Personality and Attitutes - Essay Example

All humans have unique personalities which make every person different. The exact way how humans create their thoughts is a bit of a mystery, but scientists have been studying the human memory process for decades and recently there have been some major advances in the field. On October 19, 2006 scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute discovered a gene which has great influence over the memory performance in humans (Perry, 2006). “Not only did the scientist show the Kibra gene was associated with memory performance, but they also showed the gene is turned on in the hippocampus, a brain region know to be critical to memory function” (Perry, 2006). There are other factors other than genetics that affect the learning process in humans. The learning process in humans is affected by many sociological factors such as childhood experiences, person’s attitude towards learning, personality, cultural background, quality of education among others. The personality of a person can be defined as a characteristic way of thinking, feeling and behaving (Britannica, 2007). Even in the most genetically similar people, twins, a difference in personality can be noticed easily by an observer. Sigmund Freud explained that are personality are affected by the interaction of three parts of the brain, the id, the ego and the superego (Boeree, 2006). In order to learn more about the mental process of humans a subject was selected for an interview. The interview was performed by the researcher in a closed room to avoid any visual or hearing stimuli. We will call our subject John. The entire nine question interview is illustrated below. Do you obtain information more easily by seeing a behavior being performed or do you prefer to read how the behavior is being performed? I prefer to see a behavior being performed. I feel that seeing something gives me a better understanding of how it works. Reading sometimes includes unnecessary theory which does not help me at all. I’m a practical person. Seeing something is more exciting and I will get more motivated from a visual presentation. I remember back in 8th grade when I did a biology experiment in science class. We had to take out the heart out of a frog. When I read the instruction I did not understand how to do the procedure. Now when the teacher showed me and rest of the class how to do the procedure, I clearly understood him. Do you prefer to study in a library, or at home with background noises? Most of the time I am not able to study in my home. I get too distracted with television, the internet and video games at my house. I usually go to the library to study to get away from the distractions and to because it is a nice quiet place. I don’t like to seat at single cubicles in the library. When I do so I fall asleep. I prefer the big tables in which other students seat to study. If I see other studying at the same time I get more motivated to do so myself. Have you take the Myers Briggs test? If so report your results Yes I have taken personality test based on the Myers Briggs approach. The test results were that I have introverted intuitive thinking judging (INTJ) type personality. After taking the test I searched the internet to see what this meant. “INTJ are perfectionist, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving anything that takes their interest” (Heiss, 2005). John after learning about your results, did you think they were accurate? Why or why not? I originally thought before taking this test that it could not possible give me a good description of my personality. I was so wrong. The test was very accurate in describing my personality. The INTJ personality is right on target. This personality type says that I have this out the world type confidence, that I’m very creative and can achieve anything I put my mind into. It mentions that I have some problems finding romance and relationships. INTJ are people with good interpersonal skills that care a lot about the problems and situations other face. This is all true about me. Which experiences contributed most in the development of your personality? I believe that my teenage years determine and developed my personality a lot. In school I noticed that I wanted to help people. I build some close friendships with other kids, strong bonds such as the ones I have with my family. Another life changing experience was my first year in college. It helped me build character and resistance to an unknown environment. It gave me the perspective of life being a continuing journey in which I will always continue to learn new things everyday. Are you self-monitoring in regards to your attitudes? How or how not? I do not monitor my attitudes at all. I always go with the flow. Any attitude I have towards a certain situation or things comes naturally. I don’t think I try to adjust my attitudes in any way. How do you feel about your strongest influence on your attitudes? The way my parents raised me is the factor that influence my particular attitudes the most. I think everyone’s attitudes are influenced a lot by the way they were raised. Without noticing I have build over time a lot attitudes and opinions similar to my parent’s perspectives. What role do you feel a person’s race, gender or ethnicity plays when performing an evaluation on their personality and attitudes? Women and men have totally different attitudes towards everything. I think we are from completely different worlds. A person’s race influences lot in a person’s personality and attitudes due self-imposed segmentation we create for ourselves among races in our society. Ethnicity also plays a role due to the traditions and cultural factors. Out of these three factors the one that has the most influenced in our personalities and attitudes is gender. Do you feel better when doing task when intrinsically motivated or extrinsically? I feel better when I’m doing a task which was intrinsically motivated. If it came from within I must have been motivated to do the task. I think extrinsically motivated things are forced upon us, so we are not as please about realizing these types of tasks. References Britannica.com (2007). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from http://www.britannica.com Boeree, G. (2006). Personality Theories. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from http://webspace.ship.edu Heiss, M. (2005). Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging. Retrieved May 30, 2007 from http://typelogic.com/intj.html Perry, G. (2006). Research team identifies human ‘memory gene’. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from http://www.eurekalert.org Read More