Personal schemata according to psychologists are the mental representations or guidelines which help us to identify and rearrange incoming information.
Many a times, these schemata are not constant. They are subject to changes as we acquire new information each time.
For example, today when I was reading news at yahoo.com, there was an article stating that Singapore is not safe from Tsunamis. Actually, even a Tsunami which is not as big as the one on December 2004 can cause more damage because it many of the coastal lines are scattered with infrastructure! This made me rearrange my schema that Singapore is safe from Tsunamis and alike.
Similarly, this morning when I was reading the newspaper, I came to realize that the dairy products which are generally perceived to be good for health are actually carcinogens due to the preservatives added in them. This again changed my personal schema and I had to rearrange my view points as i got to learn about this.
In today's world, it is not easy to live with a constant line of thought, as new information is revealed, we are forced to rearrange our schemata and make place for the information which may completely disregard my previous schema.
8 comments:
Hey,
I completely agree with you. Its in a way the same with all the research done in almost any field of study these days. Take for example, research in the field of genetics, as scientists find out new things about our genes, they are forced to reevaluate the original idea (or schemata) and make modification to it if necessary. Hence as we learn new thing we make modifications to our existing knowledge, and this in turn might change or modify our perspective about certain things.
Yaa, even I agree with you and modern rhetoric. As we learn new things, our perceptions do change over time and we have to get used to adjusting to new ideas and not stick to the old ones.
yaa guys thanks for commenting and sharing your ideas ...... well i do know that you cant cling on to an idea coz if you do, then you would be a social outcast as everyone would have moved ahead, rearranged their schemas and you would be stuck in the past where no one agrees with you!!!!!
wow! tsunami in Singapore! Thats scary!
ha ha! yaa i know i had heard that singapore is safe from most of the natural disasters! well gotta be more careful!!!!
Hey about the milk product in China, have you heard that two of the families have sued the companies because their only few months old children died due to contaminated milk powder? well serves them right i guess!
Really? Wow didn’t know that! Ya I guess serves them right!
So true! How can these people be so irresponsible to do such an act? Latest I heard was that the Chinese government has called back all the products made before September to get them tested for melamine!
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