ENGLISH 110J • Professor Tanaka • FALL 2001
CT
MODEL 2
BASIC
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
<CAUTION: These handouts must be used in conjunction with class discussion and other course materials. They are not intended to be stand-alone explanations.>
A. GENERAL FEATURES
IN CLASS LECTURE, WE PRESENTED A SIMPLE MODEL FOR CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS FOLLOWING THIS OUTLINE.
1) CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS ASSUMES THAT CONCEPTS "CONTROL, DETERMINE OR INFLUENCE" OUR ABILITY TO INTERPRET EXPERIENCE
2) WE MAY "SEE" BUT WE CAN'T PROCESS WHAT WE SEE UNLESS WE HAVE CONCEPTS THAT ENABLE US TO MAKE SENSE OF SENSORY OR COGNITIVE INPUTS.
3) A WORKING DEFINITION: A CONCEPT IS A SET OF "RULES" THAT WE CAN USE TO EXPLAIN HOW ONE TURNS VARIOUS KINDS OF INPUTS INTO OUTPUTS OR INTERPRETATIONS.
INPUT —> [CONCEPTS] —> OUTPUT
4) OF COURSE, AS I HAVE BEEN CONSTANTLY REMINDING YOU, THE EXPLANATIONS GENERATED BY CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS ARE MODEL EXPLANATIONS, I.E. THEY ARE NOT PRESENTED AS "TRUE" OR "ACCURATE" ANALYSES OF COMPLEX NEUROLOGICAL PROCESSES, I.E., THEY DO NOT DESCRIBE HOW OUR BRAINS REALLY WORK.
5) HOWEVER, THEY CAN, HOPEFULLY, HELP US TO GET AN INTUITIVE SENSE OF HOW HUMAN MINDS DO GO ABOUT PROCESSING DATA AND SOLVING PROBLEMS.
6) IN THIS MODEL, WE ASSUME THAT LANGUAGE IS THE KEY TO THE ACQUISITION AND MASTERY OF CONCEPTS. HENCE, ANALYZING THE WAY AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON USES LANGUAGE CAN OFTEN ALLOW US TO "MAP OUT" HIS OR HER CONCEPTUAL CAPABILITIES.
B. EXAMPLES
1) WE USED THE LEGO PROBLEM TO ILLUSTRATE HOW PRIMARY CONCEPTS, SUCH AS, COLOR, SIZE AND SHAPE, GIVE US THE LOGICAL TOOLS TO INTERPRET THE WORLD. WE IMAGINED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE NOT TO HAVE SUCH BASIC CONCEPTS AS COLOR AND SHAPE AND WHAT THIS WOULD MEAN TO OUR SENSE OF REALITY.
8) WE DID THE DUCK AND THE RABBIT "GESTALT PUZZLE" PROBLEM AS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW CONCEPTS SHAPE OUR PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCE. WE ALSO INTRODUCED THE IDEA OF FIRST AND SECOND LEVEL CONCEPTS. <SECOND LEVEL CONCEPTS ARE CONCEPTS USED FOR TALKING ABOUT CONCEPTS, WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE.>
9) THREE UPSHOTS OF THESE EXAMPLES THAT WE NOTED WERE:
a) IT IS EASIER TO STICK TO OLD CONCEPTS THAN IT IS TO LEARN OR CREATE NEW ONES. PART OF THE REASON FOR THIS DIFFICULTY IS THAT MOST CONCEPTS COME IN CLUSTERS OR INTERCONNECTED SETS. IN ADDITION, MANY CONCEPTS ARE HIERARCHICAL AND ARE EITHER STATIC OR DYNAMIC. HENCE, CHANGING ONE CONCEPT ALWAYS ENTAILS CHANGING A VAST NETWORK OR ARRAY OF CONCEPTS.
b) THE DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY IN CHANGING A CONCEPT IS DETERMINED BY WHAT KIND OF CHANGE IS INVOLVED. THE SIMPLEST CHANGES TO ACCOMMODATE ARE THOSE THAT TAKE PLACE WITHIN A SPECIFIC SYSTEM. ON THE OTHER HAND, CHANGING THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS VERY DIFFICULT.
c) FOR EXAMPLE, IN THIS COUNTRY, WE IDENTIFY PERSONS BY A FAMILY NAME AND A GIVEN NAME OR TWO. A PERSON CAN CHANGE EITHER TYPE OF NAME, E.G., IT HAS BEEN TRADITIONAL IN THIS CULTURE FOR A WOMAN TO CHANGE TO HER HUSBAND’S FAMILY NAME WHEN SHE IS MARRIED. HOWEVER, AT BIRTH EVERYONE IS IDENTIFIED BY AT LEAST TWO NAMES, EVEN IF THEIR IDENTITY IS NOT CERTAIN <”JANE DOE”> OR IF THE NAMES ARE REDUNDANT <”SAMOA SAMOA”>. HOWEVER, IN SOME CONTEMPORARY CULTURES, PERSONS ARE IDENTIFIED BY ONE AND ONLY ONE NAME. AND, UNLIKE ‘PRINCE,’ THIS IS NOT A CHOICE. THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE TWO NAMES TO IDENTIFY A PERSON OF THEIR CULTURE.
d) IN BEGINNING CHEMISTRY, YOU ARE TAUGHT TO CLASSIFY CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES BY THE STRENGTH OF THE BOND THAT UNITES THE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF THE SUBSTANCE TOGETHER. THE WEAKEST BONDS ARE FOUND IN SIMPLE MIXTURES. THEN COMES COMPOUNDS, MOLECULES, AND FINALLY THE PURE ATOMIC FORMS OF EACH ELEMENT (AND EVEN MORE BASIC THAN ATOMS IS THE WORLD OF QUARKS).
e) THE BASIC RULE IS THAT THE STRONGER THE BOND, THE MORE DIFFICULT IT IS TO MAKE A CHANGE. ALSO, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE MORE FUNDAMENTAL OR BASIC A SUBSTANCE IS, THE STRONGER THE BONDS THAT HOLD ITS PARTS TOGETHER AND ALSO THE BONDS IT HAS TO OTHER SUBSTANCES. HENCE, THE MORE DIFFICULT THEY ARE TO CHANGE.
f) GETTING BACK TO CONCEPTS, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO ANALYZE LET ALONE CHANGE OUR PRIMARY CONCEPTUAL ASSUMPTIONS, SINCE THEY ARE THE VERY "EYES" THROUGH WHICH WE SEE AND EXPERIENCE OUR WORLD TO BEGIN WITH. THEY ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS WE DO NOT QUESTION BECAUSE WE ARE USUALLY NOT EVEN AWARE THAT THEY ARE THERE.
g) HOWEVER, ONCE WE DO BEGIN TO QUESTION THEM, THE WORLD AS WE HAD PREVIOUSLY KNOWN IT, OUR "BASE REALITY," CHANGES. WE SUGGESTED THAT ONE OF THE PURPOSES OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION IS: TO HELP US TO IDENTIFY AND UNDERSTAND THE BASE ASSUMPTIONS AND CONCEPTS THAT MAKE UP OUR WORLD, AND TO CHANGE OR MODIFY THEM IF NECESSARY. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON IS THAT WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE THERE TO BEGIN WITH.
SUMMARY
1) THE ABILITY TO USE A CONCEPT IS A "SKILL" THAT FOR MOST PEOPLE REQUIRES PRACTICE, TRIAL AND ERROR, REPETITION, PERSISTENCE, PATIENCE, THE CAREFUL OBSERVATION OF OTHERS, AN ATTENTION TO DETAIL, ETC. IN ORDER TO ATTAIN PROFICIENCY. THE ABILITY TO ANALYZE AND MODIFY A CONCEPT THAT WE HAVE ALREADY INTEGRATED INTO OUR THOUGHT PATTERNS IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT.
2)
IN ORDER TO DO CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS, YOU NEED TWO THINGS.
FIRST,
YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE WILL. YOU HAVE
TO HAVE THE DESIRE TO ANALYZE AND EXAMINE THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR FROM A CONCEPTUAL
POINT OF VIEW. THE REASON YOU MUST
BE MOTIVATED IS THAT IT IS NOT A SET OF FACTS THAT YOU MEMORIZE.
IT IS A PROCESS OR PROCEDURE THAT REQUIRES AS MUCH ART AS SCIENCE.
SECOND, YOU NEED THE TOOLS. THE TOOLS ARE ACTUALLY SIMPLE.
YOU NEED A SIMPLE MODEL FOR CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS AND A BASIC SET OF
CRITICAL THINKING RULES AND OPERATIONS.
3) AT THE END OF OUR CLASS DISCUSSION, WE CONCLUDED THAT OBSERVING LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR BECOMES THE EASIEST WAY FOR US TO IDENTIFY AND ANALYZE THE CONCEPTUAL ASSUMPTIONS OF OTHERS.
4) BY THE SAME TOKEN, IT IS ALSO THE EASIEST WAY FOR US TO IDENTIFY OUR OWN ASSUMPTIONS AS WELL. HENCE, OBSERVING AND ANALYZING THE WAY WE USE LANGUAGE <WHAT WE SAY IN CORRELATION TO WHAT WE DO> CAN BECOME A MIRROR IN WHICH WE ARE ABLE TO SEE OUR "OWN FACES."
5) IT FOLLOWS THAT THE WIDER THE RANGE OF LANGUAGE USE WE GET FROM A PERSON <INCLUDING OURSELVES>, THE DEEPER AND BROADER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THAT PERSON'S INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS AND ASSUMPTIONS AS WELL AS HIS OR HER CONCEPTUAL REPERTORY AND ABILITIES.
6) ONE OF THE PRIMARY PURPOSES OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN THIS COURSE IS TO HELP YOU TO SEE AND EVALUATE YOURSELVES AS PROBLEM-SOLVERS. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO OBSERVE YOURSELVES AS YOU MOVE THOUGH THE PROCESS OF ADDRESSING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERING THEM. THIS WILL BE A PRIMARY FOCUS OF OUR ATTENTION DURING THE SEMESTER.
7) FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF HOW YOU RESPOND TO A PROBLEM IN GRAMMAR. IF YOUR ANSWER DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE ANSWER IN YOUR TEXT BOOK, DO YOU:
a) LOOK AT THE ANSWER KEY AGAIN, CHANGE YOUR ANSWER AND THEN GO ON. AS LONG AS YOU GET A B OR BETTER ON THE QUIZ, IT’S ALL GOOD.
b) REREAD THE QUESTION AS WELL AS THE TEXT TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR ANSWER DIFFERS FROM THAT OF THE TEXT.
c) ASSUME THAT YOUR ANSWER IS ‘CORRECT’ BECAUSE IT WAS THE ANSWER YOU WERE TAUGHT BY A PREVIOUS PROFESSOR WHOM YOU LIKED A WHOLE LOT. IN WHICH CASE YOU DECIDE TO IGNORE THE BOOK’S ANSWERS ANY TIME THEY DISAGREE WITH YOURS.
d) BECOME ANGRY THAT YOU HAVE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAMMAR IN THE FIRST PLACE, FOR GRAMMAR IS IN THE HEART AND THE HEART HAS ITS OWN REASONS THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED.
e) EXPLAIN YOUR MISTAKE AS A ‘CLERICAL ERROR.’ YOU ACTUALLY HAD THE BOOK’S ANSWER BUT MARKED YOUR QUIZ WRONG BECAUSE YOU WERE IN A HURRY. <THIS IS CALLED THE “HEY, I KNEW THAT!!” RESPONSE.>
f) EXPLAIN YOUR MISTAKE AS CAUSED BY FACTORS BEYOND YOUR IMMEDIATE CONTROL, E.G., ENGLISH IS NOT YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE, YOUR PREVIOUS ENGLISH TEACHERS ARE EITHER DRUG ADDICTS OR INCOMPETENT, YOU ARE A PEOPLE PERSON, YOU COME FROM ARBUCKLE, YOUR DOG DIED, ETC.
g) BECOME DEPRESSED BECAUSE YOU FEEL YOU ARE TOO DUMB TO EVER FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BOOK IS ASKING FOR.
h) ALL OF THE ABOVE.
i) NONE OF THE ABOVE.
j) SOME OF THE ABOVE.
k) ONE OF THE ABOVE EXCLUDING (h) and (i).
l) OTHER.