PsychO THE PSYCHOLOGY OBSERVER
The Social Psychology of the Selfie
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS According to the Oxford American Dictionary, psychology is the study of the mind. Fair enough, but perhaps we can give this definition some meaning. Psychology is not a solution, but a “study.” When we answer a question, several more will emerge, and this is something to celebrate. We praise our own intricate complexity and continue to find the patterns that connect all people together. Psychology looks not at the brain, but the “mind.” We marvel at the brain’s ability to turn a jumbled mess of electrical signals into perceptions, thoughts, and memories, yet we are only partially concerned with its cells; that field is called neuroscience. Instead, we delve deeper and, in discovering the secrets of the mind, we begin to understand what we say, desire, and buy—and why. In summary, what that aforementioned definition fails to capture is the incredible leap of faith all psychologists must make. It declines to describe the mystical, mysterious nature of what our publication seeks to catalogue. Psychology gives meaning to neuroscience. It explains the unexplainable. It does not simply ask questions; it asks why we ask questions in the first place, and it asks who asks those questions, and when, and why. Psychology is scientific, historical, cultural, and statistical. Psychology is the study of the mind. ----------------------------It’s been a tough and busy year for all of us at PsychO. So many things have pushed their way to our focal points and battled for our attention— snow days, all-nighters, standardized tests, the movie Frozen—but we’ve managed to stay afloat, diverting our focus from one thing to another in our expertly calculated Horace Mann way. The human mind is a funny thing. We manage to change our minds thirty times in the blink of an eye and yet be incredibly stubborn about our beliefs. As our senses are flooded with information every millisecond, the brain sorts every update into what is relevant and what is irrelevant. For example, you probably felt your socks when you put them on this morning, but you stopped being aware of them after some time. Of course, now you’re probably very aware of the feeling of your socks. That’s sensory adaptation and habituation, a combination of the decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation and how focused we are on them. We attend to stimuli voluntarily in this way, but also involuntarily, such as when you are working in the library and your attention is suddenly diverted when you faintly hear someone say your name across the room (this is called the cocktail-party phenomenon). As your flip through our first issue, try to ignore for a moment all of the other things screaming for your attention and enjoy some of the great work our writers have put in. Allison Chang and Kasia Kalinowska Editors-in-Chief 2
The Psychology Observer Issue 1 - Winter 2014 Editors-in-Chief Allison Chang Kasia Kalinowska
Copyeditors Stephanie Fernandez Tishya Girdhar Irena Hsu Rachel Lee Danielle Resheff Anne Shi Jane Thier Hannah Weinstein
Faculty Advisor Dr. Tom Kelly
On the Cover Kylie Logan
TABLE OF CONTENTS Psychology Terms Defined by Eliana Taub & Irena Hsu page 4
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator by Anne Shi, Sophia Schein, & William Welland page 6
New Genetic Research May Prevent Down Syndrome by Tishya Girdhar page 10
Psychological Pricing by Danielle Resheff page 11
Sleep Deprivation and the Brain by Toby Teitel page 12
Mental Illness Spotlight: Hypochondria by Nicole Velez page 14
Synesthesia Explained by Lily McCarthy page 16
The Stanford Prison Experiment: An Investigation of Power and Authority by Stephanie Fernandez page 18
The Social Psychology of the Selfie by Libby Smilovici page 20
Cheating for the Thrill of It by Jane Thier page 22
Kim Jong Un’s Power Complex by Luwei Quan page 24
PsycHistory: The Psychosocial Effects of the Chernobyl Disaster by Livia Mann page 26 3
Psychology Terms Defined HINDSIGHT BIAS by Eliana Taub “I knew it all along.” This five-worded phrase is the foundation of hindsight bias. Hindsight bias refers to the tendency of people to see events as predictable after they have already occurred. This phenomenon usually applies to sports events and poli-
tics—after a highly watched football game, for example, someone discussing the game will claim to have “known all along” that the Giants were going to win. Of course, there is no possible way to have known that beforethe event has actually happened. But in retrospect with
the knowledge of the outcome, it is easy to establish that you had, in fact, known it all along. It is believed that hindsight bias can cause distortion of memory, for convincing yourself of an outcome based on a nonexistent preconception can ultimately confuse your own self.
THE ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO by Eliana Taub Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality claims that the human psyche is composed of three separate elements: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id consists of all of the inherited or instinctual components of personality. The personality of a newborn baby, for example, is completely composed of the Id: eating, sleeping, crying, and laughing. The Id is not affected by logic or reality; instead it operates on Freud’s pleasure principle: the idea that every 4
impulse should be immediately gratified regardless of the outcome. The Ego is the modification of the Id by the direct influence of reality, mediating between the Id and the real world. Similarly to the Id, the Ego seeks pleasure, but instead of dismissing reality and consequence, the Ego is concerned with finding a realistic route to pleasure. But still, the Ego has no conception of right versus wrong—if something simply reaches its goal without harming itself or the Id, it is considered good.
The Superego develops with time as it incorporates societal values, allowing for the control of the Id’s strong impulses and the Ego’s weakness. The Superego consists of two systems: the conscience and the ideal self. It is developed through personal value systems. The conscience can punish the Ego with guilt while the ideal self can guide one through life through constant reminders of career aspirations, treatment to others, and behavior as a member of society.
DEFENSE MECHANISMS by Irena Hsu When an individual feels overwhelmed, stressed, or about to collapse, he or she is feeling anxiety. Almost everyone experiences anxiety on a daily basis, and while some people handle it well, others can struggle with the side effects, which range from headaches to panic attacks. Sigmund Freud proposed the concept of defense mechanisms: psychological strategies that let people unconsciously deny, distort, or manipulate reality to defend themselves against feelings of anxiety. While everyone uses defense mechanisms throughout their lives, problems can arise when persistent use begins to affect an individual’s mental and physical health. Among the many defense mechanisms that Freud discovered are repression, displacement, reaction formation, rationalization, and projection. Repression was the first and arguable most important defense mechanism to be determined. Repression is used to keep disturbing and unwanted memories from becoming conscious. However, even if the individual doesn’t recall the memory, it never disappears; these repressed memories constantly influence his or her behavior. Often, the thoughts that are repressed are those that result in feelings of guilt, terror, and sadness. For examply, a person may be abused as a child and later find difficulty forming relationships with others. Though repression does keep unwanted memories away, the long-term effects will not disappear.
Displacement is the redirection of an impulse onto a powerless substitute target. It can also be referred to as “Kicking the Dog” syndrome, where a person facing anxiety from a superior (i.e. boss, teacher, parent, etc.), unleashes his or her anger on someone less threatening than he or she. The problem with displacement is that it can create a domino effect, in which the people who have been aggravated continuously pick on others who are weaker. Reaction formation is when an individual goes beyond denying his or her feelings and even goes as far as to behave in the opposite way. Freud argued that men who were strongly opposed to homosexuals were actually homosexuals themselves, attempting to cover up their feelings by adopting harsh anti-homosexual beliefs. He believed that people use reaction formation in order to hide true feelings that may cause pain if revealed to others. In using this defense mechanism, the individual is not confronting his or her true feelings, leading to contradictory actions and thoughts. This can give the individual confusion and anger when he or she cannot find a way out. In rationalization, a person explains an unpleasant behavior or feeling in a seemly rational way while avoiding the real reasons behind the behavior or feeling. For example, someone could receive a failing grade, and instead of reflecting on how little time he or she spent preparing for it, he or she may blame the teacher for being unfair.
This defense mechanism protects an individual from anxiety and also preserves his or her self-esteem. When facing failures, people prefer to not acknowledge their wrongdoings and choose instead to think about their successes. When this is practiced too often, people will start to see themselves as perfect, unable to accept that they make mistakes of any kind. Finally, projection is the defense mechanism that involves the individual’s taking his or her own unacceptable qualities or feelings and attributing them to someone else. One of the most common forms of projection is when someone who strongly dislikes another individual convinces themselves that it is the other person who dislikes the original person, instead of the other way around. Thus, people may convince themselves of behaviors and feelings of others that do not really exist. This leads to doubt and strained relationships. Although many defense mechanism are yet to be discovered, one thing is true for all—they involve individuals trying to comfort themselves on a matter that they have no control over, and often it involves deceiving themselves into believing that they are in the right, not fully recognizing what exactly they want. Dealing with defense mechanisms can be tricky, as they often occur unconsciously and are hard to identify. Nevertheless, the brain uses defense mechanisms to prevent anxiety and distress, making them a crucial part of our well-being. 5
The
Myers-Briggs
HISTORY AND ORIGINS by Sophia Schein The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a psychometric questionnaire that provides the participant with one out of sixteen personality types. While there is not one “official” MBTI test, similar questions are used to pinpoint a person’s preferences and priorities concerning social interaction and daily habits. Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Meyer, created the MBTI test during World War II as a way to help wom-
en, working for the first time, find their ideal occupations. They drew inspiration from the eight personality types described in psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s Psychological Types. The test’s first versions were published in 1962 and were originally used by academic institutions. Though the MBTI may appear an insightful way for schools and companies to determine who to admit or hire, here some criticisms of the test come into play. The MBTI
type says nothing about the strength of preference concerning any of the two-letter pairs. Briggs Meyer stated that all MBTI types are equal, and that no type is superior or inferior in any way. The test does not measure intelligence or work ethic. Thus, although the MBTI is acceptable for personal use and is a tool for life coaching and marriage counseling, it is not to be used as a way to judge another’s value, especially in a hiring or admissions process.
THE TYPES EXPLAINED by Anne Shi Jung’s theory of psychological type focuses on the belief that the functions of each individual person have an either extraverted or introverted root, along with having two primary cognitive functions: the irrational function that centers of “sensation” or “intuition” and the rational function that focuses on “thinking” or “feeling.” The MBTI separates these functions into four separate categories and thus constructs four opposite dichotomies, 6
creating a personality type. These types consist of a unique combination by choosing one letter from each of the following pairs: “E/I,” “S/N,” “T/F,” and “J/P.” Each letter has an opposite; for example, “E” stands for “Extraversion”, while “I” stands for “Introversion”, two separate attitudes that specifically exhibit either action directed towards those around them, whether it be people or objects, or thought towards mental concepts or
ideas. The other letters demonstrate similar contrasts: “S” is for “Sensing,” while “N” is for “iNtuition,” and “T” is for thinking while “F” is for “Feeling.” These three pairs form Jung’s original test. The MBTI adds the fourth pair, claiming that even within Jung’s categories, a person may be more inclined to either “Judging” or “Perceiving.” Within a MBTI type, a person may be only slightly more “E” than “I” or have his or her type change over time.
Type Indicator
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The MBTI
REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS by William Welland A person’s Myers-Briggs type can be very informative into how he or she thinks and interacts with others. The sixteen types are sorted by attitude (Extraversion vs. Introversion), functions (Sensing vs. iNtuition, Thinking vs. Feeling), and lifestyle (Judging vs. Perceiving). Attitude dictates how strongly an individual feels the need to socialize. Extroverts gain energy from social interaction, while introverts find it draining. Functions indicate how a person reasons. People who sense are concrete thinkers that focus on the “here and now,” while people who perceive think abstractly and look to the future. “Thinkers” make decisions by analyzing facts and using logic, while “feelers” rely on their emotions and values. People who judge prefer organization and planning, while people who perceive are more spontaneous. The
premise behind the test is that in each person, one trait will be dominant over the other. David Keirsey introduced a more descriptive method of type analysis. He expanded upon the work of the ancient Greek medical pioneer Hippocrates, whose practice of Humorism states that there are four bodily fluids, called “humors,” the varying quantities of which determine health and personality type. According to this “Four Humors” theory, people may be sanguine (spontaneous and sociable), choleric (ambitious and enterprising), melancholic (analytical and concrete), phlegmatic (relaxed and philosophical), or, most likely, some combination of the four. Keirsey adapted this theory, sorting the Myers-Briggs types into four “temperaments” based on the two middle letters: “Guardians” are “SJ,” “Arti-
sans” are “SP,” “Idealists” are “NF,” and “Rationals” are “NT.” Keirsey described each temperament with a few core characteristics. For instance, “Guardians” are dutiful, cautious, and humble. Within each temperament, Keirsey further defines two “roles,” based on lifestyle. Each role has two “role variants,” such that each of the sixteen Myers-Briggs type corresponds to its own Keirsey role variant. The MBTI also claims to offer relationship compatibility advice by analyzing how individuals of different types will interact with one another. For instance, it is said that two friends of contrasting attitudes but identical functions and lifestyles are bound to get along well, since they reason in the same way, and are therefore likely to have similar values, but their attitudes are complementary in a way that balances out.
David Keirsey's Role Variants INFP: Healers (A.A. Milne) INFJ: Counselors (Mahatma Gandhi) INTJ: Masterminds (Ayn Rand) INTP: Architects (Albert Einstein) ISTP: Crafters (Frank Zappa) ISTJ: Inspectors (George Washington) ISFJ: Protectors (Mother Teresa) ISFP: Composers (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) 8
ESFP: Performers (Peter the Great) ESFJ: Providers (Andrew Carnegie) ESTJ: Supervisors (Henry Ford) ESTP: Promoters (Winston Churchill) ENTP: Inventors (Benjamin Franklin) ENTJ: Fieldmarshals (Napoleon Bonaparte) ENFJ: Teachers (Martin Luther King, Jr.) ENFP: Champions (Oscar Wilde)
continued...
SELECTED QUESTIONS from www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp You like to be engaged in an active and fast-paced job ☐ YES ☐ NO You enjoy having a wide circle of acquaintances ☐ YES ☐ NO Strict observance of the established rules is likely to prevent a good outcome ☐ YES ☐ NO It’s difficult to get you excited ☐ YES ☐ NO It is in your nature to assume responsibility ☐ YES ☐ NO You often think about humankind and its destiny ☐ YES ☐ NO You believe the best decision is one that can be easily changed ☐ YES ☐ NO Objective criticism is always useful in any activity ☐ YES ☐ NO You prefer to act immediately rather than speculate about various options ☐ YES ☐ NO You trust reason rather than feelings ☐ YES ☐ NO You are inclined to rely more on improvisation than on prior planning ☐ YES ☐ NO You spend your leisure time actively socializing with a group of people, attending parties, shopping, etc. ☐ YES ☐ NO You usually plan your actions in advance ☐ YES ☐ NO Your actions are frequently influenced by emotions ☐ YES ☐ NO You readily help people while asking nothing in return ☐ YES ☐ NO You often contemplate the complexity of life ☐ YES ☐ NO 9
New Genetic Research May Prevent Down Syndrome by Tishya Girdhar Down syndrome, also called Trisomy 21, is a common genetic disease. Almost 1 out of every 800 newborns is diagnosed with Down syndrome. It is caused by an additional, third, copy of Chromosome 21. The size of the cerebellum in Down syndrome patients is usually 60% of the size of a normal one, which creates an imbalance that causes mental instability and physical challenges, such as heart failure or leukemia. Patients with Down syndrome often have speech disorders and behavioral issues such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention problems, or stubbornness. Down syndrome patients experience a gradual decline in cognition, usually starting at age 50. Current therapy options for Down syndrome patients include behavioral therapy to help with frustration and anger and physical and speech therapy to help them deal with the physical defects Down syndrome causes. This past July, researchers from the University of Massachusetts found a possible new treatment for Down syndrome, at least in test tubes. These scientists 10
found a compound that was able to help the cerebellum grow to full size. When injected into a mouse with Down-like symptoms on the day of birth, the mouse’s cerebellum was able to grow to full size. In later tests, mice injected with this compound were also better able to navigate a maze and remember his path. Scientists believe that this compound could eventually be used as a drug. These researchers are yet to develop a way to deliver the compound and predict possible side effects, which is why this it has not been approved for broader use. Other research at the University of Massachusetts was done on how to “silence” the extra gene that causes Down syndrome. By placing a special gene called “XIST” on the chromosome, they are able to silence the extra gene. The most difficult part of implementing this solution is finding a way to make sure that the XIST gene silences on the correct chromosome. More recently, researchers at John Hopkins University and the National Institutes found a new way to edit DNA more precisely than before
in a way that could potentially be used for curing Down syndrome. This method, called “Crispr,” uses enzymes to target and edit a specific chromosome. So is curing Down syndrome a good idea? The most common answer is yes. But some people believe that curing it, as well as the question itself, is offensive. It implies that patients with Down syndrome cannot live healthy and fulfilling lives like those who are unaffected. Many parents of children with Down syndrome cannot imagine their child any other way. They have grown and adjusted to the difficulties of their child and would never vouch for treatment if given a choice. On the other hand, other parents feel that it would be better for their child in the long run and would choose to have their child operated upon to help them live a completely different life, and be more “normal.” Like autism, the curing of Down syndrome has become a very controversial topic, and it is up to the patients to decide, in the end, whether they would like to be treated.
Psychological Pricing by Danielle Resheff Psychological pricing is a marketing strategy based off the theory that a customer’s emotional response could encourage sales. This theory derives from a series of hypotheses, such as the “left-digit effect” or the idea that fractional prices indicate the lowest possible price. Studies show that most consumers, including children, have a sophisticated understanding of relative value, and honest pricing makes the theory of psychological pricing controversial and difficult to prove, but the following tests and evidence give this theory reason and support. The age-old tradition, known as “charm prices,” in which a toothbrush at the drug store costs $1.99 or $1.95 (prices ending in the numbers nine or five) rather than $2, refers to a phenomenon known as the “left-digit effect.” The study of this effect indicates that the “1” in $1.95 assumes more influence on a consumer’s perception of pricing than the $.95 value. The study of this effect says that the left-most digit of a price tag affects a person’s perception of the relative value and true cost of an item.
Relative value, when dealing with prices, is the determining of an asset’s value taking into account the value of similar assets. Ample evidence for retailers’ use of so-called “charm prices” exists, including one study that surveyed that out of 1,145 advertisements extracted from forty-three different newspapers, fifty percent of those advertisements boasted prices ending in the number nine or five. In 2005, Manoj Thomas and Vicki Morwitz, marketing researchers at Cornell and NYU, respectively, wrote an article exploring and testing a theory to explain the left-digit affect. One axiom of the psychology behind decision-making is that a fault in a human’s ability to make decisions includes his or her inability to think in absolute terms in areas such as currency, distance, or dimensions. Cognitive thinking is possible when making decisions within these realms. As when many people see, for example, an infomercial boasting about a $29.99 product several times throughout the advertisement, people generally pick up on the reali-
ty of the pricing; it is just a general psychological fault of humans to miscalculate the practical values of numbers. Rather than holistic, cognitive thought, humans tend to think in terms of comparisons on an analog scale. For instance, five is processed as a lower number than six. Thus, when a person sees $1.99, they see the $1 left digit, and associate it in his or her brain as being less than $2. Thomas and Morwitz further explained their theory by arguing that as soon as a person’s brain begins the conversion to analog process, the fastest-moving sect of the brain begins a process of encoding the information before that person finishes reading the price left to right. This is why, for instance, $49.99 is significantly less than $50; the leftmost “4” is encoded in the brain before the brain finishes encoding all the information, and the person accepts the leftmost “4” in $49.99 as being less than the leftmost “5” in $50. Naturally, the rational sect of the brain will slowly catch up, but not before instant judgment has been made. 11
Sleep Deprivation and the Brain by Toby Teitel
At a school as academically rigorous as Horace Mann, it is no surprise that students often do not get enough sleep. Studies show that teenagers benefit most from between eight-and-a-half to nine anda-quarter hours of sleep. One study estimates that only 15% of students reach this quota on school nights. There are many consequences of sleep deprivation that are often subtle and yet serious. A lack of sleep also contributes to skin problems such as acne and unhealthy food habits, which can lead to weight gain. These erratic sleep patterns knock the body’s biological clock off balance, which can result in an increased risk of obesity and diabetes as well as various other 12
health conditions and more struggles in day-to day life. Junior Diane Lee said that she gets about six hours a night and finds that she is more anxious and sensitive when tired. Similarly, sophomore Ellis Soodak reports that he is more irritable if he doesn’t get around six hours of sleep. Having a constant insufficient amount of sleep can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression. 73% of adolescents who reported feeling unhappy also reported an insufficient amount of sleep. Similarly, 56% of teens who said that they felt stressed out and anxious also do not sleep sufficiently. While there is fault in such statistics as it is unclear whether the lack of sleep affects mood or the mood causes a
lack of sleep, one can assume with confidence that there is a strong correlation between the two. Horace Mann students reported insufficient levels of sleep that ranged from five-and-a-half to eight hours. Some elaborated further explaining that they got very little sleep during the week and slept for many hours on the weekend. Other trends that were noted included a tendency of bad sleep habits during “testing weeks”, weeks in which many classes schedule assessments simultaneously. These weeks often lead to a period of sleep deprivation followed by a period of heavy amounts of sleep. Junior Morgan Raum says that she believes that a lack of sleep makes one do worse in school. A study
According to the CDC... 1 in 3 American adults are sleep-deprived, meaning they sleep for fewer than seven hours each night.
Teenagers should receive between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep each night. 70% of teenagers are sleep-deprived, meaning the sleep for fewer than eight hours each night. at UCLA revealed that sacrificing sleep to study would cause one to do significantly worse on exams and homework. Primarily, a lack of sleep will inhibit your ability to concentrate and solve problems. Many students are under the impression that staying up late cramming for tests will increase their chances of a high score, but this often backfires and students receive a worse score than they would have. So why is it that during “testing weeks� the halls of Horace Mann are filled with bleary-eyed, sleep deprived students? The likely explanation is due to the amount of work given to students paired with the misconception that studying is more important than sleep When
a student is faced with an upcoming Math test or History essay, he or she often will choose to stay up late the night before, either studying for the test or scribbling out the essay. While this seems like an unavoidable conundrum there are actually many practical things that one can do to prevent this from occurring. Preventing procrastination will likely prevent sleep deprivation, as students will feel less pressure to stay up late and cram if he or she has already prepared beforehand. Junior Sonia Sehra suggests making a timeline with small parts of the essay done by certain dates to prevent last-minute essay writing. This technique can be applied to many other subjects by assigning oneself sets of
problems to do or chapters to read by a certain date. Finally, insufficient sleep can unsurprisingly be caused by late night Netflix binges and other extraneous Internet activities. The light emitted by your computer often causes difficulty falling asleep by lowering melatonin levels so it is recommended to not use electronic devices before bed. By being aware of how much unnecessary time is wasted online, one can actively choose to sleep instead. While it may seem difficult to get more sleep, especially in such a rigorous academic environment, research has proven that getting that sleep is the best way to maintain performance in school while also staying healthy. 13
Mental Illness Spotlight: Hypochondria by Nicole Velez 14
Sometimes people feel a toothache and assume they have a cavity. There are also people who get a sore throat that stays for a few days and assume that it is strep throat. It is common for a person to make conclusions about the minor pains they feel; however, there is a difference between someone who assumes he or she has a cavity and someone who believes that he or she is dying of a heart condition. People with hypochondria fear having a serious illness. While many people are afraid that one day they might be
who suffer from hypochondria will switch doctors if one tells them that they are not sick. Numerous factors may cause a person to develop hypochondria––a person who watches TV shows and advertisements about serious illness is more susceptible to developing it. Serious illnesses or deaths of family members or friends can also trigger hypochondria in certain people. A person who recovers from a traumatic illness, such as cancer, will be more likely to develop hypochondria. In order to diagnose a person
"There is a difference between someone who assumes he or she has a cavity and someone who believes that he or she is dying of a heart condition." diagnosed with cancer, the fear does not control their lives nor result in additional doctor check-ups, yet the same fear causes hypochondriacs significant anxiety that can last for months or longer. Normal worries are different than the worries that people with hypochondria have. A person may be diagnosed with hypochondria when he or she is consumed by the idea that something is seriously wrong despite the fact that appropriate tests come back negative and doctors reassure him or her that there is nothing wrong. Other symptoms include obsessively doing health research, thinking that he or she has a certain disease after reading or hearing about it, constantly talking about symptoms to friends and family, having a long-term intense fear or anxiety about having a serious disease or health condition, checking vital signs, searching for lumps or sores, and seeing doctors repeatedly. Many times people
with hypochondria, a doctor would refer the patient to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Before doing so, the doctor may order tests to rule out any physical illness. The psychologist or psychiatrist would then do a psychiatric evaluation on the patient. The anxiety must cause problems in social, occupation or other major areas of the person’s life and symptoms must last for six months’ duration. If during the evaluation
the following symptoms are found as well as the denial of the patient that he or she is find then the psychiatrist or psychologist would diagnose the patient with hypochondria. Treatment for hypochondria has increased, yet the mental illness continues to put a large strain on the patient as well as the patient’s loved ones. The two major forms of treatment are appropriate medicine and targeted psychotherapy. Medications such as antidepressants can help reduce the worrying associated with the disorder. Psychotherapy can help find and eliminate the root of the anxiety of being sick. Filmmaker Woody Allen suffers from hypochondria and discusses in a New York Times article how the disorder affected his relationship with his wife, who deals with 3 A.M. visits to the emergency room when Allen suspects a hickey to be melanoma. Despite yearly checkups that show his health is perfectly normal, Allen still does not know how to stop worrying about being sick. Yes, hypochondria is a disorder, but there are now treatment options for those who suffer from it. Family members and friends may need to push a person with hypochondria to seek help, but in the end the anxiety can be controlled.
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Synesthesia Explained by Lily McCarthy 1 Imagine being able to associate the number four with the color pink, or hearing the word sky and then tasting cotton candy. For one in every two thousand people worldwide, this seemingly fantastical situation is a reality. Such individuals have a neurological disorder known as synesthesia in which the activation of one sense induces a response in a different sensory or cognitive pathway. Synesthesia is completely involuntary; those who are affected by the condition have no control over their peculiar sensory experiences, defying our understanding of traditional modes of perception. Although the precise biological foundation of synesthesia is not yet known, scientists speculate that a heightened degree of communication between different regions of the 16
brain may play a substantial role in its onset. Activity in the limbic system, an area involved in emotional regulation, and the cerebral cortex is altered in synesthetes. The integrity of white matter tracts in the brains of synesthetes is also considerably greater when compared to that of normal individuals; these tracts connect and carry signals throughout various neurological regions. The disorder is frequently passed through families, and a greater percentage of women have synesthesia than men. Synesthetes are generally of normal to above average levels of intelligence; interestingly, left-handedness is also considerably more common in individuals with the condition. In addition, a large number of synesthetes tend to be highly creative and often engage in artis-
tic endeavors such as painting and composing music. Children with synesthesia frequently remain unaware of the uniqueness of their condition until relatively late in life, and many people refer to it as a hidden gift. Famous synesthetes include physicist Richard Feynman, artist David Hockney, and Charles Baudelaire, a well-known French poet of the nineteenth century. Originating from the Greek term, “to perceive together,� synesthesia encompasses a wide variety of categories, some of which are more prevalent than others. Synesthetes often connect certain numbers and letters of the alphabet, called graphemes, to a broad spectrum of colors. This can also influence the learning processes of children with the disorder, who learn how to spell and count by manipulating the colors
in a way that fits in with the composition of words or quantities. The term chromesthesia describes occasions in which synesthetes find corollaries between sounds and colors. Three years ago, researchers identified several chromosomes related to this specific type of synesthesia; the groundbreaking discovery of a genetic component sheds light on the complexity of the disorder. Spatial sequence synesthetes affiliate temporal details like months and dates with dimensionality. The most unusual form of the condition is mirror touch synesthesia; the syn-
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esthete experiences another person’s tactile sensations and is literally able to feel another person’s pain or comfort. Researchers involved in a study published in 2007 found that a more pronounced sense of empathy was resultantly associated with this kind of synesthesia. Taste, colors, and emotions are also conjoined by synesthetes. Pastry chef Taria Camerino is one of these people; she designs cuisine and chooses ingredients based on particular, distinctly human feelings like satisfaction and discontent. Synesthesia is intrinsically con-
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nected to issues of similarity, perception, imagery, and other mental processes. Individuals with the condition see and experience the world through an extraordinarily special lens. However, research studies investigating the immensely complicated disorder are still in their most nascent stages; the origins, causes, and inner workings of synesthesia remain a total mystery to psychologists. Perhaps perception, like the spectrum of colors or the multitude of tonalities and chords, is truly boundless.
4 SYNESTHESIA IN OUR WORLD 1. A painting by artist Timothy Layden 2. Poet Charlies Baudelaire 3. A creation by pastry chef Taria Camerino 4. Synesthetic number form 5. "A Bigger Splash" (1967) by artist David Hockney 6. Connecting color to music 6
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The Stanford Prison Experiment: An Investigation of Power and Authority by Stephanie Fernandez
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The Stanford prison experiment, run by Stanford University psychology professor Philip G. Zimbardo in the summer of 1971, began as an exploration of the impacts of circumstance and social roles on human behavior. Twenty-one male college students, after having been tested for psychological normality, simulated the lives of prisoners, from arrest to detainment, and prison guards. The experiment initially began as a fourteen-day test, but after a few hours, guards became psychologically abusive and prisoners suffered extreme stress reactions. It was cut short to just five days due to
inmates, placing each prisoner into an unexpectedly high-pressure, unsafe environment. One prisoner was released after thirty-six hours due to an acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, and rage. The Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated the impact of power roles. Many argue that the experiment lacked sufficiently controlled variables to give any cohesive result, and that the participants modeled their behavior after stereotypes. But overall, the experiment proved shocking to both to scientific community and the participants.
"The experiment essentially dehumanized the inmates, placing each prisoner into an unexpectedly high-pressure, unsafe environment." demoralizing and degrading mistreatment the guards inflicted upon the prisoners. Even the experimenters became overly invested in the simulation—Zimbardo himself acted as the prison ward—and an outsider had to convince them to stop. The moral opposition against the experiment revolves around the intense stress the prisoners had experienced and the cruel procedures they had undergone. Each prisoner was stripped and searched, then doused in a disinfecting spray. Each prisoner was further shamed, being made to wear a uniform consisting of a smock with no underclothes and a chain around one ankle. The intent of the uniform and the procedures was not to mimic a literal prison, but to imitate the emasculation of actual inmates and the oppressive nature of jails. Along with the uniforms, each prisoner was assigned a number, which was used in replacement for his name. The experiment essentially dehumanized the
The simulation verified that circumstance dictates behavior to the same degree as do biological predisposition and individual personality. The participants clearly internalized their roles; the guards, relishing their newfound power, harassed the prisoners, resulting in a rebellion after only twenty-four hours in simulation. Upon reflection, one the guards remembers wanting to press the limitations of his power, which had gone unquestioned, but regretted the escalation of the abuse.
The most striking part of the experiment is its parallels to the events at Abu Ghraib during the war with Iraq, wherein U.S. military police personnel committed gruesome human rights violations. Given power against those considered a threat to them and their country, these officers, normal soldiers, treated their prisoners inhumanely. The experiment and the study were completely unrelated, but the guards opted to inflict similar punishments, including stripping the prisoners naked, putting bags over their heads, and putting them in chains. Both showed instances of psychologically normal human beings purposefully dehumanizing and torturing other people, simply because they had the power to do so. The Stanford Prison Experiment clearly demonstrates that there does not have to be something fundamentally wrong with any specific guard, but the source of abusive behavior lies in the environment: partially on the intrinsic power differences existing in a prison or parallel setting, and partially on the overseers who allow such an environment to persist. The Stanford Prison Experiment illustrates the power of authority and the prevalence of circumstance verses natural dispositions when determining or understanding human behavior.
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THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELFIE by Libby Smilovici
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Cultural lexicon Urban Dictionary defines the “selfie” as “A picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to Facebook, MySpace or any other sort of social networking website.” What this definition neglects to emphasize is probably the most important detail: a selfie is a picture of you, taken by you. In the age where digital cameras were the quickest way to take a picture, in order to take a selfie, a person would either take it in a mirror or contort a hand or the camera to make the lens face him or herself. Before the invention of the built-in camera, which faces the user, taking a good selfie was like shooting in the dark. The camera on the front of our smart phones has completely changed how people choose to depict themselves on different social media platforms. It is much easier for someone to become a photo model when the camera is facing him or her at all times. Selfies have become incredibly popular in recent media culture, so what do these pictures say about human psychology? As the selfie has become an intrinsic part of our society and everyday lives, there has been debate in the psychology and sociology communities as to whether the selfie poses benefits, detriments, or both to the people who take them. Most people would jump to the conclusion that the more selfies someone posts, the more narcissistic, insecure, or desperate for attention he or she is. Are selfies a sign of egotism, or are they a something else? For young adults, selfies make sense. They provide an outlet of self-expression, and allow a person to control how others perceive him or her. Dr. Andrea Letamendi, a
clinical psychologist and research fellow at UCLA states, “Self captured images allow young adults and teens to express their mood states and share important experiences.” Teenagers are constantly trying to discover who they are, and presenting oneself to others is a direct component of what makes someone an individual. Letamendi comments further that “Psychologically speaking, there may be some benefit to participating in sharing selfies because this practice is interwoven
the recipient thinks to him or herself, “They think I’m pretty, therefore I am pretty.” Since multitudes of people can see what one posts, they have a bigger impact on how one views him or herself. Since social media has become such a big part of young people’s lives, it makes sense that how others view someone is extremely prevalent to how that person views him or herself. Selfies allow people to put themselves out in the open and receive feedback on how they have chosen to portray themselves.
"If someone were to say another person is pretty, then the recipient thinks to him or herself, 'They think I'm pretty, therefore I am pretty.' Since multitudes of people can see what one posts, they have a bigger impact on how one views him or herself." in our social culture and is a way to interact socially with others.” Self-portraits have been present ever since man could paint, and have helped art historians figure out exactly how an artist feels about him or herself. Photography, being the most prevalent media today, has allowed people to create the self-portraits they wish to display. After creating this twenty-first century self-portrait, they await the “likes” and comments of others. These responses can also shape how they view themselves. Charles Horton Cooley’s theory, the “looking glass self,” has come up multiple times in relationship to why people even bother to take selfies. The looking glass self theory states that people adapt their self image through how other people perceive them. If someone were to say another person is pretty, then
Selfies pose benefits regarding how people want others to view them and their self-images. If one is to take appropriate selfies and reve in them, he or she is not being egotistic and should not feel ashamed. In an age when advertisements and celebrities reinforce the notion that most people’s appearances are sub par, we easily mistake self-confidence for narcissism. Selfies can help someone find what he or she likes about him or herself, instead of focusing on what he or she dislikes. If no feelings are hurt, one should be able take as many selfies as he or she likes and accept a couple compliments without worrying about appearing self-centered. Selfies are simply another form of self-expression and allow people to revel in the positives of their physicality while searching to find their personal identities. 21
Cheating for the Thrill of It by Jane Thier
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Cheating, in an array of different forms, is prevalent in American culture. There are always the extreme cases—Bernie Madoff, Lance Armstrong, or John Edwards— which usually claim the headlines. However, while maybe not quite as extreme, cheating exists in nearly every establishment, especially in high schools throughout the country. A survey at Stuyvesant High School concluded that nearly 80% of their students had cheated at least once, in some way, shape or form. It gathered that 79% of students, and 90% of seniors have learned about questions before a test, at least once during a school year. It seems shocking that cheating has become so commonplace, but the truth is that cheating has become infinitely easier. Today, more than ever, there is a plethora of ways to cheat anonymously, especially via the Internet and social media—the culture of sharing appears to create fertile grounds for it. It’s not just that e-mailing, texting, and the Internet make exchanging answers and plagiarizing far more practical. We live in a Wikipedia world, where file-sharing and blurry notions of personal privacy have, for some young people, made the idea of proprietary knowledge seem like a foreign, almost ridiculous, concept. Today’s high school students may not even think they’re doing anything wrong, according to Kristal Brent Zook, director of the M.A. journalism program at Hofstra University. Behavioral psychologists at the University of Washington performed an experiment earlier this year, wherein participants were
given a baseline assessment of their moods before, during and after cheating. Participants were given a word-unscrambling test. After finishing, they were handed an answer key, told to check their answers and asked to report the number of the correct ones. For every right answer, they would earn $1. Not knowing that the researchers could tell if they correct wrong answers, 41% did so. The follow-up assessment of their moods showed that the cheating participants experienced an emotional boost that the honest participants did not. “The fact that people feel happier after cheating is disturbing, because there is emotional reinforcement of the behavior, meaning they could be more likely to do it again,” said Nicole E.
actions to spare their conscience? Disregarding these possibilities, the researchers found that those who did cheat experienced thrill, self-satisfaction, and a sense of superiority. While it’s easy to look at cheating as a juvenile, dishonest action, it may take some by surprise that cheating is not confined to a certain population of students. Students of all ethnic backgrounds, intelligence levels, and schools cheat. But this begs the question: why do bright kids—such as the notorious Stuyvesant and Harvard students—cheat? Aren’t they smart enough to get ahead honestly? One might think so, but the pressure to succeed is often greater for such students. Students who attend the best schools in the country often are left
"'The fact that people feel happier after cheating is disturbing, because there is emotional reinforcement of the behavior, meaning they could be more likely to do it again.'" Reudy, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking. The results of the experiment leave the researchers stumped: why did the participants feel so good about cheating? Is it possibly a rush of euphoria resulting from avoiding getting caught? This would imply that cheating inspires a feeling of stress or distress. Or maybe the participants had deceived themselves, rationalizing their own dishonest
with a feeling that they not only must live up to the reputation of the institution and expectations that it brings, but they have to compete, many of them for the first time, with a school full of kids as smart, or smarter than they are. “Kids here know that the difference between a 97 and a 98 on one test isn’t going to make any difference in the future,” said Edith Villavicencio, a senior at Stuyvesant. “But they feel as if they need the one extra point over a friend, just because it’s possible and provides a little thrill.” 23
Kim Jong Un’s Power Complex by Luwei Quan 24
What words come to mind when you think of Kim Jong Un? Crazy? Delusional? Psychotic? Despite these relatively common assertions on the state of his mental health, Kim Jong Un might actually be “behaving rationally” under the set of circumstances given to him, according to psychologist Ian H. Robertson, Ph.D, in a recent article in Psychology Today. In his article, Robertson reveals that North Korea’s infamous dictator wasn’t always the man he is today. On the contrary, he seemed normal; he was “quite intelligent”, and a “star” of his school’s basketball team (according to Joao Micaelo, Un’s friend while attending school in Switzerland). So how was this normal young man transformed into someone Robertson describes as “no different” from your average warlord, mob boss, or Emperor? One word: power. There is a saying that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This maxim seems pertinent when applied to a man, who in the wake of his father’s death, had to take on the power and responsibility that comes with commanding an entire nation, all at the age of 28. After assuming office in 2011, Robertson argues that this sudden surge of power caused Jong Un to behave in a “god-like” manner. This absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely across cultures as well. It is a commonly known that a majority of powerful political figures throughout history claim to have received divine aid or support; more recently, former President George Bush claimed to have received a message from God to invade Iraq, while Osama Bin Laden also believed that his actions were sanctioned by God.
So what is it about power that inspires this response? Research suggests that we are literally addicted to power, a “drug” as potent and addictive as cocaine. A 2002 paper published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that social dominance in baboons leads to a higher release of dopamine in the brain’s nucleus accumben, the pleasure center of the brain. According to the report, “Cocaine has its effects through this system also, and by hijacking our brain’s
of carrying on his father’s legacy, running a country and its people, commanding an army, and proving himself to the world despite his age. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the “‘psychological threat’ of being deposed” is enough for Un to participate in “destructive acts,” depending on “how far he feels he must go to consolidate his position.” This cognitive numbing and pressure may have led to the recent missile tests conducted in February
"Despite these relatively common assertions on the state of his mental health, Kim Jong Un might actually be 'behaving rationally' under the set of circumstances given to him, according to psychologist Ian H. Robertson, Ph.D, in a recent article in Psychology Today." reward system, it can give shortterm extreme pleasure but leads to long-term addiction, with all that that entails.” However, just as cocaine users experience symptoms such as inability to experience pleasure, as well as the onset of depression, anxiety, etc., those that experience large amounts of power must endure the disruption of “normal” cognitive function and emotions. People exposed to absolute power like Un’s are likely to exhibit “gross errors of judgment and imperviousness to risk, not to mention huge egocentricity and lack of empathy for others.” On top of experiencing these effects, Un must also face what comes with great power: great responsibility. Or, rather, the stress that comes with the responsibility
2013, where North Korea defied United Nations orders to stop building atomic weapons, earning sanctions from the UN, whose foreign secretary called it a “violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions”. This, and other events (ie. cyber attacks on South Korea) not only led to tense relations with the UN, but countries such as the United States and England as well, among others. This initial indifference and eventual destructive action towards other countries suggests a psychological state drunk with power, yet drowned in stress. So even though Kim Jong Un’s behavior is pretty “rational” after all, his rash decisions, caused by psychological strains and highs, still manage to pose a threat to national and global security, relations, and prosperity today. 25
PsycHistory: The Psychosocial Effect of the Chernobyl Disaster by Livia Mann
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The Chernobyl disaster took place on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. A series of explosion at the plant due to a power surge caused a fire that released a vast amount of nuclear fallout into the atmosphere. It is one of only two nuclear power plant disasters in history to be classified as a level 7 disaster (the highest level).
benefit programs, despite protests from the liquidators. This has led to a negative psychological impact, such as mistrust in healthcare providers in the areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster such as Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and the Ukraine. Some studies have linked the Chernobyl disaster to post- traumatic stress disorder. This would be a natural affect of the disaster
"Many people in the areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster suffer from such neuropsychological disorders as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder." Many citizens in the area surrounding the power plant were drafted to help clean up the site of the accident. These people came to be known as liquidators, and there were over 700,000 of them. Around 350,00 of these liquidators got doses of radiation about five times that that is legal for nuclear facility workers annually. This happened between the years of 1986 and 1987. Over one hundred of these liquidators were diagnosed with Acute Radiation Sickness, and 28 of those people died. New research from the Keck School of Medicine shows that up to ten million people may still be suffering from mental and physical health problems as a consequence of the Chernobyl disaster, nearly three decades later. All liquidators were given special government benefits such as health care, housing subsidy, and free public transportation. Almost five percent of the Ukraine’s annual budget is spent on benefits for Chernobyl liquidators. Recently the Ukrainian and Russian governments have both expressed a desire to cut these
because it was a traumatic experience for the citizens, especially for the liquidators. Many people in the areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster suffer from such neuropsychological disorders as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The rates of these conditions are between two and four times higher in populations exposed to the Chernobyl disaster than in normal populations. There is also a higher rate of suicides in liquidators than in most other social groups. This is because the
disaster caused people to question their safety and the amount of control that they had over their own lives. Many people were removed from their homes, which just adds to the trauma of the disaster. It has been discovered that there is a stigma against people exposed to the disaster. This is centered in the city of Bila Tserkva in the Ukraine, where many people were relocated to when their homes were no longer safe after the disaster. Many children who were relocated to this city due to the disaster have suffered from bullying in school. This is an example of a psychosocial affect of the disaster. Children who were exposed to the disaster make the other kids uneasy because they remind them of this horrible accident. The kids who had to be relocated due to the disaster remind the other kids that they themselves are not safe, so they bully them to make themselves feel more in control. The Chernobyl disaster clearly had a huge lingering psychological impact on the area. It left an emotional toll on everyone that it affected. The disaster made people call into question both their safety and the amount of control that they had over their own lives.
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