Psychology: On Perception

We see life through a window, and that window is our perception. As we age and gain new experiences and knowledge, our window opens more. We know that our perception gives us faulty images at times.We start off with


gestalt: when the surroundings of an object fool our perception.

So, it's not just the object itself, but the pattern around it, both visual and conceptual.

To the left is probably one of the most famous images of a gestalt. Take a closer look at it, what do you see? You should see two images. *You can view what it is at the end of the post.




similarity: associating new things with already experienced things and grouping objects because of closeness in size, shape, or other prominent geometrical characteristics.

For example, at first look at the image to the right, we group the larger circles together. Instead of seeing the small circles and a large one vertically, we just clump the horizontal line of large circles.




For this image to the left, our initial glance categorizes the dots in horizontal lines, even though all the dots are equidistant.

proximity: distance, both physically and conceptually. For the image to the left, we automatically see two columns because there is a large gap between them. So we put things that are closer together.

We all know our perception is not always correct. A way proximity proves this is by looking at the image below. Which dot in the center is larger in size?

Our automatic response will want to say the dot in center on the left is larger. In fact, both centered dots are the same size. The proximity of the centered dot on the left to the smaller dots around it make it seem like it is bigger, whilst the centered dot on the right looks smaller due to the larger dots encompassing it.

closure: when your brain refrains from taking in new ideas and settles on one thing

A great movie that practices the use of different gestalts is Sling Blade. We watched it in my high school psych class and were assigned to find the different concepts of perception being used. Once you watch the movie this will make more sense. Closure happens when people automatically assume Karl is mentally deficient. Because of his poor social skills and symptoms of retardation, our brain automatically marks him as handicapped. Everything he does is perceived as something someone mentally ill would do. The similarity between him and Lenny from Of Mice and Men (someone who is actually mentally ill) makes it easier for the brain to close on him being handicap. There is plenty of more play with gestalt in the movie.

*The image is both of an old lady's face and a young lady turning her face to the right.

The 6 Different Perspectives

Nurture

Social cultural

Fathers of the social cultural perspective are Sapir and Whorf. The linguistic relativity principle (also known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) is the idea that the varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages affect the cognitive classification of the experienced world in such a way that speakers of different languages think and behave differently because of it.

Behavioral
The things we learn are due to positive and negative reinforcement. For example, I score a 100% on a quiz, so I receive a prize. The positive reinforcement is the prize. I fail the class, so I have to take it all over again. Having to retake the course is the negative reinforcement.

Humanistic
Humanists believe that humans have the desire to be better. Like, if a culprit witnesses an old lady being robbed, humanists believe that he will help her.

Nature

Psychoanalysis
The father of psychoanalysis is Sigmund Freud. He believed there to be the conscious and the unconscious in the human mind. The conscious consists of the Ego, Id, and Super-ego. The Id is our basic instincts of survival (Eros) and death (Thanatos). The Ego according to Freud "that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world ... The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions ... in its relation to the id it is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with his own strength, while the ego uses borrowed forces (Freud, The Ego and the Id)." The Super-ego is supposed to counteract what the Id does. The Id wants us to have sex with multiple partners, but the Super-ego reminds the person to act socially accepted.

Freud also believed that the purpose to everything we do is to reproduce. Just bought a new car? Well, unconsciously it's to get a step close to marry someone. Kind of like a male peacock showing of its vivid feathers.

Then along came Carl Gustav Jung. See my older posts on his views of dreams and I suggest reading up on the collective unconscious.

Bio-psychological
They basically believe that "bodily experiences, therefore, and more particularly brain-experiences, must take a place amongst those conditions of the mental life of which Psychology need take account. The spiritualist and the associationist must both be 'cerebralists,' to the extent at least of admitting that certain peculiarities in the way of working of their own favorite principles are explicable only by the fact that the brain laws are a codeterminant of their result. Our first conclusion, then, is that a certain amount of brain-physiology must be presupposed or included in Psychology."

Cognitive
This theory is that everything we learn and how we perceive the world is through hardwiring our brain.

Axon ---> Dentride


As you can probably tell, my favorite of these is psychoanalysis, also known as psychodynamics. I will post more about each perspective (or the ones I know about) in future psychology posts.

Murray's List of Psychological Needs

Murray thinks we need these in order to not suffer from neurosis.
I feel like agreeing with most of them, even if some seem a bit... out there. Some do need to be practiced in small dosages as they might hurt others, but they are still vital to one's needs so they must not be left in the dark. My quotidian example of each will be parenthesized.

acquisition to gain possessions and property
(Books. I love buying books.)

conservation to collect, repair, clean, and preserve things
(I like to take care keep good care of my possessions.)

order to arrange, organize, put away objects
(While I may seem messy, there is a certain organization to my things. I like having my clothes by color, books with most sentimental value higher on a shelf, etc.)

construction to organize and build
(I love making things for other people. Whether it be a juvenile painting, a mix-cd, or anything crafty.)

achievement to overcome obstacles, to exercise power, to strive to do something difficult, as well as quickly as possible
(I get good grades.)

recognition to excite praise and commendation
(I receive academic excellence awards.)

defendance to defend oneself against blame or belittlement
(Do this with my mom. q: )

dominance to influence or control others
(President of Key Club/Youth Ambassadors, Treasurer of SVC, editor of The Breeze, etc etc.)

autonomy to resist influence or coercion
( AKA I lay out my rules to my mom.)

aggression  to assault or injure
(Playful jokes with friends, "Slug Bug" game, etc.)

affiliation to form friendships and associations
(Strong bond with a few people, network of friends from clubs and organizations, etc.)

rejection to snub, ignore, or exclude
(No, thanks.)

nurture to nourish, aid, or protect
(Four nephews, one niece, been an aunt since I was ten. I love helping others.)

succorance to seek aid, protection, or sympathy
(Do this often enough.)

play to relax, amuse oneself, seek diversion, and entertainment
(Learning the harmonica, drawing, painting, being silly, etc.)

cognizance to explore
(Reading, people watching, going places, etc.)

More on the Jungian Psychology of Dreams

Carl Jung believed there to be two types of dreams: little dreams and big dreams.

Little dreams
Little dreams are dreams about daily problems or things. Such as, if you are in a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend, you might have a dream about them moving away or you two in a big fight. Chances are if you can figure out your dream right away, it's a little a dream.


Big dreams
Big dreams are the unconscious mind trying to send a message or messages to the conscious mind. These dreams consist of archetypes or motifs. They remind us of our psychological needs, and remind us to pay attention to them. Jung also believed that modern Western culture suffers from unhappiness much more because we don't pay enough attention to our dreams. Thus, we don't meet our psychological needs.




A very small list of archetypes:

• Reptiles symbolize aide, medicine, or helping others/self (see American Medical Association logo).

• Ladders represent ascending to something greater (see Jacob's Ladder).

• Male faceless person means your masculine side is trying to talk to you.

•  Female faceless person means that you need to be more in touch with your femininity.

•  Caves elucidate living blindly (read The Allegory of the Cave by Plato).

•  Someone you love dying isn't them actually them dying. It's an old part of you shedding.
  
  
• Unbalanced star symbolizes unbalanced life, or unbalanced gender roles.
  

Cognitive Psychology: Dreams

A few weeks ago I posted about the Jungian perspective of dreams. Today I will talk about the cognitive psychology of dreams and what happens while you are sleeping. We all know that we dream every night, no matter if you remember your dreams or not.

Here is the sleep cycle:

REM is Rapid Eye Movement and most of our vivid dreams happen during this stage of sleep.

In the image above, Stage 3 and 4 briefly mention delta waves. In these stages, your brain is getting rest, whereas in the alpha stages it's your body being rested.

Beta is when we're awake.



The three cognitive theories of why we dream:

1. Filtering
   This explains why other animals have a better memory compared to ours. Our brain trashes everything we don't need, which is why we can't remember what underwear we wore last Monday. Basically, it prunes the unessential.
2. Problem Solving
   Has anyone ever told you to just sleep on a problem? They were not too far off from the truth. While you are sleeping your brain is doing its job of problem solving. That explains the epiphanies in your morning shower. The unconscious mind picks up things beyond our perception, so while you are sleeping, it's putting things together. Instead of racking your brain on a problem, just think about it for a while before sleeping and then have a good night's rest.
3. Processing
   The third theory is that your brain is processing information from the day. It's organizing and filing all the information that was not filtered out.
   

Jungian Psychology: A Closer Look at Dreams

After reading this article, I have completely indulged myself in Carl Jung. The images below are thumbnailed, so go ahead and click on it for full sized view. I promise it's an exceptional article, or else I would have not felt compelled to share it with you.

1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7.

Books, books, books.

A Course in Miracles
by Helen Schucman

Unfortunately I started this book with a distaste for Christianity and was put off by the mentioning of God. It has some interesting lessons and I do plan on rereading this book in the future with a more open mind.

I can harbor respect for this book, but it just was not what I had in mind. It's recommendable but only to those who will not stick to their presupposition of what Christianity is.

The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I read The Scarlet Letter in my junior American Literature class in high school. While many of the other students disliked the book for its complex sentences and advanced syntax and Puritan diction, I found myself very fond of this Nathaniel Hawthorne novel.

Hester Prynne is the super woman of Puritan Boston. She is the epitome of what most Calvinist women lacked: courage, freethought, independence, and deep reevaluation of morals and values.

A lot of the other students also found themselves overwhelmed by the amount of symbolism, themes, and motifs in the novel. Personally, I think that is what really shapes the story and makes this Hawthorne's "magnum opus." The copious amount of symbolism is what makes this book unique.

Overall, it is a great book and I am glad I was introduced to it. I highly recommend it. Themes it explores are society vs nature, human condition, and self vs society.

The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger

A very well written book that is either underestimated or over appreciated for the wrong reasons. We follow the "plot" by the first person narration of Holden Caulfield, who goes through extreme existentialism with a hint of misanthropy, often mistaken for teenage angst (or are they mutual?), and ends up in an asylum.

It is not one of my top books, but it is definitely a book I really like. I find myself being able to relate in some aspects to Holden from past ideologies and experiences. The main problem that Holden comes across is his fixation on preserving innocence. That is where we no longer relate. He tries to be that "catcher in rye" and we don't exactly find out if his perception on that changes by the end of book. (Correct me if I am wrong.)

I find it almost ironic that schools ban this book because of the explicit language. They are trying to bubble-wrap their students and preserve their innocence, just like Holden tries to do so with his sister. If only Holden knew the amount of kids he is corrupting...