Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Bit of Most Excellent News
I have an interview at the Social/Personality Psychology Ph.D program at the City University of New York. It's on March 4th. I'm excited and a bit nervous. More on this as it develops...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Working Weekend
So I spent the weekend working on entering the survey answers from over 150 undergraduate participants for my thesis. As glamorous as that may sound, it took about 10 hours of entering numbers in data cells in a program similar to Excel, so yeah... But I have run some tests and it looks promising.
I haven't taken time to talk of my thesis in detail, so I'll do that now during this long-deserved break. My current research involves Construal Level theory. It's a social-cognitive theory that argues that when an object or event is far away in time or in spatial distance, we tend to construe it on high level, abstract terms, whereas objects and events that are closer in time or distance we construe in low-level, concrete terms. Think of a wedding for example. When the wedding is far off, we worry about the decorations, the location, basically the ideal aspects of the event. However, when the wedding is a week away, we worry about possible personal conflicts that might occur, the seating charts, or completing the ceremony without hiccup.
Now, my research takes Construal Level theory and attempts to find implications it may have on Self-Perception theory. This theory argues that people infer their opinions and attitudes about events and ideals from previous behavior. My hypothesis is that, given that people infer their attitudes from past behavior and that people generally believe that predicted behaviors further in the future are more indicative of their true "self", the effects of construal level on self perception will be more evident in a far construal than in a near construal.
I know, it sounds terribly scientific. Yet, I've been fortunate enough to work under the man that proposed Construal Level theory. That's been nice. So, yeah, I would like to find implications of Construal level on prejudice and stereotyping, as well as politics and election cycles.
After that boring lot, everything else has been great! I have a week-long position at a privately owned research group. It might turn in to a permanent position, depending on the Ph.D application results.
I haven't taken time to talk of my thesis in detail, so I'll do that now during this long-deserved break. My current research involves Construal Level theory. It's a social-cognitive theory that argues that when an object or event is far away in time or in spatial distance, we tend to construe it on high level, abstract terms, whereas objects and events that are closer in time or distance we construe in low-level, concrete terms. Think of a wedding for example. When the wedding is far off, we worry about the decorations, the location, basically the ideal aspects of the event. However, when the wedding is a week away, we worry about possible personal conflicts that might occur, the seating charts, or completing the ceremony without hiccup.
Now, my research takes Construal Level theory and attempts to find implications it may have on Self-Perception theory. This theory argues that people infer their opinions and attitudes about events and ideals from previous behavior. My hypothesis is that, given that people infer their attitudes from past behavior and that people generally believe that predicted behaviors further in the future are more indicative of their true "self", the effects of construal level on self perception will be more evident in a far construal than in a near construal.
I know, it sounds terribly scientific. Yet, I've been fortunate enough to work under the man that proposed Construal Level theory. That's been nice. So, yeah, I would like to find implications of Construal level on prejudice and stereotyping, as well as politics and election cycles.
After that boring lot, everything else has been great! I have a week-long position at a privately owned research group. It might turn in to a permanent position, depending on the Ph.D application results.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Semester Begins
The semester has started off slow, although I do not expect it to be that way for too long. My classes are pretty much electives only, so my primary focus will be on my thesis. Hopefully all will be done by May!
In other news, Claire's 26th birthday was yesterday and we celebrated by catching a comedy show in Times Square. Some of you might know the act: Tim and Eric's Awesome Show. The humor is not for all and it rarely makes sense, but it can be really infectious. Here's a couple clips from their Adult Swim television show featuring Dr. Steve Brule.
As for music, check out these two bands. Department of Eagles have a pretty unique sound. It may not seem like much at first and maybe a little weird, but their melodies have a way of getting into your head. The other, Deerhunter, is a little more traditional rock. I liken them to Sonic Youth, although Claire begs to differ.
Well, I hope those embeds work. That's all for the moment.
In other news, Claire's 26th birthday was yesterday and we celebrated by catching a comedy show in Times Square. Some of you might know the act: Tim and Eric's Awesome Show. The humor is not for all and it rarely makes sense, but it can be really infectious. Here's a couple clips from their Adult Swim television show featuring Dr. Steve Brule.
As for music, check out these two bands. Department of Eagles have a pretty unique sound. It may not seem like much at first and maybe a little weird, but their melodies have a way of getting into your head. The other, Deerhunter, is a little more traditional rock. I liken them to Sonic Youth, although Claire begs to differ.
Well, I hope those embeds work. That's all for the moment.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The First
As the title indicates, this is the first. I plan to use this blog to maintain contact with extended family members as well as post interesting articles I stumble upon in my scientific pursuits. Also, bands. That's right, music.
If I post it here, it is worth a listen. If something is good enough to pique the interest of a half-deaf audiophile such as myself, then I think it merits attention.
In closing, cheers and I look forward to some fun.
If I post it here, it is worth a listen. If something is good enough to pique the interest of a half-deaf audiophile such as myself, then I think it merits attention.
In closing, cheers and I look forward to some fun.
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