Rockwell's American Masculinity

The views of Americans on many topics are often shaped by the media as well as popular culture. However, one does not typically think of art as a form of expression that would greatly affect the ideas of many people, it is usually thought of more of an outlet for artists and a source of visual appeal for others. However, the article “Norman Rockwell and the Fashioning of the American Masculinity” suggests otherwise. This article obviously discusses the artist Norman Rockwell, famous for his drawings and paintings of (often stereotypical) American daily life and inspiring wartime figures such as Rosie the Riveter. In this article, it is argued that Norman Rockwell’s famous paintings not only were a portrayal of American life but served as a medium that would define the ideals of masculinity for American men. This idea is understandable and looking at Rockwell’s works in retrospect, the suggestion does make sense and the links between his drawings and what is considered manly are apparent.

The first picture discussed in this article is “Boy with Baby Carriage”, which shows a well dressed young boy with neatly combed hair pushing an elegant baby carriage. Also in the picture, two young boys in baseball uniforms are present and are laughing and jeering at the boy pushing the carriage. Though it may at first seem that the art is condemning the first two boys making fun of the other, upon further inspection, a more subtle message can be extracted. If any young boy were to look at this picture, they would want to think of themselves as one of the two baseball players who were having fun and partaking in more “manly” endeavors than the prissy-looking boy who pushes around a baby. This can lead the assumption that Rockwell thought boys were engaging in more appropriate activities for both their age and gender when they were playing sports rather than taking care of babies. By wearing this sophisticated garb and pushing a baby, the boy is alienated from the masculine activities and camaraderie.

Historically, Rockwell’s time of upbringing and life experiences may well have been significant factors in why he so strongly endorsed boys and men behaving in a masculine manner without trying to be overly refined or sophisticated. He was raised in a time where mothers were increasingly involved in influencing the opinions of their children and city life was taking away from the opportunity for many young boys to partake in a great deal of the masculine activities that were stereotypical for boys of that age. Norman Rockwell has a number of illustrations that depict activities such as fishing, weightlifting, playing outside, hunting, sports, or being outside with a dog. The urban population did not have the opportunity to experience these sorts of activities to the extent that others would so by keeping these images in his art, he maintained these pursuits as intrinsic to the masculinity of American boys.

The work of Norman Rockwell is prevalent in American culture and represented the American ideals in the mid 1900’s. The representation of males in his work was meant to define the American man, and so it is understandable that it would have significant influence in defining how boys should act. This masculine identity found in his paintings conveyed an image that displayed traits and activities common to the average American boy for generations.

Segal, Eric. "Norman Rockwell and the Fashioning of the American Masculinity" The Art Bulletin. Dec, 1996.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3046212?seq=1

Picture:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.charliego.nl/jes/norman/original/boy%2520with%2520baby%2520carriage-1916.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.charliego.nl/jes/norman/&usg=__xG8IA_h4jIV9QeQfhZrOaxD9Loc=&h=480&w=439&sz=46&hl=en&start=0&sig2=RWybmyf0i4joePl1pFf6MQ&zoom=1&tbnid=Xkd1G4ntSpHpIM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=107&ei=sTj1TJmmG8mr8Abksr24Bw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dboy%2Bwith%2Bbaby%2Bcarriage%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D594%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=453&oei=sTj1TJmmG8mr8Abksr24Bw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=81&ty=66

Turning a Life of Solitude Into a Masterpiece

Arguably one of the greatest artists the world has ever seen, Claude Monet painted various images that could be interpreted many different ways. A French impressionist painter during the Nineteenth century, Monet focused on nature and real life moments. Art history scholars have argued for years about the motivation and inspiration behind the works of Claude Monet. Steven Z. Levine tries to combine the life experiences of Monet and his family with psychoanalysis of the artist and other renowned painters of the era. Levine effectively argues that Monet’s mother, father, wife, and children all helped to influence his work, but the main force driving Monet was the id, or Monet himself.

Levine begins by giving the reader a brief history of the French artist Claude Monet. He tells of all the deaths and troubles in Monet’s family and how his father and mother each played an influential role in the artist’s life. Monet’s mother encouraged him to paint and although she died at a young age, her motivation stayed with him. Monet and his father turned out very similar to each other. His father married his thirty-year younger mistress after having a child out of wedlock after Monet’s mother passed away. Monet later also married his mistress when their child was at the age of three. Levine also discusses the deaths of Monet’s family members stating, “Who by then had buried his parents, two wives, a stepdaughter, and his first-born son, Echos all, sat in his garden and watched the reflections on the surface of his pond come and go.” This imagery of a man sitting alone on a riverbank perfectly captures the argument of Steven Levine. The author claims Monet, while having a family, lived a life of solitude that carried over into the inspiration of his work.

Levine mentions the psychological work of Sigmund Freud and his thoughts of Leonardo de Vinci in the lines, “Without directly speaking of transference or countertransference in 1910, the fundamentally tritemporal modalities of analysis with which he was much concerned in his technical papers at just this time and in which present narration, past retrospection, and the radical futurity of the wish are unconsciously and intersubjectively mobilized.” Levine compares Freud’s admiration of da Vinci to his love for Monet. He also uses the words of Freud to explain to the reader how the events in Monet’s life unconsciously found their way into Monet’s paintings just as those of da Vinci.

Monet lost many members of his family starting at an early age. He ended his life alone after essentially living in solitude. These experiences appeared in the beautiful paintings of Monet. Although the images painted do invoke feelings of serenity and bliss, they also convey a feeling of solitude, as if one stands alone in nature. Levine argues Monet painted these images not for his mother, father, children, or spouses and mistresses, but rather for himself. He found art as a means of escaping and channeling his life alone into something grand.




Levine, Steven Z. "Virtual Narcissus: On the Mirror Stage with Monet, Lacan, and Me." http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_imago/v053/53.1levine.html

Picture: http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Claude_Monet/water_lilies.jpeg

El Greco: A Painter Ahead of His Time

Do you have a favorite artist? What’s his best painting? Do most people know about him or her? Well, one of my favorite artists is El Greco. In the article titled, El Greco, by Fernando Marias found in Oxford Art Online, not only do you learn about El Greco’s life and accomplishments, but you also learn about different opinions concerning El Greco’s work and reasons for doing what he did. The author outlines several old theories pertaining to El Greco that have been disproved and then gives us a new argument that is still going on today. This argument is mainly about whether El Greco’s works were influenced by his Grecian heritage or his living in Spain. Both sides have strong opinions and can give somewhat good evidence towards their cause; however it will be up to you to decide which side you believe. I know that this may not sound very important in the scheme of things, but in college, you will encounter many arguments, and you will need to make a decision about which side you believe. Doing this with small arguments that don’t seem important to you now can help you be able to make bigger decisions in the future.

So, first of all, the article by Fernando Marias tells us about El Greco’s life, and in order to decide whether his Grecian heritage or his living in Spain influenced his painting more, you need to know about El Greco’s life. He was born in 1541 in Crete, an island that is part of Greece, and stayed there until 1566. It is not known who taught El Greco to paint; however, he was a master artist by 1563. His paintings that are assumed to be from his time in Greece are St Luke Painting the Virgin and Dormition of the Virgin. These are thought to be mostly of the Post-Byzantine style with some Western influence. Ok, so what is Post-Byzantine style? It is a style where holy icons of Christian and Catholic faith are painted. This was extremely common in Crete. El Greco painted several other paintings during this time, but it is unknown whether or not they were painted in Crete or during his short time in spent in Venice.

In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome, where he lived until 1577. Now, you may be wondering why he spent such a short time there. It’s basically because El Greco was extremely critical of the paintings of his fellow artists. These criticisms included Michaelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel. He criticized both Michaelangelo and Raphael for their limits as “colourists, their rejection of the direct imitation of nature and their reverence for the Antique.” El Greco considered himself to be a “colourist” which means that he used intense colors in his paintings to make them more dynamic. In his opinion, Raphael and Michaelangelo’s paintings were not very dynamic. Because of his love and use of color, El Greco would become a famous painter in Spain; however, he eventually had to leave Rome mainly because of his criticisms of Michaelangelo. He went to Spain in 1577 and resided in Toledo until his death in 1541. In Spain, he received many public and private commissions, meaning that he was hired by different people to paint specific things. El Greco painted religious paintings, portraits, and a few landscapes, such as View of Toledo, that led to his fame and demand in Spain. Not only did El Greco paint however; he also designed several sculptures and architectural decorations. Despite his extensive accomplishments during this time, there is no evidence that he had a large workshop in which to produce his works.

Well, now that you know about his life, we can talk about what people thought about him during his time and what they think of him now. During his time, El Greco was considered to be an Italian, a philosopher who often made observations about the world, and a painter who strove to be original. People thought that his paintings combined high qualities of art with his contempt for “the norms of decorum and religious devotion expected of painting.” This means that his paintings had qualities of the high style of the 17th century,but that he refused to bend to the rules that painters were expected to follow. In the 18th century, this combination was thought to be caused by El Greco’s madness. In the 19th century, it was suggested that his paintings were from an unhealthy imagination. Obviously, his style of painting was not well received by the majority of people after his death. Some people in the 20th century even said that his paintings were a result of astigmatism or that he had a problem with his eyes. Finally in Spain, El Greco’s style in painting was recognized as something interesting and as the style preceding that of Velasquez, a famous Spanish painter. This opinion of El Greco caused the argument of whether he was a Spanish or Greek painter because those claiming that he was influenced the most by Spanish painters claimed that he was a Spanish painter as well, whereas the Greeks believed that he was most influenced by his time in Greece and by the painters in that area.

In the opinions of several historians, his paintings tie in with the Counter Reformation, a period of Catholic revival, in Spain, and therefore he is considered to be a Spanish painter; however, in others’ opinions, he is considered to be a Greek painter because of the Byzantine elements found in his paintings. Several historians believe that the Italian influences and El Greco’s ideology make it so that his work can be linked to the Hispanic interpretations of the philosopher Erasmus, while some believe that this links him to the works and ideas of the Greek tradition. This argument actually caused another argument to be formed. On the one hand, some historians believe that El Greco was deeply rooted in the Spanish Counter Reformation and in his faith. This is said to be seen through the inspiration that his religious paintings give to those viewing them. On the other hand, in the opinion of Marias,judging from El Greco’s writings, he was just a philosopher who was detached from all the religious happenings of his day and who only concerned himself with artistic and intellectual issues. Obviously both sides of each argument have their opinions for a certain reason. The problem comes when you must decide which side you agree with.

In conclusion, El Greco’s reason for painting the way he did is not really known although there are two major opinions about this issue. Also, he is considered to be both a Spanish and Greek painter. In my opinion, it seems that his time in Spain would have had more influence on his painting style because of the amount of time he spent there, however, I am not an art critic so I will ultimately leave that decision up to you. Remember, this argument may not be important to you, but it is always good to know what is going on in our world and to know how to make a decision in an argument that may seem insignificant but could have a great impact on the world. I hope this blog has taught you something about El Greco and has helped you practice making decisions. Have a great day and don’t forget that every decision matters!

Marias, Fernando. Greco, El. Oxford University Press. 26 May 2010.
http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T034199?q=El+Greco&hbutton_search.x=0&hbutton_search.y=0&hbutton_search=search&source=oao_gao&source=oao

Website for Picture:
inillotempore.com

Of Art and Politics: Picasso's Concern

You probably already know to expect the unexpected when it comes new experiences in college, such as things from receiving you first B (gasp!) or hearing UNC’s mysterious Arboretum whistler, but surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) college also gives you the tools to view things in a different way. Whether college gives you better information to make informed decisions or to present an irrefutable argument, it will help you to better see the world and be more flexible (or steadfast) in your opinions. In the humanities, this also happens through the use of opinions and supporting facts. Such as in an article written by Patricia Leighten in the March 2009 edition of The Art Bulletin, in which she argues that Picasso took a more active role in the politics of his time than other art historians believed.

Most of the information known about Pablo Picasso, focuses mainly on his creative genius (or lack thereof) when it came to his innovative style of art, which varied from his Blue Period, in which he painted somber paintings in shades of blue, to his Cubist Period, where he deconstructed a subject's form and represented it in cubes, and everything in between. When discussing his life or judging Picasso's effect on his society, he is seen as a self-absorbed artist who was too concerned to notice what was going on outside of his paintings until civil war occurred in his own country, Spain. Often critics judge Picasso harshly and relegate him to some of the more common stereotypes given to artists. He is seen as "the ivory-tower artist so heroically self-absorbed as to be indifferent to political events; of the egomaniacal coward, who feared to save his friend Max Jacob's life." However, in "Response: Artists in Times of War," Patricia Leighten poses and adequately addresses the question: "how [could] a figure widely considered to be the most significant artist of the twentieth century simultaneously have come to be construed as so disengaged from his society as to be understandable only in terms of his emotional life?" In order to convince the reader of her thesis, Leighten makes use of first-hand accounts and a critical analysis of Picasso's work.

To establish Picasso's acute awareness of both himself and others, Leighten mainly uses quotes from Picasso during interviews, and also quotes how Picasso’s friends described him. The first quote that the author uses from Picasso, gives the reader a clear understanding of the role that Picasso thought both he and his paintings played in society, in which he says, "...these years of terrible oppression have demonstrated to me that I must fight with not only my art, but my whole self." This also explains the obligation that Picasso felt to show a strong front of support for what he believed. The author explains that Picasso clearly did not think of art as merely decoration, but as a way to show the human condition and moral principles. Picasso took pains to make sure that his work was significant and that it would be remembered not only for its beauty but also for its message. Picasso's political thought can be seen throughout each metamorphosis of his style from his Blue Period to his Cubist Period, and even in his collage pieces, which to most will always seem to have an air of disorganization. However, even they contained newspaper clippings that showcased his disapproval of the war.

The author analyzes two key and well-known pieces of Picasso's works to support her opinion that they were heavily influenced by the political instability surrounding Picasso. The author specifically references the paintings "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" and "Guernica," which are fitting choices because they concisely show Picasso's awareness both inside of Spain ("Guernica") and outside of Spain ("Les Demoiselles d'Avignon"). During his Africa period, in which he painted "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," Picasso focused on painting "social outcasts" and painted prostitutes that represented a criticism of the economy that allowed Africa to both be exploited and to exploit itself. When he was painting "Guernica" Picasso makes a statement to the press in which he said, “in all my recent works of art, I clearly express my abhorrence of the military caste which has sunk Spain in an ocean of pain and death."

In conclusion, in Pablo Picasso's case his art was clearly a product of both his personal experiences and political experiences. Leighten sufficiently defends her opinion, in her use of critical analysis and direct quotes from Picasso himself. I think that in general people, both critics or otherwise, assume that painters paint solely to please themselves, and therefore feel no obligation towards anything outside of their own artistic demands. However, a majority of painters have something to say with their works, whether profound or even comical, and feel an obligation or responsibility to their audience to force society to reevaluate and change. Pablo Picasso was clearly one of the more well-known artists who worked to affect a change that he believed in.

Leighten, Patricia, Response: Artists in Time of War, The Art Bulletin, March 2009, 91.1, http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e06bc114cd79d59968a7de4a8eb8949e474d62401c270fbb9c11f75006976da20&fmt=P

Eating Healthy is Harder Than it Looks!

My Days off Facebook - Experiment Results

Sleep Experiment Results

Do Distractions Really Work as Rewards?

What would you ever do without Facebook?

Tick! Tick! Tick!, Are You Focused?

Eating Healthy

What's Your Distraction?

Sleep Experiment

Are You Under the Influence?

“Fun without challenge, without inner satisfaction, often comes from surrogate motivators influencing one's actions and perceptions. More often than not, something like this is considered "fun" because it is a lack of "pain", be it social, physical, or psychological pain. For example, if you are programmed with social expectations that drinking and partying are key steps in securing one's self-worth, and that not having a bar life makes one lame and unaccepted, then one can squander away much of life in a drunken stupor, blissfully thinking all is fun with this programmed lifestyle” Montalk. It’s no secret that drinking and driving is the number one cause of death for teenagers in the United States. That’s because alcohol has damaging effects on the brain. It causes impaired memory, blurred vision, slowed reaction time, blackout and memory lapses. These side effects greatly affect how much a person is alert and their driving ability. Researchers conducted an experiment to get the reaction of young adults and teenagers on the issue of drunk-driving and driving while under the influence of cannabis or marijuana, a new trend that according to researchers increases the risk of fatal car accidents. By obtaining these perceptions and reactions, researchers hoped to better understand the trend of driving under the influence of cannabis and increase the awareness of the potential risks it poses for young adults.

To begin the experiment, researchers used 5 different groups of 29 participants ranging from age 16 to 24 from England and Wales. They focused on this specific age group because it was estimated that 50 percent of the people in the age group had tried cannabis, and the number of them that were in fatal car accidents and tested positive for cannabis increased four times between the 1980s and 1990s. 22 of the participants were males and the rest were females. The fact that there were more males than females could have affected the results of the experiment. Maybe if there were more females in the group, the perception about driving under the influence of cannabis or alcohol might have differed slightly. Furthermore, the majority of the participants were in college while the others had jobs. A research method the researchers used was that they asked the participants to give an account of their peers’ experience with driving under the influence instead of asking for personal stories. Using this method would ensure a more accurate data.

When asked about the perceived prevalence of drunk-driving, the groups had a mutual agreement which was that the act was antisocial and wasn’t something they thought others would participate in because of the increased risk of death. They stated that they didn’t drink and drive and their friends didn’t either. In addition, the participants described alternative ways of getting transportation if they were to drink. Some said they would take a taxi and others said they would alternate between a friend that stays sober and drives. When the group members were asked about the issue of drunk-driving as it pertained to the law, most of them responded that driving while drunk was a reckless action because it put the drivers’ life in danger as well as others. The penalties were also a cause for alarm. If caught drinking and driving, the person’s license would be revoked and the high insurance would make it difficult for them to buy another car. In the United States, teenagers value the ability to have their own car and drive. If the law, in regard to drinking and driving was as strict as the law in England and Wales, maybe the number of teenagers in fatal car accidents would decrease. It’s also surprising how everyone agreed that drinking and driving was a dumb thing to do because in the United States, I’m sure every teenager knows not to drink and drive but yet it happens all the time. This might be the case because there is less awareness about drinking and driving. Perhaps implementing an awareness program starting from junior high would make a difference.

The participants also shared their thoughts on the use of cannabis. Again, there was a mutual agreement that it was very common for young people to use cannabis and drive. They believed that it was alright as long as a person didn’t consume too much. Some thought that taking cannabis actually made a person more relaxed when they drove. The groups reported that their peers living at home were more likely to smoke a large amount and then drive because they had no private area at home to smoke. Unlike drinking and driving, the participants said that police rarely cracked down on drivers who’d been smoking because they would have to take a blood or urine sample. All of the participants thought that there was a minimal risk concerning smoking cannabis and getting caught. To them it was more acceptable than drinking and driving. It’s possible that the group members or young adults associated cannabis with less risk because it hasn’t created a serious concern like drunk-driving. Although there seems to be a correlation with cannabis and car accidents, they feel as if there is no concrete evidence to convince them that smoking cannabis and driving is bad or could lead to a fatal car accident.


Danton, Kathy, Misselke Lousie, Bacon Rob, John Done.“Attitudes of Young People towards driving after smoking cannabis or after drinking alcohol” .Health Education Journal 2003 62:50
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fhej.sagepub.com%2Fcontent%2F62%2F1%2F50.full.pdf%2Bhtml
Montalk http://www.randomterrain.com/favorite-quotes-alcohol.html
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.talesfromtheotherside.com/images/ciggarettes1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.talesfromth
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/family-guy-4-big.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/07/07/connecticut-attorney-general-esrb-under-influence-regarding-alcohol-use-games&usg

Breaking that Nasty Habit of Nail Biting

 

As a little child my mother always scolded me for biting my nails. To this day I continue to disobey this command given to me years ago. She always claimed that the underside of your fingernail is one of the dirtiest parts of your body according to a study she did while in college. I didn’t care I continued to do like thousands of other people whether I am nervous or stressed. Brad A. Dufrene, T. Steuart Watson, and Jennifer S. Kazmerski decided to answer the question of what led people to bite their nails and how to modify that behavior. Psychological analysis led the three researchers to find that leaving a twenty four year old graduate student alone most susceptible to biting her nails.

Before conducting the actual experiment, the psychologists were required to first develop different conditions to apply to the patient. After conducting the first round of experimentation, they then conducted a second follow up experiment of implementing the conditions yet again. The conditions included simple conversation unrelated to nail biting, a therapist commenting on nail biting, being alone, watching television alone, being alone while rating your nail biting behavior, some sort of demand with escape, and a demand without an escape. During the study a therapist would state something to the patient about nail biting whenever the behavior occurred, attempting to make the patient aware and correct the behavior.

The study led the psychologists to believe that the alone condition led to the most occurrences of the nail biting behavior such as watching television alone, being alone, or even filling out paperwork alone. The presence of another person in the room allowed the patient to be reminded when she went to bite her nails, causing the patient to eventually realize when she exhibits the behavior and stop herself before. The absence of a second person in the room forced the participant to focus on a specific task at hand, devoting the majority of her attention to the task and not on nail biting.

In order to measure the behavior the psychologists examined the length of the fingernail in centimeters in order to see if the treatment conditions worked. They defined nail biting for the experiment as “any digit crossing the plane of the participant’s lips.” Although the experiment led to results that show one bites his or her nails when left alone, the experiment only focused on one participant and the results cannot be applied to all situations. It does, however, follow previous data from past experiments. We must take the results at face value and understand that each person has different stimuli that cause them to bite his or her nails.

Brad A. Dufrene, T. Steuart Watson and Jennifer S. Kazmerski Behav Modif 2008 32: 913 originally published online 3 June 2008. http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/32/6/913.full.pdf+html

Picture from: http://www.toddlers-are-fun.com/toddler-nail-biting.html

How Do You See Yourself?

Why is weight so important in our society? Is your weight one of your top concerns? Well, if it is, how do you deal with your weight? Do you get depressed about it or do you accept the way you are? Surprisingly your reaction to criticism about weight, all depends on one aspect of your psyche. In a new experiment made by a group of psychologists, it was shown that something called psychological flexibility effects your reactions to criticism and is a major cause of negative reactions related to eating disorders. I know that once again you want to know why this should matter to you. Well, most of you are close to the age of the undergraduates who were surveyed in this experiment; therefore, many of your reactions will be similar to theirs. Hopefully this post will help you identify what kind of psychological flexibility you have so that maybe you can learn to react to criticism in a better way. If you’re still wondering why this matters, just think about it. I’m sure that at one time or another you have thought negatively about your body. Everyone does so you’re definitely not alone. Maybe this article can help you respond to those thoughts in a way that will be more beneficial than harmful.

So, with that long winded introduction, I am going to explain to you exactly what this experiment is all about. Basically, this experiment wanted to see how psychological flexibility effected negative psychological outcomes and whether it effected them more than just disordered eating-related cognition. Ok, so obviously we need a vocabulary lesson right now. I’m pretty sure that, unless you’re a genius, you don’t know all those words off the top of your head. Anyways, psychological flexibility is how you react to thoughts you have whether they are negative or positive. If you have high psychological flexibility, you will react to negative thoughts by accepting them as just thoughts and not letting them effect your way of life; however, if you have low flexibility, you will react to these thoughts by letting them effect how you live, such as not going to a party or the pool because you think that you are too fat or too ugly. Now, disordered eating-related cognition sounds complicated, right, but they’re just eating disorders. I think that’s all I need to explain for right now.

Now that we understand what the experiment is about, let’s talk about what they actually did in the experiment and who participated. The psychologists surveyed college students at a 4-year university in Georgia. The students filled out four different surveys each having to do with a certain aspect of the experiment. There was one relating to psychological flexibility and how they reacted in different situations, and another for disordered eating-related cognitions. Each area was covered by a particular survey.

So, you know how they conducted the experiment and what the experiment was about, but you don’t know what the results were. Basically, the results were that psychological flexibility effects negative psychological outcomes or thoughts more than disordered eating-related cognitions, but it is even more effective when it is combined with the disordered eating-related cognitions. It was also found to be true that low psychological flexibility did cause negative psychological outcomes as well as stress in relationships with others. That means that our reactions to any situation are effected by our mind set. If we don’t let negative thoughts bother us we”ll be fine, but if we let them get to us, we will have a negative reaction, such as in disordered eating-related cognitions or stress in relationships with other people.

Although we know pretty much everything about this experiment, we don’t know why this experiment needed to be done. The experiment was addressing the discussion about how mental health is related to psychological flexibility; how you react in stressful situations in your relationships with others; and disordered eating-related cognitions. All of these had their own separate studies, but this experiment wanted to combine them all and see how they are were related to each other. How you react in stressful situations was found to be directly related to whether or not you had disordered eating-related cognitions. Psychological flexibility was found to be indirectly related to both of these areas.

Let’s remember what we’ve learned. Basically, psychological flexibility is something that effects your entire life especially if you have an eating disorder. It is related to all parts of the study in a indirect or negative way. This is important because you need to know just how effective your reactions to negative thoughts are. If you are one of those who lets negative thoughts effect how you live your life, take a step back and realize that you don’t need to let them control you. Everyone is unique so there is no need to feel like you need to be a certain way in order to fit in. I hope this has given you some insight into how your mind works and has encouraged some of you to think about your reactions the next time you have a negative thought. Have a wonderful day and enjoy being yourself! :)

Akihiko Masuda, Matthew Price, Page L. Anderson and Johanna W. Wendell
“Disordered Eating-Related Cognition and Psychological Flexibility as Predictors of Psychological Health Among College Students.” Behav Modif 2010 34: 3 http://bmo.sagepub.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/content/34/1/3.full.pdf+html

Website for photograph
http://www.thewrap.com/television/column-post/e-enters-eating-disorder-business-16756

Peer Motivation

Do people exhibit stronger performance in daily tasks when their progress is posted publicly? According to the article “The Additive Impact of Group and Individual Publicly Displayed Feedback: Examining Individual Response Patterns and Response Generalization in a Safe-Driving Occupational Intervention” in the journal Behavior Modification, people will be more successful in accomplishing tasks and routines when their performance statistics are put on public display. By monitoring turn signal use of pizza deliverers, the experiment examined how pizza drivers would respond to feedback about the amount that they used their turn signal. In this particular scenario, feedback was first posted for the group as a whole and then for individual drivers to see what difference would be made. Unsurprisingly, this experiment resulted in an increase in turn signal use for the pizza delivery drivers, showing that critical feedback increases performance.

In this Behavior Modification experiment, five pizza delivery stores were used to monitor the drivers’ turn signal usage The first two stores, called A and B did receive feedback but were not told of their being monitored from buildings and other outposts for data collectors. The other three pizza restaurants, called C, D, and E, were used as controls, where the drivers did not receive any feedback about their turn signal use but were monitored as well for the experiment. The control group was used to monitor any change in the driving habits of the drivers due to local safe driving campaigns or company policies.

To begin the experiment, a brief lecture was given on the safe driving benefits of using turn signals and then the delivery group voted on a goal to achieve for turn signal use over the following weeks. For the next four weeks, the driver group’s mean turn signal use was openly posted on a graph. For group A, the participants’ turn signal use increased by at least 12% over the time when the group’s progress was monitored and an additional 18% when individual progress was monitored. For group B, the participants’ turn signal use increased by at least 21% over the time when the group’s progress was monitored and an additional 27% when individual progress was monitored. These values suggest that individuals will positively respond to feedback about their performance in trying to reach a goal, reacting well to group feedback but most strongly to individual feedback.

Though the results from this experiment are not necessarily surprising, its results are useful and applicable in everyday activities such as jobs, school, or sports. Being in classes where class averages for tests or even for the semester is helpful to me without question because it helps me to be able to see how I’m doing in comparison to those around me. If I am doing much better, than I know the work is paying off and it helps me stick with it. On the other hand, If I am behind everyone, my motivation to step it up increases and I am able to perform better. As high school students, it will be easier for you to tell how others in your class are faring since you know many and the class sizes are smaller. I would highly encourage you to use this to your advantage and observe both the successes and failures of others to motivate yourself to achieve the highest degree of scholarship or athletic achievement you can.

Photo: kevinzhengli on flickr.com

Timothy D. Ludwig, E. Scott Geller and Steven W. Clarke. "The Additive Impact of Group and Individual Publicly Displayed Feedback: Examining Individual Response Patterns and Response Generalization in a Safe-Driving Occupational Intervention”. Behavior Modification, September 2010. 34.5, http://bmo.sagepub.com/search/results?fulltext=The+Additive+Impact+of+Group+and+Individual+Publicly&x=0&y=0&submit=yes&journal_set=spbmo&src=selected&andorexactfulltext=and

Eating Disorders: More Than Just a Battle with Food

"What I wouldn't do to be Alice climbing through the looking glass, taking one of those pills that makes you small, so small. What I wouldn't do to be less,” says Elizabeth Wurtzel in "Prozac Nation," her memoir about the struggles of depression. As hard as it may seem to understand what causes thoughts like these to latch on and become all-consuming for some people and fleeting fancy for others, a study presented in the January 2010 edition of the journal Behavior Modification tries to understand what causes these thoughts to manifest as detrimental behaviors. As irrelevant as this study may seem to your life right now, it gives a broader idea of what you may face in college. Everything doesn’t always revolve around getting good grades, sometimes it is necessary to focus on your mental and physical in order to better navigate through "the real world," as adults always love to say. This study provides useful information in an objective way by providing background information, providing steps and rationale for methods, and discussing the experiment's shortcomings and implications. Whether a reader is suffering from an eating disorder or not, this study reveals some of the motivations behind eating disorders.

This study gives background information about how the researchers hypothesize that a combination of both psychological flexibility and societal pressures can cause eating disorders to develop. Psychological flexibility is basically a way to objectify your thoughts about an event or even yourself without allowing that thought, negative or positive, to direct the way you behave. A weak or strong psychological flexibility can determine whether a passing thought or a well-aimed insult results in an obsessive behavior, like anorexia or bulimia nervosa. The study explains that society leads to an unhealthy obsession with an "ideal weight and shape as a means of achieving self-acceptance, self-control over diet and weight, and acceptance by others." This type of pressure from society or even just college students, (yes, peer pressure still exists, even in college), can lead to eating disorders that can be linked with distress and functional impairment. As such, this article seeks to prove how the relationship between eating disorders and poor psychological outcomes is influenced by a psychologically flexible response.

The study clearly describes the research methods used and how participants were chosen. It explains that participants were college undergraduate students in psychology classes who volunteered to take surveys. From the volunteers the researchers then filtered out those who took the survey too fast or too slow due to the questionable validity of their responses. To evaluate the responses the researchers used four measures to determine distorted perceptions related to eating disorders, psychological flexibility, general psychological health, and personal anxieties. Each of these four measures was clearly explained both in terms of how they were used in the research and what their relevance to the experiment was. They also provided examples and references to the original creators of the different measurement methods. These clear examples and references lend credibility to the methods and to the experiment itself as a whole, because it allows other research psychologists, or even a future undergraduate student, to both repeat the experiment and find resources for their own experiments.

To conclude the research the article ends with a discussion of the results in terms of the implications and the shortcomings of the experiment. The results gathered from the experiment agreed with the hypothesis that was initially proposed by the researchers. Meaning that the results showed a positive relationship between eating disorders and poor psychological outcomes, as well as an as of yet undetermined connection between the two that is dependent upon psychological flexibility. It is this undetermined connection that the researchers believe can spur more research into how to provide proper treatment for those who respond to certain psychological traumas differently. In terms of shortcomings, the article clearly states them and lists solutions that would both eliminate the problems and expand the scope of the study. The study was obviously limited in that it only applied to undergraduate students who were taking psychology classes, which would skew the data due to their above average knowledge of psychology and certain variables that would affect college students, but not other demographics. The researchers also noted that none of these participants were ever a part of a clinical trial or diagnosed with having a psychological disorder. The article also noted that the measures used in the experiment are not the most widely used in eating disorder research.

In conclusion, the study provides useful background information, explains its methods in a way that makes them easily repeatable, and discusses its results in a way that causes the reader to fully understand that eating disorders are much more intricate than they seem at first thought. Although eating disorders may not be the first thing on your mind when you think about college, they do occur just as frequently on campus as they do off of it. It may not seem relevant now, but when the friend of a friend just needs someone to talk to the information from this study will help you to better listen.

Masuda, A., Price, M., Anderson, P., Wendell, J. Disordered Eating-Related Cognition and Psychological Flexibility as Predictors of Psychological Health Among College Students, Behavior Modification, January 2010, 34.1, http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/34/1/3

Picture: author unknown, http://www.humanillnesses.com/Behavioral-Health-A-Br/Anorexia.html