The Psychologist April 2012

psychologistthe

april 2012vol 25 no 4

The person in psychologicalscienceAlison Lee argues thatpsychologists need to get to know their participants

personality disorder 276social anxiety in higher education 280the brief alcohol intervention 286viewpoints: the cost of caregiving 294

£5 or free to members of The British Psychological Society

letters 256careers 316

new voices 324looking back 326

Incorporating Psychologist Appointments

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vol 25 no 4 april 2012

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Welcome to The Psychologist, the monthly publication of The British PsychologicalSociety. It provides a forum for communication, discussion and controversy among allmembers of the Society, and aims to fulfil the main object of the Royal Charter, ‘to promote the advancement and diffusion of a knowledge of psychology pure and applied’. It is supported by www.thepsychologist.org.uk, where you can view this month’s issue,search the archive, listen, debate, contribute, subscribe, advertise, and more.

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© Copyright for all published material is heldby The British Psychological Society, unlessspecifically stated otherwise. Authors,illustrators and photographers may use theirown material elsewhere after publicationwithout permission. The Society asks that thefollowing note be included in any such use:‘First published in The Psychologist, vol. no. anddate. Published by The British PsychologicalSociety – see www.thepsychologist.org.uk.’ Asthe Society is a party to the Copyright LicensingAgency agreement, articles in The Psychologistmay be photocopied by licensed institutionallibraries for academic/teaching purposes. Nopermission is required. Permission is requiredand a reasonable fee charged for commercialuse of articles by a third party: please apply inwriting. The publishers have endeavoured totrace the copyright holders of all illustrations. Ifwe have unwittingly infringed copyright, we willbe pleased, on being satisfied as to the owner’stitle, to pay an appropriate fee.

Managing Editor Jon SuttonAssistant EditorPeter Dillon-Hooper Production Mike Thompson Staff journalist /Research DigestChristian Jarrett Editorial Assistant Debbie JamesOccupational DigestAlex Fradera

The Psychologist andDigest Policy Committee David Lavallee (Chair),Phil Banyard, NikChmiel, Olivia Craig,Helen Galliard, RowenaHill, Jeremy Horwood,Catherine Loveday, PeterMartin, Victoria Mason,Stephen McGlynn, TonyWainwright, PeterWright, and AssociateEditors

Associate Editors Articles Harriet Gross, Marc Jones, RebeccaKnibb, Charlie Lewis, Wendy Morgan, PaulRedford, Miles Thomas, Monica Whitty, JillWilkinson, Barry WinterConferences Alana JamesHistory of Psychology Nathalie Chernoff Interviews Nigel Hunt, Lance WorkmanViewpoints Catherine Loveday

International panelVaughan Bell, Uta Frith, Alex Haslam, Elizabeth Loftus

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read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk 253

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april 2012vol 25 no 4

‘Whenever I talk about real cases,real lives, the students love it, and itsparks discussion and ideas. Theremust be some way of showing thatour discipline is about people, aboutpersonal stories… they are changedby psychology, but they changepsychology as well.’ So said DrCatherine Loveday, from theUniversity of Westminster and amember of the Psychologist andDigest Policy Committee. Ourdiscussions led to ‘Viewpoints’ (seep.294), hopefully the first of manyaccounts from individuals who havetaken part in psychological researchor practice. We hear their story, thatof the researchers, and also get theperspective of an organisationhoping to make use of the findings.

To complement that seriesopener, I sought a piece (p.292) fromDr Alison Lee (Bath Spa University),after seeing her using personalstories to great effect in the Society’sstudent lectures. More than anyother science, psychology is aboutthe tales behind the t-tests, andwhat we can learn from our subjectmatter. Do get in touch if you couldcontribute to an increasing reflectionon the person in psychologicalresearch in The Psychologist.

Dr Jon Sutton

THE ISSUE

Problem solving for personalitydisorderMary McMurran and Stephen Coupedescribe a promising approach

Social anxiety in higher educationPhil Topham and Graham Russell

The brief alcohol interventionDaniel Regan looks at an evidence-based strategy for reducing drinkingwww.thepsychologist.org.uk

BIG PICTURE

At the age of 37, Swisspsychiatrist and founder ofanalytical psychology Carl Jung felt that he’d lost meaning in hislife. According to psychologyhistorian Sonu Shamdasani(University College London), he had reached ‘an existential crisis in which he simply neglected theareas of ultimate spiritual concernthat were his main motivations inhis youth’.

Over the coming years, Jungengaged in a process of self-experimentation which he himselftermed a ‘confrontation with theunconscious’. It took the form ofprovoking an extended series ofwaking fantasies in himself, andthen attempting to understandthem psychologically. He called thisthe method of ‘active imagination’,

and developed it aspsychotherapeuticmethod. Drawing fromthese materials, he composed a work ofpsychology in a redleather journal which heillustrated with his ownpaintings, continuing towork on it up to 1930.

Professor Shamdasani got holdof a copy in 1996, and after yearsseeking to understand it andconvince the Jung family to allowits publication, he translated Jung'swords into English and added anintroduction and extensivefootnotes. First published in 2009by W.W. Norton, it was one of themost influential unpublished worksin the history of psychology.

This image represents one of

Jung’s fantasies in his childhood in which he saw Alsace beingsubmerged by water and Basleturned into a port. ‘I approachthese as a historian,’ Shamdasanisays, ‘so I refrain from speculationor interpretation of the images. It'sclear that Jung thought about eachelement of these images, andsometimes said it would take himmany years to figure out what theyactually meant.’

‘To the superficial observer, itwill appear like madness,’ Jungwrote. Yet Shamdasani says ‘therewasn't anything like a psychosis’.Indeed, the images and ideas in‘The Red Book’ were perhaps thefoundation of Jung’s theories onarchetypes, the collectiveunconscious, and the process ofindividuation – the journey onemust undertake in order to becomean individual.

Jung’s childhood daydreamsImage taken from Carl Jung’s Liber Novus (‘The Red Book’), and explained bypsychological historian Sonu Shamdasani. E-mail ideas to [email protected].

letters 256emotional response; impact; theoretical work psychology; Little Albert; and more

media 272

276

286

280

Fiona Jones on planned changes to the Society’s media and press function; when Ariely met Gladwell; curiosities; and more

society 304President’s column; sexual and genderminority guidelines; Big Bang; work–lifebalance; DSM-5; expert witnesses;Gordon Allport prize; and more

316

292

pull-out

working in Cambodia, with Angela Simcox; we speak to Kimberley Wilson at HMP Holloway; featured job; latest vacancies; and how to advertise

looking back 326

new voices 324

learning disability: from the Devil to DSM-IV, with Chris Goodey

counting on language in numerical thinking: Cassie Barton with the latest in our series for budding writers

one on one 328…with Carole Allan

news and digest 266rows over replication; psychoanalysis; security and neuroscience; apps; coerciveself-citation; mapping well-being; and nuggets from the Research Digest

book reviews 298mental models in the novel; modernCBT; dyslexia; House and psychology;and more

careers and psychologist appointments

KAR

ENE

LZING

A: TINYU

RL.C

OM/K

ELZING

A

The person in psychologicalscience Alison Lee, from her perspectivein neuropsychology, argues thatpsychologists need to get to knowtheir participants

Viewpoints: The cost of caregiving The first of a new series focusingon the person in psychologicalresearch and practice

psy 04_12 p253 contents_Layout 1 20/03/2012 10:57 Page 253

254 vol 25 no 4 april 2012

The Psychologist – who’s who

The Psychologist is produced by a small team of staff in the Society’sLeicester offices, supported by honorary input from a panel ofSociety members. We are refreshing and expanding this panel,

and thought that an update would be timely.

Your chance to join the teamWe are seeking expressions of interest for the following voluntary roles:

Associate editor(s) for conference reports:Do you have a gift for communicating psychology in an engaging andinformative manner? Do you love attending conferences? We are lookingfor one or more Society members to help organise our conferencereporting coverage, and chip in with their own reports. Expenses will beavailable.

Send samples of your writing to [email protected], by 1 June.

Associate editors for interviews:Do you love talking to psychologists about their life and work? Are youknowledgeable, able to think on your feet and good at building a rapport?We are looking for Society members to conduct interviews for us. Inreturn, you receive expenses and reach an audience of 50,000.

We are particularly interested in receiving applications from Societymembers who may be able to add a multimedia approach to interviews.

Send three suggestions for your ideal interviewee, plus any samplesof your work, to [email protected], by 1 June.

WelcomeDr Catherine Loveday (University of Westminster) has joined the team to coordinate our new ‘Viewpoints’ format, showcasing the personal storiesof those participating in psychological research and practice. See contentspage and p.294 for more information.

Nathalie Chernoff (Lancaster University) has taken over from JuliePerks as Associate Editor for ‘Looking back’. Many thanks to Julie, whohas done a fantastic job in steering the section through its first four years.

psychologistthe

february 2012

vol 25 no 2

Self-control –

the moral muscle

Roy Baumeister on willpower

and ego depletion

evolving the face of a criminal 116

a new kind of language 122

interview with Jo Green 126

can we be confident in our statistics? 128

£5 or free to members of

The British Psychological Society

letters 94

news 102

careers 152

looking back 164


psy 04_12 p254_255 whoswho_Layout 1 20/03/2012 11:01 Page 254


The new Psychologist ‘International Panel’We are proud to announce that the following psychologistshave agreed to serve The Psychologist on a new‘International Panel’, providing advice and advocacy on aninternational level:

Dr Vaughan Bell is a clinical and research psychologist.He’s affiliated with the Institute of Psychiatry, King’sCollege London, and has just returned from a stint withMédecins Sans Frontières in Colombia.

Uta Frith is currently splitting her time between beingan Emeritus Professor at University College London and a Research Foundation Professor at the University ofAarhus, Denmark.

Elizabeth Loftus is Distinguished Professor at theUniversity of California, Irvine, USA.

Alex Haslam is Professor of Social and OrganizationalPsychology at the University of Exeter, just about to move to the University of Queensland in Australia.

The committeeThe Psychologist and Digest Policy Committee is responsible for allmatters of policy development, maintenance and coordination, as well asoverseeing the performance of the Managing Editor. Its current Chair isProfessor David Lavallee (University of Stirling). He says: ‘As a long-standing member of the Society, I think The Psychologist plays a vital rolein representing members and forging links across our diverse discipline.We’re at a key point in the evolution of The Psychologist and Digests,redesigning the Psychologist website and always looking to develop thepublications. Honorary input is so important to us, and it’s rewarding aswell – so keep an eye out for opportunities to support your publications!’

The staffThe day-to-day running and production of The Psychologist and Digests is down to a team of four FTEs: Dr Jon Sutton (Managing Editor), PeterDillon-Hooper (Assistant Editor), Debbie James (Editorial Assistant), MikeThompson (Production), Dr Christian Jarrett (Psychologist journalist andResearch Digest editor), and Dr Alex Fradera (Occupational Digesteditor).

Managing Editor Dr Jon Sutton says: ‘With a relatively small teamand budget, we are heavily reliant on voluntary input from Societymembers at a variety of levels, whether it is contributing a letter orserving in an honorary capacity. We are very grateful for all themembership do for our publications, and we’re always here to help!’

psychologistthe

april 2012

vol 25 no 4

The person in psychologicalscienceAlison Lee argues thatpsychologists need to get to know their participants

personality disorder 276social anxiety in higher education 280

the brief alcohol intervention 286

viewpoints: the cost of caregiving 294

£5 or free to members of The British Psychological Society

letters 256careers 316new voices 324looking back 326


Uta FrithVaughan Bell

Alex HaslamElizabeth Loftus

psy 04_12 p254_255 whoswho_Layout 1 20/03/2012 11:01 Page 255

BIG

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psy 04_12 pi_iv bigpic_Layout 1 20/03/2012 12:13 Page iii

266 vol 25 no 4 april 2012

NEW

S

A row has erupted online after aneminent social psychologist in the USAreacted angrily to a failed replication ofone of his classic stereotype primingstudies. John Bargh, Professor ofPsychology and Cognitive Science at YaleUniversity, used his blog on PsychologyToday to launch a stinging criticism ofthe researchers who failed to replicatehis 1996 study, the journal theypublished in, and the British scienceblogger who reported on their newresearch (tinyurl.com/7xjyxtq).

In a post that extends to severalpages, Bargh implied that StéphaneDoyen (Université Libre de Bruxelles)and her colleagues are ‘incompetent andill-informed’; he claimed that the open-access journal PLoS One allowsresearchers to ‘self-publish’ their studieswithout appropriate peer review so longas they are willing to pay the $1350 fee;and he described Ed Yong’s Discovermagazine blog coverage(tinyurl.com/7nenrtn) of the failed

replication as ‘superficial onlinejournalism’.

The new paper by Doyen et al.‘Behavioural priming: It’s all in the mind, but whose mind?’ (PLoS One;tinyurl.com/7n5zy6m) attempted toreplicate Bargh’s highly cited 1996article, co-authored with Mark Chen and Lara Burrows, which showed thatparticipants primed non-consciously bythe elderly stereotype walked away froma psychology lab more slowly (Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology:tinyurl.com/7km8bqk).

Doyen’s team made some changes toBargh’s methodology, including doublingthe number of participants and usinginfra-red beams to time participants’walking speed (as opposed to a researchassistant with a stop-watch). Theirattempt at replication failed –participants exposed to ageing-relatedwords in a scrambled sentence taskdidn’t walk away any more slowly thancontrol participants.

However, when the study wasrepeated with the experimentersknowing the expected results of thestudy and which condition participantshad been allocated to, the slowing effectwas observed. In another twist,experimenters told to expect participantsto walk away faster actually obtaineddata supporting this reverse-effect, butonly if they used a stop-watch. A finalimportant detail is that there wasevidence that some participants in theprime condition had noticed the ageing-related words they’d been exposed to,thus casting doubt on the scrambledsentence task as a way to deliver primesnon-consciously.

Based on their results, Doyen’s team concluded that ‘experimenters’expectations seem to provide afavourable context to the behaviouralexpression of a prime.’ They arguedfurther that it was important to considerthe limitations of automatic behaviouralpriming: ‘…it seems that these methods

Rows over replication: the ‘cornerstone

There was a time not so long ago when psychiatry and psychotherapywere dominated by the psychoanalytic approach. Today, observedProfessor Robin Murray, chair of the latest Maudsley Debate,psychoanalysts are an ‘endangered species’. For this, the 44thMaudsley Debate hosted by the Institute of Psychiatry, the houseproposed to a packed auditorium that ‘psychoanalysis has a valuableplace in modern mental health services’. The audience’s initial votewas 251 for the motion, 32 against with 42 abstainers.

First to propose the motion was Peter Fonagy, a CharteredClinical Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the BPS and the FreudMemorial Professor of Psychoanalysis at UCL. Fonagy said this was a ‘deadly serious’ issue and that psychoanalytic psychotherapy was‘fighting for its life’. In the race to demonstrate the relative merits ofdifferent therapeutic approaches, Fonagy said psychodynamicpsychotherapy was at a distinct disadvantage. Most randomlycontrolled trials are focused on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT),and success is measured by symptom reduction. Despitepsychodynamic psychotherapy not being focused on symptoms,Fonagy said the few trials that had been conducted with thisapproach were showing it to be an effective treatment. He added thatbrain science and its revelations about developmental effects werealso converging with the psychoanalytic model and its emphasis onearly relationships.

BPS Fellow Paul Salkovskis, Professor of Clinical Psychology andApplied Science at the University of Bath, was the first to oppose themotion. He said it was a ‘confidence trick’ to confuse psychoanalysiswith psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychoanalysis, he argued, waswedded to several harmful beliefs and doctrines: including therejection of a symptom focus, the rejection of evaluation, the idea oftraining by undergoing one’s own analysis, and ‘really bad’ theories

from the comic (e.g the Oedipus complex) to the dangerous (e.g. in relation to obsessive compulsive disorder). ‘Go and look at thepsychoanalytic explanation for OCD and tremble’ Salkovskis,’ said. He concluded that the philosophical and theoretical tenets ofpsychoanalysis put it at odds with a modern mental health service –remove those tenets and it’s not psychoanalysis any more.

The motion was seconded by Alessandra Lemma, a CharteredClinical Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the BPS and VisitingProfessor in the Psychoanalysis Unit at UCL. She argued that CBTonly works for 50 to 60 per cent of clients and that there’s a need foran alternative approach for the remainder. Psychodynamicpsychotherapy focuses on the person, not the disorder, she said. For chronic, complex difficulties you need a theory of interactionalprocesses, she said, and ‘psychoanalysis is unrivalled in providing a highly sophisticated theory of interactional processes’.

Last up, Professor Lewis Wolpert, a developmental biologist andthe author of Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression (whichcharts his own experience of the illness), said he’d undertakenpsychoanalysis and it was a ‘total disaster’. He stressed how it isconscious thoughts that play a central role in conditions likedepression, not the unconscious. It’s things that happened yesterday– losing a job, being ill – that most often trigger depression, notevents in childhood. He said there was no evidence for the basicpsychoanalytic ideas of ego, super ego and so on – ‘mysticalnonsense’, he called them. Psychoanalysts were not interested incure, he claimed: ‘It’s all nonsense and we should abandon itcompletely.’

At the closing vote, there were 260 for the motion, 43 against and 35 abstainers. CJI See www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/news/Podcasts.aspx

DOES PSYCHOANALYSIS HAVE A PLACE IN HEALTH SERVICES?

psy 04_12 p266_273 news_Layout 1 20/03/2012 11:14 Page 266

need to be taken as an object of researchper se before using it can be consideredas an established phenomenon.’

In his blog post, Bargh argued therewas no way that experimenterexpectancies could have interfered withthe results he and his colleaguesobtained. He blamed the replicationfailure on ‘gross’ methodological changesmade by Doyen’s team. For example, hequoted them as having instructedparticipants to ‘go straight down the hallwhen leaving’, in contrast to his study,which he said let participants ‘leave inthe most natural way’. In fact, as Yonghas pointed out in a response on his blog(tinyurl.com/7ffztux), Doyen’s teamwrote that ‘participants were clearlydirected to the end of the corridor’;similarly, Bargh and his colleagues wrotein their study that the experimenter toldthe participant that ‘the elevator wasdown the hall’.

Bargh concluded his blog post byarguing for the robustness of the conceptof stereotype priming, which he said hasbeen replicated ‘dozens if not hundreds’

of times and is solidlyembedded in severaltheories across multiplescientific fields. ‘I am not somuch worried about theimpact on science ofessentially self-publishedfailures to replicate,’ he wrote, ‘as muchas I’m worried about your ability to trustsupposedly reputable online mediasources for accurate information onpsychological science.’

As we went to press the controversywas playing out online with severalpsychologists contributing their views:Matt Craddock commented on Bargh’sPsychology Today post; MatthewLieberman has written a piece on hisblog Social Brain, Social Mind(tinyurl.com/7gty5k4); and DanielSimons posted his views on Google+ as‘A primer for how not to respond whensomeone fails to replicate your work’(tinyurl.com/7rctma7).

In a related incident, the failedreplication attempt of Daryl Bem’s‘precognition’ study, by Chris French

(Goldsmiths, University of London),Stuart Ritchie (University of Edinburgh)and Richard Wiseman (University ofHertfordshire), has finally beenpublished, also in PLoS One, with Bemresponding in the comments. Theirreport was rejected by several journalsincluding the Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology (see ‘News’, June2011), which originally published Bem’sfindings along with his appeal forattempted replications. Writing in TheGuardian, Chris French said: ‘Althoughwe are always being told that“replication is the cornerstone ofscience”, the truth is that the “top”journals are simply not interested instraight replications – especially failedreplications. They only want to reportfindings that are new and positive.’ CJ


news

of science’

The UK government’sBehavioural Insight Team, ledby psychology graduate DavidHalpern, has claimed thathundreds of millions ofpounds could be saved usingsimple, psychologicallyinspired interventions toreduce fraud, debt and error.

The claims are made in a new report, published inFebruary, that details sevenways public organisationscould save money: make iteasier for people to fill outforms, including tax returns;highlight key messages early incommunications; use personallanguage; prompt honesty atkey moments when people arefilling in forms or answeringquestions; use the influence ofsocial norms by emphasisingthat most other people behaveprosocially; reward desiredbehaviour; and highlight therisks and impact of dishonesty.

These ideasare being put tothe test in eightongoing trialsby theBehaviouralInsight Team in partnershipwith publicbodies. Forinstance, HMRevenue andCustoms hasexperimentedwith taxreminder lettersand found thatthey seem to bemore effective ifthey include amessage saying that themajority of people in therecipient’s local area pay theirtax on time. A trial with theDriver and Vehicle LicensingAgency is testing the influenceof including a picture of a

person’s untaxed car inreminder letters. Another withHM Courts and TribunalsService is testing whetherpeople are more likely torespond to text messagereminders to pay fines if the

text mentions them byname and states howmuch they owe.

‘This is the firsttime that theGovernment hasexplicitly sought todraw uponbehavioural insights totackle fraud, error anddebt in a systematicway,’ the report says.‘The insights outlinedin this document,applied in a range ofdifferent contexts andsettings, show that notonly is it possible to

apply behaviouralinsights to reduce fraud,

error and debt, but also that itcan be done in a highly cost-effective way.’ CJI Applying Behavioural Insights

to Reduce Fraud, Error andDebt is available to downloadat tinyurl.com/7gwwcbe

Behavioural insights to save £millions

Public sector fraud, error and debt cost the UK government billions of pounds each year, costs

which are borne by law-abiding taxpayers and firms. Insights from behavioural science can form

an integral part of the government strategy to reduce this cost and the tax gap.

This document is intended to help those who administer systems to tackle fraud, error and

debt to identify practical interventions, while making it easier for citizens and firms to comply.

Behavioural Insights Team

REPLICATION – YOUR VIEWSWe are looking to curate an ‘Opinion special’ on replicationin the May issue. If you are reading this in the first few daysof April, there may still be time to contribute – e-mail theeditor on [email protected]. Otherwise, we are as everinterested in your views for the ‘Letters’ pages [email protected].



news

The ubiquitous rise of smartphone andtablet applications (‘apps’) is beginning tofilter through to the world of psychology.An app called Buddy that allows users tokeep track of their activities and feelingshas just been rolled out to mental healthservice providers nationally after asuccessful trial.

The Buddy app (www.buddyapp.org)was designed by London-based SidekickStudios in association with South Londonand Maudsley Foundation Trust and withfinancial support from the NHS RegionalInnovation Fund and NESTA. The appworks via the sending and receiving oftext messages to users’ phones (thismakes it compatible with any phone). The app sends reminders, helps with diarykeeping and goal-setting, allows analysisof patterns between a person’s feelings andbehaviours, and aids session planning. In trials, clients using the app were lesslikely to miss therapy sessions.

The app has now been adopted byfour boroughs in south east London, byNorth East Essex, and by the FiveBoroughs Partnership in the north west.Organisations purchase licences for theapp allowing them to provide it to a givennumber of people.

Meanwhile, Wiley-Blackwell, whichpublishes the Society’s journals, has alsolaunched a free psychology app calledSpotlight (http://t.co/NJJWv4TI) for usewith iPhones and iPads. The app allowsusers to keep track of psychologyconferences, abstracts, books, blogs(including the Society’s Research Digest)and journal special issues.

Elsewhere, Richard McNally’s lab at Harvard University has reportedly just completed a trial of an iPhoneintervention for anxiety. There’s aMobilyze app in development atNorthwestern University, which isdesigned to detect signs of depression; a Tell Me About It! app – a languagedevelopment tool for autistic childrenbased on the principles of appliedbehavioural analysis; there’s an app indevelopment at Samsung that determinesuser emotions based on factors such astyping speed and shaking of the phone;and the memory training guru TonyBuzan is planning a series of iMindMapapps around his Mind Mappingtechniques. CJI Have you come across any good-quality

psychology apps? Let us know via Twitteron @psychmag

Have you ever submitted to a journal and received a request from the editor to add insome extra citations to unspecified papers published in that same journal? According to a survey by Allen Wilhite and Eric Fong (University of Alabama in Huntsville),published in Science (tinyurl.com/892qvkz), this practice is called ‘coercive self-citation’and it’s worryingly widespread. Receiving editorial advice on relevant papers to cite isacceptable, they say, but being asked to add superfluous papers, presumably to boost a journal’s impact factor, is unethical.

Of 6672 social science researchers (including psychologists; most were American)who answered a survey, around 20 per cent said they had been subjected to these kinds of requests. A further 20 per cent were aware of the practice but hadn’t experienced itfirsthand. Junior researchers were more likely to say they’d been coerced, as were theauthors of papers with fewer co-authors. The practice also varied with discipline, beingmore common in business and economics, and less common in psychology and sociology(although Wilhite and Fong stressed that ‘every discipline reported multiple instances ofcoercion’). More highly ranked journals were more likely to coerce, although it’s notpossible to say whether their ranking was a cause or consequence of the practice.

Overall, although 86 per cent of survey respondents said the practice of citationcoercion was unethical, 57 per cent said that, prior to submission, they would addsuperfluous citations to journals known to coerce. Junior researchers were more likely to acquiesce. Familiarity may breed acceptance: researchers who admitted to addingsuperfluous citations viewed the practice less harshly.

‘We find that coercion is uncomfortably common and appears to be practicedopportunistically,’ Wilhite and Fong wrote. The pair concluded by calling on academicassociations to condemn the practice and for journal self-citations to not count towards a journal’s impact factor. CJ

NATIONAL STALKING CLINICThe world’s first National Stalking Clinic has opened in London and is run by Barnet,Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHSTrust (tinyurl.com/6waumgu). The clinictakes referrals from multiple sourcesincluding courts, probations services andmental health trusts and will providepsychological treatment, assessment andrehabilitation of stalkers. The head oftherapies at the clinic is Chartered Clinicaland Forensic Psychologist Sarah Henley, an Associate Fellow of the BPS.

ONLINE CHILD THERAPYThe NSPCC’s ChildLine service has launchedan online therapeutic game, The Sky’s TheLimit (tinyurl.com/86yzyqm). Lucy Mann,ChildLine Digital Manager, said: ‘Games likethis are designed to have a therapeuticelement to them; we hope that the youngpeople who play them can use the game totake their minds off things that are makingthem feel sad, like family problems or beingbullied.’ The game involves the playernaming things that make them sad and thenjumping through the sky via springs onclouds. They can smash through rocks withtheir sources of sadness written on them, orjust relax and fly through the sky.

HISTORY PODCASTSPsychologists at York University in Canadahave launched a series of podcasts about the history of psychology. Christopher Green,co-founder of the Advances in the History ofPsychology blog (http://ahp.apps01.yorku.ca)and the former producer and presenter ofthe This Week in the History of Psychologypodcast series, is to front a new occasionalseries Discussions in the History ofPsychology. He’s also started two other newseries: History of Psychology Laboratory andThis Week in the History of Psychology:Shorts (see www.yorku.ca/christo/podcasts/).Collaborators include Jeremy Burman andJacy Young.

TWEETS PREDICT IMPACTThe amount of buzz generated by a journalarticle on Twitter is a reliable predictor of theultimate scholarly impact that article willhave. Gunther Eysenbach (University HealthNetwork, Toronto) analysed thousands oftweets about new articles published in theJournal of Medical Internet Research. Articlesthat generated a high number of tweets inthe days following their publication were 11times more likely to be highly cited 17 to 29months later compared with less-tweetedarticles (jmir.org/2011/4/e123/). CJ

Psychology apps

Coercive self-citation


268 vol 25 no 4 april 2012

news

The Royal Society has published the report from the third of itsBrain Waves modules, which is focused on the military and civillaw enforcement implications of new neuroscience findings. Thereport calls for increased awareness amongscientists as to how their findings could be turnedto potential military and enforcement uses. It alsocalls for the UK government to be more openabout the research that it is funding is this area.

The module ‘Neuroscience, conflict andsecurity’ was chaired by Rod Flower, Professor ofBiochemical Pharmacology at the William HarveyResearch Institute, Queen Mary University ofLondon. There was psychological input fromSusan Iversen, Emeritus Professor ofExperimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, and BPS Fellow Trevor Robbins,Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at theUniversity of Cambridge, both of whom weremembers of the module’s working group.Professor of Experimental Psychology BarryEveritt at the University of Cambridge was a member of the review panel for the module.

The report describes how neuroscience advances can be used to enhance the performance of the military and to harm the performance of its enemies. On the side of performance-enhancement, it highlights the potential for neuroimaging toimprove recruitment; for brain–machine interfaces to enhance

sensory performance and to help with rehabilitation from injury;and for drugs to overcome fatigue and help with recovery fromPTSD. In relation to degrading enemy performance, the report

describes work on the use of chemicalagents designed to affect the centralnervous system, and the development of non-lethal high-energy laser weaponsdesigned to interfere withneurotransmitter release and otherphysiological functions.

A substantial section of the reportdeals with the treaties related to the banof the use of biological and chemicalweapons, to which the UK is a signatory– The Biological and Toxin WeaponsConvention of 1972 and the ChemicalWeapons Convention of 1993. The

latter includes an ambiguous exceptionallowing for ‘law enforcement including

domestic riot control purposes’. The reportsays there is an urgent need for the UKgovernment to clarify its position in relation

to this exception, in particular whether it applies toincapacitating chemical agents and not only to riot controlagents, which have a less drastic, irritant effect. CJI The third Brain Waves report Neuroscience, Conflict and Security

is available at tinyurl.com/7o963j8

Security applications of neuroscience

A preliminary map of the nation’shappiness is taking shape followinganalysis of initial well-being resultscollected by the Office for NationalStatistics (ONS: see tinyurl.com/6vth933).It seems we are a relatively contentpeople. The average life satisfaction scorewas 7.4 out of 10; the average ‘life isworthwhile’ score was 7.6 out of 10;‘happiness yesterday’ averaged at 7.3 outof 10; whilst the average ‘anxietyyesterday’ score was 3.2 out of 10.

The ONS began including foursubjective well-being questions from lastApril in its Annual Population Survey of80,000 UK citizens aged over 16 (forbackground see ‘News’, January 2011:‘National well-being and the wanderingmind’). Respondents were asked howsatisfied they were with their lives; to

what extent their life is worthwhile; howhappy they felt yesterday; and howanxious they felt yesterday (all scored1–10). The questions are designed to tapthree aspects of subjective well-being:evaluative, eudenomic (people’s sense ofmeaning and purpose), and experiential.The initial data was collected from Aprilto September last year.

There were age and gender differencesin the results. Women scored marginallyhigher then men on all four questions,especially life feeling worthwhile. Lifesatisfaction and life worthwhile scoreswere higher for younger and olderparticipants relative to middle-agedrespondents. Conversely, anxiety washigher among the middle-aged.

In terms of geographic differencesacross the UK, subjective well-beingscores were highest in Northern Ireland(7.6 out of 10 compared with 7.5 forScotland and 7.4 for both England andWales). Within England, well-being waslowest in London and the West Midlandsand highest in the South East and SouthWest. Anxiety yesterday was highest in

London compared with all other UKregions.

Other observations to emerge fromthe initial data: people living in ahousehold with children rated life asmore worthwhile, but showed noadvantages in life satisfaction orhappiness yesterday, and they reported nomore anxiety; having a partner wasassociated with higher scores insatisfaction, life worthwhile andhappiness yesterday; conversely, beingunemployed was associated with lowerscores on those three questions.

‘It’s good to see the project under way,but this initial account is not likely toinspire politicians or the public,’ saidPeter Warr, Emeritus Professor at theInstitute of Work Psychology, Universityof Sheffield. ‘The approach is almostentirely through average subgroup scoreswith no apparent overarching frameworkor psychological basis. Findings to daterepeat what is already known, but maybemore sophisticated analyses in the futureor observed changes over time will bemore interesting.’ CJ

Mapping well-being

Urgent need for clarification?

For funding opportunities this month, seewww.bps.org.uk/fundsFunding bodies should e-mail news to ElizabethBeech on [email protected] for possibleinclusion


270 vol 25 no 4 april 2012

When the clocks went forwardat the end of March, did youhave an urge to watch the 1982snooker championship final onthe internet at work thefollowing day? A new articlesuggests that we may be moreprone to ‘cyberloafing’, fritteringaway work time on unrelatedonline activities, when wehaven’t had enough sleep.

The researchers, led by DavidWagner, began sifting throughGoogle’s publicly available datafor rates of entertainment-related searches, judged to be a proxy of cyberloafing. Using a ‘quasi experimental’ approach,the investigators recognised anevent that affects everyone’ssleep: when the clocks goforward for Daylight SavingTime. Prior evidence suggestswe lose on average 40 minutesof sleep per night following theswitch, as our body rhythmsstruggle to adjust. Theresearchers used data from 203metropolitan areas in the USA,weighted by area size, across2004–2009. They found thatentertainment-related searcheson the Monday after DST were3.1 per cent higher than on theMonday before, and 6.4 per centhigher than on the Monday after.

A second study took this tocontrolled lab conditions.Ninety-six undergraduatestudents wore a sleep-monitoring bracelet overnightbefore attending a lab sessionto complete a computer task –assessing a potential newprofessor for the university by

Lost sleep andcyberloafing

In the Journal of AppliedPsychology (seetinyurl.com/85t7359)

Psychologists in Germany have challenged one of the most influential theories inneuropsychology – the dual stream model of visual processing proposed by Mel Goodale and David Milner. This model (see tinyurl.com/b3ktap for Psychologist article) proposes that visualinformation entering the brain splits down two parallel paths: the dorsal path heads to the top and rear of the brain where the information is used for guiding actions; the ventral path reachesthe temporal lobes where it is used for conscious perception and recognition. The model is hugelyinfluential and will be familiar to all contemporary psychology graduates. The three seminalpapers proposing and supporting the model have been cited over 930 times.

Much of the supporting evidence came from studies of the brain-damaged patient known in theliterature as D.F. This woman’s damage to her occipital and parietal lobes from carbon monoxidepoisoning appeared to have left her with a rare form of ‘visual agnosia’ – she was unable torecognise everyday objects but was perfectly able to grasp and use them. In other words, sheappeared to have an impaired ventral stream but a preserved dorsal stream.

Marc Himmelbach and his team at Eberhard Karls University say that D.F. has become one ofthe most influential brain-damaged patients in neuropsychology,comparable to Paul Broca’s aphasic patient Leborgne and PhineasGage – the 19th-century railway worker who survived an iron rodpassing through his brain. However, as is the case with Leborgneand Gage, the German team believe that standards of testing havebecome more stringent since the seminal work with D.F. waspublished back in the 90s. In particular, conclusions were drawnabout D.F. without comparing her performance and behaviour toage-matched controls.

For their paper, Himmelbach and his team have replicated thethree main tests performed on D.F. with 20 female, age-matchedhealthy controls (mean age 36.5 years). These tests includedindicating the size of various rectangular wooden blocks using thethumb and forefinger; actually reaching and picking up the blocks;indicating the orientation of a narrow slot in a disc; posting a cardthrough that slot; and indicating the size and shape of odd-regularshapes and then actually picking up those shapes. Results from theoriginal work with D.F. were compared against the results from

these new healthy controls.Himmelbach and his colleagues don’t dispute that D.F.’s

performance was far more impaired for recognition tasks comparedwith the reaching and grasping tasks. However, compared against theirnew control data, they say it’s clear that D.F. was also severely impairedin her reaching and grasping performance, seemingly undermining theneat interpretation that she had a preserved dorsal stream. TheGerman group also point to more recent tests of D.F. showing that she

has obvious motor deficits when the task is more complicated – for example, she was unable tograsp a disc through three holes in its surface using her thumb, index and middle fingers.

Other evidence highlighted by Himmelbach and co concerns a more recently identified patient‘J.S.’ who has a similar pattern of brain damage to D.F. and who is more impaired on recognitionthan motor tasks, but who nonetheless is clearly severely impaired on motor tasks compared withhealthy controls. Based on a scan of J.S., the researchers also doubt that the pattern of braindamage suffered by D.F is as circumscribed as previously claimed. Finally, the researchers arecritical of the lack of ‘kinematic data’ from the original tests of D.F. – things like reaction times,peak velocity of movements and so forth. Such data, they say, would show whether her movementswere really normal, or if she were, for example, taking longer than normal to compensate for herdifficulties.

‘In conclusion,’ the researchers said, ‘the behaviour and anatomy of D.F. on its own does notprovide firm grounds for the perception vs. action interpretation of dorsal and ventral streamareas.’ They added that other sources of support for the dual stream model ‘do not provideunequivocal evidence in favour of or against [the model] without reference to D.F. and could alsobe integrated by alternative models that do not explicitly state an action–perception dissociation.’

DIGE

ST

Doubts cast on influential theory of visual processing

In the January issue ofNeuropsychologia (seetinyurl.com/7azzyfn)



digest

participants. Another set of participants rated actorsdisplaying an expression ofembarrassment as moreprosocial than those displayingpride or a neutral expression.Still more participants agreed to cooperate more fully in aneconomic game with people whothey’d seen pictured lookingembarrassed.

A fifth and final study wasthe most realistic. Participantssaw their research partnerpraised for his or her superbperformance on a mentalperformance test. Unbeknownto the participants, their partnerwas an accomplice of theresearchers. On being praised,this actor either responded withembarrassment or with pride.Crucially, later on, theparticipants tended to cooperatemore with their partner if he orshe had shown embarrassmentearlier, as opposed to pride.What’s more, the greater theintensity of their partner’searlier display of

embarrassment, the moreparticipants tended to trust andcooperate with him or her. Theresearchers also ruled out thepossibility that the actor wasdisplaying shame, rather thanembarrassment. One finalimportant detail: theresearchers checked and theseeffects of embarrassmentweren’t because the participantssaw their embarrassed partneras weak, liked them more, orbecause they felt compassiontowards them.

‘Our data are the first toreveal that people who feel andshow intense embarrassmentare indeed more prosocial,’ theresearchers concluded, ‘andthat this display triggersprosocial inferences andactions.’ The researchers saidthere was a need for moreresearch – for example, to findout whether it’s possible forpeople to feign embarrassmentand thereby benefit from theflattering assumptionsonlookers make about them.

watching a 42-minute videolecture. What the researcherswere really interested in wasthe amount of time they wouldspend surfing the internetinstead. Cyberloafing washigher for participants whoexperienced more instances ofsleep interruption or less sleepoverall, as recorded by theirmonitoring bracelet.

This is another piece ofresearch advancing the egodepletion theory, which statesthat willpower is a resource that is used up through effortfulacts. Researchers havepreviously argued that sleep is a means of recharging ourregulatory resources, and thesestudies confirm that less sleepdoes indeed make us prey tocounterproductive activities likecyberloafing. However, thosewho naturally exercise self-discipline may be somewhatresistant: in study two, theeffect of sleep interruption oncyberloafing was weaker forparticipants who scored high ona measure of conscientiousnessadministered beforehand. (Theeffect of less overall sleep stillremained.) This is consistentwith ego depletion, as highlyconscientious types are morelikely to actively use methods to regulate their effort toovercome counterproductivebehaviours, rather than takingthe path of least resistance.

The costs of cyberloafinghave been estimated at around£300m a year, so it’s worthunderstanding when we're morevulnerable to its temptations.

I This item is from the Society’sOccupational Digest, writtenand edited by Dr Alex Fradera– see www.occdigest.org.ukand follow @occdigest.

Social interactions can feel like walking a tight-rope, anexcruciating pit ofembarrassment always just one tiny misstep away. But couldembarrassment also function inour favour, helping to advertisesome of our better, moredesirable qualities?

Matthew Feinberg and hiscolleagues at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley conductedfive experiments in total,involving hundreds of undergradparticipants. The first twostudies were designed to testwhether people who experiencemore embarrassment are moreprosocial. In the first,participants were video-recorded as they recounted atime they’d been embarrassed.The videos were coded and itwas found that the students who displayed more signs ofembarrassment (e.g. gazeaversion, nervous face touchingand laughter) also tended toendorse values of fairnessmore, and they were actuallymore generous with money in an economic game. In thesecond study, participants who said they would be moreembarrassed in a range ofhypothetical social scenariostended to be more generous in an economic game, and theyalso scored more highly on a questionnaire measure oftheir prosociality.

Further studies testedwhether embarrassed peopleare perceived as more prosocial.It was found that individualswho had appeared moreembarrassed in the videos fromthe first study were rated asmore prosocial by new

Easily embarrassed and altruisticIn the January issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

The material in this section is taken from theSociety’s Research Digest blog atwww.researchdigest.org.uk/blog, and is writtenby its editor Dr Christian Jarrett. Visit the blogfor full coverage including references and links,additional current reports, an archive, commentand more.

Subscribe by RSS or e-mail at www.researchdigest.org.uk/blog

Become a fan at www.facebook.com/researchdigest

Follow the Digest editor at www.twitter.com/researchdigest


272 vol 25 no 4 april 2012

cont

ribu

te

MED

IA

The Media page iscoordinated by the Society’sMedia and PressCommittee, with the aim of

promoting and discussingpsychology in the media. Ifyou would like to contribute,please contact the ‘Media’

page coordinating editor,Ceri Parsons (Chair, Mediaand Press Committee), [email protected]

and Press Committee helps to ensure thatgood-quality research, including researchfrom the less obviously media-friendlyareas can sometimes reach the press.Equally importantly, we are able to advisethat, while some research might be‘popular’, it may be exploratory or notempirically rigorous and should not berecommended for release. We support theview that publicising empirically weak‘pop’ research leaves the Society open tocriticism and we are in a position toadvise members of the PR team where we feel this is a risk. Members of thecommittee are also present in the pressoffice at the Annual Conference to liaisebetween journalists and the researcherswho are presenting at the conference.They are also often a first port of call forjournalists looking for advice on storiesand are committed to offering a fastresponse wherever possible.

In short, the Media and PressCommittee is a major way in whichmembers of the Society are able tocontribute directly to the press outputsand in addition gain useful experienceand skills in this area. Regularcollaboration between an expert PR teamand psychologists representing every areaof psychology helps ensure that a widerrange of the best-quality psychologyresearch is publicised than wouldotherwise be the case.

It is therefore particularly concerningthat the recent Board of TrusteesCommunications Review has decided that the Media and Press Committee bedissolved. This decision came with noapparent consultation with members onthis specific issue. The review seeks toimplement a more strategic approach tothe BPS PR coverage, designed to ensure a rapid response and to present a unifiedview on major issues on which theSociety needs to comment. This has beenan area of weakness in the past. However,there also is a need for regular work, suchas put in by committee members, toensure that the work of BPS members, inall its diversity, is represented. At presentit is unclear how the regular input fromcommittee members – around two tothree weeks a year each – will be covered.It is likely to result in more work for analready stretched PR and marketing teamand could potentially lead to a reductionin coverage of research in the lessobviously media friendly areas.

The BPS is a membershiporganisation, and it’s important thatmembers have a say. If you have anycomments or suggestions please write to the Psychologist letters page or e-maileither [email protected] [email protected].

Members of the British PsychologicalSociety, in common with scientists

of many persuasions, are sometimesunhappy about the quality of presscoverage of their discipline. Too often thepsychology that reaches the media, andparticularly the tabloids, can seem trivialand not representative of the best thesubject has to offer. Psychology storiesclearly reach the media by many differentmethods over which the Society has nocontrol. So how does the BPS try to ensurequality research reaches broadcast andnewspaper journalists?

Sometimes journalists will contact

individual psychologists themselves or via university press offices, but very oftenthey will ask for recommendations fromthe BPS Media Centre. For example, in2011 the office took around 2000 queriesfrom the media. Undoubtedly, there is agreat demand for psychological commenton issues relating to the activities ofcelebrities or issues of topical concern,such as obesity, work stress or childcare,for example. There is inevitably much lessdemand for information on cognitive orstatistical psychology! The PR teamtherefore have very little influence oneither the type of enquiry or the resultingoutput. Thus it can be hard to ensure thatthe full range of psychology isrepresented.

Where the PR team and Societymembers themselves have more influenceis over the press releases that areproduced. These include releases of newresearch from the Annual Conference andmember network conferences as well as a selection of research from the latest BPSpublished journals. The PR team workvery hard on behalf of the Society toproduce a stream of press releasesthroughout the year. For many years nowthey have worked closely with the BPSMedia and Press Committee, a team ofapproximately 12 psychologists whorepresent every branch of psychology and work in both academic and appliedsettings.

The committee role includes selectingappropriate presentations to be thesubject of press releases at the AnnualConference. In addition they review BPSjournals prior to publication to try toidentify research suitable for release.Together with members of the PR teamand the researchers themselves, they writepress releases which are always checkedfor accuracy with the original authors.The involvement of the qualified andexperienced psychologists on the Media

Bringing psychology to the public: Have your say Fiona Jones on planned changes to the Society’s media and press function

MEDIA PRIME CUTSWhat exactly is Susan Greenfield’s problem?

http://t.co/Cb6q7L4O http://t.co/GLo5iqe2John Bargh on priming, failures to replicate,

and the PLoS One publishing modelhttp://t.co/OtVFzDli (see ‘News’)

‘The emotional oracle effect’, from@jonahlehrer http://t.co/gabWpszs

Incompetent people lack the competence to recognise their incompetencehttp://t.co/b8N85Mx9

Which psychology study would you most liketo see replicated? http://t.co/xW8eVAUS



media

Through a series of bestselling books,Duke University behavioural economistDan Ariely and New Yorker writerMalcolm Gladwell have both madesignificant contributions to the public’sunderstanding of social science research.Last year, Arielyinterviewed Gladwell aspart of his ‘Arming theDonkeys’ podcast series,discussing the challenges oftranslating and representingacademic research for amass audience. The audioand a partial transcript havenow been made availablevia the ‘Journalist’sResource’ website (seetinyurl.com/arielygladwell).

Ariely asks Gladwellhow he picks his topics. ‘I see things and I collectthem, and I think theymight be interesting,’Gladwell replies. ‘But there’s no theory orsystem. I go to the library sometimes, andI just sort of roam around; or I go on thedatabases and I just type in things atrandom, or I get articles and read throughthe bibliography… But there’s no rhymeor reason. Someone will say something tome interesting, and I’ll follow up on it orsomething. To be a writer I think you’rekind of constitutionally disposed towardoptimism.’

How do you decide what’s central tothe story and what nuances to leave out,Ariely asks. It’s impossible ‘to reflect thefull complexity of the underlyingacademic data’, Gladwell admits. ‘So whatyou try and do is either represent the best-supported position, or make it clear thatwhat you’re arguing is an interpretation ofthe data and there might be others. Oryou use this in the service of a larger idea.’What about explaining variance: thatsomething is a really important effect, but that there’s still more unknown thanknown? According to Gladwell, ‘you canonly tell the story about the part that’sknown’, but thankfully readers are ‘a gooddeal more sophisticated than we givethem credit for. I don’t think anyone readsa book like yours or a book like mine or a book like Freakonomics and thinks thatwhat we’re talking about explainseverything.’

At this point, I admire Ariely’s honestyin saying: ‘But when you write or I write, I don’t feel that you or I make it explicitthat [we’re saying], “I’m going to tell youa story about the small part of the

picture.” … It’s very hard to tell a goodstory [that says], “I’ll tell you a story andat the end of the day I’ll tell you itexplains 20 per cent of…”’ Gladwellcounters that it’s OK ‘to tell stories theway we do’, because ‘the experience

doesn’t end on thefinal page. It isfeeding into anongoingconversation thatpeople have abouttheir lives.’

Sticking with thetheme of complexity,Ariely asks whetherthere are any topicsthat Gladwell hasdecided are just tooopaque to tackle.Gladwell’s answer is a fascinatingsummary of thechallenges of

communicating science to large anddiverse audiences:

This is one of the things thatacademics sometimes fail to graspabout popular writing. Sometimesthere are, I feel there is, some frictionbetween me and the academic world;not a lot, but there’s a little bitsometimes. Part of it is that I don’tthink they understand the limitationsof the form. There’s almost nooccasion when they are writing fortheir own audience where they can’ttackle a topic because of the difficultyexplaining it. Someone’s always goingto be able to follow, or some hugepercentage of their audience is alwaysgoing to be able to follow it… It’s asmall audience, but that’s the beautyof academic work.

Whereas I literally cannot discusssomething that my audience cannotunderstand. I can’t do it, I lose them,they’re gone… and then I’ve failed. Sothat limits the way in which I talkabout – not hugely or dangerously –but it limits. It means I will tend tostress some things sometimes morethan others. And that is, you know,this is – to use to use my favouritequotation from The Godfather – asHyman Roth said to Michael Corleone:“This is the business we’ve chosen.”Right? You know, you accept when youtake a position in a certain kind of afield… the limitations of it, and that’sone of them. JS


When Ariely met Gladwell

MEDIA PRIME CUTSRobin Murray on schizophrenia and his life’s

work http://t.co/3iLuoJc4 Psychologists, torture and confidentiality:

‘what price is too high to be able to lookyourself in the eye?’ http://t.co/Mbaoet8l

Why Adele makes us cry http://t.co/PSs3WinkSurvey on life crises from Greenwich’s

Oliver Robinson http://t.co/lXEP98jS ‘Female sexual dysfunction’ is about

relationship dissatisfactionhttp://t.co/o633cssY

Mainstream media and neonatal death,from @DrPetra http://t.co/vjxNfjdN

MEDIA CURIOSITIESSometimes, you just want people to shutthe hell up. Not my view, you understand:it’s that of two Japanese researchers whohave introduced a prototype for a‘SpeechJammer’ which can ‘disturb remotepeople’s speech without any physicaldiscomfort’.

In their paper (tinyurl.com/speechjam),Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada point tosituations of ‘unavoidability’ and ‘occupancy’where the usual rules of turn-taking inconversation and quiet in public places arebroken. Never fear, SpeechJammer is here!A direction-sensitive microphone andspeaker, combined with a distance sensorand some other technical gubbins, becomesa portable gun exploiting the principle ofdelayed auditory feedback (DAF). Playingsomeone’s voice back to them, with a slightdelay of around 200 milliseconds, can jam a person’s speech.

After the researchers’ paper went viral and they posted a video online showing the prototype in action (seetinyurl.com/6ljh3xw), Professor Sophie Scott from the UCL Institute of CognitiveNeuroscience was moved to write a blogpost on the topic (see tinyurl.com/7ujzw35).‘Need we worry about this? It’s clearly atleast technically feasible, but remember noteveryone is as affected by DAF as everyoneelse (and some people are dramaticallyimproved by the technique). There are DAFapps which you can use to find out whatDAF is like, if you want to know more abouthow you’d react. Also, consider othertechnology that can come to your aid – wearnoise cancelling headphones, and turn themon if you suspect long range DAF might beused on you.’

The arms race continues! JS

Malcolm Gladwell


experimental population comprises agroup of individuals. As psychology is thestudy of individual behaviour, this seemsa little strange to me. As neuropsychologyis predominantly the study of people’sacquired deficits after brain injury, itsimply makes more sense to me to treateach person individually. Theexperimental protocol remains the samewith each person, but it makes sense totalk to each participant about theirperceptions of the experiment within thecontext of their own lives. Interpretationof that context has led to some interestingexperimental findings.

For example, when one participant (I will call her Susie) who had beendiagnosed with Parkinson’s disease visitedmy lab, I noticed that she had nastyscrapes and dents along one side of hercar. When I asked if she had been in anaccident, she told me that it was becauseshe always hit the left gatepost when

pulling onto her drive. She continueddoing so even after the drive had beenwidened.

I found this really interesting becauseI had previously been involved with aquestionnaire study that revealed thatsome patients always bumped into thesame side of a doorway (Lee & Harris,2001). Susie’s problem sounded verysimilar (but much more expensive).When this was examined experimentally,we found that some people diagnosedwith Parkinson’s disease had a small butconsistent visual neglect of one side ofstimuli. Susie hit the gatepost because shewas not sure where it was. The answer toher problem was to put a mark on theinside of the windscreen thatcorresponded to a mark in the centre ofthe garage door. Susie stopped hitting thegatepost the moment she stoppedworrying where it was.

Doing experiments like this allows the researcher the opportunity to look at problems in the context of theparticipant’s life. We could have simplytested lots of Parkinsonian people with a paper and pencil test of neglect (such asline bisection), but that would not have

One of the reasons I enjoy being a neuropsychological researcher isthat it allows me the time to get to

know my participants. I mostly work withpeople who have been diagnosed withParkinson’s disease, a movement disorderprimarily affecting the elderly, and theytypically approach the lab with sometrepidation. The idea of a laboratory, notto mention the idea of a psychologist, canbe quite scary, especially when you are ill.I learned pretty early in my career that itwould make more sense to collect datafrom people who were relaxed, becausethen they would both understand and be engaged in the process of research.

Part of this process involves talking to the participant, not particularly aboutpsychology specifically but also abouttheir lives outside of my lab. It did nottake long for me to realise that a benefit ofthis would be that I could learn of specificproblems that would directly feed into myresearch. I might get ideas for futureexperiments, and I could help theparticipant too.

Of course, lab protocol exists for a reason. If you are doing cognitiveexperiments or psychophysics, it isimportant to ensure that each participant’slab experience is identical as far aspossible. This is important forneuropsychology as well, but we do notalways have to be quite so proscriptive,particularly when working with clinicalparticipants. Could other areas ofpsychology perhaps learn a thing or twofrom our approach?

Neuropsychology deals with the brain-damaged individual, whether that damageoccurs after stroke, a neurologicalcondition such as Parkinson’s disease, or traumatic brain injury. One of ourmethods is to do a single-case study,especially when that single case can tell ussomething interesting about the patient’scondition or rehabilitation or somethingabout the brain generally. Anothercommon method is to take a small,closely matched group of patients with a similar functional or anatomical deficitand compare them with a healthy controlgroup. Both methods can reveal a lotabout neural functions and also provideloci of interest for imaging investigations.

Yet neuropsychological case studiesfrequently get a bad press within widerpsychology. For example, cognitivescientists have told me that an in-depthstudy of one patient is not particularlyscientific. They argue that we cannotgeneralise to a wider population on thebasis of the performance of one person.Additionally, as comparative statistics incase studies (for example, comparing oneperson’s behaviour with a control patient)are not really useful or appropriate, it cansometimes be difficult to get such studiespublished in general psychologicaljournals. However, small group studieswith a clinical population emphasise theindividual differences between people in a way that is never made apparent withexperiments on a larger scale. In anattempt to achieve statistical significance,we can sometimes forget that our

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Barnes, J., Boubert, L., Harris, J. et al.(2003). Reality monitoring and visualhallucinations in Parkinson’s disease.Neuropsychologia, 41(5), 565–574.

Lee, A.C., Harris, J.P., Atkinson, E.A. &Fowler, M.S. (2001). Disruption ofestimation of body-scaled aperturewidth in Hemiparkinson’s disease.Neuropsychologia, 39, 1097–1104.

Marshall, J.C. & Halligan, P.W. (1988).Blindsight and insight in visuospatial

neglect. Nature, 336, 766–767.McNeil, J.E. & Warrington, E.K. (1993).

Prosopagnosia: A face-specificdisorder. Quarterly Journal ofExperimental Psychology Section A,46(1), 1–10.

Warrington, E.K. & James, M. (1967). An experimental investigation of facial recognition in patients withunilateral cerebral lesions. Cortex,3(3), 317–326.

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The person in psychological scienceAlison Lee, from her perspective in neuropsychology, argues that psychologistsneed to get to know their participants

“…we can sometimesforget that ourexperimentalpopulation comprisesa group of individuals”

I Alison Lee is a Senior Lecturer inPsychology at Bath Spa [email protected]

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revealed the implications ofthat neglect. I would arguethat working withparticipants as individualssimply offers richer data.

Talking to a participantcan also help illuminateotherwise hidden problems.For example, take thereticence of some of myParkinson’s disease groupto talk about theirsymptoms. One of mygroup, ‘Peter’, was veryrelieved when I asked him whether hehad ever experienced an hallucination asa part of his PD. He had, but had notmentioned this to anyone because he wasconcerned that the hallucinations were asymptom of dementia. He didn’t want tomention them to his neurologist in casehe confirmed that fear. PD hallucinationswere experienced by many patients in thelate 1990s as a side-effect of a particularmedication. If we had not routinely talkedto each volunteer about their personalexperience of PD, then Peter would havedone a lot more worrying. Hishallucination was a benign andcomforting one, of the weight and heat of his childhood dog sleeping beside him.He left us feeling a lot better, and lookingforward to his hallucination, even thoughI tried hard to persuade him to tell hisneurologist (see Barnes et al., 2003).

Not only can experiences or worriesbecome more readily explicable aftersimply talking them through; sometimesthese conversations give ideas for futureexperimentation as well. For instance,another questionnaire about akinesia inPD (also known as ‘freezing’; losing theability to move in particular settings, suchas on a zebra crossing) revealed thatmany respondents had tried and testedmethods to ‘unfreeze’ themselves. Forexample, one man mentally sang amarching song and managed to move onthe beat. Another respondent’s wife threwa piece of paper on the floor to act as atarget. Ultimately these responses gaverise to several specific rehabilitationstrategies that we could testexperimentally and report to peopleinvolved in PD rehabilitation.

I am obviously not the first person to do this. For example, studies such asMarshall and Halligan’s ‘burning house’study (1988) reported a single case thathelped our understanding of unilateralspatial neglect (USN). The patient,known as PS, was shown line-drawings of two houses, one on top of the other.One house had flames coming out of a window on the left. PS neglected the left-hand side of the world and so she

reported thatthe houseswere identical(as would betypical inUSN).However,when askedwhich one shepreferred, she

preferred theone not on firenine out of eleventimes, even though

she thought the task was a bit silly. Afterseeing the stimuli with the flames comingout of the right hand window, PSsuddenly saw the flames on the originalstimuli. Marshall and Halligan concludedthat the conscious perception of theflames showed that on some level PS hadattended to all of the stimuli and that thisperception had eventually filtered throughto consciousness. PS told us somethingabout USN (that it was a failure ofconscious perception) that had not beenunderstood before, and led ultimately to a better understanding of that condition.Simply showing a group of people withUSN similar pictures would haveconfirmed that they cannot see thingspresented on the left hand side of stimuli,but the single case investigation of PSrevealed something of great importance in the study of unilateral spatial neglect.

Another example is the study of theprosopagnosia patient WJ (e.g.Warrington & James, 1967).Prosopagnosia is a deficit affectingrecognition of previously familiar faceswhen presented visually. WJ eventuallybegan sheep farming as a hobby afterseveral strokes, and McNeil andWarrington (1993) showed that WJ wasbetter at recognising photos of his sheepthan familiar human faces. He alsoperformed much better than othersimilarly aged sheep farmers. WJ showedthat prosopagnosia affects human faces,whereas recognition of non-human facescan be preserved. It was suggested that WJcould learn to recognise the faces of hissheep on the basis of pattern recognition(the individual black and white shading oftheir faces). That he could not do so forhuman faces was an indication that humanface perception is different in some way,supporting other theorists’ view that faceswere special. The acquired ability of WJwhen seen in the context of his hobbyhelped us understand a facet of a complexhuman behaviour. If WJ had not decidedto acquire a flock of sheep and then talkabout this with the neuropsychologiststesting him, it would have taken a lotlonger to establish this theory.

Papers such as these really add fleshto what can be otherwise impenetrableneuropsychological problems. They alsohelp people like me teach and attractstudents to this particular branch of thediscipline. Describing the behaviour of an individual can offer greater insight to a problem than an averaged representationcan. For example, studying the memoryproblems of Henry Molaison (HM) orClive Wearing leads to a greaterunderstanding of the specific problems of different types of amnesia than readingdescriptions of amnesia in cognitivetextbooks ever could. Case studiesprovide a human face for psychologicaltheories. The heterogeneity of humanbehaviour becomes apparent in a way that large cognitive samples ordescriptions of neuropsychologicaldysfunction tend to mask.

A neuropsychological case studyallows investigation of an individual’s day-to-day living and therefore feeds both therehabilitation of a patient and theorygeneration that can be applicable to moregeneral psychology. More than this, youcan sometimes directly help people withcomplicated functional deficits instead ofmerely studying their behaviour.

Given how rewarding talking tosomeone about their experiences can be,for both participant and experimenter,why is it so rare in quantitativepsychology? To be clear, I am not talkingabout debriefing. I mean simply talking tothe participant about their life and theirexperience of your experiment. You findout about a patient’s unique problems andperspective only by asking them. Youcome to realise that the stuff ofpsychology is real lives, not data points,and these lives and our work aspsychologists should be locked in areciprocal relationship.

Fundamentally, psychology is ascience based on the observation ofbehaviour. Most psychological theoriesare generated on the basis of wanting tofind out how someone perceivessomething or why people act in a certainway in a particular situation. We are allindividuals and we each behaveuniquely – I would argue that it isimportant to remember that. I would like to hear more of the stories of thosewho have taken part in psychologicalresearch of all types: what did they bringto it, how were they affected by it, andhow did their personal take subsequentlychange the perspective of the researchers?It might be more scientific to collect huge piles of averaged data to test atheory, but I would argue that it is moreuseful and fun to work with one personat a time.


opinion

Susie hit the gatepost because shewas not sure where it was

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The aimWithout people, there would bevery little psychological research.Yet too often the individual isreduced to a data point, and weforget that the person has a voice,is changed by participation inpsychological research and has the potential to impact upon theprocess in return. In this series wehope to address that, by hearingthe viewpoints of those who haveconducted published psychologicalresearch, those who have takenpart in it and those who may putthose findings into practice.

The researchers

‘The study of caregivers has becomea well-established paradigm forassessing the psychophysiological

consequences of chronic stress and anumber of studies have observed greaterpsychological distress, dysregulatedendocrine activity and reduced immuneefficacy in elderly caregiver cohorts. Thestudy of parental caregivers of childrenhas, by comparison, been a relativelyunderstudied area. Parents of childrenwith autism face tremendous physical,financial, emotional and social pressuresand these can lead to prolonged activationof stress responses, which might placethem at greater risk of adverse healthoutcomes. The consequences of theseeffects are far-reaching, and can influencethe ability of the caregiver to provideconsistent, effective and sustainable carefor their child.

In our research, wefound that caregiversof children withautism reportedmarkedly greater levelsof depression, anxietyand perceived stressand greater incidencesof commonlyoccurring ailments,such as coughs, colds,headaches, etc.,compared with parentsof typically developingchildren. This may notsound too surprisingespecially given thatthe caregiver paradigmis founded on highlevels of distress incaregiver cohorts;however, caregivers also differed in levelsof biological parameters. In particular, theyhad higher levels of C-reactive protein(CRP) which is a marker of inflammation.Although the levels we observed wouldnot be considered clinically elevated, highlevels of CRP is a risk factor forcardiovascular-related diseases and has alsobeen linked to diabetes.

We also measured levels of socialsupport. Caregivers felt that they receivedless social support than parent controls, but,more interestingly, within the caregivercohort, greater perceived availability ofsocial support was related to reduceddistress, fewer health complaints and moreadaptive endocrine function. These resultssuggest that levels of social support maybuffer against the harmful effects of stress.

Our results provide further evidencethat stress can “get inside the body”through biological pathways and lead tonegative health outcomes; however, socialsupport may help to reduce its impact.Social support has been identified as apotential stress buffer in a variety of othercontexts; for example, men demonstratereduced stress responses when facing a stressor when their partner is present, and women who report greater levels ofsupport from their partner secrete greaterlevels of the hormone oxytocin – “the tendand befriend hormone”.

As for how our research could inform practice, the well-being of acaregiver goes hand in hand with qualityof life of the care recipient; therefore, byidentifying factors that might buffer theharmful effects of stress in the carer, wecan improve quality of life for the carerecipient. The fact that social support can be beneficial to carers may not benew to people who already deliver careand resources to the families of childrenwith autism; however, these findings

demonstrate itspotential bufferingeffect in terms ofhealth and markers of disease vulnerability.We would, therefore,hope that the findingscould spark thedevelopment ofinitiatives aimed atgreater utilisation ofsocial support, bothpractical andemotional, to carersand their families.

We’re always lookingto collaborate with otherareas within psychology.The development anddelivery of relevantinterventions that can

alleviate the burden associated with stressin caregivers would be the next logical stepin this programme and the findingsregarding social support provide a logicalarea for development. Health and clinicalpsychologists and others experienced inthe development of effective interventionswould, therefore, make a valuablecontribution to this next step.

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Lovell, B. & Wetherell, M.A. (2011). The cost ofcaregiving: Endocrine and immune implicationsin elderly and non elderly cohorts. Neuroscienceand Biobehavioural Review, 35(6), 1342–1352.

Lovell, B., Moss, M. & Wetherell, M.A. (2012). With alittle help from my friends: Psychological,endocrine and health corollaries of socialsupport in parental caregivers of children withautism or ADHD. Research in DevelopmentalDisabilities, 33, 682–687. Seetinyurl.com/walhfmf

Lovell, B., Moss, M. & Wetherell, M.A. (in press).The psychosocial, endocrine and immuneconsequences of caring for a child with autismor ADHD. Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Dura, J.R., Speicher, C.E.,Trask, J. & Glaser, R. (1991). Spousal caregiversof dementia victims: Longitudinal changes inimmunity and health. Psychosomatic Medicine,53, 345–362.

Gallagher, S., Phillips, A.A., Drayson, M.T. & Carroll,D. (2009). Parental caregivers of children withdevelopmental disabilities mount a poorantibody response to pneumococcalvaccination. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 23,338–346.

Vedhara, K., Cox, N.K.M., Wilcock, G.K. et al. (1999).Chronic stress in elderly carers of dementiapatients and antibody response to influenzavaccination. The Lancet, 353, 627–631.

We want to hear the stories of thosewho have taken part in publishedresearch. Contact the Associate Editor,Dr Catherine Loveday, [email protected].

Brian Lovell and Dr MarkWetherell, Stress Research Group,Northumbria University

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The cost of caregivingThe first of a new series focusing on the person in psychological research and practice

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viewpoints

The carer – Claire Sowerby‘Being responsible for a daughter with

autism is all-encompassing. It can be wonderful, because my child has such a unique perspective on life, is loyal, can behelpful and kind and in a lot of ways quitestraightforward. The hard part is otherpeople making judgements about me andmy child, because they do not understandher differences and think I can change her,or she can change in ways she cannot. Itmakes life very stressful, and my world hasshrunk, so that there are only a few peoplein it. The ones left are those who try tounderstand or are in the same position. Mydaughter has withdrawn socially outside ofschool. I now find it’s easier to “go with theflow” and withdraw with her, than hope togo and do things we used to do.

Having ASD means she will not follow a clear development towards independence,which parents of a non-disabled child planfor. Therefore my life will not follow thecycle others can expect. Because she is onthe autistic spectrum (rather than having aclearly defined label of autism) I have neverbeen entitled to any respite and do notexpect any future intervention or support in her future life plans. I have given up hopeof having a relationship. I cannot go outsocially (apart from when my child is atschool) or plan for a future with anyonewhen everything is so uncertain.

My daughter’s development is age-appropriate in some ways, for examplewanting to wear make up or watch “15”films, but then not in many other ways,such as not going out with peers, insteadbeing dependent on me for all her socialneeds and watching Teletubbies. I do notknow how independent my child will everbe and cannot make future plans in whichshe is not central to these. I don’t know ifshe will have a partner or family (she saysshe would love children). If she did have achild, would she be able to look after it?Will she be able to work? Go out without

being taken advantageof?

I am a qualified nursepractitioner but no longerwork. I could not workthe hours required in thistype of job or at that levelof responsibility now. Idid have other jobs inclerical/teaching supportassistant type work more recently, but havehad to finish all of those jobs due to lack ofchildcare, stress and lack of employerflexibility. My daughter was placed in aninappropriate school environment andbecame highly stressed, developed risk-taking behaviour and refused to go toschool. I spent three and a half yearswriting letters, keeping diaries, appealingagainst statements to get her moved, whichmeant that work was out of the question.Her non-autistic sister developed issuestoo, as we were living in a very volatilesituation, and this impacted on her mentalhealth.

There is and has been no childcareappropriate to the age and needs of mychild (who is now 15). She cannot be left on her own as she is too vulnerable. I havetried to share care with other parents in a similar position, but because autisticchildren are used to everyone in the housebending to their needs, they often do notlike someone else in the house trying to geton the computer or touching their things. Itis horrible being dependent on benefits. Itmakes me feel very vulnerable, particularlywhen there are to be cuts to benefits andthey have to be reapplied for over and overagain (e.g. disability benefit). Having to giveup so many jobs has knocked my confidenceand I hate being judged by society. I want towork but cannot leave my child alone anddo not know of any time in the future that I can. Financially things are difficult, forexample replacing broken electrical

equipment,providing luxuryitems, like holidays,etc.

Participating inthe research projectwith NorthumbriaUniversity was

nerve-racking when I first went there, but I

was put at ease by the staff. Everything wasexplained clearly and was fairly simple todo. I was disappointed more parents did notget involved, as I think this research isvaluable to us. Without evidence, how willour stress and the costs of that stress(financially, emotionally and socially) everbe recognised?

I was pleased to be provided with thefindings of the research, as I felt it validatedmy experiences. It helped me feel lessalone and inadequate, knowing otherparents were exhibiting similar stressreactions.

I would be interested to know of anyother relevant research that has been done,and would be happy to take part in otherresearch. The only intervention I have hadis when things have reached a crisis. Thiscan make you feel inadequate, when therest of the time you may have coped verywell under very difficult circumstances. It would be good if there was morepreventative type of help for parents, e.g. a supporter of some sort being availableonce a month/every few months to see andtalk to about all the issues dealt withsuccessfully (so you feel more empoweredand strengths are recognised) and thosethat are a worry, to prevent these issuesbecoming critical. A friend told me aboutemotionally focused therapy, which shefound helpful, and I think it would be a goodtechnique I could to use to reduce stresslevels. Also maybe I would benefit frombeing taught meditation.’

Conducting this research hasinevitably taught us a bit about what it’s like to look after someone. If you’re a parent, you’ll be very aware of the upsand downs of parenting and the benefitsof having good social support. What isstriking in our meetings is the consistentdelivery of care that these parents providetheir children, despite their extremelyhigh levels of psychological distress and a perceived unavailability of the social support that they think they need.’

The health professionals

What are the most frequent difficultiesor anxieties that carers talk to youabout?One of the major anxieties carers expressis the uncertainty around how their child’sdiagnosis of autism may affect their childin the future and what impact this willhave on their development. Associatedwith this are their anxieties around futureservice provision, managing transitions,

independent living and futureemployment prospects. Families will oftendescribe having anxieties in relation tomanaging certain behaviours without thishaving a detrimental impact on theirability to participate in social activities.Anxieties in relation to educationalprovision are often centred on how tocommunicate the diagnosis, how tonegotiate further support for their child


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viewpoints

and how to choose which educationalprovision will best support their child.

How do you feel about psychologistswanting to carry out research withpeople caring for a child with autism?Working in a Child and AdolescentMental Health Service it is important that we are providing a service that isevidence-based and that families feel wellsupported by. Conducting research withcarers can provide rich and detailedinformation based on real experiences,which is invaluable. This research canthen inform future policies, guidelinesand practice to ensure that evidence-based services are being provided. Theimportance of this is highlighted in theAutism NICE guidelines (2011), whichstate that treatment and care should takeinto account the preferences and needs ofboth the young person and their carers.Carrying out research with carers istherefore providing them with anopportunity to make their preferences and needs heard and for this to impact on service delivery.

What do you think of the recent findingsand can you envisage how this mighthelp to inform carers and those

supporting them?This research has provided carers with anopportunity to reflect on these findings,perhaps giving them permission toacknowledge and voice thoughts andfeelings that may have felt too difficult toacknowledge previously. Furthermore, byhighlighting the impact of caregiving itnormalises this experience as it is sharedby others insimilar situations.This research hasalso emphasisedto services thatthere needs to begreaterconsiderationgiven to the impact that caring can haveon an individual and that this should bediscussed openly with carers. Thisresearch further identifies a role forservices to spend time with carersidentifying social support and ensuringthat the treatment plan encompasses thecarer’s needs as well as the child’s.

Are there any other ways thepsychology profession could inform orsupport people caring for a child withautism?Following diagnosis, psychologists have

the important role of listening to andcontaining carers’ initial anxieties as wellas helping families to make sense of adiagnosis. Furthermore, they can makeparents aware of the impact thatcaregiving can have on their ownemotional well-being and encourage the use of social support and respite, and signpost them to other agencies.

Psychologists can play a keyrole in supporting carers indeveloping strategies formanaging difficulties,promoting skill learning and maximising the child’s

strengths. Psychologists can alsodevelop and deliver therapeutic and

psycho-educational groups about autism,comorbid mental health difficulties andbehavioural interventions. Theirinvolvement in planning services andorganising multi-agency pathways canensure that carers feel well supported bydifferent services. Furthermore, they canoffer teaching, training and supervision toprofessionals and services who work withcarers, ensuring that a high level ofsupport is being provided.

Dr Laura Rollisson and Dr Catherine Wright

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services

“Conducting research withcarers can provide rich anddetailed information”

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