Monthly Archives: April 2017

Week 10 First Impression- Personality

I have always found personality to be a very intriguing topic and I have always enjoyed taking personality tests to learn more about myself. For this blog post, I took four online tests. The first was the Jung Typology Test. My result was ISFJ, Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging. I thought this result did describe me. It stated that ISFJs are “characterized by their desire to serve others”. This is very true for me and is, for the most part, the reason I want to be a pediatrician. It also described ISFJs as methodical and accurate workers. This is also true for me and is also the reason it is difficult for me to delegate. It also stated that ISFJs are also very loyal to a few close friends and are always willing to provide support which completely describes me. This test is based off of Carl Jung’s and Isabel Briggs Myers’ typology so it did have a basis to make its scoring methods and results more credible.

On the second test, “Personality Test Center” I also got ISFJ and received a similar description to the previous test. However, this source seemed a little less credible since the scoring method was not discussed. Also, there were only 2 answer options making the results extreme and leaving no room for intermediate.

The third test was the IPIP Big Five Factor Markers. My highest score was in Agreeableness followed by Conscientiousness. I think these results described me very well since I do consider myself as optimistic, careful, friendly, and diligent. I also think the results are credible since the scoring process and procedures were explained and references were provided.

The fourth was the Color Test. The results of this test were not accurate at all for me and any results that did apply were very vague and could have applied to anyone. I do not think this test is credible at all since it relies simply on color preferences. Although there was some explanation given about the basis of the test, the research would have to be looked at to ensure that no conclusions were being made on simple correlations.

Personality can be very difficult to clearly define with just a few questions so most personality will most likely not provide extremely accurate results. To ensure better results, however, I think it is important to look at the research and studies the test is based on and how the results are calculated.


Personality test

The four personality test I took for this blog did not seem to accurately reflect my perception of myself. The first personality test labelled me as the personality type ESTJ. This personality type describes me as being an outward and orderly. I do not agree with this all that much considering I do not go to social event that often nor is my workplace tidy to any degree. The second personality test stated that I am of the personality type ISTJ. This one seems to fit a bit better because of the introversion, but I still do not completely agree because I am not very organized. The third test seemed the most accurate because my highest scores were in the categories emotional stability and conscientiousness, which I do view as similar to my personality, but the same test also labeled me as an extrovert and not very agreeable. The last test was the most interesting, because the method it used was based off of choosing colors, but I still found it lacking in accuracy. The last test labeled me as stubborn and having high standards, which does not agree with me at all because I think that I am a compromising and agreeable person. I find that these test are not very credible because most of the results are so generic. The last one I would say does not seem generic, but I do not see how one can determine a person’s personality based off of choosing colors and I would be very interested in seeing how such a process could work.


Spotlight Blog 1 – Divorce

The amount of divorces in the United States is becoming more and more common in recent years. There has been many debates as to what the effects are on the children within the divorcee’s relationship. Some researchers and people claim that there is no effect on the children involved in the divorce, while others argue that there is a great impact on them. My viewpoint on the matter is that divorce does impact the children involved in some way, however, how much it impacts them depends on factors such as the child’s age, their relationship with their parents, how the divorce is handled/settled, how the parents later treat each other in the settlement, etc. Most people may view that divorce is overall bad for the child, yet they need to also take in consideration of how the child could perhaps be even more negatively affected by the unhappy/unhealthy relationship their parents have when together and if that relationship were to turn into something more toxic.

In the research article The Effects of Divorce on Children, it was presented that there is vast negative effects on children. The relationships within the family that the child had become broken, their emotional status is deflated into negativity, there is greater resentment towards the parents, their behavior and social skills become hostile, and they typically fall in their educational performances. This research article goes hand-in-hand with the scholarly journal “Social Justice, Spirituality, and Responsibility to Needs: The “Best Interests of the Child” in the Divorce Transition”. This particular journal was written to give the reader possibly new viewpoints of just how harsh divorce can impact a child’s spirit and what they view to be ‘social justice’. Within the journal, it is argued that divorce damages a child’s view of how their relationship with their parents are sacred, as well as the expectation that good and not harm will be bestowed upon them in life. Divorce, as explained, practically crushes the child’s spirit. Both of these articles share valid points within each, however it is not expected for every child to go through their parents divorcing in the same way. These are common consequences of divorce that children present after the fact, yet there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration that may explain why not all divorces are devastating on children, or are – at the least – not as bad.

In the two articles “Psychological and Emotional Aspects of Divorce” and “An Overview of the Psychological Literature on the Effects of Divorce on Children” are both coming from the standpoint that yes, there can and are negative effects of divorce on children; however, there are going to be certain children more effected than others, and how there are ways to prevent such a negative impact on the kids being put in the middle. It is states that

Children’s psychological reactions to their parents’ divorce vary in                                           degree dependent on three factors: (1) the quality of their                                                           relationship with each of their parents before the separation, (2) the                                       intensity and duration of the parental conflict, and (3) the parents’                                           ability to focus on the needs of children in their divorce (Corcoran).

This is an agreed statement within both articles, yet displayed in different ways. The article “An Overview of the Psychological Literature on the Effects of Divorce on Children” gives ways that children can be dealt with during a divorce so that they may not be impacted as heavily. There are areas where a child is more likely to be effected in, however it also is a depending factor on how the adults in the situation react to their child’s behavior.

I think that all four articles have valid areas being brought to the reader’s attention, and should be considered when two adults are going through a divorce that have children. The psychological needs of a child is very important to be kept in check while going through a vulnerable stage of their lives, such as when their parents have decided to separate. Although there is debate of just how divorce impacts children, there is no doubt that there is some sort of mental change within the child. There has to be adjustments made when going through a divorce, for both adults and children involved. Both the negative and neutral resources give references to both sides fairly well. These resources were found both by using the Abell Library’s website, as well as the search engine Ebscohost.

 

 

 

Works Cited:

An Overview of the Psychological Literature on the Effects of Divorce on Children. (2004, May). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/cyf/divorce.aspx

Corcoran, K. O. (1997, June). Psychological and Emotional Aspects of Divorce. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from http://www.mediate.com/articles/psych.cfm

Fagan, P. F., & Churchill, A. (2012). Marri Research. The Effects of Divorce on Children. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF12A22.pdf

Kruk, E. (2013). Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. Social Justice, Spirituality, and Responsibility to Needs: The “Best Interests of the Child” in the Divorce Transition. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from ebscohost.


First impressions: Personality

We were asked to complete these four personality tests and then give our opinions of their accuracy. Here are the four (free) personality tests:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl

http://personality-testing.info/tests/BIG5.php

http://colorquiz.com/

The first two tests used the same scoring system as the Meyers Briggs test does. The first time I took the Meyers Briggs two years ago I was an INFP, but I have changed quite a bit since then. One of my friends was trying to figure out the personalities of everyone on the tennis team and she predicted mine as INTJ, and was shocked to learn that I had scored INFP previously. Well, she was very excited to learn my score for both of the first two tests was INTJ. The most surprising thing to me was how accurate it was in describing me. The first test seemed the most accurate to me because the questions never left me annoyed that there wasn’t a third option. There was always an obvious path to take for all of the questions, so I believe it worked the best for me. The second test scored the same thing for me, but there were some questions on it where I wanted a third answer choice because neither one seemed to accurately represent what I would do. This only happened about 4 times out of 50 or so questions though, so it did not seem too inaccurate. The third test did not seem very accurate to me because it categorized me as only 40% out of 100 in agreeable ness and said if anyone scored low, they were aggressive and confrontational. I found this amusing as I am very easy to get along with and my friends often comment to me how I am a calming person to be around. While this test did show some results that fit with my own assessment of myself, it was not as accurate as the previous two. Finally the color quiz was interesting to say the least.. I was very skeptical initially and that didn’t improve much. I selected the colors and upon reading the results was surprised to find that the section over existing situation and sources of stress were fairly accurate. It was all down hill from there, and the results began to fit me less and less until it seemed it was describing someone with a totally opposite personality. I am also not sure how the colors had anything to do with who I am, I know people the exact opposite of  me who like the same colors.

The first three test had a solid method of testing, using the questions on the spectrum. (the second one didn’t have a spectrum just one or the other, which explains my wish for another choice). The questions intuitively seem like they would work much better than the colors, and based on the results I would say that is true.


Personality

          I took the four personality tests, and I found the first three to be pretty accurate, but the last one based on colors assessed me quite differently than I think of myself. I got INTJ on the first and second test, but I liked the first test better because it showed the degree of each of the traits (moderate on I, N, and J and slight on T). I find this to be a pretty accurate description of myself as I am confident, a perfectionist, value knowledge, and do struggle to cultivate personal relationships. I do think that some of my decisions are based on feeling rather than thought, and I have taken this test before and received INFJ, so I do fluctuate in that area. I think it is always a little questionable to rank yourself and see where you are, and since I have taken this test in the past, I felt like I knew what kind of answers I would need to give to get the same response. I do think these tests are somewhat reliable, but I don’t think that anyone should base their perception of themselves on a quiz like this.

          On the third quiz, I had an 11% on extroversion, 16% on emotional stability, 62% on agreeableness, 62% on conscientiousness, and 95% on intellect/ imagination. I think this test kind of exaggerated my results, and I do not think that I am that low in extroversion or emotional stability or am that high in intellect/ imagination. Since there were not that many questions, I think it is difficult to completely assess and rank aspects of people’s personality. I found this test to be less reliable than the first two, but more reliable than the last one. The last test, based on colors, definitely assessed me as being much more extroverted than I consider myself, and said that my main issue was that I could be manipulative, which I do not consider myself to be. I did find this test to be fun to take, but I don’t think that it has any basis in accurately predicting my character traits. I did not find this test to be very credible.


Personality Tests

Human Metrics Test

The human metrics test found that I have a ENFJ personality type mean that I was more extraverted, intuitive, feeling and judging. Extra-version means that I enjoy being social and around people and intuitive indicated that I go off of my intuition more than my sense. The test also indicated that I feel things out instead and thinking logically about them, and I have a slight preference of judging things than perceiving them.  The result of this test aren’t explicitly wrong and that the test did a fairly good job of judging many of my personality traits in my opinion. However I do think that I tend to think logically about most things than to just feel them out and let what happens, happen. Also for this test, there was not a lot explanation about how they decided my results and there was no description of what the results mean. So for me, the lack of explanation detracted from the credibility of the test.

Personalitytest.net

This test felt pretty credible and gave me a lot of explanation on the traits. According to the test, I have personality type ISTJ and according to the test, type ISTJ gets stressed out easily and that stress can often feel physically and mentally draining, which is accurate to how I feel when under a lot of stress. ISTJ types also rely heavily on structure and society and when the system is failing them, they feel much stress and become weary, which I feel is also accurate.

Personality-testing.info

This test claimed that I was highly extroverted, but had low emotional stability, I am fairly agreeable and moderately intellectual and conscientious.  I feel good about these results in the sense of how accurate they are, but there was a overall lack of good explanation and description. But I did get a base understanding of the results of the test and I do find them to be mostly accurate.

Color Quiz

This quiz was the most interesting in my opinion because I like to see how our perception of color is influenced by our personality traits. This quiz decided that I was searching for bonds with people who were accepting, kind and made me feel peaceful and safe. That is very accurate, but I also think it is a general feeling that many, many people seek. The test also states that I seek independence and freedom and resist limitations. Once again, I feel like this is common for many people in the world and honestly for me, I think it is not that true in relation to my personality. I often like to have guidelines and limitations in life- academic and beyond.


Spotlight Blog- Memory

          In Campus Explorer’s tips for studying by college students, they recommend:

1.    Taking good notes

2.    Staying organized

3.    Unplugging from devices

4.    Not cramming at the last moment

5.    Do not over-study

6.    Finding the best environment to study

7.    Take breaks every once and a while

Taking good notes helps to focus attention on something important, which can help move the information from working memory to long term memory though encoding. Staying organized may also help to pay attention and encode as well as keep track of due dates. This tip mostly helps to ensure someone is studying over a longer period of time, rather than cramming at the very end. Someone is more likely to remember something if they use distributed or spaced practice by rehearsing the information multiple times over a long period of time. Tip number four, not cramming, goes along with this point. Unplugging from devices helps to focus attention on material rather than something else, and since the amount of attention someone pays something determines if they can later recall it, this would help transfer information to long term memory. Tip number five, which advises against over-studying, is not consistent with the principles of memory since understanding and remembering more than you need to can actually help recall information. According to elaboration, the more someone can elaborate or expand on the meaning of information or make it personally relevant, the easier it is for the person to remember it. Finding the best environment to study is by personal preference since people need different amounts of stimulation to focus and give attention to the information. Taking breaks does help studying because it allows someone to fully devote themselves and focus on the information while studying rather than only half focusing since you are also watching TV or looking at social media.

          In WISE study tips, they recommend the following to high school students:

1.    Have time management

2.    Have good study habits

3.    Set reasonable goals

4.    Concentrate

5.    Take good notes

6.    Compete assignments

7.    Review notes daily

8.    Stay organized

9.    Motivate

10.  Concentrate

Having good time management, good study habits, and reviewing notes daily is similar to what was previously discussed about spreading studying out to use distributed practice to your advantage. Setting reasonable goals and concentration both cause increased attention on information which helps to transfer information to long term memory. Taking good notes and completing assignments helps to reinforce information to make successful recall more likely. Staying organized increases the amount of distributed practice. Motivation and concentration both help increase the amount of attention given to information while studying and can increase the amount of study attempts.

          The Child Development Institute recommends to parents the following:

1.    Turn off the TV, but allow music if it works for the child

2.    Set rules during study time

3.    Designate areas of the home for studying or homework

4.    Keep a regular schedule

5.    Set time for homework and for breaks

6.    Stay organized

7.    Teach that you have to study and do homework, not just do homework

8.    Develop note-taking skills

9.    Have a dictionary available

10.  Help the child to have confidence for tests

11.  Watch for signs of frustration during homework

12.  Help with homework if it is productive

13.  Handle report cards by having reasonable expectations

Turing off the TV helps focus the child on studying, and music is okay if it is needed for the child to be stimulated. Setting rules, designating areas of the home for studying, keeping a regular schedule, and staying organized all help to make studying a part of a daily schedule to increase distributed practice. Setting time for homework and breaks helps to focus attention while studying and provide a reward for successful studying. Teaching that studying is critical to success and not just completing assignments helps to increase the amount of rehearsal of information, which helps encode the information into long term memory. Development of note-taking skills helps to give attention to the important points which helps to ease memory. Having a dictionary available is a helpful study tip that helps children stay engaged even if they don’t completely understand a word and have to help themselves learn to continue the task. Watching for frustration, helping with homework, and handling report cards properly are all great things for parents to do to help their kids succeed in school. These things all contribute to the Pygmalion effect, which stated that the more individual and positive attention a child receives, the more successful they will be on tests.

Recourses:

http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/2DF9E34D/7-Best-Study-Tips-for-College-Students/

https://cws.auburn.edu/shared/content/files/50/WISE_Study_Tips.pdf

https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/tips-for-helping-kids-and-teens-with-homework-and-study-habits/#.WOFRZYWcE2w


Personality

After participating in these four test I feel as though my personality actually fits me perfectly. These test all labeled me as caring and very feelings motivated person. They also labeled me as a very outgoing person who isn’t afraid to put myself in new situations. Being an outgoing person has always been my way of presenting myself.

Each test asked virtually the same questions and with me giving the same feedback for each of the questions I feel as though the results should’ve been the same. The test all offered a variety of questions to fill every spot of uncertainty. By going in depth and asking the same questions in multiple ways.

For the credibility of each test, I believe these to be for the most part accurate. Seeing as though all four have given me the same results, I can’t discredit any of the four test. Knowing my mind and knowing what I believe to be true about myself, I feel the test described me perfectly and were very accurate. I believe that all of these test, based on my personal feelings, are accurate and a very good baseline for discovering your own personality based on questions alone. Although they might not be the most accurate ways because there is always a question of how accurately we place ourselves in this situations but, they do provide for a quick relatively close answer.


Spotlight post 2: Study tips

For this spotlight post we are asked to evaluate websites that provide study tips to middle school/high school students, college students, and parents of students. We are then asked to compare this information to what we know about memory and how it works. For this post, the article directed towards high schoolers and middle schoolers will be referred to as “website 1”, the article directed toward parents will be referred to as “website 2”, and the article directed at college students will be “website 3”. These numbers correspond to the numbers of the links in the “sources” section.

Website 1 provides ten tips to high school students on how to study more successfully. These tips are:

  1. Study alone
  2. Create your perfect study area
  3. Get it all out (referring to study materials as in “make sure you have all your books”)
  4. Turn your notes into flashcards
  5. Snack healthy while you study
  6. Narrow it down (focus on main ideas and important topics)
  7. Take a break
  8. Put yourself to the test (quiz yourself over the material)
  9. Get some sleep
  10. Study all semester long (don’t cram)

These tips all have their merits, but it is important to note for what reasons they have merits. Tips 1, 2, 3, and 5 have are important for keeping the studier focused, which is the first step towards long term memory. If you lose focus you won’t be able to move the information into short term memory, forget about long term memory. It seems odd that 5 would be categorized this way, but it is included to keep the energy up for the studier so they can focus without growing tired. These four tips are very basic memory tips. Tips 4 and 6 are focused towards organization of information, which is very important in transferring information into long term memory as we learned in Dr. MacFarlane’s mini lecture. It is easier to remember things that have a specific meaning to you, and organizing notes into an order that makes sense to you will aid in their recall later. Tip 7 is both to aid in focus, and to improve transfer of information into long term memory (this will be explained when we discuss the tenth tip). Tip 8 is very useful because it puts you in a similar situation to the exam. It forces recall of material and gets you thinking about possible questions that can be asked, and it makes you do something with the material rather than just hearing or reading the information. Having personal experience with material will improve your ability to store and recall it. Tip 9 is also important because sleeping, especially sleeping just after looking over material, helps to consolidate information and improve recall as is discussed in this article: http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory over learning, memory, and sleep. Finally, tip 10 suggests spacing out of studying over a longer period of time, rather than just cramming the night before. This is one of the most important steps in creating long term memories as was discussed in lecture and the mini lecture. Spacing out practice is necessary for correct organization of material for easier recall.

Similar to website 1, website 2 provides ten tips to improve studying for exams. These ten tips are:

  1. Get organized
  2. Know the expectations
  3. Designate a study area
  4. Develop a study plan
  5. Think positively
  6. Create a study group
  7. Practice active listening
  8. Review test taking strategies
  9. Read actively
  10. Look to the future

Some of these will look very similar to those discussed above for website 1, however all of the tips given here are geared more towards improving the basic focus of those reading these tips, not for improving memory or recall. For that reason, this is very clearly directed at the parents of a younger audience. These tips are okay for a younger student, however for a student in later high school or college these tips will not help the student study as these tips should be automatic at that point. I would also like to point out that tip 6 can only work if the students do not get distracted. Study groups work best when the students understand the material but create questions for the others in the group to practice which simulates a testing situation.

Finally we arrive at website 3 which does not give a certain number of tips, but instead discusses many methods of improving your encoding and recall of the information. This website provides the best advice for studying from a memory standpoint as all of its tips are directly related to what we have learned about memory and how it works. For example it suggests that taking notes properly with no distractions is an important step, which is supported by what we have learned of attention and converting memories from sensory to working memory. It also discusses color coding and spreading out study times which are tips for organization, and as was mentioned above, organization is an important step in providing meaning for the information you are trying to learn. This website also discusses sleep and the importance of getting enough of it for proper memory formation and retrieval. Finally this website also points out that creating a pneumonic device to remember mundane information is very effective. This is because it chunks all the information together in a way that has systematic retrieval cues, which makes recall much easier later.

To conclude, website 2 just had very basic study tips that should be completely automatic for any serious student. Website 1 was one step above that, touching on a couple of memory recall and formation strategies, while website 3 had the best study tips for actual long term memory and command over the material.

Sources:

  1. http://teenadvice.about.com/od/schoolscolleges/tp/10-High-School-Study-Tips-For-Students.htm
  2. http://www.sylvanlearning.com/blog/index.php/10-good-study-habits-new-school-year/
  3. http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-life/how-to-study/
  4. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory
  5. Comer, Ronald, and Elizabeth, Gould. Psychology Around Us, 2nd Edition. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Pg273-292

FIP – Personality (What type are you?)

For this week in Psychology, we were given four (free) online personality tests to complete:

They each had different ways of classifying what “type” of personality you have and what characteristics most likely shape you as a person.  For each test, except the Color Quiz, we had to answer roughly 50 questions about how we acted or reacted in certain situations and even how we viewed our own personality.  It was very interesting to analyze and think about what my answers to these, somewhat deep, questions about myself would be.  At the end of each test, different descriptions of my personality were given to me.  Some of them seemed to be a little vague and could apply to a lot of people.  There were, however, a few that I identified with and related to very well.

I found that the tests which used the Myers-Briggs analysis as a template for their questions, had the best results for me in the end.  These tests seem to be more reliable and I agreed with most of the characteristics I was told I have (I’m a INFP).  This type of analysis of one’s own personality is very interesting to me and I think anyone could benefit by taking one of these tests (unless you tend to overthink & be critical of yourself… but the test would tell you that…).

So, what personality “type” are you?