Recent Changes

1. Are emotions shared or personal knowledge?
As you enter the room you will be given one emotion from the list below.

5. You will follow the last group. Explain to the class how the story of Elliot {article about Elliot.docx} has also been used to support Damasio's theories. You must present yours as a role-play.
6. Outline the main points of this article on economics and emotion from page 169 of the Lagemaat Theory of Knowledge textbook {Emotion Chapter from Lagemaat.pdf} . You must do this only with flip chart paper
a film with appropriate photos or pictures to go withusing
5. Writing a TOK essay about emotion
“There can be no knowledge without emotion…until we have felt the force of the knowledge, it is not ours.” (adapted from Arnold Bennet) Discuss this vision of the relationship between knowledge and emotion

Examples from the IB of presentation topics.docx {Examples from the IB of presentation topics.docx}
TK PPD form for 2015 {TK PPD form for 2015.pdf}
{TKPPD.pdf}
4. Markscheme
{TOK presentation assessment instrument.PNG}

How sure do we need to be about a pattern before we accept it as a basis for knowledge?
In both Psychology and the natural sciences, we need to be very certain about a pattern before accepting it as a basis for knowledge. The most prominent manner in which we acquire new knowledge in these areas of knowledge is by recognizing and establishing patterns from data, which is then explained using theories. In this case, patterns are the actual definition of the acquisition of knowledge, and therefore it is essential that we are certain of their nature and any anomalies before it is considered to be evidence. In Psychology it is even more important than in science, because the consequences of using an unproven pattern as knowledge has so much more extreme consequences for society. For example, if an experiment is conducted and the results show an unconfirmed pattern in the behavior of mentally unstable children, and this data is considered as a basis for knowledge, many children who show theses behaviors might be misdiagnosed with a form of mental instability. However, if this is a wrong diagnosis, the parents and children may be traumatized for life, and will face many more difficulties than if this event had not occurred. Therefore, one must be extremely certain before considering a pattern as a basis for knowledge, especially in Psychology.
Are patterns recognizedrecognised in the upon it?
Psychology is a human science which studies behaviour by looking for biological, behavioural and socio-cultural patterns to explain the cause for patterns of behaviour. Mental disorders are diagnosed on the grounds that someone has been behaving in accordance to a pattern and has symptoms which confirm cognitive malfunction. When a potential patient consults a psychologist, the psychologist will examine their behavioural trends and symptoms in order to look for the patterns which may denote a disorder. The active process of gathering empirical data is similar to that of the natural sciences, in that psychologists try to collect objectively testable explanations for behaviour. However, a major problem with psychology is the inner-aspect quality of the mind which is studied; apart from physical symptoms of mental disorders, psychologists must form theories and models of how the mind works in order to understand it. This leaves a huge ability to impose patterns on the world, rather than simply recognise them. The problem of confirmation bias is a prime example of researchers’ tendency to find the patterns they want to find. Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret information in a way which confirms one’s prior expectations. For example, a person may consult a psychologist about symptoms of sadness and lack of desire to live. A psychiatrist may diagnose them with clinical depression because of an intuitive hypothesis, when really the patient is suffering from the grief of losing a family member. This is an example of patterns of behaviour being imposed on someone rather than the proper diagnosis of a mental disorder. From this example we can discuss the factors which seem to lead to the imposition of patterns. It seems that, the greater the room for interpretation, the greater the risk of imposing inexistent patterns upon the world. You cannot impose patterns upon the knowledge area of Maths.The natural sciences allow some room for interpretative errors; the human sciences leave even more room for interpretation. However, I believe that, as we progress in the methods of gathering knowledge, we will be able to prevent ourselves from imposing patterns on the world and be free to recognize the existent ones.
Under what circumstances should patterns and anomalies take precedence in the construction of knowledge?
“Chance only favors the prepared mind”, Scientist Louis Pasteur once said, and it was by the anomaly he found in his observations in which the cultures of chicken cholera lost their aggressive pathogenic characteristics but retained their weak ones over generations that lead to the vaccine for chicken cholera. Patterns and anomalies therefore do not take precedence in all areas of knowledge, however they take more precedence in areas of knowledge that do not require subjectivity. This would include science, despite the fact that sciences like biology, physics or chemistry vary; they still maintain the constant in which patterns need to be established in order to evaluate data and gain results. For example the subject field of biology often uses quantitative data in order to establish results that are finite with a limited number of variables and thus allows scientists to use the patterns gained from this data to establish correlations and tests and analyses. Although biology is objective it can also be subjective in the instance of the analysis of clinical disease such as depression often caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the body, one must accept that these circumstances are extremely complex and therefore one cannot always establish finite or quantitative data from which patterns are derived. Lastly anomalies opposed to patterns are not always crucial in establishing knowledge, however they can further the knowledge gained from patterns by establishing exceptions to rules and introducing new rules which was established through the example of Pasteur.
What forms do patterns assume in different areas of knowledge?
reproductive pattern. Twins or triplets are anotherAnother observable pattern in nature is the example of patterns in biology. Atidentical twins. Though at first glance we may perceive twins to be singularly impossible to identify,indistinguishable, with close make up.

How sure do we need to be about a pattern before we accept it as a basis for knowledge?
In both Psychology and the natural sciences, we need to be very certain about a pattern before accepting it as a basis for knowledge. The most prominent manner in which we acquire new knowledge in these areas of knowledge is by recognizing and establishing patterns from data, which is then explained using theories. In this case, patterns are the actual definition of the acquisition of knowledge, and therefore it is essential that we are certain of their nature and any anomalies before it is considered to be evidence. In Psychology it is even more important than in science, because the consequences of using an unproven pattern as knowledge has so much more extreme consequences for society. For example, if an experiment is conducted and the results show an unconfirmed pattern in the behavior of mentally unstable children, and this data is considered as a basis for knowledge, many children who show theses behaviors might be misdiagnosed with a form of mental instability. However, if this is a wrong diagnosis, the parents and children may be traumatized for life, and will face many more difficulties than if this event had not occurred. Therefore, one must be extremely certain before considering a pattern as a basis for knowledge, especially in Psychology.
Are patterns recognisedrecognized in the upon it?
Psychology is a human science which studies behaviour by looking for biological, behavioural and socio-cultural patterns to explain the cause for patterns of behaviour. Mental disorders are diagnosed on the grounds that someone has been behaving in accordance to a pattern and has symptoms which confirm cognitive malfunction. When a potential patient consults a psychologist, the psychologist will examine their behavioural trends and symptoms in order to look for the patterns which may denote a disorder. The active process of gathering empirical data is similar to that of the natural sciences, in that psychologists try to collect objectively testable explanations for behaviour. However, a major problem with psychology is the inner-aspect quality of the mind which is studied; apart from physical symptoms of mental disorders, psychologists must form theories and models of how the mind works in order to understand it. This leaves a huge ability to impose patterns on the world, rather than simply recognise them. The problem of confirmation bias is a prime example of researchers’ tendency to find the patterns they want to find. Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret information in a way which confirms one’s prior expectations. For example, a person may consult a psychologist about symptoms of sadness and lack of desire to live. A psychiatrist may diagnose them with clinical depression because of an intuitive hypothesis, when really the patient is suffering from the grief of losing a family member. This is an example of patterns of behaviour being imposed on someone rather than the proper diagnosis of a mental disorder. From this example we can discuss the factors which seem to lead to the imposition of patterns. It seems that, the greater the room for interpretation, the greater the risk of imposing inexistent patterns upon the world. You cannot impose patterns upon the knowledge area of Maths.The natural sciences allow some room for interpretative errors; the human sciences leave even more room for interpretation. However, I believe that, as we progress in the methods of gathering knowledge, we will be able to prevent ourselves from imposing patterns on the world and be free to recognize the existent ones.
Under what circumstances should patterns and anomalies take precedence in the construction of knowledge?