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ADHD<br />
AWARENESS<br />
MONTH<br />
ISSUE 1<br />
1<br />
<strong>PSYCH2GO</strong><br />
ISSUE 1<br />
OCT 2015<br />
Created by Teresa Johnson<br />
Cover Art by Ken Samonte
8<br />
Psych2Go
<strong>PSYCH2GO</strong><br />
The Science<br />
that’s all<br />
about you!
Psych2Go<br />
2<br />
WAIT, WHAT EXACTLY IS "<strong>PSYCH2GO</strong>"?<br />
Psych2Go started as a blog to feature short psychology facts in the format of memes<br />
(text-posts that are rapidly spread around the internet). Our mission was to brand<br />
ourselves as a forum/platform for people to get quick psychology information to further<br />
discuss and debate about the posts. We wanted to create an open forum of discussions<br />
to help foster critical thinking about research methods and limitations.<br />
To accomplish that, the Psych2Go team is transparent about the fact that we don't<br />
always post legitimate psychology information, but only do so in order to get people<br />
to really question ALL our posts and think on an analytical level. Sometimes what you<br />
think is true is actually not true and sometimes what is not true is yet to be supported<br />
by research.<br />
We have found that understanding research methods and having an open and<br />
encouraging forum for all of this is essential. Several Facebook groups have also<br />
been created, already aiming at this - including groups that allow people to express<br />
their creativity like our “Poetry” and “Doodle” group, and our “Research and Writing<br />
Discussion” group which creates discussion among expression of ideas, and academic<br />
assistance.<br />
As time went on, it made sense that Psych2Go should start providing supplementary<br />
materials such as sources, references, as well as some explanation to our viral meme<br />
posts that are featured on our Tumblr (as you’ll see an example from the “Psych to<br />
Go” article in this magazine issue) which generates large discussion from audience<br />
members. From these realizations to include more material content, psych2go.net, the<br />
sister site was born.<br />
When we started, Psych2Go had a team of 10 writers and published over 200 articles<br />
within less than 2 months and received over 1 million page views. And the articles<br />
followed a specific format:<br />
1. Intro<br />
2. Bring up research.<br />
3. Identify the research methods and the limitations<br />
4. question for our readers<br />
This format is aligned with our mission statement to analyze research, create<br />
discussions, and provide the resources needed to facilitate those discussions.<br />
Then, as time went on, we thought about implementing a mentorship program to help<br />
further facilitate this learning process for our younger audiences (since a majority of<br />
our readers were not yet psychology students).<br />
And that’s where psych2go.net is today! We have editors, mentors, and intern writers,<br />
who our Human Resource team has a very close relationship with and helps them every<br />
step of the way.<br />
Our goal is to become the go-to site for psychology, writing, help, research, studies,<br />
and so forth. Psych2Go serves as an easily accessible and inclusive platform for our<br />
young audiences.<br />
Tai Tai<br />
Manager and Creator of Psych2Go<br />
Psych2go@outlook.com<br />
Psych2go.tumblr.com<br />
Psych2go.net
ISSUE 1<br />
3<br />
Artwork by:Ken Samonte
Psych2Go<br />
4<br />
HELLO!<br />
As a special part of the “Psych2Go” team, we believe that this magazine sets itself<br />
apart from other science magazines out there. Understanding this magazine is not in a<br />
traditional “magazine” format gives our magazine a creative and unique feel.<br />
This was made by a collection of young entrepreneurs from all over the world. This<br />
publication includes international contributors from places like Slovenia, The U.K., the<br />
Netherlands, the Philippines, Canada, and people within various places of the U.S. like<br />
New York, Maryland, D.C., Tennessee, and California.<br />
Keep in mind that not all of us are trained professionals in the Psychology field, but<br />
simply people that are intrigued by Psychological concepts, only wanting to pass our<br />
research along, while involving people to talk about their personal experiences, as well<br />
as informing an audience with interesting Psychological facts.<br />
We hope that you enjoy this collaborative publication that acts as an extension of our<br />
online blog, psych2go.net, and we ask that you get involved with this entrepreneurial<br />
organization as well! After all, Psychology is the science that’s all about you, and as a<br />
growing company, we’re offering the opportunity for you to grow with us.<br />
Teresa Johnson<br />
Editor-in-Chief, Manager & Coordinator of Psych2Go Magazine<br />
(https://twitter.com/teresaxjohnson)
ISSUE 1<br />
5<br />
Artwork by: Drew Borja
6<br />
Psych2Go
ISSUE 1<br />
7<br />
CONTENT<br />
About Psych2Go / 2<br />
Hello Message / 4<br />
Meet the writers /10<br />
Psychology in the news /13<br />
Interview with a Psychology student /14<br />
Social Psychology / 16<br />
Exploring mental health / 18<br />
Significant people that endured mental illness / 22<br />
LGBTQA Psychology / 24<br />
Music Psychology / 26<br />
Personality Psychology / 28<br />
Developmental Psychology / 30<br />
Autism Spectrum (S.E.E.P.) Special, Exceptional, Extraordinary, People / 32<br />
Animal Psychology / 36<br />
Forensic Psychology 38<br />
Art Submissions Winner / 40<br />
Career Building / 42<br />
Outside Submissions / 44<br />
Entertainment/Games Section / 50<br />
Projective Psychology / 54<br />
Book Review / 56<br />
Creative writing / 58<br />
Psych to Go / 60<br />
Debunking Psychological Myths / 62<br />
Advice Column / 64<br />
Mental Health Hotlines / 67<br />
Thank you to contributors / 68<br />
Psych2Go's Community Challenge / 70<br />
Reader Testimonials / 72
MEET<br />
THE<br />
WRIT
ERS<br />
Artwork by: Drew Borja
Psych2Go<br />
10<br />
Hello all! I’m Sneha and I’m currently pursing my Master's degree<br />
at University of Pennsylvania's School of Design and I’ve been<br />
practicing Arts & Design for around 5 years. My work inclines toward<br />
a palate of textures that influence the organic and structured notion<br />
of spaces around me. Recently, I completed a Diploma in Learning<br />
Disorders Management and Child Psychology.<br />
U.S. (Pennsylvania)<br />
Sneha<br />
Hi, I’m Sophie! I’m currently doing my BSc in Communication<br />
and Media, but I have always been interested in psychology. I am<br />
especially interested in criminal psychology and how the mind of<br />
a psychopath works, but I am also interested in personality, social,<br />
and child psychology.<br />
Netherlands<br />
Sophie<br />
Hi, I’m Teresa and I attend Community College as a sophomore in<br />
hopes of taking on NYC my Junior and Senior year of college. I plan<br />
to receive a bachelors degree of communications and journalism<br />
due to my love of writing, communicating and self-expression. In my<br />
free time I love to sing, draw, write, and explore new places. I started<br />
by making videos for Psych2Go on their YouTube channel, but now<br />
I’m project manager and editor-in-chief of this magazine!<br />
U.S (Maryland)<br />
Teresa<br />
I'm Imogen, I'm 21 and going into my final year of an MSci in<br />
Psychology and Psychological Research. I work as a staff writer<br />
and a HR rep for psych2go.net, and I love learning and teaching all<br />
things psychological. I hope to one day become a researcher, and I<br />
love forensic, child and animal psychology!<br />
The U.K.<br />
Imogen<br />
I'm a sophomore/junior at American University, and I’m majoring<br />
in Psychology with minors in Spanish Language/Translation and<br />
Business Administration. I love blogging and crafting, as well as<br />
watching YouTube like it's my job. I'm super excited to be a part of<br />
this magazine, and I can't wait to see where this adventure takes<br />
me!<br />
U.S. (Maryland)<br />
Lauren<br />
Hello, I’m Larissa, and I’m a third year Psychology major working<br />
towards a minor in Law and Society as well as Ethics and<br />
Philosophy. Some of my greatest passions in Psychology include the<br />
topics of eating disorders, self-harm, psychopathology, and forensic<br />
psychology. When I’m not working or doing homework I enjoy<br />
watching Netflix, sleeping, reading, playing with cats, and writing!<br />
U.S. (Minnesota)<br />
Larissa
ISSUE 1<br />
Hi! I’m Kayleigh. Besides having a passion for writing, learning new<br />
things and gathering interesting facts (Did you know the majority<br />
of lizards can’t run and breathe at the same time?), I love creative<br />
things like drawing and making jewelry. I'm currently studying at<br />
University and in my free time I can be found listening to music,<br />
reading and writing, or browsing the internet.<br />
Netherlands<br />
Kayleigh<br />
Hi I'm Hannah. I have my BSc in Psychology and I'm completing<br />
my post grad in journalism at the moment. I’m fascinated by<br />
human sexuality & sexual behavior, and the science behind mental<br />
illness. I enjoy editing papers and long runs on the elliptical. My<br />
two hedgehogs keep me motivated, and they say that they hope you<br />
enjoy our articles and magazine! Just know that whenever you read<br />
something by me, a hedgehog was nearby.<br />
Nova Scotia<br />
Hannah<br />
I’m Sheena, and I study Psychology BSc with the University of the<br />
Highlands & Islands in Scotland. Being both the kid who grew up<br />
reading encyclopedias and the ‘Agony Aunt’ friend, I’ve always been<br />
interested in how what happens in our heads affects the way that we<br />
live our lives, and in practicing acceptance (and hopefully spreading<br />
it too!).<br />
The U.K.<br />
Sheena<br />
11<br />
Being a media student, I am a huge supporter of anti-consumerism<br />
and media awareness. In my spare time you can find me reading<br />
(especially fantasy literature), listening to music, watching<br />
Japanese anime, taking long walks in the nature and most often<br />
writing. Above all I am simply a girl, madly in love with stories in all<br />
shapes and sizes.<br />
Slovenia<br />
Katja<br />
Hi there! I'm oftentimes described as a shy girl with a quick wit.<br />
Amazingly, I've managed to channel my passion to different facets<br />
of art and psychology, and blended my two loves. A firm believer that<br />
you never stop learning<br />
Philippines<br />
Risha<br />
My name is Laura Corona and I am 21 years old. Currently studying<br />
Communications and soon will begin working my way into becoming<br />
an American Sign Language Interpreter.<br />
U.S. (California)<br />
Advice Column Team<br />
Laura
Psych2Go<br />
12<br />
I'm Tyra Davis, a middle school English Teacher living in NYC, but<br />
I've always been a writer at heart. Although my background is not<br />
in psychology, I have suffered from anxiety and depression in the<br />
past, which brings with it a lot of experience dealing with negative<br />
feelings and emotions. I hope to bring some of this experience to<br />
light in my advice to our readers.<br />
U.S (New York)<br />
Advice Column Team<br />
Tyra<br />
Myelin<br />
Hey, my name’s Myelin (like Myelin Sheath). I receive my B.A. in<br />
Psychology in November 2015. After that, I aspire to get a PsyD in<br />
Clinical Psychology (fingers crossed). As a staff writer on Psych2Go,<br />
I write on topics related to abnormal or cultural psychology and<br />
sexuality. In my free time, I enjoy belly dancing and sketching!<br />
U.S (California)<br />
Hey, hello! My name’s Aubrey, as I’m sure it probably says<br />
somewhere already. I squint while I talk sometimes, forget to eat<br />
occasionally, and have hot chocolate stains in most of all my sketch<br />
books. I work three, long and tedious jobs and go to community<br />
college in Memphis so that I may transfer into a larger art school<br />
within the same area. I love to both draw and write, so comics and<br />
cartoons are an absolute passion of mine!<br />
U.S (Tennessee)<br />
Aubrey<br />
Hi I'm Lauren, I graduated with a degree in psychology and a<br />
masters in counselling. I've been a youth worker, a counsellor and<br />
currently I'm working towards becoming a social worker. I wanted<br />
to be apart of the magazine as I know what it's like to struggle with<br />
your feelings and I want help where I can. That's my passion in life.<br />
My other passion is art. I post videos of my digital art on YouTube in<br />
the hopes of creating a relaxing space for others. You can find me at<br />
Rad Little Drawings.<br />
Northern Ireland<br />
Advice Column Team<br />
Lauren<br />
Hi! Jessica here. I'm a psych major in college working on my junior<br />
year. I've been inspired to study psychology by my passionate high<br />
school teacher but my favorite topic is the brain. I'm studying hard<br />
to research and learn to help others.<br />
U.S (Maryland)<br />
Jessica
ISSUE 1<br />
13<br />
IN THE NEWS<br />
This past month was a big one for<br />
psychology in the news. One big thing<br />
for people involved in the field was the<br />
revelation of repeated studies, which all<br />
had differing results.<br />
An article published in The Toronto<br />
Star entitled “Repeating Psychology<br />
Experiments Yields Different Results”,<br />
details how a group of researchers in<br />
New York attempted to duplicate over 100<br />
social science studies. The only obvious<br />
conclusion found was that more research<br />
is needed after every study, including<br />
their own. Around 40% of their attempts<br />
yielded the same results, which is not<br />
great news. None of the experiments<br />
were developed to test treatments, and<br />
tended to focus on studies with strong<br />
statistical evidence, as well as studies<br />
that didn’t have surprising results.<br />
A biography of Dr. Marnie Rice, who<br />
studied the minds of some of the worst<br />
offenders in Canada who needed<br />
psychiatric care, was also released this<br />
past month.<br />
“Psychologist Marnie Rice Probed the<br />
Minds of Psychopathic Offenders”, an<br />
article in The Globe and Mail details her<br />
lifetime. She started off working in the<br />
jail in Penetanguishene, Ontario, where<br />
she eventually became the Director of<br />
Research. She did behavior modification<br />
research here on what were referred to<br />
as the “worst offenders” such as serial<br />
killers, pedophiles, and other sexual<br />
offenders. The article details her life,<br />
her upbeat personality, and what her<br />
research did for the field of Psychology.<br />
By: Hannah Jade<br />
Artwork by: Erin Jean<br />
She passed away in August of 2015.<br />
A bit of comedy is involved in the<br />
psychology news this past month; an<br />
article entitled “The psychology behind<br />
why couples fight when assembling<br />
Ikea furniture”. Released on a website<br />
called Quartz, this article details reasons<br />
couples would fight whilst assembling<br />
furniture. It causes unnecessary stresses<br />
and people tend not to be as polite with<br />
those they love than those they are just<br />
friends with. Though probably not rooted<br />
in fact, in general the article was slightly<br />
comedic.<br />
Another article was released on a Calgary<br />
programme to create an addictions<br />
help programme almost completely<br />
routed in the psychology of addiction.<br />
Published in Metro News, the article<br />
“New Calgary Addictions Programme to<br />
bridge psychology and substance abuse”<br />
details it. This programme is meant to<br />
focus specifically on the needs of women<br />
with addictions. It is expected to roll<br />
out at the end of the year and women<br />
who had participated in the programme<br />
will eventually become mentors to new<br />
people involved.<br />
Those are a few of the bigger stories of<br />
psychology in the news over the past few<br />
months.<br />
Citation:<br />
Ritter, M. (2015, August 30). Repeating psychology<br />
experiments yields different results. Retrieved<br />
September 26, 2015.<br />
Ryell, N. (2015, September 15). Psychologist Marnie<br />
Rice probed the minds of psychopathic offenders.<br />
Retrieved September 26, 2015.
Psych2Go<br />
14<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
Amy<br />
Livingstone<br />
Hey guys! In this section of the magazine,<br />
we’ll be interviewing a psychology<br />
student who is going to tell us about their<br />
course, some personal details about<br />
themselves and their interests in psychology,<br />
and also their career aims and<br />
how they hope to achieve them and finally<br />
some advice for prospective students.<br />
We’ll be interviewing Amy Livingstone,<br />
a bachelor of social sciences (psychology<br />
and forensic science) at Swinburne<br />
University of Technology, Melbourne,<br />
Australia. The course involves eight core<br />
psych units, four core forensics units,<br />
and twelve electives. She is currently in<br />
her third year.<br />
We’ll start by asking Amy about her<br />
course, how the education is and what<br />
the cost is like.<br />
From: Australia<br />
US<br />
https://www.facebook.com/amy.livingstone1<br />
What’s the program like, what is the<br />
cost and how’s the education?<br />
I like the program at Swinburne, some<br />
units are obviously run better than others<br />
but overall I think it’s a pretty good<br />
psych education. To be honest I’m not<br />
sure about the cost, the government<br />
basically pays for UNI and we pay them<br />
back when we earn over $54k. I hope it’s<br />
not too much! I think the education’s decent,<br />
it differs again from unit to unit, but<br />
I think if you do everything you can to be<br />
responsible for your learning and reach<br />
out when you need it, you can get the best<br />
psych education anywhere.<br />
Who’s your favorite professor?<br />
My favourite lecturer is probably my forensics<br />
convener; he lectures in a way<br />
that is relatable and really clear. He’s really<br />
easy to follow. Straight forward you<br />
know what you have to do to do well and<br />
it’s always interesting.<br />
We’ll next move on to asking about some<br />
of her personal views about psychology,<br />
like which subjects she likes and dislikes.<br />
What is your favourite topic within psychology?<br />
Abnormal psych was my favourite unit so<br />
far. It was really interesting and I guess<br />
got down to the ‘real’ or ‘stereotypical’<br />
psych stuff, the stuff that the public would<br />
be thinking you’re learning I guess!<br />
What’s your favourite psychology fact/<br />
research study?<br />
I wish I had a really good one of the top<br />
of my head but I don’t, so I’d have to say<br />
Pavlov’s dog. Everyone’s heard of it - I<br />
learnt it in school psychology, but back<br />
then I don’t think I understood what it<br />
meant. I think it’s so cool how you can
ISSUE 1<br />
really apply that to any situation, and<br />
with enough work you can condition anyone/thing.<br />
I like it because it’s so simple,<br />
yet so significant.<br />
The next topic was Amy’s career aims and<br />
what she has done to try and help achieve<br />
those aims.<br />
What are your goals in terms of<br />
career?<br />
I would like to work with youth offenders<br />
at this stage, however I’m open to changing<br />
direction as my education progresses.<br />
I’m really into health and fitness also so I<br />
would love to be involved with a program<br />
that uses exercise to break down barriers<br />
between psychologist and offender, I<br />
believe it could be a really beneficial tool.<br />
What do you look to do after your degree,<br />
further study or work, or something<br />
else?<br />
After this degree I will hopefully complete<br />
an honours year, and then a master’s<br />
course. It’s extremely competitive to get<br />
into so I’m staying hopeful, but should all<br />
go to plan I’m looking at another 6 years<br />
of study ahead of me!<br />
What, outside of your degree, have you<br />
done to further your interest or career in<br />
psychology?<br />
My current casual job is completely unrelated<br />
to psychology, however it’s with<br />
the YMCA who run a range of really great<br />
programs that I think I could get involved<br />
in. I guess what drew me to that job was<br />
that it had the potential to provide pathways<br />
for me.<br />
I’ll have 6 months off study before starting<br />
my honours (hopefully) so I’m hoping<br />
in that time I can get a position somewhere<br />
really cool that will be beneficial<br />
for both my education and career. In the<br />
meantime, I’m hoping to start writing articles<br />
for psych2go, when I have time, to<br />
get some better practice and some feedback<br />
of my work.<br />
Finally, we asked her for some advice for<br />
you guys.<br />
What is one thing a student should<br />
know about studying psychology?<br />
There’s lots of content, lots to memorise,<br />
and in Australia it’s very competitive. People<br />
don’t realise that though they think<br />
things like biomed are tough, psych can<br />
be worse. There are not nearly as many<br />
positions, but almost as many applicants.<br />
And what’s one thing a student should<br />
know about studying at University?<br />
I found UNI difficult to keep on top of, at<br />
school you have a test every week and a<br />
teacher making sure you’ve done your<br />
work, whereas at UNI you’re responsible<br />
for yourself, and you’ve now got a job, a<br />
car, freedom, so study slips, and then it’s<br />
exam time and you’ve done nothing all<br />
semester. It’s definitely harder to keep on<br />
top of, so be prepared and get organised.<br />
Hope you enjoyed this!<br />
15
Psych2Go<br />
16<br />
IT<br />
STICKS<br />
WITH<br />
THEM:<br />
Social Psychology<br />
How what children see impacts who they become<br />
By: Lauren Miedel<br />
Artwork by: Pilar Chavez
ISSUE 1<br />
Most people know that children are<br />
especially impressionable, but to what<br />
extent do they absorb information? What<br />
kinds of things do they retain? While it<br />
may be impossible to know every little<br />
thing, social psychologists have some<br />
ideas about what types of information<br />
children pick up on.<br />
One of the questions psychologists wanted<br />
to know was whether children could<br />
pick up on social cues similarly to an<br />
adult. Diesendruck, Salzer, Kushnir, and<br />
Xu conducted an experiment to see if children<br />
picked-up on social cues from demonstrators<br />
(2015). Their research showed<br />
that when one demonstrator favored an<br />
object, preschoolers associated it with a<br />
person’s preference; however, when two<br />
demonstrators favored the same object,<br />
preschoolers “inferred that it was generalized<br />
to other agents of the same kind”<br />
(Diesendruck et al. 2015). This shows that<br />
children are informed by social cues.<br />
What does this information mean? Well,<br />
this type of study starts to prove how children<br />
don’t just listen to what they’re told.<br />
They can be much more perceptive than<br />
that. Anyone who has heard a kid mention<br />
a word they heard their older sibling say<br />
can attest to that. But, they are also able<br />
to pick up social cues.<br />
This could have serious impacts later in<br />
life. It could explain how children grow up<br />
to be racist or sexist when their parents<br />
don’t really say to be out loud. If a child<br />
notices how Mom always avoids making<br />
eye contact with black people, or how Dad<br />
snorts or rolls his eyes when someone<br />
mentions being anything other than cisgendered*<br />
or straight, the child notices.<br />
It’s likely this is not the only reason, but it<br />
could be a reason.<br />
Another question on what influences<br />
children is whether age plays a factor.<br />
Schwarz and Roebers looked at 8- and<br />
10-year old children and their ability to<br />
“withstand” post-event information from<br />
an interviewer or confederate (2006).<br />
They found that 10-year olds were able<br />
to distinguish that people talking with a<br />
low amount of assertiveness probably<br />
did not have much to contribute, and<br />
were less trustworthy than those who<br />
spoke assertively (2006).<br />
The idea that children, of at least a certain<br />
age, can distinguish assertiveness<br />
when someone is speaking shows that<br />
as they grow, they are able to selectively<br />
take social cues and information from<br />
those they deem knowledgeable.<br />
No one is arguing that children are<br />
sponges. But, they clearly absorb more<br />
information than people like to think. So<br />
to everyone who spends a lot of time with<br />
children, remember that even if you believe<br />
in the motto “Do as I say and not as<br />
I do,” kids are paying attention to how you<br />
act and what you do.<br />
Works Cited:<br />
Diesendruck, G., Salzer, S., Kushnir, T., & Xu, F. (2015).<br />
When Choices Are Not Personal: The Effect of Statistical<br />
and Social Cues on Children’s Inferences About the<br />
Scope of Preferences. Journal Of Cognition & Development,<br />
16(2), 370-380.<br />
Schwarz, S., & Roebers, C. M. (2006). Age differences in<br />
the effects of social influence on children’s eyewitness<br />
performance and their metacognitive monitoring. Journal<br />
Of Experimental Child Psychology, 94(3), 229-248.<br />
Terms:<br />
*Cisgendered -applies to the majority of people, describing<br />
a person who is not transgender.<br />
17
Psych2Go<br />
18<br />
Mental-Health Awareness Month:<br />
October<br />
A<br />
D<br />
H<br />
D<br />
By: Teresa Johnson<br />
Artwork by: Pilar Chavez
ISSUE 1<br />
The mental illness topic of this<br />
month that Psych2Go chooses to bring<br />
awareness to is ADHD. There are theories<br />
created by people that those who<br />
claim to be affected by Attention-Deficit/<br />
Hyperactivity Disorder are simply creating<br />
an excuse to explain their “hyper”<br />
behavior. This is an incorrect speculation<br />
because ADHD is in fact a real mental illness.<br />
It’s a brain disorder that can extend<br />
from childhood to adolescence. According<br />
to the National Institute of Health,<br />
studies have shown that people affected<br />
by this disorder have brain developmental<br />
delays by an extension of up to three<br />
years! It’s brain-baffling to know that a<br />
disorder can take that much growth-related<br />
control. Hyperactive and impulsive<br />
behaviors caused from people affected<br />
by ADHD are much stronger and greater<br />
than those who are not diagnosed with it.<br />
Even though it’s still a mystery to scientists<br />
as to what causes ADHD, genes, as<br />
well as various environmental factors,<br />
are said to help influence the actions<br />
reflected through the disorder. ADHD<br />
sometimes gets mistaken for ADD (Attention<br />
Deficit Disorder), however they<br />
differ in the ways of the “hyperactivity” element<br />
that ADD withholds. Even though<br />
ADHD is not a detrimental disorder, it still<br />
can make life more challenging regarding<br />
elements such as being distracted<br />
and constantly getting up and moving.<br />
The disorder is found in children, and can<br />
extend throughout adolescence and into<br />
their adult years. However, children can<br />
grow out of ADHD and lead very productive<br />
lives, but this requires proper change<br />
to their environment, developing their<br />
strengths, and medication if needed (according<br />
to parents.com).<br />
Bringing awareness to this disorder, certain<br />
organizations like adhdawarenessmonth.org<br />
and chadd.org serve to fulfill<br />
that purpose and let people know that<br />
it does affect people and their mental<br />
health. Feel free to visit these particular<br />
sites if you are someone that struggles<br />
with ADHD and it affects your everyday<br />
activities. Even when a health issue isn’t<br />
physical, it can create just as many issues<br />
within a person’s life. Although<br />
certain theories are made, there is no<br />
definite reason to why people are effected<br />
by this, and the “cure” does not involve<br />
taking a “magical” pill.<br />
However, through time and being attentive<br />
to ones’ environmental surroundings,<br />
the disorder’s relevance in a person’s life<br />
can slowly start to disappear. ADHD is<br />
not made up. It is real and it does affect<br />
people. If you have trouble concentrating,<br />
find yourself being very impulsive, and<br />
have hyper-tendencies, then you may<br />
have ADHD. Don’t be afraid to reach out<br />
and seek help from your doctor if it becomes<br />
a frustrating issue.<br />
Works Cited:<br />
Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2015, August 1).<br />
ADD / ADHD in Children. Retrieved September 5, 2015.<br />
Rosen, M. (n.d.). Attention for ADHD: 9 Key Facts. Retrieved<br />
September 5, 2015.<br />
Organizations to connect with:<br />
http://www.adhdawarenessmonth.org<br />
chadd.org<br />
19
Psych2Go<br />
20<br />
SEPARATION ANXIETY<br />
DISORDER<br />
By: Sneha Easwaran<br />
Artwork by: Drew Borja<br />
Exploring Mental Health<br />
A normal part of growing up and being<br />
a part of the real world is dealing with<br />
separation in a myriad amount of ways.<br />
Individuals with noticeable symptoms<br />
tend to come from environments that are<br />
held together at quite close approximation,<br />
so as one moves away, the individual<br />
may recurrently exhibit social withdrawal<br />
symptoms, apathy, or difficulty in<br />
focusing. It depends on the individual’s<br />
age as well – from monsters to the dark,<br />
and other situations that are perceived<br />
as presenting danger to the integrity of<br />
the family. This disorder isn’t a mild one<br />
because it can dramatically affect a person’s<br />
life by limiting the ability to engage<br />
in ordinary day-to-day activities. Anger<br />
and outbursts of emotion are very common.<br />
Separation Anxiety Disorder affects approximately<br />
2-5% of children and is much<br />
more prominent to those who frequently<br />
have other family members with anxiety<br />
disorders. The tendency to develop this<br />
disorder involves the genetic and environmental<br />
factors that come into play in<br />
a person’s lifetime. It can be effectively<br />
treated and is based on a comprehensive<br />
evaluation of a child and their family.<br />
Some intervention strategies include<br />
cognitive behavioral therapy with a focus<br />
on helping the child learn skills to manage<br />
his or her anxiety. It involves helping<br />
children and parents understand and<br />
learn way to change unhelpful thoughts<br />
and behaviors. The therapist may help<br />
a mentor understand ways in which an<br />
individual can minimize effects by, for<br />
example, allowing a child to miss a day<br />
of school. It’s also beneficial to master<br />
the situations that contribute to the<br />
anxiety and to find ways to minimize<br />
it as much as possible. As always, parents<br />
and older mentors play a huge role<br />
in being supportive in any treatment process<br />
and some individuals may resort to<br />
benefitting in treatment with antidepressants<br />
or antianxiety medication to help<br />
them feel calmer. Other methods may<br />
include talking therapy in which an individual<br />
develops a comfortable relationship<br />
with the therapist, who provides a<br />
safe haven to express one’s thoughts and<br />
feelings. Another is play therapy, in which<br />
the therapeutic use of play is a common<br />
and effective way to get kids to talk more<br />
openly. Counseling for the family and<br />
school-based counseling is also vital as<br />
a more mature understanding can benefit<br />
an individual to explore more social,<br />
behavioral, and academic demands of<br />
an environment. Preventive measures to<br />
minimize the effects of Separation Anxiety<br />
Disorder can be detected at an early<br />
stage. This can enable a person to effectively<br />
have normal growth and development,<br />
and to improve the quality of life<br />
experience there on out. In order to diagnose<br />
this symptom, it must be present<br />
for at least 4 weeks and be more severe<br />
than the normal occurrences an individual<br />
may experience.<br />
Works Cited:<br />
“Separation Anxiety Disorder in Children.” Separation<br />
Anxiety Disorder | Boston Children’s Hospital. Accessed<br />
August 24, 2015.<br />
“Separation Anxiety Disorder.” Separation Anxiety Disorder.<br />
Accessed August 24, 2015.
ISSUE 1<br />
21<br />
“Separation Anxiety Disorder affects approximately<br />
2-5% of children and is much<br />
more prominent to those who frequently<br />
have other family members with anxiety<br />
disorders.”
Psych2Go<br />
22<br />
Significant People Enduring Mental Illness in Psychology History:<br />
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ELLEN WEST<br />
Artwork by: Ale Caballero<br />
By: Katja Stojic<br />
“Life is hanging on me like a cloud.”<br />
Exploring Mental Health<br />
Women have always been on the<br />
side-lines of history, leaving men to<br />
make decisions for them. They did<br />
not have many ways of expressing<br />
themselves and were far from obtaining<br />
an independent living status. The only<br />
thing a woman could control was her<br />
body. Hence the passage “A hysterical<br />
woman responds theatrically, with her<br />
own body, which is her only stage, upon<br />
which she can perform publicly” (Duda<br />
and Pusch, 1995). Although they’ve been<br />
around for centuries, eating disorders<br />
have widely spread in the last few<br />
decades, hidden behind the forced smiles<br />
and layers of clothing.<br />
“Something inside of me resists gaining<br />
weight. It resists getting healthier; having<br />
round, red cheeks, becoming a simple,<br />
bold woman, which would actually suit<br />
my nature… it is driving me desperate<br />
so that I cannot help myself with all the<br />
big words. I am fighting against secret<br />
forces stronger than me. I cannot unite<br />
and grab them” (Duda and Pusch, 1995).<br />
Ellen West wrote this four months before<br />
she decided to end her life. She was<br />
thirty-three at the time. Her life was filled<br />
with fear and what she dreaded most was<br />
fear itself. Food was always on her mind;<br />
either she ate nothing or she stuffed<br />
herself with anything she could find. She<br />
could only eat by herself, as family meals<br />
made her feel hopeless and empty. Her<br />
therapist said she was trying to fulfil two<br />
needs: hunger and love. The first was<br />
satisfied, the second was not.<br />
Ellen West lived in the late 19th and<br />
early 20th centuries, a time when all<br />
that mattered in a woman was how she<br />
looked. She was a patient of Dr. Ludwig<br />
Binswanger, and suffered from anorexia<br />
nervosa, possibly in addition to other<br />
mental illnesses. Her name is most<br />
famously associated with existential<br />
analysis because the treatment started to<br />
emerge during this time. She described<br />
her struggle with food in her diaries<br />
which she kept for many years.<br />
Even as a child she was intentionally<br />
refusing sweets and was very<br />
strongminded. Her father was wellcontrolled<br />
and stiff but secretly sensitive<br />
and suffering from night depressions and<br />
fears. Ellen supposedly loved him very<br />
much. Her mother was gentle and
ISSUE 1<br />
also suffered from depression.<br />
The family was traditional, yet many<br />
questions remain unanswered. Many<br />
relatives suffered from mental illnesses.<br />
Even as a child Ellen refused to submit to<br />
the expected role of a mother and a wife;<br />
she wished to be a boy. Her extensive<br />
reading and ability to deal with social<br />
problems made her different from others.<br />
Her problems became severe in her<br />
twenties when she refused to live by the<br />
strict social standards of her time. She<br />
despised the hypocrisy and the limitations<br />
of her gender. An ideal image formed in<br />
her mind: a slim body. Friends mocked<br />
her because of her figure so she started<br />
to lose weight. She felt useless and<br />
unworthy, was afraid of everything and<br />
longed for death, which she saw as the<br />
only happiness in life. “Anorexia demands<br />
a perfect self-subordination and thus<br />
gives a possibility of existing” (Duda<br />
and Pusch, 1995). After her enrolment<br />
in college her condition improved for a<br />
while before she relapsed again. Doctors<br />
discovered problems with her thyroid<br />
and ordered bed rest, which led to her<br />
gaining weight. The cycle repeated. “She<br />
is denying her own personality which is<br />
full of needs, hunger, anger and desire”<br />
(Duda and Pusch, 1995).<br />
She was very creative and wrote poetry,<br />
mostly about freedom. After some<br />
persuasion from her family she married<br />
her cousin, but soon had a miscarriage<br />
due to her poor physical health. She<br />
must have dreaded being pregnant and<br />
gaining weight. One of the means to her<br />
remaining slim figure was the use of<br />
laxatives and vomiting. Not much is said<br />
about her husband except that she only<br />
confessed her problems to him at the age<br />
of thirty-two, which is why he soon sent<br />
her to a clinic. She had reached a point<br />
where all she thought about was food<br />
and remaining slim. Her psychological<br />
condition weakened, which is the reason<br />
she wilfully saw a doctor. Her diagnosis<br />
stated “Advancing schizophrenic<br />
psychosis. No effective treatments.”<br />
“I am sitting in a glass sphere,” she<br />
confessed, feeling isolated from others<br />
and being able only to see them, not hear<br />
or touch them (Duda and Pusch, 1995). All<br />
she felt was emptiness and loneliness.<br />
Her thoughts of being inadequate and<br />
unfit for life had reached their peak. She<br />
seemed better in her last days, however;<br />
she enjoyed food and wrote letters. Then<br />
she swallowed poison. Her face was calm<br />
and seemingly happy in death.<br />
“A woman’s body is a battlefield where<br />
she fights for control” (Duda and Pusch,<br />
1995). It is all about controlling your body,<br />
along with its emotional needs. Ellen<br />
West wished to achieve something great<br />
despite not being entitled to do so. Her<br />
role was to be a woman, which meant<br />
remaining in the shadows. Due to her<br />
high intelligence she was able to analyse<br />
her situation with fearful accuracy, but<br />
she could not alter it. Her ultimate goal in<br />
life was to maintain an independency and<br />
to be different from others. She was never<br />
able to discover who she was. Her writing<br />
was not regarded as actual literature,<br />
and even today her work is locked away.<br />
We know much about her struggle with<br />
food, yet almost nothing about her artistic<br />
expressions. Her greatest fear had, in a<br />
way, been realised; she was forgotten<br />
for many years until finally her case was<br />
re-opened and examined, but even then<br />
her real name vanished, leaving her with<br />
the pseudonym Ellen West. Many of her<br />
poems and writings remain locked away<br />
at the clinic where she spent the last<br />
months of her life. It is a shame that a<br />
woman of her potential could not properly<br />
succeed due to the social, economic and<br />
political situations of her era.<br />
Citations:<br />
Duda, Sibylle; Pusch, Luise F. (1995). Nore ženske<br />
(Wahnsinns Frauen). Ljubljana: Krtina<br />
Wikipedia. (2015). “Ellen West.” The Free Encyclopedia.<br />
Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_<br />
West<br />
23
Psych2Go<br />
24<br />
LGBTQA:<br />
The Online Community<br />
By: Aubrey Bryan<br />
Artwork by: Fieni Aprilia<br />
LGBTQ+ Psychology<br />
The internet is wide with all kinds<br />
of diversity from silly baby-burp videos<br />
to middle-aged house-dwellers trying to<br />
find the cure for the common cold. To add<br />
some background, I was always more the<br />
animated cat video kind-of person growing<br />
up. It wasn’t until I came across my<br />
first social website that I realized there<br />
was a real community on the internet.<br />
With community however comes conflict,<br />
opposing sides, and people with their<br />
own individual stories feeding into these<br />
opinions. The greatest example of this is<br />
the *LGBTQA community! There is a consensus<br />
that people with different romantic<br />
and sexual preferences aside from the<br />
“norm” are just as important and need<br />
recognition within society. With today’s<br />
internet culture, the LGBTQA community<br />
has more room to grow, spread information,<br />
and even discuss issues within the<br />
group itself to allow positive change. But,<br />
because we are dealing with the internet,<br />
there’s going to be those that take refuge<br />
behind their screens to hurt, belittle or<br />
put down others for self-righteous gain—<br />
and I’m still talking about the same community.<br />
It’s too often we see on social media<br />
what awful things people can do to make<br />
themselves feel in the right position or<br />
believe they’re doing justice by hurting<br />
or, in extreme cases, destroying the lives<br />
of those with one (or a few) terrible opinion(s).<br />
Those who’ve been on the internet<br />
long enough can already think of multiple<br />
examples, though they may not exactly<br />
be the same examples. From one end, an<br />
example would be the overbearing social<br />
activist bloggers that find it their job to<br />
come down on anyone for any small slipup<br />
comment or joke. On the other end,<br />
there are the less educated members of<br />
the LGBTQA community spreading false<br />
information or making a bad example<br />
of the community as a whole. As<br />
surprising as it is that such well-intentioned<br />
people could also drag in so many<br />
opposing perspectives to the foundation<br />
of these beliefs, it is also not that surprising<br />
at all.<br />
Since we’re all from different areas of<br />
the world and our countries, we’re all<br />
bound to have different views on what<br />
makes sense in the LGBTQA community.<br />
Some less populated places, like the<br />
country-side in Mississippi of the United<br />
States, may hold the reservation that<br />
love is between two individuals; and if<br />
a girl likes a girl she’s gay and if a girl<br />
likes a boy she’s straight. In places like<br />
these, it may just seem a little weird to<br />
begin talking about all the in-betweens<br />
and gray areas. However, a more populous<br />
area with wider variation between<br />
culture, person and belief may be more<br />
accepting to the idea that there’s a neighbor<br />
next door claiming to be demi-sexual.<br />
Not only location, but also upbringing<br />
can affect the way we understand what<br />
LGBTQA supports. Bisexuality, for example,<br />
in some households is the, “I’m<br />
confused about my sexuality” sexuality.<br />
While that certainly isn’t the case, it is<br />
a fermented stereotype attached to the<br />
identity. It’s taught through several different<br />
mediums and not just in the household.<br />
Social groups, media and even our<br />
culture have a bit of an input into this<br />
belief. We have a natural tendency to feel<br />
like we need to “pick a side”, like it’s a<br />
football team or our favorite brand.<br />
I think a lot of people tend to forget about<br />
all the different perspectives and experiences<br />
others may have when they hop<br />
online. For every trans woman that’s<br />
praised and told to be proud of her identity<br />
there’s another just like her being near
ISSUE 1<br />
beat to death for it. The LGBTQA community<br />
is so large and diverse now with<br />
all these separate experiences that we<br />
can’t ever entirely pinpoint an exact focal<br />
point in our goal sometimes. But that<br />
also gives way to discussion and debate<br />
that will allow us to continue to grow even<br />
more diversely. While some could say<br />
that’s an issue, because that would cause<br />
even more conflicting opinions and sides<br />
of the matter—and honestly I wouldn’t<br />
blame anyone for having that view. However,<br />
diversity leads to the evolution of<br />
these opinions, change in culture and society,<br />
and creates new levels of concepts<br />
in gender identity and sexuality that we’re<br />
starting to scratch the surface of. Whether<br />
or not these newer concepts are valid<br />
is a whole other area of debate already,<br />
and you can only wonder how much further<br />
our community will change for better<br />
or worse ten years from now.<br />
25<br />
*LGBTQA – Acronym for the Lesbian, Gay,<br />
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Agender<br />
community
Psych2Go<br />
26<br />
Music Psychology<br />
FEELING ANGRY?<br />
ADOPT THE<br />
SHARK METHOD!<br />
By: Sheena Mackenzie<br />
Artwork by: Jane Shi<br />
http://www.psych2go.net/feeling-angry-adopt-the-shark-method/#comment-106929<br />
AS FEATURED ON:<br />
psych2go.net
ISSUE 1<br />
27<br />
Back in 2011, an Australian tour<br />
operator by the name of Matt Waller<br />
revealed that for a number of years he<br />
had been tracking Great White Sharks<br />
for a very unique series of experiments.<br />
After hearing of divers in Guadeloupe<br />
who observed sharks reacting to certain<br />
songs, he played music from his collection<br />
through speakers attached to shark<br />
cages to attract them, monitoring their<br />
reactions – and it turns out that Jaws may<br />
have been a bit of a metalhead. When<br />
Waller played heavier music like ACDC to<br />
the sharks he tracked, he observed more<br />
calm and curious behavior as they detected<br />
the vibrations made by the music<br />
(since they don’t have ears to hear it).<br />
This year, a similar experiment was carried<br />
out by Leah Sharman and Genevieve<br />
Dingle of the University of Queensland<br />
in Brisbane, Australia, but with slightly<br />
more docile subjects. In order to examine<br />
the popular notion that angry music<br />
makes for an angry listener, they found<br />
39 participants who listened to ‘extreme’<br />
genres of music (including the likes of<br />
Rob Zombie and Disturbed). The subjects,<br />
with an average age of 20, were<br />
first provoked into an angry state of mind,<br />
then the control group were left in silence<br />
to deal with their anger, while the other<br />
participants were asked to take out their<br />
iPods and listen to angry extreme music<br />
from their personal playlists for ten<br />
minutes. Sharman and Dingle measured<br />
changes in heart rate in both sets of participants,<br />
and also asked them about<br />
their levels of hostility, irritability,<br />
stress, relaxation, activity and inspiration.<br />
The results showed that listening to<br />
extreme music while experiencing feelings<br />
of anger and aggression has a positive<br />
effect on the listener, allowing them<br />
to process their feelings, much like the<br />
participants in Papinczach’s (2015) experiment<br />
which reported a similar sense<br />
of sad music helping them to process<br />
feelings of sadness.<br />
Essentially, these findings have shown<br />
that music can affect our moods, and that<br />
those who consider themselves listeners<br />
of extreme music, much like Waller’s<br />
Great White Sharks, deal with their anger<br />
better and ultimately feel calmer when<br />
listening to heavier music (although most<br />
likely for very different reasons). Now that<br />
I’ve discovered this research, when I feel<br />
myself becoming angry about anything,<br />
I may reach for my headphones before I<br />
reach for someone’s neck.<br />
For those of you who listen to ‘extreme’<br />
genres of music, do you find that you<br />
choose songs specifically to influence<br />
and control your emotions in a certain<br />
way? Do non-listeners do similar things<br />
with their own music?<br />
References & Further Reading:<br />
Case, A., (2011, June 02). Great White Sharks Attracted<br />
By AC/DC Hits. Australian Geographic. Retrieved from<br />
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au<br />
Sharman, L., Dingle, G. A., (2015) Extreme Metal Music<br />
And Anger Processing, Fronteirs In Human Neuroscience,<br />
9, 272
Psych2Go<br />
28<br />
CAN<br />
ANGER<br />
MAKE<br />
US<br />
MORE<br />
RATIONAL?<br />
Personality Psychology<br />
I came across a quote a few<br />
years ago that stuck with me:<br />
“Don’t make decisions<br />
when you’re angry, and<br />
don’t make promises<br />
when you’re happy.”<br />
By: Sophie Poulsen<br />
Artwork by: Ruth Grace Estipona<br />
…I’d like to address the first part of<br />
this quote.<br />
Some qualities that are more commonly<br />
associated with anger are stupidity, risky<br />
behavior, distrust, prejudice, hostility,<br />
aggression, and, above all, being irrational.<br />
We’ve all been in a fight where we’ve<br />
said things we didn’t mean. We may have<br />
called someone something we didn’t<br />
mean, hurting them and embarrassing<br />
ourselves in the process. We may have<br />
impulsively lashed out and made hasty,<br />
stupid decisions, similarly to when<br />
we’re intoxicated.<br />
More and more research has shown,<br />
however, that anger can perhaps make us<br />
more rational.<br />
One of the most prominent experiments<br />
in this area was done by Moons and<br />
Mackie (2007), where they presented two<br />
groups of students - one angry, one neutral<br />
- with a persuasive message about<br />
the fiscal responsibilities of students.
ISSUE 1<br />
one angry, one neutral - with a persuasive<br />
message about the fiscal responsibilities<br />
of students. Each group of<br />
students had to write about a particular<br />
situation or event. One group, however,<br />
was instructed to write about an event<br />
that made them feel angry. The researchers<br />
then presented them with different<br />
persuasive messages that they had to<br />
evaluate.<br />
Moons and Mackie (2007) found that angry<br />
students were more likely to ignore<br />
an irrelevant message from a superficial<br />
expert, while participants in neutral<br />
moods did not. This shows that angry<br />
people appear to process analytically,<br />
which “contradicts the notion that angry<br />
people…lack the cognitive resources or<br />
the motivation to engage in deeper processing”<br />
(Moons & Mackie, 2007, p. 717).<br />
Thus, anger acts as a motivator rather<br />
than a barrier to analytic thought.<br />
In another study, Young, Tiedens, Jung,<br />
and Tsai (2011) researched whether angry<br />
people could objectively evaluate<br />
information without confirmation bias.<br />
Confirmation bias is when individuals<br />
seek information that favors their pre-existing<br />
beliefs while ignoring information<br />
that does not favor their beliefs, meaning<br />
that individuals create biased opinions<br />
because of the way in which they evaluate<br />
information. For example, a reporter<br />
writing an article on an important topic<br />
may only interview experts who support<br />
his or her views on the issue. Confirmation<br />
bias is problematic because it does<br />
not allow for an objective, realistic perspective.<br />
So are angry people also affected by confirmation<br />
bias?<br />
Interestingly, Young et al. (2011) found<br />
that anger results in less confirmation<br />
bias than other emotional states. In their<br />
study, Young et al. (2011) provided participants<br />
with a survey that asked them<br />
about their political views. The main<br />
question was: “Who do you want to win<br />
the 2008 Presidential Election?” Their<br />
choices were Senator John McCain and<br />
Senator Barack Obama. Participants<br />
were then presented with twelve expert<br />
statements on the election. Half of<br />
the statements were in favor of McCain,<br />
the other half were in favor of Obama.<br />
Participants were asked to select the<br />
statements that they were more interested<br />
in.<br />
In order to manipulate the participants’<br />
emotional states, they were also asked<br />
to recount<br />
a memory that was either angry, sad, or<br />
neutral.<br />
Young et al. (2011) found that angry participants<br />
often selected information that<br />
did not follow their beliefs. They attributed<br />
this to the fact that the feeling of anger<br />
produces an “antagonistic interchange,”<br />
where individuals are in an argumentative<br />
state, ready to “move against” someone<br />
who disagrees with their opinion.<br />
In comparison, people in sad or neutral<br />
states were more likely to select information<br />
that confirmed their current opinion.<br />
Both of these studies are significant in<br />
that they show that angry people will be<br />
more flexible in their perspectives, as<br />
well as more analytical in their thinking,<br />
than people in other emotional states.<br />
However, this does not mean that people<br />
should try to experience more anger in<br />
order to make better decisions or think<br />
more analytically.<br />
Every individual is different; anger can<br />
make you rational, but it can also lead to<br />
impulsive decisions that you regret later.<br />
---<br />
Work Cited<br />
Moons, W. G., & Mackie, D. M. (2007). Thinking Straight<br />
While Seeing Red: The Influence of Anger on Information<br />
Processing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,<br />
33(5), 706- 720. doi: 10.1177/0146167206298566<br />
Young, M. J., Tiedens, L. Z., Jung, H., & Tsai, M. (2011).<br />
Mad enough to see the other side: Anger and the search<br />
for disconfirming information. Cognition and Emotion,<br />
25(1), 10- 21. doi: 10.1080/02699930903534105<br />
29
Psych2Go<br />
Developmental Psychology<br />
30<br />
By: Kayleigh Herber<br />
Artwork by: Jeffrey Bigelow<br />
Developmental Psychology is the<br />
study of how, and why, people change<br />
over their lifetime. When this branch of<br />
psychology was just getting started it<br />
was primarily concerned with babies and<br />
young children, but over the course of the<br />
decades it has expanded to include adolescents<br />
and adults as well. As humans<br />
we are constantly developing in one way<br />
or another, for better or for worse, and<br />
developmental psychology now studies<br />
people of all ages. Today we will be discussing<br />
three major themes within developmental<br />
psychology that scientists have<br />
been busy with for years.<br />
The Nature and Nurture Debate<br />
Over the course of history psychologists<br />
have argued whether behaviour is<br />
shaped by genetics and natural forces we<br />
encounter growing up, or if it’s shaped by<br />
a child’s upbringing. These are referred<br />
to as empiricism (nurture) and nativism<br />
(nature). The empiricists argue that children<br />
are born as a tabula rasa (“blank<br />
slate”), and that behavioural traits develop<br />
almost exclusively from the way<br />
children grow up. On the other hand,<br />
nativists argue that a lot of skills have a<br />
genetic or innate basis, like instinctively<br />
looking for food. While both points of view<br />
used to be usually quite black and white,<br />
contemporary psychologists recognise<br />
that both are very important, though it<br />
is hard to prove exactly how much each<br />
contributes. In a 2014 survey, many of<br />
the responding scientists wrote that the<br />
two-sided nature vs. nurture debate has<br />
outlived its usefulness because it has<br />
3 Important<br />
Themes in<br />
Developmental<br />
Psychology You<br />
Must Know About<br />
sufficiently been proven that both<br />
sides interact.<br />
Continuity and Discontinuity<br />
Also a very widely discussed topic – even<br />
the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud<br />
discussed it - is how we describe patterns<br />
of development. Some psychologists view<br />
development as a continuous process,<br />
where development happens gradually<br />
and skills and abilities are accumulated<br />
over the years. Others tend to view it as<br />
a staircase of step-like phases that are<br />
qualitatively different from the ones before<br />
and after, each defined by particular<br />
behaviours. Contemporary psychologists<br />
view development as a smooth continuous<br />
curve rather than steps; they do<br />
agree that within that curve there are<br />
phases, but they transition into another<br />
phase gradually.<br />
Domain-general and Domain-specific<br />
Another topic that has intrigued many<br />
psychologists is whether, and to what<br />
extent, the development of new skills<br />
can influence our development of other<br />
skills. For example, if you’re learning<br />
a new way of swimming like the backstroke,<br />
which involves bringing your arms<br />
over the head in order to move through<br />
the water, it might impact other motor<br />
abilities too. Practicing this posture and<br />
movement could possibly help you develop<br />
other skills, like over-arm serving in<br />
tennis, or weight lifting, which includes<br />
similar movements. Psychologists differ<br />
in how far they consider things like these<br />
are domain-general. Others have tak-
ISSUE 1<br />
en a more domain-specific point of<br />
view, and believe developments like this<br />
proceed rather independently.<br />
These three important subjects might<br />
seem very one-or-the-other, but they<br />
are anything but that. There is more and<br />
more consensus among scientists and<br />
psychologists that development is probably<br />
caused by multiple factors at all levels.<br />
This means that there is rarely just<br />
one correct answer to the question ‘what<br />
causes this development?’ or ‘which of<br />
these is true’. Finding out exactly what<br />
the answer is seems pretty much impossible,<br />
but the psychological community<br />
will keep trying and trying to get as close<br />
to the answer as possible.<br />
As humans we are constantly<br />
developing in one way or<br />
another, for better or for<br />
worse<br />
31<br />
Works Cited:<br />
Buehl, M. M., Alexander, P. A., & Murphy, P. K. (2002).<br />
Beliefs about schooled knowledge: Domain specific or<br />
domain general?. Contemporary educational psychology,<br />
27(3), 415-449.<br />
Gopnik, A. (2014). Time to Retire: The Simplicity of Nature<br />
vs. Nurture,”. Mind and Matter”, published, 1, 25.<br />
Leman, P., Bremner, A., Parke, R. D., & Gauvain, M.<br />
(2012). Developmental Psychology. London: McGraw<br />
Hill.<br />
Weinfield, N. S., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (2000).<br />
Attachment from infancy to early adulthood in a high<br />
risk sample: Continuity, discontinuity, and their correlates.<br />
Child development, 71(3), 695-702.<br />
Further reading:<br />
Developmental Psychology (2011) – Dr Rachel Gillibrand,<br />
Dr Virginia Lam & Dr Victoria L. O’Donnell.<br />
An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (2011) –<br />
Alan Slater, J. Gavin Bremner
Psych2Go<br />
32<br />
S.E.E.P<br />
AUTISM SPECTRUM<br />
EDUCATING EARLY<br />
By: Sheena Mackenzie<br />
S.E.E.P. (Special, Exceptional, Extraordinary People)<br />
To those unfamiliar with Autistic<br />
Spectrum Disorders (ASD), our ideas<br />
about what it really is are shaped by<br />
representations in popular culture,<br />
and perhaps the two most prominent<br />
examples are the film ‘Rain Man’ and<br />
Jim Parson’s Sheldon Cooper from<br />
the American comedy series ‘The Big<br />
Bang Theory’ (although the latter is not<br />
diagnosed, it is widely accepted that he<br />
is). Representational media is incredibly<br />
important to all of us, but it can present<br />
its own problems, as in this example,<br />
where both characters are portrayed<br />
similarly: as troubled geniuses with<br />
strangely obsessive interests, ‘quirky’<br />
behaviors and difficulty in socializing<br />
with others. All of these traits are<br />
associated with autism, but the reality is<br />
much more complex than the simplistic<br />
understanding many seem to have of<br />
it - it’s a spectrum disorder, with many<br />
different levels of functionality and kinds<br />
of expression.<br />
As someone who has known a number<br />
of people at different points on the<br />
Autistic Spectrum, a trend I’ve noticed<br />
is that once children reach about seven<br />
or eight years old, there comes a division<br />
in which neurotypical children exclude<br />
and sometimes even bully peers who<br />
have autism. Promoting the inclusion of<br />
those on the autistic spectrum in schools<br />
is vitally important to allowing them to<br />
create friendships, relationships, and<br />
support systems which are key to living<br />
a fulfilled life for all people. Creating<br />
awareness of autism among those<br />
who attend school with people who<br />
have ASD and dealing with the stigma<br />
of it at a very young age could greatly<br />
improve tolerance and understanding<br />
of the sometimes confusing behavior<br />
that people with autism can exhibit, and<br />
allow them to develop sympathetic and<br />
supportive friend groups with peers,<br />
separate from the parental and formal<br />
support that can easily become the only<br />
support a person receives coping not only<br />
with their disorder, but the other stresses<br />
that young people face growing up.<br />
To this end, Kimberly Maich and E.<br />
Christina Belcher from Ontario, Canada<br />
and Melbourne, Australia respectively,<br />
have investigated the use of picture<br />
books depicting and exploring autism in<br />
schools to promote awareness among<br />
children from a young age. Their study<br />
looked at a variety of books already in<br />
print which address this issue, including<br />
both books which specifically addressed<br />
autism and autistic behavior (such as<br />
“Understanding Sam And Asperger’s<br />
Syndrome” (Van Niekerk & Venters,<br />
2006)) and books which portray autism<br />
in an indirect manner (like “Looking<br />
After Louie” (Ely, 2004)). It’s important<br />
to use both types of portrayal so that<br />
children both understand the complexity<br />
of the disorder, but also that to have<br />
autism does not have to be a disruptive<br />
or defining thing in normal everyday<br />
situation. The paper suggests ten factors<br />
to be considered when approaching this<br />
issues in this way (‘including (a) story<br />
selection tools, (b) direct labelling,
ISSUE 1<br />
(c) indirect terminology, (d) the<br />
wider context, (e) finding positive<br />
perspective, (f) pictorial and literary<br />
value, (g) curricular considerations, (h)<br />
participation possibilities, (i) instructional<br />
approaches, and (j) putting a plan in<br />
place’), but concludes that, although<br />
it needs to be done in a very carefully<br />
planned manner in educational setting, it<br />
is beneficial for both neurotypical pupils<br />
and pupils with ASD.<br />
33<br />
The key thing to remember when<br />
educating people about the autistic<br />
spectrum is that those with ASD are<br />
people who have autism, not autistic<br />
people. This particular condition, to<br />
varying degrees, does have an impact<br />
on an individual’s social, intellectual,<br />
and emotional development, but it is<br />
not their defining characteristic. Autistic<br />
is not a personality trait or a lifestyle,<br />
and those who have it are people before<br />
they are autistics, people with dreams,<br />
motivations, a sense of humor and their<br />
own way of being in the world.
Psych2Go<br />
34<br />
<br />
SPENCER<br />
By: Natalie Pedemonte<br />
S.E.E.P. (Special, Exceptional, Extraordinary People)<br />
All my life, I knew my brother had<br />
Autism. Being the younger of the two,<br />
I didn’t always understand what that<br />
meant, but I knew that he was different.<br />
As far as I was concerned, Spencer was<br />
the kind of big brother that all my friends<br />
had. But as I grew up, I slowly began to<br />
realize that my brother and I were not the<br />
same in comparison to my friends and<br />
their siblings.<br />
I took notice and was baffled by how my<br />
friends’ older siblings always seemed<br />
so uninterested in spending time with<br />
their younger brothers and sisters. Most<br />
siblings with a three-year age gap didn’t<br />
get along as well as me and my brother<br />
did. They never really developed a bond<br />
until later in life. But despite their lack of<br />
interest in one other, the older sibling was<br />
always there to show the younger one the<br />
ropes of life. In my case, I had to try and<br />
figure out the ropes on my own and then<br />
try and help Spencer figure some out<br />
along the way. Spencer and I have always<br />
been close and I can’t remember a game<br />
that he didn’t involve me in. I could always<br />
confide in him when it came down to it.<br />
Spencer was big into history when we<br />
were younger, and every game we played<br />
had some historical significance that we<br />
always stuck to. So all in all, a majority of<br />
my childhood was learning a wide range<br />
of historic events. By the time I got to high<br />
school, I knew almost everything I was<br />
learning in class because my brother and<br />
I had played games based on the same<br />
content as children.<br />
The patience required by me to<br />
play games with my brother rolled<br />
over into my teenage years, and in turn,<br />
he’s affected the way in which I interact<br />
with others. I believe that I’m able to<br />
understand how people think a lot better<br />
than other people my age. From years of<br />
following games step by step, I’m a lot<br />
more analytical when observing people’s<br />
actions. Spencer has allowed me to<br />
look at the world and the people in it,<br />
much differently.<br />
People have asked me what it’s like<br />
growing up with Spencer being the way he<br />
is. And I have never been able to properly<br />
answer them because I was less than a<br />
year old when he was diagnosed, so I’ve<br />
never known any differently.<br />
For my entire life, Spencer has always<br />
been Spencer. And while that made him<br />
different to others, it made my entire<br />
childhood all the more special. There was<br />
never a dull moment with him. I’ve had to<br />
grow up a little bit faster than my friends<br />
have because of my brother. And since<br />
the death of our mom, we’ve both had to<br />
do a lot of growing up in a short period<br />
of time. From experiences like this that<br />
have evoked life-changing mentalities,<br />
our relationship has become even<br />
stronger. I’ve had to be his rock, and he’s<br />
done the same for me. I’ve never really<br />
known anything else and, despite a few<br />
difficulties, I wouldn’t want anyone other<br />
than Spencer to be my sibling. To be my<br />
big brother.
ISSUE 1<br />
35
Psych2Go<br />
36<br />
SCRUB JAYS<br />
Animal Psychology<br />
&<br />
FUTURE PLANNING<br />
By: Imogen Bowler<br />
Artwork by: Ale Caballero
ISSUE 1<br />
Future planning is an interesting,<br />
and particularly hard skill to have. The<br />
reason it is particularly hard is because<br />
to plan for the future, you have to plan for<br />
the motivational state (e.g. hunger, thirst)<br />
you will be in at that time. This requires<br />
the suppression of the motivational state<br />
you are currently in. For this reason,<br />
researchers are not sure whether it is<br />
something animals can do or not. One<br />
interesting study looking into this was<br />
conducted with scrub jays, looking at the<br />
hunger motivational state.<br />
For context, experiments with humans<br />
have shown even we are not perfect at<br />
this kind of future planning. For example,<br />
in Atance and Meltzoff’s (2006) study<br />
children were allowed to eat as many<br />
pretzels as they liked. They were then<br />
asked if they would want a glass of water,<br />
or some more pretzels tomorrow. While<br />
4-5 year olds performed above chance<br />
level, they were not perfect. 3 year olds<br />
also failed this task (ed: what determined<br />
a fail?). It’s even been shown that adult<br />
humans can fail at these kinds of tasks.<br />
Read and van Leeuven (1998) conducted a<br />
field experiment on adult participants in<br />
an office, they were asked whether they<br />
would want a healthy or unhealthy snack<br />
the day after. They were either hunger or<br />
not at the time of asking, and hungry or<br />
not when they would receive the snack.<br />
Participants struggled to correctly predict<br />
what they would want when the two<br />
states of hunger did not match.<br />
With these findings in mind, let’s look at<br />
what Raby et al (2007) found when testing<br />
this skill in scrub jays. This study consisted<br />
of two phases, a training phase and a<br />
testing phase. In the training phase, for 6<br />
days scrub jays spent the morning either<br />
in place A or place C. In place A they were<br />
given breakfast, whereas in place C they<br />
were not. Therefore, in place C, hunger<br />
was more likely to occur. On the 7th day,<br />
the scrub jays were pre-fed so they were<br />
not hungry. They were then given extra<br />
food which they could cache. Caching is<br />
a behavior many birds display where they<br />
store food in a hidden place in case they<br />
need it at a future date. During this<br />
testing phase, the jays were given free<br />
reign of the two places (A and C). If they<br />
were able to ignore their current state<br />
(not being hungry) and plan for a future<br />
point in time (where they would be hungry)<br />
then they should cache more food in<br />
place C. This was in fact what was found,<br />
scrub jays would cache the food in place<br />
C at a higher rate than chance.<br />
This is taken by some as an example of<br />
the scrub jays resisting current state to<br />
plan for the future, however others suggest<br />
that there are problems with this<br />
experiment and that coming to that conclusion<br />
is premature. Can you think of<br />
any possible alternative explanations of<br />
this finding?<br />
Works Cited:<br />
Atance & Melztoff (2006) Preschoolers’ current desires<br />
warp their choices for the future. Psychological Science,<br />
17(7).<br />
Read & van Leeuwen (1998) Predicting hunger: the effects<br />
of appetite and delay on choice.<br />
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,<br />
76(2), 189-205<br />
Raby, C.R., Alexis, D.M., Dickinson, A., & Clayton, N.S.<br />
(2007) Planning for the<br />
future by western scrub jays. Nature, 445, 919-921<br />
37
Psych2Go<br />
38<br />
FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY<br />
PSYCHOPATHY<br />
By: Larissa Grundmanis<br />
Artwork by: Pilar Chavez<br />
Forensic Psychology
ISSUE 1<br />
“I’m not a psychopath, I’m a highfunctioning<br />
sociopath.” This quote has<br />
often been heard by fans of the BBC show<br />
Sherlock, and while viewers may laugh,<br />
do they truly understand what is it to be<br />
a psychopath, and why Holmes would<br />
prefer to be called a high-functioning<br />
sociopath? As an avid fan of Sherlock<br />
as well as someone who is interested<br />
in forensic psychology I have often<br />
wondered to myself: do I truly know the<br />
difference between the two? While both<br />
are truly fascinating, the main focus<br />
here is on psychopathy – after all, many<br />
individuals with psychopathic traits are<br />
found in prisons.<br />
39<br />
Psychopathy, while often confused<br />
with one who is psychotic, is actually a<br />
mere individual who has the abilities to<br />
manipulate their way through life without<br />
remorse. While this is a simplified<br />
definition, the most common traits of a<br />
psychopath are that they are incapable<br />
of forming deep emotional attachments,<br />
they often times are unable to feel guilt or<br />
empathy, they are manipulative, and they<br />
often hold a profuse level of “superficial<br />
charm”. Unfortunately, many times these<br />
traits are overlooked by the general public<br />
who instead see someone with antisocial<br />
personality disorder, psychosis, or a<br />
serial killer, according to the Society for<br />
the Scientific Study of Psychopathy.<br />
Why then, is psychopathy so often<br />
associated with murderers? Perhaps it<br />
is because of the media, or perhaps it is<br />
because many individuals who have killed<br />
have been diagnosed with some form of<br />
psychopathy, such as Joanna Dennehy. It<br />
may also be due to the notion that only<br />
criminals would be able to behave in<br />
such manners, but is that really true?<br />
According to Chivers, it’s not. He notes<br />
that Robert Hare, the creator of the<br />
PCL-R once stated:<br />
“There are people who are part-way up<br />
the scale, high enough to warrant an<br />
assessment for psychopathy, but not<br />
high enough up to cause problems. Often<br />
they’re our friends, they’re fun to be<br />
around. They might take advantage of us<br />
now and then, but usually it’s subtle and<br />
they’re able to talk their way around it.”<br />
How many times have you found yourself<br />
taking advantage of your friends, even if it<br />
was to just get a free meal out of them?<br />
How many times have you or your friends<br />
acted impulsively or irresponsibly? How<br />
many times have you found yourself<br />
unwilling to acknowledge that you made<br />
a mistake, and take responsibility for the<br />
consequences? How many times have<br />
you, or someone you know, committed<br />
acts of wanton sexual behavior?<br />
Most individuals would be able to find<br />
some common ground between these<br />
traits and their own lifestyles, but that<br />
does not mean that they are violent<br />
individuals who are prone to crime.<br />
Psychopathy is often looked down<br />
upon, but many times the average<br />
human being acts in ways that would<br />
be found in someone with psychopathic<br />
tendencies. Perhaps instead of jumping<br />
to conclusions, we, as individuals, should<br />
look for true motives behind someone’s<br />
actions.<br />
Citation:<br />
Chivers, T. (2014, April 6). Psychopaths: How can you<br />
spot one?. In The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://<br />
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10737827/<br />
Psychopaths-how-can-you-spot-one.html<br />
Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. (2013).<br />
Psychopathy: A misunderstood condition. In Society<br />
for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. Retrieved from<br />
http://www.psychopathysociety.org/en/<br />
Webb, D. (n.d.). The psychopath. In All About Forensic<br />
Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.all-aboutforensic-psychology.com/psychopath.html
Psych2Go<br />
40 3
ISSUE 1<br />
41<br />
ART SUBMISSION WINNER:<br />
THEME: “Psych2Go Community”<br />
“I chose to illustrate the theme “Psych2Go Community” as<br />
a group of people helping each other solve a puzzle. I’ve observed<br />
members of various Psych2Go Facebook groups from<br />
their posts online that the wit and wisdom of each community<br />
members increases camaraderie - or the spirit of humor and<br />
fun. I want to express it in this illustration how they share their<br />
views to enhance learning from each other while in the process<br />
of creating something big.”<br />
Ruth Espinosa<br />
r-gie.tumblr.com<br />
If you would like to have the chance to win and have your art<br />
showcased in our next issue, be on the lookout for the next art<br />
theme which will be posted on our social media!
Psych2Go<br />
42<br />
TIPS FOR<br />
INTERVIEWS<br />
Career Building<br />
By: Jessica Jang<br />
Artwork by: Jane Shi
ISSUE 1<br />
For those trying to get a job,<br />
here are some tips for your interviews!<br />
You’ve got your foot<br />
in the door and now it’s time to<br />
tell your story. These are also<br />
helpful for conducting your own<br />
interviews. Good luck!<br />
THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF SIMPLE<br />
ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR<br />
Eye contact<br />
This is when the interviewer and interviewee<br />
look each other in the eyes.<br />
The culture and the interviewee might<br />
prefer it to others.<br />
Body language<br />
This is when the interviewer or interviewee<br />
communicate other messages<br />
based on their movements and posture.<br />
Mirroring is when both parties are consistent<br />
in their movements and is best<br />
done subtly. This helps people become<br />
comfortable with you.<br />
Vocal qualities<br />
This is how loudness, pitch, rate, and<br />
fluency affects the interviewee since it<br />
can communicate feelings of empathy or<br />
cause conflict. It’s best to use a soft, firm<br />
voice when interviewing.<br />
Verbal tracking<br />
This is listening to the interviewee to<br />
clarify and summarize what they say<br />
without putting their meanings in it.<br />
Negative attending behaviors are overused<br />
positive attending behavior that it<br />
becomes uncomfortable. Excessive head<br />
nods are distracting, saying “uh huh”<br />
often becomes annoying, too much eye<br />
contact overwhelms others, repeating<br />
the last words intimidates the client,<br />
awkward mirroring looks like mocking.<br />
The interviewee doesn’t want to be scrutinized<br />
or apprehensive otherwise the interviewer<br />
won’t get the true information<br />
they want. Remember everything is good<br />
in moderation.<br />
It’s important to consider culture with<br />
attending skills because an interview<br />
should be a good environment for getting<br />
information and both parties should be<br />
respectful of each other. Individuals have<br />
a preference on the amount of each dimension<br />
of attending behavior. Gestures<br />
could convey other messages in other<br />
cultures and might not be appropriate.<br />
The most important part of interviewing<br />
is being a good storyteller. You need to be<br />
able to take your past experience and use<br />
it to explain how you’ve developed skills<br />
important for the new job. DO NOT just<br />
repeat your resumes because they have<br />
already seen it you just need to expand on<br />
it more. A good method to use is to write<br />
out your positions then come up with at<br />
least three tasks you had to do then the<br />
skills related to it. Here’s an example:<br />
1. Cashier<br />
a.) Accept currency and keep accounts updated<br />
Organization<br />
i.) Trustworthiness<br />
b.) Clean checkout area<br />
i.) Multitasking skills<br />
c.) Help customers with purchases<br />
i.) Communication/interpersonal skills<br />
ii.) Customer Service<br />
43
Psych2Go<br />
Community Submissions:<br />
October: Sport Psychology & Psychology and the Internet<br />
44<br />
HOW IS<br />
PSYCHOLOGY<br />
INVOLVED IN<br />
What is Sports Psychology? (Cherry,<br />
2015) tell us that Sports Psychology is<br />
the study of how psychology influences<br />
sports, athletic performance, exercise,<br />
and physical activity. It is said that sport<br />
psychologists, aside from working with<br />
people who just want to exercise for their<br />
health and well-being, they also work<br />
with athletes and coaches so they can enhance<br />
the ir motivation and performance.<br />
Could that be effective? Thanks to this<br />
article and my perfectly done research<br />
you’ll find out now, today. Just keep reading!<br />
According to (Comar, 1994) educationally-based<br />
psychological interventions<br />
have produced significant increases in<br />
performance. He states that 38 of the<br />
45 studies examined (85%) have found<br />
positive performance effects. Recently<br />
conducted research has added that<br />
sport psychology has had positive affect<br />
on performance enhancement, as well as<br />
the personal growth of athletes. However,<br />
further research needs to be conducted<br />
to improve the understanding of these<br />
positive affects. You’re probably thinking<br />
that this article will only contain information<br />
about studies that have been conducted<br />
throughout the years but you’re<br />
wrong. Besides information about those<br />
studies, I will be speaking about the<br />
athlete’s perspective which is extremely<br />
important. The psychologists can say<br />
anything they want, but if the athlete or<br />
SPORTS?<br />
By: Yara Meléndez<br />
Artwork by: Jane Shi<br />
coach doesn’t feel like he or she has<br />
made any progress throughout the process,<br />
then it hasn’t been effective at all.<br />
(Sharp & Hodge, 2014) conducted a study<br />
in which nine elite athletes would be interviewed<br />
to talk about what they perceived<br />
to be essential for effective sport<br />
psychology consulting and to examine<br />
their perceptions of the key components<br />
of an effective sport psychology consulting<br />
relationship. There were six males<br />
and three females from a variety of sports<br />
(e.g. cricket, rugby, swimming, triathlon,<br />
dressage and wheelchair rugby).<br />
The analysis indicated that three categories<br />
were essential for sport psychology<br />
consulting effectiveness; sport psychology<br />
consultants were friendly but not a<br />
friend, consulting experience and athlete-centered<br />
consulting.<br />
FOUR<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
categories resulted essential for<br />
effective consulting relationships;<br />
flexibility<br />
open, honest, and respectful<br />
contributions from both the athlete<br />
and the consultant<br />
athlete as an active participant in the<br />
consulting relationship<br />
After conducting this research I did some<br />
serious brainstorming. I tried to see this<br />
from their perspective and came to my
ISSUE 1<br />
own conclusions and opinions. I think<br />
that sports psychology could really be effective.<br />
Yes, people say that you can only<br />
motivate yourself and the only one that<br />
can or cannot make you do what you want<br />
is you. Somewhat that might be true<br />
but don’t you think that if you have people<br />
around you who care, take the time<br />
to listen and give you advice; that it will<br />
motivate you too ? Having someone rooting<br />
for you always. Isn’t that nice? Yes, it<br />
is! That’s why I think it is effective. Obviously,<br />
the psychologist cannot do the job<br />
by him or herself. You have to be faithful<br />
and hopeful about your goals and try to<br />
make them happen with the help of your<br />
sports psychologist or any psychologist if<br />
you want to speak about your goals in life<br />
instead of just athleticism. You do your<br />
part and he/she will do his. In the end,<br />
everyone wins.<br />
Citations:<br />
Weinberg, R. (1994, December 1). The Effectiveness of<br />
Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sport. Retrieved<br />
September 1, 2015.<br />
Weinberg, R. (1994). The effectiveness of psychological<br />
interventions in competitive sport. Retrieved September<br />
1, 2015<br />
Sharp, L., & Hodge, K. (2014, April 14). Sport psychology<br />
consulting effectiveness: The athlete’s perspective.<br />
Retrieved August 31, 2015.<br />
The psychologists can say<br />
anything they want, but if<br />
the athlete or coach doesn’t<br />
feel like he or she has made<br />
any progress throughout the<br />
process, then it hasn’t been<br />
effective at all.<br />
45
Psych2Go<br />
46<br />
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MARTIAL ARTS<br />
Body, Mind, Spirit:<br />
The Strength from Within<br />
By: Mitchell Mabugat<br />
Artwork by: Jane Shi<br />
Community Submissions:<br />
October: Sport Psychology & Psychology and the Internet<br />
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 punches once,<br />
But I fear the man who has practiced 1 punch 10,000 times.”<br />
-Bruce Lee<br />
Dedication. Intensity. Control. Focus.<br />
All these are key aspects in the world of<br />
martial arts. Dating back to as far as 2000<br />
BCE, martial arts has become a strong<br />
spiritual, physical, and emotional discipline,<br />
that for years has given strength<br />
and enlightenment in one way or another,<br />
to all those who went in search for the<br />
true meaning of combat.<br />
Whether you look at the ancient samurai<br />
of Japan, or the brutal bare knuckle<br />
boxing of Greece, all cultures of the world<br />
have developed in some sense, their own<br />
art of self-defense. Though a common<br />
misconception, many people believe<br />
that all combat consists of is a bunch of<br />
brutes toppling over each other to see<br />
who is the strongest. This idea, I can<br />
confidently say, is false. Though physical<br />
strength is, like in all sports important, it<br />
does not alone make up the foundations<br />
and principles of martial arts. The most<br />
important and sometimes the most difficult<br />
aspect of one’s self to master is the<br />
mind. In its truest form, martial arts is a<br />
science. Similar to all areas of science it<br />
requires analysis, repetition, and reflection<br />
in order to truly master. A second<br />
too slow and you take damage, a second<br />
to fast and you lose an opportunity to do<br />
damage.<br />
Keeping this in mind, I’d say that<br />
approximately 80% of fights are won before<br />
the first punch is thrown. In Sun Tzu’s<br />
book, The Art Of War, he explains “A skillful<br />
general must defeat the enemy without<br />
coming to battle, take his cities without<br />
siege and overthrow his state without<br />
a long campaign. He must make every<br />
effort under the heaven to achieve total<br />
victory with his forced undiminished: This<br />
is the true art of strategic offence.” (Tzu,<br />
S. 513 BCE). Never let your enemy see<br />
your fear. When weak appear to your enemies<br />
as strong. When strong appear to<br />
your enemies as weak. Sun Tzu describes<br />
warfare and combat as “the path of deception”<br />
(Tzu, S. 513 BCE). To never show<br />
your aggressors your fears or insecurities;<br />
to appear a lion when feeling like a<br />
mouse. Showing your aggressor not how<br />
strong you are physically but how impenetrable<br />
and indestructible your mind is.<br />
Even when in a competition of strength,<br />
he whose psyche is unbreakable, is physically<br />
unbreakable.<br />
Now I am aware that the topic I am supposed<br />
to be writing on is sports psychology,<br />
and although mixed martial arts,<br />
boxing, and taekwondo are all technically<br />
sports, I can assure you martial arts in<br />
its truest form is much more than just<br />
a sport. To some it is a lifestyle forged<br />
through repetition and tradition, and to
ISSUE 1<br />
others it is a form of self-expression.<br />
But to all, it is simply an escape. Coming<br />
into a training session, you could have<br />
the world weighing down on you. And by<br />
the end of the class, feeling lighter than<br />
ever before. Sure, your body may not feel<br />
that way at first, but your mind will gain<br />
a sense of relief, if even for a moment,<br />
which I could only describe as magical.<br />
Throughout our lives we tend to find ourselves<br />
shying away from any thoughts of<br />
violence; however, when the time comes<br />
– as it is inevitable, we are not prepared<br />
to defend ourselves from this unexplored,<br />
frightening monster. And unless you live<br />
under a rock, I guarantee you that someday,<br />
somewhere you will need to fight.<br />
Fight for love, fight for pride, or even a<br />
fight to get that killer beach body you’ve<br />
always wanted. Everyday of our lives is a<br />
fight.<br />
47<br />
Is martial arts for everyone? No. Will you<br />
become a great UFC fighter by going to<br />
a few classes? Hell no. Will you gain the<br />
individual strength and resilience needed<br />
to walk through life with less fear and<br />
more confidence? Most definitely.<br />
Citations:<br />
Anonymous. Martial Arts Training: Benefits Physical<br />
and Psychological. Retrieved from http://www.ontarioselfdefence.ca/martial-arts-training-benefits-physical-and-psychological/<br />
Lapre, S. Personal Communication. June 2012.<br />
Mccaferty,G. (2015, July). Psychological Benefits of<br />
Martial Arts Training. Retrieved from http://believeperform.com/performance/psychological-benefits-of-martial-arts-training/
Psych2Go<br />
48<br />
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE INTERNET<br />
By: Digby Driver<br />
Artwork by: Pilar Chavez<br />
Community Submissions:<br />
October: Sport Psychology & Psychology and the Internet<br />
Interpretation is the most necessary<br />
survival skill for all thinking creatures,<br />
though rarely is it associated with basic<br />
needs. Any cub scout, disaster prepper,<br />
or off the grid homesteader will tell you<br />
that food, shelter, and water are the most<br />
crucial things to consider, but the fact<br />
is that these things would never have<br />
crossed their minds were it not for their<br />
body’s ability to interpret hunger, thirst,<br />
and cold. We use interpretation every<br />
second of the day without hesitation as<br />
our bodies interpret the need to breathe,<br />
the words of our friends and family, and<br />
the passing of time.<br />
Have you ever realized that without sensory<br />
data, (or the ability to interpret it),<br />
we wouldn’t be able to interact with the<br />
world on any level? We wouldn’t even<br />
know it existed. Without the ability to<br />
take in and interpret sensory stimuli, we<br />
wouldn’t even be the most basic parts<br />
within Sartre’s existential bubble as<br />
for-itself beings in an in-itself world. The<br />
only thing between us and falling into the<br />
void is entirely in the way our body interprets,<br />
translates, and plans to take in and<br />
make sense of it all every hour in a day,<br />
every day in a week, and year after year<br />
so we can stay aware of our shared bubble<br />
for as long as possible.<br />
Well, that’s a little depressing.<br />
Maybe so, but not as much as having<br />
the ability to interpret all that sensory<br />
stimuli, but not being able to explain it<br />
in a way other people can relate to, or in<br />
a way they can relate to you personally.<br />
What happens if you’re the one with<br />
an atypical method of interpretation that<br />
makes the status not so quo for you and<br />
seemingly no one else? What then? Consider<br />
carefully that it takes us right to to<br />
why the Internet is so much more than<br />
just a piece of technology, and why the<br />
psychology behind the Internet isn’t just<br />
for kicks and pop culture giggles.<br />
Communication and interpretation are<br />
the fluids that keep so many areas of<br />
cognitive and developmental psychology<br />
running smoothly. It’s the oil, the<br />
antifreeze, the water pumping through<br />
the radiator cooling down Carl Jung’s<br />
engine of human thought and reaction.<br />
They’re the most basic parts of our brain,<br />
yet so crucial. In a car, they’re the one<br />
thing mechanics and garages will top up<br />
and monitor freely. It’s not just because<br />
they’re nice guys, but because without<br />
them everything in the entire engine will<br />
break apart, fuse together, and grind to a<br />
painful, inevitable halt if they run out or<br />
grow too stagnant.<br />
A popular quote from Jung’s novel Memories,<br />
Dreams, Reflections says, “loneliness<br />
does not come from having no<br />
people about one, but from being unable<br />
to communicate the things that seem<br />
important to oneself, or from holding<br />
certain views which others find inadmissible.”<br />
The internet is not just another product<br />
or service of the tech age. It’s not the<br />
same thing as the first blocky, off-white
ISSUE 1<br />
Macs my generation started out with.<br />
Neither can the Internet be compared to<br />
the other more advanced technology that<br />
seemed to grow mushrooms overnight<br />
during the late 90s and on into the 21st<br />
Century. Perhaps the Internet started<br />
out that way, and it was probably intended<br />
to be nothing more than another tool<br />
in the end, but that’s not what happened.<br />
49<br />
Instead, the Internet has evolved into a<br />
virtual real estate, pioneered and settled<br />
by my fellow Millennials before it was<br />
passed on and seized by Generation Z as<br />
a brave new world they now claim as a<br />
mother country. Like any other country,<br />
the Internet has a language and a culture.<br />
It has currency, government, and<br />
patriotic pride. The fact that it has no set<br />
location, legal residency, or even a physical<br />
mailing addresses isn’t something its<br />
citizens worry about. If the World Wide<br />
Web were an actual place, anthropologists<br />
and government intelligence agencies<br />
would study nothing else for generations<br />
to come, but since it exists solely<br />
as data connections, Wi-Fi hotspots, and<br />
DSL hookups across the world, it’s up<br />
to psychology enthusiasts to spread the<br />
news that the times are changing and<br />
we’d better be prepared for a hostile<br />
takeover by a country that exists only as<br />
stored memory in hard drives and human<br />
minds.
Psych2Go<br />
50<br />
QUIZZES<br />
Created by: Sadia Nadeem<br />
Designed by: Craig Alexander
ISSUE 1<br />
51<br />
Created by: Jade Li<br />
Designed by: Craig Alexander<br />
Please see answers on page 69!
52<br />
Psych2Go
ISSUE 1<br />
53<br />
Comic by: Katherine Fosso<br />
Blog: sunsinourhands.tumblr.com
Psych2Go<br />
54<br />
Projective Psychology<br />
Rorschach Projective Test<br />
INTERPRETATIONS<br />
By: Risha Mae Ordas
ISSUE 1<br />
This set consists of the most common<br />
answers that were sent to Psych2Go.<br />
All compiled responses are listed here.<br />
The audience’s responses were able to<br />
point out and identify some aspects of<br />
their personality and character:<br />
1. A part of the human body.<br />
A common answer was ribcage, but this<br />
also varied to lungs or the pelvis of a<br />
person. Sometimes, it was even specified<br />
as an x-ray. This would be interpreted as<br />
someone who tends to set the bar high<br />
for themselves. Presumably, they would<br />
be the type of person who (consciously or<br />
unconsciously) projects their intelligence<br />
to their environment.<br />
2. An animal.<br />
There were also a lot of responses<br />
regarding animals—the most common<br />
being a cow, but there were also<br />
interpretations of different breeds of<br />
dogs, followed by rats, elephants, and<br />
foxes. Now, in order to decipher this,<br />
it depends on the characteristic of the<br />
animal. Cows, for example, are known<br />
to be stoic, yet emotionally deep. Dogs<br />
are often called loyal. Rats are often<br />
the witty, mischievous ones. Elephants<br />
are sometimes described as calm and<br />
confident. While foxes are associated<br />
with wisdom and are often guides.<br />
3. Two people kissing/shaking hands.<br />
First off, the immediate association with<br />
a human being means that the person<br />
who interpreted the picture in this<br />
way may have strong connections with<br />
humanism. Also, it would depend on the<br />
gender of the person in the image (is it<br />
a man and a woman? Or two people of<br />
the same gender?). The gender or age<br />
observation may depict the attachment<br />
the interpreter has to a particular<br />
figurehead in their life (was it you and<br />
your sibling you saw shaking hands,<br />
perhaps?). The action can be explained<br />
as someone who is aware of themselves,<br />
and is attuned to the different needs of<br />
the people around them.<br />
4. Supernatural figures such as<br />
fairies, dwarves, and angels, and<br />
the grim reaper, were also common<br />
answers.<br />
These kinds of responses can be<br />
associated with someone who is aware of<br />
themselves and has a greater tendency to<br />
be more empathic to other people. But it<br />
would also depend on what the creature is<br />
doing: If it’s positive (like shaking hands),<br />
then it can be interpreted in a positive<br />
light. If negative emotion is clipped with<br />
the figure, then the person identifying the<br />
image could be experiencing some sort of<br />
negativity within their life, or some kind of<br />
pent up emotion.<br />
The next Rorschach will be posted on<br />
the Psych2Go Website and social media<br />
accounts before the next issue, so to<br />
keep yourself up to date and post your<br />
interpretation, be sure to follow us on<br />
social media!<br />
55
Psych2Go<br />
56<br />
BOOK REVIEW:<br />
WINTERGIRLS<br />
By: Hannah Jade<br />
Book Review<br />
Anderson, L. H., & Viking. (2009). Wintergirls. New York: Viking.
ISSUE 1<br />
While well written and an interesting<br />
read, “Wintergirls” is definitely not<br />
representative of what it is like to have<br />
an eating disorder. The book opens with<br />
a description of how Cassie, Lia’s best<br />
friend of 10 years, has been found dead<br />
in the room of a motel. Lia is the main<br />
character of the novel, which documents<br />
her struggles with anorexia, which she<br />
has personified with the name “ana”. It<br />
appears to me that the author’s research<br />
into bulimia and anorexia may not have<br />
spanned further than researching pro<br />
*ana and *mia websites.<br />
A lot of the way things are written seem<br />
to romanticize eating disorders, rather<br />
than show what kind of torture they are.<br />
Lia called herself strong for keeping<br />
herself “empty”. Cassie had been<br />
bulimic and was influencing her friend to<br />
be the same, which actually made Lia’s<br />
parents somewhat grateful that she had<br />
died. I thought that was a bit of a harsh<br />
way to introduce the stepmother in a<br />
scene. I understand that they could have<br />
been blaming her for the eating disorder<br />
of the child they were raising, however<br />
wouldn’t a death of your child’s best<br />
friend warrant a response that was more<br />
caring and trying to help your struggling<br />
child rather than tarnishing their late<br />
best friend’s name? I don’t know really,<br />
as I thought the way the stepmother was<br />
shown was extremely cold, even though<br />
most of the time she was making an<br />
attempt to help out. A lot of the book the<br />
narration is disconnected and it feels<br />
cold. The chapters are titled in the way<br />
that she would weigh herself and write<br />
down the weight (00.0) which I thought<br />
was interesting. Stylistically, the book<br />
somewhat resembles a diary. It is written<br />
in a very poetic style, but I didn’t hate the<br />
poeticism as much as I hate anything like<br />
that by Sharon Creech. (I’m looking at<br />
you, Heartbeat).<br />
However, a lot of the time the author<br />
will cross out words to show what the<br />
character was thinking at first but then<br />
changed their mind to state differently.<br />
Things like “stepmother” crossed<br />
out to say Jennifer. She also refers to<br />
any type of food as either a number or a<br />
color. The numbers represent the calories<br />
in the food she is discussing. There are a<br />
lot of scenes that are graphically about<br />
self harm and intense self deprecation on<br />
Lia’s part both mentally and physically.<br />
She realized that Cassie had called her 47<br />
times on the night of her death, and a part<br />
of what is making her so stressed out and<br />
ill is that she blames herself for not being<br />
there for her friend.<br />
The hotel in which Cassie died has a<br />
person named Elijah working there and<br />
he and Lia form an unlikely friendship.<br />
It’s very strange to watch this person’s<br />
world unravel. We find out that Cassie<br />
died from a ruptured esophagus and Lia<br />
had actually had some points where she<br />
sabotaged Cassie’s attempts to recover<br />
from bulimia- the disease that ultimately<br />
killed her. Cassie had left a message<br />
for Lia - that she was the skinniest, and<br />
she had won. As if it was some sort of<br />
competition, again the glorification of a<br />
weight achieved by means of an eating<br />
disorder.<br />
The book describes the changes in her<br />
body and it gets increasingly emaciated,<br />
which shows the brutality of what<br />
happens with an eating disorder. The very<br />
end of the book Lia is cutting herself,<br />
and her stepsister Emma who absolutely<br />
adores her walks in. It ends on this note<br />
and doesn’t allow further elaboration, so<br />
one can only make assumptions about<br />
where to go from there. Overall, the book<br />
was decent, however I found it slightly<br />
romanticizing eating disorders and who<br />
can be the sickest, but I have not suffered<br />
from bulimia or anorexia, so I would leave<br />
people with more authority on that to<br />
judge better. All in all the book was easy<br />
to read, well written, and interesting. I<br />
think research could have been better,<br />
but overall it was a good read.<br />
*ana – short for Anorexia Nervosa<br />
*mia – short for Bulimia<br />
57
Psych2Go<br />
58 3
ISSUE 1<br />
59<br />
Everyday<br />
Everyday tell something you didn’t see Something<br />
that wasn’t old, or on repeat Something that would<br />
give me hope, to believe So I can see a chance, to<br />
come back from defeat<br />
Ammunition takes lives is what I hear on the radio<br />
From state to state, from coast to coast<br />
Most of the times we ask why, but don’t know<br />
We don’t have an answer; there’s nothing to post<br />
More tears than smiles, I continue to hear<br />
More suffering than living, please tell me how<br />
These young kids that live their life in such fear<br />
Give me a reason why I shouldn’t be doing<br />
something now<br />
This list goes on as we drift into slumber<br />
Reset the clocks, for the day is almost over<br />
Prepare yourself tomorrow; it’s time to repeat the<br />
same thing Our first world problems block out the<br />
help when others sing<br />
-Anonymous<br />
Artwork by: Ale Caballero<br />
Note from the author: This poem represents how people can alter<br />
their thinking to reflect more positivity to make an impacting change.
Psych2Go<br />
60<br />
PSYCHOLOGY<br />
TOGO<br />
By: Lauren Miedel
ISSUE 1<br />
If you’re like me, you’ve had your fair<br />
share of awkward moments. A lot of<br />
mine revolve around the fact that I cannot<br />
control when I laugh. I laughed when my<br />
friend told me that she and her girlfriend<br />
had broken up. I make jokes about awful<br />
situations, as well as during sad and<br />
angering scenarios. I joke around during<br />
serious talks between myself and my<br />
parents. I have depression, and lots of<br />
times people think that I’m ok because of<br />
how often I make them laugh. So I can say<br />
with certainty that it was a relief when I<br />
discovered that I wasn’t broken; in fact,<br />
I’m just one of many who use humour<br />
to deal with fairly large problems. Many<br />
people use humour or laughter to cope<br />
with stressful and hard situations.<br />
According to Keltner and Bonanno (1997),<br />
laughing helps us respond to stress by<br />
“increasing the psychological distance<br />
from distress and by enhancing social<br />
relations.” In other words, we laugh in<br />
times of distress because sometimes<br />
our minds cannot handle the stress.<br />
Think about it, whenever something bad<br />
happens, it can be hard to process. Your<br />
brain deals with this trouble processing<br />
by laughing, which releases a bunch<br />
of endorphins, increases personal<br />
satisfaction, and improves your mood—<br />
all of these help deal with stress (Mayo<br />
Clinic Staff 2013). By creating these<br />
physiological changes to make your body<br />
think it’s happy, you put distance between<br />
yourself and the situation. Also, think<br />
about how laughing and joking around<br />
play a huge part in our socialization.<br />
Laughing is one of the biggest socializing<br />
elements. In times of distress, your mind<br />
craves human contact and interaction (to<br />
help deal with the stress), so it makes<br />
sense that it would laugh to increase<br />
those chances.<br />
There’s also another reason the brain<br />
might force us into laughter. As humans,<br />
we are generally very good at reading<br />
people’s emotions. We know when<br />
someone is smiling out of politeness<br />
or, in this case, when someone laughs<br />
without feeling a positive emotion.<br />
People who are not as good at hiding<br />
their true emotions are more likely<br />
to do this fake-laugh, which could be a<br />
signal to others that we are in distress.<br />
The brain may do this in order to raise<br />
the likelihood of someone coming to find<br />
out what is causing the stress (Keltner &<br />
Bonanno 1997).<br />
With this information in mind, it’s easy to<br />
see why the brain would sometimes think<br />
that having us laugh is the best course of<br />
action. It may be inconvenient and possibly<br />
a social faux-pas, our brain is just trying<br />
to look out for us. Now I understand why<br />
I make so many jokes when I’m feeling<br />
so down; my brain is trying to find ways<br />
to help me cope with the stress. So the<br />
next time you find yourself laughing when<br />
you think you shouldn’t, remember that it<br />
may help you in the long run.<br />
Citation:<br />
Keltner, D., & Bonanno, G. A. (1997). A Study of Laughter<br />
and Dissociation: Distinct Correlates of Laughter and<br />
Smiling During Bereavement. Journal Of Personality &<br />
Social Psychology, 73(4), 687-702.<br />
Mayo Clinic Staff (2013). Stress relief from laughter? It’s<br />
no joke. Retrieved September 10, 2015.<br />
61
Psych2Go<br />
62<br />
PSYCHOLOGICAL MYTHS<br />
Similarities Attract<br />
Debunking ‘Opposites Attract’<br />
By: Myelin Abenojar<br />
Artwork by: Jane Shi<br />
Debungking Psychological Myths<br />
When looking at one’s partner or<br />
friend, one may suddenly question<br />
with squinting eyes: Why? This may<br />
be a question that is posed repeatedly<br />
or not at all. Maybe there is a mystical<br />
acceptance of fate that brought two<br />
beings together. Or maybe it was simply<br />
proximity, and there was no one else to<br />
choose from. Regardless of the believed<br />
circumstances, it is safe to wonder: Why<br />
do people like the people that they like?<br />
What is this gravitational pull called<br />
“attraction” that people experience<br />
amongst each other? How can this bond<br />
be maintained? And, what if we knew the<br />
formula to achieving peak happiness in<br />
interpersonal romantic relationships?<br />
There are some basic trends that have<br />
been found. “Opposites attract” is a<br />
rationale that is often disputed yet<br />
equally often suggested. The sight of a<br />
cat cuddling with a dog, an interracial<br />
couple, or the pull of two magnets<br />
promotes a sense of awe. But, is it true?<br />
In general, it is more difficult to interact<br />
with someone who is unlike us. As<br />
depicted throughout history in various<br />
battles and wars, dissimilarity has often<br />
been a source of conflict, and furthermore<br />
hatred. Conversely, one can also assume<br />
that it is easier to interact with someone<br />
who is like them. This phenomenon is<br />
highlighted when people of similar ages,<br />
races, religions, or socioeconomic status<br />
get along because they are connected via<br />
a point of similarity (Wilson & Cousins,<br />
2003, p. 161). Overall, partners or<br />
friends who are similar are more likely<br />
to establish, maintain, and sustain happy<br />
and healthy interpersonal relationships.<br />
Similar Romantic Partners<br />
Romantic partners, especially long<br />
term marital partners, tend to be more<br />
similar on personality and interests<br />
than dissimilar in comparison to<br />
random couplings (Gonzaga, Carter, &<br />
Buckwalter, 2010, p. 642). In fact, the<br />
more similar the couples were the<br />
greater report of marital satisfaction<br />
resulted (Wilson & Cousins, 2003, p. 164).<br />
So, similarity is not a random occurrence<br />
amongst people, but something that tends<br />
to bring people together and promotes<br />
happiness. The interplay of a couple’s<br />
“neuroticism, openness to experience,<br />
empathy, self-esteem, extraversion,<br />
emotional stability, and autonomy are<br />
all qualities that significantly affect<br />
the quality of an intimate relationship”<br />
(Barelds, 2005, p. 502, 513). For instance,<br />
an introvert in a relationship may feel<br />
very drained being with an extrovert. Or<br />
someone with low self-esteem may grow<br />
to feel inferior with his or her partner who<br />
has a high self-esteem. And perhaps, in<br />
a stressful situation, someone who is<br />
emotionally stable will find the reactions<br />
of an emotionally unstable partner<br />
strange and discerning. Discordance in<br />
personality type can create dissonance in<br />
the relationship.<br />
Yet, this does not answer why partners<br />
tend to be similar in these studies. The<br />
most convincing argument for how<br />
interpersonal similarity is the largest<br />
factor in relationship satisfaction is based<br />
on the idea of convergence. Convergence<br />
is “the tendency for partners to become<br />
more alike over time” (Gonzaga et al.,<br />
2010, p. 634). One study showed that,<br />
“couples who converged in personality<br />
between first meeting and the first<br />
years of marriage were more satisfied<br />
with their relationships” (Gonzaga et al.,<br />
2010, p. 642). In this situation, similarity<br />
is something that occurs overtime. This<br />
leads to question, are couples least<br />
similar from the onset of a relationship?<br />
To answer that question, it’s logical to<br />
revisit our first interpersonal relationship.<br />
Foundational Primary Caregivers<br />
The foundation created by the initial<br />
relationship with our primary caregiver<br />
affects all future interpersonal
ISSUE 1<br />
relationships. For instance,<br />
“individuals with an avoidant attachment<br />
style use fewer relationship-maintaining<br />
behaviors, such as talking about problems<br />
and coming to an understanding, and are<br />
less likely to seek support from [others]<br />
(Barelds, 2005, p. 503)” thus making<br />
relationships more difficult to maintain<br />
than they already are. But this trend does<br />
not determine that other relationships<br />
with children raised with an avoidant<br />
attachment will be fruitless, but instead<br />
shows that this individual must find a<br />
friend or partner that can understand<br />
and fulfill their needs. And that is the<br />
key difference between our interpersonal<br />
relationship with our primary caregiver<br />
versus our romantic partners or friends;<br />
there is an element of choice. As infants<br />
we do not choose whom we interact with<br />
but as we grow older we gradually receive<br />
freedom to interact with our environment<br />
and the people in it.<br />
Our lives begin with and are propelled by<br />
interpersonal relationships. Others can<br />
and tend to be our source of self-esteem,<br />
comfort, love and belonging. Similarity<br />
is an ideal, but often not a reality—for<br />
the attraction to someone exactly like<br />
oneself is narcissism. And presumably<br />
people are not generally aware of the<br />
similarities they may find in another<br />
person and it is also possible that they<br />
are unaware of their own personality<br />
characteristics. There is not a constant<br />
evaluation mechanism that we go through<br />
that weeds out people who are unlike<br />
ourselves. Our attraction is dependent<br />
more on our perception of the other<br />
person. “Perceiving that another has<br />
similar traits (attitudes, interests, etc.)<br />
increases attraction only because the<br />
perceiver usually positively values those<br />
traits and [therefore hold a] positive<br />
value of the other person (Steele &<br />
McGlynn, 1979, p. 111-112).” Essentially,<br />
it is not the list of traits that may match<br />
up with another person; it is whether or<br />
not those perceived similarities have an<br />
affective value on us, which produces<br />
a sense of attraction. Notably, there<br />
is more to attraction than personality.<br />
Yet, it is helpful to know in retrospect<br />
that the “symmetry that is reflected<br />
between partners at the very start of<br />
the relationship may help determine the<br />
eventual success of the partnership, and<br />
the changes over time may help shape<br />
the relationship as it develops (Gonzaga<br />
et al., 2010, p. 642).” In conclusion,<br />
relationships are subjective and can vary<br />
across cultures and individuals. So what<br />
may work for one couple may not work<br />
for another. Research in this field of<br />
relationship attraction and maintenance<br />
is not only useful to researchers but also<br />
to marriage counselors, relationship<br />
therapists, clergy, love-struck teenagers,<br />
friends, co-workers, and basically anyone<br />
in the world who engages in any form of<br />
an array of interpersonal relationships<br />
(Wilson & Cousins, 2003, p. 165). But<br />
discovering exactly what elements or<br />
personality characteristics to find in<br />
another person to complement one’s own<br />
personality should be knowledge received<br />
and taken in precaution. Although it is<br />
an ideal to achieve peak happiness in<br />
our lives, that sense of happiness would<br />
be irrelevant if there was nothing to<br />
compare it to. Therefore, people should<br />
not limit themselves and disregard other<br />
people who are unlike them. For while<br />
there are times of dissonance when<br />
confronting differences between people,<br />
there is also an equal potential for growth<br />
and understanding in others as well<br />
as ourselves.<br />
63<br />
Citation:<br />
Barelds, D. (2005). Self and partner personality in intimate relationships. European Journal of Personality, 19(6),<br />
501-518.<br />
Gonzaga, G. J., Carter, & Buckwalter (2010). Assortative mating, convergence, and satisfaction in married couples.<br />
Personal Relationships, 17(4), 634-644.<br />
Steele, M. P. & McGlynn, R. P. (1979). Effects of affective value and similarity on attraction. Journal of Social<br />
Psychology, 108(1), 111.<br />
Thompson, W. & Nishimura, R. (1952). Some determinants of friendship. Journal of Personality, 20(3), 305.<br />
Wilson, G. D. & Cousins, J. M. (2005). Measurement of partner compatibility: further validation and refinement of the<br />
CQ test. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 20(4), 421-429.<br />
Wilson, G. D. & Cousins, J. M. (2003). Partner similarity and relationship satisfaction: development of a compatibility<br />
quotient. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 18(2), 161.
Psych2Go<br />
64<br />
ADVICE COLUMN<br />
“I’ve been in a long term relationship<br />
for almost six years. We have a child,<br />
and I also have a child from a previous<br />
relationship. We had only been dating<br />
for six months when I got pregnant,<br />
and things weren’t going so well then.<br />
I decided to stay in the relationship<br />
and make it work for the new baby. I<br />
thought - if I loved him once I could love<br />
him again. I did fall in love again but<br />
everything that happened within the<br />
first year of our child being born brought<br />
me to a deep depression. He was so<br />
naive and selfish that he neglected my<br />
feelings and just said I needed to ‘suck<br />
it up’. All this created resentment, but<br />
we finally bought a house, and I thought<br />
maybe then we would be happy. So many<br />
more things happened, which lead me to<br />
cheat. I never slept with anyone, but I<br />
did manage to get involved emotionally.<br />
I feel that his neglect didn’t help, and I<br />
think I fell out of love with him. I know<br />
that I love and care for him, but I’m not<br />
in love. It’s important to me to be in love<br />
with the person I’m spending the rest of<br />
my life with. We get along, he’s a great<br />
dad, but he also hurt me by mistreating<br />
my son verbally. He takes care of all his<br />
responsibilities, is a family man, and is<br />
really smart. I have told him how I feel,<br />
and I know he’s upset that I might not<br />
be in love anymore. He’s being sweet<br />
now but what if it’s too late? I have a life<br />
coach, and I’m trying to give our love and<br />
family a chance, but I can’t seem to get<br />
that feeling back. I feel I have stronger<br />
connections with other men that I meet,<br />
but I fight it off. I can’t help but wonder<br />
why my significant other and I can’t<br />
connect. I think it’s easier if I just suck it<br />
up and stay rather than separate and put<br />
the kids and him though the heartache. I<br />
don’t want to hurt anyone by making a<br />
selfish decision. Please help!”<br />
– Anonymous<br />
Thank you for sharing your story<br />
with us. I believe the first step to<br />
creating positive change in our lives is<br />
getting real about what needs fixing.<br />
As I read through your very personal<br />
account, I can’t help but notice some<br />
contradictions in the ways you describe<br />
your significant other (s.o.). You say you<br />
love and care for him, but you are not in<br />
love with him due to stronger emotional<br />
connections you have with other men<br />
(despite efforts to “fight it off”). You say<br />
your s.o. is smart, responsible, and is a<br />
great dad even though he has verbally<br />
abused your child from a previous<br />
relationship in the past. Finally, you say<br />
you don’t want to hurt anyone by making<br />
a selfish decision. I think it’s a great<br />
thing that you are seeking the help of a<br />
life coach, but if you are still focused on<br />
the negatives you are not going to make<br />
much progress. If your s.o. is smart,<br />
responsible, and great as a father as you<br />
say he is and you sincerely want to keep<br />
your family together, I think you already<br />
know that you’re going to have to stop<br />
indulging outside emotional connections<br />
as this just divides your energy and focus.<br />
On the other hand, if you truly believe that<br />
your relationship with your s.o. cannot be<br />
salvaged, then be 100% honest with him,<br />
yourself, and your children. Your children<br />
will experience some negative emotions<br />
either way. Again, I’m sure you know that<br />
it’s better if they are supported by a single<br />
mother who is confident and happy with<br />
herself and her decisions rather than<br />
a mother who is sad, depressed, and<br />
regretful. Focus on what you really want<br />
with your life, decide what will really<br />
make you happy, and let your true desires<br />
guide you.<br />
TYRA
ISSUE 1<br />
“My best friend’s mom has cancer<br />
and it’s really tearing her apart. What<br />
can I do to make her feel better? How<br />
can I make things better for her? What<br />
are some things I can say to offer<br />
comfort to her without sounding cheesy<br />
and generic or unsympathetic?” –<br />
Anonymous<br />
Hi, I think your friend is very lucky to<br />
have someone like you in their lives,<br />
who’s so committed to being there for<br />
them. I’m sure you’re already a huge<br />
comfort to them. I think there’s 3 main<br />
ways to help your friend. The simplest<br />
one is just to ask them what they need,<br />
this might be as simple as helping them<br />
with chores. What they’re going through<br />
is exhausting, so less responsibility could<br />
make it easier for them to cope. Secondly,<br />
normal life and routine are so important<br />
to help someone feel grounded, try not to<br />
treat them differently and that includes<br />
not having that sympathetic expression<br />
which can be alienating for some people.<br />
The 3rd way to help would be support<br />
groups. Bringing your friend to support<br />
groups allows them to connect to people<br />
going through the same thing. It can be<br />
a place with a lot of information lead by<br />
someone experienced and skilled. It’s a<br />
very difficult situation for your friend to<br />
be in but with a support network around<br />
them, they’ll come through this.<br />
Hello, I’m sorry to hear about what<br />
you’re going through. No one should feel<br />
that level of paranoia and not be able to<br />
move on with their life. It seems to me<br />
like you’re in a bit of a trauma situation.<br />
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)<br />
is a serious thing to deal with at an<br />
early stage. I suggest you do go see a<br />
therapist. Having nightmares about your<br />
ex and feeling like he might show up out<br />
of no where can be early signs of PTSD.<br />
You have to let go of the past in order<br />
to continue your relationship with the<br />
new guy. You’ll never feel safe or worthy<br />
enough around another man and that can<br />
lead to a lot of emotional stress. Please<br />
seek for help. My mother is a victim of<br />
physical and verbal abuse and she never<br />
took care of it. She always ignored and<br />
pretended that things were okay. Now<br />
she’s m.i.a. because she’s so afraid of her<br />
boyfriend that she prefers not to leave his<br />
side in fear he might hurt her if she leaves.<br />
This is her choice. She got the same<br />
opportunity you’re getting of starting<br />
over again and she didn’t take it. You<br />
must seek happiness for your daughter<br />
and see that she doesn’t suffer the same<br />
emotional distress from experiencing all<br />
of this at an early age. Every day brings<br />
new choices and you should always strive<br />
for the best. Do not belittle yourself. You<br />
have to stay strong for your daughter and<br />
for yourself. I hope everything gets better<br />
for you and always remember that there’s<br />
help out there. You just have to reach out.<br />
65<br />
LAUREN LAURA<br />
“I’ve moved on with my life and am over<br />
what happened. My ex was very abusive<br />
to me and made me feel guilty about it,<br />
as though it was my fault. I’m over it.<br />
But am I truly over it? Last night I had<br />
a nightmare about him coming back into<br />
me and my daughter’s life (he’s m.i.a.)<br />
well he was just worse and I had to call<br />
the cops on him. I kept asking this guy<br />
that I want to be with (still in my dream) if<br />
he wanted to be with me because I felt it<br />
wasn’t worth him dealing with my ex and<br />
baggage. What do I do? I’m considering<br />
going to a therapist.” - Anonymous<br />
For future issues if you’d like to receive<br />
advice from your peers, feel free to email<br />
your inquiry to psych2goadvice@gmail.<br />
com. Advice responding to your concerns<br />
may be featured in our next magazine!
Psych2Go<br />
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Mental Health Crisis Lines<br />
Suicide hotlines by country:<br />
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Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800<br />
Ukraine: 0487-327715<br />
More specific mental health lines:<br />
USA<br />
Depression: 1-630-482-9696<br />
Suicide: 1-800-784-8433<br />
LIFELINE: 1-800-273-8255<br />
Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386<br />
Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743<br />
Eating Disorders: 1-847-831-3438<br />
Rape and sexual assault: 1-800-656-<br />
4673<br />
Grief: 1-650-321-5272<br />
Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-<br />
5678, 1-800-621-4000<br />
Post Abortion: 1-866-4394253<br />
Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453<br />
UK<br />
Childline (for anyone under 18 with any<br />
problem): 08001111
ISSUE 1<br />
Mind infoline: 0300 123 3393 e-mail:<br />
info@mind.org.uk<br />
Mind legal advice: 0300 466 6463 legal@<br />
mind.org.uk<br />
Eating Disorders: 0845 634 14 14 e-mail:<br />
help@b-eat.co.uk<br />
Eating Disorders for under age 25:<br />
08456347650<br />
Bereavement: 08444779400 e-mail:<br />
helpline@cruse.org.uk<br />
Frank (information and advice on drugs):<br />
0800776600<br />
Drinkline: 0800 9178282<br />
Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802<br />
9999 1 e-mail info@rapecrisis.org.uk<br />
Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02<br />
India<br />
Self Harm:00 08001006614<br />
Suicide: 022-27546669<br />
Canada<br />
Kid’s helpline: 1-800-668-6868<br />
67<br />
International text based help:<br />
imalive.org<br />
crisischat.org<br />
blahtherapy.com<br />
7cupsoftea.com<br />
Artwork by:<br />
Jeffrey Bigelow<br />
Mental helpline provided by:<br />
riseandtry.tumblr.com
Psych2Go<br />
68<br />
THANK YOU!<br />
The contributors & Digital Research<br />
team:<br />
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Tai Tai - Canada,<br />
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Editors:<br />
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kensamonte.tumblr.com<br />
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facebook.com/ayveephotos<br />
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Craig Alexander – The U.K.<br />
Chillibyte.wordpress.com<br />
Comic contribution:<br />
Katherine Fosso- U.S. (Indiana)<br />
sunsinourhands.tumblr.com<br />
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Editor in Chief of Psych2Go Magazine
ISSUE 1<br />
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69<br />
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ANSWER KEY<br />
TRUE OR FALSE<br />
1. True<br />
2. True<br />
3. False<br />
4. True<br />
5. False<br />
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ<br />
1. B<br />
2. A<br />
3. D<br />
4. A
Psych2Go<br />
70<br />
Psych2Go’s<br />
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE<br />
Psych2Go's Community Challenge
ISSUE 1<br />
71
Psych2Go<br />
72<br />
Testimonials<br />
READER TESTIMONIALS<br />
Psych2Go Issue 1<br />
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Psych-<br />
2go’s first magazine for ADHD awareness<br />
month, for their first magazine this<br />
is a very strong start, unfortunately it isn’t<br />
without its problems. I was surprised to<br />
find that the barrier to entry is quite low,<br />
literally anyone with little to no background<br />
knowledge of psychology or any of<br />
the social sciences could pick this up and<br />
read it if psychology is something you’re<br />
interested in. This magazine covers a<br />
plethora of thought provoking topics from<br />
separation anxiety disorder, to autism, to<br />
martial arts, and even tips for interviews<br />
so it’s filled with things everybody can<br />
take something away from.<br />
The magazine is very colorful with many<br />
illustrations throughout so it doesn’t feel<br />
like you’re reading a college textbook.<br />
However, many of the pdf pages follow<br />
this format where there are two normal<br />
pages crammed together on one page,<br />
a nice idea but there are some instances<br />
where I feel it doesn’t quite<br />
work (for example page 37). I don’t know,<br />
it just bugs me when one page is full but<br />
the page next to it is half blank (or half<br />
full if you’re feeling optimistic). The last<br />
two paragraphs on page 19 clash a bit<br />
with the art on the page, it’s a minor issue<br />
but I feel that it should be mentioned.<br />
Also, I wish that the font for the citations<br />
were a little darker, so they’re easier to<br />
read (especially pages 66 & 67 with the<br />
suicide hotlines). Page 15 in particular<br />
has a few font related problems, page<br />
14 & 15 have an interview with a college<br />
student but surprisingly there’s no use of<br />
quotation marks at all for her responses,<br />
even though the text is a different color<br />
the questions have the same sized font as<br />
her responses, and there’s even a part on<br />
that page where it transitions from her<br />
responses back into the next section
ISSUE 1<br />
of the interview with the same font<br />
styling(end of page 14 to the beginning of<br />
page 15). That’s definitely not to say it’s<br />
all bad, I love how all the colors pop out<br />
at you and grab your attention I also enjoy<br />
the pictures and imagery used for every<br />
section of the magazine.<br />
73<br />
You can tell that the people writing this<br />
put a lot of effort into it and genuinely<br />
enjoy what they do, this is expressed<br />
through the use of more personal dialogue<br />
to connect with the reader rather<br />
than just reading the information to you.<br />
Despite my few complaints that I feel may<br />
hamper your experience if only a little bit,<br />
I have no doubt you will still enjoy reading<br />
through this magazine as much as I did.<br />
(Obligatory not-so obligatory review<br />
score) PSYC out of PSYCH<br />
- Callestere<br />
Hello,<br />
Honestly I think that you guys had an<br />
amazing idea of creating a dynamic and<br />
more fun access to the psychological<br />
world, something with good source and<br />
using a language that is not too formal,<br />
which makes easier and accessible for<br />
anyone to read, Its just really amazing.<br />
I’m brazilian and I found you guys through<br />
tumblr, it was really great for me because<br />
like some people who work in the magazine<br />
I dont act in the psychology field but<br />
I always had a great interest on it. Congrats<br />
for the magazine, its awesome!!<br />
Keep it up!<br />
(Sorry about my english)<br />
-Love, Marina.
Thank you for purchasing<br />
Psych2Go Magazine!<br />
Thank you for your purchase of Psych2Go Magazine!<br />
Join our community challenge:<br />
When you receive the magazine and are a user of social media,<br />
feel free to post your photo with the magazine, or some<br />
creative way you may be using it – whether it’s in the classroom,<br />
showing a friend, or even posing with the publication!<br />
Be sure to tag Psych2Go in it so we can see your post!<br />
Feel free to use the hashtag: #Psych2GoMag as well!<br />
Feel free to send images to teresajohnso3@gmail.com as<br />
well so we can credit you and repost your photo if you decide<br />
to share your enthusiasm!
Don’t forget to follow us on psych2go.net,<br />
and our other social media!<br />
Teresa Johnson<br />
Editor-in-chief of Psych2Go Mag<br />
Communications & Journalism Student<br />
E-mail: teresajohnson575@gmail.com<br />
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/teresajohnso<br />
Twitter: @teresaxjohnson
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