Mini test 1 - 2

02 Psychology

Listen to a discussion in a psychology class.

W: Let’s see. OK, let’s continue where we left off concerning how humans form their understanding of experiences.

To prepare for the discussion, I had you read about Rom Harre’s idea of personal theories. Who can give the class a brief overview of the reading?

M: Well, Harre was a social construction theorist who thought that personal theories are central to the human experience.

But, uh, can you explain a little more about what you mean when you say personal theories?

W: I think it helps if you consider it like this: the ways that people perceive themselves form the foundation for how they perceive the environment outside of themselves. Is that clear?

So their interpretations of the world are constantly being influenced by the systems that they’ve created, systems that help people organize life events according to how they view themselves.

These systems are called personal theories. So, there were a couple of factors that Harre thought were part of how people learn to understand themselves and the world around them. Based on the reading, can you mention any of those?

M: Um, well, I remember that one of the factors is the notion of person. That’s the visible aspect of the individual.

So I guess the notion of person is how people want others to view them, or uh, yeah, how you want other people to perceive you.

W: Good. And what was the other factor in the development of personal theories?

M: Isn’t there also the notion of self?

W: Could you expand a little more on that?

M: Uh, I’ll try… but to be honest, I’m not really sure I completely get this. But anyway, from what I understand, the notion of self is the privately held belief system that individuals have about themselves.

W: You’re totally right. So, just to clarify, the sense of person is public whereas the sense of self is private.

Are we all clear on everything so far?

Great, then let’s move on. You’ll probably remember from your reading that Harre made a clear distinction between the social and personal aspect of the person to show how the two form a whole.

Now, my question for you all is, what did Harre have to say about the role of the community in the formation of a sense of self?

M: Usually, in communities, an individual is conceived as fitting into a particular category or role, such as worker, parent, authority figure, and so it goes that the person’s social being is seen as embodying this role.

W: Well put.

However, within the context of this role, individuals create their own sense of self in order to have a private being.

So let’s say your role right now in your community is that you’re a student.

Within that role, you define yourself as a diligent student in this way, you are creating your own private sense of self.

Or, as a member of the community you have a public self, which is embodied in a role. However, there are personal aspects of that role, which people create as part of the role, but it’s a more private sense of self.

OK, now, according to Harre, are people born with a sense of self?

M: No, in fact he made a big deal out of explaining that the self and the person are not innate; but rather, they are constructed through social experiences.

W: That’s it−right. And that’s a key point that we’ll talk about next seven

7) What are the speakers mainly discussing?

8) What aspect of understanding human experiences does the class discuss?

9) What are personal theories?

10) Which of the following statements is true according to Harre’s theory?

11) Which of the following has to do with a person’s private sense of self?

12) Where does the idea of self originate?