Assigment 1... Snooping Around...

The Johari Window

　

	Known to Self	Not Known to Self
Known to Others	Open	Blind
Not Known to Others	Hidden	Unknown

The Johari Window was named after the first names combined of both its inventors.
This “Window” Helps to try and explain to an extent human interaction in these quadrants.
Open Quadrant- explains things that I know about myself and that others know, both factual and emotional.
Blind Quadrant- this shows what others know about me, that I am unconscious of.
Hidden Quadrant- this represents what I know about myself but others do not. Unless you tell them.
Unknown Quadrant- This is when we do not know something about ourselves and neither does anybody else.
This Model of Human Interaction will come in useful when attempting to decipher different things about my partnet for assignment one. In particular I think the Open and Blind Quadrants.
However I feel that with “snooping” within other people’s possession’s however it might give you a slight insight, it will not tell you everything there is to know about this person. And even with making assumptions about certain objects that you spy you can be way off what your instinct thinks about this person.
Looking at people’s things and trying to figure out what they are like, is entirely guess work. However I think that it will become clearer when you discuss with the person about certain objects to help give you a better insight, as there are stories that may go along with some objects.
Such as some things might be borrowed, gifts, sentimental and more.
Evidence in pictures may be tainted as people will on show what they want you to see, not necessarily unloading any proper truths about themselves as they may find this uncomfortable to with a complete stranger.
　

On the shelf there appears to be what looks like a weight loss book/leaflet. Which suggests to me that the said person is trying to lose weight the now most probably as it is lying out or it is maybe going to get used in the near future.
The weight loss also could highlight conscientiousness when it comes to body image.
However it should be taken into consideration that they might be living with another person or that this item may have been given by a friend or it is meant to be given to friend.
Semi-skimmed milk (rather than say its more fattening counter part whole milk) is lying out on the counter would help support the weight loss hypothesis for the said person to be a present subject matter.
However the disorganised manner in which it appears letters are stored may contradict when I say that this person is conscientious.
If this person is conscientious person I would imagine that they would wear dark colours (possibly mood reflecting) and would dress casually.
Red teapot perhaps a gift? Does not blend in with the rest of the utensils in the kitchen. Or maybe it has sentimental value?
The piece of cake contradicts what I mentioned early what I said about weight loss.
No much of an organisational system when it comes to stationary, which also contradicts my conscientious claim.
Bright colours of things stored on the shelf could suggest maybe that this is a fun person to be around, if these are her possessions and not someone else’s.
　
　

Phone on the wall, suggests she likes to communicate with people, which could suggest that she is an extroverted person.
Calendar on the wall suggests that she likes to keep her affairs and events organised and in order.
Ornament on the wall could suggests that she is into crafts and arts.
　
　

Here I notice the kettle to be quite a prominent part of the kitchen adjacent to a cup of tea/cofee, so I am assuming that she often enjoys a good cuppa.
Also an assortment of chopping boards suggest that she enjoys to cook, or possible she wishes to learn to cook better.
The red pot on the stove also hints towards the idea of enjoying cooking.
Appliance plugged in and switched on at the wall, when not in use, could imply that she is not particularly environmentally friendly. Or it may just be a coincidence that she forgot or didn’t realise to switch them off before taking the picture.
Celebrations hiding high above on top of the unit, tells me that she likes chocolate but is trying not to give into temptation and is maybe thinking whilst putting them up there, out of sight out of mind.
Putting them in a hard to reach place may also support the weight loss idea.
　

The cupboard at the far side appears to be filled with books. Since we are in a kitchen and going by the evidence of some of the cooking utensils, I would say that some of it is filled with cookery books which would support my proposition that she is wanting to learn how to cook or to cook better.
A clean sink area could imply that she prides her self with cleanliness and hygiene there is also what looks to be a disinfectant bottle beside the microwave which would support this.
Outside the window, it appears there is some sort of green house which may mean that she is into gardening and plants. There are plants also on the window sill which would aid in defend this argument.
　
　
　
　
　
　

This image here indicates that she likes plants.
I think that the grinder and bowl also assist with the proposal that she likes to cook.
Piece of metal jewellery discarded on the window sill may suggest a lot or little meaning. As if she was washing up she may of taken it off to prevent it from damage or it has just been abandoned and forgotten about.
　
After meeting up with my partner and discussing our findings, I found it rather interesting how we both managed to make some pretty good assumptions about each other.
For instance, I found it hard to pin point in the photo’s why but I guessed that she did not live alone and it turns out that she lives with her husband and two kids.
I thought that one of her personality traits would be that she was disorganised and was the kind of person that would leave things to the last minute, this was also correct.
I also made an assumption based on the fact I thought in ways she seemed like a conscientious person and that she would be dressed in dull colours, when we met up she was wearing grey and I asked her how she would usually dress and dull colours were her answer.
In addition I guessed that she maybe had cook books in her cupboard I was spot on.
Moreover I assumed that the red teapot was given as a gift as it did not blend in with the rest of the kitchen equipment too well, and that turned out to be a precise hypothesis.
However some things like the cake on the counter surrounded by various different cooking utensils gave me the signal that she maybe interested in baking but it turns out that it was her birthday cake instead.
Furthermore I thought given the amount of plants on the window sill and the greenhouse outside would indicate that she was a keen gardener. It turns out that the plants she was given was a present and she keeps it for sentimental value.
Overall I would say that I have learned that from these picture you can learn a lot about a person from their belongings and their environment. Although I do think that it would be very hard to given an one hundred percent accurate reading about a person, as I have found out from this exercise, it is a guessing game until you get to know more about the person.

　

Language Authority....

In today's lecture J.B was talking about how people use their own language when talking about a subject matter which seems to give them a sense of authority. In other words "Look I know the terminolgy about this subject which means I know what I am talking about and you don't, which means I know best" or something to that extent.
But in actual fact, us designers, whilst it is good for us to have all this terminology when communicating with likewise designers. Its not a good way with communicating with clients as they do not share the same knowlegde of the subject and see designs in a different way from us.
So when handling a client it is better to talk "their" language in terms of design from their point of view, rather than our own.

Who gets to decide....

When something is compiled, for example a book of the 100 most greatest designs, whom gets to decide what designs are good and what are bad? Where do they establish these opinions?
The "whom" part is very important because is a list like this more valuable when one person is compiling it, or does it just make that list valid to that said person. Or is it better when a variety of people are making it up, but then, comprimise is involved would that make it less value to others in the group. People are bound to disagree with some of the decisions made, making it not a very accurate list.
I dont believe that one persons opinion should be valued more than anybody elses.
So when it comes to these "lists" I think people should just make them up for yourself, that way it has alot more meaning for you.
Personally, when it comes to establishing where peoples opinions originate and form from I think it has to do with numerous amounts of enviromental factors such as the people they are surrounded by, what someone else has wrote on a particular subject matter, how they are brought up etc.
But I also believe that these opinions can be changed as whether most of us would like to admit it or not we are influenced by what is done and said around us consciously and subconsciously.

Professional email address...

I think the great J.B was right in friday's lecture about getting a professional email address, which is why I think that I need to get one. Especially as my current one is sarahpxox@msn.com which isnt exactly "professional" but I think its alot better than something like BigAndBouncy@msn.com which is fine for an email address to have between friends but perhaps maybe not collegues and potential employers.

Assignment 4

Assignment 4

By Sarah Pitcairn

The main purpose of the first chapter in the book Identities, Groups and Social Issues was to research into how conformity arises, why we conform, how groups can change people, looking at conformity in different social context and glimpsing at why we label ourselves. The findings that are presented in this book are all supported by psychology experiments. This shows that what is being discussed is purely evidence based.
One of the key aspects is the extent of conformity which depends on several varying factors such as task and ambiguity, group structure, individual differences and cultural expectations. An experiment which helps to show that these individual difference can make a difference and this was carried out by a psychologist named Asch. He got a group of male students and asked them to judge three unequal lines on a card which matched up to the initial line. Each member of the group was asked in turn and to declare his opinion openly with the others. A series of this experiment was carried out changing some of the variables such as having only one naïve person in the group and having the rest confederates that were deliberately giving the wrong answer to see if it would influence and pressure the naïve participant. The findings were that in over twelve trials two thirds of the responses were correct despite the pressure of the group. It was also found that some of the subjects may have unconsciously changed their perception of the line to fit in with the other members of the group.
The consequences of conforming in relation to authority and obedience can be quite severe, it is scary how many people would obey orders to give someone what was thought to be an an electric shock (but in actual fact, it was all pretence and it was an actor that they could hear through a wall screaming in pain) if they got a question wrong (Milgram), you would like to think that you would not be one of these people that would hurt someone else like that, to the point of potentially killing them. So in circumstances like these conforming and following orders can be a rather dangerous scenario, in some cases.
Another key aspect is when the subject matter of labelling ourselves is reviewed. It appears that we tend to stereotype ourselves when associated with particular groups and then hereby give ourselves the characteristics therefore related to the group in question. When a person starts to place themselves in these groups, psychologically, their self-esteem becomes wrapped up in the fate of the group. Turner (1982) has also claimed that when people identify with their group they begin a process which he calls “depersonalization” and “self-stereotyping”. It is probably more common to think of stereotyping others given what you would associate with them given their group and what characteristics are linked with that group, ignoring that people can be individual and not have the conceptualized qualities that it is thought that they are meant to have.
To conclude this chapter of this book, it presents several questions about group dynamics. The first focus was mainly on influence/conformity that took place within small groups and the reasoning behind the behaviour that had been examined. It can also be that different conditions can have different influences on people. Changing the variables in some of the experiments can have quite an impact upon the results. It is also apparent that conformity is mainly reliant upon individual differences which is then in turn interlinked slightly with our own preconceptions of ourselves, also known as our identity.
Chapter One of the book Identity and Difference highlights mainly some of these aspects: why does identity matter?, Is there a crisis of identity, histories and social changes that affect identity and how politics affiliate with identity. The main concept discussed throughout is how is difference gauged when in relation to identity. Difference is normally has negative conations along side it being associated with exclusion and being classed as some sort of “outsider”, however, this is not always the case. However it appears whether consciously or unconsciously we need these said identities.
Observing what is said about subjectivity shows us why we are attached to particular identities, as defining subjectivity involves “ the conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions which constitute out sense of ‘who we are’ and the feelings which are brought to different positions in culture.”. Our identity is our own way and others of labelling who we are, what we are associated with and this is usually based on a few or a couple of our said characteristics.
Identity can play a very important role in our lives as it is how others perceive us. For example in a poem “The Adoption Papers” by Jackie Kay 1991 which is about a couple wanting to adopt but finding it very hard to get accepted at many agencies for various reasons apart from one agency that changed its mind after the poet mentioned the race of the baby “oh you know we don’t mind the colour. Just like that, the waiting was over.” The reason the race made a difference as to whether or not they got the baby was given that there was cultural assumptions made about the white couple. The agencies mostly, just presumed that a white couple would only want to adopt a a white baby. The rest of the poem continues to describe the white-mother-to-be preparing to be seen in a positive maternal light as to impress the adoption agency. It shows that we acknowledge what is known as good parental traits and if they had failed to comply with this, the consequences would of probably been that they would not have got given a baby, regardless of their and the baby’s race. Identity, if it is not the desired one, can have unfortunate implications such as this, so this suggests that we need to change our identity accordingly to the given situation.
Both chapters of each book are interlinked. However, one is concentrated more towards exploring the aspect of conformity and the other investigates identity and differences. Both however are similar still as they are both evidence based when writing about the subject matter. It appears that both of these sources seem to support each other in some sense, however varying on their particular focus. The evidence in both books does not contradict each other but instead helps to support each others theories, this is because, the evidence given is based solely on experimental results, so the points being made are factual rather than someone just giving their opinion.
It seems that conformity of participants in an experiment can vary depending on the variables, but the most important variable to take into consideration when examining conformity is individual difference, as the role that it plays can determine the outcome.
The main point made about identity is that it is us, that give us our own identity as we stereotype ourselves depending on what groups we are in and what characteristics are associated with the said groups. Meaning that our identity is determined by where we belong, whether it be in culture, politics or social groups. Identity is marked by difference and difference in the book is explored by looking at binary oppositions. This shows us that difference can marked by what you are not. An example given in the book of binary oppositions is high/low. It gives us complete opposites and that is sometimes how difference is mark in relation to identity.
Furthermore in the poem “The Adoption Papers“, helps to give us an insight on just how important the role of identity can play in reality and how being associate with the right things can affect you. After all this poem demonstrates, that if the mother had not been associate with aspects of a maternal identity, the adoption agency was not going to let them adopt, but since they discovered that the poet had these traits, it seems that she was going to be allowed to adopt a baby.
To take this research further, I want to try and discover if there is anything that can be done to prevent conformity and if so is it linked with identity. So to summarise would this mean that we have to change who we are in order not to conform? And are we able to do so? Are we able to change the groups that we associate ourselves with?
　
　
　
　
　
Kay. J, The Adoption Papers, 1991.
Wetherall. M, Identities Groups and Social Issues, 1996, Open University.
Woodward.K, Identity and Difference, 1997, Open University.

Being a Dickhead's Cool

 I find it quite disturbing the fact that so many people find this video to be  true and aspire to be like it! What a joke....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.... my arse....

The snow, yet beautiful to look at is such an inconvience to our everyday life. It disrupts pretty much everything and with most our lives have to grind to hault as noone can travel to and from work, some people can't even get simple everyday things like bread or milk as with some villages people are struggling to get in and out of it.. However the snowflakes that I prefer are the paper ones that me and my flatmate made and have stuck to our flat window. There is no inconvience with this kind of snowflake.