Sunday 26 August 2012

Laugh Out Loud - Aug 2012

Let us have a revision of social psychology! Match the followings with respective meanings.


1.    Social Facilitation
A.   When one is performing in front of others, his/her performance is impaired.
2.    Social Inhibition
B.   The ideas of members inside a group become extreme.
3.    Group Think
C.   When one is performing in front of others, his/her performance is enhanced.
4.    Group Polarization
D.   The members of a group tend to think coherently, without new aspects.

Please send the answers with your NAME and CONTACT NUMBER to salford.psy.hk@gmail.com on or before 27th August, 2012. Those who got all correct will enter our lucky draw to win a special prize!
 
Venus Lai & Stephanie Szeto
 

The answer of 9th issue, July 2012

1E, 2A, 3G, 4B, 5F, 6D, 7C

答對上期問題而被抽中的讀者是… 

Karen Siu

幸運兒可得到
日記簿 及 便條紙 各1份

由於參加者眾多,其他參加者將獲得安慰獎以作鼓勵。=)
特此鳴謝 www.sunnysideup12.com 的贊助

Contributions - Aug 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 Aug, 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聯絡電話,於2012年8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。

Contributions - Aug 2012

隱藏的危險人物 Psychopath
Chan Jin Lung, Chris

Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our table.
~ W. H. Auden

對最近美國科羅拉多戲院屠殺兇手James Holmes 事件,大家也有疑問,為何一個腦科學的博士生竟搖身一變成為大屠殺兇手,而且還在家中設計了大量炸彈? 專家曾提出,他有機會是精神障礙的病患者,但也有另一種可能性,一種犯罪心理學常提及的人 - Psychopath。

先要提一下参考是:Psychopathy 和 Anti-Social Personality Disorder (APD) 常被誤解為同一種東西,很多書藉也把他們畫上等號。其實 APD 是一種行為障礙,可以藉著治療糾正過來。但Psychopathy卻是一種很複雜的心理障礙,暫時還未有糾正的方法,糾正他們可能會使他們變本加厲。 Psychopath 雖不直接和犯罪有關係,但他們不能服從社會規範的特性,有機會破壞社會的秩序。

在 Psychopathy 的研究中, Hare (1970) 在 EEG掃瞄時發現他們有比正常人慢的腦波活動,而且皮質功能和腦結構不成熟。然而,他們並不是沒有情感的,只是在展露情感方面有障礙。除此之外,有研究發現,實驗中66%有暴力傾向的對象的顳葉 (Temporal lobe) 位置呈現 6Hz-14Hz 正相棘波 (Positive Spikes) 爆發。和一般人不同的是,他們在清醒狀態下也有這些正相棘波活動。在正相棘波爆發後,罪犯其實全然清楚自己的暴力行為,但他們卻沒有罪疚感。犯罪心理學家和其他犯罪學家認為, Psychopath 比精神病患者更令人心寒的原因在於:他們演「正常人」這個角色比任何人都演得更好更細膩。 Psychopath 有整齊的儀容,誘人的話語和外表,但他們愛說謊,毫無忠誠可言。

有趣的是有些 Psychopath 很愛盜用別人身份,其中一位是美國的 Psychopath Ferdinand Waldo Demara。他曾演過建築師、副警長、助理典獄長、心理醫生、律師、兒童護理專家、不同派別的修士、編輯、癌症研究員、教師等角色。每次他也能把角色獨有的行為舉止全都複製過來。而最讓人深刻的角色,是在朝鮮戰爭中變身為加拿大軍艦上的一位軍醫,他只是快速翻看一次醫學書藉,就成功為16名重傷士兵做手術和取出子彈。事後被真正的軍醫踢爆,才知道他是假扮的。

Psychopath 也喜歡控制,有名的連環殺手和強姦犯 John Wayne Gacy ,便展示出 Psychopath 對權力的需求。在審訊中,他只是一直以“No comment” 來回答所有問題,因為他認為失去所有權利後,唯一還能控制的,就是自己的嘴巴!。

References:
Bartol, C. R. (1999). Criminal behavior: A psychosocial approach. Upper Saddler River, N.J: Prentice Hall.

Davies, G., & Beech, A. R. (2012). Forensic psychology: Crime, justice, law, interventions. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.

小小心意,感謝你的投稿
A little something, for your great contribution.
特此鳴謝 www.sunnysideup12.com 的贊助


Defense Mechanisms - Aug 2012

Regression

Regression involves behaviors of the previous development stages. We sometimes act like a child when something bad is confronting us. Maybe we just want others to show their care by catching their attention. I guess the same theory applies to the fact that girlfriends often throw tantrum to their boyfriends?

Picture: Venus Lai
Rare regression is cute, but too much regression becomes outrageous! We’d better learn how to control our temper and give ourselves a boundary of tantrum. In this way, we can release our anger at the same time keeping our close ones tight.

Andrien Photography - Aug 2012



Warren Adrien Tang

PsyPanacea - Aug 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, 

My sister hasn’t been sleeping at all lately. She changes mood so quickly and I suspect a mood disorder of some sort. At my birthday party last week, at first everything seemed fine. She was welcoming the guests, greeting everyone. Towards the end, she threw a huge fit, stamped off in front of all the guests, and I was left to apologize for the mess she had created. The worse is that she keeps blaming me, my mom and my dad for it, never herself. I’m getting tired of this. Is it really my fault? Is there anything I can do? 

-Seismic Sisterhood

Dear Seismic Sisterhood,

If this has been happening for a few months already, it’s high time she got some real help! You’re right to suspect a mood disorder, but don’t panic! Everything can be solved with patience and support. It could even be Bipolar disorder with some of the symptoms you’ve mentioned. This would explain why she shifts so rapidly from a good mood to a bad one. Sleep comes hard to these patients and they might also find it hard to function.

Shifting the focus away from your sister, it is also important that you get help personally. It might be very confusing to you what your sister is going through and I’m sure it doesn’t help that she might blame you. At the end of the day, don’t be too hard on yourself. My advice is, try to find societies you can join, or friends in similar situations that you can talk to, and gain support from, because it is going to be a rough ride. If you can secure yourself, you’ll do a much better job supporting your sister. Don’t forget, this is tough for her too.

Pickpocket - Aug 2012

In the last six issues, I have already introduced to you the basic techniques to read others’ behaviors and to decode them. Most of the people do not believe such reading others’ thoughts or psyche thing. But let me tell you, there is no such thing like reading your mind with special ability like those psyche claims. But only induction and psychology science support.

The Recognition of Reading Non-verbal Behavior


A Case of America (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968))

On October 31, 1963, a 39-year-old senior detective of Cleveland Police Department in Ohio, Martin McFadden noticed there were two men meandered around in front of a shop. They took turn to peek inside the shop then walked away. After few times, they went to a corner of the street and talked to a third party while they kept looking around.
Image: stus.com

Detective McFadden was worried about they were gathering the shop’s information and planning to rob it, so he went to them and did body search to them. They were under arrested after guns were found.

The painstaking observation of McFadden at last became a base of the judgment of the case and the influence from it: If the officer has reasonable suspicion that the person is armed, the officer may perform a search of the person's outer garments for weapons.

For the reasonable suspicion, because of the result of the case, Supreme Court of the United State recognized NVB can foresee crimes with suitable observation and interpretation of NVB.

The Lying Brain and Honest Brain

The Honest Brain

Photo: conwaypsychology.webs.com
Computer has CPU as a control unit to make all different components work smoothly. In human, brain is human’s control unit. All behaviors and reaction, no matter true or fake, conscious or unconscious, are under the command of the brain (except involuntary muscles), like from you scratch your face to you compose a song.   

In our brain, there is a part called limbic system which is the origin of behaving. Limbic system will react reflectively without thinking (especially amygdala and hypothalamus), so the reactions come from this part of the brain are most truthful to the surrounded situation. Also limbic system is the emotion center.

Table: minnesotamedicine.com

The signals are transmitted from this part to other parts of the brain and then coordinate our behaviors. The behaviors are related to our emotion and survival and they are presented though our legs, arms, hands, trunks and faces, so we can observe, induct and explain. The point is, unlike language, they are presented without thinking, so limbic system is recognized as “honest brain” when we are discussing NVB.

This time I put out a lot of evidences to let you know reading NVB is not only a bluff but a tool. I will introduce you about another part of the brain which called “Lying Brain” and more cases!

Practice makes perfect!

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

Jason Lam

References:

392 U.S. 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968)

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




News Feed - Aug 2012

香港的心理學盛會

今年六月,香港心理學會的週年會議假香港城市大學舉行。本刊成員對於副總編輯司徒素雪 (Stephanie) 以及創作編輯蕭子鋒 (Sora) 的研究海報能夠在今次會議中展出深感高興。有關會議的精彩內容,請留意內文。

今年會議的主題為「香港的心理學發展:過住、現況及將來」,由香港大學心理學系教授 Geoffrey Blowers 揭開序幕。 Prof Blowers與主持人詳談香港發展心理學時所面對的困難及將來的可能性,對於想繼續進修心理學的同學極具啟發性。

於海報展覽期間,展出者須要就他們的研究項目向評判作簡介,並解答現場人士及學者的疑問,以作學術交流。 Stephanie Sora 都認為這次經歷令他們眼界大開,非常難得,他們也把握了機會,積極與場內的學者及學生互相交流。

緊接著海報展覽的分科交流研討會,四個不同主題分別為科技、小數族裔、人格及正向心理學,探討不同範疇的心理學研究,以鼓勵分科之間的知識交流。Stephanie Sora 選擇了參與正向心理學為主題的研討會,因他們對當中探討的其中一項研究-「開心的人比不開心的人更寬宏大量」感到興趣。

會議最後一個環節是領袖峰會,最令人驚喜的是這個環節的互動性及參加者主導性,參加者須要寫出一些有助香港心理學發展的意見及建議,並且互相評分,得分較高的會加以討論。 Stephanie Sora 認為今次會議令他們獲益良多,希望大家的共同理念能有助推動香港的心理學發展。

Photos: HKPS.org (others) and Sora Siu (middle)

A Psychological Journey: HKPS Annual Conference 2012

The Hong Kong Psychological Society Annual Conference 2012 has taken place at the City University of Hong Kong in June. We were so glad that the research posters of our Deputy Chief Editor, Stephanie Szeto, and Creative Editor, Sora Siu, were chosen to exhibit in the conference. Let us share the wonderful day with you.

The conference was started with an interview called “A dialogue with Professor Geoffrey Blowers - The Development of Psychology in Hong Kong: Past, Present, and Future”. Prof Blowers, Department of Psychology at HKU, discussed about the difficulties and future possibilities for the development of Psychology in Hong Kong. It was an excellent enlightenment for students like us who want to pursue further study in the field of Psychology.

During the poster presentation session, the researchers presented their studies to judge panel and answered scholars’ questions. Stephanie and Sora said that it was a great opportunity to widen their horizon by getting in touch with other psychology students and scholars.

Following the poster session, four cross-divisional symposia on the topics of Technology, Minority Groups, Personality and Positive Psychology were arranged for inter-discipline knowledge exchange. Stephanie and Sora chose to attend the symposium of Positive Psychology because of the interesting topic “To forgive or not to forgive: The mediating effect of subjective happiness and forgiveness.

The last session was Leaders’ Forum. It was the most surprising part of the conference in terms of the interaction between moderator and participants. Participants were required to brainstorm opinions and suggestions to boost the development of Psychology in Hong Kong. The ideas were exchanged and rated by each other. Stephanie and Sora hope that the collective ideas would be beneficial for developing Psychology in Hong Kong.   

Sora (左) 及 Stephanie (右) 正展示他們的研究海報 。
Sora (left) and Stephanie (right) were presenting their posters during the conference. Photo: Sora Siu

SD3 - Aug 2012

Quick test! Tick in the following boxes which best suit your situation.
Did you get the clue of the disorder which I am introducing this time? It maybe a little bit difficult. It is the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The scale listed above is the checklist of the symptoms of the adult ADHD. If you have four or more ticks in the shaded boxes, you should consider seeking further help from professionals!

Naughty Is More Than Just Naughty

The symptoms of ADHD are divided into two dimensions, including inattention disorganization and hyperactivity. Regarding the divisions of symptoms, there are three subtypes of ADHD, which are primary inattentive, primary hyperactivity and combined. Please refer to the following table:


Inattentive
Hyperactivity
primary inattentive
primary hyperactivity
combined

Sufferers of inattentive type are often associated with academic problems, while those of hyperactivity types are related to substance abuse.

The estimated prevalence of adult ADHD is between 4% and 6%. Children with ADHD are likely to face certain difficulties in their adulthood. Compare with the non-ADHDs, the ADHD sufferers generally have lower educational level and lower salary. Not only will they have hard experience at work, but also when interacting with others. To interact smoothly with peers, friends and family may be a challenging task for them. They may find it difficult to fit in a social group. Moreover, a portion of the adult ADHD sufferers are associated with substance abuse, like alcohol and tobacco.

Treating adults with ADHD needs a great amount of effort. They often find difficulties in getting things done. To treat this, they will need to set up circumstances to help reminding them the schedule. By achieving the goals, their self-efficacy will be raised, acting as reinforcement for the therapy. In addition, a nice and caring social network is helpful to start the therapy. So it means that if your friends are having difficulties to finish their homework, you are the most suitable one to grant help!? After all, peers and families are great factors in shaping one’s personalities. Try to be nice to your friends and family.

Venus Lai 

References:
Manos, M.J. (2010). Nuances of Assessment and Treatment of ADHD in Adults: A Guide for Psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(6), 511-517.

Nikolas, M.A. & Burt, S.A. (2010). Genetic and Environmental Influences on ADHD Symptom Dimensions of Inattention and Hyperactivity: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(1), 1-17.