MIND Issue #13 (Psychology Society Publications) by SIM Psychology Society

What is reality? P H O TO C R E D I TS : U A E S M. MA K TO O B . C O M

ALSO INCLUDE

PSYSOC EVENTS

DYK

When a Lie Becomes Memory’s Truth Time Travel Is Happiness Real? Efficiency’s Loss Animal Perception

Neuroanatomy Workshop

Lucid Dreaming

BACKGROUND

EDITORS’ NOTES Sometimes it feels like “reality” is a non-word. Is there one reality or many different versions of it? Is there one correct version with many interpretations or are all versions correct? Just because our perception and reality is different from others, does it necessarily mean we are wrong? Should our qualia, our private experience of the world be measured against others’? We harangue and fiercely negotiate the yard-stick of reality, the “truth” everyday; we analyze and rationalize our actions, we say what we would like ourselves and others to believe; we wonder if things like intelligence are fixed and if we should give up against the illusion of control - Is it because we worry that things become okay, or are things okay even if we don’t worry? We create our own reality, with what we believe to be our will, our choice, our right (the only right, surely!), yet perhaps unconsciously influenced and shaped by things and by others. In this issue of MIND #13, we tinkle around the multifaceted and ever-elusive quality of Reality: When efficiency is not about gain, when memories lie; when inducing creativity, lucid dreaming, time travel, conspiracy theories, animal perception; if happiness is even real.

SCHOOL UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO MAJOR PSYCHOLOGY

Is our reality for us to build, manage, decipher? Is it that there is no correct answer to our question, or that we have not figured it out? Do we always need to know what’s real when we enjoy uncertainty and escape – fiction: exploring the other possible types of lives, movies: bringing us into another world, magic/illusion shows. Even the act of perceiving and understanding is an everyday enigma. Does it matter how we define what is real? What is real is not similarly defined by everyone; is our reality, our facts, our science, our truth, merely our myth? Josephine Tan editor-in-chief

What is one accomplishment you’ve achieved since January? As we approach page 365 of year 2013, it is time to revisit our list of possibly unaccomplished resolutions made at the outset the year. Quite frankly, I highly doubt the efficacy of such lists (did you really start running every week? Or lose 3kg? Or acquired a new skill?); however, the underlying intetion of improving yourself is laudable. Thus far, my mercurial obsessions had indirectly led me to resolve some of my resolutions: I had cravings that led me to churn out green tea, early grey tea, and cinnanmon mini muffins much at the expense of my friends’ waistlines (if you can’t make yourself thin, make your friends fat, right?); I picked up yoga and krav maga; I developed an addiction for conquering my fear of heights through rock climbing. Yet my new year’s resolution list is not satiated. I hope your resolved commitments have made you a better person - as did mine. If it has not, get up and do something great for yourself! Most importantly, leave 2013 with no regrets.

SCHOOL UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO MAJOR PSYCHOLOGY & COMMUNICATION

Gigi Teo Wen Jing graphic designer

CONTENT 05

EFFICIENCY’S LOSS

At its mercy

WHAT IS REALITY?

What we perceive may be untrue

WHEN A LIE BECOMES MEMORY’S TRUTH

False memory syndrome

COGNAC, CREATIVITY, & GROGGINESS

Drink for work

EXPERIENCING THE WORLD IN A DREAM

Lucid dreaming +DYK

TIME TRAVEL & ITS IMPLICATIONS

P H O TO C R E D I TS : W H ATS U P. R U

ANIMAL PERCEPTION

Free will versus determinism

Chimpanzees: A case study

Redefining happiness

Dr. Scott Wersinger

16 XX-XY

IS HAPPINESS REAL?

THE ILLUSION OF REALITY

The allure of conspiracy theories

NEUROANATOMY WORKSHOP

Religion

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THE

MIND TEAM Foo Meng Yee “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” - Les Brown

Cheryl Giam The things that make me different are the things that make me” - A.A.Milne

Harith ‘Ifwat bin Zulkefli “What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.” – Swordfish

Branden Ho “A clear mind is sometimes the biggest obstacle.”

Rachel Leong “ I’m gonna live a crazy dream Impossible as it may seem Doesn’t matter what the future brings I’m gonna live a crazy dream” Whole Wide World - Mindy Glenhill

Mok Kai Chuen “ Happiness lies only in a divine unrest; and if you are lapped in comfort you stagnate and miss it.” - John Buchan

Aloysius Ng “ I don’t wanna be another wave in the ocean. I am a rock, not just another grain of sand.” - Bon Jovi

Ng Ken Kern “Take care of your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.”

Sheena Teo The mind is your best muscle [for success]. Big arms can move rocks, but big words can move mountains.” - Sylvester Stallone

05 JO S E P H IN E TA N

Efficiency’s Loss AT ITS MERCY

fficiency – more than the currency of our economy, it is our lifestyle. We create machines and programs to improve our efficiency; efficiency ensures standards are achieved, it promises the wealth of a country, it propels us to unknown heights especially in our over-achieving world. Slick doesn’t seem bad, doesn’t seem bad at all, yet it might come at a price that we did not know we would have to pay. We celebrate efficiency in every facet of our lives: The effort/results ratio in school and work, our multitasking finesse, faster-than-thou internet speed, low tolerance for delayed transportation, even the ‘leisure’ games we play – the number of candies we can crush. We consecrate efficiency in sports, we watch with baited breath the second of misalignment in synchronized diving, the plight of a graceful gymnast, landing one degree outside of the perfect posture. We focus unblinkingly on the blur of the runners’ legs, on the shoe tip of our favorite runner crossing the finish line one-tenth of a second ahead of the pack, and pride washes over us; not once do we wonder beyond the veneer of the locked jaw and veins pulsing through the runner’s face as he pushes himself ahead of other runners. Not mere spectators of maximizing efficiency, we drive our bodies at the gym, in the mirror we watch our flesh strain and hurt, held in positions we never thought we could, we tell ourselves that we have to. Some embrace muscle pain as a sign of toned body, nothing seemingly wrong, yet also nothing far from masochism. We find images of toned, muscular bodies paired with motivation quotes, “refueling” our willpower. Yet, why should something we claim to enjoy its pain require willpower, unless purposeful and strenuous exercising is nary close to anything intrinsic? Augusten Burroughs said it well – “You only need willpower to get what you don’t want or [what] you only want to want. If willpower is required to achieve this goal, that’s how you know you don’t want it enough on a deep, organic level.”

P H O TO C R E D I TS : LI FE ZA P. C O M

When we are inefficient, we punish the body, we exh aust our willpower (a cognitively finite resource), but most unaccounted of all, we punish and criticize the self. We make it hard to accept ourselves in the terms that which we are. We have been trained and we train ourselves to believe that we are not good enough. We are the agent of our own oppression. We are truly Foucault’s “Docile bodies” - we have been tamed; bodies (and souls) slaved for economic utility, we are merely running the same treadmill, merely identical products from a well-oiled machine. Efficiency – we want to know how to do less, achieve more – what are the shortcuts in life? What is the answer to success? “Success stories” brimming in magazines, there is no time for mistakes, just the formula we seek. We even want to know what are the secrets, tips, and shortcuts to happiness: don’t we know how to be happy and by golly we don’t want to be inefficient at trying to attain happiness! We control and discipline ourselves, fixing our time and space, alter our consciousness, thoughts and perspective, and punish ourselves to reach “goals” set by institutions of education (efficient, well-rounded student), medicine(Are you being the fittest that you possibly can be? Are you psychologically sound and happy?). Yet the need for efficiency is not our fault – we cannot break out of the demands of an efficient economy that expects us to be exactly that. In all our efficiency and utility, under that sheer control and discipline, we are powerless - we don’t know how to just be.

06 A L OY S IU S N G & R AC H E L L E O N G

What is reality? WHAT WE PERCEIV E MAY B E UNTRUE

e have to go beyond our senses to think about reality. We perceive reality when the brain processes the information from the signals detected by the sensory neurons of our body. However, there is more to the world than we perceive (Dror, 2005). In every second, we are immersed in an experience; and our brain constructs these experiences (Arbib & Hesse, 1986; Foerster, 2003). Our reality is different from the world’s reality. Our senses – sight, sound, hearing, touch & smell – are a filter to what our brain can analyze to construct our experiences. The brain perceives whatever sensory

mediated by synaptic fatigue (Kilpatrick, 2010), but that is outside the scope of this article. Imagine you are sitting in a busy café and having a conversation with a friend. You would be continuously bombarded by the multitude of sensory information, yet you are able to hold an intellectually stimulating conversation with your friend about Neuroscience. Your brain is directing your attention to specific sensory information (Posner & Petersen, 1990) – that is the voice of your friend. Limited by the range of frequency of sound or the wavelength of light, compiled with our brain’s ability

PH OTO C R ED IT S: W W W.EXT R EM ET EC H .C OM

inputs from the world, processes it and has us believe what reality is. Human visual perception is limited to visible light (Gregory, 1966), which is only a fraction of the full spectrum of light. The interaction of light through matter causes refraction (i.e. a straw appearing bent in a glass of water). The dilemma would lie between as to perceive the bent straw; or the reality we inherently understand through science (Snell’s Law) as real. We remain skeptical on the absolute values Dr. Joseph Dispenza stated in What the Bleep Do We Know (2004), where he said that “the brain processes 400 billion bits of information a second … we are only aware of 2000 of those.”. We would agree that our brain receives a large amount of sensory input at any given moment, and it also filters out a lot of continuous sensations. This may be moderated or

to selectively process and make conscious of our reality. Reality can be further complicated by the use of hallucinogens (Ebbitt, 2008; Halberstadt & Geyer, 2012). How would one be able to define and know what is reality? Our mind is structured in layers. From the brain, to the neurons, to the cells, to the nuclei, to the atoms, to the protons, neutrons and electrons – they each have their own language, processes and rules that they abide. They each exist in their own different worlds, but they are complementary. We are our protons, neutrons and electrons; atoms, nuclei, cells, neurons, brain – they are all true, just different levels of true. Similarly, reality has layers. We live in our brains, and that is how we would always perceive reality.

07 C H E RY L G IA M

When a lie becomes memoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truth FA LSE MEMORY SY NDROME

emory is defined as the ability of the brain to store, retain and subsequently to recall information. There are essentially three main forms of memory storage, namely sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. These are created when traces are formed between groups of neurons, similar to how wires connect different points along a circuit. There is no exact area of which memory is kept, rather, the piece of memory is dissected and kept in different parts of the brain for retrieval in the future. Elizabeth Loftus (1992) has suggested that memory can be altered if individuals were given new information after the occurrence of the event; this occurs because the individual may be confused by the additional information and incorporates it into the initial memory. The alteration of memory can also happen during the retrieval process. This act of recalling involves the reconstruction of information and hence false information may be conjured and taken into account each time we recall an event. This leads to the constant rewiring of information in our brain, resulting in the storage of information which can be significantly different from the actual occurrence. Emotions have been shown to affect the processing of our memory. Friderike Heuer and Daniel Reisberg (1990) stated that emotions enhanced the memory of an event, but the details of the event may be inaccurate. This is especially evident in eyewitnesses of crime scenes, where the details of the crime may have been

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changed or missed out by the individual due to the narrowing of attention as a result of fear. Even in our daily lives, recollection of the same event may differ amongst individuals as a result of our emotions. This stems from the fact that understanding and inference differs between people, hence we interpret and remember the same event differently, subjected to our feelings at that point of time. As a result of our brainsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; susceptibility to information which can distort our recollection of reality, there have been cases of false memories being induced in people during therapy through the use of hypnosis. The False Memory Syndrome (FMS) is defined as a condition in which a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity is centred on a memory of traumatic experience which is actually false, but in which the person is strongly convinced. However, the recognition of this syndrome is controversial as the advancement in technology is still unable to truly determine the functions of the human brain and the way in which we wire our memories. The creation of memory is a natural and unintentional process; we cannot stop ourselves from remembering certain experiences. However, in this realm of helplessness, we can choose to focus on the happy memories. As mentioned above, the recollection of past events differs amongst people, hence the lessons learnt are not entirely the same, but these differences define us; and with the fading of our memories in time, is the reality of the events all that important?

08 BRANDEN HO

Cognac, creativity, & Grogginess DRINK FOR WORK

“W

rite drunk, edit sober,” said Ernest Hemingway, one of, if not the most, widely acclaimed authors to have ever lived. From the great Hemingway, to the late Amy Winehouse, many artists have claimed alcohol to be their creative muse. That alcohol provides some benefit to creative processes has long been assumed by popular culture. These assumptions, however, have not been scientifically tested until very recently. Altered states of consciousness, whether induced through drugs, alcohol or plain old fatigue, are increasingly being shown to have a positive effect on creative thought (Jarosz, Colflesh, & Wiley, 2012). These inducers have the ability to inhibit what researchers call executive function, which controls traits such as planning and focus. In a study by Wietha and Zacksb (2011), sleepiness seemed to boost creativity. Scientists tested the effect of grogginess on creative problem solving on 428 college students. The results are a testament to the creative virtues of grogginess. When people were tested during their “least optimal time of day” — think of that night owl stumbling into the lab in the early morning — they were significantly more effective at solving insight puzzles. In another study, scientists tested the effects of moderate alcohol intoxication on a common creative problem solving task, the Remote Associates Test (RAT). Individuals were brought to a blood alcohol content of approximately .075, and, after reaching peak intoxication, completed a battery of RAT items. Intoxicated individuals solved more RAT items, in less time, and were more likely to perceive their solutions as the result of a sudden insight (Jarosz, Colflesh, & Wiley, 2012). The authors write, “Sometimes a reduced ability to control one’s attention can have positive implications for select cognitive tasks.” They note also that previous studies have found that older people with reductions in attentional control are better at tests that examine creative thought, as are those with brain damage that interferes with attention.

P H O TO C R E D I TS : W W W. I R E LA N D MA D E E A S Y. C O M

If less executive function and an altered perception of the world are what facilitate inspiration and creativity, then it comes with little surprise that so many creative people are attracted to these substances in the first place. However, since many of them developed their creative talents with substance abuse, this lack of executive function may make them more susceptible to addiction. While alcohol and drugs do provide a quick shortcut to altered states of consciousness, it is definitely not the only way. Travel, for example, is a good way to achieve the same effect with relative ease. The case for alcohol though, is strong. It is conveniently available, involves little or no commuting and costs little. So whether you are stuck with writer’s block or desperately need to fill a page with words before looking at it again to sieve out the gold, alter your reality. Get out of your cubicle, move the workstation to the playground, work at your least optimal time, or even have a drop of wine. These changes in perceived reality and consequent lack of attentional control might be just what you need.

09 S H E E NA T E O

EXPERIENCING THE WORLD IN A DREAM LUCID DREA MING

ooking out the window, you see skyscrapers with no end, cars zooming around in the air, and people walking on thin air. Sounds impossible? Yet, it may be possible – in your dreams. According to Laberge, lucid dreaming (LD) is where the dreamer can speculate precisely, remember unreservedly, and act voluntarily upon contemplation, all while continuing to dream vividly (as cited in Zadra, 1991). Yet, LD is not easy to do. It ranges from a continuum, with the highest level being a dreamer who can extend a significant amount of control over their mental faculties, such as if they were awake (Zadra, 1991). The dreamer who can dream the most lucid dream will be able to do anything they want in their dreams. From the same research, the middle level lucid dreamer is someone who knows that they are dreaming, and can extend some control over their dream as well as over some of the mental faculties that they are usually only able to access when they are awake. In contrast, the lowest level lucid dreamer may realize that they are dreaming, but then either end up waking up, or simply go back into non-lucid dreaming. In order to be able to successfully control our dream content, we should all aim to reach the highest level of LD. Besides being able to fully control your dream content, Zadra (1991) has shown that LD can also be used in the clinical context to help those with recurrent nightmares. The possibilities to LD are limitless – after all, if one is able to do anything in their dream world, they can enact their unfulfilled wishes, do things that they regret not having done, practice new skills, get over their own fears – the entire dream world is at their feet. Despite LD’s obvious advantages, downsides come packaged. In lucid dreams, the dream world feels entirely like the real world, and it can be easy to become confused between the two in our memories. This is especially so if we lucid dream regularly. In such cases, LD is recommended only for those who can separate the dream world and the real world, and as such, psychotics and schizophrenics would not be able to enjoy the benefits of LD (Zadra, 1991). Furthermore, even if one is able to lucid dream, it takes time to get to the highest level and there is no guarantee that one will definitely reach that level. Lastly, we should note that the first time one dreams lucidly is bound to be an extremely empowering experience, and may cause

one to become addicted to that experience. Thus, should we be able to reach that highest continuum in the lucid dream scale, we should take note to lucid dream minimally – after all, the real world where all our family members and loved ones truly exist should always come first. Yet, after saying all that – if I were able to fully control my dreams? Well, it would be just like singer Richard Sanderson sang: “dreams are my reality…” METHODS TO L UC ID DREA MING

Lucid dreaming (LD), according to Laberge, is where dreamers know that they are dreaming, and are thus able to consciously influence the material in their dreams (as cited in Stumbrys, Erlacher, Schädlich & Schredl, 2012). Although there has not been a lot of research on it, there have been a few techniques developed to induce LD. Researchers have categorized these techniques into three categories: cognitive, external stimulation, and miscellaneous. One such cognitive method is the combination technique. Developed by Tholey, it is a method that combines elements such as autosuggestion, reflection, and intention together. It consists of fostering a reflective state of mind (reflection), envisaging that you are in a dream and perceiving it (intention), as well as telling yourself that you will lucid dream before you fall asleep (autosuggestion). According to Paulsson & Parker, evidence has indicated that this technique can significantly increase the prevalence of LD (as cited in Stumbrys et al., 2012). Another cognitive method is the Mnemonic technique for the voluntary Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD), developed by Laberge (as cited in Zadra, 1991). It consists of first rehearsing the dream that you have woken up from in your mind. You should then absorb yourself for 10 to 15 minutes with a cognitive activity that will require full wakefulness, followed by the continued usage of autosuggestion and intention until the intention is clear. Practicing these two promising techniques faithfully can increase the chances of lucid dreaming – however, we should note that more research has to be done before the induction of lucid dreaming can become something that is more tangible and accessible to the everyday dreamer.

P H O TO C R E D I TS : W W W. FA R C RY D E S I G N . C O M

10 F OSOE PMHEIN NG Y EN E JO E TA

TIME TRAVEL & ITS IMPLICATIONS FREE WILL V ERSUS DETERMINIS M

hysicists have long scoffed at the idea of time travel. However, the concept is still popularly used in acclaimed novels and in blockbusters such as Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013). This phenomenon might be due to awe and hype, cum unwavering hopes of science-fiction enthusiasts that time travel might be realizable. Advocates of time travel include people who subscribe to Einstein’s theory of General Relativity (Weingard, 1979), while opponents of time travel include philosophers who subscribe to the ‘grandfather paradox’ (Barjavel, 1943) – an argument first proposed in Rene Barjavel’s novel Le Voyageur imprudent. The ‘grandfather paradox’ basically proposed that certain actions inevitably make impossible the prospect of travelling back in time (Barjavel, 1943). Whether time travel is possible appears relevant to psychology. Consider that time travel involves the ability to move backwards to an earlier point in time, and therefore the ability to observe if events would unfold the same way as they did before. Time travel could be a key to end the age-old debate about freewill versus determinism. If we had a time machine that could bring us backwards in time, such as that of the 1985 American film Back to the Future, we could observe if later events are bound by antecedent occurrences. If it were so, the theory of determinism would be supported. Determinism is the doctrine that we are compelled to act by causations outside of our will.

compelled by mental illness. One occurrence of the defense spurring controversy was when John Hinckley successfully appealed for it over the would-have-been assassination of former American president Ronald Reagan (Peszke, 1983). Central to the controversy is the debate about degree of intentionality and control people have towards their actions. “Psychology” seems to attribute criminality to “powerful” forces such as neural activity rather than to intentionality and choice, whereas criminal law assumes that criminality arises mostly from intentionality (Hoffman & Morse, 2006). In a larger context, determinism threatens to question the relevance of human tendency to blame people for transgressions and reward them for success. The movie Star Trek: Into Darkness portrays life to be deterministic because it is shown that the intervention of foreign agents from a former universe in a latter and parallel universe is necessary for outcomes in the latter universe to play out in a different way than it did in the former universe, and no other. If the same phenomenon were documented in the real world, it would be reasonable to suggest that human behaviour should not be liable to moral responsibility because behavioural outcomes are wholly bound by antecedent events and have nothing to do with innate principles. Should time travel be realized, and determinism be supported through it, morality that humans hold dear to might be thrown into chaos.

Psychology’s stake in the debate between freewill and determinism is the question of one’s responsibilities towards misconducts, and of one’s choice contributions towards moral behaviour. There has been huge controversy over the insanity defense, used in judicial scenarios to diminish one’s culpability towards criminal actions through the suggestion that one’s crimes were

P H O TO C R E D I TS : W W W. D O C TO RW H O . C O M

11 MOK KAI CHUEN

IS HAPPINESS REAL? REDEFINING HA PPINESS

ike helpless crying brought on by misery and a perpetual frown cemented by anger, the nuances of happiness are best identified through a gentle smile or hearty laugh. When asked what happiness is, we tend to symbolically contain its definition within observable representations. This use of semantics seemingly gives us a satisfactory explanation of happiness within an objective reality. Aristotle philosophised that we value the tangible things in life, such as material wealth, love and health, only because they make us happy (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Happiness thus becomes the singular end-goal that we all seek – the root of all desires. Furthermore, being able to identify this emotional state of mind and subsequently allowing ourselves to pursue it makes happiness as real as the setting sun. Yet herein lies the contention: If happiness is a goal within our reach, why does it not last forever once we have attained it? This momentary joy can be attributed to the economic workings of a hedonic treadmill, where we tend to rapidly return to a point of emotional neutrality after experiencing an emotional high (Bottan & Trugliam 2011). For example, a sudden windfall should increase one’s positive emotionality. Yet, evidence has shown that his appraisal of happiness is similar to what he perceived before the windfall (Brickman et al., 1978). This explains why a billionaire and beggar can be equally happy despite the huge difference in amassed wealth.

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A S K YO U R S E L F I F YO U A R E H A P P Y A N D YO U C E A S E T O B E .

This subjectivity also presents itself when our pursuits towards happiness deviate drastically and oftentimes idiosyncratically. According to Ellis (1985), our subjective worldview promotes irrational thinking. This gives rise to idiosyncratic pursuits such as shortterm hedonism, where we seek immediate gratification without much forethought. Although these

P H O TO C R E D I TS : W W W. LO R G U MI N FO . N E T

irrationalities are not ideal, who is to say that they are wrong when happiness is still felt? This shows that there is no one fixed, justifiable formula to happiness. So if we cannot objectively quantify happiness, why do we still pursue such an inconsistent feeling? The seductive power of happiness may well lie in its sad and eventual disappearance, reminding us to cherish its fleeting moments. If it is always present, the novelty would quickly diminish. The simplistic idea of feeling cheerful becomes a complex quest to remember how ‘happy’ used to feel like. In this case, happiness becomes a desire to negate negativity, potentially crippling one’s psychological health. We may have focused too much on the idea of an elusive happiness. It may merely be a convenient construct or a by-product of all our exploits used to encapsulate meaningful, emotional highs. As John Stuart Mill writes, “those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness. Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.” The difficulty thus lies in finding a middle ground between not overanalysing and not dismissing our subconscious need for happiness. Perhaps our society’s prescribed semantics of the word ‘happiness’ has stifled its full meaning. In removing them, we may finally find a suitable definition for happiness.

12 H A R IT H ’ IF WAT B IN ZU L K E F L I

THE ILLUSION OF REALITY THE A LLURE OF CONSPIRACY TH EORIES

umans throughout the ages have engrossed themselves with seeking out the truth either through religious decree of personal creed. Indeed, religious scriptures from various faiths enunciate the importance of fact-finding: “Seek and you shall find”. In tandem, academics such as Skinner proposed that facets of human behaviour are influenced by the government. The recurring theme here is that our vision of reality is just a mere vanguard to the actual truth.

The human preoccupation with seeking out the ‘greater truth’ has taken shape in countless claims of official cover-ups and manipulation by governing bodies. Such claims, while not unprecedented, usually lack substantial evidence. This gives rise to the term “conspiracy theory”. An example of a famous conspiracy theory is the 1947 Roswell incident. The United States government had allegedly covered up the crash of an unidentified flying object (UFO) containing extra-terrestrial life form. Officially though, the object has been dismissed as nothing more than a weather-balloon. Nonetheless, there is provenance behind some conspiracy theories. As bizarre as it seems, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had covertly engaged in a mind control programme in the early 1950s on unwitting human subjects. Codenamed ‘Project MKUltra’, the programme engaged in unconstitutional ways to achieve behavioural modification in humans through means such as torture, sensory deprivation

and the administration of drugs such as LSD. More often than not, the media plays a part in shaping the reality of the masses. The use of propaganda, especially in wartime scenarios, purports this view. ‘MNIFIRAQ’, a YouTube channel maintained by the United States Department of Defense, shows the potency of social media platforms as a propaganda tool. This channel paints the US forces in Iraq in a positive light in response to leaked reports of violence and abuse carried out by US military personnel in their missions. Indeed, the cases of conspiracy theories-turnedproven-fact have provided fuel that governmental cover-ups exist. This suggests that reality can be tailored by governments by means of mass media, official (albeit untruthful) disclosures by political bodies and what not. It also suggests that the general population are merely passive consumers of whatever reality their government proposes is fit. Essentially, conspiracy theories reflect a certain degree of denial; all negative or bizarre events are certain to have external causes. It also provides a form of escapism which effectively negates personal responsibility towards such events. Denial, as a defense mechanism, distorts reality so that it doesn’t appear so threatening. Conclusively, Albert Einstein offers the purview: “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one”. P H O TO C R E D I TS : W W W. O P I N I O N ATE D B A S TA R D . C A

13 NG KEN KERN

Animal perception REDEFINING HA PPINESS

he ability to recognize one’s own cognitive states is termed, “metacognition” and has always been thought of as the exclusive domain of Homo sapiens. Our ability to think, not just about external stimulus, but also about what goes on inside our own cognitive states has often been thought of as an exclusively human ability. Recent research has, however, shed light on the possibility of metacognition being a shared ability. One we share with members of the animal kingdom. C HI MPA N ZE E S: A CASE STUDY

about thinking”; being conscious of the fact that one is thinking about making conscious decisions, it can be said that the chimpanzee in the above example is exercising metacognition. Chimpanzees don’t just solve problems in a manner similar to humans; they also use similar brain structures as us to recognize faces. In a study conducted by Lisa Parr, a researcher at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, the brains of five chimpanzees were examined using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans (Science Daily, 2008). It was found that initial facial analysis was processed in the occipital and temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex followed by further processing in the fusiform gyrus, a process that was largely similar to that found in humans. As such, it is suggested that chimpanzees view reality and solve problems in a similar vein to humans given the similarity in brain processes utilized. This further suggests the possibility that our ability to utilize metacognition is one chimpanzees share.

PHOTO CREDITS: NATHANIELGOL D .B L OGSPOT.C OM

The animal most closely related to humans from an evolutionary perspective is the chimpanzee. Unsurprisingly, it is the chimpanzee that was the subject of an experiment conducted by Michael J. Bernan and Bonnie M. Purdue from the Georgia State Language Research Center (LRC) and J. David Smith of the University at Buffalo. As part of the experiment, chimpanzees were required to tap symbols on a keyboard in order to select what food they would like to have. When chimpanzees knew what food they would get, they selected the appropriate symbol but when they didn’t know what food was available; they waited and sought out more information before making a decision (Science Daily, 2009). The research strongly implied that chimpanzees possessed a cognitive ability to seek out information in order to make an intelligent response. Since metacognition is the act of “thinking

In conclusion, this author personally feels that research into the ways in which animals perceive reality around them is important as it will eventually shed light on the ways in which our own brain evolved during humans’ period of “cognitive evolution”, thus granting us a better understanding of our own evolutionary history. So the next time you look into the eyes of your pet dog or cat, remember; they may, literally and figuratively, be staring right back at you.

NEUROANATOMY workshop WITH DR. SCOTT WERSINGER

t is not necessarily every day that we go to school on a Saturday after lunch hour. It is certainly not necessarily every day that we go to school on a Saturday after lunch hour to slice up a brain, not our own this time, so to speak. Before the term psychopath makes itself present, we were not measuring pain as the brains were sheep brains shipped from the United States, without their previous owners. This would be the grand scheme of the EXCO of the Psychology Society as well as Dr. Scott Wersinger, a favorite teacher among our midst whose passion in brain psychology is well regarded in his biopsychology and behavioral genetics classes. It would be that the mere transport of 15 complete sheep brains would draw us back in the range of six to seven hundred dollars, with paperwork lasting a few months. Dr. Wersinger very gingerly highlighted the contrast: At our home Buffalo campus in New York, a request put in on Monday would have a bucket of brains arriving on Thursday,

ready for Friday’s class. The participants, myself included, were not very different from a bunch of excited elementary school children visiting the zoo. We were, alas, dissecting brains, a style seemingly unlikely for this group of twenty-something-year-old students who might be more confident with manipulating a new systems program download on an electronic gadget than fine motor skills with a wielded scalpel. We were placed in groups of twos and threes, to ‘share’ a sheep brain sample. It was with tasteful banter and jesting (perhaps a self-serving comfort mechanism?) that we brought in lunch references while peering curiously at the specimen before us, as well as during the entire session. It was with insight that a group member mentioned how the brain was like kuay zhap, a Chinese meal of offal, a variety of an animal’s internal organs in soup. Dr. Wersinger briefed us on the neuroanatomy of the

15 JO S E P H IN E TA N brain, with accompanying notes for our reference. We nodded fervently as we recalled (surprise!) the exact details which we learnt and committed to memory during his classes which we took two summers ago. Dr. Wersinger guided us in removing the first layer of the brain, the dura mater. We were cautious and delicate, characteristics in which were intuitive when paired with the idea of handling the soft tissue that is the brain, yet utterly opposite of what we were supposed to do as Dr. Wersinger exclaimed “you’ve got to pull harder than that!” The dura mater felt like a wet suit, thick, rubbery, slippery and relentless. The second layer, the arachnoid mater, looked like a spider web, widely encompassing the surface of the brain like the protective net that it is. No points there when my group member, while peeling off the arachnoid mater, said it looked and felt like the white net in between the orange skin and its flesh. We were reminded that the cerebrum had a soft texture – “minced meat”, piped said group member.

We then moved on to slicing the brain, a task met with uncertain and guessing looks among ourselves. It was already foreign for us to hold a brain, our dexterity and skills with a scalpel honestly close to non-existent. I glided the scalpel as straight as I could, gently sliding it through the sheep brain. We took turns to slice, not as straight throughout as we’d like. It would have been lovely to have a ham slicer - flat, sharp and consistent slicing is preferred. We explored the patterns of the brain and with the notes provided, identified the various parts. Seeing a brain labeled in planar fashion in the textbook and identifying it on a three-dimensional specimen was a special element. When asked what was his drive in planning and carrying out this workshop, Dr. Wersinger very simply said he wanted to remind us what it is like to “have fun”. It was a beautiful outlook, one that achieved its goal with us learning so much and ending the session with numerous group photographs taken (posing with our trays of sliced brain, no less) and social bonds formed over brains..! It was fascinating that how after the session, many of us spoke about how hungry we all are. That Saturday was truly a day we bonded over our unwavering curiosity of the brain and appetite for food.

XX-XY

REligion ‘ facts’

Religion isn’t as real as people think why we should be spending our time on other stuff

BY FO O M E N G Y EE

eligion has been controversial since time immemorial because of its focus on faith – the antithesis of empiricism. One definition of ‘faith’ is to believe without proof (Dictionary Reference online, n.d.), which in the context of religion is to trust the existence of deities without sensory evidence. However, there are arguments for the substantiation of religion. One argument states that the immaterial can manifest through tangible works that testify to the existence of the Supreme Being/s behind those works. A religious verse from the Christian bible “Believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me” (John 10:38 New International Version) underscores this argument. Testimonies of miraculous recoveries from ‘incurable’ diseases are prevalent on the internet. Although scientists are sceptical of testimonies, which are easily falsified, it is unlikely that all testimonies about miracle cures from deities are fabricated (because this assumes widespread untrustworthiness). Also, using the law of parsimony, it is improbable that all testified miracle cures were due to recovery from conversion disorders due to positive mentality from faith. A detailed account was given by Rowley (2011) about her daughter’s miraculous recovery from a severe case of acute myeloblastic leukemia, which had previously been deemed by a haematologist as inevitably causing death within the month. The recovery was without scientific explanation, and coupled with the fact that Catholic nuns had been praying for the patient through intercession of a saint, it is suggested that the healing had been wholly spiritual (Rowley, 2011). One thing is clear in light of arguments favouring religion: As far as science does not ‘know’, religious ‘truths’ cannot be disproved.

B Y NG K EN K ERN

ost people subscribe to a religion; be it Islam, Christianity or Hinduism, just to name a few. However, few people could convincingly prove many of the supernatural aspects of their preferred faith such as miracles and of course, the existence of one or many gods. Yet, according to statistics published by the Pew Research in 2012, an estimated 86% of the human race is religious despite a lack of empirical evidence to back up many religious claims (ANALYSIS, 2012). I don’t know if there is a god or gods, but I do believe in what my five senses tell me. In short, my slant is towards a rational scientific approach. Lionel Tigers, a Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University and Michael McGuire, the head of the University of California (Los Angeles) Psychiatric department, has shown that religion is a brain-based neurochemical phenomenon whereby the brain releases serotonin, a neurochemical associated with feeling good about one-self, whenever a person feels “religious” (Tiger & Michael, 2010). The above example underscores the questionable nature of religion as a belief in the supernatural and I personally feel that people should spend less time thinking and acting on such unproven systems of belief and more time on learning more about the world and the universe around them using empirical and reliable forms of discovery rather than accepting the “word” of a supposedly divine authority while lavishing worship on what could be just a figment of the imagination.

P H O TO C R E D I TS : TH E C R I P P LE G ATE . C O M

APPENDIX What is Reality?: Aloysius Ng & Rachel Leong Arbib, M. A., & Hesse, M. B. (1986). The construction of reality. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=a3y MTANfHBQC&dq=constructing reality brain&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s Arntz, W. (Director), Chasse, B. (Director), & Vicente, M. (Director) (2004). What the bleep do we (k)now!? [DVD]. Available from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399877/ Dror, I. E. (2005). Perception is far from perfection: The role of the brain and mind in constructing realities. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26(6), 763. doi: 10.1017/ S0140525X05270139 Ebbitt, A. (2008). The effects of hallucinogenic drugs on the brain. Retrieved from http:// serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1880 Foerster, H. (2003). Understanding understanding. (pp. 211-277). New York, NY: Springer. Retrieved from http://www.springer.com/ physics/biophysics & biological physics/ book/978-0-387-95392-2 Gregory, R. (1966). Eye and brain: The psychology of seeing. (5 ed.). Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://press.princeton.edu/ titles/6016.html Halberstadt, A., & Geyer, M. (2012). Do psychedelics expand the mind by reducing brain activity. Retrieved from http://www. scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do- psychedelics-expand-mind-reducing-brainactivity Kilpatrick, Z. P. (2010). Spatially structured waves and oscillations in neuronal networks with synaptic depression and adaptation. (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Utah), Available from ProQuest LLC. (UMI No. 3404426) Retrieved from http://www.math. uh.edu/~zpkilpat/research/zpk_dissertation. pdf Posner, M., & Petersen, S. (1990). The attention system of the human brain. Annu Rev Neurosci., 13, 25-42. Retrieved from http://cns-web.bu.edu/

Profiles/Mingolla.html/cnsftp/cn730-2007-pdf/ posner_petersen90.pdf When a lie becomes memory’s truth: Cheryl Giam Elizabeth F. Loftus (1992). When a lie becomes memory’s truth: Memory distortion after exposure to misinformation. Retrieved from: Current Directions in Psychological Science August 1992 1: 121-123, doi:10.1111/14678721.ep10769035 Luke Mastin (2010). The Human Memory. Retrieved from: http://www.human-memory.net/index. html Kathleen Flannery. False Memory Syndrome and the Brain. Retrieved from: http://serendip. brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro03/web2/ kflannery.html Friderike Heuer and Daniel Reisberg (1990). Vivid Memories of emotional events: The accuracy of remembered minutiae. Retrieved from: http://link.springer.com/ article/10.3758%2FBF03198482 Cognac, Creativity, and Grogginess: Branden Ho Jarosz, A. F., Colflesh, G. J., & Wiley, J. (2012, March). Uncorking the muse: Alcohol intoxication facilitates creative problem solving. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(1), 487–493. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.002 Wietha, M. B., & Zacksb , R. T. (2011). Time of day effects on problem solving: When the nonoptimal is optimal. Thinking and Reasoning, 17(4), 387-401. doi:10.1080/13546783.201 1.625663 Lucid Dreaming: Sheena Teo Faith (n.d.). In Dictonary Reference online. Retrieved June 15, 2013, from http://dictionary. reference.com/browse/faith Rowley, J. (2011). On saints and miracles. Literary Review, 55(1), 64-73. Zadra, A. (1991). Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: Empirical and Clinical Findings (Dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

APPENDIX Time Travel: Foo Meng Yee Barjavel, R. (1943). Le voyageur imprudent. Bruxelles, BXL: Éd. de la Toison d’Or. Hoffman, M. B., & Morse, S. J. (2006, July 30). The insanity defense goes back on trial. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes.com Peszke, M. A. (1983, August 7). Insanity plea: Doctors vs. Law. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Weingard, R. (1979). General relativity and the conceivability of time travel. Philosophy of Science, 46(2), 328-332. Is Happiness Real?: Mok Kai Chuen Bottan, N. L. & Truglia, R. P. (2011). Deconstructing the hedonic treadmill: Is happiness autoregressive? The Journal of Socio-Economics, 40(3), 224 – 236. http:// dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/10.1016/j. socec.2011.01.007 Brickman et al. (1998). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917 – 927. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//00223514.36.8.917 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). If we are so rich, why aren’t we happy? American Psychologist , 54(10), 821 – 827. http://dx.doi. org/10.1037//0003-066X.54.10.821 Ellis, A. (1985). Overcoming resistance: Rational Emotive Therapy with difficult clients. New York: Springer. The Illusion of Reality: Harith ‘Ifwat Bin Zulkefli Carson, R. C., Butcher, J. N., & Coleman, J. C. (1988). Abnormal psychology and modern life. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. Christensen, C. (2008). Uploading dissonance: YouTube and the US occupation of Iraq. Media, War & Conflict, 1(2), 155–175. doi: 10.1177/1750635208090955 Collins, A. (1998). In the Sleep Room: The Story of CIA Brainwashing Experiments in Canada. Toronto: Key Porter Books. pp. 39, 42–3,

133. Gildenberg, B. (2003). A Roswell Requiem. Skeptic, 10(1). Animal Perception: Ng Ken Kern Press, C. (2008, December 27). Science Daily. Retrieved from Human and Chimps Register Faces by Using Similar Brain Regions:http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2008/12/081218122150.htm University, G. S. (2013, April 3). Chimps: Ability to “Think about Thinking” Not Limited to Human. Retrieved from Science Daily:http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2013/04/130403141442.htm XX-XY: Ng Ken Kern ANALYSIS. (2012, December 18). The Global Religious Landscape. Retrieved from The Pew Forum of Religion & Public Life: http://www. pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-exec. aspx Tiger, L., & Michael, M. (2010). God’s brain. (1st ed.). Prometheus Books.