Blogger’s babble: Exams and my awakened Creative streak

It has been quite some time since my exams and I have begun to notice a sneaky little pattern during every exam- one that shows a relationship (maybe) between creativity and stress, which I have illustrated below:

I don’t really know whether or not studies have been done in this field or not, since I haven’t come across any, but I do think I have a hypothesis as to why this happens with me at least. As always, these creative ideas (anything ranging from sketching, painting, wanting to learn a new musical instrument to distracting, attractive life plans) strike me before or during peak exam time and serve as something which I really look forward to doing. They hence serve as something which distracts me from the negative repetitive thoughts that I might have in those free ‘break time’s when I’m not studying (like “Oh my God, there is SO much to study” or “This subject is going to pull my grades down”).

Blogger’s Babble: Psychological techniques for enhancing cleanliness in Public places

I’m sure most of us are frustrated about littering in public places and often wish that some parents had put in more efforts in reinforcing cleanliness values in their kids. Not only does it ruin the mood but it also makes you feel bad about how your country is being portrayed to travelers from other countries. I’m from New Delhi, so yeah- loads of garbage and loads of foreigners and i don’t feel so happy with the impression they take with themselves of a ‘third world country’ and this bad impression only reinforces their stereotypes of the country-people. A third, and probably the most important reason why cleanliness behaviour should be increased is that garbage has detrimental environmental consequences and  is as hazardous as it is polluting.

From what little I have learned so far in psychology, I realise that there are many techniques which can be applied to bring about changes. The easiest one is reinforcement.

One can be provided either an incentive to work for the cleanliness cause (positive reinforcement- where the probability of an action increase due to the consequence following the act) or one can be negatively reinforced (where the probability of an action decrease due to the consequence which might follow after the act).

In the above picture, any citizen gets a gift card for stopping a rule-breaking cop which is positive reinforcement- thus the likelihood of a person stopping a rule-breaking police-person will increase (positive reinforcement).

Biological basis of Schizophrenia

As a part of the University of Delhi, Psychology (Honors) course, we are taught Bio-psychology in our second semester, a very wise decision because there are simply too many behaviors which have a biological cause and psychological manifestation.

I’ll start from the basic and use as simple language as I can for those of you unaware of jargon. Our nervous system which is essential for movement, reaction and conveying information to brain is made up of nerves. A neuron is the smallest unit of a nervous system and may be of many types. Their structure depends on their function and they form connections with each other in order to convey messages (which can be movement related, going to the muscles or sensory information, going to the brain). These messages are in the form of very brief electrical impulse called action potential.

The above diagram depicts a neuron forming connections with other neurons. Interestingly, axons and dendrites don’t actually touch. There is a space between them, called a synapse. To “jump” this gap, you could say that the electrical energy changes form.

Maintaining a positive self-concept: Positive Illusions

We are all gifted by God in the ability to take a tendentiously positive view of our-self- which is self enhancement. This blog talks mostly about what we already do to maintain the positive self image and you’d be surprised at what all you do at the subconscious level which makes you look more and more like a Narcissist  (but you’re not- ’cause everyone does this).

Taylor and Brown (1988) gave the term “Positive Illusions” which refers to such biases like unrealistic positive self-evaluation, perception of control, overoptimism etc.Most such strategies often take precedence over long term goals. These can be divided into:

1. Self Enhancement: which operates routinely and regulates the positivity of self concept. it focuses on attaining and maximising self-view.
2. Self Protection: It operates in response to threat to self-concept and focuses on repairing self-view.

Some people possess unrealistic positive self-view: they believe they are better than average (called better than average effect- BTAE; also known as the “Lake Wobegon Effect”) and have far more positive traits than negative ones. They also apply this to persons or objects related to self (like relationships, possession and group)

In defiance of mathematical possibility, about 80% of high school students rate themselves in the top 10% in ability to get along with others. Even people who have been hospitalised after causing auto accidents rate themselves as more skillful than average drivers (Greenberg et al., 1997)

Blogger’s Babble: “Life is travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.”

Hey everyone! I returned from the outskirts of Nainital a few days ago. It is a picturesque hill-station and a much sought holiday-destination in India and I really enjoyed my stay there. Much of my travel there was on foot, allowing me (I believe) to experience much more of nature’s bounty than a car journey would have.

For many of us travelling is an escape or a break from everyday life and by everyday life I mean stress, deadlines, unavoidable social duties and responsibilities. There are those who are more comfortable with the ‘known’, with their regular schedule and timetables but most of us seek a break in the monotony. Maybe it isn’t a monotony for the former- maybe they are travelling inside, journeying to their own centers and seeking themselves. However others seek external stimulation, experience and are filled with more curiosity about the outer world with its variety of cultures. But somewhere travelling plays a more important role than breaking the boredom, putting a pause on the stress or satisfying curiosity.

I was in awe of the decades old tall trees- not that I hadn’t seen them before on the Discovery Channel, but to be standing in front of them, breath in the fragrance-filled fresh air of the pines and wonder what the world would be

Blogger’s Babble: Gender Schema

Schemas are what we think the ideal object should look like or act like. It is a framework, structure or a plan. If we talk about a chair, our schema of it might contain four legs, a platform on them for sitting, back rest and possibly even arm rest. Now on the basis of this schema, when we encounter an object, we recognize whether it is a chair or not. Schemas help us in functioning faster and recognizing unseen objects as we come across them.

Gender Schemas are organised mental structures that contain our understanding of the attributes and behavior that are appropriate and expected for males and females. – Ben (1981)

To put it in a simpler way, gender schemas are a set of implied hypothesis about sex difference. Stereotypes are certainly one kind of hypothesis but stereotypes and gender schemas are not essentially the same things. ‘Stereotype’ is a more derogatory word whereas ‘gender schema’ is a more inclusive word. It is not these schemas which are wrong but the error which gradually creeps into their formation, maintenance and application (according to Gender Schemas at Work by Case Western Reserve University).

Right from the conception, certain gender schema creep in the baby’s

The Toddler Anatomy- part I

Anika was becoming more and more frustrated day by day. She used to be the jewel of everyone’s eyes- her parents and extended family. She was showered with hugs, kisses and gifts on every small occasion. Her life was pretty much normal just a few months back- and now all of a sudden a pathetic excuse for a baby popped into her family, stealing away all the love, care and attention she got. As if the sudden loss of the warmth wasn’t enough, she now had responsibilities to take care of and a list of expectations to meet. More less than not, she was scolded for inappropriate behavior. However, with time, the sudden shock of dethronement declined and she learned to share. She did develop a fondness for her little brother, but one different from her parents. As they grew together, she (as was expected to) acted as a guide and a caretaker for her brother, helpful in some places and strict in others. She had the power over him, right? Why won’t it be! She was the elder one after all. He would be looking up to her and so she had to set examples for him. Perhaps this was the reason she was bent towards perfectionism- high grades in school, good social life, highly motivated, taking charge of situation, sticking to rules and respecting authority.

What I am trying to put forward from the above instance is the importance of birth order and how it impacts personality, something studied extensively by Alfred Adler (1870-1937).  Birth order leaves impression on everything from the habitual way of dealing with tasks to friendship, love and work.

First born children are believed to be organized, competitive, high-achieving and goal-oriented, with hints of perfectionism. Here, the word ‘believe’ is incorporated after following thousands of first-born. And yes, not everyone fits perfectly in your ‘average’ firstborn’s description. I’m a first-born myself and although I have most of the traits written above, I don’t think I ever felt ‘dethroned’ much.

Since with their birth, couples become parents for the first time (and couple’s parents become grandparents for the first time), everyone is very excited. Child gets attention from everyone even in the extended family. Pampered and given unconditional love from birth until birth of second sibling, they feel sudden loss of warmth

Wendigo Psychosis

he legend of the Wendigo is one that spreads across the Atlantic coast, Great Lakes region of both United States and Canada along with certain other places mountainous and snow-covered. The tribes residing there believe that those who indulge in eating human flesh would be possessed by the spirit of a Wendigo and over the course of a few weeks would transform into something monstrous: a hybrid creature which is a mix between a reindeer and a hell bent skeleton like body, complementing its mythical features with long claws. Sometimes they are said to mimic human voices in order to lure travelers to their doom- in this and many other ways, they are relatively more intelligent than your average were-reindeer. They are cannibalistic supernatural beings who hunt humans and are associated with nightmarish winter tales and famine.

Mental disorders come in all shapes and sizes and one of the rarest one of them is the Wendigo psychosis. It is thought to be a culture-bound syndrome. Some of the symptoms include distaste for food and poor appetite, distress and depression and periods of semi-stupor. Victims are paranoid and act suicidal, believing that the monster’s spirit is controlling them. When individuals become convinced that they have become a Wendigo, they consider themselves as indestructible monsters whose hunger cannot be satisfied by anything other than human flesh- which is why they slowly start seeing people around them as tasty snacks! This in turn leads them to become violent, anti-social, homicidal and cannibalistic. Since tribesmen believe that a person with these symptoms could harm the members of the tribe in the future, they either execute or banish her/him. In certain cases victims themselves commit suicide or request to be executed to save the tribe and to escape from becoming a monster.