Like it or not, if we study psychology we need to at least be aware of philosophy.
This looks an interesting short series on three of the greatest - and as good a place as any to start.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/31/the-buddha-genius-of-ancient-world
"Genius of the ancient world" presented by Bettany Hughes
There's a fair old body of evidence building up around the intelligence of the crow.
Start here!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131128103835.htm
One of the things that really interests me is evidence in other animals of complex behaviour (and by implication thought) of the kind that we normally suppose to be unique to humans. Here's an extract from a longer TED talk by the Primatologist Frans de Waal, concerning fairness in Capuchin monkeys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg
Note, that the monkey had been trained to do the task, but the reaction to the inequitable reward for the task was 'natural'. We tend to think that abstracts such as fairness are unique to us, arising from our unique 'consciousness' language and higher reasoning ability, and in particular needing language for expression.
This video makes me feel it is just as likely that these behaviours are themselves 'evolved', and that the explanations we give are host post hoc rationalisation.
There are many psychology resources on the web, some brilliant, and some not so ...
I like this series a lot, not because they cram a so much into such short films, but because I find the presenter so engaging. The film I link to (and the one that follows it) are directly related to our introductory section on intelligence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xTz3QjcloI
(If you find it too fast paced don't forget you can pause/ rewind etc!)
Here's a lovely study I happened upon today.
We all know that Meerkats have lookouts to warn of the approach of predators. There has been debate recently as to whether this behaviour is altruistic (warnings benefit other group members) or self serving (lookouts don't tend to get eaten).
This study (link below) tends to support the altruistic view. Observations on a troop made in the days before and after a new batch of pups left the den to join in foraging expeditions showed a marked increase in lookout behaviours once the pups were in the group.
This looks fascinating and I'm posting info about it everywhere I can.
The Faculty of Social Sciences is planning an online conference to take place between June 30th and July 4th 2014. This is going to be a student-led conference with a range of student presenters alongside some of the Faculty’s leading academics. You can find out more about the conference at the conference website http://connections.kmi.open.ac.uk where you can register. Registering does not commit you to anything, but it is likely that you will want to take part in at least one or more of the events. (Even if you don't want an active role, sign up, come along and listen/watch).
When you get to the site for the above link, go to the 'Learn More' tab for a short explanatory video. It looks so interesting I've just registered myself.
This question is directed to OU students and staff? Do you know the story, the history of your University?
Fell asleep during Newsnight last night, and woke up in the middle of this documentary, fronted by Lenny Henry. Absolutely fascinating, it charts the history of the OU from the beginning to the present day.
Available on iPlayer until 30 April. Catch it if you can
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lz2p5/The_Story_of_the_Open_University/
It reminded me of why I've been so proud to part of this institution as both student and AL. The OU is something to be really proud of, and something worth fighting for.
Catching up with the BPS research digest blog today this caught my eye.
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/why-do-children-hide-by-covering-their.html
Recent research into why V young (2-4 yr old) children think that by covering their eyes they've hidden from you. Fascinating explanation about how this links to a developing sense of self, I was also struck by the similarities to a developing theory of mind involving false belief tests. (DSE212 ch 2).
This is one of my favourite sites, which does what it says on the tin (i.e. it is a repository of material, including original articles essays and book extracts, relating to many of the classic names in psychology and their most famous studies). I was looking for it this afternoon, but the link I had was broken
The good news though is that it is still on the web; now hosted at
http://psychclassics.asu.edu/index.htm
Particularly relevant to DSE141ers.
We thought we had it sussed in terms of the link between screen violence and real violence:
Bandura provided us with experimental evidence that seeing modelled aggression increases aggressive behaviour (at least in the short term).
A plethora of studies show us a correlation between violent movies and violent video games and aggression (though note that correlation does not equal causation).
Then along comes a study like this to add another piece to the jigsaw. A recent study now shows that people playing video games can become more aggressive, not because of the nature of the game but because it's too hard and they get frustrated with it. This happens for both violent ant non violent games.
A good news item on this is at this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26921743
You can get to the original paper in the OU Library. Just do a quick search on one of the authors Andrew Przybylski. The paper you are looking for is
By: Przybylski, Andrew K.; Deci, Edward L.; Rigby, C. Scott; Ryan, Richard M. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology.Mar 2014, Vol. 106 Issue 3, p441-457. 17p. DOI: 10.1037/a0034820.
Now they're not saying - and I'm not saying that - there isn't a link between violent game play and aggression (I'm sure there is). This just reminds us that there's more to it than that, and that it's never simple.
(Incidentally this finding links us to a venerable theory from the first half of the last century - the "frustration Aggression hypothesis of Dollard et. al. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frustration%E2%80%93aggression_hypothesis
Did you know that the OU is going to close South East Region (region 13) by the end of the year?
Published as a news item on 13 March, but not widely discussed. The text of that item is below. (Cut and pasted here - you would not be able to see the item unless you have intranet access).
I'm personally saddened by this; there are good, hard working people in that office who have supported staff and students for years (decades in some cases). The OU says that quality of provision will not suffer, and that is to be hoped.
Nevertheless, I wanted to do something to show my support which is why I was glad to take the opportunity to sign the petition at the change.org link.
(or by copying http://chn.ge/1hnUo7F into your browser address window)
Another thing that concerns me about this business is that this might be the thin end of the wedge. The news item refers to a nationwide review of support services (under heading wider analysis below). Who knows where it will end.
********************************
This morning Keith Zimmerman, Director, Students and Professor Musa Mihsein, PVC – Academic, briefed staff in our East Grinsteadregional office regarding the future of the building and operations in East Grinstead.
The lease on the East Grinstead regional office expires in December 2014 and the landlord plans to convert the building to residential accommodation so we are unable to renew the lease. Advice has confirmed that we are highly unlikely to be successful with a legal challenge to these plans. In addition it has been established that the lease costs of alternative premises locally would be approximately 50% higher plus fit-out costs.
The East Grinstead Office will therefore close at the end of this calendar year. This decision has not been taken lightly, and our decision-making has carefully considered how to make the best use of our valuable people and resources balanced against the need to continue delivering an excellent service to our students.
No compulsory redundancies are anticipated as a result of the closure. However, it is anticipated that East Grinstead staff will need to relocate, redeploy, or take voluntary severance or early retirement.
Keith and Musa wish to acknowledge the commitment and dedication to students that our East Grinstead colleagues have demonstrated over very many years. The project team and our colleagues in HR will work with them to ensure that they are supported in ways that are commensurate with the commitment they have shown to their students.
Next steps
A project team has been established to carefully manage the closure process between now and January 2015. The project team will be led by Barbara Stephens, Director Special Projects, working closely with Bruce McGowen, Assistant Director Student Services East Grinstead, HR and Estates; Mary Kirby, Director, Business Services, Student Services will be SAE for the project. The team will continue to consult with OUSA, the Unions and AL Executive along with the leaders of CAUs and Student Services.
We are now making plans for the transfer of operations to alternative University locations and are consulting with East Grinstead staff about the implications of this for individuals. Services to students and Associate Lecturers will not be affected.
Wider analysis
The decision to close this office has prompted a wider strategic discussion about the optimal configuration of the locations we need to operate from in order to deliver excellent support to all our students.
It is clear that the University needs to operate in the four political jurisdictions of the UK, meaning that a presence is required in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, alongside our Milton Keynes headquarters. The Vice Chancellor’s Executive has asked Keith to undertake an analysis of all other locations to determine the optimal configuration of the OU’s presence across the rest of the UK in order to maintain and further develop our services to students whilst making the best use of our people and the resources available to us. This analysis will be undertaken during this year and recommendations brought to VCE by January 2015.
More information
The news of the closure will be shared on TutorHome today and StudentHome tomorrow morning. If you have any questions or would like more information please email Barbara Stephens.
A new run of DSE212 has just started (good luck all!). We're just about to kick off on the identity chapter, and a really relevant article has recently appeared in the New Scientist.
OU library access through this link
Directly concerned with social identity theory; that part of our identity that is rooted in our affiliations to the group(s) to which we belong.
The thrust of the article is how easily we can cast members of other groups in the role of an "less human" other, and how by dehumanising them we travel down the road to prejudice and discrimination. All this comes back to Henri Tajfel's elegant studies which teased out how little is required for us to start thinking in terms of "us" and "them"
Time to dust off the blog again after months of inactivity!!
The BPS research digest blog
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.co.uk/
is worth being a bookmark, and worth browsing regularly. Idling around in it whilst thinking about our first DSE212 tutorial on Saturday (can't wait by the way) I came across this
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/more-serious-brain-injuries-associated.html
research which suggests that survivors of brain injury can experience increased levels of life satisfaction, and this can be linked to a heightened sense of identity (amongst other things) as someone with a brain injury.
There's food for thought!
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