Exams...

I came across an ability test in one of the weekend papers today; it was actually a sample general ability and mathematics test paper, which I thought I’d try and answer. The back-story is about students spending large amounts of time and money in private tutoring as they prepare for exams.

The ability-test which, it is said, is able to differentiate accurately between students of very high ability. It’s supposed to be rare for any candidate to score full marks in any of its components.

So back to the sample general ability test… and I should say I haven’t sat for an exam for at least 10 years. But the things that bugged me about exams back then look as if haven’t gone away. I thought, perhaps I might of grown out of it.  I’m talking about how some exam questions can come across in a confusing manner – I’d end up wasting valuable time reading and re-reading the question, attempting to makes sense of the examiner’s intention.

Here is question one:

If the words below were rearranged to form the best sentence, which word would come last?

chances want take any they to not did

a. chances

b. did

c. take

d. they 

   The class solution is apparently (a) giving us “They did not take any chances”

However, what does “best” really mean? Secondly, the question is asking us to rearrange the words – not the option to discard words. Yet, it seems the word “to” can be discarded. A more accurate answer would be:

“They did not take any chances to” however, that answer is not an available option.

Early puberty linked to depression

Early puberty linked to depression

Findings by researchers from Melbourne University and the Melbourne mental health clinical service Orygen Youth Health(1) show there may be a biological reason why children - particularly girls - who go through puberty early were more prone to depression later in their teenage years. Previously, it had been assumed this was largely a social problem caused by children being teased about developing earlier than their peers.

Using magnetic resonance imaging of the brains of 155 adolescents, researchers found those who went through puberty earlier than their peers had an enlarged pituitary gland - the part of the brain responsible for triggering puberty - and were in turn more likely to have symptoms of depression by the time they were young adults.

The pituitary gland, at the base of the brain, sends out the hormones that spark the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty. But the gland also plays an important role in the brain's stress system, so it may be that early puberty causes the gland to hyperstimulate, which in turn makes it more difficult for young people to cope with stress.

1. Sarah Whittle, Murat Yücel, Valentina Lorenzetti, Michelle L. Byrne, Julian G. Simmons, Stephen J. Wood, Christos Pantelis, Nicholas B. Allen.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 37, Issue 7, July 2012, Pages 881–891

2. A. ANGOLD, E. J. COSTELLO and C. M. WORTHMAN

Psychological Medicine, Volume 29 / Issue 05

3. George C. Patton, M.D., Craig Olsson, Ph.D., Lyndal Bond, Ph.D., John W. Toumbourou, PhD, John B. Carlin, PhD, Sheryl A. Hemphill, PhD, Richard F. Catalano, PhD
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 47, Issue 12, Pages 1424-1432, December 2008

Meditation helps reduce depression, anxiety and stress

Jack Dikian

March 2012

A new study by researchers from the Health Psychology Program in UCSF's Department of Psychiatry suggests that an increased awareness of mental processes can influence emotional behavior – in particular – through blending meditation practices with current psychological methods for regulating emotions.

Over 80 schoolteachers between the ages of 25 and 60 participated in the study. The work shows that those who underwent a short but intensive program of meditation were less depressed, anxious or stressed - and more compassionate and aware of others' feelings.

Previous research has linked meditation to positive changes in blood pressure, metabolism and pain, but less is known about the specific emotional changes that result from the practice.

A core feature of many religions, meditation is practiced by people as part of their spiritual beliefs as well as to alleviate psychological problems, improve self-awareness and to clear the mind.

Irrational beliefs

Jack Dikian

July 2004

In one of my favourite novels Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger, the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus is mentioned briefly. At one point Franny says: "I sat and I sat, and finally I got up and started writing things from Epictetus all over the blackboard. I filled the whole front blackboard--I didn't even know I'd remembered so much of him. I erased it--thank God!--before people started coming in. But it was a childish thing to do anyway--Epictetus would have absolutely hated me for doing it—but”

Epictetus also is credited for saying "Men are disturbed not by events, but by the views which they take of them.", although not quoted in Salinger’s novel. It is the thought - the idea that it is our beliefs that we hold and not the events themselves that cause us to become depressed, anxious, enraged, etc.

So fast tracking to more recent history - Albert Ellis (an American psychotherapist and psychologist) developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, one of the first of the cognitive behavior therapies, and based on the premise that humans, in most cases, do not merely get upset by unfortunate adversities, but also by how they construct their views of reality through their language, evaluative and irrational beliefs, meanings and philosophies about the world, themselves and others.

Ellis put the most irrational beliefs under three main headings:

1. I must do well and have the approval of others or else I am no good.

2. Other people must treat me well and do "the right thing" or else they are no good and deserve to be punished.

3. Life must be easy, and I must get what I want without discomfort or inconvenience.