AU Blogspot

              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

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

 
                  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                

Photo courtesy of jen_segrest

A study in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry examines the prevalence of psychotic symptoms and schizophrenia in nondemented 95-year-olds over a one-year period. A sample of 338 95-year-olds living in Göteborg, Sweden (individuals with dementia were excluded leaving 163 subjects for this study) received psychiatric and physical examinations as well as cognitive tests and interviews with close informants. The results indicated that the one-year prevalence of any psychotic symptom was 7.4% overall (hallucinations 6.7% and delusions 0.6% ). Four of the study participants met DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia (2.4%). No differences in cognitive functioning were found between individuals with psychotic symptoms and individuals without these symptoms. Individuals with hallucinations and paranoid ideation also had an increased frequency of paranoid personality traits. The authors concluded that there was evidence of a higher than expected prevalence of psychotic symptoms, paranoid ideation, and schizophrenia in the very old.

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.

Photo courtesy of Sarah

Mind-myth 6: Everyone has heard the idea that our left-brains are logical, verbal, rational and scientific while our right brains are spatial, emotional, intuitive and creative. Like some of the mind-myths covered in this series, there’s a solid grain of truth here but its extent has been wildly exaggerated.

Left side language

The biggest grain of truth is that our verbal powers are concentrated in the left side of our brains. It was Nobel Prize winner Roger W. Sperry who, in the 1960s, first showed that the left hemisphere is specialised for language (Corballis, 2007). He was studying patients suffering from crippling epileptic fits who had decided to undergo surgery to try and relieve their symptoms.

The surgery cut the bundle of white matter - the corpus callosum - that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. Along with successfully treating their epilepsy, these ’split-brain’ patients exhibited some strange new symptoms.

Sperry found that after the surgery patients were unable to name objects with the, now disconnected, right side of their brains. Their left-brains, however, seemed to have retained this ability. This lead him to propose that the left hemisphere is specialised for language.

But this specialisation didn’t mean the right hemisphere had no language powers at all. Further experiments suggested the right hemisphere could indeed still process language, just to a lesser degree. For example, patients were able to point to the written names of objects which were presented to their right-brain, although they found themselves unable to say the word.
Click here to read the rest of this entry…

               Thanks to Alicia Yeah for permission to use this Photo.

I’m sure many of you, like me, may find yourself in front of the television watching everything under the sun from time to time.  I won’t speculate on why, but I tend to gravitate towards animal-nature programs when I’m visiting the family.  If the program centers around animal psychology, then I’m set for at least an afternoon of random thoughts.  The PBS Nature produced special I’m linking to today deals with animal intelligence, a topic that anyone interested in the mysteries of the human psyche will find fascinating.  I think you’ll draw some intriguing parallels as you progress through this video, which is rather long, so I recommend that you watch it in parts, processing your thoughts as you go along.  Click on the image above to watch this video and be sure to share your perspectives with the community.  Take care. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

 
                    Thanks to Steve for permission to use this Photo.

Most famous for his radical theories on language learning and evolutionary psychology, Steven Pinker is a thinker with a vision that tends to provoke strong emotional responses in anyone who will listen.  The reason may be rather simple.  Pinker analyzes human intelligence from a zero sum perspective in which he meticulously deconstructs the foundations of what’s been established as scientific fact.  The following video presentation was made at Google Headquarters.  The Google geniuses always seem to bring in other geniuses to make the room smarter.  Afterwards, please share your thoughts with the Ashworth Psychology community.  Click on the image above to watch this video.  It’s good.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University Psychology Program

 
Are we on this again?

“Study doubts the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs.”  Or, even better, as per The Independent: “Antidepressant drugs don’t work– official study.“

I don’t know what passes for official nowadays.  The data is the exact same data that has existed for 30 years.  Yes, these authors are acting like they FOIA-ed the second Zapruder film, but let me assure you it’s the same old data.  These authors did the exact same study in 2002.  So have twenty other groups.  This is not new. 

But it is news.  The question is why.

I have a side question.  Why is it that when an article says something works, people are suspicious of bias, but when an article says something doesn’t work, everyone thinks it’s objective science?   IT’S ALL BIAS.  

People are completely missing the point of this paper and all the other recent re-investigations, the true social and clinical consequences of them.  For example: they’re saying antidepressants are no good.  Ok.  What do you think doctors are going to use  instead?  Psychoanalysis?  Nothing?  They’re going to prescribe antipsychotics.  Are you listening to me?  I’m not even saying this is clinically wrong to do, but do you not see the setup?  Abre los ojos, man. (more…)

Special thanks to Ruby_ran for permission to use this photo.

My sister spoils our children with presents. She is very generous and kind, and on one birthday she gave my daughter Maddie a 70 piece toy makeup set. Maddie loved it and promptly plastered it all over her face. The result was awful. Within an hour she was a feral animal - hitting, scratching, screaming and crying. It lasted for 7 hours. She’s no longer allowed to wear makeup.

Chemicals in food can cause major problems, which I wrote about in a recent post. However, chemicals in the environment can be just as bad. Your skin is your largest organ and it can absorb enormous amounts of chemicals, not just from makeup. Chemicals also enter your body through your nose. Aromatherapy is an example where your mood can be altered through your sense of smell.

Can the chemicals in your environment make your mood worse or even make you sick? Absolutely.

Gas cookers increase the carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels in the house. Moulds give off toxic fumes. You should make sure that your house is well ventilated and clean.

Think about the personal care products that you use. Makeup is a big culprit. Look at the ingredients - I can’t pronounce most of them. Liquid soap normally contains a chemical called sodium laureth sulfate which is a detergent and known skin irritant. It is also found in shampoos and toothpaste. But the list of chemicals is long and so are their potential effects for people who are sensitive. They are in deodorants, moisturizers, sunscreens. (more…)