When your brain lies to you...

A few chapters back in our Psychology textbook (Chapter 9, maybe?) we learned about how human memory works and why it sometimes doesn't work as well as we'd like it to. Anyway, I read an article today about memory ,perception , and how they sometimes work togethor to trick us into thinking we saw something that didn't happen.
Both human memory and perception are very easy to fool. When we look at something, our brains have to figure out what we're seeing. For example, if we see a house that looks smaller than a person, it's most likely because the house is farther away from us and not because the house really is smaller than that person. At the same time, our memory can only store a limited number of memories. Our brains use logic to piece togethor what we don't remember. Sometimes we mess up.
Helene Intraub and Christopher A. Dickinson of the University of Delaware did a study where they flashed pictures briefly to people, and then showed the pictures again, except that they were either zoomed out, zoomed in, or the same. The researchers then asked the subjects if the second picture was the same or zoomed in or zoomed out. It turns out that everyone thought the second picture was zoomed in even if it was exactly the same. That means people created false memories, and get this: they did so in less than a second!



http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=perception-and-memory

Personality Tests

For the Jung Typology test, I'm an ENFJ. That means I am :
slightly expressed extravert
moderately expressed intuitive personality
moderately expressed feeling personality
moderately expressed judging personality
I guess moderation is a good thing, and I think it is pretty accurate, although I don't really think I'm an extravert. The really odd thing is that I've take this test 3 times and received 3 different results. As a result, I don't quite trust online personality tests... :(

I also took an online attraction test. After I rated 40 or so pictures, the analysis stated that I wasn't really into women who are counter-cultural (rebellious or mischevious) or overly seductive. That seems about right; people who dress up all in black or like to show off a lot of skin aren't very attractive in my book, though most of them are still nice people. I was surprised that the site thought I didn't value cheerfulness, since I try to be optimistic and I don't like people who complain a whole lot or are gloomy. The test also said that I strongly prefer intelligent women and somewhat prefer trendy people. The first part was no surprise; I like smart people and I find people like Paris Hilton very unattractive. I'm also not that into fashion, so I don't care if someone is wearing the season's hottest fashions or not, since I can't tell. I do like women who are well-groomed, and feminine, so I thought the second score should be a little higher.

I also tooke the Big 5 test. My scores were
Expressive Style 2.80
Interpersonal Style 4.60
Work Style 2.90
Emotional Style 4.00
Intellectual Style 4.00
I thought this test was pretty accurate. I like social gatherings but don't want to be in the lime light. I do consider myself kind and I don't like to get into conflicts with others. I don't think I am as confident and self-assured as the test suggested, though I do agree that I don't usually carry grudges. The intellectual style description fits me the best:

"People who score similar to you on Intellectual Style tend to resist orders, and prefer to break new ground and challenge tradition at every turn. You may be creative, imaginative, and inquisitive about your world. You are probably willing to explore all sides of the most complicated and controversial issues, and may be most frustrated by the slow pace of change."

Next I took an Emotional Profile Test. I don't really agree with what it came up with. For some reason it thought that I was burdened with enormous guilt and that I am not very attentive.
However, it did get it right that I'm a bit shy and I am not very fearful. On the whole, I didn't like this test . The questions were kept repeating themselves, and they were often vauge. ("Do you agree: Are you sleepy?" Right now? During Mr. Sager's lecture? As I sit here typing at 3:20 P.M.on a Saturday?)

In a quiz about religion, I discovered that religion plays an important role in my life, but not as important as I thought it would. I received a score 0f 4.83 out of 7. I was disappointed that the test did not provide a more in-depth analysis of my results, so I don't really know what 4.83 means.
My EQ is 45.

Just for fun, I also wanted to take a test to measure how obsessive compulsive I am, but the link didn't work.... :(

Personality Disorders

Dear Bob,
I thought going to college would allow me to start life over but it seems just like home! People are all so mean. There are hundreds of bullies here. On the first day in Biology, the teacher asked a question about photosynthesis and I knew the answer. I waved my hand, but the professor picked someone else to answer! She obviously must hate me, but why? Why is she ignoring me? What did I do to deserve this? Then I heard some girls giggling behind me. What's their problem? I'm already humiliated; do they really have to pile on?!
In the afternoon, a cute girl told me that she liked my shirt. For a moment I thought she really meant it, but then I realized that she must really be making fun of me. No one ever complemented my shirt before. Maybe she's trying to draw attention to my ugliness.
And why haven't you responded to the e-mail that I sent you yesterday? I know that you don't really like me, but could you just have some mercy and pretend to like me as friend?
Michael
Note: This is not really how I think... :)