The Gestalt Principle

The Gestalt Principle originates from the word gestalt, which is a German word that translates to mean 'form'. The Gestaltists discovered that the mind perceives the best, the most correct, and the simplest possible form. When we see things, our eyes transmit the image to the brain where it then interprets what the eyes are seeing so that the rest of the body can also understand. What this Principle is saying is that when we are looking at something, we tend not to see it for what it really is. We instead tend to see things as our minds think that they should be. An example that was given in the text goes as follows: The word 'chack' was used in place of two different words in two different contexts. In one instance, the word was used in a sentence that related to chickens raising their young. In this sentence, the word was glimpsed over and quickly associated with the word 'chick'. In the other example, the word was used in a sentence about banking. In this situation, the word was misread as 'check'. We, as humans, are prone to mistakes. We make this particular type of mistake quite often. This is the reason why we are able to read and understand things that are often misspelled. Another example of this is the Cambridge University Research Project that attempted to prove the Gestalt Principal and to prove that people do not take the time to read each and every word, but instead read by briefly looking at a few letters in the word and are able to determine what the word is just from a brief glance.
Here is an excerpt from the Cambridge University Research Project:

"Do you have a strange mind?  

Cna yuo raed tihs? if yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid, too.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulatcly uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Azanmig hhu? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Qoestuin -

Can thsi be doen in ohter lnagugues? Snapsih, Fenrch, Iatilan, Gerek, Rissuan. Chenise, Jaapense, Herbew, Aaribc? "

The Gestalt Principle relates to knowledge gained via sense perception. When we proofread, we do not always look at every letter in every word, but we instead take a brief glance at the word as a whole and are able to understand what the word is just by looking at a few letters in the word. In addition, we also make other mental corrections in our daily lives. For instance, if someone who has never been to Hawaii develops  their own mental image of what it looks like, and then they decide to go to Hawaii, they might not see the island for what it really is, and for what it really looks like. Instead, they might only see the island in their own idealized vision. Another example is a true story. Before the last "Harry Potter" movie came out, I read all of the books, including the last one. In fact, I read the last one several times. Due to the fact that I had read the book so many times, I had developed my own images of how every scene played out, how everyone was dressed, and even what the setting looked like. I got so wrapped up in my own version of how the last movie was going to be that when I finally went to the movies, I did not actually 'watch' the film. I paid no attention to the setting or to anything else that I had imagined, because my own ideas had taken over my brain, so that I only saw my own version of the movie. At the time, I thought that it was perfect because it matched my own interpretation perfectly. However, I came to my senses and discovered my mistake a few months later when the movie came out on DVD. By that time, my own image of how the movie should have looked, based on the book, had faded away because it had been such a long time since I had reread the book.  When I went to watch the movie again at home, my mind was clear, and I saw the movie for what it really was; nothing like what I had originally pictured. I realized that I had been so blinded by my own vision, that I had not actually seen the movie for what it really was. My mind convinced my eyes that what I was seeing was really what my brain thought that I should have been seeing.
This proves that the Gestalt Principle is true. Our minds do often trick us into thinking that the things that we are seeing are not actually how they really are, but are how we imagine that they are.

Sense Perception & Knowledge of the Outside world

3. To see, 'what is the case', what is required?  Please define each term.
To see "what is the case" requires context, inference, concepts, experience, and interpretation. Context, in this case, can be defined as how one is able to know their environment and to understand their surroundings. Inference is the knowledge that one is able to infer in any given situation. Concepts are previous ideas or pieces of knowledge that exist from your own knowledge and experience, or from the knowledge and experience of others. Experience is an event in the past in which you learned something. Finally, interpretation is how you were able to make sense of the knowledge that you previously gained.

4. What did Nietzsche mean by 'the fallacy of the immaculate perception'?  How does psychologist, Joseph Jastrow prove this point?  When have we done this in class?
Nietzche came to the conclusion that there is no "innocent eye". He later called this "the fallacy of the immaculate perception". Basically, he determined that it is impossible to see and interpret anything without referring to past experiences and the knowledge gained from those experiences. Joseph Jastrow went on to prove this point by using a well-known drawing that, when looked at, appeared at first to be a duck, but then when examined more closely, appeared to be a rabbit. You would not be able to discern

the duck or the rabbit from this drawing, if you had not had past experience with looking at a either a duck or a rabbit. Therefore, Jastrow proves Nietzche's point. It is absolutely necessary to use past experiences and past knowledge to see and to interpret an object or drawing. We did this in class when we did the perception test. We were show a series of stairs, and asked to discern which point was the highest.

7. What does Abel mean when he says, "to perceive is to solve a problem"?
When Able says, "to perceive is to solve a problem" he actually means that as you perceive something, you are solving a problem. Our brains and eyes determine how objects look from different distances or from different angles/ different points of view. They also determine how objects look under different light, which therefore shows us which to which we attribute a constant size, shape and color. Therefore, to perceive is to solve a problem.

8. What is the role of social conditioning in determining how things 'naturally look'?
Social conditioning determines how things naturally look. Every society and country has a different idea of how things look; such as how all Chinese people look. To us, living in a western society, they all look alike, but, in an Eastern society, they can clearly determine the that every person looks different. In addition, they might even think that we all look alike.

9. What is significant about the Durer rhinoceros story?  How was the influence of 'convention' influence perspective drawing?
The story or Durer's rhinoceros illustrates the importance of tradition in determining representation even when the artist is looking directly at a model. The influence of convention influences perspective drawing because convention may be so strong that it completely changes a person's perspective, which will then alter the person's drawing.

11. What does Abel mean when he writes, "believing is seeing"?  How may this point be seen in the study of the natural versus the social sciences?
The influence of belief, or hypothesis, on perception is so striking that one might also say, not that seeing is believing, but that believing is seeing. Basically, he means to say that just because you see something you doesn't mean that you believe it, but by believing in something, you are able to see everything.

Reading reflection on "What every baby knows"

• Comment on
1. the meaning of "inferential learning mechanisms"
2. the changes that occur over the first three years of life (instinctual ability to "distinguish human faces and voices", "understanding that people's actions, emotions and perceptions can be directed at a separate external world", and "understanding that people have different beliefs")
3. the assumptions and implications of the article quote, "Babies are like little scientists continually overthrowing theories that no longer fit the evidence."

1. Inferential learning mechanisms are the initial theories that newborn babies have when they first come into the world. These inferential learning mechanisms change those initial ideas with the knowledge that they gain over the first three years of their lives.
2. With in the first three years of life, babies are able to develop the ability to recognize certain people's faces and voices and match that face or voice to a name. In addition, they are also able to develop their own opinions about people and the world around them. Within these first few years, they are constantly learning and adapting. To begin with, over time, babies become able to tell who their mothers and fathers are by seeing a face or by hearing a voice. This is due to the fact that most young children spend an excessive amount of time with their parents within the first three years of their lives. Because of this, babies adapt and learn who they can trust and who they feel safe with based on the amount of time that they spend with that person, and how that person treats them. For example, mothers and fathers are very caring, nurturing, and kind in the eyes of their babies. Therefore, they are more opt to trust their parents and to develop positive opinions about them. However, this is also true for the opposite situation. If a baby is placed in a harsher environment for a long period of time, in which people are mean to them, they are opt to develop negative thoughts and opinions about them. This brings me to my next point; babies develop opinions based on their situations and the people/world around them. For example, as I said before, if a young child, under the age of three, goes to a park and falls down and hurts themselves, the child is most likely going to develop a negative opinion about that park because they fell down and hurt themselves. Now, on the other hand, if a child were to go to a park and played a lot, and got ice cream, they are going to develop a positive opinion about that particular park.
3. This description about babies is actually quite accurate. Within the first three years of their lives, babies are constantly learning and constantly developing new ideas and new opinions about the world. As they continue to grow and to learn, these ideas an opinions change. This is because babies gather new evidence and new knowledge about the world that helps them understand how things work. Therefore, in a way, babies are very similar to scientists because they are constantly overthrowing theories that no longer fit the evidence. The only difference is that babies are developing theories and opinions about the world and about people around them, while scientists are developing theories about science. 

Thin Slices

11-5-12

What is meant by "reading thin slices"?

"Reading thin slices" is basically saying how sometimes too much pressure is placed on appearances that individuals are blind to everything else. For example, Warren Harding was thought of as a very attractive man. Most people thought that he should become president because, "he looked like he would make a good president". Basically, people only take a quick glance at something and jump to conclusions instead of looking more deeply below the surface.

Explain intuitive expertise.

Intuitive expertise is basically how people rely on their "gut feelings" or their intuition to make decisions and to develop opinions. Intuitive Expertise can sometimes be a good thing, but can also be a bad thing. For example, if you are out on the street at night and a group of tall dark men start walking toward you, you are most likely going to be scared. Therefore, you are most likely to rely on you intuitive expertise, and you are going to judge the situation as a dangerous one, and you are going to run away to protect yourself. However, sometimes intuitive expertise can get you into more trouble that you started with. For example, President Bush had the "gut feeling" or the intuitive expertise that the US needed to go to war with Iraq. He felt in his gut that something was wrong and that we needed to do something about it. However, his intuitive expertise turned out to be incorrect, and ended up starting a war that was not even necessary in the first place. In conclusion, intuitive expertise can be a good tool to to help you, but you must use is carefully and wisely.

What are the perils of relying on intuition?

There are several perils of relying on intuition. Sometimes, you can develope the intutiion that something is true/ false or that something is wrong/ alright, and you end up being wrong. Sometimes, when you rely on your intuition, you jump to conclusions and therefore, you might jump to the wrong conclusion. Relying on intuition can destroy a friendship, ruin a career, and much more. It is better to thinnk things through before developing an opinion.

Is intuition a fair justification for mistakes made in decision-making? Give reasons and examples to support your answer
Yes, intuition is a fair justification for mistakes that are made in decision-making. Sometimes, when you rely on your intuition and you jump to the wrong clonclusions about something or about someone, and therefore when it comes time to make decisions about something, you make mistakes because you jumped to the wrong conclusions at the start. For example, if you meet someone for the first time, and your intuition tells you that this person is bad news, when it comes time for you to make a decision on what you want to do about the person, you might make a mistake and make the wrong decision.

Hidden Assumptions

10-26-12

1. How did you react to your results? Were you surprised? Angry or hurt? Pleased? Discuss what you felt and why you think you felt what you did.

After the first test, the skin tone test, I was a little bit surprised with my results. I did not expect them at all, and I am slightly disappointed with them. My results were that I have a slight preference for people with lighter skin than I have to people with darker skin. I disagree with these results and was surprised because I believe that I treat everyone equally.

After the second test, the age test, I was not at all surprised with my results. First of all, when I first decided to take the test, I knew what my results would be before I even started. This is due to the fact that I work with and teach kids on a regular basis, and I do not spend an excessive amount of time with senior citizens. However, I do not have anything against the older generation, I just prefer to work with children.

1. Do you believe that your test results say something about you that you should pay attention to? Why or why not?

After taking the first test, I think that there is something that I should pay attention to. The fact that the results of a test stated that I subconsciously tend to prefer lighter skinned people to darker skinned people is very surprising to me. In the future, I am going to try harder to treat every one the Sam, no matter what color their skin is.    

The second test also opened my eyes to something that I should away attention to. Although I am more associated with younger children, and I prefer to spend my time with them, I also do not want to be disrespectful to the older generation. In the future, I am going to try harder to spend more time with older individuals.

1. Do you think that these tests are valid? When you first saw your results, did you question or accept the tests' validity?

I personally am not sure that these tests were extremely valid. First of all, they were very confusing, and when they were switched up, I couldn't really think straight. In addition, these tests would also be very difficult for someone who was dyslexic, and therefore, they would not be valid at all. However, on the other hand, the tests were also designed to be difficult so that your subconscious could take over and answer truthfully without being filtered through your personal thoughts and opinions. Therefore, one could argue that these tests were quite valid because they caused you to stop thinking about everything and to answer truthfully.

1. Give examples of the cultural messages that may support attitudes linking a dominant group in your nation or culture with "good" or "superior" attributes and a subordinate group with "bad" or "inferior" ones. Are these attitudes generalizations that can be called stereotypes? How can generalizations be distinguished from stereotypes?

An example of a cultural message that links a dominant group in society to a superior attribute would be how celebrities and the rest of the general public put a huge value on appearances, and how people are not accepted into society unless they have a "good" appearance. An example of a cultural message that links a subordinate group to inferior attributes would be how other groups of people from other countries who live in the US think that all Americans are obese slobs. These attitudes are definitely generalizations that could be considered stereotypes. It is very difficult to distinguish the two from one another, and I personally do not think that there is a way to tell the two apart.

1. If some of our consciously held beliefs, attitudes, and values are undermined by what Gladwell, another writer we'll be reading soon...calls 'rapid cognition' (others call this 'intuitive thinking' or even 'gut feelings'), what do you suggest we can do to combat jumping to (false) conclusions?

One way in which we can prevent ourselves from jumping to false conclusions would be to stop and think things all the way through before developing an opinion about them. Instead of relying on our gut instincts for everything, we should take the time to examine the matter more closely and more thoroughly so that we can see all the different possible conclusions, before quickly selecting a false one. 

What is TOK? Why TOK?

What is TOK?
TOK stands for Theory of Knowledge. It is the the in depth exploration of how the mind works, how we know what we know, why we know what we know, and how we learn.

Why TOK?
We study TOK in order to become better learners and in order to become better, well-rounded, IB students, and finally to become life-long learners. TOK helps us become better individuals who are curious about the world and who continue to learn throughout life. We also study TOK to accept other people's thoughts and opinions while still holding onto to our own and still being open to new ideas.

Self as a Knower

            From my own perspective, I personally believe that one WOK (Way of knowing) and one AOK (Area of knowing) that I feel most strongly reflect myself go as follows: One WOK that I connect with the most is Sense Perception. I learn the most effectively when I see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. I am more of a visual person and I learn better when I can see things written out or when I watch something happen. Basically, I learn more effectively when I am personally experiencing something.
            One AOK which I feel I am the most comfortable with is the Arts. I am very passionate about the arts. I especially love theatre and art. I personally feel that the best way to learn is through art; whether it is by acting something out or whether it is by creating a piece of artwork that expresses the knowledge that we are learning or that we are going to learn while creating it. For me, I learn more and remember things better when I learn them in a more artistic form.
            So far as an IB learner, learning through sense perception has been very effective for me. By using each of my senses I have been able to learn much more effectively because I am personally experiencing things and therefore, I am learning more and I am taking note of everything around me. I am also learning more effectively by creating posters (and other pieces of art) and by expressing myself through theatre. I learn by hearing what other people tell me and by seeing what I am learning or reading what I am learning. Sense Perception is the best way for me to learn because I am physically experiencing what I am learning, and therefore I am learning much more effectively through personal experience.

http://www.dashe.com/blog/subject-matter-experts/instructional-design-lessons-from-the-world-of-theatre

http://www.arttherapy-co.org/ataco/