On Professor JE

I thought I had sorted out the problem of checking multiple email accounts by auto-forwarding all of them to a single one. But Prof JE told me today that my NUS account has been bouncing back his emails. Looks like I have to revert back to Ming Hoe's work/play division ethic.

I'm beginning to enjoy Prof JE's lab sessions quite a bit. I have had reservations about the field of developmental psychology because I didn't quite see the point in it. I used to think, "Every child grows up to have a theory of mind, conservation abilities and have object permanence... Why do we go through so much pain to study when exactly do they occur?"

But now I see that some people genuinely do it for interests sake. Just look at Prof JE. If I could find a job that interests me as much as developmental psychology interests him, I would be a happier man. I also wonder if my mind would be as sharp as his when I'm his age. He got carried away this afternoon during his critique exercises. He went something like "Your grandmother's daughter said the product is very good etc... Oh wait a minute, that would make her your mother." LOL!

Of course, being a Singaporean, interest in something is never enough. We are a pragmatic lot. Will research in developmental psychology bring in the cash? Oh yes. The only difference in the return of investment between applied psychology and theoretical psychology is their latency periods. Research in applied psychology would probably bring in the returns quickly, but the applied field is very dependent on the core fields for its theoretical bases.

Now, should I do my honours thesis in developmental psychology? Or should I look into the more economically viable industrial/organizational psychology?