Personal Profile Interview - Behaviorism

Personal Profile Interview - Behaviorism Psychology

The learning and memory process seems so innate and natural that, even after an extended study of that process, it can be difficult to imagine how two people can learn in very different ways. However, after interviewing my best friend about her learning style, memory, and cognitive development, I came to realize that even two similar people can learn and develop in very different ways. For example, we expressed different preferences in our learning styles, had different results on the Myers Briggs test, felt that different types of experiences contributed the most to our personalities, and had different perspectives on whether or not we were good at self-monitoring our behaviors. As a result, the interview revealed that two people who seem similar on the surface can have very different cognitive approaches.

For example, both of us considered ourselves visual learners who performed tasks better if we actually performed them, rather than merely observing how the task was performed. In that way, we were both hands-on learners. However, our learning styles differed if we were not given the option of performing the task. While she felt that she could learn a new task better by seeing the task observed, I felt that I could learn a new task better by reading about how to perform that task. The reason I felt more comfortable reading about the task is that I could read the information as many times as necessary until I felt like I had a full understanding of the task. In addition, while she likes studying in a place with absolute quiet, I prefer to study in a place with some background noise. This surprised both of us; because we had spent time studying and doing homework together, generally in noisy and distracting environments. Both of us stated that we did not like distractions when we studied. Therefore, we not only discovered that our active study habits were very different, but that we had not been optimizing our studying when we studied together in the past. This should come as no surprise, because "most people find that outside distractions interfere with both learning and remembering." (Morris & Maisto, 2005, Memory, p.246).

We were also surprised to discover that our results on the Myers Briggs personality inventory were different, because people oftentimes describe as "two peas in a pod." However, while my friend is an INTJ, I am an ENFP. Those results suggest that we approach some things in a very different manner. My friend is more likely to be introverted and display logic to the outside world, while I am more likely to be extroverted and perceived as more touchy-feely. The odd thing is that both of us felt that our results were accurate, though my friend stated that she felt that others might not agree with her results. Both of us appear to be extroverts, but we learned that the distinction between introvert and extrovert is not based on someone's social skills, but on someone's preferences.

Because we have different life experiences, it came as no surprise that we felt that different life experiences contributed the most to the development of our personalities.

My friend's parents divorced when she was four years old. Her father quickly remarried and began a second family. After that, her mother had a hard time collecting child support and her father played a very limited role in her life. She felt that contributed to her personality development. Though it was not part of the interview process, my experience as her friend leads me to believe that she learned some of her family dynamic by observation. "Social learning theory focuses on the extent to which we learn not just from firsthand experience...but also from watching what happens to other people or by hearing about something." (Morris & Maisto, 2005, Learning, p.216). Though she did not personally experience a romantic betrayal by a significant other, my friend learned about that experience from her mother and is very wary that someone might cheat on her. Likewise, I feel that the loss of a childhood friend in a car wreck had a tremendous impact on me and that I was influenced by social learning. He was killed by a drunk driver, and I have never driven while intoxicated and have even called the police to stop friends from driving drunk, which is, unfortunately, an unusual thing for people to do.

Another interesting development was that we felt differently about our degrees of self-monitoring. Most people would describe my friend as having a lot of self-control. However, she felt that she was not always successful at self-monitoring, and that when she permitted bad attitudes to break through that they could have a devastating impact on her. In contrast, I reported that I was a good self-monitor. Although this theory is not tested, I believe that the reason she is perceived as highly controlled by others is that she is engaging in behaviors with the goal of limiting the likelihood that bad attitudes will sneak in.

Both of us felt that our families were the strongest influence on our attitudes. Obviously, because her father was an absentee parent, my friend described her mother as her strongest influence. However, she also spent considerable time around her maternal grandparents, so she considered them to be a strong influence as well. I also felt as if my family, specifically my parents and siblings, had a strong influence on my family life. We both felt like culture can contribute to a person's personality and attitudes. We both seemed to focus on how individual expectations can defy cultural expectations, perhaps because we were both raised in an environment where we were expected to exceed expectations.

Appendix a: Interview

1. Do you consider yourself an audio learner or a visual learner?

Interviewee: Visual

My answer: Visual

2. Do you remember a task better if you have actually performed it yourself?

Interviewee: Yes

My answer: Yes

3. Do you remember information more accurately if you observe behavior being performed or if you read how a behavior is performed?

Interviewee: Observe

My answer: Read

4. Do you prefer studying in a quiet place, such as the library, or in a place with background noise and distractions?

Interviewee: I prefer to study in a quiet place in my home, where I can control all distractions.

My answer: I prefer to study where there is some background noise, like the television, but without the distractions of other people.

5. Have you taken the Myers Briggs Test?

Interviewee: Yes

My answer: Yes

6. What were your results on the Myers Briggs test?

Interviewee: INTJ

My answer: ENFP

7. Did you feel as if your Myers Briggs Test results were accurate? Why or why not?

Interviewee: Yes, but many people think of me as an extrovert, so others question my results. I also understand that ENTJs are more likely to be considered judgmental by others, and I am perceived as judgmental.

My answer: Yes, because the results not only accurately describe my strengths, but also my weaknesses.

8. Which experiences in your life do you feel contributed the most to the development of your personality?

Interviewee: My parents' divorce when I was young, followed by my father's subsequent remarriage and starting a new family, basically abandoning me and my siblings, contributed greatly to the development of my personality.