My reflections/opinions on 'Welcome To Your Brain - The Science of Jet Lag, Love and other curiosities of Life' by Sam Wang & Sandra Aamodt

As a great thinker and explorer of Psychology, I found great pleasure in reading this book with satisfies all of those little questions such as: why are some people 'morning people' and others 'night people'; why can't you tickle yourself?' and how does your mind know that a joke is funny?

I've always wondered why when somebody else yawns I suddenly have a compelling need to yawn myself even when I'm not bored or tired... at first I thought to myself that it might be social learning theory but, what if the person I am imitating the yawn from doesn't conform to the conventional model (similar , powerful and caregiving)? That's because it is not associated with SLT, it's because yawning serves a function in alertness as it allows large amounts of air and therefore blood into the system, the cortex ensures that yawns are 'contagious' in situations that require being alert. So actually, this is biologically not a bad thing at all... despite making us yawn and possibly offend others.

So why can't you tickle yourself, ey? I'm incredibly ticklish, yet I can't tickle myself. I'm pretty sure that it's not my fingers because I can tickle people successfully back. Here's why: your brain's why (in the cerebellum). Our brain's are able to predict the sensory consequences of movements. It's important that we know the consequence of a sensation as when I feel a tap on my shoulder, I would need to react differently to somebody punching me and starting to attack me than knocking into an inert object.

Also wondering why you're sticking to your diet, yet your friend eats everything in sight yet your friend eats everything in sight? Your brain changes your basal metabolic rate to keep your weight at it's preferred level. Leptin is a chemical that tells your brain how your fat levels are changing when your fat decreases leptin falls in the blood, telling your brain you need more food, this makes your hungry and gain weight. Likewise, we feel hungry at certain times because of ghrelin, a hormone that's released at mealtimes established by social cues and conventions.

Shockingly, reducing calorie intake could reduce the risk of cancer even. This has been postulated by studies on rodents who were found to live 50% longer on a low-calorie diet this is because insulin sensitivity declines with age, particularly with a high-calorie diet.

To conclude, I would recommend this book to anybody who has ever asked themselves questions about themselves or others to a Psychology fanatic. There is an article for everyone, even about cuttlefish that have personalities...

Reflections and Opinions on the 'Games People Play' - Eric Berne

This book, 'Games People Play - The Psychology of Human Relationships' quantifies the interactions of humans and explains many encounters that we have. For example, is provides an explanation to why we are often bemused by over-friendliness, when surely being friendly is a positive trait, and we should like them more, surely not less? The book makes reference to the exchanges of 'strokes'.

On first impressions, the book is very much non-fiction and adopts a type of text-book style, packed with lots of definitions. In this way it is quite difficult to read, but is undoubtably very insightful. However, as I read on, I liked the colloquial expressions for the games that people play e.g. 'If it wasn't for him' and 'look ma no hands'.
The book claims that we have an inner child, adult and parent in which in certain situations different personas are brought out. This makes me think of the phrases: 'let out your inner wild child' and makes me question how many idiomatic and colloquial phrases have other Psychologists used/proved as 'behaviour mechanisms'.

I will  briefly give details of some examples given in the book:

The characteristics of schizophrenia, exhibited by suffers is broken down into: 'initially playing a flexible role, lose, easy game of first-stage 'ain't it awful' and progress to an inflexible, tenacious, hard-third stage'.

A game labelled as 'corner' provides an alternative reason for the onset of a child's asthma. I, myself, have witnessed a similar situation to this whereby the parent has answered philosophically to a yes/no question presented by a child:
 'Little girl: 'Mummy, d'you love me?' Mother: 'What is love?'
This exchange results with no direct recourse, the little girl wants to talk about mummy but she talks about philosophy which the little girl is not equipped to handle. So, the little girl in response breathes hard until mummy apologizes.

Things I like about the book include the structure and the familiarity. Although the book adopts an unusual stance on the social interactions, it is very easy to relate still to each cliche's are expressed such as: 'I'm under stress, I get all shock up' and 'my misfortunes are better than yours'. I like the way Berne has formulated the structure of the chapters; he paints the social setting and then breaks them down into thesis, aim, roles, dynamics and gives examples to the social situation explained. This enables me to look on into the familiar social settings in simplified quantifiable terms.

My reflections on: Genie - Russ Rymer

After studying Genie's case as an example of a case study in my Psychology lessons, I felt that the syllabus did not sufficiently satisfy my interest and fascination in this rare case of deprivation and was very eager to start reading this book. I hope that this book will reveal for me whether or not Bowlby's idea of the critical period whereby this is the only period of time that babies are able to form strong relationships. Likewise, this spotlights the nature vs nurture debate in many fields, particularly perception and linguistics. In these debates, I like the philosophical spin. The debates often pose alternative questions such as instead of presenting the question: 'how do children learn', they would instead pose the question: 'How does language flower from a child?'

Also, Rymer explores further case studies which cast light on Genie's condition providing a broad scope of deprivation studies and language acquisition for me, to linguistics. An example of another case study is of a baby who was born at the age of two and managed to walk and talk within 3 days of being born. Once again, this triggered the empiricist/nature debate about language as the baby did not have sufficient external input.

I found it almost rewarding to see Genie develop and progress. I found it also very interesting to hear of her adopting a 'new language' techniques - her own little language. She has been nicknamed among researchers as 'The Great Abbreviator' because phrases like: 'Monday Curtiss come' would be condensed into one or two syllables: 'Munkuh'. In the same way, her drawings are part of her lexicon, used to express things that she cannot through conventional means of communication. Her alternative ways of communicating reinforces how important it is to communicate with others as she strives so much to.

However, this book does not only explore the psychology of Genie, but also exposes the psychology of professionals. I found it upsetting when the book revealed hints of researchers and linguists using Genie and keep her best interest, progress and welfare at heart.

Inevitably, the everlasting nature-nurture debate ended with the conclusion that it is a combination of both. It was suggested that even innate behaviours such as syntax, has to be developed by environmental means.

The idea of the physiology of the brain and localization of function is also expressed. Genie struggled to grasp the concept of grammar, the proposed theory was that she was using the wrong equipment. That a different area of her brain was communicating to overcome the deprivation and the affect on her language acquisition.

Educationally, I fount it invaluable to take my knowledge further and be able to explore how you would overcome the communication between each hemisphere. A methodology that is very different to that of Sperry's as there is the opposite issue as he had the corpus callosum severed to overcome the excessive firing in his brain from his severe case of epilepsy. The methodology consists of whispering in the right ear (which is heard by the left brain) whilst presenting another background noise to the left ear (which is heard by the right hand side of the brain) so that the left hand side of the brain does not hear the noise that the left hand side of the brain is being tested to hear and make sense of.

In addition to this, I got a first-hand account of the personal reflexivity required from a researcher in this controversial case study: "My own position - if I can psychoanalyse myself was not one of expectations but of hope. The sky was not high enough for my hopes, but my expectations were down to earth.'

I will draw my 'review' to an end of a quote about language acquisition:

When it comes to physical growth, no one asks why - why do our arms grow? Learning a new language is like learning to walk, a biological imperative timed to a certain point in development. It's not an emotional process.

Reflections on "An Angel at My Table" - Janet Frame

Following learning about the works of Rosenhan and how easy it is to misdiagnose someone as mentally ill, I found it an easy and logical choice to read this book which reflects on the life and travels of a writer, Janet Frame, who was misdiagnosed in New Zealand as Schizophrenic which cost her several years in asylums. She explores and described in great details her travels on a Literature grant and there is an underlying tone of the importance of how experience shapes us as people.

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Firstly, reading volume one, which in great detail, is an exploration of her childhood and schooling. Particularly interesting, I find is her reference to English Literature as a device to ascertain knowledge of a human behaviour:

I felt to know the winds of the world were blowing, to gain knowledge of human behaviour, of the human mind, I had only to study the world's poetry and fiction.

Frame finds means of Psychology in Literature, which for me, really spotlights how applicable to everyday life and fundamental Psychology is. Frame speaks of being 'overwhelmed with the flood of new information about the Mind, the Soul and the Young Delinquent, where I had only recently learned that there is such creature as The Child.' 

Particularly interesting to me (as very interested in dream research), is Frame's reference to the phallic quality of dreams & their significance. She spoke of T.S Elliot The Golden Bough, which she speaks highly of (but I'm yet to read myself). Similarly, she speaks of writing poems through her 'Freudian lens'. When thinking about how my subjects intertwine & in particular relate to Psychology, I'm quick to make the association to English literature. However, I usually think that Literature helps me to think about Psychology, I have not before appreciated that Psychology has a role in helping me in writing. So in this way, Frame has enabled me to appreciate Psychology from a different angle & through the eyes of an English student.

From a clinical psychology point of view, I was given an insight, from the eyes of a patient, how important it is to treat the patient as a human being. This was shown in Frame's reflections on being treated as if less of a person: 'When my sister's friends asked, 'how is she?' As if an archaeological find stood before them and they were applying with eyes, heart, mind, a 'carbon' test to name, date and place me - and if only I had a place! Frame invites us to see the thoughts of someone who is taken into an asylum and how people's tendency to make her "become assistant 3rd person or even personless" is demeaning and can do more harm than goo as she states: "3rd person people are often thrust into a passive mood". 

Seeing a Psychiatrist through the eyes of Frame as she expresses what qualities made her feel more at ease with them and have more respect with them, is something a found incredibly insightful and a useful lesson. She states: 'Dr Portion was a qualified Psychiatrist , he may have superimposed life upon psychiatry not psychiatry upon the life.' This highlights how important epistemological and personal reflexivity, not only in studies, but as a practicing clinician outside the laboratory as this can affect to what extent a patient will open up to you.
Frame described being diagnosed with Schizophrenia as: "as if I had emerged from a chrysalis, the natural human state, into another kind of creature, and even if there were parts of me that were familiar to human beings, my gradual deterioration would lead me further and further away..." Refreshingly, she spotlights the advantageous aspects of a mental illness in a professional career and it's contributions to imagination. She believes that being falsely diagnosed with Schizophrenia at the expense of 7 years in a mental institute draws attention to it as: "Ophelia's Syndrome" and how it "allows a writer explore varieties of otherwise unspoken feelings, thoughts and language". 

As the book comes to an end, she says: "the unalterable human composition that is the true bases of fiction...", which reminds me why I like to be avid reader as a Psychology student. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfMh-fRSH5E Here is the link to the trailer of the film that was made so that you can get a feel for the woman who felt by reading this book, with so much attention to detail, I know quite well.

We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver

This book is without doubt my favourite book that I have read. With many Psychology books I often find that, for me, there is either not enough fiction or non-fiction. However, this book has the perfect balance between the two... it is incredibly entertaining and despite being completely fiction is very realistic in the way the confessions of Kevin's mother unfold. I don't know quite how to talk about a book that left me speechless so firstly, I will briefly paraphrase about what the book is about...

This is an epistolary book of a woman/killers mother who writes a series of confessions to her husband about the way she treated their son and how she may be guilty in contributing to his fate, the murder which is referred ominously as 'Thursday'. Until the last chapter, I presumed that her husband was her ex husband, however as the novel unfolds, the 2 others in addition to the 7 classmates who were murdered as revealed to be her daughter and Franklin, her husband who she writes to. I found this incredibly moving and felt as if I had been given direct insight into the foundations of a relationship. The readers attention is constantly held and is an all-round incredibly enthralling read!

A simplified model of SLT, was Kevin
and his character to blame and Eva
as a mother innocent of negligence?
Or did Eva and the previous school
murderers act as a model as they are
seen as powerful, of similar age and in
Eva's case, a care-giver?

On a Psychological level, this book really brings to life the importance of Social Learning Theory and the adverse effects this can have on a child's development. Was Eva, as a powerful, care-giver acting as a model to Kevin who imitating her violent behaviour and hatred? Could the way that people were so interested in the other school murders being committed being shown on the TV of acted as vicarious reinforcement for Kevin? However, Eva (the writer) writes in a fashion that states that Kevin had always been mischievous and found no pleasure in any activities expect for archery and computer viruses. This brings up the ever controversial nature-vs-nurture event. Was Kevin born to kill or did the treatment of his mother lead him to? Or even did Franklin's love lead him to fight back because he could not deal with the mundane attention given by his father? It is hard to tell. Was Eva to blame for being a negligent parent or did she just go a step too far in dealing with the innately 'evil' Kevin? Or was Kevin an innocent victim of the wrong upbringing?

My favourite moment in the book in particular is the insight into a killers mind, although at the end he confesses to his mother he is currently unsure why he even did it. But at first, he stated, to paraphrase, that in life you are either the watchee or the watcher. Boredom in itself and perfection in a world where he could not see a place for himself led him to commit this terrible crime. He states that everybody is watching him on TV, if there weren't cases like him nobody would have anything to watch on the news and no investigators would have a job. He takes a pride in the crime as the people making the documentaries try to make money of his character which they are dependent on.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3341655065/ Although I have not managed to what the film myself, the trailer features my favourite part as in the background we can hear Kevin's complaints of how mundane life is...

I would strongly recommend this book to anybody who has ever questioned humanity, criminals actions, the constructs of the  family and the development of a child in to what extent we are fated by the chains of experiences we are exposed to at a young age at a time where morals are built.

The questions which arose from this book on nature and nurture led me to go on to read Genie, a non-fictional extraordinary case...