Psychology Articles

What is really out there? Why do we think that we think? This article explores some of the classic works on the topic.

Ross and Nisbett argue that our perceptions of ourselves and our casual attributions for our actions are not in fact complete or correct: we are not born tabla rasa, we do not consistently build basic beliefs, and we cannot predict or control the way we will act. Phychologists and sociologists provide support for this through numerous studies that show a basically consistent, unpredicted, and unsystematic patterns of behavior. Some authors begin by breaking down the idea that our opinions or reactions are as independent and systematic as we may believe. Sherif’s “autokinetic” study and the Ash Paradigm study illustrate that we often act differently when in groups (with group norms, pressure, bias, and social factors). We conform to group pressure (Ash), or, even more extremely, shift our perceptions in order to align ourselves with a group (Sherrif). The Bennington studies, which show how our beliefs about the world are deeply and irreversibly influenced by our social surroundings, illustrate that this effect is not trivial or isolated but instead can have far-reaching and self-defining consequences.

Sherif’s later studies on group dynamics similarly show us that our world perceptions (us vs. them, me vs. you, good vs. bad) can be arbitrary. Chapter three expands on this point with a social slant: Our world is constructed in a social setting and so the opinions of others and the judgments of others play a dynamic part in this construction. I.e., our world is not necessarily “warped” by others opinions but others opinions actually play a role in determining what our world looks like. The “attribution theory of emotion” and the Nisbett and Wilson (1977) cognitive process blindness theory take this one step further claiming that we do not really see the world as we think we do at all.

Ross and Nisbett impose their own interpretation on these findings. They repeatedly argue that we interpret and construct the world in a dynamic way, based on the perceptions and influences of our social surroundings, situational factors, and personality characteristics. They then claim that we are overly unaware that we are only seeing one way to interpret the world. “This lack of awareness of our own construal processes blinds us to the possibility that someone else, differently situated, might construe the same objects in a different way… People sometimes construe the same object differently because they view it from different angles rather than because they are fundamentally different people…. The divergence [exhibited in the Asch experiments] may reflect differences not in the “judgment of the object” but in the construal of just what “the object of judgment” is.” (p82). We make the false assumption that we see it as it is rather than as we interpret it. It is not clear here whether the differences in individual interpretations of the worlds are due only to different external factors (social, environmental, etc) or also to different processing factors (i.e. the mental and physical machines with which we process this information).

Ross and Nisbett do not explicitly state what I see as a major consequence, and synthesis, of both their chapters and much of the literature. But perhaps this is because I do not have and have not read their later chapters. With this caveat, Ross and Nisbett (1) begin by attempting to prove that our world is to an extent an arbitrary construction. They continue (2) by showing that it is important to us that out world be in line with others in our group or reference set (social pressure) and they end (3) with the interesting claim that we misunderstand the world in a fundamental way (with mistakes in traits, etc). To me there is a clear logical step that stands between their points (1) and (2). That (1.5) that we are, on some deep unconscious level, insecure and unsure of the ontological nature of the world and thus need to constantly adjust our view of it depending on the situation and context (see they do not take William James’ point on p. 68 seriously enough) or align ourselves with others in order to attempt to interpret it in the best/most useful way.

It helps if we assume for a moment that there is no “correct” way to interpret the world – and Ross and Nisbett I think would agree with this. Perhaps even the idea of a “correct” way to interpret the world is a non-sensical statement. All constructions are heuristics simplifications intrinsically since the world does not have, unlike our constructions of the world, imbedded causality only systematic temporal correlations. An interpretation is meant, therefore, to be useful in our world, which a deeply social and dynamic one. Why is it therefore surprising that we adjust, conform to, and closely monitor others opinions? If our interpretations are wrong, and we know they always are, there is no good reason to stick to them if they are not working. Our perception of length is clearly not functioning correctly if it derives an answer different from everyone else (since deriving an answer that is useful is our goal, not deriving an answer that is true and it is useful to have an agreed upon idea of length).

So the surprising thing is that we ever believe that we are objectively right about things or that we believe our views are “the way things are,” not that we adjust our world-views in the face of social, environmental, or situational pressure (and various evolutionary psychology arguments have attempted to explain this argument on the grounds of efficiency). Bishop Berkeley, Occationalism, and David Hume have all trodden this ground. I do not mean to make the facile claim that we should always give in to social pressure, that we should always tailor our views to match those around us, only that to explain a deviation from this behavior one need to apply to other reasons than one being “correct” or, even, more arguably, perhaps, “truth.” That our views are deeply inadequate and inefficient, as chapter four argues, is a much harsher claim leveled by Ross and Nisbett in this context.

The literature often builds up a model of perception/ internal_world-creation and the later then added a component questioning the element of causality. For example, Straw, Bell, Clausen piece questions the emergent literature on situational attributions to job attitudes in favor of a more dispositional approach. Studies, they claim lay too much emphasis on the social, the interpretational elements of a job, over-stating the role that the work environment that will determine an individual’s happiness in it. Instead, one can correlate the individual’s happiness and job satisfaction in many respects well before he/she enters the work place. Thus, it is the characteristics, attitudes, and nature and the individual who is the prime determinant of whether or not he/she is happy in the job. This research is interestingly interrelated to the previous Ross Nisbett piece, since Ross and Nisbett’s argument that the person interprets the environment lends itself to the conclusion that no matter what environment an individual is put into, he/she will largely affect the way he/she perceives that environment and thus his/her feelings about it.

In contrast to Straw, et al., Davis-Blake and Pfeffer (1989) argue that the dispositionalist argument is deeply flawed. They claim that the individual’s characteristics are dynamic in nature and therefore they change in time and are furthermore deeply affected by their environment. Therefore, one can expect that an employee, especially in the long term, will be very deeply affected by the nature and prevailing attitudes of his/her workplace. They point to the extreme cases of military training facilities, which are able to dramatically affect the psychology of an individual. Sneider (1987) returns fire with a volley that asserts that the “culture” of a firm is simply the people in it. That these people are self-selecting and will tend to attract compatible people, and that the world is a dynamic place of individuals, not forces. The last piece of the puzzle, the piece by Arvey and Bouchard (1994) builds a strong foundation under the dispositionalist camp but also shows the complexity of the problem. It addresses the nature vs. nurture debate by reviewing the literature to show that while it seems that genetics do make some difference (this lends credit to dispositionalists who would like to claim that people have characteristics, genetic or otherwise, that persist over time) environment is also a large factor (situationalists can grab onto this evidence).

This debate, first between situationalists and dispositionalists about the source of ones attitude about the workplace, and then about the source of our personality (nature vs. nurture) have serious consequences which many of the authors discuss. If we are in fact shaped by our environments, then companies might want to invest significant resources into “culture” and creating a productive workplace. But if our attitudes and productivity are a function of our personalities, then companies might want to select those people with attractive qualities for their company. This has troubling moral consequences as some authors point out.

I would like to emphasize how these points are building up a literature that focuses on central questions about why we view the world the way we do, what effects the world has on us, and what the source of our feelings, attitudes and lives are. The battle lines of the difference sides of this debate are, from this perspective, artificially clear.

If, for example, we ask the question of FREE WILL, for example, the sides dramatically shift. The dispositionalist camp splits into two, some taking a deterministic evolutionary view and others taking view that our personalities are developed early by our environment. The situationalists might point out that we CHOOSE our workplaces and thus choose the sorts of influences that will shape our character. So while we are not in total control of what we will feel about our job, our creativity, etc, we can choose what sorts of forces will affect these metrics. Aristotle, who’s view on almost anything is worth looking up, coined the phrase Akrasia, and this phrase can be applied to this bebate with perhaps some fruitful insights. It is Greek for “weakness of will”. He claimed that we are morally responsible for the consequences of a choice in the long term, even if we are not morally free at the time of our choices. The best modern example of this is if one chooses to get drunk one is responsible for one’s actions while drunk even if one does not have the ability to control one’s actions while drunk. So one is responsible for choosing the path that led to an action even if one is not directly responsible for that action. Of course, Aristotle chose the more controversial example of choosing to live a life of moral weakness and moral compromise which weakened the will to the point that one was not a good/moral person. He claimed that one was responsible for immorality not because we choose to become weak enough to do these acts. I think that these different camps might gain some insight into their nature/nurture dispositionalist/situationalist objective/subjective debates if Aristotle’s wisdom were headed more carefully.

Readings:

Ross, L. & Nisbett, R.E. (1991). The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology. New York: McGraw Hill. Chapters 2, 3, & 4.

Asch, S.E. (1958). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. In E.E. Maccoby; T.M. Newcomb & E.L. Hartley (eds.), Reading in Social Psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company (pp. 174-183).

Staw, B.; Bell, N. & Clausen, J. (1986). The dispositional approach to job attitudes: A lifetime longitudinal test. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31: 56-77.

Davis-Blake, Alison & Pfeffer, Jeffrey. (1989). Just a mirage: The search for dispositional effects in organizational research. Academy of Management Review, 14: 385-400.

Schneider, Benjamin. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40: 437-453.

Arvey, R.D. & Bouchard, T.J. (1994). Genetic twins and organizational behavior. In B.M. Staw & L.L. Cummings (eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, 16: 47-82.

Phin Upham has a PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). Phin is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He can be reached at phin@phinupham.com

You can find more info here: Phin Upham

People may seek a psychological assessment for many reasons; learning, behaviour, injury, health, emotional problems or development concerns to name just a few. A psycho-educational or educational assessment is simply one kind of psychological assessment. For example, an educational assessment investigates learning potential and academic skill development. A psychological assessment of any kind must be completed by a licensed psychologist or psychological associate who is registered with the College of Psychologists in their province.

In simple terms, during an educational assessment a psychologist must determine a person’s abilities and then see if their academic achievement is at a comparable level. It is common sense to predict that a person with an average intelligence will complete math, spelling, reading, writing and other academic tasks within the average range. A psychologist will find out whether a client’s academic performance is equal to their intelligence using testing, clinical observation and statistical analysis.

OK, what happens if you have an average intelligence but some academic area is far weaker than predicted? Now, comes the interesting part…. What is keeping the individual from performing at their level of intelligence? It could be problems with visual or verbal memory. It could be that their brain cannot track and scan written text as quickly as most people. Perhaps they have been told they don’t pay attention but actually their brain cannot process verbal information as efficiently as other people. Alternatively, a person may find it extremely difficult to begin a task, plan and organize and, monitor their performance as they work along. The truth is there are many reasons that a person is not meeting the cognitive potential they were born with.

Why would a person need an educational assessment?

The answers to this question are fairly simple. An educational assessment completed by a qualified psychologist or psychological associate could formally establish a need for an academic program at school that is specifically tailored to the student’s learning style. If you know a person’s potential for learning and their present level of achievement, you know the academic strengths and needs of that student at that moment. The truth of the matter is that a school psychologist is often the key to understanding the foundation of the student’s difficulties as well as holding the position of gate-keeper to special services and academic support within a public school system.

When will I know if I, or my child, need an educational assessment?

Sometimes delays in some areas of development are obvious very early. For example, if your child is developing language or fine motor skills more slowly than other children, he may need an educational assessment at some point. If he has difficulty following directions or routines at home or daycare you may consider watching his development more carefully. If your child begins school and experiences difficulty learning numbers, the alphabet, days of the week, colours and shapes, maintain close contact with his teacher to monitor his progress. If your child seems extremely restless, easily distracted and/or has trouble interacting with peers it is possible that he has some attentional or behavioural problems that may require assessment at a later stage.

Perhaps a parent has noticed their child is struggling at school. Often, it is a teacher who has alerted a parent that their child has been experiencing difficulty working at the same level as other children in their class even though they are trying their best. At times, it is the child who goes to the teacher or parent and lets them know that they are finding school work very difficult. Crying over homework, repeatedly asking a teacher to go over the same work, signs of low self-esteem because they fear they are “not smart” are all signs that a child’s academic performance should be monitored.

It is important to note that a person seeking an educational assessment is not always a child. Sometimes, an adult decides to complete academic upgrading or apply as a mature student to college or university while acknowledging that he or she experienced some earlier learning difficulties as a child. Many adults in this situation decide to investigate their learning style because there is more modern scientific knowledge about learning disabilities now and they hope that more sophisticated help will be available. As children, these individuals knew they were smart and capable but just couldn’t read as quickly as other people in their class or had difficulty with math or writing. This adult has made a decision that they could succeed if they could find out more about the way they learn.

One step at a time……..

Find a psychologist who completes educational assessments in your area. You can find a psychologist on the internet, the College of Psychologists of Ontario or another provincial regulatory organization. Your child’s school or pediatrician may be able to make a suitable referral for an educational assessment. Make an appointment to meet with a psychologist who has experience in School Psychology and consult with them at their office. It is best for parents to meet for a one-hour interview to determine whether their child needs an educational assessment or not. It is inadvisable to take your child with you to this first meeting. Parents will always speak more plainly about their concerns if their child is not present. More importantly, the child will not be distressed by their parent’s concerns or teacher reports. If the appointment is for an individual 18+ years they generally attend an intake interview on their own.

What do I tell my child or teen about having an educational assessment?

It is important for any client, young or old, to understand that an educational assessment can identify strengths that can help the client improve academic weaknesses. Speak positively about the upcoming experience. For example, say, “you are going to meet a person who likes people find out what they are really good at. When they do, they help you improve on a subject that is really tricky and challenging for you”.

What can I expect when I, or my child, begin an educational assessment?

Expect that you or your child will attend a number of testing or assessment sessions soon after the intake session. Most often, a psychologist will ask that test sessions be set earlier rather than later in the day. The reason for this is that people are at their best earlier in the day immediately after a good sleep. This is particularly true if attentional problems are suspected.

Remember, a psychologist wants to find out about your abilities or intelligence. This is an important step. So, an intelligence test that compares your functioning to other people exactly your age is an obvious beginning. Once this has been completed, the psychologist will want to learn more about the way your brain processes information. For example, if you hear a story could you repeat it? How about the same story after 30-minutes? What about a picture or pattern? Could you remember that as well as the story, or better? Could the client’s brain process what he or she heard easily or not? Eventually, the psychologist will want to find out how and what you have learned at school. Math, spelling, writing, listening and, reading tests will surely follow.

An educational assessment is a labour intensive piece of work; that’s definite. Once the psychologist has completed the testing, it is likely they will want to consult with the child’s teacher by telephone or ask that teacher to complete some questionnaires that could provide rich information to the assessment. The psychologist will ask parents to bring in copies of the child’s past report cards or complete hearing ~ vision tests.

Once all the evidence has been gathered, the psychologist will begin to score the tests, read the documents provided by parents and teachers and interpret the findings. As the evidence becomes clear to the psychologist and the difficulties (should there be any discovered) determined, they will begin to write up the report to present to parents and school.

Coming in for the feedback session……….

Sometimes, parents have anticipated the results of the assessment and experience a sense of relief that their child can finally begin to get the academic support they need and improve their school experience. At other times, parents dread that the findings will confirm their worst fears, a diagnosis of Learning Disability or another diagnosis. Parents sometimes need some time to grieve the loss of the dream of easy, carefree school days for their child.

It is possible that the parents may wish to meet with the psychologist more than once, particularly if the clinic can offer services that exceed a school’s budget or time.

Recommendations in the Educational Assessment

An essential component of the educational assessment is the recommendations that can help school personnel determine whether the student will be identified as an exceptional learner or not. The recommendations will address the learning deficits and how to accommodate the student’s specific learning style. The whole purpose of the educational assessment is to provide parents, teacher and ultimately, the student, with recommendations that are educationally relevant.

Consider some of the recommendations specifically designed for a child with reading problems ~ A young child who has difficulty understanding the sounds that letters or groups of letters make could experience significant difficulty learning to read. This is especially true if that child also finds it difficult to ‘code’ or file this information in long term memory and then retrieve the information when it is needed. The recommendations for this child may include considerable instruction on phonological skill-building, shared reading experiences, phonemic awareness training and, organized, explicit phonics decoding instruction and practice. The child could benefit from individualized reading lessons with attention to the construction of meaning and comprehension.

Another client with slow processing speed might benefit from timed drills in math facts to increase speed of math fact recall/retrieval. Other types of recommendations may include accommodations, such as extended time, taped presentations of reading material, shortening or modifying the format of assignments, and breaking large tasks into smaller ones.

Ultimately, the recommendations provided by the psychologist should be specifically designed to address the scholastic needs of the client and clearly established during the educational assessment.

What will you learn after an Educational Assessment?

In short……..It’s not that a person can’t learn……it’s that a person may simply learn differently and that’s OK.

Jancy King, M.Ed., C. Psych. Assoc., director of TPS, is member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario. She is registered in three areas of practice: Clinical Psychology, School Psychology and Counselling Psychology. Jancy provides a range of psychological assessments. She competently completes educational assessments for Learning Disabilities, giftedness, developmental delay, attention, ADHD, and PDD (Autism/Aspergers). As well, she provides clinical assessments for children and teens with social and emotional problems. Jancy enjoys counselling adults and couples concerning a wide range of problems in living. She has specialized training in the treatment of children/adolescents aged 2+ including play therapy. She sincerely appreciates providing comfortable, confidential services to a family, whether they are adults, couples or children. Services limited to English. http://www.torontopsychologicalservices.com

You may not have ever considered it, but there might be some sort of correlation between solar flares and human behavior. Consider if you will some of the evidence for solar system happenings and human behavior, for instance, we do know that on very hot days [heat comes from the Sun] there are more road rage calls into the Highway Patrol, and you can even study this for yourself, when the weather is very hot and muggy, or just plain wicked hot you will notice more aggressive driving, and see more people using their middle finger gestures more.

Now then, try this out sometime because I have done this. When you witness bad driving behavior around our town, or out on the highway, do what I do – I always go home that night and look up on the Internet to see if there has been any major solar flare activity at SpaceWeather [dot] com. And nine times out of 10 there has been. There was an interesting research project done at the University of New Mexico on this topic, and they did find a correlation between solar flares, and the violent and non-premeditated crimes.

This study confirms what I believe I’d already discovered. It is also my contention that psychologists who want to get their degrees, should study this phenomena, rather than duplicating all the past psychological research on silly things like bullying, drug addiction, and child abuse. It’s not that those things are not also unfortunate, rather it is that they have been studied to death.

One thing I do not understand is that when you go on to Google Scholar and search this topic there are very few research papers or scientific reports with empirical data, and there should be more, many more. It has often been said, and you can ask just about any police officer, that on a full moon there will be more crimes reported, ambulance first responder personnel, and even emergency room doctors and nurses will tell you the same.

Now this could be for many different reasons, such as on a full moon it’s easier to see people committing crimes, people would rather commit crimes on a full moon so they don’t trip over themselves in the darkness are stealing something, or there is some type of primal instinct in the brain which causes people to misbehave during full moons. Nevertheless, there is a correlation. Isn’t it time we started studying these things? Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it’s hard to write 20,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Note: All of Lance Winslow’s articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers.

Television shows are suddenly very interested in people with Bipolar disorder with an emphasis on the inability of such people to function in the world or as serial rapists or crazed killers. How can people who have the disorder protect themselves from being labeled as criminally, mentally ill? The answer is to arm themselves with information and share it where appropriate.

It is true that people with Bipolar disorder have continual changes in thought, energy, mood, sleep and activity particularly before they are on the proper medications. But in spite of shifting states most people, even those who do not have their disorder under control with medication, are not usually going to commit murder or be serial rapists.

Here is some of that good information:

Those who take their medications have a very good prognosis. There are a number of drug and therapy techniques used to treat people with Bipolar disorder. Often it takes a combination in order to be effective.
Bipolar mood disorder medications include mood stabilizers like lithium, antidepressants, Lamictal and otheranticonvulsants, atypical antipsychotics (hence the misinformation) like Seroquel and even Omega 3. Antipsychotics act one way with psychotics and a different way with people with Bipolar disorder.
Because medicine can cause a reduction in symptoms or complete remission, it is important that the person with Bipolar disorder understand that he or she must continue taking the medications or there will be a relapse. While it is up to the individual to make the decision, there definitely will be a relapse without the medication. Many people can live full and satisfying lives despite the disorder, a fact that television seems to forget.
Some things within the control of the person can help or hurt the results, such as taking the medicine as directed, understanding the disorder, having a good relationship with medical personnel and good health practices, including exercise, nutrition and a regulated stress level.
Other factors that keep the person well include noticing small changes in one’s energy, mood, sleep and eating behaviors, as well as having a plan worked out with the doctor on how to manage these small changes before they become big ones. A person can keep a mood log to chart any changes that need to be discussed with the physician.
Another way is to enlist the help of a close friend or family member. This person can help detect mood changes or changes in activities or behaviors that can trigger a manic episode.

With the sudden interest in Bipolar disorder on television and its emphasis on the inability of people with bipolar disorder to function in the world, people who have this disorder must learn all they can about their problem. Places where information can be found include self-help books, articles on the internet and information from their health professional. Armed with information they can prevent others from misunderstandings.

Ann Mullen is a woman of a certain age who has been writing for two decades. Her website Self-Help Discovery covers self-help reviews on a wide range of topics, including information on Bipolar Mood disorder.

Social cognition theory is based on two fundamental assumptions. One assumption is that humans learn from the behavior of other humans. The second is that it is important to understand the thought process of a human in order to make a valid and reliable psychological assessment.

Social cognitive theory uses key ideas from two main branches of psychology: cognitive psychology and social psychology. It places emphasis on the cognitive stages of information processing in the presence of social stimuli. Particularly, it assesses the impact of the “actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” on the” thoughts, feelings and behavior of individuals.”

Social cognition theory uses an amalgam of personal factors, environmental factors and behavior in order to produce its model. In the first stage of social cognition, the individual must receives and perceives a stimulus. After that, the individual encodes the perceived stimulus, using prior knowledge (such as stereotypes) to make additional decisions, judgments or inferences. During this process, a person simultaneously stores and retrieves information from memory. After the main processing of information has occurred, a behavioral response is the outcome.

Social cognition is important in many aspects of our daily lives, particularly when interacting with others. However, when we are observing or receiving information (such as an advertisement), the theory is applicable. An advertisement represents a social stimulus. A person begins processing the images and messages within the advertisement and judges the desirability of the product or message. Whether the individual had a good experience with that product or company affects how the individual perceives the advertisement (prior knowledge/ memory).

Social cognition is important in the media because the media is a fulcrum of information and communication. For example, individuals must process news, advertising and multimedia programs. The media, particularly visual media, normally use a range of stimuli to facilitate communication. Awareness of how viewers or readers perceive and process information is critical to effectively presenting and communicating social data.

Understanding the social cognitive processes of individuals is important to media personnel such as producers and advertisers. Media workers, particularly journalists and editors, use their understanding of human perception to write attention-grabbing headlines or produce popular programs. For example, producers are concerned about the appearance, voice and delivery of presenters based on how viewers might perceive them.

Social cognition is pertinent to communication and education- apart from being a core theory in social psychology. Social cognition is also critical to applied psychology as well, and is also useful in understanding stereotypes and biases that occur in information processing.

If your public service involves interviewing surviving victims of or eyewitnesses to violent events, you will want to learn more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique and how each can impact your investigation.

Research proves there are two distinct human processes that prevent investigators and police personnel from conducting the most effective investigation when working with surviving victims of and eyewitnesses to violent crimes. Those processes have been identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Memory Retrieval (Recall).

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how does it impact the Witness Memory Retrieval process?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a reaction to a violent event that evokes intense fear, terror and helplessness. Many surviving victims of violent crimes…rape, robbery, murder, kidnapping, terrorism, sexual abuse and physical assault, for example, are unable to recognize the signs of emotional stress they are experiencing. Traumatic events trigger feelings in victims from which they cannot easily recover, largely because they have not been helped to recognize and subsequently deal with their emotional and behavioral changes. These feelings impede an investigators’ ability to retrieve additional significant information paramount to solving a case.

As a police officer or investigator you are often the first contact victims have following a traumatic encounter. The importance of police interaction with victims cannot be underestimated. In many instances, victims suffer what is known as second injury in their interactions with police, judges, attorneys, physicians and other public authority figures. The term “second injury” refers specifically to a psychological injury, rather than a physical injury. The event will leave the victim in a vulnerable state of mind, causing them to perceive situations in a distorted and overly negative light.

Although it is natural to establish common perceptions about the kinds of behavior people exhibit, know that things are not always as they appear. The outcome of effective police-victim interviewing can have a positive dual impact, aiding you in retrieving pertinent and factual data relevant to your case, while protecting the immediate and potential future emotional well-being of the victim.

While you certainly are not expected to be an expert diagnostician or mental health professional, you are in an ideal position to help. Acquiring even basic information on PTSD combined with practical experience and cognitive interviewing skills can be a major benefit for eliciting more precise and vital investigative information.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder manifests itself in phases beginning with the initial impact or shock the victim suffers and ultimately resulting in a healthy recovery. Dr. Calvin J. Frederick, retired Chief of Psychological Services at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles, California has spent a career researching PTSD and has developed a Table that lists the phases a victim moves through and the physiological and psychological symptoms a victim is likely to display following a violent event.

In addition to becoming more aware of the signs of PTSD, there are initial intervention responses available to you. According to Dr. Martin Symonds, retired New York City Police Department psychiatrist, the first moments of police contact with a victim/witness are the most critical moments.

It is essential that the victim be provided with a feeling of trust and support and a lessening of any external threat following the trauma of a violent crime. Police officers, especially non-uniformed officers, should immediately identify themselves as such to the victim/witness. It would be helpful to include basic opening conversation such as “I’m sorry this happened to you” “It wasn’t your fault” and/or “I’m glad you’re alright.” This combined with preliminary intervention techniques will reinforce the victims’ trust that they are dealing with law enforcement officers who are sensitive to and aware of the trauma being suffered.

Lastly, the method in which a victim/witness is interviewed for police report taking is not only crucial to his/her emotional healing but also to the type and amount of investigative information you are able to retrieve.

The most widely used ’standard’ method of interviewing is a series of questions beginning with a description of the suspect(s) – sex, age, race, height, weight, color of hair and eyes and the victim’s account of the event.

The second method of interviewing is hypnosis, generally performed by a specially trained forensic hypnotist. With the victim in a state of altered consciousness, the forensic hypnotist asks questions and solicits answers. This method is the least used because of the negative legal ramifications it poses within the judicial system.

The third method is the cognitive Witness Memory Retrieval Technique (WMRT), researched and developed by Dr. R. Edward Geiselman of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). WMRT is a collection of memory-jogging techniques designed to provide investigators with an organized series of focused memory retrieval ‘cues’ and steps that help victims/witnesses retrieve and elaborate on information stored in the memory.

The theoretical support of the research and development are based on two generally accepted principles of memory:

* A memory is comprised of several elements. The more elements a memory retrieval ‘cue’ has in common with the recall of an event, the more effective the ‘cue’ is in retrieving information.
* A memory has several access routes, so information that is not accessible with one retrieval ‘cue’ may be accessed with a different one.

The purpose of the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique, when used in conjunction with the standard interview method, maximizes the quantity and quality of information retrieved while minimizing the effects of misleading or inaccurate information.

Skillful incident-specific treatment is an absolute prerequisite for effective police-victim relations and problem resolution. Determining the most reliable and effective tools available is a concern for most law enforcement investigators. Any valid interviewing instrument should be designed to deduce the pertinent facts, identifications and recollection of the event that best assist you in the apprehension and conviction of the criminal suspect(s). Essential bits of information can make the difference between the time you spend on solid leads and the time you spend following up on weak ones.

As you well know violent events happen in a matter of seconds and yet it’s amazing what the memory can store. To test your own Memory Recall for FREE and for further information on the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique training video and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder go to http://www.GiveYourselfTheInvestigativeEdge.com.

Advanced methods of obtaining more accurate and detailed information becomes critical when it is time for a witness to make a suspect identification during a lineup or ’six-pack’ photospread or when called to testify in court. The cognitive interview method can enhance an eyewitness’s ability to recall events and provide solid investigative information. Test your own memory recall for FREE at: http://www.GiveYourselfTheInvestigativeEdge.com.

Have you ever been amazed by the fact that although most of us followed the same standards when learning to write or probably attended the same institute; why can none of us write in exactly the same way as others does? Why does our handwriting differ so much from each other? Why are they so unique? When asked this question you will be tempted to promptly answer, “This is my style of writing!!” As I can say your answer is partially true. Do you know what shapes your style of writing? Well, it’s your personality. This very simple logic forms the basis of the science of ‘Handwriting Analysis’. Our handwriting is as unique as our personality or finger prints.

The science of evaluating and interpreting personality traits and human behavior through one’s handwriting is designated as ‘Graphology’; it is more commonly addressed as Handwriting Analysis. A Graphologist or Handwriting Analysts while analyzing one’s handwriting not only considers the writing but also the pressure, slant, spacing between the letters, margins and many more factors which can lead to an accurate portrait of the person concerned.

Emotions play a very indispensable role in each and every human life. Emotions are also responsible for the way we perceive things to some extent. It is your own handwriting which can clearly define the manner in which your emotions influence your thinking and perception. Your handwriting is a window to your inner self. It helps you to reflect on your thoughts, emotions, fears, actions and understand yourself in a very clear manner. Self reflection and self knowledge is the first step towards harmonious life. Graphology will not only address your weakness but it will also help you overcome them, as well as build on your strengths.

Though it seems that this science is new and still gaining its popularity, one will be surely amazed to know that it dates itself back a few hundred years. Since many years there has been extensive research in the subject and have helped a number of people in a numerous ways, be it personal, professional, emotional or spiritual aspects of human life. One of the major applications of graphology is personality assessment and development. Career guidance, relationship management, personnel selection are also a few common areas where in graphology plays a major role.

Life today is fast paced and the numbers of difficulties due to this fast paced life are also arising at an alarming rate. Deadlines, competition, erratic working hours, growing demands are not only taking a toll on one’s health but also on the self confidence and emotional state, which in turn affects their personal life as well. To cut out on stress and live a well balanced life, people are now putting in efforts. This is when people can benefit from a simple yet highly useful science of graphology to help add those wonderful colours of happiness and bliss back into their life and live with a content mind and heart.

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Time – An Oxymoron or A Paradox?

A paradox is a statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition.

The word paradox is often used interchangeably with contradiction. Often, mistakenly, it is used to describe situations that are ironic.

In literature, the paradox is an anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ideas for the sake of striking exposition or unexpected insight….

An oxymoron (plural oxymora (greek plural) or, more often, oxymorons) (“sharply dull” in Greek) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. (include bittersweet, virtual reality, and living dead). A rhetorical device in which two seemingly contradictory words are used together for effect: “She is just a poor little rich girl.”

Moros “stupid.” Rhetorical figure by which contradictory terms are conjoined so as to give point to the statement or expression; the word itself is an illustration of the thing. Now often used loosely to mean “contradiction in terms.”

A paradox (disambiguation) is a self-contradictory or counter-intuitive statement or argument.

Paradox (database), a relational database management system

It has occurred to me that many people did not grasp the reality of what the movie “The matrix” had to offer. It entailed the wisdom and affect of where and what we are. Through several conversations around what we call the “Catharsis Table”, the topic of time came to play. It just “Shows-to-Go-Ya” how some folk just don’t get it; hence the “Great Digital Divide!”

“I can only show you the door, it is up to you to walk through!” I hope the quotation is correct. You’ll forgive me if it isn’t, yes? Let’s start with the definition and conception of time. One argument from one of the fella’s is there is no such thing as time! How profound! I asked, if there is no such thing as time, how is it that we move through life and its challenges? He came back, “Motion is the true definition of time as well as growth!” I asked, if you are to move and grow, does it not occur over time? The brother then stated that time is a description conceived by man!” “Therefore, time does not move!” Okay, but is it not true that every thing occurs over a period of what…time, yes? The man pondered for a moment. He then replied, “The Sun does not move, the planets revolve around it.”

I agreed. Albeit, does this not occur over time? If a man grows from one year to sixty years of age, does it not occur over time? The argument continued as others joined. They all concurred with my hypothesis. I will take advantage of this time…and interject the definitions as we know them, i.e., posted and written statements -

Time: (Represents the present as being between the past and the future)

From “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”

The flow of sand in an hourglass can be used to keep track of elapsed time. It also concretely represents the present as being between the past and the future.

Time is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects. Time has been a major subject of religion, philosophy, and science, but defining it in a non-controversial manner applicable to all fields of study has consistently eluded the greatest scholars.

Among prominent philosophers, there are two distinct viewpoints on time.

One view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a dimension in which events occur in sequence, time travel, in this view, becomes a possibility as other “times” persist like frames of a film strip, spread out across the time line.

Sir Isaac Newton subscribed to a realist view is that time does not refer to any kind of “container” that events and objects “move through”, nor to any entity that “flows”, but that it is instead part of a fundamental intellectual structure (together with space and number) within which humans sequence and compare events.

This position is what I belive my friend was attempting to communicate.

Another view, as described by Gottfried Leibniz and Immanuel Kant holds that time is neither an event nor a thing, and thus is not itself measurable nor can it be travelled.

“A prime motivation in navigation and astronomy, temporal measurement has occupied scientists and technologists, as well.”

It’s been said that periodic events and periodic motion have long served as standards for units of time. Examples include the apparent motion of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon, the swing of a pendulum, and the beat of a heart. Currently, the international unit of time, the second, is defined in terms of radiation emitted by caesium atoms.Time is also of significant social importance, having economic value (“time is money”) as well as personal value, due to an awareness of the limited time in each day and in human life spans.

Would you not agree with this definition of Time as it relates to your/our experience of time? Does time exist? Is there such a thing as time, as we know it? My friend insists that it doesn’t. I say that one cannot do anything with or without time. It takes time to get things done. It takes time to post the comments/report that you are viewing at present. Past, present, and future occur over what? Time! Would you agree that time represents the present as being between the past and the present? Everything that has a beginning has an end. And it occurs over time!

Now let us move on. The concept of the Matrix has been mentioned and explained in the Holy Scriptures. In the movie/story, it’s described as a universe. The “Nebuchadnezzar” was the vehicle in which the starring team is being conveyed through the canals of the Matrix…remember? Why was the ship given that name?

Take a look at your daily routine…the life-style to which we are all accustomed. It doesn’t matter whether you reside in the city or the country, you are part of the structure of our society as we know it. Are we a program within the Matrix of society?

What is a program? A program is a set of written commands or instructions that can be compiled and/or interpreted…understood by a computer.

Programs can also be transformed to run as an executable set of instructions to get a computer to do what you want it to do. Now with that being said, is it feasible that we can and are programmed to do what we and/or someone wants us to do? How about the training we receive in order to do a particular job? What about the things that are taught to us as we grow and function within the family structure and/or society?

One might view a program as a recipe. A recipe is a set of instructions, (a syntax, or an algorithm), that guide the cook while preparing a particular dish, yes? The description of the ingredients in a pie or cake, for instance, is the things needed to convert the raw material into the desired product. A computer works in the same way. The concept is very similar. A person is given a set of instructions to carry out a particular task. People follow a certain set of rules or instructions in their daily routines, don’t you think?

In the movie, the Matrix has run afoul or is in a state of chaos. It’ broken.

When a program or a computer is not operating the way that it is supposed to, we take steps to correct them…we want it fixed. When a person is sick or not behaving the way that one should, we call a doctor or a particular professional to make things right again, right? Well a patch is what IT pros (and non-pros) use to make corrections to the program or computer. They fix the things that are wrong in the program or the computer. Many would rely on a computer geek to get their PC’s up and running. That’s one of the reasons that IT personnel rely on updates to offset the possibility of glitches or malfunctions. In the case of the Matrix movie, “Neo” can be described as the patch, the thing or program that is sent to make things right. One could also interpret the Neo program as the ultimate program or an upgrade. What would the purpose of the all seeing, all knowing Oracle represent? Can it be viewed as an “All Mighty Being?”

The inference of religion has been noted in the story. The character “Neo” was described as “The One!” Morpheus has described “The One” throughout the story, as the savior he’s been waiting for. Note the names: “Switch”, “Cypher”, “Trinity”, “Mouse”, “The Architect”, “Link”, and “Apoc!” What do they infer? Would it be politically correct to assume “The One” being the description of a “Messiah?” The description of these names are also peripherals of computing devices.

“Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world…where none suffered, where everyone would be happy?” The architect posed that question. “It was a disaster.” “No one would accept the program.” “Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery.”

“The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization”, said Agent Smith.

“To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human”, stated Mouse.

Morpheus holds up a Duracell battery and says, “What is the Matrix? Control? Is it a program within an operating system? The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this.” “They (the machines) were dependent on solar power. It was believed they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun.” “What is control?” “No one cares how it works, as long as it works!” ‘the Architect’ made that statement.

Trinity adds, “A glitch in the Matrix!” “It happens when they change something.”

Are you able to see what the writer has implied? Would it be reasonable to see that a warning is present? Are we headed in a direction of self-destruction? Are we killing our planet…our resources…our selves?

Remember, the operators of computer systems are human beings…for the time being.

Are we running out of time? Time is of the essence.

“The very first programmers actually had to enter the binary codes themselves, this is known as machine code programming and is incredibly difficult. The next stage was to create a translator that simply converted English equivalents of the binary codes into binary so that instead of having to remember that the code 001273 05 04 meant add 5 to 4 programmers could now write ADD 5 4. This very simple improvement made life much simpler and these systems of codes were really the first programming languages, one for each type of computer. They were known as assembler languages and Assembler programming is still used for a few specialized programming tasks today.”

“Just as you speak to a friend in a language so you ’speak’ to the computer in a language. The only language that the computer understands is called binary and there are several different dialects of it.”

In most cases, an interpreter is required. The interpreter has a couple of names, one being the interpreter and the other being the compiler.

Zion or Sion, has been mentioned throughout the movie, is a term that most often designates the Land of Israel (the Hebrew coulture) and its capital, Jerusalem. The word is found in texts dating back almost three millennia. It commonly referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (Mount Zion), on which stood a Jesuit fortress of the same name that was conquered by David and was named the City of David, according to text from wikipedia and the Holy Bible. A ‘Grid’ can be defined as a ‘Metropolis’, don’t you think? How about a community? Can you imagine a government controlled by machines? Have you ever seen the movie titled “Dark City?”

The Nebuchadnezzar, the main battleship in the Matrix trilogy, is actually the Akkadian name for the king who conquered Jerusalem. According to the Bible, as quoted from ‘wikipedia”, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile.It kinda makes you wonder why they used that name for the ship. Do you think that it had something to do with control? What about slavery? I wonder if the name referred to that type of invasion and mass control? Sentinels were used to control the human enemies of the machines that are in control. They were also used as an invasion force. A sentinel is a guard that challenges all comers and prevent surprise attacks; they are the guardians of the citidel or ruling domain. Sentinels are also called “tags.” Tags are also described as computer symbols, marks, and/or other lables of a device or program indicating the beginning or the end of a text paragraph. They are also described as the end of a unit of information.

Time, Motion, and Growth is the central point to my friend’s argument. He insists that there is no such thing as time. The aggregate majority continually insisted on a more direct and conclusionary definition of time from the introductory topic interpreter.

Technology is defined as the knowledge of tools and crafts. It is a broad view or concept that deals with human inventions, intervention, and the ability to adapt and control of a particular environment. The clock has a form of control over the way we react to time, i.e., cause and effect. Technology can also be construed as material objects in use by humans such as machines and devices that involve systems, techniques, and/or methods of organization. Do humans control computers or do computers control humans? Why is the question germane to this topic? View my article: “Device Machine Dependent!”

What is it that we humans attempt to achieve with the use of technology? Are we evolving or becoming enslaved? Only time will tell.

“Everything that has a beginning has an end” according to ‘the Oracle.’

What do you believe?

Til next time…

Acknowledgment(s):

WikiPedia.com

The Free Dictionary.com

AutoCadLT2000i, Grabowski

Visual Basic 6.0, Halvorson

Problem Solving & Program Design in C, Hanly and Hoffman

“The Matrix Trilogy”

“The Topic of Time”, R. (K.) Reed

Members of “The Catharsis Table”

by Gregory V. Boulware