Recruitment - May 2012

歡迎投稿 - May 2012

Welcome for your contribution

We welcome your contribution.  Please keep your psychology-related article to a maximum of 800 words and send it with article title, references your full name and contact number by email to salford.psy.hk@gmail.com with subject: “Contribution to Psycholic” on or before 27th May, 2012.  Plagiarism is not accepted.

歡迎投稿

歡迎閣下的參與，請把不多於800字有關心理學的作品，連同文稿主題、參考文獻及閣下的姓名和聯絡電話，於2012年5月27日前以電郵投稿至 salford.psy.hk@gmail.com ，郵件主題註明：「Contribution to Psycholic」。抄襲作品恕不接受。

Laugh Out Loud - May 2012

Hi, buddies! Did you hear Freud? He is a great psychologist. Please tell me something about him! Find out 7 things about him now!

 

Please send the answers with your FULL NAME and CONTACT NUMBER to salford.psy.hk@gmail.com on or before 25th May, 2012. Those who got all correct will enter our lucky draw to win a special prize! Enjoy LOL

Dan Chung

The answer of 6^th issue, April 2012

PSYCHOLOGY	FREUD	PERSONALITY
EMOTION	PHOBIA	SUPEREGO
PROJECTION	UNCONSCRIOUS	PERCEPTION

答對上期問題而被抽中的讀者是

Tree Leung

幸運兒可得到

護手霜 及 潤唇膏 各1支

Andrien Photography - May 2012

Warren Adrien Tang

PsyPanacea - May 2012

Write to Panacea and you might be answered! We want to wipe that frown off your face. Remember, all askers remain anonymous. Just drop your question into our mailbox, or write to us at salford.psy.hk@gmail.com. The Goddess awaits your worries and woes.

Kristen Pereira

Dear Panacea, 

I feel very depressed every time I go to my Facebook page. I open the IE browser hoping that somebody would write on my wall, or comment on my photos or status updates. Everybody I know has such a lively facebook page. I look at the number of friends I have. I would say it’s about a healthy amount, without strangers or random people. In spite of this, nobody ever talks to me. Does this mean I am a bad person? Am I boring? Why does everybody ignore me? 

-Facebook-ally depressed

Image: wellbeing-spport.com

Pickpocket - May 2012

Dear readers, 

Owing to the large amount of words and heavy reading in the last two installments, I have decided to use more simplistic explanations and less words so that you guys can read and relax. 

Cheers!

Jason

Editor of Pickpocket

Could you spot out the common behavior pattern among people? Have you combined the background into your pickpocket skill? I am sure you did really well. It is best when you can see through the common behavior within people and also the interaction between people’s behavior and the background.

The Introduction of Principles, Reading NVB 

In the last installment, I emphasized the importance of background environments when reading people and the common behavior in human society. This time I am going to present the opposite; the idiosyncratic nonverbal behavior and the personal baseline.

No.4 －Idiosyncratic Nonverbal Behavior

Idiosyncratic nonverbal behavior simply means the unique behavior of individuals.

Photo: greysonchanceuniverse.blogspot.com

If you want to read someone’s unique behavior, the only group of people you can read accurately are those people who are close to you. This is because they are the people who interact with you the most, including your family members, colleagues, friends and your teachers, as compared to those people you do not usually meet. The more time you spend with a person or interact with, the easier it is to explore this kind of behavior. 

For example, since you know a friend of yours usually bites his lips when he is nervous, then you will know why he would do so before his exams.

No.5 －Setting The Baseline

Photo: LieSpotting.com

Previously I taught you how to set the baseline for the majority. Today, I am going to teach you how to set the baseline for individuals, to pickpocket them every time you interact with them, as it is how you will usually do nonverbal behavior reading.

Just like rule No.4, the baseline should be set individually because every person has his own baseline, because of his own unique experiences. You should observe how those people who are close to you sit, where and how they put their hands and feet, and especially their usual postures and facial expressions, viewing angle (which is how much they tilt, rise or bow their head), even how they lift or put things down. 

Put simply, your task this time is to identify when and how the people who close to you engage in their usual behavior. Choose a subject among your friend or classmate, observe him/her for a month and list out his/her behavior during lunch time or recess, etc. Then identify those behaviors you listed out and group them into usual and special group.

Photo: FreeMoviePosters.net

Then every time he/she is talking, you have the database of him/her to read his/her nonverbal behavior.

In the coming installment, I will write about the principle No.6 Multiple Implications and No.7 Sudden Change of Personal Behavior

Practice makes perfect!

Pick their thoughts! They cannot hide their expression and hold their intentions from your eyes!

Jason Lam

References:

Navarro, J., &Karlins, M. (2009).What every BODY is saying an ex-FBI agent's guide to speed reading people (Kindle ed.). S.I.: William Morrow Paperbacks

 

Defense Mechanisms - May 2012

Denial

Often when sometime bad happen to us, we deny it in the first sense. Even with the strongest evidence, we can’t help disaffirming it. It seems that denying the misfortunes and wretchedness makes us feel better. It gives us absurd hope for the disastrous outcome.

Picture: Venus Lai

Aimlessly denying the fact is detrimental! You should make clear of the fact before you claim the innocence. Always believe in fact, not your sense!

Venus Lai

Reference:

Friedman, H.S. & Schustack, M.W. (2009). Personality: classic theories and modern research. Hong Kong: Pearson.

 

Pillars in the Making - May 2012

Do you know which development level is your moral ability up to? 

I want to share with you a story about morality this month, and see how you will decide to do.

“A man is standing outside a pharmacy shop, and thinking whether to go in or not. He wants to have a particular medicine, because his wife is suffering from a serious type of cancer, which the medicine can help improving her symptoms and will make her feel better. But this type of medicine is very expensive, and they cannot afford buying it. Now the man is standing right in front of the shop, he can see the position of pills in the shop, and struggling what should he do, he has only got two choices; first, break into the shop and steal the pills for his wife, second, go back home and wait for miracles to happen.”

Try to imagine that if you are the man and you know deeply from your heart that stealing is against the law, but your wife really needs those pills for her sickness, what will you do?

After you make your decision, you can find out which moral development stages you are on at the table below. 

Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5	Stage 6
Punishment Orientation	Naïve reward orientation	Good boy/girl orientation	Authority Orientation	Social Contact Orientation	Individual principles and conscience orientation
Right or Wrong is determined by what is punished.	Right or wrong is determined by what is rewarded.	Right or wrong is determined close other approve or disapprove	Right or wrong is determined by society’s rules and laws, which should be obey rigidly.	Right or wrong is determined by society’s rules which are viewed as flexible rather than absolute.	Right or wrong is determined by abstract ethical views that emphasize equity and justice.

Stage theory of moral development- Lawrence Kohlberg

Vicky Wong

References:

Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children's orientations toward a moral order: I. Sequence in the development of moral thought. Vita Humana, 6, 11-33.

Killen, M., Margie, N. G., & Sinno, S. (2006). Morality in the context of intergroup relationships. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (pp. 155-183). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Psych-Action - May 2012

主辦機構：賽馬會思覺健康計劃

活動名稱：思覺失調的康復錦囊

類型： 講座

日期：2012年5月20日 星期日

時間：下午2時30分

地點： 新蒲崗公共圖書館

熱線：9167 4644 / 6879 3439

報名：需要

詳情：http://www.jcep.hk/

主辦機構：賽馬會思覺健康計劃

活動名稱：思覺失調之迷 – 追尋患病成因：基因？環境？

類型： 講座

日期：2012年5月26日 星期六

時間：下午2時30分

地點： 文化中心行政大樓4樓

熱線：2651 8132 / 6879 3439

報名：需要

詳情：http://www.jcep.hk/

Organiser: Dept of Psychology, HKU
Name of Activity: What's different about group psychotherapy? What a group therapist needs to know
Type: Seminar
Speaker: Dr Nina Thomas
NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis, USA
Date： 23 May, 2012 (Wednesday)
Time： 11:30am - 12:30pm
Venue： Rm 624, Knowles Building, HKU

Sunshine is always with you - May 2012

如何培養成一位樂觀者

如果一個人無論面對任何不好的事情，都保持正面思考的話，可想而之這人一定很開心和健康。 因為他擁有一個人生最重要的武器，就是「樂觀」的態度。但是如果樂觀者樂觀過度的話，例如以為自己考試一定會合格而不去溫習，這也屬於負面思考。 到底如何培養一個正面思考模式?           

美國加州大學心理學家Sonja Lyubomirsky在完成幾個研究之後，提出八點具體可行的做法：

1. 心存感激

開一本「感恩簿」，將三至五件心存感激的事項記下來。可以是瑣碎事情（上學準時），可以是驚喜之事（突然間朋友送禮物）。每週在固定時間紀錄一次，使其成為習慣，內容愈常更換愈好。  

2.  時時行善

例如排隊時，讓趕時間的人排前面，每周日固定拿晚餐給鄰居那位老人，對朋友或陌生人仁慈一點，這樣會產生積極效果，從而讓自己感覺很慷慨、很有能力，也會贏得別人笑容、讚許及仁慈回饋。這些都會讓人感覺快樂  ，達至「雙贏」。

3. 品嚐樂趣

心理學家建議，不妨將快樂時光如照相一般「印存腦海中」，例如記下雪糕的甜味、家庭的天倫之樂。當你在痛苦時把它翻出來回味，這會令你有一種溫暖的感覺 。

4. 感謝貴人

如果有人在你人生的十字路口提攜或指導過你，要趕快向他答謝。內容越詳盡越好，最好是親自答謝。

5. 學習諒解

Photo: Smiley

如果有人傷害你、誤會你，就寫封信給他表示原諒，也讓自己怒氣怨恨得以發洩。無法諒解他人會讓自己積怨、心懷報復，但諒解則會讓你大步往前。

6. 珍惜親友

對生活滿意與否，其實與錢財、名利、甚至健康關係不大。最大因素是人際關係的和諧。多花點時間及精力在朋友、親人身上。例如多打電話關心朋友 、多回家晚飯。

7. 照顧身體

充足睡眠、運動、伸展四肢、笑口常開這些行為都可以令你的心情得以改善，更可提升生活滿意度。

8.因應難關

人生少不免有些難關，而宗教信仰可助你度過。就算念一些平凡無奇的鼓勵說話也可以的，例如：「事情總會過去。這次也一樣！」、「任何打不死我的事，會讓我變得更堅強。」關鍵就在，我必須相信這些說話。

所以從今天開始培養一個正面思考模式吧!

 

Woody Yip

References:

SeligmanE.P.Martin. (2003). 真實的快樂. (洪蘭, 譯者) 臺灣: 遠流.

Paradox - May 2012

Every time we read the sports magazines. There is always a recently well-performed athlete on the cover page. One of the reasons is very obvious, to attract potential buyers. Another reason is that the athlete was really in a superb condition and that why he or she performed outstandingly; make him or her to become a famous star. Most of you only focus on their past success but how many of you noticed that they may be a shooting star only?

Curse of the Cover Page?

There is a mystery about the cover of the sports magazines, whenever there is someone was been put on the cover page, his or her performance will drop eventually. Does it mean that the existence of curse of the cover page is true?

Photo: GettyImages

 

Of course there is no any curse in the real world, but it is the fact that the performance of the athletes was dropped. It can be explained by the variation of performance. The performance of an individual vary all the time, from normal to below standard, then swing to top level and back to normal, no one can predict what will be the next. The variation happen in students, drivers, fathers, mothers and athletes too so everyone will have a chance to reach their top performance. For the athletes selected to be put on the cover page, it is a great honor to them as they will become famous all over the world. The selection must be very careful in order to choose the right person to put on the cover, the one who did perform the most outstanding, probably reached top level within his or her athletic life. After being shown on the cover, with the variation of performance the athlete back to the normal level and this normal swing is labeled as a drop in the performance. It is because people perceptibly think that the athlete should perform at top level throughout his or her whole athletic life while they did not notice that every human will experience the swing of performance. That is, the curse of the cover page, busted.

Anthony Chan

SD3 - May 2012

Dan (host): Hi, I’m Dan. I am 25 now. I always find my timeline incomplete. Part of my memory is lost. I can’t recall where I was or what I did at some particular time. I find the things not in the places I usually store them, and I lose my belongings too. Sometimes I hear voices in my head, but I can’t spot out who do them belong to.

Danny (child alter): Hey buddy! Guess how old I am? I’m 8. I love eating snacks and play online games. French fries is my favorite.

Dang (the big brother): I come out to protect the others. I hate weak people. How can they be so weak? I fight the bad guys. I shall never let them hurt me.

Daniel (the persecutor): I am here to do harm on the other personalities. I cut and burn myself, and hide after I’ve done so. In this way, the other ‘selves’ will be harmed by me.

Danis (the helper): I direct the switching of the personalities. I help Dan do the things he cannot do, like hiding from his abusing parents.

Guess you already find plenty of clues on the topic. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is diagnosed with at least two alters (personalities) existing independently. The main ‘self’ may not know the other ‘selves’ exist. The alters may then emerge and integrate, forming new personalities.

That’s Not My Name!

Photo: GettyImages

The most famous case for DID may be Billy Milligan, who possess 24 characters. His full name is William Stanley Milligan. He was arrested in 1977 and imprisoned for raping three women in a university. Later on, he was diagnosed with the disorder and diverted to mental hospitals. It is interesting that some of his dissociated selves are female, with a wide variety of age range. You may wish to read “The Minds of Billy Milligan” for reference.

Some victims developed DID after trauma, especially if the trauma happened at small time. Taking the psychoanalytical view, it has something to do with repression, which the ‘self’ represses unwanted memory and feelings deep into subconscious. DID is also related with other disorders like PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), depression, substance abuse, etc.

If I ever got this disorder, I want the other personality of mine to be smart and outgoing. Most importantly, I hope she can help me out with the exercise, and also get my assignments done. What about you?

Venus Lai

References:

Kring, A.M., Johnson, S.L., Davison, G.C. & Neale, J.M. (2010). Abnormal Psychology (11^th ed.). MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nolen, S. H. (2011). Abnormal Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Psycovery - May 2012

雜莓補腦

 

當提到藍莓的好處，相信大家一定會回答「補眼」及「抗氧化」。但現在要改口了，應該是「雜莓補腦」。

美國布萊根婦女醫院 (Brigham and Women's Hospital) 的最新研究發現，經常進食含有豐富黃酮類化合物 (Flavonoid) 的莓類果實，例如常見的草莓及藍莓，能夠有效延緩記憶衰退高達 2.5年。

研究發現，草莓及藍莓可延緩記憶衰退。 Photo: Flickr: eating/sf

是次研究由 1976年開始展開，一直跟進當時醫院內 121,700 名年齡介乎 30 至 55 歲的女護士的飲食習慣。直至 1995 年至 2001 年期間，研究人員測試了當中合共 16,010 名平均年齡高達 74 歲的參與者的認知能力以及記憶能力。結果發現，多吃草莓及藍莓能夠減慢記憶衰退。同樣，多進食含有黃酮類化合物的食物亦會比起少進食的更能減慢記憶衰退。由於這是首次進行的長時間大型人口研究，而且研究結果亦容易被應用，所以更顯其研究的價值。

莓類果實蘊含的花青素 (Anthocyanidin) 是其中一種黃酮類化合物，有強大的抗氧化 (Antioxidant) 以及抗炎 (Anti-inflammation) 功效。研究人員認為，由於壓力以及神經炎症 (Neuroinflammation) 與年紀增長的認知能力衰退有關，所以多吸收黃酮類化合物能有效緩和這些害處。另外亦有研究發現，莓類果實的花青素是唯一能夠通過腦血管屏障 (Blood-brain barrier) ，在學習和記憶有關的大腦區域內定位，如海馬體 (Hippocampus) 。而在白鼠研究中，草莓及藍莓亦能顯著減慢與年齡有關的神經信號及認知行為衰退。

基於以上研究，研究員建議每週進食兩份以上的草莓或藍莓就能發揮延緩記憶衰退的功效，此外，過往都有研究指出，蘋果、柑橘類、洋蔥、茶、紅酒、黑朱古力等都含有黃酮類化合物，亦能減低患上心臟病、糖尿病、甚至癌症的風險。所以筆者認為，與其花錢購買大量的營養補充劑，倒不如保持均衡飲食，做適量運動，身心自然會健康。

Sora Siu

References:

Andres-Lacueva, C., Shukitt-Hale, B., Galli, R. L., & et al. (2005). Anthocyanins in aged blueberry-fed rats are found centrally and may enhance aged blueberry-fed rats are found centrally and may enhance. Nutritional Neuroscience, 8, pp. 111-120.

Berries keep your brain sharp. (2012, Apr 26). Retrieved Apr 28, 2012, from PsyPost: http://www.psypost.org/2012/04/berries-keep-your-brain-sharp-11308

Devore, E. E., Kang, J. H., Breteler, M. M., & Grodstein, F. (2012, Apr 25). Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline. Annals of Neurology, 0(0), pp. 1-9.

Joseph, J. A., Shukitt-Hale, B., & Willis, L. M. (2009). Grape juice, berries, and walnuts affect brain aging and behavior. Journal of Nutrition, 139, pp. 1813S-1817S.

Prostak, S. (2012, Apr 26). Flavonoid-Rich Berries Keep Brain Sharp. Retrieved Apr 28, 2012, from Sci-News.com: http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/article00281.html

Extra - May 2012

I Say Love, It Is Forever

Congratulations to our senior editor Warren Adrien Tang again! Other than the Love Letter Competition mentioned last issue, he also won another prize in Club Canon’s “Light You Up, My Love” competition. By being a laureate of the Distinction prize, he shows us his multiple intelligences in writing and photography. We look forward to seeing his blooming seeds! Here comes the winning piece:

Photo: Warren Adrien Tang

Words from Editors - May 2012

歡迎大家再次閱讀 Psycholic ， Psycholic 開始直到至今已經差不多七個月了，現在回想起當時被邀請加入 Psycholic 的時候真是有點驚心動魄，但是因為我喜歡接受挑戰的性格，抱著一切在嘗試的精神，所以我決定加入 Psycholic ，直到現在我並沒有為我所作的決定感到後悔，因為我在編輯的工作所學會的，是我在書本裡面學不會的。

因為知識是死的，但是工作講求靈活變通，我從不懂變通，學會變通（當然還有進步的空間）。所以一切在嘗試，那怕不成功，只要你凡事抱著嘗試的精神，當你面對失敗，你也能夠跳出困境。最後，希望你們會繼續支持 Psycholic 並與你們的朋友分享，因為你們的支持是我們力量的來源。

Woody Yip