Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Busy Busy Busy for Thesis

    I just want to pass by just to tell everybody that I still have many things to post. However, I am too preoccupied with my thesis as of the moment so I can't post that often. If I will have the time and inspiration, I think I will be posting some topics. Hope you'll still continue reading my blog!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

          This theory is one of my favorites. Hehehe... I don't know but I find this a bit bizarre yet it explains a lot about human personality.

          According to Freud, the libido, or the sex drive, energy, desire, whatever you may call it, causes us to seek pleasure in different parts of our body during the different stages of our development. Every stage can be characterized by being sensitive in an erogenous zone, or the part of the body the gives pleasure. If an individual develops normally through a certain stage, and have been successful in resolving conflict, little libido remains in each stage. However, if one failed in resolving the conflict in a certain stage, he/she will have the tendency to fixate, or to stay or focus on that certain stage of development.

There are five stages of psychosexual development:

Stage I: Oral Stage
          In this stage, the pleasure giving part is the mouth. Infants, for example, derive pleasure from their sucking reflex. This is important in developing trust and comfort between the infant and the caregiver.
The primary conflict is said to be the "weaning process". The issue is for the infant to become dependent or less dependent. If unresolved, he/she may have problems relating to dependency, aggression or gullibility. Individuals will tend to be fixated in this stage if there oral needs were not met. This will project in their later life as overeating, nail biting, smoking, fellatio/cunnilingus(wehehehe), etc.
Guilty uhuh?!...hehehehe...

Stage II: Anal Stage
          Erogenous zone is elimination of body wastes, both defecation and bladder elimination. The conflict is in toilet training and the resolution lies on how the parents handle the situation, whether they will take it positively or negatively.
          Too lenient parents will lead to anal expulsive personality characterized by being messy, wasteful, destructive, coprophilia(ewww), etc. On the other hand, too strict parent will lead to anal retentive personality characterized by obsession with organization, neatness and frugality.
Is this your room?...hehehehe...

Stage III: Phallic Stage
          The genitals are the pleasure giving parts in this stage as children become aware of their bodies and discover the difference between males and females.
This is Electra...she killed her mother to avenge her father...
          Boys experience Oedipus complex (the desire to posses the mother and replace the father) and girls experience Electra complex (sees mother as a rival of the father's attention). According to Freud, conflict among women is never fully resolved. This is the reason why women seek empowerment and equality with men. Of course, this is not acceptable on the part of women and have resulted to some controversy.
This is Oedipus... he killed his father and married his mother...
Stage IV: Latency Stage
          The erogenous zone in this stage is said to be latent or calm. This is because the libido is directed into school work, hobbies and activities with peer.
Play....play...play...

Stage V: Genital Stage
          The libido is now directed towards the other person. Its role is also for the purpose of reproduction. However, the drives are more developed since they allow symbolic gratification and are not only limited to physical gratification. Symbolic gratification includes love relationship and family, or acceptance of responsibility associated with adulthood.
Mwahuggsz!!!

How can these be applied in teaching and learning? You can read my post here:


images retrieved via google search...for those authors of specific websites where I got these images, please contact me if you want your photos to be removed...thanks...God Bless!!! hehehe

Friday, July 27, 2012

LET Tips: Information Processing Theory

1. Teacher Max wanted his students to be able to retain each day's lesson. Which of the following will least contribute to this?
A. Grouping ideas
B. Detailed notes
C. Providing hand outs
D. Mnemonic devices

2. Which is the first important step for the information to be processed?
A. Rehearsal
B. Sensory Register
C. Attention
D. Organization

3. Teacher Xena believes that in order to make her students learn effectively, the knowledge about short and long term memory is important. She adheres to which theory?
A. Information Processing
B. Operant Conditioning
C. Subsumption
D. Connectionism

4. Teacher Betty applies her knowledge on information processing among her learners. She can be considered as a/an,
A. Idealist
B. Behaviorist
C. Constructivist
D. Cognitivist

5. Learners can hold 3 to 7 chunks of information in the short term memory, what does this imply?
A. It is important to gain the learners' attention.
B. Teach the students to note important ideas.
C. Repeat and rehearse the information.
D. Play memory games.

Answer Key: 1. B; 2. C; 3. A; 4. D; 5. B

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Applications: Information Processing Theory

          Information Processing Theory I must say, is one of those theories who can really be applied in teaching and learning. Sometimes, teachers are bothered about how will they make their students retain the topics that they teach. Through this theory, teachers may be able to present information based on how the mind works and to achieve long term learning.

1. Attention is very important. Get the class's attention before starting a lesson. You can have drills, energizers or routine signals. Also, you can move around the room while discussing or adjust the volume of your voice to gain learners' attention.

2. Relate prior knowledge to new learning. Learners can retain more the information in which they are familiar or can relate with. This is the reason why we have to review last day's lesson or relate the topic to our learners' experiences.

3. Learners' process 3 chunks of information the least. This means that we have to highlight important information. Teachers actually do this when they try to write on the chalkboard important words in their discussion or when they provide handouts.

4. Organize the information being presented. You can do inductive(specific-general)/deductive(general-specific) logic or simple-complex sequence. Graphic organizers can be used to clearly present these.

5. Teach the learners how to categorize, classify or group information. Try to look for similarities or differences among the concepts.

6. Utilize mnemonic device or memory aids like acronyms, mental imagery, keyword method, etc.

7. Drills, reviews, exercised that will provide repetition for learning are encouraged.

Information Processing Theory

     Information Processing Theory explains acquisition of knowledge in a step-by-step manner. Sometimes, this theory is said to be analogous to how a computer works. What is good about this theory is its being organized in presenting how information comes to our mind. It gives us a picture or a diagram about how we learn things and processes that take place inside our head.



The Three Primary Processes
I. Encoding. This when the information in our environment is being sensed, perceived or attended to.

II. Storage. After we encode the information, it is stored for either a short or long period of time depending on how we process or encode the said information.

III. Retrieval. The stored information is retrieved when needed in a certain task.

The Three Main Stages of Information Processing

1. Sensory Memory
          Human body perceives the environment through the senses. These sensations travel to the brain as electrical impulses or synapses. However, these electrical impulses or synapses must be translated in such a way that the brain can understand. This process is called transduction. Sensory Memory, the first main stage of information processing is affiliated with the transduction of energy.
In this stage, our mind holds the information for extremely brief period of time, since it receives a great amount of information more than it can hold or perceive. This is the reason why attention is very important on this stage. In order for the information to proceed to the next stage, that information must be attended to, or must be familiarized by the thinker. In addition, the duration is different among the senses, like auditory memory is more persistent than visual memory.

2. Short-Term Memory
          This memory is also called working memory because this refers to what we are thinking in a certain moment of time. This stage is created if we attend to an external information, a thought that popped in our head, or both.
The capacity of short term memory is said to be 7 plus-minus 2. This means that STM can hold 5 to 9 chunks or bits of information. The duration of the information while in the STM is dependent on how we organize or practice/repeat that information. Thus, organization and repetition, plus chunking or grouping, can help the information proceed to the next stage, that is the Long-Term Memory.

3. Long-Term Memory
          This is the final stage of memory wherein the information can be stored permanently until needed. Its capacity is unlimited and its duration is indefinite.


          Take note however that these stages are not like that of machines that once turned on, will do the process 1st step, 2nd step, 3rd step, so on and so forth. The processes are said to be controlled and regulated by an executive processing system, more popularly known as metacognition. Metacognition, in simpler terms, is "thinking about thinking"

photo credit: http://www.stephpalmer.co.uk/Cognitive/infomodel.gif