innkblotz blog - Bryn Robinson, freelance writer

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Introspection on Sesame Street
2008-05-15 14:22:00
I found this little discussion on abnormality when looking for recent psychology news. In it, the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street * engages in a little introspection and questions his label of "monster". Why is he so "abnormal"? In one passage, he wonders: Me thinks me have serious problem. Me thinks me addicted. But since when it acceptable to call addict monster? It affliction. It disease. It burden. But does it make me monster?How can they be so callous? Me know there something wrong with me, but who in Sesame Street doesn't suffer from mental disease or psychological disorder? They don't call the vampire with math fetish monster, and me pretty sure he undead and drinks blood. No one calls Grover monster, despite frequent delusional episodes and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. And the obnoxious red Grover?oh, what his name??Elmo! Yes, Elmo live all day in imaginary world and no one call him monster. No, they think he cute. And Big Bird! Don't get me started on Big Bird! He u...
More About: Introspection

Different From Who?
2008-05-15 13:50:00
Class has now been underway for two weeks: a spring course on psychopathology, or "abnormal psychology" (as it used to be called). Before tackling the main mental disorders, we have been devoting our time to discussing preliminary definitions and details. The main question guiding the first three lectures is deceptively simple: what is abnormal? When is abnormal a problem, and when is it just "different"? It turns out that a judgment of abnormality is by no means black-and-white; instead, social and cultural influences play a heavy role in our views of abnormal behaviours. And you hoped that diagnosis and treatment was based on something more the whims of our society?At the end of the first class, I had the students define "abnormal". They had interesting definitions of "abnormal", using words like strange, weird, bizarre, inappropriate, attention-seeking, unusual and different to describe an abnormal behaviour. Or, they defined it as something "differing from the norm" - a popular ...

Well-Played...?
2008-05-13 00:47:00
As an adult who enjoys some apparently controversial video games (e.g., Grand Theft Auto series, Hitman), I have sometimes experienced a guilty conscience for enjoying them so much: don't these games create monsters out of children? Although I've always maintained that a chief part of the problem is parents letting their children play inappropriate games for their age, I've felt that I was part of a immoral minority. Thankfully, we have psychologists to set us straight! Sure, that was a bit tongue-in-cheek - but check out this award-winning study by Chris Whitehead from Sunderland University. Instead of blaming these games for instilling violence in children, he argues - and shows - that these games can promote pro-social behaviours and increased self-esteem and confidence: "A lot of research has shown a link between aggression and video games...I would argue that the main cause of this link is due to parents ignoring ratings and allowing their children to play games not suitable...

Hunting for Herons
2008-05-10 16:10:00
On the boardwalk at the Irving Nature Park, leading across a salt marshBlue heron finally comes out from tall grass for a photo - then eyes me suspiciously...I began Google searching my brain for "attack + heron + evil"

The Balancing Act
2008-05-08 02:19:00
First of all, it's National Mental Health Week, as sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The theme this year is 'Work/Life Balance - Make it Your Business', encouraging a healthy balance across the many roles that Canadians now hold (e.g., parent, child, employee, caregivers, basketball coach for small, hyper children). Our society coaxes and facilitates the 'multi-tasking' lifestyle; in fact, we feel inadequate if we cannot confess to juggling many hats. There's a difference between productivity and burnout, and none of us are truly capable of being superheros for extended periods of time. (Type 'A' personalities, such as graduate students in the throes of dissertation writing, often need to be reminded of the importance of balance.)Check out this video of 5 Microsoft employees discussing this very topic:OR, there is analogy by stick figures:

Flooding in New Brunswick
2008-05-05 23:05:00
Springtime in New Brunswick , especially along the St. John River, often includes some flooding as the snow and ice on the river melt. This year rivals records from the 1970's though, with many in the capital region of Fredericton looking for assistance in the past week. Downtown streets were submerged, and many of the farmlands lining the river have been quite damaged.In Saint John (an hour south of Fredericton), we haven't seen too much out of the ordinary. That was, of course, until the river up north started to follow its natural course and drain into the Bay of Fundy. Now, homes along the river are finding themselves in similar predicaments. Although the flood waters have not reached 8.2 m above sea level as in Fredericton, the river here meets the rising tides of the Bay of Fundy.We went out Sunday to take photos of the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club, which sits at a dead end at the bottom of Millidge Avenue (our street). First, check out this picture over at a local's Flickr...
More About: Flooding , New Brunswick

Throwing Little Albert Out With the Bathwater
2008-05-02 21:01:00
Whenever a person forms an opinion and makes it public, they open themselves up to comments and criticisms from the public. Being in graduate school, defending a thesis or an idea comes with the territory; same goes for anyone who writes and publishes it for all to read. It's a circle of opinionated life, though, as critics and observers then open themselves up to similar commentary. Case in point: recently I made it known that I published an article for the online magazine Inkling. I discussed one of psychology's famous studies, the Little Albert study by Watson and Rayner (admittedly, a piece of work that is both questionable ethically and scientifically). A few days after the article was posted, a comment appeared below it. Couched in positive comments was the following:...and such a story makes one wonder about the value of the discipline of  psychiatry...There are two things wrong with this statement:First, I wasn't discussing psychiatry (the medical treatment of the psyche)...

Inside Carly
2008-05-01 02:52:00
Simply put, this story fascinates me.Often, the word autism is associated with images of poor social skills, the need for a regimented schedule, and difficulties controlling behaviours that are counter-intuitive to complete social integration (i.e., acting out with tantrums, hitting and screaming). But Carly, a 13-year old autistic girl, is changing the way that we view the disorder. Through intensive behavioural therapy, she has been able to communicate with her family, friends and therapists. Although she is unable to physically speak, she is able to articulate pretty standard thoughts and feelings for a teenager. Her behaviours and lack of speech create that stereotypical image of "autism", but through her writings she demonstrates that she is, in a sense, locked behind the barrier of her overt behaviours. For example, when asked what other autistic kids could learn from her story:To tell you the truth I don't know I am a girl with autism that learned how to spell and is now ab...
More About: Inside

The Curative Power of a Hug...
2008-04-28 05:10:00
Research shows that cuddling with a mother's bare skin can have a wonderful effect on a premature infant's experience of pain. When a host of medical procedures are required to keep the tiny infants alive and well, feeling a physical connection with mother helps to reduce recovery time from the pain (as measured by physical indicators of heart rate, facial expressions, etc.). Interesting study, although in terms of attachment, this comes as no surprise. Babies look to the primary caregiver (even at a young age) for comfort, warmth and support. Physical interactions such as cuddling, holding, hugging, and so on, are necessary to create the emotional attachment between caregiver and infant. (Check out my earlier post on Harlow's monkey attachment research for evidence of this.) Although a baby doesn't sit and think, "I need my mom now! Hospitals scare me...", they do recognize and respond to soft, warm "objects". If anything, the effects found in this research are just as importan...
More About: Power

Digital Age Be Damned
2008-04-28 05:04:00
Professing undying love in the forest, the old-fashioned way.
More About: Digital , Digital Age

Yours Truly
2008-04-24 12:34:00
So, we've gone from piles of crispy, rotten snow, to tufts of green grass, pollen and...lightning. I was getting ready to post last night, when a decent lights and sounds show rolled into town. And being that neither Ryan or I have purchased surge protectors (naughty, naughty geeks), we pulled the plug on the operation (i.e., no blog post last night).While I ate my lunch and surfed the usual blog haunts, I came across a neat biographical post (over at Catatonic Kid) - basically, the type of meme/quiz that gets sent around via e-mail to friends and family. This particular quiz simply asked for eight random facts about you. After all, what makes us all really unique is that grab bag of random experiences and quirks, not the typical bland and biographical. What speaks more to personality: that some quiz says that I'm an extrovert (and then everyone conjures up the same list of associated characteristics, like "outgoing", "personable" or "friendly") - or the fact that I have worked as...

Inkling Magazine: Publication
2008-04-23 02:53:00
This time, I went on a hunt for the missing subject of a psychological experiment gone awry.Just got notice of another publication, entitled "Whatever Happened to Baby Albert?" in the online magazine Inkling. The tagline for the 'zine is "on the hunch that science rocks", and is intended to report the tangential side of science. In my case, every psychology student and their Pavlovian-conditioned dog knows about John Watson's behavioural experiments; specifically, the inducement of a rat phobia in an infant known as Albert B. Invariably, students are more interested in Little Albert's well-being post-research, rather than the impact of the experiment on psychological science.I loved the idea that a science magazine would educate as well as entertain, and definitelywanted to provide my perspectives. Take a read, and as always input is appreciated! The editors also provided links to suggested reads, which are well worth a browse.Of course, when you do read it you'll have noticed t...
More About: Magazine , Publication

Hooray for Books!
2008-04-22 00:54:00
No excuses - I'm simply an unabashed science geek. Even going away for a few days to Maine, I'm going to latch onto the opportunity to shop at a bookstore or science shop. From a toy store in Freeport that sold life-size brain models, to a super-mega-bookstore in Bangor, I was simply gleeful. Simply, it's just hard to tear myself away from my "roots". I didn't get the brain model, but I spent a lot of time in the psychology section of Borders.Check out the goodies I picked up:Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes): in the middle of reading this one, a diary-esque story about a mentally handicapped man who increases his IQ through an experimental surgery - and learns that the world he thought was friendly was instead lonely and cruel.Man's Search for Meaning (Victor E. Frankl): Have heard a lot about this in undergrad history of psychology. Frankl is a psychiatrist who discusses finding the meaning in life's ups and downs, speaking from personal experience as a prisoner of Auschwitz.
More About: Books

Creative Writing for Cookbooks
2008-04-18 12:46:00
Yes, this post is actually a writing post related to cookbooks. My mom has been working diligently on a family cookbook for months, and is now ready to have it published (going the self-publishing route for quality and ease of ordering/delivery to scattered relatives across the country). It's almost done except for this blank space at the front of the book, typically reserved for a foreward.Of course, I recognized an opportunity when one was presented. Instead of crafting a sappy and contrived ode to families, I decided to take a different approach altogether...what follows is my contribution to the "Ross Family Cookbook". I hope you enjoy my foray into the world of recipe writing.- - -The Ross Family Cookbook | Foreward by Bryn RobinsonThe foreward is meant to offer the reader a different perception of the book about to be read. But hell, this is a cookbook, not The Illiad, and since a) most people skip over this section of a book anyways, and b) I haven?t read this book at all, ...
More About: Creative , Writing , Creative Writing , Cookbooks

Saint's Rest Beach & Lower West SJ
2008-04-18 04:19:00
Lower West Side (Prince St.), from across the RiverThe road leading up from Saint's Rest Beach / Irving Nature ParkBroken fence surrounding an Irving tree farmSunset overlooking the Irving Nature Park & adjacent marshesLooking over to Saint's Rest Beach / Irving Nature Park
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Pick My Brain?
2008-04-16 20:54:00
What the heck? I'm not sure if I should take offense to people searching my brain or feel special.Apparently, this is a visual search engine: it provides search engine results, in the form of tiles/thumbnails of each web page that comes up.Strange. What's wrong with text?
More About: Brain , Pick

What It Feels Like For a Scientist
2008-04-16 14:12:00
There's a saying that doctors often make the worst patients. Perhaps their knowledge of the human body makes them skeptical of others' work, a "back-seat driver" when being a patient instead of the healer. However, in this case the doctor used her spiral downwards as a chance to truly understand the subject of her life's research: the brain and all of its' abilities.Another TED Talk (Technology, Entertainment, Design conference), this time presented by Jill Bolte Taylor from Harvard. As she experienced the symptoms of a hemorrhagic stroke, she began to realize first-hand the immense capacity of the human brain to think, act, feel and coordinate our bodies and our lives. She brings out a real human brain and basically offers a great explanation of how the two halves of our brain make a whole person. Great information for caregivers of stroke victims, but I think this video serves as a good teaching tool for students also.For a more local-to-Fogtown look at doctors-as-patients, ch...
More About: Scientist

A Bit Belated: Retrospective on the Rabbit Hole
2008-04-14 18:52:00
I've been so preoccupied lately that I forgot to make note of the 1 year anniversary of innkblotz - and it was on April Fool's Day, to boot! After taking a look at the first post here at this blog, I decided to reflect back on this past year. In the very first post, I talk about wandering down this rabbit hole to see what treasures would be unveiled. I never made any specific goals, because I was completely uncertain but open to any opportunities available. So, where did I find myself this past year - and where will things go for this next year?I have to say that I am pleased that I did get some freelance opportunities under my belt, although I wish I had attempted a few more. Given the intensity of my thesis proposal for most of this first year, though, I suppose I could forgive myself? Nonetheless, I managed to get mental health articles in a few online/print magazines, as well as developed volunteer opportunities with one mental health agency in the city. In the later part of t...
More About: Hole , Retrospective

The Brownies, The Paramedic and Lassie
2008-04-11 20:19:00
In another episode of "Interactions with Small Folks", I drove my sister to a local Brownies troop last night. She's doing her clinical work for paramedic school, and one of the requirements is a series of volunteer activities in the community that will raise awareness about her new profession. In this case, teaching young people about the paramedic's life. Incidentally, this is my other little sister's troop (who was more than excited to show off her big sisters). En route to the Fire Hall in the Middle of Nowhere: Me: "So, what do you have prepared for your talk? Notes?"T: *tapping her skull* "All up here."Me: ?! "Are you going to do a situation?"T: "Dude, don't worry, I've got it under control. You can be my patient."Me: !!When Brown Owl (the leader) asked her if she would be absorbing the entire 1.5 hours, I started to consider a religious consultation on T's behalf. Admittedly, it went well, since T is much better suited to that off-the-cuff style. The first half was a di...
More About: Lassie

Celebrity Status
2008-04-09 18:37:00
Every so often, I hear someone in the media claim that this generation is fascinated - to the point of fixation - of celebrity without cause. People nowadays are more intent with being famous for something that in previous years would barely merit a moment's breath at the water cooler. Reality TV has played a massive role in this: we know winners of past shows over winners of scientific or artistic awards, and being obnoxious or mindless has beaten out real talent and skills. Why is our generation hell-bent on being known for something, even if that something is really nothing at all?Today we're crossing philosophical and psychological borders. I frequent the blog 'Rethink', a philosophy PhD student down in the States who is also working on his dissertation. His post today ("Is it possible to be a small but influential blog?") really got me thinking, as would any good philosopher! The post discusses the idea of being a small blog with influence, with the early admission that he ...
More About: Celebrity , Status

Social Psych Picture Show
2008-04-07 14:04:00
Last week of classes! I wonder if someone has made a graph of the apparent phenomenon of spring fever hitting campus, where class attendance decreases exponentially as the temperature increases. With the sun out in full force and the weather guaranteed to hit double-digits, I may be talking to myself this lunch hour.Oh, well. At least I can teach you, faithful reader. Here's the videos I'll be showing in a few hours in class - just classic social psychology experiments. Two out of three would not likely pass present-day ethics review for the level of deception and potential psychological harm; in fact, I imagine there are still staunch critics of these babies! I'm sure we could debate their merits for some time - does the end justify the means and all that - but they also had immense benefits to our knowledge. Mainly, we know that good people are capable of doing very bad things.- - -Solomon Asch's Conformity Experiment: would you vote with the majority, even when the evidence t...
More About: Social , Show , Picture , Psych

Revolt in Romper Room
2008-04-04 14:53:00
I like relaying this story because the image still remains strong in my mind and makes you wonder what happened to "kids these days". Four years ago, I was asked to tutor a kindergarten class after school (yes, a kindergarten class). Two little boys attended, barely five years old: one guy who tried to shock me by stabbing his pencil into his hand, and another mischievous elf with frosted hair and a diamond stud. Although I tried to keep the topic onto reading about Bill and his dog Lad, they were more interested in describing in angered, vivid detail their strategies for beating on cops in Grand Theft Auto III. Apparently, the baseball bat was a preferred tool.I couldn't play that game for ages after that. How does a five-year-old child harbour so much anger that they are disturbingly gleeful about killing - even in a video game? Silently, I hoped that they learned to distinguish between fact and fantasy.Then I read about this story ("Third Graders Arrested in Plot to Stab Teacher...
More About: Room , Revolt

Bachelor in Meat Cookery (Minor in Soft Serve)
2008-04-03 02:16:00
Today, I got asked to give a workshop for incoming high school students in early May. Designed to promote student success, the university wants to boost the students' skills in a variety of areas. Although I haven't seen the schedule itself, I suspect that it centers around 'how to study better'; I have been asked to discuss techniques for improving memory. Deep down, though, there's another talk that I want to give:Make sure you know why you're here.I cannot begin to keep track of the number of students who seem uncertain of their goals past university, or unaware of the need to prepare for the real world. Countless people take a program, only to comment, "I dunno why I'm here. Mom and Dad are paying for it anyways." Even the ones who work to pay for school are similarly confused about the purpose, having been bred in high school to believe that university is a smart choice. Other alternatives are for the lesser ambitious - college, technical schools, or any applied training...
More About: Meat , Bachelor , Soft , Minor , Serve

More Joys in Education
2008-03-28 17:15:00
Overheard in class today:Me: Another form of behavioural therapy is aversion therapy. This uses principles of classical conditioning, pairing unpleasant stimuli with the undesired behaviour numerous times until the behaviour no longer exists. For example, with alcoholism, a drug is sometimes used in the client's favourite drink. The drug creates nausea and vomiting, and the client can learn to pair that feeling with alcohol...*show the following photo of the drug in question*Student #3: *snorts* I wonder if they use that to abuse ants.It's the end of the semester, and the Peanut Gallery is getting weak with their commentary.
More About: Education

Return from Easter Break
2008-03-26 11:53:00
Although the weatherman and his team of meteorologist marmots claim that we are now in the spring season, I find it hard to believe (something to do with the furious snow that just started outside the office window).For the Easter long weekend, we visited friends now living on the outskirts of Annapolis Royal, NS. (Although it seems that most of Nova Scotia is simply on the outskirts of Halifax.) We opted to drive there, having never seen the countryside - and we still never did, due to thick fog, no highway lights, and the odd downpour. This first picture was the sight outside their kitchen window upon awakening the next day. In the evenings, the gloomy weather gave way to a simple and beautiful scene of a rural community along a small highway. I can only imagine what the photos will look like when we revisit later in the year.The wonderful thing about a small community that we tend to lose in any sized city is just that: a sense of community. Saturday lunchtime, we piled ourselves...
More About: Break , Return

Hanging With My Peeps
2008-03-19 14:38:00
You can either construe this as overanalysis on the part of a consummate geek, but I hope you'll instead view this as the curious and light-hearted exploration of a holiday myth. In search of some brain-related news, my hunt then turned to the season at hand - springtime and Easter. It didn't take me long to try and blend mental matters with the festivities, and soon I found the following article on PsycInfo:What if Santa died? Childhood myths and development. Breen, Lynda; Psychiatric Bulletin, Vol 28(12), Dec 2004. pp. 455-456. "Damn academics," you're likely muttering at this point, "always spoiling good, wholesome fun like the Easter bunny and Santa Claus." True, this article and this blog post can run the risk of intellectualizing the myth too much, but I thought it was an interesting perspective and it got me thinking. In her article, Breen talks about the psychological utility of encouraging the Santa myth in children; namely, it fosters pro-social behaviours like sharing...

Express Yourself, Pt. II - Overseas Edition
2008-03-18 00:51:00
Continuing with the theme of expressing ourselves and using art as a medium for mental health, I've stumbled upon a few more places that blend psychology, self-help and art:My Happiness Exhibition - a gallery/auction in Adelaide, Australia, in which proceeds were donated to the Headroom project (a mental health initiative aimed at youth, not unlike MindYourMind). Variety of methods used and messages conveyed. It was done in Nov. 2007, but still worth a look.Big White Wall - a UK-based social networking site that blends elements of Facebook with PostSecret. Essentially, you can create little "brick" images to post on a giant virtual wall, permitting you to anonymously unburden yourselves from deep, dark secrets, regrets and hopes. The profile you create can reveal as much or as little information as you like.Much like PostSecret, though, some of the topics on these bricks may surprise or stun you...I'd post my thoughts on this particular project in more detail, but they're best su...
More About: Edition , Express , Overseas

In & Out of Focus
2008-03-18 00:24:00
Mission Church, MillidgevilleLooking up the street to the church
More About: Focus

Gerald: Disorganized Schizophrenia
2008-03-14 18:12:00
Perhaps one of the most prototypical examples of mental illness is schizophrenia. Yet even though most of us have heard of this disorder, there is also a great deal of misunderstanding about what this illness involves. A classic example (this actually being one relayed to me by a friend volunteering at the local hospital) is the patient raving about a celebrity (in this case, Princess Diana) and constructing/wearing some sort of hat to prevent alien rays from reading his mind (i.e., a tinfoil-covered colander). Sure, there are some individuals who experience schizophrenia in similar manners, but often times it is not a grandiose, comic-book-like presentation.The following videos are excellent: I showed them in class today to illustrate a) the variety of symptoms that affected folks can have, and b) how destructive it is to relationships with family and friends. You can really sense the pain everyone is experiencing, and it made me a little sad to see how much he wants help, and how...
More About: Schizophrenia

broken & pretty
2008-03-12 14:54:00
In class today, we're starting to discuss psychological disorders; specifically, the different anxiety and mood disorders that exist. Although it's an intro psych class (meaning I want to keep the level of detail pretty light for our purposes), I still struggle to find meaningful examples to which the students can relate. We all toss around the terms "manic" and "depressed" and even "OCD", without really having a true appreciation for what someone with bipolar or major depressive or anxiety disorders experience in daily life.My supervisor has this excellent video that shows both phases of bipolar disorder (the client actually switches from depression to full-blown mania within 24 hours); even though I'll show it again in my Psychopathology class this spring, it is still the best example that I can use to illustrate what affected individuals endure. Unfortunately, the video is VHS and I haven't found a digital copy to buy just yet. So, I can't direct you to this video in particu...
More About: Pretty , Broken