The first provision for the hospitalization of people with mental illness was signed on this date 236 years ago in Tuscany, Italy.
Leopold I Grand Duke of Tuscany (later Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary) was responsible for reforms that would provide care for mentally ill people.
The first hospital was ordered built in 1785 and the first patients were admitted on March 19, 1788.
Leopold I's legacy continues today with psychiatric facilities providing residential care for the mentally ill who cannot function outside of institutional care. 50% of those suffer from Schizophrenia.
January 23, 2010
January 22, 2010
Watchology
Laura King, PhD, in her introductory text, The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View, introduced me to a new term, "watchology." I do not know if she coined it or not, but I like it. It is a single-word nutshell of a relatively young field of psychology known as Positive Psychology.
Historically, psychology has learned about human behavior and mental processes by studying what goes wrong. Positive psychology says, "Why not study what goes right?" Its view of human nature is that it is positive. By nature we want to grow, develop, become more than we are. It is only when something gets in the way that doesn't happen.
Dr. King explains "watchology" by saying (and this is a paraphrase), If we drop two watches in a bucket of water, and one stops working but the other one "keeps on ticking" (my apologies to the old Timex commercials), why not study the one that keeps functioning instead of the one that stops functioning?
Let's find out what makes resiliant people resilient. Let's find out what makes "emotionally mature" people (Dr. William Menninger's term) emotionally mature. Let's find out what makes "fully functioning" people (Dr. Carl Rogers' term) fully functioning.
And so, an entire field of psychology has committed itself to that end - Positive Psychology.
Historically, psychology has learned about human behavior and mental processes by studying what goes wrong. Positive psychology says, "Why not study what goes right?" Its view of human nature is that it is positive. By nature we want to grow, develop, become more than we are. It is only when something gets in the way that doesn't happen.
Dr. King explains "watchology" by saying (and this is a paraphrase), If we drop two watches in a bucket of water, and one stops working but the other one "keeps on ticking" (my apologies to the old Timex commercials), why not study the one that keeps functioning instead of the one that stops functioning?
Let's find out what makes resiliant people resilient. Let's find out what makes "emotionally mature" people (Dr. William Menninger's term) emotionally mature. Let's find out what makes "fully functioning" people (Dr. Carl Rogers' term) fully functioning.
And so, an entire field of psychology has committed itself to that end - Positive Psychology.
January 21, 2010
Susan and Simon
Susan Boyle just sang to me through my IPod. I am one of those who made her the highest-volume pre-order artist in Amazon.com's history. She is a YouTube sensation, so you can go there if you are not familiar with her story.
American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, made a fool of himself on the British version of the TV show when he was guilty of stereotyping and prejudice againt Susan Boyle, and almost discriminated against her, the first time she stood before him to sing.
In Social Psychology terms, he had activated a "schema" based on all of the other "strange looking" people who made fools of themselves in front of him.
Now here was another one, a woman who was a little strange looking, not the most attractive woman in the world, standing before him. His mental conclusion before she ever sang a note? "Next contestant, please!"
Then she opened her mouth and Simon opened his mouth, as his jaw dropped. What a voice coming out of this lady!
Chalk one up for waiting to judge a person based on their own merit, instead of pre-judging them based on a stereotype. Stereotype is deciding that all the characteristics of a group are true of an individual in that group, simply because they are in the group. Stereotype is neither negative nor positive. It is one's attitude toward a group that is either negative or positive. If your attitude is negative, it leads to the third step, prejudice.
Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an individual simply because they are in a group you have a negative attitude toward. Prejudice can lead to the next step, discrimination, which is negative or harmful behavior toward an individual because they are part of a group. Simon came within a nanosecond of discriminating against her, but, fortunately, he held his tongue until she sang.
When we do not know much about a person we have a tendency to fill in all of the gaps with what we know about a group they are part of (stereotype): "The things that are true of her group must be true of her." The more we come to know about them, the fewer gaps we have to fill, our opinion of them changes.
Don't look so smug, we all do it. "She's a librarian, and you know what librarians are like...Shhhh!" Or, "He's an accountant, and you know what accountants are like. Boring!" "She's a blond, and you know what that means."
"Dr. G is a Shrink, and all Shrinks are crazy, so you know Dr. G must be crazy!"
American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, made a fool of himself on the British version of the TV show when he was guilty of stereotyping and prejudice againt Susan Boyle, and almost discriminated against her, the first time she stood before him to sing.
In Social Psychology terms, he had activated a "schema" based on all of the other "strange looking" people who made fools of themselves in front of him.
Now here was another one, a woman who was a little strange looking, not the most attractive woman in the world, standing before him. His mental conclusion before she ever sang a note? "Next contestant, please!"
Then she opened her mouth and Simon opened his mouth, as his jaw dropped. What a voice coming out of this lady!
Chalk one up for waiting to judge a person based on their own merit, instead of pre-judging them based on a stereotype. Stereotype is deciding that all the characteristics of a group are true of an individual in that group, simply because they are in the group. Stereotype is neither negative nor positive. It is one's attitude toward a group that is either negative or positive. If your attitude is negative, it leads to the third step, prejudice.
Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an individual simply because they are in a group you have a negative attitude toward. Prejudice can lead to the next step, discrimination, which is negative or harmful behavior toward an individual because they are part of a group. Simon came within a nanosecond of discriminating against her, but, fortunately, he held his tongue until she sang.
When we do not know much about a person we have a tendency to fill in all of the gaps with what we know about a group they are part of (stereotype): "The things that are true of her group must be true of her." The more we come to know about them, the fewer gaps we have to fill, our opinion of them changes.
Don't look so smug, we all do it. "She's a librarian, and you know what librarians are like...Shhhh!" Or, "He's an accountant, and you know what accountants are like. Boring!" "She's a blond, and you know what that means."
"Dr. G is a Shrink, and all Shrinks are crazy, so you know Dr. G must be crazy!"
January 20, 2010
Show Off!
Why do men "show off" in the presence of attractive women?
Some recent research by Richard Ronay and William von Hippel reported in the January, 2010 issue of the journal, Social Psycholgical and Personality Science, suggests that it is as simple as testosterone.
Their research consisted of having skateboarders try certain difficult maneuvers. Some had an attractive woman watching them, some did not. They measured testosterone levels and observed risk-taking.
The result? "Increased risk taking leads to more successes but also more crash landings in front of a female observer... [T]his increase in risk taking is caused in part by elevated testosterone levels of men who performed in front of the attractive female... These results suggest that men use physical risk taking as a sexual display strategy."
Evolutionary psychology would suggest that the reason for this is mate-selection. The successful continuation of our species has been dependent on each sex finding a partner who is fertile. They look for physical clues for fertility. Testosterone makes a man fertile. Evidence of testosterone is physical prowess.
I don't know. I'm having trouble picturing an attractive woman saying of a college dropout who just crashed his skateboard in front of her, "I want THAT one!"
Some recent research by Richard Ronay and William von Hippel reported in the January, 2010 issue of the journal, Social Psycholgical and Personality Science, suggests that it is as simple as testosterone.
Their research consisted of having skateboarders try certain difficult maneuvers. Some had an attractive woman watching them, some did not. They measured testosterone levels and observed risk-taking.
The result? "Increased risk taking leads to more successes but also more crash landings in front of a female observer... [T]his increase in risk taking is caused in part by elevated testosterone levels of men who performed in front of the attractive female... These results suggest that men use physical risk taking as a sexual display strategy."
Evolutionary psychology would suggest that the reason for this is mate-selection. The successful continuation of our species has been dependent on each sex finding a partner who is fertile. They look for physical clues for fertility. Testosterone makes a man fertile. Evidence of testosterone is physical prowess.
I don't know. I'm having trouble picturing an attractive woman saying of a college dropout who just crashed his skateboard in front of her, "I want THAT one!"
January 19, 2010
Little Albert, Found!
Hall Beck, PhD, and a team of students and colleagues at Appalachian State University have solved a 90-year-old mystery: who was "Little Albert"?
John Watson made "Little Albert" famous by conditioning him to fear a white rat in 1920. His fear generalized to include rabbits, Santa faces, and fur coats. You can see a clip of it on YouTube. But his identity was unknown until Beck and his team set out to find him, and published their findings in the October, 2009, American Psychologist.
"Little Albert" was Douglas Merritte, the son of a wetnurse, Arvilla Merritte, who lived and worked at a campus hospital. Douglas died at age 6 of acquired hydrocephalus and we do not know if he continued to fear furry objects.
Historical footnote: John Watson had to leave the university, and psychology, shortly after the experiment because it was discovered that he was having an affair with his student assistant, who can be seen in the video with him.
John Watson made "Little Albert" famous by conditioning him to fear a white rat in 1920. His fear generalized to include rabbits, Santa faces, and fur coats. You can see a clip of it on YouTube. But his identity was unknown until Beck and his team set out to find him, and published their findings in the October, 2009, American Psychologist.
"Little Albert" was Douglas Merritte, the son of a wetnurse, Arvilla Merritte, who lived and worked at a campus hospital. Douglas died at age 6 of acquired hydrocephalus and we do not know if he continued to fear furry objects.
Historical footnote: John Watson had to leave the university, and psychology, shortly after the experiment because it was discovered that he was having an affair with his student assistant, who can be seen in the video with him.
January 18, 2010
You Just THINK That's Why You Chose to Sit There
My left-handed daughter always asks to sit on the outside of a restaurant booth so her left arm & hand have room to work. Now a researcher in Japan wants me to believe that people pick their theater seats based on handedness.
According to research by Matia Okubo reported in her article, Right Movies on the Right Seat: Laterality and Seat Choice, in the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology, right-handed people tend to pick their seats on the right side of the theater (74% of the time).
POP QUIZ: Which side do left-handed people tend to choose?
ANSWER: Left-handed people don't seem to care where they sit.
"Why?", you ask? According to Okubo, "The finding is consistent with the idea that in right-handers, the right-hemisphere is dominant for processing visual and emotional input. By sitting to the right of the screen, the film is predominantly processed by the right-hemisphere and the suggestion is that, without necessarily realizing it, right-handers are choosing to sit in an optimal position for their brain to digest the movie... Left-handers and mixed-handers are known to have a more balanced distribution of function across their hemispheres so this could explain why they didn't show the opposite bias to the right-handers."
Actually, this would have been pretty good research for the 200 students to be involved in... they got to see a movie for free, just for letting researchers see where they chose to sit and then reporting their handedness.
One last thing. Okubo also reported that "more artistic, less analytical" students are more likely to sit on the right-hand side of a classroom. I guess I just learned something about the students to my left.
According to research by Matia Okubo reported in her article, Right Movies on the Right Seat: Laterality and Seat Choice, in the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology, right-handed people tend to pick their seats on the right side of the theater (74% of the time).
POP QUIZ: Which side do left-handed people tend to choose?
ANSWER: Left-handed people don't seem to care where they sit.
"Why?", you ask? According to Okubo, "The finding is consistent with the idea that in right-handers, the right-hemisphere is dominant for processing visual and emotional input. By sitting to the right of the screen, the film is predominantly processed by the right-hemisphere and the suggestion is that, without necessarily realizing it, right-handers are choosing to sit in an optimal position for their brain to digest the movie... Left-handers and mixed-handers are known to have a more balanced distribution of function across their hemispheres so this could explain why they didn't show the opposite bias to the right-handers."
Actually, this would have been pretty good research for the 200 students to be involved in... they got to see a movie for free, just for letting researchers see where they chose to sit and then reporting their handedness.
One last thing. Okubo also reported that "more artistic, less analytical" students are more likely to sit on the right-hand side of a classroom. I guess I just learned something about the students to my left.
January 17, 2010
Chew Some Gum, Relieve Some Stress
What do you do to relieve stress? Jog? Smoke? Meditate?
You might try something as simple as chewing gum. It might even make you healthier, with less depression, lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol levels.
According to a report in the journal Stress and Health, "Andrew Smith at Cardiff University surveyed over 2,000 workers and found that the 39 per cent of respondents who reported never chewing gum were twice as likely to say they were extremely stressed at work, compared with gum chewers, and one and a half times as likely to say they were very or extremely stressed with life in general."
Smith found that women, lower earners, younger, less educated respondents, smokers, people with demanding jobs and neurotic extraverts were all more likely to chew gum, but "the link between chewing gum and lower stress held even after taking all these extraneous factors into account."
"Gum chewers were less likely to have symptoms of depression and half as likely to have self-reported high blood pressure or high cholesterol."
As a good psychologist, you are asking, Why? Smith sugests that "possible mechanisms might include an effect of chewing gum on autonomic nervous system activity and/or on the neurotransmitter serotonin."
Dr. Jeff, my dentist, just recommends that you choose sugarless gum when you chew to relax.
You might try something as simple as chewing gum. It might even make you healthier, with less depression, lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol levels.
According to a report in the journal Stress and Health, "Andrew Smith at Cardiff University surveyed over 2,000 workers and found that the 39 per cent of respondents who reported never chewing gum were twice as likely to say they were extremely stressed at work, compared with gum chewers, and one and a half times as likely to say they were very or extremely stressed with life in general."
Smith found that women, lower earners, younger, less educated respondents, smokers, people with demanding jobs and neurotic extraverts were all more likely to chew gum, but "the link between chewing gum and lower stress held even after taking all these extraneous factors into account."
"Gum chewers were less likely to have symptoms of depression and half as likely to have self-reported high blood pressure or high cholesterol."
As a good psychologist, you are asking, Why? Smith sugests that "possible mechanisms might include an effect of chewing gum on autonomic nervous system activity and/or on the neurotransmitter serotonin."
Dr. Jeff, my dentist, just recommends that you choose sugarless gum when you chew to relax.
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