It is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder – seven million women and one million men
One in 200 American women suffers from anorexia
Two to three in 100 American women suffers from bulimia
Nearly half of all Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder (Note: One in five Americans suffers from mental illnesses.)
An estimated 10 – 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are males
MORTALITY RATES
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover
The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15 – 24 years old.
20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems
ADOLESCENTS
Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents
95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25
50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight
80% of 13-year-olds have attempted to lose weight
RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
Rates of minorities with eating disorders are similar to those of white women
74% of American Indian girls reported dieting and purging with diet pills
Essence magazine, in 1994, reported that 53.5% of their respondents, African-American females were at risk of an eating disorder
Eating disorders are one of the most common psychological problems facing young women in Japan.
Statistics taken from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health
A few changes are here to the course plan for next week. The readings are the same but the class time will be rather different! SPREAD THE WORD!
FRIDAY: I will be handing out a new agenda for the rest of IB Psychology. I will also post the adjusted plan on mrcaro.com and link to it from the blog.
Due to the week missed to snow and my absence, the tests will be slightly pre-curved.
I will try and have all essays graded by mid to late next week.
I will post scores on eSIS as I grade them after I do the first set to allow for grading moderation (I like to grade them all and then go back and control for any unintended grading variance).
A woman may not consciously think of a man's sweat during intimate moments. But her brain appears to recognize the scent and the significance of the emotions it conveys right away.
That's the conclusion of a Rice University study that exposed 19 twentysomething women to various scents, including "normal" sweat from males as well as so-called "sexual" sweat -- more on this in a moment.
Although the research doesn't have immediate implications for male-female relationships -- don't put away the cologne just yet, fellas -- it does advance scientists' understanding of how humans communicate chemically.
Everyone pretty well understands how people communicate through talking and facial expressions. But elsewhere in the animal kingdom, chemicals such as pheromones are commonly used to communicate, be it to attract a mate or warn a competitor.
The question Rice psychologist Denise Chen and her colleagues set out to better understand is how people might communicate chemically and, more specifically, how the brain processes chemical signals from other humans.
The experiment they devised involved the collection of sweat from men who wore rayon/polyester pads under their armpits. For normal sweat, they watched 20-minute educational videos and, for sexual sweat, 20-minute erotic videos.
As it happens, humans have a variety of sweat glands. The sweat produced after a long day's work is different from that after a workout, which is different, in turn, from that produced by a roll in the hay.
Chen and her colleagues then devised settings in which female participants were exposed to different sweat "scents" while being monitored by brain-scanning, magnetic resonance imaging equipment. The women didn't know what they were smelling and couldn't differentiate among the various types of sweats.
But their brains could.
"The sexual sweat lit up different regions of their brains," Chen said.
She said the work suggests the brain can recognize an emotional component in sexual sweat, somehow differentiating it from normal sweat.
The research is part of an emerging scientific discipline that aims to determine whether human brains can process pheromones -- chemicals that trigger a natural behavioral response in animals of the same species.
"This is a very hot and controversial area of research," said Dr. Jay Gottfried, an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University.
The Chen study, Gottfried said, adds to the scientific debate, because it used natural scents rather than synthetic ones.
The next step, he said, is to determine whether sweat scents trigger behavioral changes in woman, such as making them feel more or less attracted to a man.
The Killers cover a great Joy Division song. The video takes clips from the movie "Control":
This Week The primary focus for this week is the class of anxiety disorders. As you make your way through the readings, be sure to take close notes of research mentioned. You should be done with all anxiety disorders by Thursday/Friday.
There are some questions regarding the case study part of the project. Here are some new instructions:
In a small group, each member should select ONE kind of anxiety disorder and make up a case study. For instance, say I was in your group, I might select PTSD. I then follow Appendix II and make up a person suffering with PTSD. I will report the case to the group. The group will then analyze the case for causes of the PTSD and best therapy.
Below are three interviews with people suffering from anxiety disorders. As you listen to the interviews, be sure to consider the characteristics of the disorder. Keep in mind that these are not actors/actresses.
Panic Disorder
OCD
PTSD
Eating Disorders Friday I will be guest speaking on eating disorders. I will try and integrate a few video clips into the lecture.
Be sure to check eSIS throughout the week for frequent grade updates!
PLEASE e-mail me any questions or concerns you have!
Just a few notes: 1. I will be posting a video on anxiety disorders this weekend. I hope it helps you with the project! The video will have three interviews as well as some notes. 2. I am very close to finishing the IAs. Be sure to check eSIS by Sunday night. AND e-mail me to schedule a time to meet and walk through the IA for your testers! 3. Let me know if you have any questions about the project. Sorry for any confusion.
The follow is the information you need if you would like to apply for college credit from PCC. WARNING: if you do not want the grade to be transferred to your college, do not apply for the PCC credits. (So if you have a D in the class and do not want it to affect your college GPA, do not apply for the PCC credits.) Teacher: Frank Caro
High School Title: IB Psychology
HS ID# 2774A
PCC Course: PSY 201
Credits: 4
PCC CRN: 18369
Prerequisite: Placement in WR 121 Don't worry about the back side of the form for mysignature to override the pre-requisite, PCC made a note that I was outand they will override it on my behalf. The form is DUE to Mrs. Watkins by the 23rd of January!
IA NEWS:::: IAs for those Testing in Psychology this Spring --PLEASE e-mail me to schedule a time and day in February to go over your IA prior to sending it to IB. OR --Upon my return on January 30th, 2009, PLEASE see me to schedule a meeting to go over your IA prior to IB grading. It is critical that we meet to go over any edits prior to submission. It makes a big difference in your IB score! OR --I will be at THS next Friday to guest lecture on eating disorders. That would also be a good day to schedule a time in February for us to go over your IA!
I hope the cognitive exam went well! I have a few updates for you all:
For College Credit 1. Those students who would like to receive PCC credit for your articulatedclass this semester, need to complete the PCC Dual Credit Registration Form. -- this form will be handed out Thursday. 2. It is DUE on the 20th to Mrs. Watkins.
IAs Monday: IA Grade Sheets will be returned. Please look it over and e-mail me with any questions. In general, the IA grades are looking great! Dysfunctional Psychology Check the blog for videos on abnormal behavior. This weekend I will post a video on anxiety disorders.
Although I will be out of the class this month, I will be online! So please e-mail me or post questions!
Given some of the constraints we are under, we will be covering Dysfunctional Psychology instead of Developmental. Chapter Five in the Reader is on Developmental Psychology. Therefore, I have copied off for you a new Chapter Five: Abnormal Psychology! The sub, Mrs. Watkins, will distribute the sections of the chapter to you as you need them. DO NOT PANIC regarding the amount of reading. Here is why: you will have plenty of class time to work through it AND basically all month for homework.
Cognitive Essay Outline 4
Monday (1/5) 1. Turn in extra credit assignments: dream study AND movie analysis -- NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED 2. Review the Plan for January 3. Begin review for Cognitive Essay Exam (scheduled for Wednesday) --You should develop DETAILED outlines for each of the essay questions. --Each outline needs to have peer editing and signatures --Redo the outlines given the feedback and repeat this processes through Tuesday. HW: STUDY for Cognitive Exam 3pm: Review Session
Tuesday (1/6) Same agenda as Monday HW: Study for Cognitive Exam
Wednesday (1/7) Turn in the following: --ALL Dream JAS forms --ALL outlines Cognitive Exam --I instructed the sub, Mrs. Watkins, to allow for five minutes of over time if you need it. HW: Obtain "Chapter Five: Abnormal Psychology" from class. The following readings will be NOT from the Reader but from the packets! Read pages 9-16 AND: 1. Defining Abnormal Behavior 2. A general history of how abnormal behavior was treated – consider cross cultural differences 3. WARNING: be sure to read page 18
Thursday (1/8) 1. STAMP HW 2. Understanding the complexity of classifying and defining abnormality is CRITICAL to understanding dysfunctional psychology. 3. Discuss: --Discuss criteria for determining abnormality (page 6-9) AND Cultural bases for abnormal behavior. --Discuss (in brief) the history of how societies have treated abnormal behavior --Lastly, discuss “Critical Thinking” questions on page 18. 3. Video: Abnormal Psychology HW: Read pages 69-76 (in same packet) and take notes on the classification system of assessment of abnormal behavior
Friday (1/9) 1. STAMP HW 2. Discuss Culture-Bound Syndromes – pages 73-74 AND Discuss evaluation of the DSM system – pages 74-76. 3. Cognitive approach to treating abnormality -- readings (ABC and Beck) and worksheet 4. Discuss project: Case Booklet HW: Anxiety Disorders: begin project and complete work for panic disorder.
I am sorry that you all have this essay hanging over your heads during the break. I am confident you will do outstanding! Again, let's get ready to make IB Psychology history. DUE on January 5th, 2009 1. JAS for Aserinsky & Kleitman 2. JAS for Cartwright 3. JAS for Hobson 4. NOTES for Domhoff 5. EXTRA CREDIT DREAM STUDY - NO LATE SUBMISSIONS 6. EXTRA CREDIT VIDEO: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND - NO LATE SUBMISSIONS
Cognitive Psychology Essay Options for January 7th, 2009 See Page: 212 Essay Options: 1, 2, and 4
I will be posting, within the next two-three days, a review video or videos which will cover the three essays. But please feel free to contact me with any questions! The first two days back will be review days and I will be at THS at 3pm on the 5th to hold a review session for the exam on the 7th. I will also try and hold a more brief session on the 6th after school.
Stay tuned for those videos!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!! BE SAFE!
The below video is from Golfrapp. I saw them live two years ago. It was a great show!
Below I have posted the first of a series of videos (it is my lame attempt at making up for the lost snow days...I apologize in advance for the quality...I will get better at them I hope). For every video I post, feel free to participate by applying what you have read from the homework readings on dreams, posted lecture notes, and what you have seen in the video, and elsewhere, by posting comments. Such participation will be applied to your grade.
Linked below is the Extra Credit Assignment DUE January 5th, 2009! CLICK HERE:::::EXTRA CREDIT DREAM RESEARCH OPTION This extra credit assignment is a serious undertaking! Know that it is worth your while (20 points extra credit) but it is an effort for sure! Follow the instructions for how to recall a dream and contact me if you have any difficulties and/or questions.
Check the blog often for NEWS on the IA, Cognitive Psychology Essay, Dreams, and January's coming plans!
FROM THE WORDS OF MASTER DAVE UNIS HIMSELF! HE HASTH EMAILTH HISTH GOOD TIDINGS TO ME BEHOLD THE WORD OF MASTER!!
"Hey, spread the word about this: If we don't have school tomorrow, you guys can turn in your IAs to the Tigard Public Library's Children's Desk and get priority grading status over those who turn them in tomorrow by email. Turnitin.com is not working for Tigard High right now, so we'll worryabout submitting those later. "The Massa of Disaster"
Dion, K. K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285-290.
Dion, K. K. (1972). Physical attractiveness and evaluations of children's transgressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 24, 207-213.
Although the end is near, we must make the most of our time from afar! I suspect we will be apart these last few days prior to the break, thus I will lay out the plan for winter break and make hints for January.
First and foremost, many of you are concerned about the IA (and rightfully so). Allow me to get that out of the way first. You should e-mail your FULL IA in one main attachment (or in as few as possible) in Word (.doc or .docx). DO NOT SEND MICROSOFT WORKS FILES -- THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED LATE. Feel free to send me a test fire! PDF works as well. This is DUE by MIDNIGHT This Friday.
Your IA will be graded as usual save the Discussion section. Given that you most likely will not get these back in time, REVISE your Discussion the best you can. Please, stick closely to the rubric. Too many of you have ventured away from this for some reason. The further you venture, the worse the score. I will grade the Discussion with the understanding that you did not have my feedback. Be careful and do your best work here. It is worth 60 points. Please do not send me the entire thing to read again. If you have specific questions, simply send the section you have a question on. I am currently overwhelmed with requests for revisions. Sadly, I am unable to keep up with the demand. If you send me a single question with the text, I can respond very fast! That is good for you and me!
Regarding this Week's Readings Wednesday (12/17) Read pages: Freud and Dreams: 279 AND Read pages: 302: Unromancing The Dream - JAS
Thursday (12/18) 1. Review your Notes on Dreams Read pages: 308: A New Neuocognitive Theory of Dreams - Take Notes on theory, applications, and analysis
Friday (12/19) 1. Dream Analysis: The Wolf Man page 319
Please use the blog as a classroom in that if you post questions, I can answer and others can learn from it!
EXTRA CREDIT DREAM RESEARCH OPTION This extra credit assignment is a serious undertaking! Know that it is worth your while (20 points extra credit) but it is an effort for sure! Follow the instructions for how to recall a dream and contact me if you have any difficulties and/or questions.
Over the break, if you wish, view, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and write a 1-2 page response on how the neural network model of information processing would explain and evaluate the movie's premise.
January will be the final unit of IB Psychology: Dysfunctional Psychology. I will be designing the plan in the next few days. Although I will not be with you, I will be online and willing to help. I plan to make a few appearances in January to go over Eating Disorders and Schizophrenia. I will also be posting videos to the blog and the sub will play these files in class. So, be sure to check the blog often!
In short, e-mail me any questions and/or concerns!
Have a wonderful winter break! I will miss you all in January so keep me posted on how things are.
I leave you with a video...of course. This is one of THE BEST videos. It is all about dreams! So enjoy!
Tigard-Tualatin Sch. Dist.: Closed Tuesday December 16th. 12 month district office employees and district office administrators report as safety allows. (Effective tomorrow - Tue Dec 16th) UPDATE
Because we are missing a day of school (and maybe more), I have posted the lecture notes on Freud. (click the link to access the PDF file). WARNING: when we go over this in class, I will discussing much more information than what is here. So, review these notes and come prepared to ask questions AND write more notes down on this document during lecture. I have printed copies at school so no need to print your own.
Stay tuned for more UPDATES as new breaks on school status and our changing plans...
Enjoy the snow day everyone! Don't lose site of the IA however! It is still due Friday! Take Monday to work on your IA! No new homework is assigned for Monday night.
Tuesday (12/16) 1. Finish Notes on Sleep 2. Introduction to Freud HW: Read pages: 289: To Wish Upon Dream - JAS
Wednesday (12/17) 1. Finish Freud and Freud on Dreams 2. Notes on Dreams HW: Read pages: 302: Unromancing The Dream - JAS EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE IF WEATHER PERMITS
Thursday (12/18) 1. Notes on Dreams HW: Read pages: 308: A New Neuocognitive Theory of Dreams - Take Notes on theory EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE IF WEATHER PERMITS
You may think your attentive spouse, your loving children and your good friends are what make you happy. But something else may be going on: The people they're connected with are making you happy too.
So suggests a new study proposing that happiness is transmitted through social networks, almost like a germ is spread through personal contact. The research was published Thursday in BMJ, a British medical journal.
It's the latest in a growing body of work investigating how our social connections - neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, fellow congregants at church and other associates - affect us. The premise is that we live in a social environment that shapes what we do and how we think and feel.
"We've known for some time that social relationships are the best predictor of human happiness, and this paper shows that the effect is much more powerful than anyone realized," said Daniel Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness" and a professor of psychology at Harvard University.
Previous research by the authors, James Fowler of the University of California-San Diego, and Dr. Nicholas Christakis at Harvard, has concluded that social networks influence obesity and tobacco use by altering perceptions of acceptable weight and desirable behavior.
Now they've turned their attention to the emotional realm, exploring how social ties influence our moods and our sense of well-being. Their primary finding: People who are surrounded by happy people are more likely to be happy themselves. And it's not only people in our immediate circles who make a difference - it's the people surrounding the people we know.
Imagine several pebbles thrown into a pool of water that send ripples outward, said Fowler, an associate professor of political science. Each pebble represents a happy person and the waves the impact of that person's mood on others. This impact, his study found, extends through several degrees of separation, to the friends of a person's friends.
Some experts question whether the researchers' statistical methodology can support that conclusion. It's difficult to sort out cause and effect in this kind of research and the authors may not have done so with enough rigor, said Charles Manski, a Northwestern University economics professor who studies how inferences can be drawn from social interactions.
He asks, is it that one person's happiness makes another person happy, or could it be that another factor experienced by both people is affecting both?
Say two friends are watching a TV show together, and one laughs after the other does, Manski said. It may look like the first person's chuckle is the cause of the second, but the jokes on the TV show might inspire both reactions.
Christakis said his research factored out such mutual influences. The study asked the subjects - 4,739 participants in the famous Framingham Heart Study in Massachusetts - to complete a survey including four questions relating to happiness three times between 1983 and 2003. They also provided information about social contacts, which allow researchers to map their connections.
The study found that happy people form clusters and the happiest people are those most centrally located in the clusters.
"If you imagine the fabric of humanity as a patchwork quilt, it turns out if you're happy or not depends on if you're in a happy or unhappy patch," Christakis said.
"We postulate that people who are in closer, more frequent contact with each other are more susceptible to catching each other's moods," Fowler said.
The researchers stress that personal factors such as jobs or marriages also affect happiness and that although happiness may fluctuate, people tend to return to a personal happiness "set point" over time. It is this relatively stable emotional condition they examined in the paper, not the fleeting moods people experience day to day.
Richard Suzman, director of the division of behavior and social research at the National Institute on Aging, said the line of research holds "enormous promise in helping us improve interventions aimed at helping people change behaviors and improving public health."
Such interventions may involve targeted programs designed to alter social networks that influence behavior. The institute on aging has provided funding for Fowler and Christakis' work.
An editorial accompanying the report in BMJ called its conclusions "intriguing" but advised caution. Framingham, a relatively small community, may prove unique in ways not yet understood, wrote Peter Sainsbury, director of population health in Sydney South West Area Health Service in Australia.
As for whether unhappiness is also spreadable, Fowler and Christakis plan to look at that topic in upcoming papers on loneliness, depression and social networks.
NEW YORK - What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people? These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they're coming from brain scientists.
While violent video games have gotten a lot of public attention, some current concerns go well beyond that. Some scientists think the wired world may be changing the way we read, learn and interact with each other.
There are no firm answers yet. But Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatrist at UCLA, argues that daily exposure to digital technologies such as the Internet and smart phones can alter how the brain works.
When the brain spends more time on technology-related tasks and less time exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills like reading facial expressions during conversation, Small asserts.
So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he suggests. That may lead to social awkwardness, an inability to interpret nonverbal messages, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning.
Small says the effect is strongest in so-called digital natives - people in their teens and 20s who have been "digitally hard-wired since toddlerhood." He thinks it's important to help the digital natives improve their social skills and older people - digital immigrants - improve their technology skills.
At least one 19-year-old Internet enthusiast gives Small's idea a mixed review. John Rowe, who lives near Pasadena, Calif., spends six to 12 hours online a day. He flits from instant messaging his friends to games like Cyber Nations and Galaxies Ablaze to online forums for game players and disc jockeys.
Social skills? Rowe figures he and his buddies are doing just fine in that department, thank you. But he thinks Small may have a point about some other people he knows.
"If I didn't actively go out and try to spend time with friends, I wouldn't have the social skills that I do," said Rowe, who reckons he spends three or four nights a week out with his pals. "You can't just give up on having normal friends that you see on a day-to-day basis."
More than 2,000 years ago, Socrates warned about a different information revolution - the rise of the written word, which he considered a more superficial way of learning than the oral tradition. More recently, the arrival of television sparked concerns that it would make children more violent or passive and interfere with their education.
Small, who describes his modern-day concerns in a new book called "iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind," acknowledges he doesn't have an open-and-shut case that digital technology is changing brain circuitry.
Still, his argument is "pretty interesting and certainly provocative," although difficult to prove, says brain scientist Tracey Shors of Rutgers University.
Others are skeptical. Robert Kurzban, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, said scientists still have a lot to learn about how a person's experiences affect the way the brain is wired to deal with social interaction.
Life in the age of Google may even change how we read.
Normally, as a child learns to read, the brain builds pathways that gradually allow for more sophisticated analysis and comprehension, says Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University, author of "Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain."
She calls that analysis and comprehension "deep reading." But that takes time, even if it's just a fraction of a second, and today's wired world is all about speed, gathering a lot of superficial information fast.
Wolf asks what will happen as young children do more and more early reading online. Will their brains respond by short-circuiting parts of the normal reading pathways that lead to deeper reading but which also take more time? And will that harm their ability to reflect on what they've read?
Those questions deserve to be studied, Wolf says. She thinks kids will need instruction tailored to gaining reading comprehension in the digital world.
Some research suggests the brain actually benefits from Internet use.
A large study led by Mizuko Ito of the University of California, Irvine, recently concluded that by hanging out online with friends - sending instant messages, for example - teens learn valuable skills they'll need to use at work and socially in the digital age. That includes lessons about issues like online privacy and what's appropriate to post and communicate on the internet, Ito said.
Rowe, the 19-year-old, said he and his buddies often debate whether technology might actually be bad for you. That includes kicking around the argument that computer use makes people socially inept.
Of course, he added, "we spend a lot of time on the computer and still have totally normal and perfect social lives."
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much.
Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body.
In a study presented Tuesday, neuroscientists at Stockholm's renowned Karolinska Institute show how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person.
"We were interested in a classical question that philosophers and psychologists have discussed for centuries: why we feel that the self is in our bodies," project leader Henrik Ehrsson said. "To study this scientifically we've used tricks, perceptual illusions."
It sounded intriguing enough for me to try it, though entering the laboratory on Monday, I was having second thoughts.
The first props I saw were two kitchen knives, three naked dummies and a prosthetic hand sticking out from behind a curtain.
"You have the right to say stop at anytime if you feel uncomfortable," said Ehrsson's colleague, Valeria Petkova, as she rubbed my left hand with electrolytic gel and attached electrodes to the middle and index fingers.
She assured me I was not in any danger. Still, a nervous tingle rushed through my body as she placed the headset over my eyes.
In the first experiment, the goggles were hooked up to CCTV cameras fitted to the head of a male mannequin, staring down at its feet. Through the headset I saw a grainy image of the dummy's plastic torso. I tilted my head down to create the sensation I was looking down at my own body.
At that point, it didn't feel very real. But when Petkova simultaneously brushed markers against my belly and that of the mannequin, the effect started setting in. As my brain processed the visual and tactile signals, I had a growing impression that the mannequin's body was my own.
That was good fun, until the gleaming blade of a bread knife entered my field of vision. Petkova slid it across the dummy's stomach, sending shivers down my spine and a pulse of anxiety through the electrodes. My heightened stress level was illustrated by a spike in a computer diagram shown to me after the experiment.
"Approximately 70-80 percent of the people experience the illusion very strongly," Petkova said.
Apparently, I was one of them.
The second experiment was more benign. This time my headset was connected to cameras mounted on a round hat that Petkova was wearing. We faced each other, extended our right arms and shook hands.
Now that was weird: I was supposed to have the sensation of shaking hands with myself. The illusion wasn't perfect as I couldn't quite recognize Petkova's grip as my own, even though that's what the goggles meant to make me believe.
Perhaps the session was too short. The actual study, in which 87 volunteers participated, consisted of repeated sessions that gradually provided more accurate data. The results were published in PLoS One, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.
The principle finding was that under certain conditions a person can perceive another body as his or her own, even if it is of an opposite gender or an artificial body.
"These findings are of fundamental importance because they identify the perceptual processes that make us feel that we own our entire body," the study said.
Ehrsson said the study built on a previous experiment known as the "rubber hand illusion" in which participants were manipulated to experience a rubber hand as their own.
Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, said the Karolinska study was a "step up" from other research on the subject.
"This goes beyond other recent studies, where you've taken ownership of rubber hands and rubber legs," said Spence, who was not involved with the study.
His only concern was whether there might be any lasting effect on participants.
"The questions is what happens if you did it much longer? If you were in there for days and weeks. Would it be like something out of Total Recall?" Spence said, referring to the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger science fiction movie about a virtual vacation that turns into a nightmare.
Ehrsson suggested the findings could be applied in research on body image disorders by exploring how people become satisfied or dissatisfied with their bodies. Another possible application could be developing more advanced versions of computer games such as Second Life, he said.
"It could lead to the next generation of virtual reality applications in games, where people have the full-blown experience of being the avatar," Ehrsson said.
WASHINGTON - Just in time for the holidays, some medical advice most people will like: Take a nap.
Interrupting sleep seriously disrupts memory-making, compelling new research suggests. But on the flip side, taking a nap may boost a sophisticated kind of memory that helps a person see the big picture and get creative.
"Not only do we need to remember to sleep, but most certainly we sleep to remember," is how Dr. William Fishbein, a cognitive neuroscientist at the City University of New York, put it at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience last week.
Good sleep is a casualty of the busy modern world. Surveys suggest few adults attain the recommended seven to eight hours a night.
Way too little clearly is dangerous: Sleep deprivation causes not just car crashes but all sorts of other accidents. Over time, a chronic lack of sleep can erode the body in ways that leave us more vulnerable to heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.
Perhaps more common than insomnia, however, is fragmented sleep, the easy awakening that comes with aging, or, worse, the sleep apnea that afflicts millions, who repeatedly quit breathing for 30 seconds or so throughout the night.
Indeed, scientists increasingly are focusing less on sleep duration and more on the quality of sleep, what is called sleep intensity, in studying how sleep helps the brain process memories so they stick. Particularly important is "slow-wave sleep," a period of very deep sleep that comes earlier than better-known REM sleep, or dreaming time.
Fishbein suspected a more active role for the slow-wave sleep that can emerge even in a short power nap. Maybe the brain keeps working during that time to solve problems and come up with new ideas. So he and graduate student Hiuyan Lau devised a simple test: documenting relational memory, where the brain puts together separately learned facts in new ways.
First, they taught 20 English-speaking college students lists of Chinese words spelled with two characters, such as sister, mother, maid. Then half the students took a nap, being monitored to be sure they did not move from slow-wave sleep into the REM stage.
Upon awakening, they took a multiple-choice test of Chinese words they never had seen before. The nappers did much better at automatically learning that the first of the two-pair characters in the words they had memorized earlier always meant the same thing - female, for example. So they also were more likely than non-nappers to choose that a new word containing that character meant "princess" and not "ape."
"The nap group has essentially teased out what's going on," Fishbein concludes.
These students took a 90-minute nap, quite a luxury for most adults. But even a 12-minute nap can boost some forms of memory, adds Dr. Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School.
Conversely, Wisconsin researchers briefly interrupted nighttime slow-wave sleep by playing a beep - just loudly enough to disturb sleep but not awaken - and found those people could not remember a task they had learned the day before as well as people whose slow-wave sleep was not disrupted.
That brings us back to fragmented sleep, whether from aging or apnea. It can suppress the birth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, where memory-making begins, enough to hinder learning weeks after sleep returns to normal, warns Dr. Dennis McGinty of the University of California, Los Angeles.
To prove a lasting effect, McGinty mimicked human sleep apnea in rats. He hooked them to brain monitors and made them sleep on a treadmill. Whenever the monitors detected 30 seconds of sleep, the treadmill briefly switched on. After 12 days of this sleep disturbance, McGinty let the rats sleep peacefully for as long as they wanted for the next two weeks.
The catch-up sleep did not help: Rested rats used room cues to quickly learn the escape hole in a maze. Those with fragmented sleep two weeks earlier could not, only randomly stumbling upon the escape.
None of the new work is enough, yet, to pinpoint the minimum sleep needed for optimal memory. What's needed may vary considerably from person to person.
"A short sleeper may have a very efficient deep sleep even if they sleep only four hours," notes Dr. Chiara Cirellia of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
But altogether, the findings do suggest some practical advice: Get apnea treated. Avoid what Harvard's Stickgold calls "sleep bulimia," super-late nights followed by sleep-in weekends. And don't feel guilty for napping.
Internal Assessment Week! Recommendations: 1. Bring your laptop if you have one 2. Bring your Reader EVERY day 3. Come prepared to work in class
GOOD NEWS: I have removed the reading for Thanksgiving Weekend -- Methods development is enough. I will provide the content via lecture just prior to Sleep and Dreams.
GO TO: IA's homepage for all forms, rubrics, support materials, and resources! Internal Assessment DATES/DEADLINES:
Introduction DRAFT due: Nov. 26.
DATA COLLECTION DAY: Dec. 4
Methods DRAFT due: Dec. 5
Result DRAFT due: Dec. 9
Discussion DRAFT due: Dec. 12
FINAL DRAFT: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Appendix DUE Dec. 19
Monday (11/24) 1. Final words on the Internal Assessment 2. IA group work AND group meetings with me HW: Work on Introduction
Tuesday (11/25) 1. IA group work AND group meetings with me HW: Work on Introduction
Wednesday (11/26) INTRODUCTION DRAFT DUE 1. December Calendar is Distributed! 2. IA group work AND group meetings with me 3. FINALIZE plans for data collection day - (retain a class to use) HW: Work on Methods
Check out Homeschool, a new Portland art shop where you can sell your art work or simply go see other artists' work! It only happens once a month so be sure to check out their web site if you are interested.
The blog image for this week is a piece a saw there that I REALLY liked. The artist is Kristen Flemington.
Below is a video from the Cure -- a single off their new album. My wife and son Xavier (only 5 months gestation) were at this show and this was the opening song. Enjoy!
For most people, the start of the holiday season brings feelings of joy and anticipation.
But for those who have lost a loved one, the holidays can be viewed with dread and depression.
Family traditions will never be the same, and many people suffer from loneliness and depression.
However, there are things you can do to help alleviate some of the stress and worry that surrounds this time of year.
According to www.griefshare.org, strategies can help those grieving during the holiday season.
--Prioritize and plan what is important this holiday season. Changing traditions might get you out of a depressed rut. Try volunteering and helping people in need. You will feel better about yourself, and it will give you something to smile about when you see the good impact you are having on someone's life.
--Accept your limitations this season. You probably depended on a loved one in the past to help you get things done. If they are no longer around, make sure to keep other important people in your life up-to-date on your situation and let them know what to expect this season. Start buying presents earlier. This will allow you to mitigate some of the financial burden that dealing with the loss of a loved one often brings.
--Ask for and accept help. Your friends and loved ones probably are looking for ways to spend time with you, and by allowing them to help you this season, you will have more energy to focus on things that are higher on your priority list.
--Living in and enjoying the present can be a way to get your mind off of the past. Think about the great things that are still a part of your life, not comparing the sadness of today with the happy times of years past.
--Reconnect with an old friend or relative. Make it a point to talk to someone who used to be in your life, but for whatever reason, is no longer. You might be surprised at the joy connecting with past friends can bring you in your time of need.
Remember to make time for yourself. If there was something you enjoyed doing by yourself when your loved one was alive, keep doing it. Remember that you are important and need time to enjoy yourself.
When times get really bad, remember the true meaning of the holidays. Take the time to write down exactly what the holidays mean to you. Take those core values and celebrate them with the people who still are with you.
Monday begins Cognitive Psychology, our second to last unit and the home of the Internal Assessment. I am always very excited to get into this unit because we cover so many interesting topics such as sleep and dreams, altered states, memory, information processing, and of course the Internal Assessment.
Below is a look at the weeks ahead, AND a list of essential dates. I will also be posting this information on my homepage at mrcaro.com as well as the IA's homepage located at: http://www.mrcaro.com/psychology/iac.html -- CHECK this page throughout the IA process.
As I have stressed in class, it is extremely vital that you hold closely to the deadlines for the IA and work on the drafts as they are returned to you.
GO TO: IA's homepage for all forms, rubrics, support materials, and resources! Internal Assessment DATES/DEADLINES:
Introduction DRAFT due: Nov. 26.
DATA COLLECTION DAY: Dec. 4
Methods DRAFT due: Dec. 5
Result DRAFT due: Dec. 9
Discussion DRAFT due: Dec. 12
FINAL DRAFT: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Appendix DUE Dec. 19
The Weeks Ahead Monday (11/17) 1. Introduction to Cognitive Psychology --History and Assumptions ---Notes HW: Read pages 213-217 in Reader -- take notes on studies & theories
Wednesday (11/19) Cognitive Psychology: Memory 1. Memory --Notes/Video/HW review HW: Read pages 230-236 in Reader - complete a JAS form
Thursday (11/20) Cognitive Psychology: Memory 1. Memory --Notes/Video/HW review 2. Begin talks on the Internal Assessment HW: Read pages 237-242 - complete a JAS form
Friday (11/21) Cognitive Psychology: Memory and the IA -- Discuss HW -- Introduce IA: pages 450-501 in Reader HW: Read Abstracts on pages: 477, 489, 485, AND Read pages 243-48 and take notes on studies
Monday (11/24) Cognitive Psychology: Memory and the IA --Discuss HW Internal Assessment -- Group work (see pages 497-501 in Reader) HW: Work on DRAFT of Introduction
Tuesday (11/25) Internal Assessment -- Group work (see pages 497-501 in Reader) HW: Work on DRAFT of Introduction
Wednesday (11/26)* Internal Assessment Introduction DRAFT DUE -- Group work (see pages 497-501 in Reader) HW: Work on Methods DRAFT and documents and Read pages 249-267 in Reader -- take notes on models of information processing and studies.
I am working through the e-mails so DO NOT PANIC! I will get to yours. I will be checking the blog for questions throughout the night so post as you need to!
GREAT WORK EVERYONE. I HAVE THE HIGHEST GRADES EVER IN IB PSYCH!
Check eSIS for updates all day today and into the night! E-mail me with questions. The below video made me a worse human being, but the song made me be able to love again. Thank you Flock of Seagulls.
The bewitching hour of 2 a.m. Sunday marked the end of daylight saving time and the beginning of shorter days and longer nights. For many people, especially women, this annual change of seasons also triggers a change in mood, leading to feelings of fatigue, depression and anxiety --- more severe than just winter blues.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, about half a million Americans suffer from winter-onset depression, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Although more common in northern regions where the winters are longer, the condition plagues residents in southern regions, too.
Symptoms, which can include weight gain and insomnia, can start out mild and become more severe as the season progresses. They usually lift during spring and summer but return about the same time every year.
Many women already experience heightened stress leading up to the holidays trying to juggle work and family demands, plan for holiday gatherings, shop for gifts, and cook. Lower the temperatures, gray the days and dim the sunlight, and women succumb to seasonal affective disorder more often than men.
"They're trying to cram more into less daylight hours," said Jacqueline Dawes, owner of Brookhaven Retreat, an East Tennessee residential treatment center for women. She said that many women complain of feeling completely helpless by the end of October, isolate themselves and create excuses for not going out. "Suddenly they find themselves just kind of stuck," she said.
To unstick yourself, start by unloading some of the stressors.
Instead of taking on more during the holidays, prioritize activities and make good choices about what you can get done. Plan ahead and share responsibilities with other family members. Learn to accept imperfection and set boundaries.
"Women don't like to say no," said Dawes, of women's need to perpetuate the superwoman image. "It's OK to say no."
When feeling down in the dumps consumes your life, especially if you struggle to get out of bed, socialize and sleep, seek help. Don't let depression persist or worsen into feelings of hopelessness or thoughts of suicide.
A doctor will conduct a psychological evaluation, asking questions about changes in your mood, behavior, sleeping and eating patterns and a physical exam to check for underlying health problems. Treatment options include light therapy, antidepressant medication or psychotherapy.
"Once a woman understands what and why it's happening and understands the skills of self-regulating, she learns the tools to manage it," said Dawes.
TAKING CONTROL
Unmanaged stress can lead to depression (seasonal or otherwise). Here are some ways to avoid feeling overwhelmed:
> Manage expectations. Pace yourself. Organize your time. Make a list and prioritize important activities.
> Set realistic goals. Know what you can and cannot do. Don't put the entire focus on just one day. Activities can be spread out to lessen stress and increase enjoyment.
> Learn to say no. If you say yes only to what you really want to do, you'll avoid feeling resentful and overwhelmed.
> Forget perfection. TV specials are filled with happy endings, but in real life, people don't usually resolve problems within an hour or two. Expect and accept imperfections.
> Share the load. You don't have to do it alone. Let others share in the responsibility of planning activities.
> Don't abandon healthy habits. Continue to get plenty of sleep, eat a balanced diet and take time to relax. Don't turn to alcohol or unprescribed drugs for relief.
> Make time for yourself. Spend at least 15 minutes alone, without distractions, to recharge your batteries. Take a walk at night, listen to soothing music or take slow breaths.
> Lighten up. Make your home sunnier and brighter. Open blinds, add skylights and trim tree branches that block sunlight.
> Get out. Get outdoors on sunny days, even during winter. Take a long walk, eat lunch at a nearby park, or simply sit peacefully on a bench and soak up the sun.
> Exercise regularly. Physical exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase SAD symptoms. Being more fit can make you feel better about yourself, too, which can lift your mood.
> Socialize. Stay connected with people you enjoy being around. They can offer support, a shoulder to cry on or a joke to give you a little boost.
> Take a trip. If possible, take winter vacations in sunny, warm locations if you have winter SAD, or cooler locations if you have summer SAD.
Source: National Mental Health Association, Mayo Clinic
BEYOND THE BLUES
Common symptoms of winter-onset seasonal affective disorder include:
Depression, hopelessness, anxiety, loss of energy, social withdrawal, oversleeping, loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed, change in appetite (especially craving foods high in carbohydrates), weight gain, difficulty concentrating and processing information, fatigue, irritability, increased sensitivity to social rejection, avoidance of social situations.
Source: National Mental Health Association, Mayo Clinic
Stress in the workplace doesn't have to be all bad. But too much of it can cause both mental and physical problems that can impact not just your work productivity, but your personal life.
Michael Hall, L.M.S.W., outreach coordinator for Memorial Behavioral Health, Gulfport, provides presentations about reducing workplace stress as part of employee assistance programs provided by some businesses in the state. Hall defines stress as the responses our bodies and minds have to the demands placed on them. Workplace stress is the result of high demands placed on an individual on the job, be it real or perceived.
"There are two types of stress," Hall said. "Positive stress can help you concentrate, and can often help you to reach peak efficiency. Positive stress is beneficial in performing your job or other responsibilities. Negative stress is any situation in the workplace that leaves a feeling of depression, anxiety or pressure."
Stress triggers on the job can include being over worked, working long hours for low pay, conflict in the workplace, increased responsibility and unrealistic demands of supervisors. Conflict with other employees or even with customers can also add to workplace stress.
Hall said the physical reaction to stress is always the same, but with negative stress your body stays "geared up" and doesn't relax. When stress becomes chronic and ongoing, your physical and emotional health can suffer.
"Negative stress has been linked to headaches, sleep disturbance, upset stomach, poor concentration, low moral, poor family relations, hypertension, heart disease and psychological disorders," Hall said. "Chronic stress hinders our body's ability to fight off disease and reduces job productivity. There are many factors contributing to stress in general that spill over into the workplace. These include financial, marital, single-family parenting and substance abuse."
Employers can help limit on-the job stress, Hall said, by improving communication sharing pertinent information related to employee's jobs and the future of the organization.
"Set realistic goals and priorities encouraging employees to be part of the process," he said. "This will encourage ownership, which encourages taking responsibility. Support a healthy lifestyle in and outside of the workplace. This investment pays for itself by preventing lost productivity and worker's compensation claims. Wellness programs can decrease stress in the workplace and also cut down on missing work due to illnesses."
He also recommends businesses encourage employees to use vacation days to get away from the day-to-day routine of work and stressful environments.
Tips for employees to manage stress include the following:
* Proper diet and exercise.
* Cognitive techniques such as positive thinking.
* Become more assertive and take control of your lifestyle.
* Improve time management skills.
* Develop a supportive network.
* Do not use alcohol or other drugs.
* Maintain a good sense of humor.
Dr. Harry Mills, who has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and did his clinical residency at the University of Mississippi Medical School, said stress can add excitement to your life or it can become the bane of your existence.
"Whether it is the one or the other depends on the source of stress and on you," said Mills, who now practices in Orlando, Fla., and has 30 years' experience as a stress psychologist. "Any event that makes a demand for a response that may exceed your capacity may be experienced as a source of stress."
Sex and Gender Video Clips from Class: Take notes on the following points: 1. How are gender roles learned (operant conditioning and observational learning) 2. The influence of sex/biology on the development of gender specific behaviors (such as play) 3. Culture and gender roles 4. Health and gender 5. Childhood and gender
Wednesday (11/5) QUIZ Observational Learning --Gender Rules - Video HW: Reading from TEXTBOOK! pages 241-250
Thursday (11/6) Observational Learning --Notes Cognitive Learning --Discuss HW HW: Read pages 206-209 (Maps in Your Mind), complete JAS Form
Friday (11/7) Biology of Memory and Learning --Assemble notes on studies on the biology of learning Evaluation of the Perspective HW: Read pages 253-262 in TEXTBOOK! Hopkins study finds combination therapy best for child anxiety The Baltimore Sun, Maryland - October 31, 2008
Oct. 31--Researchers led by Johns Hopkins doctors have found that three popular treatments for childhood anxiety disorders are all effective, but that combining an antidepressant with behavioral therapy is the superior treatment.
It is estimated that as many as 20 percent of children suffer from anxiety disorders -- the most common psychiatric illness in children -- which can cause serious problems in school and in relationships. The authors of the study, released online yesterday by TheNew England Journal of Medicine, said they hope their work will give doctors confidence about the treatments they prescribe and raise awareness of the seriousness of the disorders.
"[A]nxiety disorders in childhood remain underrecognized and undertreated," the authors wrote. "An improvement in outcomes for children with anxiety disorders would have important public health implications."
In the study of 488 children age 7 to 17 done at six institutions across the country, researchers found that, over a 12-week period, 81 percent improved using therapy and medication, 60 percent improved on therapy alone, 55 percent improved when taking the antidepressant Zoloft and 24 percent improved when taking a placebo. A second phase of the study will monitor the children for an additional six months. It is the largest study of its kind.
Some studies have shown antidepressants don't work significantly better than placebos. In this short-term study, medication was clearly the better option.
The children studied all had moderate-to-severe separation anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder or social phobia. Separation anxiety often means children are afraid to be alone, sometimes following their parents around the house, balking at going to school or even having a baby sitter. Generalized anxiety disorder patients are often characterized as "worrywarts," worrying about the future and the past to a problematic degree. Those with social phobia are very self-conscious in social situations, often refusing to speak in school or answer the phone at home.
If left untreated, doctors say, these disorders can lead to more severe anxiety or depression as the child gets older.
"People tend to think of anxiety as part of childhood. Children worry and have fears," said Dr. John Walkup, a child psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and lead author of the study. "This is much more serious than that. They're debilitated by their anxiety."
Now, he said, parents can know they "have lots of flexibility, lots of choices" when it comes to treating their children.
Antidepressants have come under scrutiny for potentially triggering suicide in some children. In this study, no child attempted suicide.
