MIND #16 by SIM Psychology Society

SIM

magazine

Winter 2014 | issue #16

Consciousness &

The Unconscious

Also includes

PSYSOC Events

The Superego of Superheroes About Intuition Does ESP really exist? The Unconscious Allure of Religion The Illusion of our Consciousness The Unconscious Mind and its Prejudice

PSYCHWEEK 2014 Neuroanatomy Workshop

background.

Editors’ Notes

iving into the study of consciousness seems intuitive at first glance. It is merely the culmination of our daily experiences and the sentience that we attribute to living a meaningful life, the essence of our being that separates us from non-living things (for now!). Yet it becomes an abstract, almost impossible task when we take it out of our own consciousness to study it objectively. How can we be certain of its conception beyond our own introspection, especially when subjectivity is the key element differentiating the moments in our existence? As Velmans and Schneider wrote, “Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives.”

Perhaps we have reified consciousness (see reification: the fallacy of treating an abstraction as if it were a real thing), loosely transforming a sophisticated idea into a physical entity that exists as part of our being.

University Of Wollongong BPsySc (hons)

Philosophers like Descartes and Locke have struggled to comprehend the nature of consciousness. Nevertheless, their philosophical endeavours provided much insight even until today. Descartes posited a rigid distinction between mind and body, wherein our brain and our consciousness are in separate realms (see Cartesian dualism; mind-body problem). Putnam flirted with the idea that our brains could have been removed and all nerve endings connected to a supercomputer; giving us the illusion of normalcy and we will still be none the wiser (see brain-in-a-vat). Lastly, Freud revealed a portion of consciousness – the unconscious mind – which we may not even be a master of. These unconscious phenomena include phobia, repressed desires, habits and subliminal perception, etc. In this light, our writers took on the immense responsibility of traversing the realm of consciousness in this fabulous issue, asking essential questions and bringing their original perspectives and opinions. I hope you enjoy this ambitious journey with us as we lay bare fragments of our very private consciousness for all to witness! Have a good read!

Mok Kai Chuen Editor-in-Chief President, SIM PSYSOC University of Wollongong For citations, please refer to the appendix of our online magazine at: issuu.com/publication.psysociety For queries or feedback on MIND, please email the editor at publications. psysociety@gmail.com Subscribe to our Facebook and Twitter pages at facebook.com/SIMPsySociety and twitter.com/SIM_PSYSOC for more information about SIM Psychology Society. Be a part of us!

he conscious consists of what we are aware of. And on the other side of the coin, the unconsciousness is where we are not aware. It seems simple, yet abstract. Can we define a strict line between the unconscious and the conscious? Indeed, to what level are we conscious of our daily activities?

Thinking about this theme brought to mind a question that I imagine we would think about more as we grow older. What happens to us when we die? Or more specifically, what happens to our conscious? Where does it go? On a simpler topic, when an experienced driver drives, is he conscious of his actions? Probably not fully, yet we do not know what exactly he is aware of. Only he knows, and the moment that he thinks about it, he will be conscious of it. Just like how we explored the theme of the conscious and unconscious, I hope that you as readers think more deeply into it as you go about school and work. How much of your own life are you fully conscious of, and how much of it are you unaware? There are always varying levels of conscious and unconscious in your life. Some are beneficial, but some may not be, and questioning yourself about it can open up a whole new dimension of yourself that you have not known.

University At Buffalo Psychology (BA)

As Carl Jung said, “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Sheena Teo Editor-in-Chief Publications Director University at Buffalo The phrase “Consciousness Creates Reality” is pretty relevant if you think about it. Well I may not perceive this quote the same way scientists or physicists do, but I believe many things in life begin with our consciousness. It’s kind of like how being aware and coming to terms with your personal flaws will help you grow and become a better person. While there are many issues about ourselves that we remain unaware about, I think one of the motivating forces that drives us to live and pursue things is to find out about the unconscious mind. The strive for knowledge that we humans have is not one to be underestimated, nor is it something that we fully comprehend today.

Isabel Han Graphic Designer University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo Psychology (BA)

ContentS 20.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Perception via the unconscious redux Is our intuition truly unconscious? The Unconscious Allure of Religion An Illusionary Consciousness: Why we choose to be blind The prejudice of the Unconscious

Finding the seed of Doubt

13 14-15 16-17 18 19 20

Somnambulism & Murder The superego of Superheroes Psychweek talks

forensic psychology talk + psychweek exhibition President’s address

Neuroanatomy workshop

Think you’re vanilla? Think again.

5 The MIND Team

THE MIND TEAM. Ezra Liaw

JOSEPHINE TAN

“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” - Earl Nightingale

Feelings create our reality such that there is no objective reality, nor is there an objective way to test the reality of our feelings.

University at Buffalo

Fiona Hsu

NICHOLAS YEO

“The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.” - Thích Nhất Hạnh

“The subconscious is ceaselessly murmuring, and it is by listening to these murmurs that one hears the truth.” - Gaston Bachelard

University of Wollongong

University at Buffalo

NIVRUTHI PRASAD

Raihana

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” - Aristotle

University at Buffalo

HARITH Zulkefli

Wiki TAY WEI KEE

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” - Muhammad Ali

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.’” – C. G. Jung

University of Wollongong

University at Buffalo

WONG HERN YEE

YAP SHAO JIE

“No matter what I do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” -David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas.

“In each of us there is another whom we do not know.” - Carl Jung

University at Buffalo

Perception via the Unconscious Redux Does ESP really exist? Ezra Liaw

“

There is someone here in this room that is experiencing some grief over the loss of a loved one recently. She is unable to let go of the pain. This lady is not from around here, but comes from another country.” The man paces slowly up and down the rows. “May I know who this woman is?” Cautiously, a hand can be seen raised at the back of the room. Everyone turns around, murmuring. This sounds like a typical scene out of an entertainment show featuring a psychic medium, or a television drama series where a man, acutely tuned in to the arts of confidence tricks, a strong intuition and a sharp eye for reading micro expressions, could trick an audience into thinking he has extrasensory perception (ESP). How is it that a stranger can gather seemingly accurate information about someone without prior knowledge of that person? Entering stage right is Carl Gustav Jung. He postulated that at a deeper level below the personal unconscious resided a large collective unconscious where the experiences of our species are stored (Jung, 1959). He found that intuition is a tricky subject to describe; the closest he could come to a definition is perception via the unconscious. For those familiar with the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Jung’s Psychological Types are the cognitive functions that made up the types. Of all the types, the most difficult types are the intuitive introverts (Ni) according to Jung. They focus on intuition towards their subjective inner world, seeing things that are uncommon and often perceived by others as crazy. In his years as a psychiatrist and studying psychic phenomena, Jung has encountered multiple incidences of Ni types having uncanny accuracy at intuitive perception; they are able to make predictions that are highly accurate. Are these people

connected to the deepest level of the collective unconscious, where the experiences of the entirety of our species reside?

“perhaps the allure and mysticism of ESP lies with the fact that we yearn for a collective unconscious of the human species.” Though ESP has been regarded as pseudopsychology and Jungian Psychology taken over by more recent scientific and neuro-cognitive endeavours, is there still a possibility that on our deepest levels of our unconscious mind, we as a species are connected and are able to transfer knowledge and feelings through this connection psychically? A plausible explanation of ESP is the theory of Quantum Entanglement. Simply explained, it is when two objects get entangled they become connected and whatever happens to one object, happens to the other in the exact same way. Could the explanation of why a person can intuitively pick up on surprisingly accurate information be due to the fact that, like particles in quantum physics experiments, we humans are connected on a deeper psyche level to each other? Or perhaps the allure and mysticism of ESP lies with the fact that we yearn for a collective unconscious of the human species, a desire to share in a similar existence on this otherwise lonely, individualistic planet. Either way, it is still essential to remind ourselves of questions left unanswered and to keep abreast of new development within and without the scientific method. After all, the notion of a collective unconscious continues to place central importance towards understanding humanity’s unique psyche even as scientific advancements moved psychology’s trajectories away from psychodynamic theories.

photo credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Is Our Intuition Truly

hen faced with important, life-altering decisions, it is not uncommon that many undergo long hours of research and advice only to end up making split-second, unconscious judgments simply because they feel right. Commonly termed gut feeling or instinct, these words share the universal idea that we feel exceptionally compelled to act without prior knowledge or reasoning. This idea of intuition has since been raved by businessmen, who claim to tap into it when making high-risk work decisions. Society has also chosen to coin terms like “women’s intuition” to explain a woman’s ability to discern emotions, and “mother’s intuition” to describe a mother’s almost-psychic drive to nurture her children, just to name a few. However, to what extent is intuition truly unconscious? A 2008 study in the British Journal of Psychology defines it as the process which occurs when the brain draws on past experiences and external indicators to make judgments – but it happens so quickly that we react on an unconscious level. We thus assume our decisions were made instinctively, despite having been exposed to comparable problems before (Knowlton & Squire, 1996). This can be illustrated by social policing, which utilises the enforcement of social expectations on someone’s appearance or behaviour. For example, people are trained on gender and culture norms at an early age. They are subsequently assigned social roles based on these expectations, making it convenient for society to categorize them. Those who behave out of this norm, therefore, cause anxiety and confusion to others, who end up using instinct to gauge their identity instead. This means relying on one’s style of dressing, speaking, or the masculinity (or femininity) of their bodies as an indicator.

Unconscious? Fiona Hsu

As such, repeated exposure to different people will lead to a faster and more automatic response – something we have come to acknowledge as intuition. This example suggests that intuition may instead be better termed as “implicit learning”, whereby learning takes place without conscious attempt to learn or awareness of its occurrence (Lieberman, 2000). It involves the encoding and decoding of social signals in social interactions, and is regarded as the “cognitive substrate” of social intuition due to the way we subconsciously learn complex behavioural regularities over time (Lewicki, Hill & Czyzewska, 1992).

“Much of these indicative behaviors are unintended – almost imperceptible – yet communicate heaps of information.” Psychologist Matthew Lieberman (2000) regards this process as the learning of nonverbal decoding, believing that it is continuously developed through motor skill and language learning. This is how people are sometimes able to make accurate personality judgments without being able to explain their rationale. Much of these indicative behaviors are unintended – almost imperceptible – yet communicate heaps of information. Studies also found that it takes only 375 milliseconds of nonverbal behavior exposure for people to accurately identify emotions (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1992). Could this perhaps explain women’s intuition? After all, research suggests that women tend to pay more attention to the quality of their relationships; increased exposure to social situations would thus give them better social intuition. Hopefully attributing intuition to an acquired ability would let us think twice before we make impetuous decisions and believe that we possess almost-magic qualities unexplainable in reality.

The Unconscious Allure of

e’ve come a long way since the days of Sigmund Freud. Today, tell someone that their belief in God is comparable to an obsessional neurosis and it’s likely they won’t take it too well.

Spirituality stands at the core of many people’s lives. Take a step into the lives of the devout, and you’ll find that each day is spent putting their beliefs and ideals into action. Yet there are many others who avoid religion like the plague. Putting objectivity aside, what could explain this seemingly peculiar drift towards belief in a higher being?

“Take a step into the lives of the devout, and you’ll find that each day is spent putting their beliefs and ideals into action.” In a 2008 news article, an academic made the bold claim that humans cannot help but be drawn to the concept of God. Barrett (2004) argues that people are “born believers”, and that conscious effort is necessary to keep away from religion altogether. In this article, we look at several ways academics posit that we are unknowingly predisposed to seeking spirituality.

Teleology “If we threw a handful [of children] on an island and they raised themselves I think they would believe in God,” Barrett asserts in a BBC radio program. According to Barrett (2004), children are prone to teleological thinking, the assignment of purpose to natural or supernatural photo credit: http://www.lwobc.org/

phenomena, which makes them likelier to assign to God their purpose in life. For example, children looking at a pointy pile of stones may argue that “they were pointy so that animals wouldn’t sit on them” rather than giving a physical explanation (Kelemen & Casler, 2004). Poorly educated adults were also susceptible to teleological thinking, leading the researchers to suggest that such thinking does not simply go away with age, and instead, needs to be out-educated. Modern religion, however, appears to be manifested as a conscious return to teleological thinking, rather than a form of vulnerability.

Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (ADD) If on your way home you realize that the streets are empty and unnaturally quiet, you might intuitively assume external agents to be at play and quicken your steps. In other words, we humans are hardwired to sound the alarm in the face of impending danger, and the ADD allows us to react quickly to potentially aversive situations (Barrett, 2004). When it goes on overdrive, this evolutionary benefit not only enhances our perception and possibility of survival; it can also alter our belief in supernatural agents. The livelihoods of people in the distant past depended on farm produce, which in turn were heavily dependent on good weather. One bad season could mean death for many. With stakes this high, it was not uncommon for the people

Religion.

Yap Shao Jie

to sub-consciously assign these uncontrollable acts of nature to a higher being. These subconscious “gut feelings” then serve as their guides for overt behavior. Traditionally, people would bring offerings to the altar to appease the gods and pray for optimal weather. As the old adage goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Terror Management Theory (TMT) TMT brings across one simple point: mortality (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2012). The inherent fear of death and what comes after is perhaps one of the greatest reasons for belief in gods and deities, for with them often comes the promise of eternal life or, at the very least, the assurance that death is not the end. In an interesting experiment, researchers primed participants with the notion of death. When measured implicitly, they found that beliefs in supernatural beings increased, even amongst the staunchest of non-believers (Jong, Halberstadt, & Bluernke, 2012). While the above may strike a chord with some readers, it is essential to note that research in this field is highly controversial and should be read with considerable large pinches of salt. Furthermore, these unconscious dispositions do not indicate nor deny the existence of supernatural beings, which of course, is discussion for another day.

An Illusory Consciousness: Why We Choose to be Blind Josephine Tan by exponential Pweowered intelligence and technology, crave clarity and certainty in knowing and ordering our world via facts, science, knowledge. A lot of effort is put into living a life that honestly reflects our choices, our freedom, our open-mindedness. We pride ourselves in being smart, critical-thinking individuals of higher-order consciousness, yet we still choose to be blind.

Living in the age of the Internet with the entirety of knowledge known to man, in addition to those irresistible cat videos, we “curate” our “exposure”, narrowing and restricting ourselves to things that we are already interested in. We pride ourselves in being accepting and even adventurous with our repertoire of friends, when we only become closest to people most similar to us in looks, height, weight, interests, values, social economic status. We laugh at our results of the Implicit Association Test and don’t see how we can possibly be even a little bit prejudiced against old, fat, black people; only other people can be ageist, sexist, racist. Not only do we selectively see and believe what we want to, worse – we don’t think it is hypocrisy.

Is it our need for cognitive preservation that makes it more attractive and convenient to narrow our mental scope? Mental shortcuts help us make quick decisions, albeit unfair and inaccurate ones; similarities in friends and partners reinforce the small window of what we know, what we feel safe with, and what we believe to be best. Confirmation bias is generously applied – we believe what we prefer, then use the matching “evidence” to secure our uncertainty. Cognitive misers we may be, but at what cost? Partners and spouses don’t trust their suspicions on cheating, don’t ask for clarification in case jealousy and insecurity are not seen as side effects of love but of distrust. Apparently we are with a partner who is the best person in the world, when we have neither evaluated nor met all seven billion people. We package, rationalize, and downright lie to ourselves about our situations, choices, lost opportunities, and we manipulate our consciousness in a bid to comfort ourselves with a false sense of sureness. The cognitive closure that we so desperately need stops us from being creative, being

daring, encouraging social progress, being honest to ourselves. We say we seek knowledge but we build up walls to any uncertainty and conflicting information that seeps through our consciousness. Is this what it means to be able to be sure about something? To limit the scope because we can’t handle multiple perspectives?

“How can we claim to be in charge of our consciousness and who we are, when we do things out of convenience and protection of one’s pride?” Do we employ such limited open-mindedness to avoid realizing that the world is full of paradoxes, of things to improve, of wars to stop, of people in need of help; a social landscape which needs to be better? Like a certain Peeta Mellark who asked “real or not real” after being mentally manipulated, maybe it is time we pull away the filters and blinds in our consciousness, to get out of our own mental manipulation, and to ask and say the things we dared not.

photo credit: http://www.lookandlearn.com/

The Prejudice of the Unconscious Wiki Tay

Shucks!” I berated myself, “train for mistakenly boarding the heading to SIM during

my first day of work. I was bewildered that even though I was all pepped up for work throughout the week, I could still board the train heading in the wrong direction. It seemed that residing deep within my consciousness lay an independent, automatic processor that still would not agree that I am no longer going back to school. Freud termed this behavior as the result of the unconscious mind – one that harbors all the innate desires that the person might not even be aware of.

Though the occasional unmindful acts may seem harmless, it could actually bring detrimental effects on others. One such process is implicit prejudice; where despite the effort of trying to be as nondiscriminatory as possible, our brain would still place labels on others based on personal preferences. With the first elected African American president in the United States, one might contend that discrimination in our culture today surely no longer exists. Unfortunately, though overt discrimination

has subsided over the years, subtle forms of prejudices persist. For example, a study has found that students were less likely to inform another student about the difficulty of the course if the name indicates African-American descent (e.g. Jaamal, Jackson), as compared to that which indicates Caucasian descent (e.g. James and Jensen) (Crosby & Monin, 2007). A multi-racial society such as Singapore is probably no stranger to such occurrences as well. Consistently, research has also shown that not only do students demonstrate unconscious racial bias, professors, doctors, and law enforcement officials do so as well. (Lyubansky, 2012).

“The key to avoid allowing the unconscious mind to have any say is to impress the conscious mind.” The question you may now ask is “do these implicit prejudices have any repercussions on me, as a fresh graduate?” Bad news! Not only would your performances be under the scrutiny of your interviewer’s conscious mind, his or her unconscious mind would be simultaneously judging

your capabilities by mere looks and behaviors. Alas, when there’s tension between conscious and unconscious drives, the unconscious usually wins (Powell, 2012). Nonetheless, the optimism in me suggests that it is not doomsday for any of us stepping into the world of unconscious judgment. The key to avoid allowing the unconscious mind any say is to impress the conscious mind. It may be unsettling to know that there is a limit to how attractive one can look, but why do we not focus on the boundless capacity of our competencies instead? Rather than depending on superficial appearances, we should focus instead on sharpening our work skills and abilities. When the interviewer is consciously persuaded that no one else is better for the job than you, no matter the opinion of the unconscious, I am certain that you will walk away hired. Even though the biasness of the unconscious may present society as highly unpredictable and daunting, thriving alongside the judgmental world would definitely be a walk in the park with the right attitudes and countenance. photo credit: http://static.guim.co.uk/

Weeding out the Seed of Doubt Nicholas Yeo

n the 2004 biopic The Aviator, there is this ILeonardo scene showing Howard Hughes- acted by DiCaprio- washing his hands in the

washroom vigorously to ease his anxiety. When he accidentally cuts them, he uses the washroom towels to clean up. However, he is caught in a fix when he tries to leave, because there aren’t any more towels he can use to open the door. So he waits by the door until someone else opens it, and he then slips out of the washroom. The question is; why couldn’t he open the door with his bare hands? The answer: Obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD).

“Seeds of doubt are constantly planted into the deepest trenches of the mind, and any attempt to weed them out fails.” OCD is a debilitating disorder that affects millions worldwide. As incomprehensible as it sounds, the obsessions faced by OCD sufferers are very real. Seeds of doubt are constantly planted into the deepest trenches of your mind, and any attempt to weed them out fails- just like how Hughes was obsessed with the cleanliness of the doorknob. Only when you perform a ritual- perhaps something like count up to 5, or touch your right wrist 12 times- would these seeds disappear. These compulsions form the other half of the disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The exact etiology of OCD is perhaps the biggest mystery of all. Were these obsessions learned? Or were they figments of a faraway past, unearthed from the unconscious mind? The traditional psychoanalytic view towards OCD is often characterized by conflicting unconscious entities known as id, ego and superego (Fenichel, 1945). The ego controls the id via several defense mechanisms, and different

psychopathologies are associated with different defenses. (Offer, Lavie, Gothelf & Apter, 2000). According to them, OCD patients displayed more frequent use of “reaction formation and undoing” (p. 30). When aggressive impulses break through such defenses, obsessive thoughts eventually develop and lead sufferers to perform compulsive rituals to relieve their anxiety (Kempke & Luyten, 2007). Psychodynamic psychotherapy uses such principles to help patients understand their inner conflicts and resolve them through the identification of these unconscious schemas (Chlebowski & Gregory, 2009). Dembo (2014) presented a report of a 12-year old patient who experienced remissions in her OCD symptoms due to the psychodynamic approach of her treatment. The more conventional use of pharmacological medication and cognitivebehavioral treatment (CBT) were found to be more effective only when paired with psychotherapy. Despite the abundance of clinical case studies that highlight the efficacy of psychotherapy, it has often fallen out of favor with the scientific community due to the lack of empirical support (Chlebowski & Gregory, 2009). Many scientists and clinicians have instead preferred the cognitive-behavioral model of OCD, which teaches patients to normalize intrusive thoughts and correct any maladaptive schemas that they have (Clark, 1999). CBT however, has been found to be highly similar to psychodynamic psychotherapy, with many overlapping methodologies and characteristics (Kempke & Luyten, 2007). Be it cognitive intrusions or unconscious conflicts, one thing without a doubt- no pun intended- is that OCD stems from within the deepest recesses of the mind.

photo credit: http://mirror.co.uk/

Think You Are Vanilla?

Think Again. Wong Hern Yee

tephen King, world-renowned writer of horror Scomment: and suspense novels once made this insightful “I think that we’re all mentally ill.

Since 1907, in Japan, the introduction of Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan forbids sexually explicit material that showed heterosexual Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little intercourse. This eventually led to a generation of better - and maybe not all that much better after porn producers creating a new slew of outlandish all.” As I question the veracity of his suggestion, I pornographic material – tentacular, robot and find that there might be truth to what King thinks. dinosaur porn (specifically involving pterodactyl) – as a clause to the loophole. As a result, this engendered a generation of males who were no Paraphilia is the experience of intense sexual longer able to get themselves off to regular human stimulation stemming from atypical objects, male-female couplings. circumstances, or individuals (APA, 2000). These deviant desires or sexual paraphilic urges remain well hidden from the prying eyes of society and The need to conform to society and restrain for the most parts, stay behind closed doors in the libido that goes against the conventions dark bedrooms and the recesses of our minds. of civilized behavior leads to tension and disturbance in the individual, which then prompts the use of ego defenses to suppress and/ If you think you are vanilla, think again. or dissipate the mental desire of these unmet and mostly unconscious urges into other forms. In a 1999 study published by the German Institut für rationale Psychologie, about two thirds of the interviewed women stated a desire to be at The need to conform to society and restrain the mercy of their sexual partners from time the libido that goes against the conventions to time. 69% admitted to fantasies dealing with of civilized behavior leads to tension and sexual submissiveness, 42% stated interest in disturbance in the individual,” explicit BDSM techniques, 25% in bondage. In a more recent 2005 survey of 317,000 people in Indeed, interactions between society and the 41 countries, about 20% surveyed have at least individuals - like the threat of social sanctions used masks, blindfolds or other bondage facilities - causes people to stifle their paraphilic urges. while a solid 19% mentioned spanking as regular In the ‘Deviance in the Dark’ studies done by bedroom practice. That is one in every five Gergen, Gergen and Barton (1973), people will persons you walk down a street who is not quite usually pursue taboo interests if they did not face so vanilla. social sanctions. In a dark room filled with male and female participants, 90% started to touch Biologically, levels of hormones such as others, 50% hugged someone else and 35% started testosterone are believed to affect our sex drive making out. In the online porn industry, the that include socially-sanctioned and paraphilic fact that millions of people have easy access to behaviours. As such, paraphilia can be seen as the Internet is tantamount to putting millions of a naturally occurring phenomena contained in anonymous individuals in one dark room. what Freud called the id (the strictly unconscious structure of the psyche). Perhaps, the point here is, paraphilic behaviour is just a term for the mad and monstrous desires For those of us seeking to repress that deviant that exist within us, but are all really just a regular sexual thought, think again. part of our sexual psyche that we have chosen to keep hidden in our unconscious. photo credit: http://www.ieashiasealy-jewiss.clickgarden.net/

Somnambulism & murder Sheena Teo

omnambulism, otherwise termed sleepwalking, is a disorder where a person moves purposefully while in a deep stage of sleep (Robinson, 2014). During this time, the sleepwalker lacks conscious awareness and has impaired cognitive functioning (Pressman, 2007). Sleepwalking occurs in all age groups, but has been shown to be more common amongst children. In fact, a study conducted by Weiss (2011) reveals that there is a higher percentage of child sleepwalkers (15%) compared to adult sleepwalkers (2.5%). Despite the small percentage of adult sleepwalkers, the amount of trouble that a sleepwalker can get up to while unconscious of his own actions can be huge. Indeed, sleepwalkers have been known to cook, have sex, and even murder – all while asleep.

“How are we to identify whether it was truly the unconscious mind that was acting up at that exact moment, and not the conscious mind that was deviously planning all along?” As yet, a single cause for sleepwalking has not been pinpointed. Instead, there are multiple causes ranging from biological to environmental. However, even knowing that a suspect has all these factors does nothing to prove that the sleepwalker was sleepwalking during the actual crime. All it does is identify that the suspect sleepwalks. And therein lies the problem. How are we to identify whether it was truly the unconscious mind that was acting up at that exact moment, and not the conscious mind that was deviously planning all along? As such, state courts have a battery of tests to ensure that suspects sleepwalk. One such test is the Electroencephalogram (EEG), which is a test that measures and

records the electrical activity of your brain (WebMD, 2011). However, that alone is not enough. As in typical court cases, judges will also judge whether suspects have the intention to murder. One such example is Kenneth Parks. Parks murdered his in-laws using a tyre iron, and then drove straight to the police station after the crime. He was still covered in blood when he admitted that he had murdered his in-laws (Sleepwalking and Sleeptalking, 2011). He was acquitted. In contrast, Scott Falater who had stabbed his wife 44 times with a hunting knife, and then concealed his clothes, hid the weapon, and bandaged his bleeding hand before returning to bed, was judged to be guilty. The difference between the two cases could be just their methods of concealment, for experts had contended that Falater’s actions were too complicated to have been done while sleepwalking. Here comes the conundrum then. If Falater’s actions were seen as too complicated, then when would it be simple enough to be judged as sleepwalking? In the case that all murderers who are sleepwalkers did not conceal their crime and merely reported it like Parks did, would they be judged innocent? It is difficult to say. Ultimately, beyond the question of ‘did he really do it’ is the more important question – is it truly possible for sleepwalkers to commit such complex murders while in this mixed state of sleep and wakefulness? We do not know. Indeed, we may only know when we have fully uncovered the mysteries of the unconscious, and what it is capable of. Until that time, what lies below the surface – even ‘sleepwalkers’ themselves may not know.

photo credit: http://www.hughkretschmer.net/

The Superego of

Superheroes Mok Kai Chuen

he Freudian notions of the id, ego, and Tpsychology superego continue to baffle every budding major as it remains elusive to

today’s hallmark of empirical, scientific standards. Alongside rich, descriptive biopsychological diagrams and sophisticated cognitive models, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on the unconscious stands out like a sore thumb. Residing deep within the consciousness of our textbook, it reads like a modern-day epic detailing the inevitable clashes between a moralistic Superego and an evil Id (with the Ego unsuccessfully mediating an uneasy peace). This reads like a superhero comic. Without a doubt, such allusions to a superhero’s hyper-reality undermine Freud’s scientific credibility, albeit justifying his flamboyant creativity and art of introspection. Does it mean that his psychoanalytic theory is naught but fictitious? Is it a mere novelistic attempt to portray a non-existent segment of humanity’s psyche to better understand our psychology? The answer perhaps lies within the likes of Captain America and Batman. Around late 14th century, the obscure Greek word hērōs (demi-god) rose to prominence and decidedly became today’s definition of ordinary people with extraordinary courage. In brightest days, heroes inspire adoration and emulation, symbolically raising the collective potential of humanity. In blackest nights, acts of heroism in war and strife provide momentary respite from an otherwise bleak reality. More importantly, their epitomised depictions of bravery challenge the very boundary erected by desperate masses of men, blurring the line between fact and fiction. Heroes encourage mere mortals to forget about the possibility of their own heroic transformations, resigning to the fate that such

‘special’ few are at worst, models of naivety, and at best, motivational bedtime stories and wish fulfilments. It is thus not novel to invent superheroes, a testament to humanity’s frailty.

“the superhero genre appeals to the bulk of humanity and has become a timeless charm transcending generations of readers and moviegoers.” Coincidentally, today’s film industry has taken a liking to Marvel and its creation of a shared cinematic universe with its own iconic paperback superheroes. Selfproclaimed realists and critics would scorn at the adolescent-like carnage (BOOM!) that usually accompanies superhero films and comics, dismissing their box-office successes to pop culture or worse, an excellent business model. Yet behind the marketing brilliance lies a fundamental truth – the superhero genre appeals to the bulk of humanity and has become a timeless charm transcending generations of readers and moviegoers. It is therefore imperative that we probe deeper and understand the psychological reasons behind its seemingly instinctive charm. Apart from the clever use of CGI and the mastery of suspenseful story-telling, the common themes of heroism, hyperrealism and morality set superhero stories apart from other literary genres. As with all narratives, these themes are extrapolations of the authors’ consciousness, windows to their psyches and value systems. By extension, our fascination with superheroes speaks volume about our concerted agreement and subsequent subscription to the writers’ exploration of humanity, its consciousness, and the unconscious. This begets the questions:

“we are on an endless adventure to better ourselves – to destroy the monsters within us and to finally transcend humanity itself.” Why are we drawn to such surrealistic and fictitious representations of humanity – of both the superiority of magical powers and the gargantuan struggle and sacrifice that comes with being good? Why do we pity but root for the eventual demise of the chaotic? The answers, perhaps, lie within the realm of our unconscious. The Freudian concept of the superego takes centre-stage in this analysis. While the interplay between one’s id and superego ultimately infringes upon one’s ego, the portrayal of superheroes focuses on the dominance of the superego over the id. By aiming for perfection and always doing good for society, superheroes are a shining example of a rigid conscience bound by unyielding morals – a clear sense of right and wrong. Not only do superheroes act in socially acceptable ways, they go above and beyond their call of duty as inhabitants and citizens – a caricature of an otherwise abstract notion of the superego. Perhaps our enjoyment in seeing good trump evil satiates the demand of our own flailing superegos, subverting our own guilt about our ids’ occasional victories. The impossibility for a perfect morality encourages us to dream creatively. Why then would we dream of an ordinary reality and continue to strive for an imperfect perfection? Thus, our unconscious attempts to be morally perfect have been sublimated into the exemplification of superheroes, finally entering our consciousness in aesthetic ways we can appreciate. photo credit: http://globalfinance.zenfs.com/

However, the virtue of good may not be the only unconscious drive. Alfred Adler, a student of Freud, and his theory of striving for superiority can also shed some light on our love for superheroes. According to Adler, personality difficulties are rooted in an unconscious feeling of inferiority. This inferiority derives from restrictions placed on the individual’s need for selfassertion, stemming from one’s childhood constantly surrounded by more capable adults. To maintain psychological balance, we continually strive for superiority to become better in our own right. Occasionally, one’s journey towards superiority can maladaptively translate into unhealthy or neurotic striving, manifesting into inferiority complex and/or superiority complex. In this case, superheroes naturally become the physical manifestation of our inclination towards superiority. Many of us aspire to be superheroes even though we are fully aware that we can never have the strength of a thousand men or speed faster than lightning. The appeal is not the superhuman abilities but the supremacy that comes from helping others. The portrayal of superheroes feeds humanity’s wish-fulfilment of being superior to other humans as they are capable of extinguishing evil. Ironically, this also means that we are on an endless adventure to better ourselves – to destroy the monsters within us and to finally transcend humanity itself. Be it the unconscious need to be good or superior, superheroes ultimately remind us of our humanity. Superheroes are as human as humanity yearns to be more than human. They are more a symbolic reality than a distant fantasy. Take away the superpowers and cliché of saving the damsels in distress and we see a harsh, dystopian criticism of the human race, its endless inferiority enmeshed with the eternal hopes and dreams of a perfect utopia.

Psychological & Social Services by Mr. James Chong Written by NIVRUTHI PRASAD

Talks

O Clinical Psychology

By Mr. Adrian Toh & Dr. Donald Yeo Written by Harith Zulkefli

he clinical psychology talk was presented by Mr Adrian Toh, a psychologist who plies his trade in a hospital, and Dr Donald Yeo, an clinical neuropsychologist. The talk was split into two segments with Mr Toh, who took the earlier segment, adopting an interactive approach. The audience was fielded with questions on the motives and theory behind patient behaviour in clinical examples. Mr Toh also gave his insights into clinical practice in the hospital – that it is firmly based on the scientist-practitioner model, the different fields such as pain management and psychotherapy, as well as the research conducted to provide data and improve the local psychiatric scene. Following up with the first segment, Dr Yeo offered a different take unto his presentation. He described his journey in academe and his path towards specialising in neuropsychology as gaining his own “foothold” in the diverse reaches of psychology. Dr Yeo informed the audience that his specialty led him to work closely with the elderly, especially those with dementia, and how the generation gap could have an implication on building a rapport with the client in a clinical setting. Dr Yeo further initiated discourse on medico-legal implications and how his field enables the expedition of genuine claims of psychological trauma through neuroimaging of brain injuries. Despite the differences in approach, both speakers converged on the idea that gaining work experience is important in being a clinical psychologist. Students were advised that becoming a clinical psychologist not only depends on theoretical know-hows but also interpersonal ability.

n the 10th of October, Mr James Chong, a Support Group Management Executive from the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), gave a talk to students as part of the SIM Psychology Society’s Psychweek talks.

Having worked in various capacities after graduating with a degree in Psychology and a Masters in counselling, Mr Chong shed light on the various pathways available to a psychology graduate in Singapore. He discussed several professions, including psychiatry, clinical psychology, counselling, psychotherapy, art psychotherapy and social work, among others. Students learnt about the job scopes, pay scales, pros and cons and minimum qualifications required in these fields. Mr Chong also provided a very candid insider’s perspective that was specific to the Psychological and Social Services job market in Singapore. For example, he highlighted the unspoken hierarchy of psychology-related professions in Singapore and elsewhere. Students were also alerted to the incongruities between certain job titles and their scope in Singapore. He openly shared with students the pros and cons of his varied working experiences in the past five years, and emphasised the importance of networking, building an impressive and relevant portfolio, and treating learning as a life-long journey to add value to one’s qualifications. Mr Chong’s talk melded his own insights and experiences with factual information to paint a very vivid picture of the current realities of life and work as a professional in a psychology and social service-related field in Singapore.

Sports Psychology

Counselling Psychology

by Mr. Edgar Tham| Written by Sheena Teo

by Dr. Radhi Raja | Written by Wong Hern Yee

ports psychologist, Mr. Edgar Tham, works with athletes to help them deal psychologically with the demands of their sport, and to improve their performance.

In his talk towards the room of aspiring psychologists, he highlighted the importance of achieving three things. The first to achieve is a masters or doctorate degree from a recognized institute. The second is to be registered with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS). Registration is essential as it gives one both the professional license to practice and also increases one’s chances of being hired. This is because the SPS is the only professional psychology organization in Singapore, and so the government and the Ministry of Health rely on it to find employees. The third requirement is to have at least two to three years of experience. As it is difficult to gain experience when one is an amateur, Mr. Tham recommends joining the SPS as a student member. As a student member, graduates can attend the Annual General Meeting where psychologists come together. Here, they can network and find out the expectations psychologists have of them. Mr. Tham volunteered his services to the national dragon-boat team in 1993 when they were practicing for the SEA games, and learned through training and coaching them. Emphasizing the importance of experience, he ended off with an advice – Start early, and find ways to gain the experience, even if it’s voluntary. Those who wish to know more about sports psychology in Singapore can visit the Sports Psychology Network Facebook page at https://www. facebook.com/groups/sporespnetwork/.

magine you have a lemon in the palm of your hand. Visualize yourself carving down on the striking yellow rind, revealing its translucent interior. Now hold it up, squeeze it, and let a trickle of tart juice connect with your tongue. You’re salivating now, aren’t you? The scenarios we conjure up in our heads translate into real life and thus create our realities; if kept positive, circumstances unfold in a way that is good. This encapsulates the overarching idea of Counseling Psychology. Dr. Radhi Raja, speaker for the career talk on Counselling Psychology, was straightforward in her advice to students aspiring to build a career in Counseling Psychology: get a Masters. She shared that upon achieving a Bachelor degree, one can consider furthering one’s education in the National Institute of Education (NIE). There offers the opportunity of obtaining a Masters in guidance in counseling, under the Ministry of Education (MOE). In-house sessions are conducted there, courtesy of MOE, as an opportunity for supervised practice for teachers and facilitators in the counseling committee. On top of that, Rowena Chin, alumna to SIM-UB and guest-speaker for the session shed light on the benefits to furthering one’s studies in graduate school. Her interests lie in utilizing neuroimaging and psychophysiological measures to investigate domains of cognitive functioning as well as to provide further insight into the pathology of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Rowena shared that it is common for students in college to just study and panic upon their upcoming graduation, as they don’t know what they want to do. She emphasized that it is not just about the grades, but the research experience one ought to accumulate in order to establish an impressive resumé and to build knowledge on the research process, that unfolds a path to graduate school.

Psychweek exhibition Written by raihana

Inside the Criminal Mind

Forensic Psychology Talk by Dr. Julia Lam Written by Nicholas Yeo

s hordes of enthusiastic undergraduates gathered eagerly in the lecture theatre, Dr. Julia Lam began with a question asked of her many times, “Can you read a criminal’s mind?” Much to the probable disappointment of many criminal profilerwannabes in the room, she swiftly debunked that myth, although she did add that her specialization lends an edge in understanding how criminals work. Now specializing in the treatment of problem gambling at Winslow Clinic (Promises Pte Ltd), Dr. Lam holds a professional doctorate in forensic psychology from the University of Melbourne, and has worked in Singapore since 2008. In another bid to deflate the media-sensationalized portrayal of her field, she shot down the misconception that forensic psychology was “CSI”, stating that while the latter actually involves forensic pathology, the former can be defined as the intersection between psychology and law, with applications in law enforcement and jurisdiction. Studying eyewitness testimonies, conducting offender profiling and detecting deception are some of the usual job descriptions. Dr. Lam further piqued our interest with stories of a son killing his mother and a kleptomaniac committing crimes in NTUC, and advocated the scientist-practitioner model as her ideal work combination. Dr. Lam’s own fascination with the criminal mind might have led her down this path, but it is her passion to help criminals and victims that have kept her on it. As a parting word of advice, she light-heartedly remarked that forensic psychology is definitely not for the faint-hearted, for they deal with the “mad, sad and bad”.

n conjunction with Psychweek 2014, an exhibition booth was set up in Block B to give an insight to what Psychology is really about. The articles that were presented in the booths covered a broad range of topics, from the ones that are applicable to our daily life to the more interesting ones such as looking into the behaviours of serial killers. A special collaboration with SIM Photography club was made for the article on the psychology of – yes you guessed it - photography. Overall, these articles managed to give an interesting view of Psychology. As said by Hasinah, a first year Communications major, “(the articles) are interesting and informative. I learnt a lot today!”

To psych up the week even further, a few bands were invited to perform as a part of Psychweek. Sharks and Mars, a four member acoustic band, put up an engaging performance on Tuesday with their rendition of the top hit singles, ending their set with an audience-interactive cover of Of Monsters and Men’s Little Talks. An even larger crowd gathered on Friday for the performance by Hexaphone (stylised as #phone). The six-member band started off with a powerful cover of Sia’s Titanium followed by covers of popular songs, including the ending theme song of a well-known Taiwanese drama, The Love that You Want. Overall, both the exhibition and the performance has been a resounding success.

President's Address Dear all, 2014 had been a trying but nevertheless remarkable year for SIM Psychology Society. After all, it is sometimes only through adversities that we can grow in strength and solidarity. During my stint as President, I have witnessed sparks of inspiration and creative endeavours from my team as they strive to make every event unique and novel to psychology. In their enormous sacrifice of personal time, I saw an even greater amount of passion placed onto seeing our goals ambitiously met. With this chemistry, we foresaw bold ventures that could transform SIM PSYSOC into a fun-filled society which views academia not as a begrudging necessity but as an inspired undertaking. It is endearing to know that the culmination of our journey brought us both the quiet confidence and resolute humility required to pursue deeper into the realms of psychology (not to mention the many precious friendships forged!). Looking ahead to 2015 (already in its second month!), I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our newest President, Rohit Sen. It is with his expertise in marketing and collaborations in his previous stint as VP (External Affairs) and Marketing Director that have opened SIM PSYSOC up to many partnerships with various organisations in Singapore. Assisting Rohit is: 1)

Jeevitha Selvan - VP (External Affairs)

Jeevitha will change up her portfolio from VP (Adminstrative) to VP (External Affairs) 2) Angeline Choong â&#x20AC;&#x201C; VP (Administrative) Angeline will take over VP (Administrative) from Jeevitha while continuing her role as HR Director. I have the utmost confidence that they will lead the PSYSOC team passionately with their profound experiences. After all, all three senior members played pivotal roles in ensuring that our events in 2014 were met with overwhelming success. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to a wonderful 2015 for SIM PSYSOC and thank you deeply for the rare opportunity of leading such a wonderful team!

Regards, Mok Kai Chuen President SIM Psychology Society

I Butchered Sheep Brains This Summer. Neuroanatomy Workshop 2014 Wong Hern Yee

n 5 July this year, I got to butcher sheep Oconducted brainsâ&#x20AC;Ś for a summer Neuroanatomy Workshop by Dr. Scott Wersinger. th

When Dr. Wersinger strolled in that afternoon, he had with him a Ziploc bag of moist sheep brains that SIM students at present were eager to start dissecting. Well-soaked in formaldehyde solution so that the brains maintained its firmness, us urban children who had never been near livestock and their organs were in for a treat. Appealing to kinesthetic learners, Dr. Wersingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands-on approach simplified the tedious task of memorizing brain partsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; locations and names. Before we began, Dr. Wersinger very quickly ran through the basics of neuroanatomy and biopsychology with interesting side notes on the dissection of sperm whale brains. His research interests include neural and hormonal regulation of social behavior, especially in the neural bases of sexually dimorphic behavior. Dr. Wersinger then proceeded to lay the grey matter onto makeshift aluminum trays for students in groups of three or less.

To guide our dissection of the sheep brain, Dr. Wersinger provided handouts that contained well-labeled diagrams of the horizontal, coronal and sagittal sections of the brain. As we worked on identifying the olfactory bulb, the hippocampus, the medulla and peered through membrane into the brain stem, Dr. Wersinger walked around helpfully, providing more insight into the different functions of the brain. As sheep brains are similar to human brains, it was easy to relate the brain parts we saw before us to the otherwise abstract concepts we learnt in the classroom. The only thing that could have made this experience better was if we got to work on human brains themselves. However, this was illegal according to Singapore Customs Regulations. Despite being unable to dissect the real McCoy, the experience was both intriguing and grotesque.

Appendix Perception via the Unconscious Redux: Ezra Liaw Jung, C. G. (1959). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton: Princeton University Press Tressidol, P. E., Storm, L., & Radin, D. Extrasensory Perception and Quantum Models of Cognition. NeuroQuantology, 8, Page S81-87. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from http://www.neuroquantology.com/ index.php/journal/article/view/353/328 Is Our Intuition Truly Unconscious?: Fiona Hsu Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 256–274. Knowlton, B. J., & Squire, L. R. (1996). Artificial grammar depends on implicit acquisition of both abstract and exemplar-specific information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22, 169–181. Lewicki, P., Hill, T., & Czyzewska, M. (1992). Nonconscious acquisition of information.American Psychologist, 47, 796-801. The Unconscious Allure of Religion: Yap Shao Jie Barrett, J. L. (2004). Why would anyone believe in God? Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2007). Reasoning about artifacts at 24 months: The developing teleofunctional stance. Cognition, 103(1), 120–130. Jong, J., Halberstadt, J., & Bluernke, M. (2012). Foxhole atheism, revisited: The effects of mortality salience on explicit and implicit religious belief. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 28(5), 983-989. Heflick, N., & Goldenberg, J. (2012). No atheists in foxholes: Arguments for (but not against) afterlives buffer mortality salience effects for atheists. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(2), 385-392. The Prejudice of the Unconscious: Wiki Tay Crosby, J. R., & Monin, B. (2007). Failure to warn: How student race affects warnings of potential academic difficulty. Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(4), 663-670. doi:10.1016/j. jesp.2006.06.007 Lyubansky, M. (2013). Restorative Justice for Trayvon Martin. Journal For Social Action In Counseling & Psychology, 5(1), 59-72. Powell, D. R. (2012). Psychoanalysis and African Americans: Past, present, and future. In S. Akhtar

(Ed.) , The African American experience: Psychoanalytic perspectives (pp. 59-84). Lanham, MD, US: Jason Aronson. Weeding out the Seed of Doubt: Nicholas Yeo American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. Chlebowski, S., & Gregory, R. J. (2009). Is a psychodynamic perspective relevant to the clinical management of obsessive-compulsive disorder? American Journal of Psychotherapy, 63(3), 245256. Clark, D. A. (1999). Cognitive behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders: A commentary. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 6, 408-415. Dembo, J. S. (2014). “The Ickiness factor:” Case study of an unconventional psychotherapeutic approach to pediatric OCD. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 68(1), 57-79. Fenichel, O. (1945). The psychoanalytic theory of neurosis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Kempke, S., & Luyten, P. (2007). Psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches of obsessivecompulsive disorder: Is it time to work through our ambivalence? Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 71(4), 291-311. Offer, R., Lavie, R., Gothelf, D., & Apter, A. (2000). Defense mechanisms, negative emotions, and psychopathology in adolescent inpatients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 41(1), 35-41. Think You Are Vanilla? Think Again.: Wong Hern Yee American Psychiatric Association (June 2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (Text Revision). Arlington, VA, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. pp. 566–76. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349. ISBN 978-0-89042-024-9. Arne Hoffmann (2003). Das Lexikon der Tabubrüche. Germany: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. Gergen, K. J., Gergen, M. M. & Barton, W. H. (1973). Deviance in the Dark. Psychology Today, 11, 129 – 130. Global Sex Survey results (2005). Durex Global Sex Survey. Retrieved July 5, 2014, fromhttp://www. data360.org/pdf/20070416064139.Global%20 Sex%20Survey.pdf

Somnambulism and murder: Sheena Teo WebMD. (2011) Electroencephalogram (EEG). (2011). Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/ epilepsy/electroencephalogram-eeg-21508 Pressman, R. M. (2007). Alcohol-induced sleepwalking or confusional arousal as a defense to criminal behavior: a review of scientific evidence, methods and forensic considerations. Journal of Sleep Research , 16 (2), 199. Robinson, J. (2014). Sleep Disorders: Sleepwalking Basics. Retrieved from WebMD: http://www. webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleepwalkingcauses Sleepwalking and Sleep Talking: The Causes and Cures. (2011). Retrieved October 2011, 9, from World of Lucid Dreaming: http://www.world-of-luciddreaming.com/sleepwalking.html Weiss, K. J. (2011). Parasomnias, violence and the law. Journal of Psychiatry and Law , 257-258, 266-267, 270, 276-278.