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                   Thanks to dbking for permission to use this Photo.

It was meant to be a special Halloween night episode of the American radio program, Mercury Theatre on the Air. Directed by 23-year old Orson Welles, the program was an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds. The screenplay for the show introduced an unprecedented innovation for  American radio: use of a fake newscast to provide listeners with the experience of actually living through an alien invasion.

Broadcast from a studio in New York City on October 30, 1938, the program was presented as an ordinary music program that was frequently interrupted by news bulletins. After first describing strange explosions on Mars (Welles played a prominent astronomer), listeners were then told of the landing of a strange “meteorite” in Grover’s Mills, New Jersey. The meteorite turns out to be a Martian capsule which then destroys hundreds of onlookers with “heat rays”. As the episode continued, more Martian ships land and devastation is unleashed across the entire United States.

Despite military resistance, the Martian invaders prove too strong and unleash terrible weapons including “poison gas” sprayed into the air. New York City is invaded by “great machines” wading across the Hudson River. Coverage of the invasion is provided by a “news reporter” who describes “people dropping like flies” until he is killed by the poison gas himself. The broadcast ends with Welles (in his role as the astronomer) telling listeners about the devastation and how the Martians were destroyed by Earth’s bacteria.

Later reports came out about the”panic” the resulted from the broadcast but there is still debate over how widespread it really was. Although disclaimers that the invasion was fictional were inserted at several points in the program, many listeners were still convinced that the invasion was real . Later estimates placed the number of listeners at six million with 1.2 million believing it to be “genuinely true”. Incidents of actual panic remain scarce although reports of people fleeing their homes or hiding in their cellars to avoid the “poison gas” came out afterward. Read the rest of this entry »

          Thanks to Sylvia Ortiz Domney for permission to use this Photo. 

How do we choose a life partner?  Magazine articles on choosing the right mate abound.  “What should you look for in that special someone?”  “What is the ideal man/woman?”  Take a minute to think about that.  What do you want in a life partner?  What words come to mind to describe your Princess or Prince Charming?  Whatever you’re looking for, or have already found, the words you have chosen to describe your “ideal mate” are almost certainly personality traits: kind, considerate, funny, ambitious, loving.   

Somewhere on your list are probably good-looking and healthy, but even things like health are affected by the personality.  The things you want in a life partner are pretty much the same things that everyone else is looking for.   

So, do we get what we’re looking for?  Generally, we do.  But, a better question might be, are we happy with what we get?  Well, that depends upon what you were looking for in the first place.  You are most likely to be happy if you look for, and end up with, someone who is agreeable, emotionally stable, and open. 

The next question that might come to mind is how can we know if the relationship with that special someone will last?  Well, for starters you can assume that marrying someone who is the opposite of agreeable, emotionally stable, and open, is probably a bad idea.  Low impulse control and lack of dependability also predict relationship breakup.  And, finally, relationships seem to work best when the partners are similar in background, religion, goals, education, and personality.  Fortunately, we tend to meet people like ourselves, because we gravitate toward certain types of situations that are compatible with our own personalities.  Selection of situations, then, enhances our chances for meeting like-minded people.  If, for example, you are bookish and quiet, you are likely to spend time in a library or museum, where you will meet other bookish and quiet people. 

So, have you found what you’re looking for?  Are you more alike or different?  Please share your thoughts with our Ashworth University psychology community!

Dr. Carol Simons
Psychology Program Instructor
Ashworth University

 
                Thanks to auntyevil for permission to use this Photo.

One concept that’s particularly influential in contemporary culture is that of social currency, an abstract exchange value that we’re all unconsciously aware of and have perhaps unknowingly utilized as a tool to gain interactive access to others on a social level.  Content is essentially seen as a medium for interaction, not an end in itself, but more importantly a basis for human interaction.  A new study was recently published on the “psychology of social networks” and the researchers do an admirable job of piecing together the social puzzle without drawing too many predetermined conclusions.  In other words, within an Internet-oriented context, they accept that the network model of human communication can not be studied from a static perspective.  The behavior of humans in an online environment does not parallel that of monkeys in a cage, perhaps less due to the complexity of humans than the fact that the virtual cage is always unlocked, permitting us to come and go as we please—as long as we’re never alone of course.  Check out this interesting study and please share your perspectives with the Ashworth student community.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

              Thanks to Boris Anthony for permission to use this Photo.

Marshall McLuhan’s groundbreaking theories on media communications and the psycho-social impact of technological development made him both a very respected and controversial figure beginning in the 1950’s.  Seen by many as a prophet of our contemporary media filtered age, McLuhan’s famous “the medium is the message” theory, in which the communications medium itself (microphone, television, computer, letter) is more directly related to the meaning and ultimate impact of a given message than the actual “content” (intellectual/rational meaning) continues to gain depth as the decades pass.

I recently discovered an excellent audio-video archive of McLuhan’s work on the CBC web site.  This is a great primer for our psychology students unfamiliar with his work and I strongly encourage you to check this archive out by clicking here.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on McLuhan, a thinker who still truly remains ahead of his time. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University Psychology Program

Slavoj Žižek is arguably the most irrerevent, brilliant, and provacative thinker in the history of Slovenian thought.  Renowned for wildly “psychoanalyzing” topics ranging from idiotic celebrity scandals to Hitchcockian symbolism to post-marxist economic theory in the span of one sentence, Žižek has himself earned somewhat of a celebrity status and cult following.  One of Žižek’s specialties is the reversal, in which he will relentlessly breakdown and analyze a concept with such precision and depth, that the way one had previously thought about that particular concept is completely twisted on the surface to the point of reversal, and one is often left thinking, “Why did I never notice that?”—viewing the world from a new perspective.  Žižek is a complex madman, so this video, horrible lighting included, can only at best serve as a glimpse, but can any one of us wish for anything more than that?

Ryan Rode 
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University 

 
                 Thanks to Paul for permission to use this Photo.

I recently read an interesting book called From Difficult To Disturbed.  The author, clinical and forensic psychologist Laurence Miller, presents a number of compelling analyses of workplace psychology and the range of personality types, from the narcissistic to the sociopathic, comprising the fragile dynamic of every workplace environment—even yours.  As you read this book, you’ll find yourself profiling your colleagues, sometimes laughing out loud and other times changing your lunch partners, but in either case, I think your job will never look quite the same again.  Click on the image above to listen to a fascinating podcast interview with Laurence Miller.  I encourage you to share your thoughts after listening to this interview.   

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University    

Photo courtesy of Gaetan_Lee

A study reported in the December 2007 Journal of Psychosomatic Research examined cognitive complaints in head-injured patients referred to the emergency department of a level 1 trauma center in the Netherlands.  A sample of 79 patients (ranging in age from 18 to 60) who had been admitted for mild traumatic brain injury were followed up over six months post-admission. In addition to a battery of neuropsychological tests and use of the Rivermead Postconcussional Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ), patients were also asked to self-monitor their cognitive and memory problems over a 12-day period. Results indicated that 39 per cent of the sample self-reported cognitive problems. These complaints were strongly related to lower educational levels, emotional distress, personality, and poorer physical functioning (especially fatigue) but not to actual extent of injury.  Severity of self-reported cognitive complaints was found not to be associated with the patients’ daily observations of cognitive problems or with outcome on a range of neuropsychological tests.  The researchers concluded that self-reported cognitive complaints were more strongly related to preexisting personality factors, as well as physical and emotional problems rather than actual cognitive impairments. This would suggest that treatment of emotional distress and fatigue may also reduce cognitive complaints. They also concluded that neuropsychological screening and daily monitoring of complaints is a useful method to gather information about the frequency and pattern of cognitive problems in regular life.

Click here for the abstract.

Romeo Vitelli
Creator of Providentia
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*A man who has lived a fascinating life, Dr. Romeo Vitelli spent fifteen years as a staff psychologist in Millbrook Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison run by the Ontario government. In 2003, he successfully escaped prison and went into full-time private practice and currently also serves as a Disaster Management volunteer with the Red Cross. He is one of the web’s most respected and trusted sources in matters of psychology. We here in the Ashworth University community are honored to share with Dr. Vitelli’s gifts with our students and would like to express our gratitude to him. Visit Providentia to learn more about the life and work of Dr. Romeo Vitelli.

           Thanks to Gaetan Lee for permission to use this Photo.

Renowned as one of the most gifted, original, and charismatic thinkers in the world; V.S. Ramachandran is a neurologist with an almost preternatural understanding of the brain’s deepest mechanisms and the nature of consciousness.

Ramachandran’s insights into such facinating enigmas as phantom limb syndrome, synesthesia, and capgras delusion continue to both inspire and puzzle the psycho-scientific community, while his entertaining presentations always promise to dazzle even the most cynical of audiences. Check out the following video from the TED conference. Lose your mind.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

Photo courtesy of Pedro_Simoes

In my spare (ha ha) time, I really need to sit down and compile a list of videos for classroom use, especially in biological psychology. So many new ones are popping up each day. I think the days of publishers providing a DVD of video clips along with textbooks are soon to be over.Nature launched their new site recently, and although the content covers the many branches of science found in the journal, several are appropriate for biopsych. I really enjoyed the clips on Brain-Machine Interfaces, and I plan to use with my students next quarter. I’ve always had a love for linguistics (I’m such a party girl), and the Language Evolution clips caught my eye. Evolution topics are well-represented, with clips on Neanderthal DNA and Hominid Evolution and Development. For fun, I had to watch the Moray eel films.

I liked the way the films featured the scientists working on the topic, discussing their work in their own words. Students, especially those with grad school plans, really need to see this.

Dr. Laura Freberg
Creator of Laura’s Psychology Blog
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Since receiving her Ph.D. in Psychology from UCLA, Dr. Laura Freberg has earned a reputation for being one of the leading educational minds in the psychology field. She’s the author of numerous well respected textbooks and currently serves as a Professor of Psychology at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. Dr. Freberg has been incredibly gracious in offering to share her insights with the Ashworth University student community and we are thrilled to have her as a member of our contributing bloggers’ network. Visit Laura’s great website and Laura’s Psychology Blog to learn more about her life and work. Thanks Dr. Freberg! 

 
                  Thanks to Beks for permission to use this Photo.

The following video features an interview with psychologist Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The Psychology of Success. Carol specializes in analyzing students’ attitudes towards their own “intelligence” and how these attitudes influence whether students will perceive learning as an opportunity for growth or as a potential failure to be feared. The latter attitude negatively contributes to a “fixed” mindset in which students generally become complacent and frustrated with their own lack of performance. These students see their own minds in a static light and gradually end up devaluing their own abilities. The former “growth” oriented attitude, in which students recognize that mistakes are simply part of the learning process, and that one’s ability to learn from those mistakes is integral to achieving higher goals, should be seen by our Ashworth student community as key to advancing through your program studies with confidence.

This might be a good time to take a look at your mindset. Are you more growth than fixed or vice-versa? It’s ok if you presently see yourself as fixed. Remember, you are fully capable of changing your mindset at any time. You just have to be motivated to change. Take comfort in the fact that we’re here to help you reach your potential.  Stay focused.  Your hard work is going to pay off.

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University