cycle of enquiry, important for essay writing etc etc. I even found a copy on 'tinternet!! The cycle of enquiry is covered in more depth in the optional component in the workbook which I err, didn't do yet. But I will!! Or at least I'll try!

Then different methods and data are briefly touched upon, which I have added to my lists (see above!).

The workbook covered essay writing which I read but didn't do any activities as I feel I got plenty of practise during DD100. Time will tell whether that little bit of arrogance shall return to bite me on the ass!!

The BPS Code of Conduct and Ethics is absolutely ESSENTIAL to the TMA so, as I said above, I personally would recommend printing it out if you can, that way you've got it to hand to refer to, plus you can keep it for future reference, as rest assured ethics are bound to come up again later on in the course, especially for TMA03 and 05. I won't bang on about it as I believe I covered it briefly in an earlier post.

Can you believe that this entry has taken me all day!!?? Seriously, ages. In between my illness and my children-one of which is now also becoming ill great-and the need to eat i've been bobbing on all day to do this. Now I need a lemsip, a hot water bottle and a serious dose of Ricky Gervais.

I shall leave you with a piccie of Tom Cruise-keep the faith.

(see, when the work looks like crap, you can trust Tom Cruise to point a smile on your face!).

Until next time!!

(a full of self pity) Candyflee x

Week Four or Five? Or 23? I'm confused!!

Hi folks!!

It's official-I'm an idiot. No really, a complete bonehead. I have lost the will to live trying to write this TMA-my mind knows what it wanted to say, but my hands don't seem to be able to type the words properly and I end up with something that Lennie from of Mice and Men would laugh at. I have also developed a fantastic TMA avoidance trick-lying on the sofa doing nothing-you should try it, it really works!!

Anyway, I believe I'd just finished the Tajfel experiment (something about boys and groups and scores right? lol), so next on the list is Social Constructionism. Hmmmm, how do I coherently explain this??

Oh, hang on....

...right I'm back with chocolate spread sarnie and a pack of rainbow drops-'twas a substantial lunch in the '80s and if it's good enough for Adam Ant it's good enough for me!

With social constructionism comes the age-old, virtually unanswerable question of nature vs nurture - How much of what, or more importantly in this case who, we are is predisposed and natural, and how much is created by our social environment?

There's no need to point out which side of the fence social constructionists sit on. Our identities are constructed through our everyday interactions with other people, how we are viewed by society, and importantly the language we use. The language that we use helps to categorise and define the things and people around us-to completely rip off the text book, a good example of this is the use of the terms 'freedom-fighter' or terrorist (a la Mr Mandela).

As people, we actively construct our own identities via the things and people around us. The book used the example of Gergen, the chap whose identity was formed around a pen (fair play to him, personally I'd rather form my identity around something a bit cooler-like a robot or a pogo stick). When the pen became obsolete as a writing tool with the introduction of the wonderful machine now commonly known as a 'computer' he noted a marked crisis in his identity, reluctant to adopt this new media for fear of losing his sense of self (he may be right-can you imaging Shakespeare knocking out sonnets on his commodore 64?), which is a good example of how our identities are formed by things external to ourselves-attachment to a pen is surely not a 'natural' state to find oneself in. Said writting instrument also indicates how his identity was affected by social relations around him, as using a pen was something he copied from his parents.

As time and out social relations change, so too does our identity. As our surroundings are adapted, we adapt ourselves around them-changes in relationships, employment, different experiences and social standing all effect our identity.

Another important factor in the s.c. view of identity is that how we present ourselves affects our identities, the language that we use to describe ourselves, or what we decide is essential to who we are. Mr. 'I love pens' Gergen could have described himself in a manner of ways -'writer' or 'man' or 'fan of guinea pigs' (you never know!)-but he chose pens.

*As an aside I would like to point out that I'm not entirely sure I buy this theory-according to s.c. there is no distinction between personal and social identity, but I find it hard to believe that we don't to some extent have a 'core' self. Maybe I'm being naive but I don't like to think of myself as someone who is constantly changing in all aspects-like JLo, I feel I am still just Candy from the Block lol. And now I shall leave my soap box and get on with it!! *

Onto discourse. In short discourses are ways of constructing meaning via language and thinking in the context of our culture. I think. Please feel free to correct me as this is one of many subjects that baffles me quite frankly! So the way in which people construct their identities vary depending on their culture. I think.

Also, we can adapt our identities depending on who we are with-we may for example act differently around our peers at work than we do around our families at home, meaning that we can use our identities as tools in our everyday interactions. We have multiple identities, which is understandable as we can relate to lots of different 'categories' of identity-race, religion, gender class etc etc. This in turn creates multiple power relations with the people around us.

And that's all i'm going to write about Social Constructionism-partly because thats as far as my understanding stretches, and partly because my two year old has been glued to The Tweenies for the past half an hour and I'm convinced she's going to start growing huge feet and weird hair (actually, the weird hair she already has. She gets that from me).

I'll try to write my next entry on the research methods book later, although X-Factor may get in the way. I know there's a break in the middle of the two programmes but in truth I use that time to drink wine and dance around the living room singing into my hairbrush. I'm a busy girl, I don't have time for this activity otherwise and it's my favourite one. That's right-we all do it when we think no ones watching-and sometimes when we think they are!

Candyflee xx

Ps. My Alvarez book finally arrived and so far it's really though provoking. It's taking me a while to get through it though as I only really understand about 50% of the words. I would definitely recommend it though.

Continued...

...and I'm back. I'm currently attempting to write this whilst chatting to hubby on msn and watching Dawson's Creek so if you see a random word thrown in that makes no sense it's because I've started getting confused between the three. Paul is currently doing his bit for Queen and Country over in the Falkland Islands until mid-december (he's been gone since august). He misses the kids, bless him, but apart from that all is well. Apparently over there it's comparable to Alcatraz, only with fewer home comforts and it's harder to get away from.



So, I'm got my glass of pinot (drinking alone-how very Bridget Jones-esque of me) and I'm ready to completely confuse myself. I'm going to bullet point this to try and get the most relevant points in there (hopefully).



Social Identity Theory.

• Focuses on group rather than individual identity.


• SIT was developed by Tajfel, a jew who had been persecuted by the Nazis (bit of historical context there!).


• Tajfel distinguished between two seperate states of identity, personal and social.


• Social identity is partially made up of 'self-descriptions' that we take on as we think they adhere to the attittudes and behaviours of the social groups to which we belong (self-stereotyping). Belonging to a group is a subjective feeling, rather than how outsiders view us.


• We can only define ourselves in comparison to who we aren't.


• Tajfel designed the study known as 'The classic social categorisation study', which used the experimental method (more on that later).


• The study showed that even when placed in minimal group settings, people were still prone to demonstrating in-group bias.


• Tajfel concluded that people have a basic psychological need to 'belong' to a group to have higher positive image in comparison to other groups-possibly the cause of discriminations between social groups.


• Social groups may seek to improve their social standing via social mobility, social creativity and social competition-therefore promoting 'positive redefinition' of their social group, hence improving the self-esteem of its' members (this also applies to section 6, and how the issue of imbodiment is connected to group-in this case, disabled people-discrimination).


• This also points towards a correlation between power relations (in this instance, of groups) and identity.

The main problem with this theory is that it treats groups as individuals, therefore ignoring people in their own right.

The chapter then goes on to discuss Jane Elliot's Class Divided, but instead of talking about that I will post the youtube link that Paul kindly posted on the yahoo group a while ago, in case anyone missed it! It comes in five parts, the link takes you to part one and you can find the other parts from there:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=l0gUchvopOc

Cheers Paul!

Ok, briefly onto Tajfel's experiment.

Tajfel designed the experient to find the absolute minimum condition with which to produce in-group and out-group bias. He took took groups of boys (ager 14-15) and split them randomly into two groups. The boys were told that they were divided into groups depending on which artist they prefered, Klee or Kandinsky (being a complete philistine, I have no idea who either of these are!). These groups were known as minimal groups.

The boys were then given a task whereby they had to give points to pairs of boys (they were told that these points would be converted to cash). The pairs consisted of either two in-group members, two out-group members, or one of each.

The boys (who worked alone whilst scoring the pairs) tended to show bias towards the members of the in-group when the pairing consisted of a boy from each group by awarding them more points than the out-group boy in the pair. They scored the pairs fairly evenly when they consisted of boys from the same group. If anyone can fill me in on what they were actually scoring, i'd be grateful!

Tajfel concluded that, even though the basis for the groups was completely minimal (ie artist preference), as well as completely random, the boys still showed preference to their own group, showing that even the most arbitrary conditions can lead to discrimination between the groups. There was a follow up study by Billig and Tajfel that repeated this, but also did the same experiment with two groups who knew that they had been assigned to a group completely randomly, but these groups still showed preference for their own group.

I hope that makes sense to someone, because the Tajfel thing makes little sense to me!! I understand the theory and the outcome, but the details of the actual study are still hazy!

OK, I have written quite enough for today, I shall conclude this chapter tommorrow. Wish me luck, I have to go shopping with the kids in tow tommorrow. Last time I took them shopping the eldest had a massive hurricane rita style tantrum because I refused to do the 'tap-dance' in the middle of the co-op, leading me to an extremely difficult decision-stand there red faced and perspiring while i'm trying to deal with my daughter (who closely resembled Linda Blair by this point), or to stop what I'm doing and do the 'tap-dance' in the middle of the co-op, red faced and perspiring. I chose the later, much to both my daughter and the checkout girl's delight.

The joys of motherhood!

Candyflee x

ps Thank you to everyone who has left a comment-it REALLY helps to know we're not alone in all of this!!

Study Week Three...and Four....and Five!

Phew!!

Long time no write-I just don't seem to be able to plonk my (ever expanding) backside down with all my notes to write the entries this past few weeks-the lure of a bottle of pino and X-Factor is too strong (yes, thats right, X-Factor. Shoot me now!!). However, like a prudish erudite I have been working away and am in fact now onto my TMA. Or, I should be onto my TMA-I am currently suffering a severe mental block in terms of ethics and methods and countless other words that I am completely unaware of the meaning of (and who's definitions often turn up more questions than answers!). So tonight I am going to sit down and go over all of my notes and write up my entrys in the hopes of cementing all the info into my brain, hopefully!!

At my last entry i'd gotten upto Erikson's psychosocial theory and Marcia's further development of this theory with the semi-structured interview technique. Following on from that now comes SIT (social identity theory, encompassing Tajfel's experiments with minimal groups and group identity) and social constructionism (which is as clear as mud to me and I have to re-read!!). Following that also is then the research methods book (ARRGGHHHH!!) and the commentary at the end of the chapter, as well as the workbook (which I fully admit to only skipping through and not doing the exercise. To be honest, it's hard to find the time to do the real essay, let alone sitting down trying to develop 'pretend' ones lol). Oh, and also the audio-cue more cheesy music-which I found strangly compelling (I say strangely as usually the audios are used as fail-safe cures for my fleeting insomnia), so much so that I purchased 'A Savage God' by A Alverez (the funny old guy from the audio).

I would love to say that this book was excellent-thought-provoking, heart breaking, shocking-however, I can't say any of these things as the book in question is currently stagnating in Her Majesty's postal system somewhere, *sigh*.

So, I shall be back later with more info, hopefully. Although perhaps not as much as last time-for my last entry I wrote 1300 words, which is three hundren words longer than the essay is supposed to be lol. Clearly my skills of refining the info into relevant chunks needs working on!!

Candy flee x

Study Week Two

Ohhh, study week two out of the way already.

There was very little reading to do this week, only sections 1-3 of chapter one, so that only took me an hour or so. The workbook ditto, as it was all about active reading which a) I already covered extensively in the DD100 reading and note taking supplement book and b) there were no real activities as such to do so it wasn't very time consuming.
Also this week, as part of our student directed study, we had to read the Epoch (exploring psychology history and content) leaflet and have a play around with that on the course website. The most time consuming element of this was finding where Epoch actually once, but once I found it it was ok. To be honest, I didn't really do many of the activities set out in the leaflet as they were just to make sure you could navigate your way around the material which is pretty straight forward to be honest. It's a good resource though and I'm sure it will come i handy, especially around TMA time!!

So, what have I learned this week? Well, chapter one is all about identity and diversity. The chapter focuses on three theories of identity as well as four different methods (two of which are covered in the first three sections, the Twenty Statements Test and semi-structured identity status interview).

The chapter so far has focused on identity as an everyday topic, and how many people view it to have social influences. Embodiment was also touched upon, whereby our physical is part of our identity and how we use our physical appearance as a symbol of our identity (Foucault termed this 'Psychologies of self'). Also covered was the importance of neuropsychology in identity development as memory is important to identity, and the social model of disability which suggests that disability is as much a social restriction as it is a physical one, as disabled people are often restricted, for example, in public places with no disabled facilities.

The Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn and McPartland 1954) was a way of gaining access to peoples thought and mental processes (introspectionism) by asking the question 'Who am I?' which had to be answered in 12 minutes and analysing the data quantitatively by working out percentages of each type of category within the answer (ie physical appearance or social role).

ADVANTAGES

• Large sample could be used
• Quick
• No time for participants to censor their answers.

DISADVANTAGES

• Divided answers into categories provided by the researcher.
• Didn't leave enough time for the participant to really thing about their answer in a detailed way.
• Doesn't take on board the reasoning behind each choice.

The next part of the chapter goes on to talk about the Psychosocial theory of identity, focusing on Erik Erikson and James Marcia. This theory believes that identity is a combination of our own personal identity (our 'core' identity) and the social context which we are surrounded by.

Erikson thought of identity as a sense of who we are are striving to fit in with our community, and stressed the importance of the continuity of our identity over time. Erikson believed that identity of most important when we are involved in an identity crisis, as if we are only really aware of our identity when it becomes an issue. Erikson thought that identity was a lifelong process developed through 'normative crises'. He believe there to be 8 stages of identity development, beginning with age birth-1 year (trust vs mistrust crisis)through to late adulthood (integrity vs despair). However, he believed the most important stage to be stage 5, adolescence (identity achievement vs role diffusion).

There endth the lesson for today lol, my youngest has just woken up so we're off out for a stroll-to be continued!

Right-I'm back! The kids are in bed and I can finish my entry.

Where was I? Oh yes, Erikson...

Stage 5 was the time during a person's life where they have to undergo the most life changes and face the most decisions, and at the end of this period Erikson thought it was important for a person to achieve ego identity, a secure knowledge of who they are. He also termed this stage psychosocial moratorium, a period in their lives during which they can experiment with different choices and life decisions without making any firm commitments, in order to find their own paths in like and to progress into adulthood and achieve their own ego identity. Erikson also highlight the possible difficulties faced by adolescents during this time, and how many experience identity crises as they have problems forming a coherent vision of who they are and have difficulty commiting to roles corresponding with adulthood-the inability to form an ego identity was coined role diffusion. He also thought that this concept of role diffusion is the reason why many young people form strong bonds with social groups and participant in 'clannish' behaviour, being hostile to outsiders and becoming intolerant to anyone different to their social group-the need to identity with a group of people in order to try to find some identity.

Erikson's work influenced James Marcia, a psychotherapist. Marcia devised the semi-structured identity status interview method of exploring Erikson's 5th stage theory. The interview consists of questions which cover a particular theme (ie identity!) but the questions are structured in order to allow more flexibility, by focusing more on the participants words. Also, the researcher can get a richer view of participants as the interview allows researchers to ask follow up questions based on the participants answers. The interview has a conversational feel and is often recorded so that the researcher can listen back in order to analyse the interview, which can be assessed either quantitatively by researchers coding the answers into various categories, or qualitatively.

ADVANTAGES

• More, richer data can be gathered.
• More scope for analysis.

DISADVANTAGES

• Time consuming.
• Only a small sample can be gathered at a time.

The questions asked in the interview relate to the various crises faced by 18-25 year old college students in relation to, for example, religious, occupational and political preferences. Marcia's main focus was the amount of exploration of life choices by the participants as well as their commitment to those life choices. Marcia categorised four identity statuses:

1. Identity diffusion-consisting of low exploration and low commitment, where participants answers indicated that they had no real interest in exploring choices of committing to anything. These participants were often unhappy and easily lead (much like the adolescents in Erikson's role diffusion theory and the 'clannish' behaviour).
2. Identity Foreclosure-participants with low levels of exploration and high levels of commitment. Participants in this category often have a single set of values which originate from their parents.
3. Moratorium-High expectation, low commitment. Keen to explor all options but find it difficult to commitment, and are often insecure. According to Marcia, an essential stage to go through before the next stage....
4. Identity achievement-Thats right, you've guessed it... both high exploration and acheivement. People who have gone through moratorium and have then commited to an identity. These people are thoughtful, good in relationships and cope well under stress.

Phew, so there we go, this weeks material in a nutshell. I thought I had understood everything this week as I was going through the book, but when it came to writting this summary and going back over the material I realised i'd got the majority of it mixed up lol! However, having now gone over it I know that a) I've got this week's material covered and b) I need to read more actively!

Hopefully by the weekend I will have finished the reading for next week which means I'll have to make a start on the assignment, which I've read through and seems fairly simple but I always get mega writting block when it comes to assignments so we shall have to see how we get on!

Until next time!

Candyflee