cognitive theory Flashcards
Cognitive theory is interested in…
Individual perspective, not an objective reality
- How we anticipate/predict things to happen
What is a personal construct?
- A concept used to interpret, or construe the world (schema)
→ People automatically use constructs to categorize events
→ A person anticipates events by observing patterns and regularities
→ People notice that some events share characteristics that distinguish them from other events
→ It is this construing of a similarity and a contrast that leads to the formation of a construct
There are 3 elements necessary to form a construct, what are they?
- 2 Similar constructs and 1 contrasting
- Two of the elements must be perceived as similar to each other; the third element must be perceived as different from those two (contrasting)
→ The way in which two elements are construed to be similar forms the similarity pole
→ The way in which they are contrasted with the third element forms the contrast pole
→ Example: observing two people helping someone and a third hurting someone could lead to the construct kind/cruel, with kindness forming the similarity pole and cruel the contrast pole
True or false: When it comes to personal constructs, we needs both poles (similar and contrasting) for either of them to actually mean anything.
True: Being kind doesn’t hold it’s meaning without having the cruel pole
True or false: Differences in construct systems often contribute to failures in communication
True
What were the results of research by Simpson, Large, & O’Brien (2004) on personal constructs and interpersonal communication?
- They aimed to see if difficulties in communication could result when groups fail to recognize that they have many common constructs
- 2 groups:
1) clinical health professionals responsible for patient care
2) hospital managers responsible for business operations
→ Groups asked to enumerate the characteristics ideal for a clinician and for a manager
→ i.e., what they had in common
→ Groups then observed each other’s personal construct lists
→ Previously opposed groups learned they held many constructs in common, which facilitated subsequent discussions
→ focusing on what you have in common can help with communication
What are the 2 types of constructs?
1) Verbal construct: can be expressed in words, it is explicit
2) Preverbal construct: one that is used even though the person has no words to express it
→ (a distinction Freudians would call conscious versus unconscious)
What is a submerged construct? Give an example of this.
- When one end of a bipolar construct is not available for verbalization, it is characterized as being submerged (unconscious)
→ because we can’t have one pole without the other, but we can’t express the other, we submerge it
→ p.ex: if a person does not want to acknowledge that there are bad people, they submerge the concept of bad people, while acknowledging the construct of good people
Each construct has a ___ of convenience and a ___ of convenience.
Range; focus
What is a construct’s range of convenience?
-
All those events for which application of the construct is useful
→ we’re only going to use the construct within its range of convenience
→ some constructs may have wider range of convenience
→ p.ex: you can categorize things as either good or bad to a wide range of things, it’s very broad
What is a construct’s focus of convenience?
- The particular events for which application of the construct would be maximally useful, where is it most useful
→ p.ex: when having a surgery, you will focus more on whether your nurse is caring or not, but they may not be as important in other contexts
Caring/uncaring might apply to people in all situations where help is given (___), but would be particularly applicable in situations where special sensitivity and effort are required (___)
Range; focus
What is a core construct? Give an example of this.
- Basic to a person’s functioning; can be changed only with great consequences for the rest of the construct system
→ Example: If you have strong beliefs about religion and weaker beliefs about art
→ Your conception of “sinful–holy” acts may be a core personal construct that is virtually unchangeable
What is a peripheral construct? Give an example of this.
- Much less basic than a core construct; can be altered without serious modification of the core structure
→ Example: If you have strong beliefs about religion and weaker beliefs about art
→ Your conception of “creative–uncreative” art may be a peripheral construct that easily can be changed
What is the REP test? How is it used?
- The role construct repertory test: Kelly’s test to determine the constructs used by a person, the relationships among constructs, and how the constructs are applied to specific people
- 2 steps
1) Role title test
→ In the first step, people asked to indicate the names of specific people who fill various roles in their life (e.g., mother, father, a teacher you liked)
2) Elicitation of constructs
→ Examiner then picks three specific figures from the list and asks the test-taker to indicate how two of these people are alike and are different from the third
→ the researcher is forcing the participant to pull out constructs about these people
→ Example: Mother, Father, and Liked Teacher
→ Person might say that Father and Liked Teacher are similar and are different from Mother
→ Might then say that Father and Liked Teacher are similar in that they are “outgoing,” and different from Mother who is “shy”
→ One learns that the person has, in their head, the construct “shy–outgoing”
→ With each presentation of a new triad, the test-taker generates a construct
