Miss HT Psych's Musings

Innate Intellect

2006-07-10T08:30:00.000-04:00

I was sitting on the bus this morning, reading my latest academic challenge (Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner), and I realized something. Two views I hold are logically inconsistent. I believe that human beings, by their nature (barring any unforeseen accidents, developmental issues, etc), have a capacity for consciousness and reason. If you want, you could call this ability genetic, however I'm not sure that I would. As you might have been able to tell from my previous entries, I'm still not fully convinced by genetic theory (I don't find it as convincing as, say, gravity, so I allow for alternative explanations). Let's just leave it as the ability is somehow, in some way, inherited. I also believe that other aspects of humanity are inherited in similar fashion: our ability to walk upright, our height, our hair colour, our eye colour, etc. Yet (and here comes the inconsistency) I am unwilling to admit to a hereditary basis to intelligence. Why? From my experience, admitting to this also means admitting to certain other unsavoury ideas: that there is the possibility of gender and race differences, that a person's IQ may actually define their potential, that intelligence may (one day) be heightened at a 'genetic' level prenatally. I don't like any of these ideas. However, I am unable to deny this point:

Human intelligence is inherited.

Now, before you think I've fully lost my mind, let me explain the rationale behind my new assertion. As I said earlier, I believe that human consciousness and the capacity for reason is hereditary, to some extent. However, it is well documented that many environmental influences hold sway over it's expression. Some of the most catastrophic occur prenatally, or at the chromosomal level. Hence we see the profound developmental delays of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and Down's Syndrome, among others. After birth, we have witnessed the effects of lack of nourishment, lack of human contact, and lack of education. All of these environmental effects can prove disastrous to a child, forever stunting their potential. So, I am not stating that our DNA holds within it our precise IQ score, or even it's possible range. I am simply stating that the mere potential for human intelligence is inherited. Perhaps it is simply the ability to be conscious... perhaps reasoning is a simple by-product of that ability, and "intelligence" is a socially-constructed entity with no real meaning. Perhaps...

Secondly, like Howard Gardner, I believe that our notion of what constitutes intelligence is fatally flawed. If intelligence is what intelligence tests measure, why are intelligence tests so poorly predictive of success in life? Why is it that those we consider to be 'genius' quite often perform very poorly in school and on intelligence tests? All of these issues, among others, should be enough to tell us that intelligence is not simply the skills that get us through school. IQ can not be represented as a single number resulting from one's answers on a paper and pencil test. Intelligence comes in many forms. Is a surgeon smarter than a mechanic? No. They are simply different jobs, requiring different sets of skills. Why does the mastery of certain skills gain status, and others lower that status? Every one of them is useful, and fills a needed role in our current society. So, I think that a view of multiple intelligences is much more logical.

Finally, I don't think that it is possible to assess group differences based on the expression of 'intelligence'. Let me give you an example. Few people would argue that the basic skills required for competition in athletics are rooted in 'good genes'. Yet... how do we continuously improve athletic performance? We have not found the limits of human athletic potential because we continuously find better methods of training. It is the environmental conditions that determine athletic performance... good coach, enough training time, proper diet, proper training program, etc. It is through advances in our environmental conditions that allows our athletes to continuously improve... not improvements in our gene pool. In the 1960s, it was believed that women could not do triple jump because it would permanently displace their uterus making them unable to have children. Yet women compete today with no harm to their bodies, and keep improving. It was also thought that women could not run longer than 800m, or they would pass out from exertion. However, as training techniques for women improved, this idea was dispelled. Now women compete in the marathon alongside men. It has even been suggested that as training for women improves to the level that men's training is at, women may even outperform men in the marathon because women have greater stores of endorphins (because we have to go through childbirth). So, why should these same ideas not hold true for intelligence? As conditions improve for women (around the world) and other racial groups than white people (in North America, Europe, etc), than we should see a leveling out of academic performance. Individual differences exist, certainly, but group differences will become marginal or non-existent. Maybe different populations will show different profiles in their multiple intelligences, but if we view each kind of intelligence as equally beneficial and status-worthy, then those differences won't matter. However, as it is today, group differences are absolutely impossible to determine. Environmental conditions between genders and races are simply nowhere close to equal. Unless competitors are competing on the same footing, it is impossible to tell who is performing better. Yet scientists do this every day. It is, quite simply, unethical to proclaim group differences when we are aware of the staggering environmental differences between groups. There's no other way to put it.

I feel now that I have resolved my logical inconsistency with sufficient rationale that I don't feel troubled by it any longer. Also, I think that this new point of view is not subject to the old pitfalls of a belief in hereditary intelligence. Does it pass the test?

Miss HT Psych

NOTE: For those of you interested in Howard Gardner and his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, here's a couple useful links:
* Project Zero
* Howard Gardner at Project Zero
* Thinkers: Howard Gardner
* The Psi Cafe: Howard Gardner

Tuesdays with Morrie

2006-07-07T08:47:00.000-04:00

Have any of you ever read one of Mitch Albom's books? I started with The 5 People You Meet in Heaven. It was given to me as part of a birthday gift. The book is wonderfully easy to read... short, and completely enthralling. It tells of an average man's death, and his first stage of heaven where you get to meet the 5 people who explain your life to you. After reading it, I got to wondering who my 5 people would be... who are those people you know (or didn't) that shaped your life? I'm not really sure, but it is an interesting thought experiment.

The second of Mitch Albom's books I read was leant to me by the same person who gave me the first book. This one, Tuesdays with Morrie, is also about death... sort of. It takes place around a man who is dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and a man who was once his prize student in university. It is a true story.... Mitch Albom is the prize student. The book outlines the lessons he learned from his dying professor, Morrie Schwartz, in the last weeks of his life. Lessons about love, marriage, forgiveness, responsibility, fear, life and death. Mitch asks Morrie all the questions which plague our generation... why do we place our careers above our families? Why don't men cry? Why do we feel such pressure to be young, beautiful, and thin? Why doesn't money make us happy? How does one make a marriage work? Are having children worth it?, etc. The answers are always simple, and full of the wisdom and clarity of a dying old man. In the end, it all comes down to love. We need love, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. We are afraid of giving ourselves over to our strongest emotions... we are afraid of what it might mean, what might happen, what if it's not returned, what if it is? So, we turn to other sources to replace that... careers, money, toys. But none of those things make us happy... none of them love us back. When we love ourselves and others, we do things that make us feel good. We take jobs that are meaningful to us in some way. We try not to be mean to others, or exploit them for our own ends. But his greatest treasure to share... "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." In all it's simplicity, I think it's one of the truest things I have ever heard. When you're dying, you learn what is or was important to you. Your family. Your memories. It's not your possessions, or your stock portfolio. It's what you learned, loved and did. It's those whose lives you touched, and those who touched you. All the rest is unimportant, and distracts us from what we really need... love.

Both of these books are beautifully written, and have the added bonus of being short (if you're like me and have little time to spare for pleasure reading). I highly recommend reading them both, but if you have to start with one, start with Tuesdays with Morrie. I don't think anyone can read these books and not be moved somehow.

Miss HT Psych

Weekend getaway... sort of...

2006-07-05T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I got back from Ottawa on Monday night relatively unscathed. Sure, I had a bit of a sunburn, and I'd had 12 hour days out at the track with about 5 hours sleep to run on each day. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. The kids were great! We didn't have any problems with curfews, and they were always on time to leave for the track. They stayed out of the sun and were always ready to warm-up without us coaches bugging them. I also ran into a few old friends that I hadn't seen in years, made a few new ones, and got a coaching job offer (that I turned down because I like my club). Beyond that, it was an exciting weekend...

To start with, on July 2nd we took a driving tour of Ottawa. We didn't have time to get out of the car and do any touristy stuff, but it was great to get my first real-life look at the parliament buildings, the archives, the war museum, and the canal.

As for our accomodations, they were alright. We were staying in the residence at Algonquin College. All I could think was... wow, these rooms are alot nicer than the ones I got at Western! :) Although, as with any hotel/residence room, the pillows were flat, the room was horribly freezing, and the blinds didn't block enough of the morning sun, so sleep was not really an option.

The track was amazing. We were at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility... my childhood hero! I got my first-ever coach's pass (I thought this was a big deal, although no one else probably thinks so). There were so many high-class athletes there... even a few Olympians! The races were amazing... but the best race by far was the Senior Men's 1500m (20+ years old). Pretty much everyone there agreed... Ontario has an amazing bunch of distance runners coming up onto the international stage. Another great race was a make-shift one at the end. A bunch of Master's men (35+ years old) wanted to break the national record for the 4x400m relay, and we watched them do it in grand style. They obliterated the existing record (3:50) by running a 3:29 all by themselves. If you've never competed before it is difficult to understand just how hard that is to do. If you're racing by yourself with no one else out there pushing you, it's really hard to give it your best go. So breaking the record by that much was phenomenal. Everyone that was left in the stands by that point in the day were on their feet cheering these guys on. It was intense...

Anyways, I'll post a link to the pics when I get home from work... apparently I forgot to bring my jump stick with me... guess I need a bit more recovery time! :)

Miss HT Psych

Update:
Here is the link to my photos, as promised!

Weekend Update

2006-06-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Well, I know I've been gone a long time, and I apologize. Unfortunately this has been a bad couple of months for little old me on the personal front. Just to give you a taste:

My Dad had a couple of strokes
My Grandpa is dying of a fast-moving cancer, and the doctor's have been unable to do ANYTHING for him... no surgery, no chemo, no pain relief...
I broke up with my common-law boyfriend, and have been scouting new places to live, trying to fairly distribute jointly bought items, etc.

On the lighter side of things:

I jumped through all the administrative hoops and officially handed in my thesis proposal
My first single-authored poster is ready to go for APA in August (the division I submitted to is only doing posters this year)
I have a first-authored encyclopedia article coming out (and I got paid for my troubles!)
My job is going well (assisting with research in forensic psychiatry)
I turned 26 (eek! Officially more than a quarter of a century old! LOL!)
I joined the ranks of academics who have gone near-sighted due to too much reading and typing at their computers... I have two pairs of funky glasses!
I started coaching with a track club... my group consists of highschool middle-distance runners (400m, 800m, 1500m). My first big away meet as a coach is this weekend in Ottawa... how about that?! The nation's capital on Canada Day! It's going to be nuts...

So yeah... blogging was about the last thing on my mind, amidst that and all the other general life-stuff.

Just in case any of you are interested a couple of people I know have started up a psychology blog of their own. Check them out at: Stepping Out of the Ivory Tower. You'll find alot of the subject material is likely to be similar to this blog, as we gravitate in the same academic circles. Although, they are trying to reamin anonymous, so if you also know one or more of them, please don't blow their secret identity. I guess they just like the idea of having a superhero-esque secret alter-ego, or something.

Hope you all are having a great summer! I'll post when I get back on Monday!

Miss HT Psych

Apathy Culture?

2006-04-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

Last week, my office-mate gave me a copy of an on-campus produced magazine. The title? “Apathy Culture”, which York certainly has in spades. As I was reading it, I came to ask some of the same questions as the authors: is our generation really as apathetic as older generations think we are? If so, why are we consumed by apathy? If not, why can’t others see our passion?

To start this journey, I went to the source of all internet knowledge… WIKIPEDIA! :) Our generation has been predominately defined by the explosion of grunge music and by its idol, Kurt Cobain. So I started with looking into grunge culture. Here is a sample from the Wikipedia article on “Grungers”:

“Though it is a generalization, grungers do not tend to be as politically motivated as the punks and hippies were. Whereas the hippies were motivated by love and a humanitarian desire for a utopian society and the punks where motivated by 'bomb the state' anarchism, grungers in truth do not really have any such motivations.”

Hmmm… an interesting sentiment. One that definitely deserves some thought. Certainly, our music, art, etc is not as politically motivated as our predecessors (with some notable exceptions). We don’t burn our bras, hold sit-ins, or stage large-scale demonstrations and protests. But do we really sit idly by?

“[G]runger politics tends to be focused on the individual rather than society at large, with lifestyles choices such as whether to be vegetarian or not or the constant effort to "be yourself" often being more important than the desire to change mainstream society. Sometimes this has negative effects, with some grungers becoming completely self-infatuated and self-obsessed to the point where they will talk about nothing but themselves and their problems.”

Wow… Wikipedia, ouch! That hurts! Okay, no more from you. Now it’s my turn…

For starters, I’d like to clarify a point. The choice to become vegetarian or vegan is not a sign of self-obsession. It is a conscious and ethically-motivated choice… usually. There are those who do it to be “cool” or because they are under the delusion that meat is bad for them and that “the human body evolved to eat meat, so it can just un-evolve in me” (seriously… I’ve actually heard someone say that). However, for the large majority though, the choice is of a moral, ethical and political nature… or a valid health reason such as they are allergic to something in meat (that DOES happen).

From my experience, Gen X and Gen Y are anything BUT apathetic. I don’t deny that our voter turn-out is appallingly low, and that we fail badly on most conventional measures of political motivation. This begs the question of why?

I think that our generation doesn’t actively participate in the political system for a couple of very good reasons. We grew up acknowledging that politicians and “the system” is undeniably corrupt. We’ve witnessed the break-down of the family, religion, and most other traditional concepts. Why would we participate in a system that tries to uphold values we no longer believe in? Why vote for corrupt politicians who do no more than further the corruption? Better yet, why participate in a system that ignores our voice? As students, we have no voice. In Ontario particularly, we have been caught in a war between teachers, administration and politicians for years. The result is that we are now treated as numbers… a product to be built and shipped out for mass distribution. How do we respond to that kind of treatment? We still use our voices, just not in mainstream arenas. Anyone who says that students are apathetic has clearly not gone into a public bathroom, walked down side streets, or turned on their computer and surfed the internet for awhile. We are there, waiting to be seen, waiting to be heard.

Ask around campus and you’ll find that the lack of student voter turn-out has nothing to do with apathy. Most simply do not want to vote for politicians who are corrupt, and fail to represent their interests. If we were truly members of a “democracy” our thoughts and opinions would be fairly heard and represented in parliament. This is not the case. So, many students see their lack of participation as a silent protest. “You want us to vote, then speak to us instead of treating us as a silent, mindless fools!” While I don’t agree with this strategy, I can certainly see the logic in it. Futhermore, there are some who argue that we live in a one-party system. Sure we have the front of the NDP, Green Party, etc, but they're wasted votes, right? The real choice comes down to the Liberals or the Conservatives, and most of the time they are two heads of the same beast... slaves to large multinational corporations and upper-class, white, middle-aged men. Taking the time to go out and vote for that is a waste... it'll all end up the same way anyways. And besides, voting for them implies you condone their actions. Once again, I don't think this is the best strategy, but I understand where they're coming from.

Here's one that really gets me... the newspapers. Personally, I try to avoid them whenever possible. Does this mean I'm apathetic? Ignorant of the world around me? No. It simply means that I'm tired of reading about all the bad things in the world. The news presents a skewed version of reality... I think Bowling for Columbine's section on the media in the US just about covers my feelings on the topic. I feel like it's a constant fear campaign getting thrown at me... or advertisments to make me feel inadequate because I don't own some product. It's hard to sort out what's really going on, and what is selectively chosen and blown out of proportion by the media. I don't put the blinders on... just really selective filters.

So there you have it, folks. I don't think our generation is as apathetic as we're made out to be. We just choose to express ourselves in unconventional ways. What do you think?

Miss HT Psych

Liberal craziness

2006-04-08T18:15:00.000-04:00

After the defeat of the federal Liberal party in the last election, everyone was left wondering 'who will succeed Paul Martin'?

Belinda Stronach announced on Thursday that she will not be running in the leadership campaign. Big shock. As much as I would like to see a female prime minister (well, one that was properly elected), I don't think the country is ready for one. Besides that, who can forget her recent defection from the Conservatives? It doesn't exactly inspire confidence that she's a devoted party member, as a leader should be. That being said, if she had decided to run, I definitely would've voted for her. Maybe next time...

There are, however, plenty of others who are (or are rumored to be) throwing their hats in the ring. Bob Rae (yes, the former NDP Premier of Ontario), Michael Ignatieff, Gerard Kennedy and Ken Dryden, to name but a few. They may not all be experienced, but what they lack in experience they make up for in charisma.

My call? Here's a list of my personal favourites in the race, and my predictions.

Bob Rae doesn't stand a chance. Personally, I have nothing against the guy. I think he'd make a fine prime minister. Unfortunately, Ontario doesn't have fond memories of him. I feel bad for the guy... his run in provincial office was hampered by a long recession. Since he took power then, the outcome, no matter how inevitable, falls on his shoulders. Considering that in any election, Ontario is one of the main areas that must be won, Rae may not be the wisest choice. I'd vote for him, but hey... I'm only one vote.

Ken Dryden... tough call. He's definitely smart, charistmatic, politically saavy, and has proved his loyalty to the Liberal party. I mean, come on. He quit his position with the Toronto Maple Leafs to run in the 2004 federal election. He acted in the last government as the Minister of Social Development and is the current Health critic in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. We know Toronto loves him. But is the rest of Canada really ready for a former NHL goalie to assume leadership of one of the three major parties? My bet is not...

My final major contender? Obviously, the rookie heavyweight Michael Ignatieff. He is an internationally known (and controversial) history scholar in the areas of democracy, human rights, security and international affairs. He is currently the critic for Human Resources and Skills Development in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. Like the others, he's certainly brilliant and charismatic. But the fact remains that he IS a rookie. While he may have mastered the academia game, we have yet to see if he can master the politics game. That being said, he is my pick for winner of the leadership race (for better or worse).

You can catch the official list here. It includes those that are officially declared, possibilites and those that have officially dropped out. Also, the Liberal Leadership Odds blog with all the news, bios, etc. Of course, you could always check out the Liberal Party website, but it's pretty sparse on info. And finally, what would be a reference list without Wikipedia?

Any thoughts?

Miss HT Psych

Classes Over!

2006-04-06T10:39:00.000-04:00

This is an exciting week... my classes for my MA1 year are over! I only have one more essay to write and then I can go back to concentrating on my own work. However, I was particularily impressed with one of my classes, Epistemology for Psychologists: A Critical-Historical Overview. I will actually miss going to this class every Wednesday as it was a chance to express our opinions and debate... basically think for ourselves instead of memorizing and regurgitating. So I thought I'd share a few of the literary highlights with you... these were the papers that really made me think.

Positivism, Logical Empricisim, and Critical Rationalism
Karl Popper - The Logic of Scientific Discovery

"Now in my view there is no such thing as induction. Thus inference to theories, from singular statements which are 'verified by experience' (whatever that may mean), is logically inadmissable. Theories are, therefore, never empirically verifiable" (p. 40).
"It must be possible for an empirical scientific system to be refuted by experience" (p. 41).
"Those theories which are on too high a level of universality (that is, too far removed from the level reached by the testable science of the day) give rise, perhaps, to a 'metaphysical system'... Yet an idea of this kind acquires scientific status only when it is presented in a falsifiable form; that is to say, only when it has become possible to decide empirically between it and some rival theory" (p. 277, 278).

Hermeneutics
Wilhelm Dilthey - Construction of the Historical World

"Every fact is man-made and, therefore, historical" (p. 192)

Hans Georg Gadamer - Truth and Method

"[T]he experienced person proves to be, on the contrary, someone who is radically undogmatic" (p. 355).

Dialectical Materialism & Critical Theory
Karl Marx - Theses on Feuerbach

"Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it" (p. 158).

Karl Marx & Frederick Engels - The German Ideology

"Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life" (p. 170).

Critical Social Science and Critical Psychology
Klaus Holzkamp - Experience of Self and Scientific Objectivity

"The fact that for lack of firm evaluation criteria one theoretical explanation appears to be just as good or bad as another is surely one of the most important characterisitcs of the present state of affairs in psychology" (p. 71).

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and an Anarchistic Philosophy of Science
Paul Feyerabend - Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Philosophy of Science

"Thus science is much closer to myth than a scientific philosophy is prepared to admit" (p. 295).

Feminist Theories of Science
Evelyn Fox Keller - Reflections on Gender and Science

"Science bears the imprint of its genderization not only in the ways it is used but in the description of reality it offers - even in the relation of the scientist to that description" (p. 78-79).
"Not only does our characterization of science thereby become coloured by the biases of patriarchy and sexism, but simultaneously our evaluation of masculine and feminine becomes affected by the prestige of science" (p. 92).

I know that was fairly long, and I apologize. But, all of these works completely blew my mind. I highly recommend reading them if you ever get a chance. Especially that of Evelyn Fox Keller, Paul Feyerabend and Karl Popper. I think that anyone in science must critically examine and question the foundations of what they do. When you don't, science becomes a tyrannical religion. Those that do critically examine their work may still chose to take part in the religion, but in realizing it's limitations, they cease to make it a tyrrany. It was questioning the authority of the church that made science into a discipline in the first place... scientists must never lose that spirit or they become the institution they denounced.

Miss HT Psych

Gone...

2006-04-02T11:14:00.000-04:00

So, if I thought I fell off the face of the earth in my last post when I had only disappeared for 2 weeks, what about a month? Yikes...

In all truth, I was kidnapped by the grad school demon. The pressures of classes, thesis, organizing a fundraiser and panel discussion, and trying to organize two conferences... well, my blogging time was a little thin. Actually, I'm not really sure how I ate or slept. In any case, due to the hectic schedule, I got a nasty cold for about a week and a half which set me straight in the end.

The bonus of being sick? I went to see V For Vendetta... twice. Wow. What can I say, other than I'd go see it again. And maybe again. Four times in the theatre wouldn't be a stretch. Then I'd wait outside Music World until it opened on the day the movie comes out on DVD just so I could own for that little bit longer. It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. If you haven't gone to see it, well, what are you waiting for?!

I have my final stats exam on Tuesday, so I promise I'll be back with something after that.

Miss HT Psych

I fell off the face of the earth

2006-02-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but at the very least I was possessed by Microsoft Office and don't remember much of the last two weeks except playing with PowerPoint. In any case, I am back to my senses again...

Yesterday, I went to the mall with a mission. The mission? To buy my very own copy of The Royal Tenenbaums (it's long overdue). I couldn't go to the HMV at the mall, because I'm boycotting that particular location due to their terrible treatment of their customers. So that left me with one other option: Music World. What should I find when I get there? Not only do they have The Royal Tenenbaums, but it's the Criterion Collention edition (TFG and LMK tell me this is a good thing)! And one other bonus: it's on 2 for $35! Now, most sensible people would take their movie and get the heck out. Me? I can't resist a "deal" in a music store. So, after perusing my other options, what should I see out of the corner of my eye? The entire first (and only) season of Undergrads! AND it's also marked 2 for $35! Needless to say, I was floating on cloud nine. I actually walked away from the DVDs for Ferris Bueller's Day Of, The Goonies, Underworld and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory for this! Honestly, I was so ecstatic that I didn't even think to take a look at the CDs! For those of you who know me and have seen my CD collection, you'd realize this is extremely out of character for me. In fact, it is rare for me to go into a music store without buying at least one CD.

So today, I have spent a good chunk of time getting re-acquainted with Nitz, Cal, Rocko and Gimpy.

Gimpy is the Star Wars obsessed, hacker, mega-nerd

Cal is the sickenly sweet but idiotic guy that gets massive amounts of girls to sleep with him

Rocko is the dumb alcoholic frat guy

And Nitz is... well... normal.

Undergrads is one of those Canadian cult-hits that was only aired on TeleToon after all the kiddies had gone to bed... right before Clone High. Check out the site... especially the phone messages for Nitz (my fav is Gimpy's message, and LMK's fav is Rocko's). And if you ever get to watch the show, it'll bring you back to your first year of university/college, and you'll laugh yourself silly.

Miss HT Psych

Just what the doctor ordered

2006-02-11T11:22:00.000-05:00

My freak flag for this week is one that I truly feel will benefit others. Have you ever had one of those days where you're feeling extremely angry/excited/manic/anxious? Or perhaps you're just looking for a new way to exercise. Well, I have the answer to all of these problems. All you need to do is jump! Perhaps I'd better explain...

In my first year of university, my friend and I found an incredibly entertaining way to get rid of excess energy after exams. We put on some upbeat music and jumped around the room until we were tired and out of breath. This wasn't just any jumping though... it was sort of a mix between that and rave dancing, although thoroughly uncoordinated. The point was not to look good while you were doing it, but to just go crazy... go where the music took you and freak out. I gaurantee, if you try this little exercise it'll cure what ails you. It's my version of "chicken soup for the soul." But, to get started, you'll obviously need a few things. First, I recommend doing this alone, or with a friend who you can be silly/goofy around (actually, with a friend is ideal because you can laugh at each other which really heightens the experience). I WOULD NOT recommend doing this with your significant other. This may be one of those things that's best kept to yourself (like singing in your underwear, or whatever you do in your alone time). Second step: make sure you have a room with enough space that you won't crash into something and get hurt. I highly recommend having a couch or a bed nearby though, so that you can fall onto it when you're good and tired. Thirdly, dress in clothes that you can move around and get sweaty in. No tight jeans. No dress shirts. My personal favs? PJs or regular gym gear. And finally, you need the music! Now, most of the time I recommend that you keep the music lighthearted... angry music like Linkin Park might make you more angry/anxious. The point is to feel better. Pleasantly tired, content... like the after-effects of the endorphin-rush you get from the gym. The music also needs to be stuff you can jump to. For example, my movie montage song, "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones is inappropriate for this kind of thing... too slow... it's best left in the "dancing like an idiot in front of my mirror" category. Here are some of my favourites to get you started:

The Knack - My Sharona
The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
The Vines - Get Free
Blur - Song 2
Spirit Of The West - Home For A Rest
The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Donnas - It's Too Bad About Your Girl
Bif Naked - Twitch
Letters To Cleo - I Want You To Want Me
Bryan Adams - Summer Of '69
Green Day - She
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Beastie Boys - Girls
Supergrass - Alright
Interrupt Vector - Evil Homer
Gwen Stefani - What Are You Waiting For?
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
The Romantics - What I Like About You
Toni Basil - Hey Mickey!

Now you're ready to give it a try. Seriously, I dare you. I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU! Okay, okay... I know I just made a slight breach in etiquette by skipping all the proper steps and going straight for the throat there, but in this case it's warranted (hey TFG, recognize the movie reference???). Trust me... my freak flag for this week is the freak out, and it's just what the doctor ordered...

Miss HT Psych

Beauty & The Geek

2006-02-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

Has anyone seen the show "Beauty & The Geek" which is Ashton Kutcher's idea of a "social experiment"? Here's the premise:

Eight beautiful, but academically challenged women pair up with eight brilliant, but socially challenged men. They compete to win $250,000. In the process, the geek is supposed to pass on his smarts to the beauty, and the beauty is supposed to turn the geek into a prince.

Oooh... it's like a modern fairytale on TV. Except... they pack this show with more sterotypes than I ever dreamed possible! At least on America's Next Top Model the girls might actually have some brains. But this show? No way. A geek is not good looking, socially awkward and is generally some kind of weird freak. The girls don't have it much better. On this show, pretty girl = dumb and slutty. One of the girls' famous quotes? "I like the books with pictures." No joke. They're operating under the assumption that social skills/looks and brains are mutually exclusive categories.

And yet, at times, the show has some redeeming moments. For example, when the girls are chatting with the guys after their first hottub and bikinis experience, the girls make the guys realize that they are every bit as self-conscious about themselves. The "geeks" start to understand that if even pretty girls get self-conscious, then maybe they should be a little more confident when talking to girls. It was a bit of a warm, fuzzy moment.

All in all, I'm not sure what I think of the show. Much like America's Next Top Model, I think the concept is ridiculous and distasteful. But at the same time, I can't help giggling at the hilarity that ensues from the challenges the teams compete in. Maybe I'll just have to watch a few more episodes...

Miss HT Psych

WHAT???!!!!

2006-02-06T10:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry... had to post this little tidbit from the news this morning. In an article about Stephen Harper being sworn in today, and the unveiling of his cabinet:

Details were sketchy last night in large part because Harper, who will bring his personal copy of the Bible to the swearing-in, made it plain to his staff and would-be ministers that leaks would not be tolerated. (Taken from the Toronto Star, 02/06/06)

Just in case you didn't catch that:
...Harper, who will bring his personal copy of the Bible to the swearing-in...

Who brings their own Bible?! Seriously! Are Ottawa Bibles not Holy enough for an Albertan? Honestly, he's not exactly inspiring confidence that he will be more "moderate."

Well, say hello to Prime Minister Harper. Leave it to the Star to find the most shifty-eyed, uptight picture of him...

Miss HT Psych

Twins

2006-02-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

A while back, I did a short post on heritability estimates, specifically how they can be misleading and are often misinterpreted (even by those that study behavioural genetics).Well, this semester, behavioural genetics will be my whole world (academically speaking, that is). My new project: the history of twin studies in psychology. Strangely this is actually a very interesting topic, full of zany American nationalism, and gruesome applications in Nazi Germany. Honestly, it's quite the convoluted topic. But that's not the point of this post. I wanted to outline a few issues with twin study methodology, which many psychologists view as a supreme empirical test of genetics.

The classical twin study involves comparing identical (monozygotic, or MZ) twins to fraternal (dizygotic, or DZ) twins on some variable (i.e. intelligence, schizophrenia). First, a correlation value is produced for the MZ twins and the DZ twins. Then the two values are compared. The difference between these two scores produces a heritability estimate (how much of the variance can be explained by genetics). Initially, this procedure sounds great... until you start thinking about the assumptions you're making.

Equal Environment Assumption - for the twin method to actually produce any meaningful results, you would have to believe that MZ and DZ twins share a (roughly) identical environment. Now, let's think about this. Do identical twins get treated the same as a set of boy-girl fraternal twins? It's ludicrous to assume that this is the case. So, if we take away the equal environment assumption, "nurture" becomes hopelessly confounded with "nature."
Genotype = Phenotype. Even from basic Mendelian genetics we know that genes aren't necessarily expressed. In more complex issues, for example height, there are many genes which contribute to our height, but environmental influences can seriously impact the way height is expressed (i.e. nutrition, etc).
Genetic expression can be empirically tested. In some ways, our explanation of traits and behaviour through genetics is what Popper would refer to as a "metaphysical" explanation. It's interesting, sure, but it's not science. We cannot falsify this theory with current scientific methodology.

So, my take home message? Be wary of the assumptions behind your methodology. Contrary to popular belief, adhering to strict methodologies does not necessarily produce knowledge.

Miss HT Psych

One little sentence...

2006-01-31T10:42:00.000-05:00

"If I could do it all again..." I'm sure you've all heard someone say that one little sentence, or you have uttered it yourself. It usually ends with the anti-climactic "... I'd do it just the same" or some revelation about someone's deepest darkest dreams/hopes/fears. Yesterday, a friend of mine in the clinical psych program (while looking at some of the photos on my desk) said "If I could do it all again, I'd be a photographer and do nature shots." Wow... photography and clinical psych... you can't get much more opposite than that. Academia, while "encouraging" our creativity with one hand, squashes it with the other. Free-lance photography on the other hand can be very creative... that is, until you need to pay the bills. Maybe academia and photography have more in common than I thought. But anyways, the conversation got me to thinking: how would my sentence end?

In highschool I was into track and field. I was a long distance runner, and pretty good at it too. But in OAC I burnt out. So, instead of going to the US, I went to London and started my undergrad at U.W.O. in 1999. My coach and I agreed that as a little mental rehab, I wouldn't go for a run for 6 months, and then at Reading Week we'd worry about getting me back in shape for summer competitions. So I went about my classes (I was in Kinesiology at that point) and when Reading Week came around I started training again. But, while I was at home in the dirty, dirty 'Shwa (or if you're not from the GTA, you might know it as "the armpit of the universe") I got injured... bad. My knee ended up as swollen as a watermelon (seriously, I couldn't get my pants on). It took 2 years for a team of doctors and physical therapists to figure out what happened to me, and even then they only knew for sure when I went in for surgery. In the meantime, I struggled with the age-old questions: "who am I?", etc. After about a year and a half of quasi-depression, I came out of it with some serious answers. In third year I changed my major to Psychology (hence graduating in 2004 instead of 2003), and knew who I was outside of "Laura the Runner". I decided that, rather than being in Kinesiology and going on to be a physical therapist, I'd rather pursue graduate education and be a psychology prof. So far, all is going according to plan. My question is "If my knee had never been so badly injured, would I do it all again and end up where I am now?" I don't know. Maybe I'd be a physical therapist. Maybe I'd coach a little kids track team in my spare time. Maybe I'd be living back at home in the 'Shwa. At the very least, I'd be able to play a game of pick-up basketball with my brother. But would I really be happy?

I could say "If I could do it all again, I'd have been a physical therapist." But in all reality, despite all the pain it took to get here, I'd say:

"If I could do it all again, I'd do it just the same."

Miss HT Psych

Calderon, Artest & Sumo Wrestlers

2006-01-30T21:31:00.000-05:00

Last night I saw Jose Calderon, Ron Artest and two sumo wrestlers battling it out with a fluffy red raptor. Where else could I have been... my first Toronto Raptors game! Thanks to my Dad (yeah, I'm a bit of a Daddy's girl), my siblings and I went to the ACC to get some Raptors-Kings action. My little brother is an old pro at the live basketball games... that's how him and my Dad bond. My sister, my step-sister and I have never been (although we've been to more hockey games than I can count). So I popped my basketball cherry in grand style. Raptors won in overtime 124-123... they kept us on the edge of our seats right up until the last second, literally. Not sure what happened to Chris Bosh though. He fouled out, then got all upset and then get ejected from the game... weird. But despite it all, I was just happy to see my favourite player, Jose Calderon.

Granted, I only started watching basketball this year, so I'm choosing favourites now on sheer entertainment value. I mean, how can you not love a player that says "I like to pass the ball to my friends." Ahhh, Jose...

Miss HT Psych

Tired... so very tired...

2006-01-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

Okay. I'm going to acknowledge right now that I am too wiped out to make any half-way intelligent remarks. Seriously, take a gander at my last couple of days...

Wednesday:

Meeting 10am-12pm about housing details for the conference I'm helping to organize
Meeting 1pm-1:45pm with advisor re: thesis, publications, etc, etc, etc...
Class 2:30pm-5:30pm (topic: Kant, Hegel and Comte.... very heavy stuff)

Thursday:

10am-11:45am fighting with the university librarians re: getting an old psychology textbook written by a Nazi-supporter in 1924 (first edition, never translated from German) sent here
1pm-3pm at the Passport Office downtown
6pm-7:30pm dinner at Insomnia with other grad students in my program
8pm-11pm History & Theory of Psychology Colloquium

Today:

8am-8:30am fighting with the librarians again... finally made some progress and got what I wanted
8:30am-9am waiting in line for February bus pass
10am-11:30am ANOTHER History & Theory Psychology Colloquium (this time it's a job talk and meet-and-greet a potential new professor)
1pm-1:30pm meeting with Psychology Graduate Student Association president
3:30pm-4:30pm Interview for a job as a research coordinator on a feasibility study for increasing access to resources for mothers with HIV/AIDS

So yeah. I'm right out of it. So all you get is my freak flag for this week...

I can't work when its quiet. My family has 6 people (dad, step-mom, sister, step-sister, half-brother, me) so I'm used to living with alot of distractions. If it gets too quiet when I'm working I can't shake the paranoia that someone is gonna jump out from around a corner and scare the crap out of me. THAT'S what I call distraction.

Miss HT Psych

PS - Thought I'd share something amusing... for anyone who's a fan of "The Hoff", check out this video of his (he can fly! See, I knew there was a reason that "Ladies Love The Hoff"). Also, a nice little joke that got sent to me a couple days ago... anyone who didn't vote Conservative should appreciate this:

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Nothing was moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What happened?" "Terrorists have kidnapped Stephen Harper! They are asking for a $10 million ransom. Otherwise they are going to douse them with gasoline and set him on fire. We are going from car to car, taking up a collection." The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving, on average?" The man replies, "About a gallon".

It's official... yikes...

2006-01-24T07:57:00.000-05:00

Well, it's finally been made official. A Conservative minority with a strong Liberal opposition. It breaks down like this:

Conservative (Stephen Harper) - 124 seats
Liberal (Paul Martin) - 103 seats
BQ (Gilles Duceppe) - 51 seats
NDP (Jack Layton) - 29
Independent - 1

Yes, boys and girls, Stephen Harper is officially the new Prime Minister of Canda.

Look at his smug face. For all those people who voted Conservative, do you really think that was a vote for change? NO! It's a vote for the same old thing... Alberta style. If we really wanted change, the country would have voted NDP, or Green Party. But this? Thankfully, the minority government he is leading is in an even worse position than Martin's Liberals were for the last 18 months. Last time around, the Liberals had 135 seats and the Conservatives had 99, which meant Paul Martin had a little extra weight to throw around. The upside to all this is that the Conservatives won't be able to do a single thing unless they enlist the help of AT LEAST the BQ. Sucking up to Jack Layton with the NDP could also be beneficial. Wouldn't that be a funny sight... our most right-wing party sucking up to our most left-wing party. Come to think of it, Haper teaming up with the BQ would also be kind of funny... the guy who barely speaks a word of French teaming up with the leader of a Quebec separatist party. Ha! Although, it looks like Jim Flaherty will likely be given a cabinet position. He left his "highly successful" career in Ontario provincial government to run in this election. He was, under Mike Harris and Ernie Eves, the former minister of Finance, Labour, Speaker of the House, etc. Flaherty is also the reigning provincial champ in my hometown riding. Whitby seems to like him. Me? I think he made a debacle of many situations, most especially the famous teacher strike of 1998 which cost me my OAC year of athletics. Flaherty is so right-wing that even the provincial Conservatives are afraid of him. So, I guess he'll be right at home in Harper's cabinet. Other Ontario MPPs (and ex-cabinet ministers under Harris and Eves) to jump ship and join in with Harper are John Baird and Tony Clement, who are also expected to join his cabinet. Yikes...

Let's just cross our fingers and hope they don't screw things up too badly.

Miss HT Psych

Music Review: Robbie Williams

2006-01-23T19:42:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to buying the latest Robbie Williams album, Intensive Care. I am one of those rare North Americans who actually owns every Robbie Williams album ever produced. This one, unfortunately, doesn't rank up there among my favourites. This is not to say that it's a bad album... it's just not a stellar album (which I expect from Robbie). You could see the influence living in LA had on Robbie... his newest single "Advertising Space" is a tribute to Elvis, and "Make Me Pure" has some distinctly new country overtones to it. Surprisingly, these are actually two of my favourite songs on the CD. Robbie has managed to make yet another album with his signature raunchy lyrics, paired with his beautiful ballads... a combo which usually works for him. The thing that really put me off about it was not the quality, but that it just seemed a bit forced. It felt like Robbie was trying put on the hat of "walking hard-on, chauvanistic guy that every girl and guy loves in spite of his flaws, Catholic guilt-ridden bad boy" personna. In the past it has really suited him. Now it just seems like he's acting the part for his fans. I appreciate the effort, because I love the personna, but I would much rather him represent himself. As much as I hate to say this, it might be time for Robbie Williams to grow up and move on with a new look.

Miss HT Psych

Freak Flag Friday

2006-01-20T11:02:00.000-05:00

It's that time of week again! My freak flag for this friday is:

I hate breaking the spines on my books (hardcover or paperback). For some reason, it just feels like I'm disrespecting the book or something...

Miss HT Psych

Big news (for me anyway...)

2006-01-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty excited today because I just got some big news. The abstract that I sent into the APA for their conference in August was accepted with "really strong reviews". I'm really excited about this for a number of reasons. For starters, this is a huge international conference. Sencondly, this is the first time I'll be presenting something of my own material. Thirdly, this is the first piece that I've written that I get all the credit for (others that I've written have listed me as a co-author, because in medicine the principal investigators go first, and the research assistants after, no matter what). I just thought I'd share that with everyone. Yeah! :)

Miss HT Psych

PS - The abstract, Does the Gender Similarities Hypothesis Need Tests of Equivalence?, is now the in the hands of the APA, so I'd be breaking the rules if I tried to post it here (or part of it even). However, I can e-mail it to anyone who's interested. In any event, I'll post the link to it when the APA makes it available to the public.

A New Political Agenda

2006-01-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

In the light of recent events with this election, I've become torn on who to vote for. It seems that the Conservatives are close to (possibly) achieving a majority goverment. So, the question becomes: who do I vote for? Vote with my conscience (NDP), or do I vote with my usual "protest-against-the-right" party (Liberal)? They're both close in the polls. I better decide by Monday, I guess. Although, I have to say, I'm leaning towards good ol' Jack Layton. His recent challenge to the Conservative party (fighting them every step of the way of changes to civil rights and social policy that could negatively effect, well, anyone who's not a Christian white male in the upper-middle or upper class), has kind of inspired me. While he may come off as goofy sometimes, you gotta admit he's got some charm. But then again, this is coming from the girl that thinks Dalton McGuinty's got charm too...

As a side note, check out Rick Mercer's blog entry about the new proposed Conservative cabinet.

Miss HT Psych

Hugs & Kisses

2006-01-14T18:15:00.000-05:00

I would like to bid a fond farewell to two of my real life and blogger friends, LMK and TFG. They're moving to Oz together for the next year. I want to wish them both the best of luck. Okay... now here comes the sappy part, so skip to the next section if you don't want to read it.

LMK - as Jay would say about Silent Bob, you're my hetero-life-mate! Having you on the other side of this continent was rough, but OZ?! I'll miss you so much. But I promise I will put Skype on my laptop so we can chat. You're gonna make a great teacher one day, and this is just one step (an exciting one) in that direction. You can do it. Oh, and when you come back, we gotta hit up MAC for a makeover!

TFG - it's been great to get to know you.. first as LMK's awesome boyfriend, and now as someone I would consider a friend regardless of who you were dating. Remember... coffee in September, with a possible trip to see the Christian Scientists for a little "fun."

So, enjoy the trip! Big hugs and kisses!

Miss HT Psych

PS - I forgot about my freak flag yesterday! I got wrapped up in "me time". Me time, in this sense, equals making an amazing curry, having a glass of wine, followed up by a hot chocolate and watching the Wedding Planner. So... here it is:

I love President's Choice Hot & Zesty deli-sliced pickles. I know... pickles shouldn't be spicy. But trust me... so good!

Trouble in Paradise

2006-01-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

It appears that I am having some relationship troubles with Microsoft Word. We spent far too much time together last semester, and now we seem to need our space. The trouble is, I need Word in my life. I just don't work without it... it completes me. When I told my advisor this, he laughed in disbelief. "You?" he said. "I can't believe it. You write so beautifully, I thought it was a part of you. You can't have writers block." I had to regretfully inform him that it was indeed true. He was sympathetic and acknowledged that I might need some time before taking another crack at it. But I'm frustrated because I WANT to write my thesis proposal. I have a large chunk of research done. I have a chapter layout set. And yet... I have nothing. I mean, I've tried spending some quality time with Word... mostly staring at it. What else can I do? Butter it up with empty flattery? Bring it roses? Chocolates? How can I repair the bridge and get this relationship back on track? Any suggestions?

Miss HT Psych

Dads

2006-01-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

This has been a great weekend. On Saturday night I went to my first Toronto Rock game, courtesy of Marissa's Dad. The two of us went to Marche for dinner (a must if you're ever visiting Toronto), and then it was off to the ACC for the Toronto Rock home-opener against the Arizona Sting. We were there to see the NLL trophy being presented (platinum seats... great view), and the banner raising ceremony. It was too bad the Rock lost in overtime. Still, good times. It's the first professional game I've been to where they play music throughout the entire game. I think it really adds to the atmosphere. At home you get to listen to commentators, but if you're in the arena there's nothing to listen to. The music being played somehow adds to the fierceness of lacrosse. Seriously, hockey should take a hint.

Then yesterday I got a call from MY Dad. He's got tickets for the Toronto Raptors vs. the Sacrament Kings on January 29th! That'll be my first ever professional basketball game. So I guess it's back to the ACC at the end of January.

Ahhhh... Dads are great...

Miss HT Psych

Canada Votes, 2006

2006-01-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

This election, coming up on January 23rd, will be an important one. As a concerned blogger and voter, I feel it is my duty to make people aware of the issues so they can vote responsibly. Although, seeing as it is a Saturday, I am simply going to post the link.

CBC's Canada Votes 2006

Comes complete the sections:

Ridings & Candidates (so you can get that oh-so personal, local feel for the politics game)
Leaders, Parties & Issues (so you can decide which of lesser evil you can put into supreme power)
Analysis & Commentary (for the Poli-Sci folks out there... Marebear and Walsh, I'm lookin at you!)
Reality Check (insights beyond the normal political rhetoric)
Voter Toolkit (FAQs, Polls, Unfinished Legislation, Election Dictionary, etc.)
Your View (where you can add your personal thoughts to the mix)
Quizzes & Games (featuring some great Canadian Political Trivia games, and some amusing cartoons like Harperstein and Jumpin Jack Flash)

Also, for any "apathetic youths", check out:

Student Vote (and related links on CBC)

Surprisingly, Wikipedia also has an article on the Canadian 2006 Federal Election.

But my all-time fav, and most trusted news source, Rick Mercer also needs some credit here. You should all check out the video featuring Ricker Mercer as The Canadian Tire Guy in The All-New Canvasser Prod From Canadian Tire. Or Bono: Can he be trusted? So funny.

Now that I feel like I've done my responsible blogging for this election-time, it's off for some Saturday morning cartoons! Just kidding...

Miss HT Psych

PS - find your political compass here. Mine is: Economic Left/Right: -8.13; Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.59. Wow... I'm way over with Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

Anti-gang measures in Ontario

2006-01-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

This just in from the Toronto Star this morning:

Ontario's government has announced a fundamental shift in the way it plans to bring to justice the worst culprits responsible for gun violence. The government will create three high-security courts to house the trials, and three judges will be appointed to deal with gang cases - often the most challenging prosecutions because of intimidation and the difficulty in gathering evidence. Acknowledging that the provincial legal system has to adapt to the growing street violence, Premier Dalton McGuinty also yesterday announced that 10 prosecution lawyers will work under the same roof as the police to better secure convictions. After a bloody year of 52 gun murders in Toronto, and growing criticism that Ontario's legal system allows too many offenders to go free to commit further crime, the government responded yesterday with a $51 million package. (Full article: "Anti-gang powers expanded")

Hmmm... an interesting step. This kinda feels like the Ontario Liberals got together and watched a few Mafia movies and made decisions from there. Not that I want to criticize McGuinty and his team... I support them. It just seems a little cliche or something.

"This marks the first time that an Ontario premier has formally and publicly recognized the need to add resources to all parts of the criminal justice system to effectively deliver public safety." McGuinty has long faced pressure to speed up delivery on his election promise to put 1,000 new officers on the street but he has always said the government didn't have the money. The new officers will be patrolling Ontario neighbourhoods by the end of 2006 instead of 2007, McGuinty said. That will cost an extra $14 million.

Ahhh... and finally the plan begins to make sense. Definitely a new way of handling gun-violence in Ontario. They're treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves... at all levels. It's a beautifully orchestrated plan. More reinforcements = less overwork and less mistakes made by those in the system. All that = more gang members behind bars. Unfortunately, call me skeptical, but often the math that works in theory doesn't always work in practice. I think that the level of change they want to see will have to go deeper than the legal system. A professor once told me that in mental and physical health, for every dollar spent on prevention we save seven dollars in treatment. Canada has, traditionally, been resistent to measures of prevention. But I think this is what is needed. I mean, if they've shown in the US that even the death penalty isn't an effective deterrent for crime, then will any of these new measures make a difference? I doubt it. An effective anti-gang approach would have to start at the grass roots. Look at the media, unemployment, poverty, education, access to resources (like extended healthcare... all that useful stuff like physical therapy and psychological services which OHIP no longer covers). As a final note on the new anti-gang measures in Ontario, I have to submit this picture from the Star article:

Doesn't anyone else think that this looks like a promo shot from a Quentin Tarrantino movie? Come on... it reeks of Kill Bill Vol. One! Premier Dalton McGuinty in the centre, surrounded by his lower-level cronies. Recognize it? O-Ren Ishii's entrance into the House of Blue Leaves surrounded by her Yakuzas. I feel like the Tomoyasu Hotei's song Battle Without Honor Or Humanity should be playing here... how fitting.

Miss HT Psych

Freak Flag Friday

2006-01-06T17:46:00.000-05:00

It's that time again!

My Freak Flag of the week....

If I haven't made this one clear before, I'll state it explicitly now. I LOVE skinny men. None of those muscle-bound, Vin Diesel-esque guys for me. Runners and nerds are where its at... seriously.

Miss HT Psych

Chuck Norris fun

2006-01-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to LMK for putting this on her blog. I needed a good laugh (don't ask... I had a stupid doctor encounter today).

Here is a little site dedicated to Chuck Norris facts. Seriously, check it out. I laughed so hard. Some of the highlights include:

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris

Some of the ones posted on LMK's site are a little different. Worth the read.

Miss HT Psych

House

2006-01-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

I firmly believe that, at Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate in December or early January), everyone needs to buy a present for themselves. It's a little pick-me-up for the soul. After battling the mall, and listening to more Christmas carols than you can count, don't you think you deserve something to reward yourself for all your hard work and perseverance? This year, my gift to myself was Season One of my current favourite TV show, House. I just finished all the DVDs tonight (including the special features)... hey, give me a break. I didn't buy it until Thursday of last week. If I haven't told you before, I MUST make this clear now - I highly recommend to all of you to watch at least one episode... actually two. To be fair, sometimes it's hard to get the humor the first time around. But if you're expecting another ER spin-off, you'll be sorely disappointed. Gregory House is sarcastic, unethical, rude, a drug addict (Vicodin) and just an all-around mean guy. But he's VERY smart, and good at his job. So, even though you want to NOT like him, you end up loving him. Fabulous. I know he's a fictional character, but can I rank him up there with Jareth the Goblin King (aka. David Bowie in Labyrinth)? Come on, just look at him...

I love this show for more than Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House. In every episode, they somehow manage to toy with that line of what's ethical and what isn't. If I break into your house without permission, yet by doing so I save your life, is that ethical? If you signed a DNR (do not resuscitate) on the basis of a faulty diagnosis (degenerative, terminal, non-treatable disease), and I bring you back to life (in order to treat you for your real, curable disease), am I guilty of assault? Well worth the hour of your time... trust me. You'll be hooked.

Miss HT Psych

PS - And if House isn't exactly your type, don't worry. There's plenty of eye candy for both the ladies and the men. And all of them are smart... ahhh, I love nerds.

Relatively speaking...

2006-01-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

Moral relativism - moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute and universal moral truths but instead are relative to social, cultural, histoical or personal references, and that there is no single standard by which to assess an ethical proposition's truth (Taken from: Wikipedia).

Recently, I wrote a paper on Carol Gilligan's feminist theory of moral development. In it, I found myself defending something which I never thought I would attempt to defend on paper: moral relativism. While I certainly can't ascribe to an imapartialist/universal moral value system (think Kant, with universal moral imperatives), moral relativism is an equally sticky philosophical position. Impartialists would appeal to logic, reason, universal principles and law to solve a moral dilemma. However, this leaves the door open to cultural (or ethnic, religious, gender, classist) supremacy. It also does not account for any contextual factors. For example, if one were to say that "right to life" is a guiding moral imperative, above all other moral beliefs (ex. thou shalt not steal, etc), then how do you judge a case of murder due to self-defense? Abortion? War? Can one person's right to life ever trump another's? Is an individual's life worth less than a group of people? In these cases, universal moral systems break down. Impartialists have to admit for exceptions to the rule. Then, you're left with a contextual moral system (moral relativism). Yet again though, we run into problems. How can you judge an individual's actions? Is it possible to determine if another person, or group of people, has behaved morally? Moral relativism will eventually implode on itself. At some point, moral relativism must be relative itself. Then, a moral relativist must accept that relativism itself is a universal principle, or that there are other universal principles besides relativism.

I think that both positions have valid points. There must be some standard which individual actions may be judged as moral or immoral. Yet, these principles must be flexible, and subject to contextual factors. I've heard that critical realism may be able to offer a middle ground between these two opposing positions, but haven't yet delved into the literature... mostly because, well, moral development is not my area of specialty. There's something very attractive about a theory that can acknowledge a real, knowable world, yet also acknowledge that perceptions and cognitions can hamper one's ability to see the world as it really is. In a philosophical sense, it allows you to have your cake and eat it too. Maybe that's what morality is... a set of universal principles that are largely unknowable because of our preconceived notions, social climate, emotions and personal history. Maybe all we can ask for is that we all try our best...

Miss HT Psych

2005 Round-Up

2005-12-30T16:58:00.000-05:00

I am officially about to steal another blogging idea from my fabulous twin, LMK (again, not REAL twin in the biological sense). I want to do a bit of a best and worst of the past year.

Worst things that happened in 2005

80s fashion came back (leg-warmers were gross the first time around!!!)
Just about everything George Bush related
My Baba's heart attack
My first trip to BC (July - my cousin's wedding)
Leaving London, ON
Not living with my sister anymore

Best things that happened in 2005

Gay marriage becoming legal in Canada
Both Green Day concerts (in London, and in Barrie)
Getting into grad school
Going to my first conference
Going to the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland
My second trip to BC (December - vacation)

Best albums I bought in 2005

Esthero - Wikked Lil' Grrrls
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Beck - Guerro
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Kasabian - Kasabian
Sloan - A Sides Win

Best movies I saw in the theatre in 2005

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
Batman Begins
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The Corpse Bride
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Chronicles of Narnia

Worst movies I saw in the theatre in 2005

Sin City... this was by far the worst, no contest
Domino
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy... actually, it's a good movie, I was just disappointed by how much the story was changed. Mos Def (Ford Prefect), Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox) and Alan Rickman (Marvin) did a great job in their roles
Aeon Flux... again, not HORRIBLE, but not fantastic either.

New Year's Resolution for 2006

Make SURE I get to the gym AT LEAST 3 times a week (I tend to get caught up in work and forget)

Oh, and it's time for my freak flag of the week...

I love eating dinner food for breakfast. I think working midnights at GM during the summers of my undergrad years really messed with that... I mean, you wake up and the whole family is eating dinner. Then you have leftovers for "lunch" (at 4am), and then a small bit of rice before bed (because my stomach always feels nauseous if I sleep during the day).

Miss HT Psych

Musical Interlude

2005-12-29T18:27:00.000-05:00

What with all the radio stations putting out their "Top Whatever" lists in prepartation for New Year's, I've decided to follow suit. It occured to me while trying to think of my "Top Whatever" list of choice, that I have a couple issues with this. For starters, my musical tastes are too diverse to be able to settle on a "All-Time" singles or albums list. I have the same problem even when I limit it to those albums or singles released in 2005. My final issue is that I have found that most albums have a stellar single or two, but the rest is mostly filler, and I don't want to give any credence to those artists. So, after recognizing all that, my list became clear: a Top 25 front-to-back amazing albums list. In doing this though, I did have to impose some restrictions. I haven't included any album that was released prior to my interest in music really starting (approx. 1990). I did this because I have found that older artists tended to make all-around great albums, rather than really great singles. So I wanted to give a shout out to those semi-current artists who practice the lost art of album making. Also, I didn't want to include double (or triple) entries. Once an artist made it onto my list, no subsequent albums were added. I think this is fair... artists like Radiohead could occupy a large chunk of my list, and other artists I'd like to recognize would be left off. So, in this case, I simply chose my favourite album by this artist (e.g. - Radiohead: The Bends vs. OK Computer... I would chose The Bends, even if most of the world would disagree). Just in case you're interested, I will put an asterix beside every band that could have had more than one entry. Finally, no soundtracks or "best of's" were included (for obvious reasons). Oh, and in case you're wondering, I chose 25 as my magical number, because I'm 25 this year. And for those of you who like to download your music, I've included a few tracks for you to check out (they're in parantheses beside the album).

Fiona Apple - Tidal (Sleep To Dream, Slow Like Honey, Never Is A Promise)
Erykah Badu - Baduizm (On & On, Otherside Of The Game, Next Lifetime)
Beck - Odelay (The New Pollution, Novacane, Where It's At)
Blur* - Parklife (Tracy Jacks, Parklife, To The End)
Coldplay* - Parachutes (Trouble, High Speed, Everything's Not Lost)
Esthero* - Breath From Another (Breath From Another, Heaven Sent, Anywayz)
Foo Fighters - The Colour & The Shape (Monkey Wrench, My Hero, Everlong)
Garbage - Garbage (Supervixen, Queer, Only Happy When It Rains)
Green Day* - Dookie (Longview, Basket Case, She)
The Killers - Hot Fuss (Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me, Andy You're A Star)
Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (Harder To Breathe, This Love, Sweetest Goodbye)
John Mayer - Room For Squares (My Stupid Mouth, Love Song For No One, Not Myself)
Muse - Absolution (Time Is Running Out, Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria)
Nine Inch Nails* - Pretty Hate Machine (Something I Can Never Have, Sin, The Only Time)
Nirvana* - Nevermind (In Bloom, Lithium, Something In The Way)
Pearl Jam - Ten (Even Flow, Alive, Black)
Peppersands - Peppersands (So Fine, Speak To Soon, Can U Tell)
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing (The Crawl, Every You Every Me, My Sweet Prince)
Portishead* - Dummy (Mysterons, Roads, Glory Box)
Pulp - Different Class (Common People, Sorted For E's & Whizz, Monday Morning)
Radiohead* - The Bends (Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit)
Sloan - One Chord To Another (G Turns To A D, Everything You've Done Wrong, The Lines You Amend)
Soundgarden - Superunknown (Fell On Black Days, Black Hole Sun, The Day I Tried To Live)
The Streets* - Original Pirate Material (Let's Push Things Forward, The Irony Of It All, Weak Become Heroes)
The Verve - Urban Hymns (Bitter Sweet Symphony, Sonnet, The Drugs Don't Work)

In case I don't make it on again until the new year, best wishes in '06 everyone!

Miss HT Psych

Freak Flag... Tuesday...

2005-12-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

Once again, I was too busy to get around to the Friday Freak Flag. So, it's a belated Freak Flag this week.

Freak Flag: I hate tomatoes, but I love tomato-related products like spaghetti sauce.

Hope Santa was good to all of you! My favourite gift this holiday season? A board game: Lords, Lands and Legends, courtesy of my sister. It was our favourite board game when we were kids, but somehow it got lost in one of our moves. We've been searching for this game for YEARS. She finally found it on E-Bay. I'm in a world of blissful nostalgia at the moment, all thanks to her. Big hugs! Any of you get anything extra special fun this year?

Miss HT Psych

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

In an effort to be all PC, and cover as many December-related religous holidays as possible, I'd like to wish you all a happy holiday! Enjoy the time off, eat, drink and be merry ("for tomorrow we may die"... thanks Epicurus). Spend some time with the family... although not too much if you value your sanity. Remember, in the holiday season, moderation is the key! Let's just hope that doesn't apply to presents, though...

So, in the spirit of the season, I'm offering up my Top 5 list for Christmas movies and Top 10 list for Christmas songs.

Top 5 Must Watch Christmas Movies:

A Christmas Story
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (cartoon)
Nightmare Before Christmas
Love, Actually
Elf

Top 5 Must Hear Christmas Songs:

David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy
Burl Ives - You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch
Bob & Doug Mackenzie - 12 Days of Christmas
Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
The Beatles - Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas-time
Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
Tony Bennett - Winter Wonderland
Frank Sinatra - I'll Be Home For Christmas

Happy Holidays!

Miss HT Psych

Postmodern...me?

2005-12-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

A little while ago, I made a post accusing Steven Pinker of holding naive postmodernist views. In his book The Blank Slate, he made statements reflecting his belief that current Western science is devoid of racism and sexism. I took issue with this because, well, it's just flat out wrong. A postmodernist would believe that these are worthy goals to strive for, but does not believe that science has actually achieved this state.

As a little holiday treat, I've borrowed a short questionnaire developed by my friend Lisa Held to determine your philosophical leaning and the consistency of your ideas. Shall we begin?

There are 12 items in this questionnaire. Indicate on a seperate piece of paper whether you agree or disagree with each statement. Once you're done, I'll provide you with a scoring system, and some information about your choices.

A science of human behaviour is not possible.
A science should be defined by its methodology.
A biological model is the best way to understand human behaviour.
We should strive to seperate science and politics.
Truth is a social construction requiring consensus.
Sensory data reflects reality.
Psychology discovers universal truths about human nature.
Psychological categories (e.g. personality traits, etc.) exist apart from time and location.
Psychology should look at human beings holistically.
Psychologists should not concern themselves with matters of social justice.
The scientific method is one of a number of ways to understand the world.
Truth can be found by the application of method.

All done? Okay, here's what your answers mean. The quiz was attempting to determine if your views were more consistent with a mordernist or postmodernist position. Let's see how you did. Below I will list for each question who would agree and who would disagree. Ready?

Modern - disagree; Postmodern - agree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - disagree; Postmodern - agree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - disagree; Postmodern - agree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree
Modern - disagree; Postmodern - agree
Modern - agree; Postmodern - disagree

So, did you end up all modern? Mostly modern? 50/50? Mostly postmodern? Fully postmodern? Myself, I was fully postmodern. Below is a summary slide from Lisa's presentation which shows what each position (modern/postmodern) would believe:

Some potential risks to Modernist beliefs? Victim-blaming and unjust social structures. Some potential risks to Postmodernism? Skepticism and relativism.

That was fun, wasn't it? ;)

I'd like to thank Lisa Held for allowing me to post using her material. All of this comes from a fabulous presentation she gave, "Ideas Matter". The presentation was a valiant effort to get our non-History & Theory classmates to understand that philosophy plays a part in psychology. That our theories have philosophical roots that we can't ignore. For example, a belief in John Locke's empiricism would lead directly to a belief in radical behviourism for psychologists (see J.B. Watson, E. Tolman, C. Hull, and B.F. Skinner... classical and operant conditioning) .

If you want a brief description of postmodernism (and modernism) click here. For some authors to check out in the postmodernist field, you might want to read up on Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard.

Let me know how you did on the questionnaire. I'd be interested to see how you all made out.

Miss HT Psych

Become A Republican

2005-12-19T23:21:00.000-05:00

This cartoon makes me glad, once again, that I'm not living in the US right now (although if Stephen Harper gets in here in Canada, he may take the same road). Check it out!

Become A Republican

Thanks to TFG for posting this, and LMK for giving him the link!

Miss HT Psych

Hockey Night In Canada

2005-12-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE New Jersey Devils fan. Yes, I realize I live in Toronto and could be crucified for pledging allegiance to any other team than the Leafs, but I remain a proud Devils fan nonetheless. Trust me, I have good reasons (which won't discuss here, unfortunately). Although, I will say that I have been almost a lifelong fan. I've been there cheering them on since the mid-eighties, when they were still wearing red, white and green. So no band-wagon jumper here. Now then, on to the news...

Larry Robinson has quit as the New Jersey Devils head coach. I can't say I'm shocked. His relationship with New Jersey has been, well, not the best. Sure, the team loves him, but he can't always get them to play the way they are able to. So, he resigned today, citing stress as a major reason for his decision (view the ESPN article here). The interesting part in all this is who they're going to get to replace him. There has been some speculation that former Devil's right-winger and current assistant coach John MacLean might succeed Robinson (view ESPN article here). I can't wait to see what the decision will be. Whatever it is, I hope it will help break the Devils out of this lack-lustre rut they're in at the moment.

Miss HT Psych

BC Trip Pics, Vol. Two

2005-12-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Well, I'm on my way home tonight (red-eye flight... eek!), so I'm posting the last few pictures from my trip. I went to see an old-growth forest near Cameron Lake just outside of Nanimo. Cameron Lake is glacial fed (or so my cousin thinks) and right at the base of a couple mountains. Apparently, according to folks around here, the lake is actually deeper than the mountains beside it are tall. It even has it's own "ghost story"... supposedly a few years back a train derailed off the tracks on one of the mountain beside the lake (I saw where it came off), and fell into the lake. To this day they still haven't found the train. Weird, eh? So, here is one of my favourite pictures from that day-trip:

This tree is the oldest in the forset... it's just over 800 years old! The tree I'm standing on was almost wider than I am tall. Crazy, hey?! Ahhh... I guess BC talk is getting to me. :)

Miss HT Psych

Freak Flag Friday

2005-12-16T20:25:00.000-05:00

I missed last week's installment of Freak Flag Friday because I was en route in my crazy Toronto to BC adventure. So, this week's freak flag is going to be a double feature to make up for the week I missed.

When I read quietly I still move my lips. It's something I learned while studying. I tend to remember things better if I hear them rather than just reading them, so if I move my lips it's like I'm actually hearing what I'm reading. On the plus side, I can remember novels in very graphic detail... and it's the details in books that I enjoy the most. That's why I tend to like authors who spend a great deal of time setting up their stories and environment (like J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne Rice, Orson Scott Card, J.K. Rowling, etc).
I drink my coffee with a spoon (actually any hot beverage... tea, hot chocolate, cup o' soup, etc). It just feels weird to me to drink it straight from the cup. Don't know why.

Miss HT Psych

Public Service Announcement

2005-12-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

I would like to begin by saying that my blog is not the place to come if you are in need of psychological help. I cannot be that person... I do not have the qualifications, I will never have those qualifications (this is not my area of specialty), nor is this venue appropriate. If you feel that you need to express yourself online, perhaps try Treatment Online. Or, you can avail yourself of many more conventional methods, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, support groups, school counsellors, or any other venue where you feel your voice maybe heard. While I do sympathize with your plight, as I am sure do my readers, I will in the future remove any comment that I feel to be inappropriate. This includes:

suicide notes
threats
racist or sexist comments
comments that are generally demeaning or threatening to any particular groups of people (religious, etc).

I am sorry to have to state the obvious here, but I WILL NOT tolerate these kinds of comments.

Miss HT Psych

Call For Papers!

2005-12-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

It's finally happened! The call for papers is out for anyone interested in attending the Third North American Critical Psychology conference at York University.

The conference will be accepting abstracts from the three broad areas of critical, historical and theoretical psychology. The conference is open for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty or any others who are interested in attending. Thomas Teo will be the featured key note speaker.

Miss HT Psych

Great Canadian Carbon Offset 2006

2005-12-13T23:16:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Check out my friend Steve Luscher's new blog, The Great Canadian Carbon Offset 2006.

Marc Tacchi became an Internet celebrity upon reaching his goal of accumulating over 1,000,000 mileage points on Air Canada flights in the space of 60 days. We estimate that his project, named "The Great Canadian Mileage Run 2005", has resulted in the emission of approximately 140 Metric Tons of CO₂ – a climate-forcing greenhouse gas. It is our goal to restore the balance by investing in a Vancouver based carbon-offset program, thereby preventing the future release of 140 Metric Tons of CO₂ – but we need your help!

Join The Great Canadian Carbon Offset 2006 – help us reach our goal of CAD$2100 by Midnight PST on January 27th, 2006 by making a donation today!

For any of you mathematically-minded environmentalists, take a look!

Miss HT Psych

BC Trip Pics, Vol. One

2005-12-12T00:11:00.000-05:00

So, I've uploaded a few of my favourite pics so far. Anyone who wants to check out the sights can follow the magical link here. Some of the highlights:

The Rockies from high above in the plane
Vancouver Aquarium
The ferry crossing from Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) to Nanimo (Departure Bay)
Neck Point in Nanimo (just down the street from my cousin's house!!!)

I'll put some more up later, hopefully!

Miss HT Psych

PS - Check out my cousin's brand new site! She's a great photographer!

Traveler Extraordinaire

2005-12-11T12:59:00.000-05:00

So, I'm in Vancouver, B.C. I made it through (most) of the trip alive. Friday evening I went to Buffalo and stayed the night. I left Buffalo airport at 9:41am and made a quick stop-over in Hockey Town, USA (Detroit). While I was there, I had the best chicken fingers I've ever tasted... seriously. AND it was food from the Detroit airport (Slapshots, I think). It's funny... everytime I was complementary to someone in the service industry while in the US, they seemed to be taken aback and didn't know what to say. Are people in the US less friendly than in Canada? Everyone seemed perfectly friendly to me... who knows. In any case, after leaving Detroit, I landed in Seattle. On the way, we flew directly over the rocky mountains. Wow... that was truly one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen (I have some pics that I'll post later). From Seattle, I took a shuttle to the Greyhound station. The shuttle bus driver was hilarious! I got a great tour of downtown Seattle. I have to say, it's a gorgeous city. In fact, its one of the first towns in the US that I've been to where I thought "gee, I could actually live here." Who knows, maybe I'll apply to work at the University of Washington one day. Although I could also see how the Grunge scene sprung up there, amidst all that superficial commercial elegance. The Seattle Greyhound station, on the other hand, was a dive. I thought I might get shot just standing in there. I was afraid to take out my laptop, but alas, it needed to be charged so eventually I gave in. When I got in line to get on the bus to Vancouver, there was a brown guy standing in front of me. Guess what happened getting on the bus? The guy taking his ticket inspected every inch of the poor guy's passport. When he took my ID afterwards, he gave it the most cursory glance (I'm not even sure he had time to read my name by the time he handed it back to me). I felt so sorry for the guy ahead of me. Just because he's brown, he MUST be a terrorist. I mean, come on! So after all that, I finally arrived in Vancouver at 11pm (2am on my time). I was tired, but really glad I made the trip the way I did. One day of exhaustion and I'm fully on BC time today. So now I'm off to meet up with an old friend and do some sightseeing before heading to Nanimo tomorrow afternoon.

I promise I'll post some pictures soon!

Miss HT Psych

PS - I have a real post planned, I just need the time to actually write it... :)

Right on, mug!

2005-12-06T17:26:00.000-05:00

I slept for less than 3 hours last night. Why? Nerves, probably. I felt like I had a straight caffeine injection. What can you do? In any case, this entry is going to be in a "random thoughts" format, because at this point I can't be bothered to connect my ideas together. Also, then you don't have to read through paragraphs of senseless drivel (BONUS!). Are you with me? Here goes...

The dreaded stats exam is finally over. I figure that the absolute WORST I could have done was an A-. More realistically, it was likely a high A (dare I hope for an A+?). For about half an hour afterwards I felt like the world was spinning. Probably lack of sleep and food... yup, that'd do it.

All my potential publications are done and submitted. Worked out to be 4 publications of varying types when all was said and done. Not bad for a MA1 student in first semester, eh? Do I get a gold star now? :)

December 8th... the day of the birth of the all-mighty fist shaker (aka, my sister). She's turning 23. Why is it that I feel old on her birthday, but not on my own???

I'm leaving for BC on Friday. Why do they have to reject the Canadian stereotype and say "hey" instead of "eh"? "How about that weather, hey?" Yeah... that just sounds strange. Weirdos...

I'm watching Labyrinth, one of my all time favourite movies. At the end, Jareth (David Bowie) says to Sarah (Jennifer Connelley) "Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams. I ask for so little. Just let me rule you and you can have everything you want. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave." With a proposal like that, who could turn down that man! Jennifer, what were you thinking?! David, you have power over me!!!!

"Don't tell me truth hurts little girl, 'cause it hurts like hell" - David Bowie, 'Underground' (Labyrinth)

"You remind me of the babe. What babe? The babe with the power. What power? The power of voodoo. Who do? You do. Do what? Remind me of the babe." - David Bowie, 'Magic Dance' (Labyrinth)

"Everything I've done, I've done for you. I move the stars for no one!... Your eyes can be so cruel! Just as I can be so cruel." - David Bowie, 'Within You' (Labyrinth)

I'm trying to excerise my creative side by "prettying up" the call for papers, registration forms and conference schedule for the conference that a group of us in the history & theory of psych department are trying to organize. Why is it that Publisher doesn't come standard with MS Office? I mean, I know the program has it's flaws, but it's a hell of a lot easier to use for this kind of thing than Word or PowerPoint. If anyone has any contacts at Microsoft, put a bug in their ear: regular users of MS Office need to make shnazzy looking posters, flyers, and other such things too!

I'm munching on a feast of pizza and hot chocolate for dinner. My mug says "Life is good. Do what you like and like what you do." Right on, mug! I'm totally feelin' ya today. I may be tired, but it couldn't have been for a better cause. I'm willing to put up with the pain in order to achieve my academic goals... I LOVE what I do and I do what I love - psychology.

Miss HT Psych

Absolutely, 100% Sickened

2005-12-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

I just read the newest installment of "blame the victim" in the United States. In Oregon, a woman has been charged with filing a false rape claim. The judge based his decision on the fact that the woman did not act "traumatized enough" to have really been raped. How could this have happened? It is a well known fact that victims of rape act in varied ways: some cry, some get angry, some become emotionally numb (otherwise known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), among other reactions. PTSD is often marked by emotional detachment and an inability to show normal social functioning. In fact, experiencing rape has been entered into the actual definition and diagnosis for PTSD, along with experiencing military combat and natural disastors, etc. This case once again reinforces my belief that rape is the only crime where the victim is put on trial. "Portland police, Huhtanen said, found that 1.6 percent of sexual assault cases were falsely reported, compared with 2.6 percent of auto theft reports." So if false reports of rape are made less often than false reports of auto theft, why is it that the automatic reaction from the public is that a woman must be lying in order to further her own nefarious goals? Because we still blame the victim...

Some educational sites on sexual violence:
Men Against Sexual Violence (MASV)
V-Day
Stop Violence Against Women

I'm too disgusted to write much more...

Miss HT Psych

Freak Flag Friday

2005-12-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

Okay... so LMK has decided to start a new tradition in order to make herself more "real" to her readers. And frankly, I think the idea is rather good. So, I'm going to try to follow suit. The idea of Freak Flag Friday is to post something about yourself which is just kinda strange or quirky. It doesn't have to be some big, dark, scary secret, but just one of those quirks that makes you, well, you. So here goes... I'm going to start with an easy one to get the ball rolling on this idea.

My Freak Flag: I NEED my CDs to be arranged in alphabetical order. If I have multiple CDs by the same band, then they must be arranged chronologically. It's actually a fairly daunting task as I have over 500 CDs. And believe me, I notice VERY quickly if one is put out of place.

Miss HT Psych

Fever Pitch

2005-12-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Once again I have been forced to relearn a lesson that the world has been trying to teach me since highschool: you can be really busy in the winter, but the second that you take 5 minutes to breathe, you get sick. I'm all feverish... but the nasty kind where you get cold chills to go along with everything. I figure that this has to be some Karmic backlash. With Karma, there's a few options to explore:

I've done something wrong and must atone for it. Hmmm... not sure what this is. Nothing's popping to mind at the moment.
Something good has happened to me, and the world is trying to realign itself in a sort of moral balance. Okay... interesting. Let's see... last night I made an AMAZING curry dinner, and ate it while relaxing and enjoying a glass of wine. I saw Jayla get kicked off of America's Next Top Model (YEAH! GO NIK GO!!!) and followed that up by watching The Sweetest Thing. The downside: CityTV cut out my favourite part! The song and dance in the restaurant featuring the tune "Your penis is too big to fit in here" was missing for whatever reason. Damn. I don't think this works out in any sort of cosmic balancing act. Maybe I'm wrong...
Something good is going to happen to me in the future, and the world is trying to align itself in a sort of moral balance to prepare for this event. I like this option. Oh please oh please oh please let it be my publications! Other options: the BC Trip? Hmmm... it's gonna rain the whole time I'm there. I don't know what else there could be. In the spirit of being all mystical while feverish, I'm going to consult Brian Froud's Faerie Oracle (online version) and see what it has to say.

When I asked what this current sickness could be preparing me for, it responded by giving me the Solus card, which suggests reaping the positive benefits of all our hard work or that something new will appear in our lives. Interesting. Okay. What else? I drew 2 more cards and asked for clarification. The first one was the Spirit Dancer which asks us to concentrate on our projects and foster self-expression. The second one was The Faery Who Was Kissed By The Pixies, which suggests love (freely given and recieved). So maybe there is something to Karma point #3. Well, that remains to be seen.

As I see it, there's no better time to contemplate one's own existence, or the mysteries of the world than when you're feverish. I would accept being high as a close second. Although, the problem with that is that there has to be some monetary exchange for your newfound philosophy. So, it's at times like this that I consider the immortal words of Robert Fulgham in "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten." If you haven't read his stuff, I highly recommend it. Funny, intelligent and it makes you think about the simple things in life. If you haven't read the book, please follow THIS LINK to pure wisdom and sheer genius. But in case you need some inspiration to follow the magical link, here's a small taste:

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

...

Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

And with that, I leave you... for now.

Miss HT Psych

PS - If you've got some time, check out Little Miss Knit's (aka. LMK, Knitty Kitty, or my twin) interview on Queue and Eh? You rock, LMK!

Alliance in Sheep's Clothing

2005-11-30T10:23:00.000-05:00

With election campaigns in Canada barely getting off the ground, Stephen Harper is already off to a bad start. Once again, he has shown that the new Conservatives are nothing more than the Canadian Alliance in sheep's clothing. They are the same old wolf, bent on forcing Christian values on all Canadians and removing social liberties in the process. Harper has claimed that he will attempt to overturn the law passed this summer making same-sex marriage in Canada legally recognized. How exactly he plans to do this, I'm not sure. The new marriage definition has been put into the Charter of Rights. Canadian courts and the Supreme Court of Canada have ruled time and time again that the traditional definition of marriage (one man and one woman only) violates human rights. He could use the notwithstanding clause, but that is a messy situation. A quote from Belinda Stronach in the Star this morning:

"It's this kind of thing that led me to join the Liberal party, that drove me from the Conservative party," said Newmarket-Aurora MP Belinda Stronach, whose dramatic defection to the governing party in May helped the Liberals hold on to power.
"I think it's just plain wrong. How can one class of citizen be more equal than another? Honestly, I think voters have moved past this issue. Parliament already dealt with that."

Belinda Stronach, now a major voice in the Liberal party, was once a Progressive Conservative. Harper's extreme right-wing politics forced her to choose between her party and her convictions. She chose to defect in order to stand for her beliefs... which the current version of the Conservative party no longer represents. If Harper takes the Conservatives down this road, who's to say he won't invoke his other passion: removing a woman's choice to have an abortion. I'm proud to be Canadian. Proud that in this country we believe that EVERYONE is equal and should have an equal voice (something which our neighbours to the south sorely lack). Canada is known for it's liberty, compassion, rationality and social ethics. The current Conservatives do not speak with this agenda. They're simply another version of the American Republican party. Do we want a George Bush in power here? A vote for the Alliance, uhh, I mean Conservatives, is a vote against social liberties. There's no other way to put it.

Miss HT Psych

Heritability

2005-11-29T19:45:00.000-05:00

I'm making this post to try to clear up a common misconception in psychological literature (and non-scholarly interpretation of the literature). For the purposes of this entry though, I feel that I need to define a couple items:

Variance - A measure of the spread or dispersion of a variable around its mean (average)
Population - A set of entities concerning which statistical inferences are to be drawn, often based on a random sample. A group of people defined by some characteristic (i.e. geographical area)
Heritability - the amount of variance in the expression of a trait accounted for by genetics

Heritiability is often thought of as the percentage chance that one can inherit a certain trait or disorder from a family member. This is incorrect. Heritability is an estimate of variance in the expression of a trait accounted for by genetics across a population. For an individual it has no meaning. For example, my mother was diagnosed with bipolar (manic depressive) disorder. It is the most heritable mental disorder, sitting at about .70-.75 (I'm unsure of the actual estimate. If anyone can clarify, please feel free). This does not mean that I have a 70-75% chance of developing the disorder myself, or that 70-75% of the disorder is caused by genetics. It simply means that, across the population, 70-75% of the variance you would see between people can be accounted for by genetics. Heritability does not equal inevitability. Most traits are not expressed as clearly as those accounted for by Mendelian genetics (eg. hair and eye colour). Quite often there are several genes which contribute to the expression of a certain trait (eg. height). Complexity theory discusses the mechanisms by which these traits are expressed or not. Which genes are activated, which aren't? A heritability estimate cannot account for this. There is also another problem with heritability estimates. Say, for example, you wanted to measure the heritability of having 2 eyes. In your random sample, everyone had 2 eyes. In fact, in the population, (nearly) everyone is born with 2 eyes. There is (almost) zero variance in the expression of this trait. Which would mean, according to a heritability estimate, that having 2 eyes has 0% of the variance accounted for by genetics (as there is no variance at all). But, to draw conclusions from this claiming that environment is soley responsible for humans having 2 eyes would obviously be incorrect. These estimates must be treated and interpreted with extreme caution. Actually, in my opinon (and I realize it is just that), estimates of heritability are useless and tell us absolutely nothing about a trait or disorder.

So, if you see a heritability estimate in your readings, take it for what it is... essentially meaningless.

Miss HT Psych

Busy, busy, busy

2005-11-25T20:19:00.000-05:00

Okay folks... I just wanted to give you the heads up that I might not be around for a week or two. Things are getting a little hectic. I just sent in a comment to (hopefully, fingers crossed) be published in American Psychologist. My book review of "From Racism to Genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich" is being drafted right now, and should be sent out within the next two weeks. Now my advisor told me that I should prepare an abstract to submit for the APA conference in New Orleans in August. AND I have my stats exam on Dec. 6th. So yeah... hectic doesn't quite cover it. But I'll be back ASAP.

Miss HT Psych

Post-Modern Pinker

2005-11-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today I was challenged by Scott Aaronson to read Steven Pinker's Pulitzer Prize nominated The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002). I went into the enterprise with an open mind. I was excited to read something new. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by page 16 (of 434). When discussing scientific racism and sexism in past psychological and anthropological work, Pinker says:

We have come a long way. Though attitudes far worse than Jespersen's continue to thrive in much of the world and in parts of our society, they have been driven out of mainstream intellectual life in Western democracies. Today no respectable public figure in the United States, Britain, or Western Europe can casually insult women or sling around invidious stereotypes of other races or ethnic groups.

We know now that people of both sexes and all races are capable of attaining any station in life.

The quote goes on and on to this effect. All I could think was "how very... post-modern." Post-modernists in psychology attribute the ideas of oppression, slavery, racism and sexism to the modern period (Enlightenment until ????). Apparently, Pinker views the United States and the rest of Western culture as post-modern. But if this was in any way true, we would be able to see this consensus he speaks of reflected in the literature. This is simply not the case. One look at authors such as Richard Lynn (UK), Philippe Rushton (Canada) or Arthur Jensen (United States) should tell you that. Janet Shibley Hyde just published an article titled "Gender Similarities Hypothesis" in American Psychologist (September) which clearly shows the reverse side of the coin. If these issues are still being debated by top researchers in the field, then it is presumptuous to claim any kind of consensus.

I was again disappointed on page 27. Here Pinker says:

Though psychology is not as politicized as some other social sciences...

This statement is flat out incorrect. The findings by Yerkes, Terman and Goddard in the Army Alpha tests lead directly to the Immigration Restriction Act in 1924 (United States). This act limited the number of Jewish people, eastern and southern European people who were allowed to enter the United States, because they were thought to be "deficient stock." Clark and Clark also gave expert testimony in the Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. This case lead to the desegregation of black children in schools. These are just two examples of how psychology has directly affected politics.

The book is, in general very well written. In my estimation, Pinker deserved his Pulitzer Prize nomination. However, I have yet to decide if he is simply good at rhetoric, or if there will be some substance... rhetoric alone is not enough.

Miss HT Psych

Speculation and Epistemological Violence

2005-11-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

I have said before in "Let the data be heard" that I feel that psychological interpretations are underdertermined by the data. I was reading over my advisor's newest article (just sent out for publication) and it gave me some points to think about.

The problem of underdetermined data also exists in physics (the science that psychology most admires for their scientific rigour). Pierre-Maurice-Marie Duhem (physicist) was the first to raise this issue and did so within the context of the natural sciences, not the social sciences.
The APA actually encourages interpretation and speculation. "You are free to examine, interpret, and qualify the results, as well as to draw inferences from them." (p. 26, APA Publication Manual). This is odd coming from a discipline who places so much emphasis on ethics, proper methodology and well-reported statistics.
Aristotle was one of the first to criticize the natural sciences as "speculative." This is one of the reasons why Kant claimed that mathematics was the purest science, as it was based on deduction rather than empiricism. In his view, all other sciences were a pale imitation of the kind of work achievable through mathematics.
If sciences are based on speculation instead "truth", then can a responsible scientific researcher ever make generalizations? Would it not be unethical to make assumptions about groups that could potentially limit their access to resources (money, power, education, workplace advancement, etc)?

The questions I posed have lead to the idea of epistemological violence. "The term epistemological violence does not refer to the misuse of research in general but to interpretative speculations about the data that have negative consequences for the 'Other'" (Teo, 2005, p. 17). The idea was originally developed by Spivak in 1988, and was applied in her postcolonial theory largely towards women. However, this idea is relevant for discussion of any minority in research: ethnic minorities, religious minorities, Eastern culture (within a largely Western culture field of research), the elderly, children, people with mental/physical disabilities, people with varying degrees of mental retardation, and so on and so on. Essentially any group which lacks a voice within scientific dialogues. Research which points to a certain group as being "deficient" in some way could potentially be guilty of empistemological violence if the author attributes the deficiency to some supposedly inalterable event (genetics, etc) .

Should future discussions of ethics within the natural and social sciences impose stricter guidelines on interpretations in discussion sections in order to avoid epistemological violence?

Miss HT Psych

No Logo? Not quite...

2005-11-22T19:37:00.000-05:00

Well, unfortunately it is that time of year again. It is the time when I begin to look at the "Wind Chill" temperature more closely than the actual temperature. It is the time of year when I arrive home with painfully red cheeks. This means, it is also time to trade in my multitude of Sierra Designs (SD) coats and become a walking North Face (TNF) logo once again. There's nothing quite like being encased in windproof, waterproof, 600-weight down. The Allure jacket is my favourite winter accessory. Couple that with windproof TNF fleece gloves and a shnazzy TNF bobble hat and I'm good to go.

Miss HT Psych

Attitudes on sexual assault

2005-11-21T22:15:00.000-05:00

Today, an ICM poll was published (funded by Amnesty International) which showed that the belief that women are at least partially responsible for being raped is still alive and well.

The study was conducted via a phone survey in Britain between October 7th and 9th of this year. ICM surveyed 1095 people who were 18 years of age or older. Here are some of the highlights (taken from the article on Amnesty International's web site):

For instance, more than a quarter (26%) of those asked said that they thought a women was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was wearing sexy or revealing clothing, and more than one in five (22%) held the same view if a woman had had many sexual partners.

Around one in 12 people (8%) believed that a woman was totally responsible for being raped if she’d had many sexual partners.

Similarly, more than a quarter of people (30%) said that a woman was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was drunk, and more than a third (37%) held the same view if the woman had failed to clearly say “no” to the man.

What can I say? I'm disgusted. While I realize there are many people out there who still feel that a woman has no control over her body, I would have liked to think it was far less prevalent. For anyone who is interested in reading the actual report (8 pages), the link can be found near the bottom of this Amnesty International article. As a final note, I looked over the document. The methodology appears to be sound. No leading questions, good sample size, good response rate.

Miss HT Psych

Genius vs. Gifted

2005-11-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

Lewis M. Terman used the words "genius" and "gifted" interchangably in his writings. He said that a genius, or gifted child, was one who scored in the top 1% of the population on intelligence tests. Therefore, their IQ had to reach above 140 on the Stanford-Binet. I find this concept incredibly interesting for a number of reasons.

The word "genius" has traditionally been used in a spiritual sense. It was only applied to people in the Romantic period, and usually referred to someone in the arts (painters, sculpters, poets, playwrights, etc). Typically, someone who was referred to as a genius was considered to have done something original, creative and changed the lives of many people. So, not only do we see some component of creativity, but a social dimension. A genius operated within a social framework to change people's lives (the most commonly cited genius is Shakespeare). Terman is the first person to try to operationalize genius. He assigns it measurable qualities. But there is a problem with this. Assuming we can actually measure with reliability a child's creativity, how do you measure their future social context? It's just not possible.
In current times, to be considered eligible to get an intelligence test done, a child must show potential for a learning disorder or must appear extremely bright. Now let us consider some more recent geniuses: Albert Einstein and Karl Marx. Albert Einstein is known to have performed poorly in school (especially in childhood). Karl Marx was considered a trouble maker from day one... he was arrested several times. Marx was also not a spectacular student in his younger years. Would you consider someone who seemed disinterested, a poor performer or a chronic troublemaker as potentially gifted? I doubt it. These two people, who had such revoluationary thinking in their respective domains, and certainly touched the lives of many, likely would have gone unnoticed by educators in their childhood. Their IQs would likely not have been measured. Thus, there would be no way to predict from this their later achievements.
A 'g' factor intelligence test, such as the Stanford-Binet has many theoretical problems. There is no way of knowing that it actually measures intelligence. In fact, it's predicitive value for career or general life achievement is fairly low. So, there is no reason to assume that it captures the intellectual component of genius.
As I mentioned in the first point, an IQ score cannot measure social context. It also cannot predict the future of an individual. There is no telling whether a potential genius may, like John Stuart Mill, have a mental breakdown early in life (although Mill recovered and went on to greatness). There is no control for sudden illness or death. It cannot predict any external factors which certainly affect the liklihood of a potential genius becoming an actual genius. If Einstein had died before he published his theory of relativity, would he still be considered a genius? No. But he still may have thought of the idea. The potential was still there. All an intelligence test can reasonably assess is potential, which is very different from actuality. If it only measures potential, it could be that very few of that top 1% ever actually become a genius. Then its predicitive power is quite low, and, for example, luck may be a better predictor of success.

While I think Terman may have started out on the right track with trying to operationalize genius as giftedness, I don't think it can reasonably capture all the necessary dimensions. Giftedness is a psychological construct, whereas genius is a social construct with elements of the psychological.

Miss HT Psych

New Orleans is a go

2005-11-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

So, apparently the APA conference in New Orleans, scheduled for August, has been officially confirmed. New Orleans is confident that they will be able to hold a conference of this size by August. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Hopefully it can be pulled off...

Miss HT Psych

Check this out!

2005-11-08T10:59:00.000-05:00

I just want to say congrats to Shelley Fahlman (I reviewed one of her previous articles as one of my first posts). But now, she's finally made the press! That's a big step for a researcher, particularily a PhD1 student! You can check out the article reviewing her work, "Boredom doesn't cause depression, study says," here.

Way to go girl!

Miss HT Psych

Let the data be heard!

2005-11-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

Today I finally got to read the much anticipated article by Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn, Sex differences in means and variability on the progressive matrices in university students: A meta-analysis (Nov, 2005, British Journal of Psychology, Vol. 96, p. 505-524). This is the same article that received so much media attention a few months ago. If you don't remember, you can find the BBC article here. Let's just say I was less than impressed...

We are supposed to take away 5 major points from the study. Point number 4 claims that on the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (to be used on normal adult populations) men out perform women after the age of 20 by about 5 IQ points. They also show that this is true at every IQ level in the upper range... for every 5 points past 130, the ratio of men to women with these high scores increases. Irwing and Lynn use this finding to put forward the theory that these 5 IQ points are the reason why we see so little women in "positions that require a high IQ" (physicists, master chessplayers, Nobel prize winners, etc). I think that is a very dangerous suggestion to make. For starters, there is no evidence that a 5 point difference in IQ makes any significant impact on one's life (educational attainment, career choices, career achievements). Obviously there is a large difference between, say, and IQ of 75 and an IQ of 120. But 5 points? I highly doubt it. Secondly, there is no evidence to suggest that a high IQ predicts involvement in areas such as physics, or that it predicts later achievement. Finally, the results in the study were significant, however the effect sizes were small (based on Cohen's guidelines for interpreting effect sizes). This suggests that the mean difference between the groups was not high enough in comparison to the within groups variance. For these reasons, I think it is just plain irresonsible to make the claims that Irwing and Lynn propose.
Point number 5 shows that there is no sex differences visable on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrics (to be used on "very bright" or "gifted" people... an IQ of 120+... it discriminates better between IQs in the upper ranges). Now, here is a major problem. Irwing and Lynn stated earlier that on the Standard Progrssive Matrices there were substantial differences and that there were more men than women in the upper IQ range. But there's no difference on the Advanced Progressive Matrices? As I see it, this is a big problem for their theory. It completely negates their argument that the 5 IQ points was responsible for the lack of women in "positions that require a high IQ."

In short, the article was a disappointment. I sincerely hope that it is not taken seriously, as it could have EXTREMELY detrimental effects on women's self-esteem, as well as possibly limiting their access to opportunities in academia and the workplace. This is a perfect example of when scientific data does not fit the interpretation. You know, I think I may have just been sold on my advisor's theory... there should be no Discussion section in scientific papers and just let the results speak for themselves.

Miss HT Psych

In pain. Can't walk. Blog instead.

2005-11-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

Today I developed a nasty case of tenosynovitis in my left shin. Tenosynovitis is a swelling of the tendons ("teno") inside their synovial sheaths ("syno"), which causes inflammation, swelling and pain ("itis"). For anyone who's ever had shin splints, you know EXACTLY what this feels like. For those of you that haven't, it kinda feels like your muscles are being ever-so-slowly pulled away from the bone. Yeah, it sucks. A very simple way to tell the difference between shin splints and tenosynovitis is where the pain is occuring. Shin splint sufferers are affected in both legs at once (usually). Tenosynovitis, on the other had, will only happen in one leg at a time. However, if left untreated in the first leg, it is likely to start in the second as well (from favouring the previously injured leg). This very thing happened to me in Grade 10. It knocked me out of competing in track for a full 5 months (Jan-May). I'm still bitter about that.

I need Advil and a bag of frozen peas...

Miss HT Psych

A little self-promotion

2005-11-04T08:17:00.000-05:00

I doubt anyone is going to be interested in this, but the grad students in my department are interested in putting on a history/theory/critical psychology conference. If you would be interested in presenting a paper, or simply just attending, let me know and I can forward the details on to you.

Just trying to get the word out...

Miss HT Psych

A lesson in perspective

2005-11-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

Lawrence Kohlberg is well known for his "6 Stages of Moral Development." However, feminist scholars (namely his one-time research assistant Carol Gilligan) have critiqued his theory as being androcentric. His longitudinal studies (where he developed his moral theory) were only performed on white, privileged males. In his later studies, he concluded that because women did not make it to his final levels of moral development that they were deficient, not his theory. Here is an exerpt from Gilligan's book "In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development" which clearly illustrates the issue of perspective. Our own preconcieved notions colour even the simpilest aspects of our research...

Here is a moral dilemma posed to two children: a boy, Jake, and a girl, Amy. Both are 11 years old and rated by their teachers as having equal levels of intelligence.

A woman was near death from a unique kind of cancer. There is a drug that might save her. The drug costs $4,000 per dosage. Heinz did not have the money to pay. He asked the doctor scientist who discovered the drug for a discount or let him pay later. But the doctor scientist refused.

Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?

Jake's answer:
"For one thing, a human life is worth more than money, and if the druggist only makes $1000, he is still going to live, but if Heinz doesn't steal the drug, his wife is going to die. (Why is life worth more than money?) Because the druggist can get a thousand dollars later from rich people who have cancer, but Heinz can't get his wife again. (Why not?) Because people are all different and so you couldn't get Heinz's wife again." (p. 26)

Amy's answer:
"Well, I don't think so. I think there might be other ways besides stealing it, like if he could borrow the money or make a loan or something, but he really shouldn't steal the drug - but his wife shouldn't die either. (Why should he not steal the drug?) If he stole the drug, he might save his wife then, but if he did, he might have to go to jail, and then his wife might get sicker again, and he couldn't get more of the drug, and it might not be good. So, they should really just talk it out and find some other way to make the money." (p. 28)

Jake's answer is consistent with his age level, and falls neatly into Kohlberg's conception of the "conventional" moral level. However, the answer provided by Amy does not fit into Kohlberg's age appropriate level, and she is marked as "preconventional." Gilligan suggests that Kohlberg assumed that the proper moral action was to steal the drug. So the question he asked, and the one that Jake answered in proper fashion was:

"Should Heinz steal the drug?"

However, Amy did not interpret the question in the same way. The question she answered was:

"Should Heinz steal the drug?"

These are two different questions even though they have the same wording. Each implies a different answer. Amy and Jake both provided morally acceptable answers for the questions they were answering. Because Amy's answer differed from Kohlberg's conception of "the right answer" it served to prove in his eyes that women were morally inferior to men. Gilligan uses this example to show that even the smallest part of our research may have an inherent bias that we don't recognize. But that small bias can have disasterous effects on the outcome and our view of others.

Miss HT Psych

Waking Up

2005-11-03T06:49:00.000-05:00

Well, it appears that all you need is a stressful night of sleep. I woke up at 6:30am. Looked in my school e-mail. "Strike averted! CUPE wins!" was the headline of the first message. Apparently, admin caved on the remaining issues during the night (sometime after 11:30pm when I went to bed). Phew... I can breathe a little easier today.

Miss HT Psych

Welcome to my nightmare

2005-11-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

Imagine this...

First year of your MA program. Not in the union yet (you enter in MA2). Union decides to NOT ratify a contract agreement offered by the university admin. It's Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm. A strike gets officially called at 7:00am Thursday morning. They have just called in a Ministry of Labour-appointed mediator.

Unfortunately, this is my life. As one of the Psychology reps to the Graduate Students Association (GSA), I formally have to lend my support to CUPE. Although, CUPE does not represent me in any sense of the word. While I respect that they are fighting for a contract that I will be signed under next year, they are also effectively denying my chance for an education this year. I'm not even sure that I agree with the reasons behind not ratifying the deal. But I have to lend them my support.

I'm fully having an Alice in Wonderland moment... "wake up Miss HT, wake up!" If I wake up I can realize that this is all just a bad dream and everything is fine. Hopefully I wake up tomorrow and a contract is in place. Somehow, given the union's past performance at this university, I think my nightmare is simply my reality.

I'll keep you posted.

Miss HT Psych

Guess were I'm writing from?

2005-10-31T09:29:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to make a quick introduction. My new love... my brand new laptop. I just bought her (yes, it's a her) on Thursday night. In the tradition I started of naming my running shoes when I used to compete in track (it's something I took from a kids book about Terry Fox that I read in Grade 3), I named this beautiful girl. Since she's black and silver, she struck me as being kind of goth. So after much thinking (and kudos to Adele for finally suggesting the name), she has been called Bellatrix. Bellatrix is the name of one of the key villians in Harry Potter. I seem to have a thing with naming my computers after villians. My last one (a desktop) was called Damien. He had a sticky note on his side for most of his life proudly proclaiming "Hi, my name is Damien. How may I service you today? Oh. Sorry. I don't do that." As you can tell, Damien had a bit of an attitude. I am hoping that Bella will be slightly less problematic than Damien was. Here's hoping!

Happy Hallowe'en/Samhain!

Miss HT Psych

Popularity Contest

2005-10-27T14:19:00.000-04:00

For the purposes of this entry, I am going to be working from two definitions, taken from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

Popular - commonly liked or approved (definition #4)
Accepted - generally approved or used

I just wanted to make this clear, in case there is any confusion as to what I mean when I use the terms in the following way...

Steven C. Ward in his book Modernizing the Mind: Psychological Knowledge and the Remaking of Society (2002) makes a lengthy argument about the popularity of psychology. Ward argues that since the discipline's conception in the mid-19th century, it has made great strides in gaining public acceptance. At the beginning of the 20th century, psychology was still relatively unknown. Those that had heard of it, believed that the discipline dealt with the paranormal, or offered "mind-cures" (ex. Christians Science, New Thought, Mesmerism, etc). This, of course, was not the case. Psychology at that time was largely an experimental science, which emulated the natural sciences (physiology and physics in particular) in order to distance themselves from the "weaker" humanistic disciplines (namely, philosophy). In order to do this, Ward argues that psychologists launched a full-scale advertisement campaign in order to shift public opinion of the discipline, and draw attention away from mind-cure philosophies like Christian Science. Joseph Jastrow, E.W. Scripture and Hugo Munsterberg were particularily active in this campaign, by writing best-selling novels and running widely syndicated newspaper and magazine columns. Munsterberg even produced a short film through Paramount Studios titled Testing The Mind. However, it was in the applied areas where the discipline gained the most popularity. Clinical, educational and health psychology tend to be well-known. Here are some examples of popular items invented by psychologists (let's see how many you recognize):

lie detector
Intelligence tests (Army Alpha & Beta, Stanford-Binet, WAIS, WISC, SAT, Raven Progressive Matrices)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (I thinkI am an INTJ...)
hypnotism
psychoanalysis
Pavlov's dogs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
"Dr. Penfield, I smell burnt toast!" (who could forget that commercial?!)
Dr. Phil
Dr. Laura (I am ashamed that one day I will share this name with someone like her... ick)
Dr. Joyce Brothers
Rorschach test
phobias
terms like: depression, manic-depression, schizophrenia, amnesia, anxiety, retard, moron, idiot, extrovert, introvert, repression, neurotic, hysterical...
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by Dr. John Gray

This is just a selection of what psychology has made popular in the general public. However, I would argue that Ward is not entirely correct in his assessment. Yes, psychology has a large following in universities. We have many successful journals. Psychologists are often called upon as experts in fields such as law, advertising, etc. The entire Canadian public school system is based on psychological principles. I'm sure you can think of quite a few other areas where psychology has made inroads. But the fact remains that in the public eye, only applied psychologists are recognized. Few know that an academic psychology exists outside these areas. In recent public opinion polls, which Ward himself cites, psychology is one of the lowest ranked professional positions in terms of value to society. So, if psychology is as popular as Ward believes, why would this be? Should it not have a higher percieved value? Should it not carry the same respect as the natural sciences which we try so hard to emulate? I think that psychology, as a young science, still has a long way to go before it reaches the status of physics, chemistry, biology and physiology (I will note here that computer science is a very young science which is held in great esteem. I think this is likely because of it's impact on modern life... computers transformed society in an incredibly short time). But disciplines like physics, chemistry and biology went through similar patterns as they developed. Many scientists, such as Galileo, were persecuted for their beliefs which we now hold to be true. It took time for the natural sciences to grow in popularity. Psychology hasn't garnered the acceptance it deserves because it hasn't paid its dues. At this time, I think Ward is premature in his suggestion that psychology has won the popularity contest.

Update

2005-10-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know that it has not been rcovering from allergy testing which has kept me away for the last 2 days, but catching up on school work. I can't justify posting while I'm scrambling to get everything done (due to the migraines, slight fever and of course, allergy testing going on over the last few days). I will post my original idea later today or tomorrow. So, just a quick update for now:

I'm allergic to, well, everything. Every tree, grass and pollen they test for. Also allergic to cats, two types of mould and coconuts. No wonder my asthma has been going bananas. I've developed a whole host of allergies I didn't have last time I got tested (grade 11, October 1996)
I'm finally getting my on-campus office set-up today! YEAH! Jason and I are trying out our construction skills trying to renovate the office. I'll let you know how that goes...
I'm buying my first laptop tonight! Ahhhh... efficiency. But why does it have to hurt my wallet so much?

Miss HT Psych

Allergists

2005-10-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

Allergists are the devil. End of story. I apologize if you're studying to become one, but I think there must be a sadistic nature to these people. In less than a minute after having my arm all scratched up and covered in about 30 different types of serum, my arm was on fire. Once they noticed how fast my reaction were happening, they removed the serum. But that didn't stop the reactions, oh no. My arm is now bright red and covered in painful hives. You know you're having a bad reaction when the allergist looks at your arm and says "Oh sweet Jesus." Not exactly confidence inspiring. He recommended I take some allergy pills ASAP. So, I took a couple Benedryl but they didn't really work. Now I just feel drugged up (rather close to the way I'd feel if I was REALLY drunk) along with the painful hives.

I had a really cool entry planned, but I think I'll have to put it on hold until the Benedryl wears off. I'm not even sure if any of this makes sense right now. I need to be put out of my misery...

Miss HT Psych (all drugged up)

Coffee, sweet seet coffee

2005-10-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

I can tell it's truly autumn again because I find myself being drawn to Placebo's Without You I'm Nothing album. For me, depressing music has little or nothing to do with personal depression (I tend to favour NIN at times like that). It's just that Placebo and autumn seem to be forever linked in my head. They go together like wine and cheese, or Burt and Ernie. My pattern tends to go: Spring = brit pop, Summer = hip hop, Autumn = Garbage, Grrl Rock, Placebo and Radiohead, Winter = heavy rock and hip hop. My musical tastes tend to vary predicitably with the seasons. So, by now I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with coffee. Placebo has a bit of a fixation with sex, drugs and messed up relationships. My favourite song, My Sweet Prince, is all about the singer's "relationship" with heroin. Listening to that, I got to thinking about my own addiction: coffee.

Coffee seems to be somehow related to academia. Everyone I take classes with is totally, 100% addicted to caffeine. It's become a weird social thing too. In undergrad you go get messed up on weed and alcohol. Now it's "let's meet up for coffee." Not only does it get me through my days, but it serves this wonderful social function. Caffeine is terribly addictive. Much more so than alcohol. It remains the one socially acceptable drug to be addicted to. Smoking isn't cool, being an alcoholic definitely isn't cool. Coffee drinkers, on the other hand, can be connoissieurs.

Oh coffee... how I love you.

Miss HT Psych

A little musical treat

2005-10-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

In honour of our first bar night since starting grad school, I'm throwing this song out as our theme song for the night.

Wikked Lil Grrrls by Esthero

Wicked little girls, kissed the boys and made them cry
Raisin' double trouble every time we pass them by
And some might say we're wicked little girls
With curves and kissers and pearly whites
You better keep an eye on your boys and lock em up tight

You think that I'm a lady? You think that I won't fight?
I'll make your eyes shine like a liliqoi moonlit night whoa oh
You think you're my one and only, only?
Sophisticated Yoni told me:
"You gots to love livin' while you livin' or you won't love life"

I'm the high pimpstress, I'm honeybrown
I'm the baddest bitch to ever hit this town
Cornbread woman, yo ho and a bottle of yum
I'm gonna have a party with my body, do ya wanna come?
Well alright

Cause we're such wicked little girls, kissed the boys and made them cry
Raisin' double trouble every time we pass them by
And some might say we're wicked little girls
With curves and kissers and pearly whites
You better keep an eye on your boys and lock em up tight

Hey girls, I'm back again, that vixen no bell and that Bride of Frank…
Bend the rules, headline "bad news", it's the Sisters of Salem, they on the loose
Shakin' her caboose like Dottie, Octopussy like a James Bond hottie
Smokin' like a Cuban, with a whiff like a rumor, better know what you're doing
Or get kicked out right away, gonna hide away
I'd advise you not to play with those

Wicked little girls, kissed the boys and made them cry
Raisin' double trouble every time we pass them by
And some might say we're wicked little girls
With curves and kissers and pearly whites
You better keep an eye on your boys and lock em up tight
[2x]

Here come those devils, cheeky sneaky rebels
Every day and every night, hot steppin is what we like

Wicked little girls, kissed the boys and made them cry
Raisin' double trouble every time we pass them by
Some might say we're wicked little girls
With curves and kissers and pearly whites
You better keep an eye on your boys and lock em up tight
[2x]

I tried to find a video code for this song, but to no avail. So, you'll just have to do with the lyrics. Here's to shaking our boot-ays tonight! :)

Miss HT Psych

This one goes out to the gifted men!

2005-10-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

Shortly after one of my first posts, "Gifted Women," my friend Mike Walsh asked if I could look into information on gifted men (i.e. how they fair in the wide world and why). I'm sorry it took me so long, but here are the results.

I looked for articles on PsycInfo that were written between 1980 and 2005 (I thought that since both Mike and I were born in 1980, it would make a great cut-off point). Obviously I could only read articles in English, and I limited the search to those in peer-reviewd journals. Surprisingly, a search of "gifted" AND "men" OR "male*" came up with only 23 articles. Of those, I only found one (that I could get through York) that had adequately addressed Mike's question. Predicitng educational attainment, occupational achievement, intellectual skill and personal adjustment in gifted men and women by Carol Tomlinson-Keasy and Todd D. Little (1990, Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 82 , p. 442-455). They measured a number of factors for success, including parental education, family harmony, intellectual determination, etc. For the factor of interest, occupational achievement, the factors correlated with it were suprsing in a strange way. The authors expected to find that intellectual skill, educational attainment, personal adjustment and intellectual determination would be predictors for occupational achievement. However, only educational attainment and intellectual skill were significant predictors for men. If anyone would like to take a look at this article, but can't access it, I have a pdf version saved on my computer that I can forward to you.

I think this study raises more questions than answers. Looking back at my own experiences in a gifted school, I'm not sure how this would fit in. Of course educational attainment is related... but what about all those men who dropped out or never went to university/college in the first place? It doesn't provide the answers for how educational attainment gets sorted out. Thinking back to all the people I knew at our highschool, I can only think of 2 guys offhand who went on in academia: Ryan O'Donnell (math/comp sci... I think he's working for Microsoft now, at least that's what the last rumors I heard have been saying) and Jamin Sheriff (physics... last I heard was working on some new kind of MRI machine). A bunch of others have gone on into medicine, dentistry, law and engineering. Others struggle, and some are content to do nothing at all. What is the difference here? What happened?

Another point of interest is that many studies with gifted children look at children who were placed in half-day enrichment programs. Durham Board of Education had a fairly unique program, since we were all fully immersed in the program (you could start at any time, but most entered between grades 3 and 5). It would make an interesting study to look at these children in particular... compare us to gifted children in half-day programs, gifted children who were never identified and normal populations. Now THAT would be a study...

Miss HT Psych

Presentation Tutorial

2005-10-20T15:52:00.000-04:00

Okay. I've only been in grad school for about a month and a half, but I'm already up to my quota of watching BAD PowerPoint presentations. I mean, I don't think PowerPoint is necessarily the best way to do presentations, but since you've gotta use it then learn how to do it properly! Here's some tips for creating your very own super-stellar PowerPoint presentations:

If you're in a light room, use a light background with dark text. Actually, scratch that. Just use contrasting text! So you know those pretty slides with the mountain ranges, clouds, etc... scrap them! Never use them again! Your audience won't be able to read everything on the slide
Your slides should be used as an accent to what you're saying. Don't simply read off the slides
Don't use too much text on any one slide (your max should be about 6 points per slide, but I wouldn't use more than 4 if it can be helped)
Don't try to get too technical with your presentation. Just because all those pretty effects are available, it doesn't give you a license to use them willy-nilly
Sans-serif font types are much easier on the eyes (ie. arial)
Test your presentation ahead of time (with an audience). If colours don't look great or don't show up from a distance, change them! If you can't see what a picture is showing, get rid of it! If a graph or chart doesn't load up properly, fix the problem! There's nothing worse than apologizing to your audience about these techical problems. It makes you look unprofessional, and throws off your confidence for the rest of the presentation
Make it interesting! A little humor goes a long way
If you're going to include discussion questions, please use open-ended questions. A simple yes or no answer does not allow for a lively discussion
When in doubt about what to do, simply think of the things that you would want to see. If you would find something distracting, annoying or hard to read, don't use it!

Now, I've also noticed that people usually don't know how to structure a presentation. It's not rocket science. Think of the rules for an essay: tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. Be clear and concise. These oh-so-simple rules will help set you free. So, apply them to a presentation:

Put an outline at the beginning (major sections of the presentation)
Don't get caught up in trivialities. Explain what you're trying to say in a straightforward way. The more you drone on and on, the easier you lose your audience
K-I-S-S. My grandma's favourite line: "keep it simple, stupid!"
Don't speak to quickly. Give your audience a chance to absorb what you're saying. Discussion questions are a good way to keep people on the ball
Talk in a familiar way. Avoid big words and technical jargon. It'll help keep a rapport with the audience
Don't put up complicated graphs. Your audience can't and won't read them
Add a conclusion section. This is your chance to drive home your point. Make sure everyone leaves knowing what your main points were

Now, I know that everyone that reads this site always makes fabulous presentations. ;) I just needed to get that off my chest.

Miss HT Psych

Politics, CUPE and Strike Votes, Oh My!

2005-10-19T07:21:00.000-04:00

For those of you that may not have heard, I ogt sucked into being one of the Graduate Student's Association reps for Psychology. It's not that bad, only a couple hours a month out of my time. However, this month CUPE is trying to negotiate a new contract with York. Suddenly, I have found myself caught up in this whirlwind of activity... postering, sitting at the Strike Vote polling station, sending out mass e-mails of unon information over the listservs. I'm not even a member of CUPE! But, I suppose it's the whole solidarity thing... and they're fighting for a contract I will be getting next year when I do get to join CUPE. I never imaigned how political my life would become when I entered grad school. But let me tell you, it's not all sweetness and roses (READ: classes, readings, writing, learning).... it's a job. Consider me a little less naiive from this day forward...

Oh, and cross your figers that the TAs and GAs in CUPE don't go on strike. The Strike Vote is due in by Friday. However, from what I've heard, a strike is likely if the admin continue their hardline stance of "No" on every item. It would be a shame to lose my first year to this...

Miss HT Psych

A bit of a rant

2005-10-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

I apologize in advance, because this entry is more of a rant than anything. I just have to get something off my chest...

It seems lately that women's roles are taking center-stage again. This whole Tom-Kat baby fiasco really irks me. Scientologists believe that a woman should not make a sound during delivery (or anyone else in the room, for that matter) in order to reduce the trauma experienced by a baby during birth. Oh wow... that's special. How can anyone realistically believe the religious teachings of a guy who wrote science fiction novels? The whole Scientologist belief system scares me. It lends itself fabulously to putting women into the "better seen and not heard" category (literally).

I also seem to be coming across a lot of articles, letters and websites which try to show women in Western culture that they are misguided in their attempts at casual dating, reclaiming sexuality, having careers and making the choice to postpone (or not have) children. Now, I will admit, my own bias is evident here as I tend to frequent feminist blogs, so I am more likely to run into this kind of discussion. Although, I think it's a problem that needs to be addressed. The trend in Western culture seems to be a reaction against feminism and a return to more traditional beliefs. I don't see why women trying to gain the same basic rights as men seems to threaten some men. I don't think there's anything wrong with casual dating (as long as you practice safe sex), enjoying and wanting sex, or having a fulfilling career. I also don't think there's anything wrong with having children in your 30's, or not having any at all. Many children (in our generation in particular) have grown up in households that ended in divorce. Wouldn't it be better to wait until you have a career, have secured your finances, and have developed a relationship that can withstand a bit of hardship? Having children is hard on a relationship... most marriages that end in divorce do so within a year after the birth of a child. This is not something to take lightly. I think that if you decide to undertake something as challenging as raising a child, then you should not do so with the naiive ideas of Western culture (get married, have 2.5 children, everything ends up rosy and looking like the Cleaver family). Understanding the challenges help you move past them.

Okay... enough said (for now). Breakfast awaits.

Miss HT Psych

The only good thing about Behaviourism was... ummm...

2005-10-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'll admit I'm full writing this entry as a way to procrastinate. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. If you do, well, don't say I didn't warn you...

Earlier today I made a comment on another blog I read, "Shtetl-Optimized," about the place of philosophical musings in scientific papers. I think there is a place for it. 20th and 21st century science has largely ignored this option as being a viable source of argumentation. The natural-scientific route is great... it allows for empirical "proof" for hypotheses. Science wouldn't be the same without empiricism. Aristotle, John Locke... science wouldn't be what it is today without them. My problem is this: too much of a good thing can be troublesome. Case in point: behaviourism. John B. Watson's "Behaviourism" was rhetorical genius... it helped to debunk philosophical psychology in the United States (he didn't have as much influence in the rest of the world). Watson then offered up a new system of psychology which focused solely on observable phenomena: behaviour. Perhaps you are all familiar with Pavolov's dogs (classical conditioning experiment). This is behaviourism... the human experience reduced to behaviour as a result of stimulus, response and reinforcement. Thankfully, along came Karl Lashley, Noam Chomsky, Allen Newell and Herbert Simon to rid us of this regime and help usher in a new one: cognitive psychology. This is still pretty much in place today. I say "pretty much" because psychology has traditionally been a splintered science with many areas that are irreconcilble with the rest. But that's a whole other entry and I won't get into that now. My point is this: too much of a focus on pure empiricism can be bad for science. It requires a human element to help it grow and develop. Philosophy can do this... ask questions, provide context, critically evaluate, synthesize. If you don't believe me, consider that many icons of past centuries were not only scientists and mathematicians but philosophers and theorists as well.... Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza and Bacon, just to name a few. Don't just do science for science's sake... ask questions, evaluate, find meaning...

Miss HT Psych

"From Racism to Genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich"

2005-10-12T21:51:00.000-04:00

My new task, formally given to me today by my advisor, is to write a review of a new book by Gretchen Schafft, From Racism to Genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich. I took on this project with mixed feelings. On one hand, learning about Nazi Germany has a sick kind of fascination, almost like looking at a particularly gruesome car accident... you don't want to look, but it's hard to stop. On the other hand I was scared... scared that I might come across detailed accounts of the kind of things that happened in the camps... the kinds of things my grandparents suffered. Now, my advisor is perfectly aware of my maternal grandparents history and was very respectful in asking me to do this. I appreciate that, and it helped sway my decision to do this. So, with that said, here are my thoughts so far:

Schafft has, thus far, taken a disappointingly presentist view of the material. I understand it's hard to overcome personal bias and review the material in a way that will do justice to the zeitgeist (spirit of the times) of Nazi Germany. However, in historical papers it is crucial to avoid a presentist attitude. The main thing I find lacking is an understanding of the anthropologists conducting research on those living in the Jewish Ghettos. So far Schafft has only covered the research done in Poland, but there were shtetls (Jewish communities) and shtotels (larger Jewish communities) all over Eastern Europe. She claims the researchers (mostly those in the Tarnow ghetto) were insensitive to the plights of the people, or "materials", they were studying. Schafft also states that the anthropologists in Poland did not take into account the political climate (in 1941) and how that may have affected interviewees responses. She briefly mentions that if the researchers had acknowledged these problems in writing, they likely would have been sent to a concetration camp themselves. I would argue that given this problem, one should give the researchers the benefit of the doubt (as much as this pains me to say it). Perhaps those anthropologists involved in studying residents in the Jewish Ghettos had a healthy dose of survival instinct. Considering that we likely cannot know the true answer to this problem, it is unfair to conclude that the anthropologists in Nazi Germany were "callous" and "insensitive to human suffering."

Please do not take this comment to mean that I support in any way what happened during the Holcaust. I could never do that. My maternal grandparents (Ukrainian and Hungarian) were in those camps and faced death at the hands of Nazi soldiers (or disease, or hunger, or any other of the numerous ills that were inflicted upon them) everyday. I am merely making the point that it is bad history to assume that those anthropologists involved actually enjoyed or were indifferent to the suffering around them. They may very well have been... but there remains the chance that they were not...

Miss HT Psych (with tears in her eyes)

Conflict of interest

2005-10-09T10:22:00.000-04:00

I am having a dilemma. My advisor wants me to write a commentary on a recent article by Janet Shibley Hyde (American Psychologist, Sept, 2005). Here's my problem: I like her theory ("gender similarities hypothesis"). I want to interview her for my thesis. How can I produce a comment to be published where I roast someone I like and admire? Can it be done? Can I write a comment that's critical of her and then be complimentary in my thesis? I'm trying to find avenues I can explore which don't directly attack her idea, so maybe she'll still be open to an interview later this year. I'm thinking a critique of her meta-analysis procedure. Maybe I can just comment that she needs to get a better picture for the media... so 80's, LOL! Just kidding. This is not going to be fun. It has to be done be Wednesday, so I'll let you know how it went.

Miss HT Psych

Would you give me $15,000?

2005-10-07T08:49:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for a couple days, but I've been a little shy about it. Thanks to Viceless for snapping me out of it! So, as promised, here is my thesis proposal that I am sending out for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). It's worth $15,000. I'm not sure this proposal is worth that, but we'll see! Any feedback would be great, as I'm working on making it longer for a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant... worth $17,500!

2006-2007 Ontario Graduate Scholarship
Statement of Interest

I decided to pursue graduate studies in the History & Theory of Psychology program at York University because it allows me to combine my interest in both psychology and history & theory. My specific academic interests lie in the history and theory of intelligence testing and gender, due to my experiences as a gifted child.

The gender differences on intelligence tests have recently been brought to the forefront of public consciousness due to comments made by Harvard president, Lawrence Summers (2005). In a speech given at the National Bureau of Economic Research, he suggested that men had an advantage over women in the sciences and academia. Summers presented three hypotheses to support his claim: the high-powered job, different availability of aptitude at the high end, and socialization and discrimination patterns (Summers, 2005). More recently, Richard Lynn and Paul Irwing have received much media attention for their article which claims that men are smarter than women (Lynn, R., personal communication, October 5, 2005; Irwing & Lynn, in press).

In order to understand historical continuity, I propose to reconstruct the history of intelligence testing particularly those that portray women as less intelligent than men. I will focus in particular on “culture-free” tests, such as the Raven Progressive Matrices.

I intend to examine the history of intelligence testing through the major historical figures and works in the sex differences debate. To accomplish this, I will rely on published material on sex differences as well as on archival records by the pioneers in the area of intelligence testing. I will also perform oral history interviews with those men and women who are involved in the debate. I will present an account of their scholarly achievements and theoretical ideas, as well as the social and personal forces which may have motivated their work. Methodologies will also be critically evaluated.

The ideas presented will include those that claim that sex differences do not exist, those that claim that sex differences do exist, and those that acknowledge sex differences in IQ, but attribute them to gender-bias instead of biological factors. I will assess the cyclical history of these arguments and their theoretical basis in the “nature-nurture” debate.

Through the examination of past research, I intend to show that some authors opted to ignore critical issues with the content and design of intelligence tests in order to substantiate the existence of a male intellectual advantage. I also intend to illustrate the social and political ramifications of intelligence testing research and sex differences in IQ.

References

Irwing, P., & Lynn, R. (in press). Sex differences in means and variability on the Progressive Matrices in university students: A meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychology.

Summers, L. (2005). Remarks at NBER conference on diversifying the science & engineering workforce. Retrieved September 22, 2005, from Harvard University, Office of the President web site: http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html

So, I suppose, in short you could say I'm providing detailed biographical accounts of researchers involved in the sex differences and IQ debate. In addition I am critically evaluating their writings (published and unpublished), and trying to understand thier ideas within a social-political framework. I will also try my best to interview anyone who is still around and writing on the topic (Richard Lynn, Paul Irwing, Lawrence Summers, Carol Tavris, Janet Hyde, etc). What do you think?

Miss HT Psych

The devil we know

2005-10-06T10:31:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to make a short comment on the devil us in research are all-too familiar with... inferential statistics. I've never been very partial to the idea of hypothesis testing. Don't get me wrong... it has it's uses and works fairly well 9 times out of 10. However, it's the interpretation of the data that scares me. Researchers have turned the cut-off points of .05 an .01 into these mythical figures of "correctness" (I don't even know if that's a word, but I'm going to use it. So there! Ha!). But let's consider something for a moment:

What exactly is the difference between, say, .049 and .051? A difference of .002? To me, that difference is negligable. So, would you be confident regecting a null hypothesis with a p-value of .049? How about failing to reject a null hypothesis with a p-value of .051? I wouldn't be so sure of myself. In these cases, all that would suggest to me is that I need to run more participants. I'd say that any values that fall within the range of .04 and .06 need furthur examination. With the current "publish or perish" mentality in psychological research (and in most other realms of academia), journals mostly accept only those studies with statistically significant results (p < .05). I would argue that failing to reject your null hypothesis can also be an incredibly important finding. I also think that in the push to publish (and publish significant results) researchers accept a marginally significant result without question in order to have their name on one more acticle. I think the future of research depends on abandoning these ideas. We need to lose the "publish or perish" mentality and realize that inferential statistics/hypothesis testing produces uncertain results at best. I'm not sure I could live with myself if I found that men scored higher than women on tests of intelligence when my p-value was .049. The consequences of such a statement could be disastrous. Just some food for thought... and if you're interested, here's a great article on the topic:

Takayanagi, S., & Cliff, N. (2000). An examination of graduate students' statistical judgements: Statistical and Fuzzy Set approaches. Psychological Reports, 86, 243-259.

Miss HT Psych

To the men in my life

2005-10-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

As my first entry on this blog, I gave a shout out to all the women who influence my life. I thought I would take this opportunity to also recognize the men:

Andrew - thank you for being there every day. You're my rock
Gord Banks - you taught me how to REALLY run. You are everything a coach should be. You're a great inspiration and I will never forget everything you ever did for me. I'm so glad that I could've been part of the campaign to get you the teaching award you so rightly deserve. Hopefully one day soon I can become the kind of coach you would be proud of
Dr. Mike Atkinson - you taught me everything that a teacher should be and everything a researcher should not be
Dr. Stewart Harris - you showed me what it meant to live and breathe research. I hope that I can be as passionately commited to my work as you are to yours
Dr. Thomas Teo - my advisor. You're showing me how to be a theoretical researcher and historian. You are evrything I strive to be as an author, teacher and academic mentor
Dad - you're everything a girl could want in a father. I think John Mayer said it best in his song 'Daughters'... "you are the god in the weight of her world."
Derek - you are the coolest 15 year old I know! Don't ever change...

There. I feel like I have restored the balance now. I needed that...

Miss HT Psych

Just a little excited!

2005-10-05T14:25:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share some new fun information! I wrote to Dr. Richard Lynn and Dr. Paul Irwing (the authors of the infamous "men are smarter than women" study) and they have both agreed that I can interview them for my research! WAHOO! These guys were my interviewing goal for the "sex differences exist due to biological factors" side of the debate. They've also been very kind in providing me with unpublished material (conference presentations) and opinion pieces. While I may not agree with what they have to say, I have to give them my appreciation for being so cooperative.

Miss HT Psych

A little of topic...

2005-10-05T09:56:00.000-04:00

Have any of you seen "The Exorcisim of Emily Rose?" I went to see it on Saturday with Andrew, Marissa, Laura M and Ritu. Strangely enough, I loved it! It was scary (it's now Wednesday and I've still got a cover over my clock just in case I wake up at 3am). But that wasn't why I loved it. The movie brought up two very interesting questions. Here goes:

1) The question of consent. The movie brought forward the idea that Emily Rose had consented to give up medical treatment (epilepsy medications) and pursue religious treatment (exorcism). Doctor's who testified at the trial said that they would have forced medical treatment on her, whether she consented to it or not (continuation of meds, force feeding, etc). But she and her family had chosen another course of action. My question to you is this: is consent necessary, or would you proceed in treatment (whatever kind) without it? In searhing my own feelings on the matter, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't. If a patient and their family did not want medical treatment, then how could I go against their wishes? I think it's unethical. The point of treatment is to make the patient feel better... but if they don't want to, then who are you to tell them otherwise? Isn't our life our own? What happened to free will? This is also a huge issue in euthanasia debates... however, I would say that if a patient or their family cannot give legally give consent for whatever treatment, I would proceed with (what I deem to be) the best course of action. But I don't think I could ever directly disobey their wishes.

2) medicine as a religion. The medical community has managed to make medicine and science into a religion of it's own. But there are many phenomenon which occur that science cannot (as of yet) explain in their "rational" terms. So, question number two is: would you be able to accept a metaphysical explanation for your symptoms? I think this is incredibly hard to answer. Most people have been indoctrinated into the religion of science and their own religion (christian, islaam, judaism, pagan, hindu, etc). Can these be reconciled? I think that, no matter what, if a patient and their family firmly believes that a metaphysical explanation is the answer, metaphsyical treatments should be part of their regular treatment. The power that the mind has over the body is incredibly strong and shouldn't be ignored.

Sorry to go an ruin a good film with asking philosophical questions! In any case, regrdless of how the movie made me think about things, definitely go see it! Great scary movie.... but I also recommend removing all clocks from your bedroom when you're done...

Miss HT Psych

OGS horror

2005-10-04T18:31:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm going to apologize once again for my lack of posting recently. However, I have some good news! My Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) application is almost finished! Just got feedback from my advisor... very few revisions. I will post it as soon as it's finished! Then it's the waiting game... is it worth $15,000?

Miss HT Psych

Lewis M. Terman: The Feminist?

2005-10-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile. I was kidnapped by the grad school-crazies (READ: had my nose pressed in a book so long I forgot the world existed). In any case, all that reading paid off because I found something new and exciting (well, at least I think it's exciting).

Lewis M. Terman was a famous American Hereditarian. In short, he believed that intelligence was almost entirely heritable and that it should determine our position in life. He thought that intelligence could be accurately measured and expressed as a single unit. Terman was the man who translated the Binet-Simon Intelligence scales into the "Stanford-Binet" (and made a truck-load of money off it in the process). The Standford-Binet has long been criticized as being culture-biased. It requires the testee to have a n extensive knowledge of American culture. However, it was balanced so that there was no gender-bias. The scales in which males performed better on where equally balanced with those that women scored better on. Terman noticed this, and deemed that women are just as intelligent as men, and therefore should recieve access to the same opportunities for education, the same opportunities in the workforce and should recieve equal pay. These ideas struck me as strange coming from a man who claimed that black people are naturally dumber than white people. In one sense, he used his Hereditarian ideas to uphold a long-standing tradition of racisim, and on the other used them to debunk traditional sexist beliefs. While I can't agree with his statements on differences between races, I admire his stance on women (the large body of his work was pre-WWII). Incidently, he also did quite a bit of work on gifted children.

I think L.M. Terman is an interesting historical figure that will recieve more of my attention in the future.

Miss HT Psych

7 Things

2005-09-22T22:15:00.000-04:00

I got tagged! The first was a few weeks ago by my twin, LMK, and then again today by Viceless. So here goes (I'm not sure I want to see my own answers to these, LOL!):

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die

Travel to all the places I've always wanted to see (Egypt, Italy, Greece, England, Ireland, Hungary, Ukraine)
Re-learn to speak French
Get published in a journal
Run a 5km race again... oh god I miss it...
See Robbie Williams live (preferably in an English soccer stadium)
Get rid of my student loan
Finally learn to play that damn bass that's taking up space in my apartment...

7 Things I Can Do

Understand Shakespeare
Read tarot cards
Write a paper
Play flute
Make kick-ass paprikash (basically a Hungarian stew, but made with lots of paprika)
Run a proper regression analysis
Watch, understand and enjoy NHL hockey

7 Things I Cannot Do

Make good perrogies. Mine always look like Clingon warships (you know, Star Trek?)
Give directions/read a map
Sing in public
Fix computers
Be immediately confident in my work
Understand the skanky 13 year olds in the mall
Use latex products... yikes!

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex

Intelligence/Mind
Ability to hold a conversation with me
Eyes
Shoulders
Understanding (but I'll settle for tolerance)
Sarcasm... what can I say, I like my own kind! :)
Goals/Dreams/Hopes for their life in the future

7 Things That I Say Most Often

Are you kidding?!
I could imagine...
kazaa!
I don't know!
That's fantastic!
I love you
Dirty shoes!

7 Celebrity Crushes

Robbie Williams
Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz)
Chris Murphy (Sloan)
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils goalie)
Scott Weiland (STP/Velvet Revolver)
Shirley Manson (Garbage)
Angelina Jolie

7 People I Want To Do This

Erika
Mary
Adele
Derek
Dee
Ruth

Okay. Well, I guess that wasn't so bad. All of you on my list, consider yourselves officially tagged! For those of you that have done this already, it was really interesting to see your thoughts like that. The one I had the hardest time with was the first question... took me forever to think of anything beyond travelling. I guess I get so centered on one dream at a time, that I forget the rest... not so good. In any case, there it is! Hope you all enjoyed an inside peak at Miss HT Psych's head! I did...

Miss HT Psych

The question of children

2005-09-22T12:18:00.000-04:00

I am making this post because I feel that it has been a hot topic as of late. Maybe my friends and close relatives are getting to an age where the prospect of having children is a very real thing now. We're not "playing house" anymore. Some of my good friends and close relatives are married. Many are in close relationships. I am finding that the topic of children, in whatever context that may be (to have or to not have, having your own vs. adopting, elective c-sections vs natural birth), seems to be on everyone's mind.

Today, while reading material for my scholarship funding applications, I was going over the speech made by Harvard President, Lawrence Summers. This is the speech where he suggested that men were better at sciences due to an inherent male intelligence advantage. But it was his first argument that struck me today. He was discussing why women are underrepresented in academia. The argument he was making was that women in today's society are placed in a position where they have to choose between having a family and having a high-powered position (law, medicine, academia, engineering, business, etc). Here is an exerpt from that speech, where I think he raises some very good observations and questions:

"Another way to put the point is to say, what fraction of young women in their mid-twenties make a decision that they don't want to have a job that they think about eighty hours a week. What fraction of young men make a decision that they're unwilling to have a job that they think about eighty hours a week, and to observe what the difference is. And that has got to be a large part of what is observed. Now that begs entirely the normative questions-which I'll get to a little later-of, is our society right to expect that level of effort from people who hold the most prominent jobs? Is our society right to have familial arrangements in which women are asked to make that choice and asked more to make that choice than men? Is our society right to ask of anybody to have a prominent job at this level of intensity, and I think those are all questions that I want to come back to." (January 14th, 2005. Taken from: http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html)

This idea is one that has struck very close to home for me. I have chosen to pursue graduate studies in Psychology. Part of making that choice, for me, was the decision to post-pone having children until my early 30's when I graduate. This is not only a choice that I have made, but the great majority of my colleagues as well. Is this right to have people chose between their own lives and creating a life? And I don't think this choice extends solely to women. It affects their partners as well. Also, some men make the same choice as they feel they cannot handle the commitment while in school. My own partner has made academic and career choices with respect to thoghts of a family. He opted not to take on roles that would have him work long hours or travel extensively so that he could be with those that he loves. Should any person have to make that kind of choice?

I think that the questions that Summers raises are very valid and need to be addressed.

Miss HT Psych

A Survey of Sorts

2005-09-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

Is anyone familiar with Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"? To give you a quick, very basic run-down:

A bunch of people are tied to posts deep in a cave. A fire is lit behind them. This fire reflects the shadows of the world outside on the cave wall in front of them. They believe that these shadows are the "real world." One day, the ropes holding one of the men to the posts are broken. He leaves the cave and is blinded by the light outside. In time, he comes to see the world outside the cave. He explores. After awhile he wants his friends to join him and goes back to the cave to free the others. But they don't want to be freed. They only want their reality.

This post is designed to pose a question to all of you:

Can we ever really know the "truth?" Is truth merely in our own minds (subjective) or does it actually exist (objective)?"

Personally, I think truth is a social construct. We may share certain realities with others, but in essence, truth is subjective and reality is only what we percieve ourselves.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you think?

Miss HT Psych

News...

2005-09-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

I have some exciting news! Last night I recieved an offer (which I of course accepted) for my first professional position in psychology! I was named Student Representative for the Society for the History of Psychology (APA division 26). YEAH! I just had to share the news...

Miss HT Psych

Maybe There is Hope After All...

2005-09-16T08:52:00.000-04:00

Just came across 2 new articles which absolutely fascinated me. Not because they were well written, or said anything I didn't believe, but it was WHO they were written by...

In one of my earlier entries, I mentioned that a recent article by Richard Lynn has recieved much public attention claiming that men are smarter than women. This isn't the first that he's written, and sadly, probably not the last. He tends to co-author these articles with 3 men (mainly). One of them (Irwing) co-authored the most recent. However...

In late 2004, the other 2 of these authors (Abad and Colom) ran a study trying to mathematically prove that the intelligence test they typically use in their research is gender biased. If you ask me, I think they started with that question, but were really hoping to find it wasn't biased at all. But, what they did find is that a significant number of the questions on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test are biased against women. The rely strictly on visual-spatial ability... something which we have known definitively since the 1970's that men excel at. In contrast, women have a distinct advantage over men in verbal abilities. So, the researchers re-ran their test results and found that if you control for the differences in visual-spatial ability, the sex differences in IQ disappear completely! It seems that they weren't satisfied with these results, so they did the experiment a second time, this time using all of the Raven Progressive Matrices tests. There are 3: "Coloured" for children, "Standard" for early teens until old age and "Advanced" for those that are in the upper ranks of intelligence. Well, guess what? The new study confirmed the results! The two authors were left to conclude that all the results they'd had claiming that men were smarter than women were false. They have left the Lynn camp and joined those that argue against him (or so it would appear).

Just thought that would be a nice tidbit to share...
Miss HT Psych

Gifted Women

2005-09-15T11:45:00.000-04:00

I read an interesting article the other day by a colleague of mine, Shelley Fahlman. "Perceptions of giftedness among gifted females in emerging adulthood" (Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2004). It's one of the more brilliant articles I've read recently, although I probably have a large bias on the matter. Not only is the author becoming a friend of mine, but I happen to be the subject matter of her article. Women, as a whole, have different scholastic experiences from men. We take different things away from our time in school. Teachers treat us differently. We think of ourselves differently. Gifted women fall prey to this as well. Many that are identified as having an IQ in the 98th percentile (130 or higher) never end up making the great achievements we'd expect from, well, certified geniuses. Why? Shelley reinforces the idea that women's perceptions of themselves is closely tied to how those people they have close relationships with view them ("self-in-relation"). Women who's intellect is not valued in their close relationships (parents, friends, mentors) see their intelligence as something seperate from themselves. They do not value it and consequently do not see it playing a large role in their future. Those that have supportive relationships see themselves as intelligent, value it and see it's role in their futures. These women tend to lead successful and generally happier lives. I find this all fascinating because as a gifted women, I received mixed support from many different arenas. I'm not sure what that would say for myself. But I guess the message I want to put forth is this: don't devalue intelligence in your friends and family. The result may be more than you bargained for.

I am also going to use this opportunity to discuss my own view on intelligence and intelligence testing. I believe that one's intelligence CANNOT be summed up by one number (IQ). To me, intelligence can only be viewed as a profile, or multiple intelligences. Multiple intelligences is a more positive view of the self: it stresses your strengths, not an overall figure. To me, someone can be a gifted artist, a gifted athlete, a gifted cook, or gifted in the traditional verbal/mathematics sense. So, when I discuss a person's IQ, it is only because most of the literature right now views it as the best way to measure intelligence. It is not my actual view.

Sex Differences in IQ

2005-09-14T20:25:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to those that read a blog entitled "Viceless in Left Field."

In psychology there has been an ongoing debate regarding the intelligence of women. It seems to resurface in an almost cyclical manner. Those who claim that women are lower in intelligence than man due to a genetic difference are part of a trend called "biological determinism." Unfortunately, there are many that subscribe to this viewpoint. Some of these contemporary authors are Arthur Jensen, Phillipe Rushton, Larry Sumners (Harvard president) and Richard Lynn. As a side note, most of these men are also proponents of the idea that white people are more intelligent than any other race (especially black) which stems from a genetic difference. Their views tend to recieve a lot of attention, especially in the popular media. It is true that sex differences can be reliably found on standard (eg. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales) and "culture-free" (Raven Standard Progressive Matrices) measures of intelligence. However, what these authors fail to take into consideration is social context. Stephen Jay Gould ("Mismeasure of Man") argues that no scientific fact can be seperated from social context and scientists conduct research and interpret findings with their own ingrained social prejudices. So, please keep in mind when you hear comments such as "Research proves that men are smarter than women" that there is an equally large body of evidence suggesting to the contrary. This evidence comes from such authors as Leon Kamin, Stephen Jay Gould, James Flynn and Carol Tavris. Hopefully in a few years, my name can get added to this list.

If anyone is interested in this topic, I highly recommend these two books:
Stephen Jay Gould "Mismeasure of Man"
Carol Tavris "Mismeasure of Woman"

Miss HT Psych

Hello out there!

2005-09-14T18:09:00.000-04:00

Well, this is my first official Blogger post. So I figure I'll start out by telling you a bit about myself and what I intend this blog to be for. My intention for this blog is to use it to discuss the issues that come up in my research. Mostly the topics will centre around intelligence, culture-bias, gender and feminist theory. However, even the best intentions may go astray. Who knows what you might find here in the future. So, seeing as this is to start out as an academic-type site, I welcome your comments on my ideas... suggestions, criticisms, whatever comes to mind. Now... a little about me:

I'm 25 and beginning an adventure in the hopes of making my dreams come true. I am a new grad student in Psychology. My areas of specialization are, you guessed it: intelligence testing, gender and feminist theory. I started out my schooling inside the confines of the gifted program (I will post about this at a later point). I am a Gemini. Like most true Gemini's, I am usually of two minds on everything, enjoy a good debate and LOVE playing Devil's Advocate. I am a pagan, specifically I am Wiccan. If anyone would like to learn more about this (no it doesn't invlove cutting heads off chickens), I would be more than happy to discuss it, or post an entry, or whatever. I used to be a runner and I hope to get back into it. I miss the thrill of competition.

There are many people in my life that influence me: mentors, friends and family. However, seeing as I intend to hold discussions with a feminist view point, I figure I'll give some shout outs to the women that inspire me. Mostly, the women in my life that inspire me day-to-day. I'm going to do these alphabetically, because I don't want anyone to assume they're in rank order of importance.

Adele - my wife (not literally, but figuratively). You've been with me through so much, and there's so much more to come. You're my activist. You stand up for what you believe in, especially for those that have no voice. That is truly admirable. Never stop trying to make a difference in the world.

Carol Tavris - my new academic goddess. The author of a book which I will rely heavily upon for my research "The Mismeasure of Woman." She is a social psychologist and the cornerstone of current feminist critiques of psychology. Her work is both inflammatory and insightful.

Diana (Dee) - my sister. You're the Huntress/Warrior. How fitting you were named Diana (Roman goddess... Greek version of Artemis). You do what you want, when you want and never back down. You follow your own path come hell or high water. I love you more than I can say. You've been there through EVERYTHING, right by my side. You're truly my best friend. What more can I say?

Little Miss Knit - my twin (again, figuratively speaking). You're the perfect feminist. You stand up for what you believe in with passion and you speak your mind loudly, but always with grace. No matter where your path takes you, I know that you'll make a difference. I hope I can be there to experience it with you. Never give up.

Ruth - my Domestic Goddess (Nigella). You remind me that traditional femininity and feminine roles are nothing to EVER be devalued. I respect that you can make your path your own, despite what anyone else might say. Plus, you share my love of children's literature which is not all that common, beyond Harry Potter. I appreciate your friendship in the short time I've had it and hope that the distance won't be an obstacle.

Well, enough of this...
Miss HT Psych