On becoming a personal scientist : interactive computer programs for developing personal models of the world

• Main Author: Shaw, Mildred L. G.
• Other Authors: Pask, G.
• Published: Brunel University 1978
• Subjects: 155
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.472323

This thesis describes an endeavour to produce a technology for the philosophy of personal construct theory. In 1955 Kelly published his major work in which he describes his theory in terms of a fundamental postulate together with eleven corollaries; and attempts to understand man as a personal scientist who forms theories about his world, testing these against his personal experience, reviewing and revising his theories, anticipating on the basis of them, and acting on the basis of his anticipation. A set of tools has• been produced in the form of computer interactions to help man in becoming a personal scientist. Using the basic concept of the Kellian repertory grid these programs interact with the participant's conscious modelling of his cognitive and affective processes, suggesting analogies and isomorphisms in such a way as to give the participant a novel real-time insight into his processes and, where relevant, how they relate to those of other people. The repertory grid is a matrix of events against abstractions. This is constructed by the individual in the dimensions of his significant referents or schemata, by applying personally meaningful constructions to his personal observations. This system of constructs is elicited and monitored by the computer using a conversational paradigm in such a way as to provide immediate feedback to the participant on cross-references within the system as it is elicited from the individual at the terminal. The computer offers the facility of interactive and participative methods of analysis of such data, which extract and display the essence of the subjectively and personally meaningful relationships in a single grid, a pair of grids, or a group of grids; where the pair or group may be within one person or between people. In this way each person is offered a view of himself and his relationships in a non-directive and supportive environment as he is developing personal models of the world.