1. Often, I get asked about sleeping issues with young children, and whether or not sleep training techniques such as cry-it-out (CIO) are damaging to young children. Well, research suggests not, and that while consistency in technique used is the key variable of influence, CIO works most effectively. However, using it is like ripping your heart out in pieces and throwing it down on a crowded subway somewhat difficult for most parents, and many simply can't do it.
I was pleased, by the way, to see this addressed in one of my new favorite shows, Modern Family.
2. I used to have a crazy dog. She not once, but TWICE jumped out of second stories windows for no apparent reason. She was also very obsessive and would focus on one thing (like a tennis ball or a patch of light) and have a difficult time pulling away from it. Well, as it turns out, she may have had a recently discovered gene associated with compulsive behaviors. How does this apply to psychology? Well, a similar gene may be responsible for these behaviors in both humans and dogs. Either way, it kind of sucked as her owner as she was really quite neurotic.
She WAS pretty cute though.
3. Sometimes humans can be pretty nasty. We can be aggressive and selfish and mean. But humans can also at times demonstrate an amazing amount of altruism and be moved to give and help others in truly significant, beautiful ways. Well, there are some suggestions that some of this may be innate, start early, and presumably be a consequence of our hypersocial nature, as demonstrated in the linked clips to the PBS show, The Human Spark. Check them out - they're cute and pretty cool to boot.
4. An interesting article here on the liberal bias in academia. What these scholars suggest is that the question is not so much why academia has a liberal bias, but why so many liberals want to be professors. The answer, apparently, has a little to do with history, a little with our desire to fit in, and quite a bit with what could be termed a stereotype of what professors are like.
5. You may have realized that even with the copious amounts of coffee I drink, my memory still sometimes leaves something to be desired. Perhaps you might have experienced the same thing? Well - here - some information on how to keep the aging mind agile.
Response to "Quick Take" #3
ReplyDeleteBy Dimitri A. Giannakopoulos
It surely cannot be argued that people can and do mistreat each other and this in general is not to our benefit. And maybe connections to some predisposition to do so may exist. It seems that there must be an environmental contribution made to either perpetuate it or to discourage it. If the parent does at an early age discourage such and such behavior deemed inappropriate then behaviors deemed appropriate should then be encouraged and the proper behaviors encouraged and reinforced. It would seem that while doing the wrong thing towards others while young, the parents have a duty and obligation to correct this and reinforce behaviors that are positive when teaching their children how to interact and behave around others. Teaching these things at a young age could do much in correcting these behaviors and prevent them in the future.
I found the information about our brain interesting. I'll have to remember this when I am in my 60's and learn a new language or sopmething. thanks for the info.
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Stephanie Pulioff-PSY 311
ReplyDeleteIn response to the crazy dog. My best friend has a carnin terrier that is crazier! Stewart licks walls and the floor for no reason. My friend took Stewart to the vet and asked if this was normal for dogs? The vet told her that Stewart has anxiety knowing that something is about to happen; a fight between my friend and her boyfriend. Stewart never did the licking when he and my friend lived in Chicago but started doing it when my friend moved back to Portland and started dating her current boyfriend. Dogs are very intuitive and more closely related to people then we think. To this day Stewart likes the walls and floor to the point that that are becoming raw every time my friend and her boyfriend drink and start fighting. My friend has high anxiety as well especially since she started this relationship and Stewart started his anxiety at the same time. Crazy? Impressive!
Dogs DO pick up on their owners' anxiety. Two years ago on Christmas morning I slipped on brick stairs outside our Seattle home and my ankle/lower leg broke in several places. I was taking my little 4 pound Maltese out at the time. There was screaming out in pain, and ambulance, and a lot of overall stress in the house. After undergoing surgery and then months of rehab, I noticed that my dog would no longer willingly go up and down the stairs. She would bob and weave and then go really fast. The indoor hardwood stairs were never used by her again. She would stand and cry until we carried her. All of the drama around my accident scarred her!
ReplyDeleteLoretta Hunt 934345511
In response to #1...
ReplyDeleteAs a new parent, this article was not hard to read...nor relate to. When Kellen first got home, he seemed to be very mellow and rarely cry. I thought I had hit the jackpot. But, like all streaks of luck, mine came to a grinding hault the night before school started up. Kellen had a horrible sleeping pattern for the entire fall term. What got him in the swing of things? Winter break. I no longer had to stay up late to study, wake up early every other day for class, and got on a really steady schedule. He took scheduled naps, went to bed at the same time every night, etc. Since winter term has started, life is much more blissful. Everyone tells a new parent how to raise their child, and it's annoying. I support the article's suggestions to let the children cry it out and learn to sleep independently, but I just couldn't do it in the beginning. When a 7 pound little baby is bawling loud enough to be heard a mile away, you can't just ignore them! Especially when you brought them into this world! Call me neurotic (like the bad dog Gabi had), but I just didn't have the strength. Now that he is older (almost 5 months) it is a lot easier to know when he is and is not in pain. When he was a newborn, I had no idea what I was doing except that I knew how to hold him and rock him to bed. I loved this, “What parents really need to focus on is the big picture. “In the end, you’ll have months and years of everyone sleeping through the night and functioning better through the day.” Made me feel much better about not being able to handle those tears.
In response to #5
Wow...sounds like I need to change my lifestyle! Very interesting.
Trinh,
ReplyDeleteCry-it-out techniques are not an easy thing to do for some parent, especially the mother. My wife and I visited my brother in law and his wife in October, and we get to meet our nephew Exodus for the first time. Ninety percent of the time Exodus is a happy baby, but sometime he can be really difficult at bedtime. One night he cried straight for 90 minutes. The crying didn’t seem to bother my wife and I that much, but Exodus’ mom was having a really hard time. After 40 minutes of crying she decided that he had enough, so her and my wife decided to go get some grocery. I stayed home with the crying baby, but the crying didn’t really bother me at all.
ID: 950-660-426
ReplyDeleteI’m not a parent, but I take care of kids like my nieces and nephews. I have mixed feelings regarding cry-it-out loud techniques. Kids often cry for good reasons like dirty diapers and pain, but they also cry when they don’t get their own way. If a child has a good reason to cry, then obviously the child shouldn’t be left to cry it out loud. If the child simply doesn’t want to sleep, wants a parent to sleep with them, or wants their binky or bottle (that was taken because they’re too old for them) then I think it’s okay to let children cry-it-out loud. Children learn how to work their parents even at a very young age. They will quickly learn whether or not crying works in getting that binky back. Once they learn this, they’ll play their parents like a fiddle as long as they can. That’s why it is important for the parents to be consistent, just like the article said. The advice about creating a peaceful, consistent bedtime routine is so important. From my experience when bedtime is routine and non-debatable children tend to behave better and not argue. I also thought it was great that the article expressed that although difficult, teaching a child to sleep independently benefits them.
in response to the CIO idea...that one drives me nuts. i understand that some parents think that by tending to a crying child it is spoiling them, but isnt it actually true that by tending to an emotional child is actually teaching them to be secure & trusting & later autonomus? when you baby needs you, by being there for them will help them to realize that they are safe & loved & that they dont have to cry forever to get your attention.
ReplyDeletesorry about your dog gabi...i couldnt imagine having a dog that i would probably label as suicidal
& as far as liberal professors, i would imagine that maybe (i mean, if it were me) id want to spread the good word of liberality! thats why i love working with youth. helping to educate young minds about the ways of the world...i mean we dont need any more republicans or conservatives...no offense
student id 912689490
Rachel Jones PSY 311,
ReplyDeleteIn response to sleeping with your babies. I have 3 and everyone of them would eventually come join me and dad in bed. I found them to be better rested when they were in our room, so then I moved the crib in the room they would stand and wine for one of us to put them in the bed. They never ended up sleeping in the crib. Which is okay until you now have 3 kid's and nooo room to sleep. Then mamma is cranky from no sleep. Then, many nights of no sleep trying to calm them into sleeping alone. Point being it is nice for a while but, the concequences to redirect their sleeping alone can be overwhelming.
Leia Rall
ReplyDeletePSY311-004
I have a crazy dog. I really believe that she is autistic in some way. She has been like this since she was 7 ½ weeks old. When we move the furniture (or used to) she will hide and cry. She does not do well with any form of change. One of her favorite hiding places is under the coffee table, as she has grown we have had to put blocks under the coffee table legs to heighten it, otherwise she will lift the whole thing up when she crawls out. Our smoke alarm batteries were wearing out one night and the chirping woke us, couldn’t find Niko, finally found her in one of our closets on top of our shoes, hiding. She will chase bugs outside, but if they get inside she hides. One of her worst behaviors is her licking her paws. She will and has licked them bald; she falls asleep with a paw in her mouth. She will crawl under the covers in our bed and lick for hours, luckily on my husband’s side, and leave a huge wet spot. If you tell her no, she will literally turn her back to you, look over her shoulder and make a humph sound. She has a middle name and when she hears it she instantly goes under the coffee table. At night when she is in her bed she will cry until she wakes me up to cover her, then when she feels she is sufficiently covered she will growl. Some of this is my fault for spoiling her, but I have never met a more “unique” dog in my life. She is my baby, a 90lb Doberman. She is protective in some circumstances, but if everything is clam, she hides. She has never been spanked; we corrected her behavior by squirting her with a squirt gun. She just grew up unique.
Note: I just read the article attached to Gabi’s post and laughed when I read that the study focused on the Doberman breed. Niko’s veterinarian has suggested anti anxiety meds, specifically amitriptyline, we have not given her any as we do not want to change her personality. She has a prescription of xanax, she gets one when she gets too anxious. Niko is the third Doberman I have had the pleasure of being with in my life, two when I was growing up and now Niko. They are the only dog for me, but they are very high maintenance, emotionally and time wise. It is a kick to watch some of the things she will choose to obsess on and what she will ignore. I have yet to meet a Doberman that’s owner will describe as a normal dog. Got to love them, and those nubby tails!!
Benjamin Nice
ReplyDeletePSY 311
Here's an interesting article that may apply to section 4, re: liberal bias in academia. A new study shows a positive correlation between IQ and Liberalism, atheism, and male sexual exclusivity. It then stands to reason that there are more people in academia with high IQs. I also found the part about male sexual exclusivity interesting. It basically says that guys with high IQs are smart enough to know better than to cheat.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence/index.html
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWith respect to CIO - let me just point out that while I am generally in support of it (and used it for my younger daughter, who until we did had never slept more than 3 hours in a row), it is not appropriate under 6 months of age. At that age, most babies are not capable of regulating themselves well enough to learn how to settle on their own, and their behavioral cycles (when they sleep, eat, poop, etc) may still be getting regularized. After 6 months of age, and particularly after 12 months of age, there is no evidence of harm to children. Before 6 months of age, there is no data, in part because it is considered unethical to ask parents to use CIO on babies of that age. And, attachment theory would suggest that this would be a bad time to use CIO in any case, as this is when the attachment system is being laid down.
Ben - yes, I saw that article too. But I figured if I posted it...well, that might be taken the wrong way! It did make me chuckle though, and I emailed it to my liberal, monogamous male professor friends with a congratulatory note.
905069441...This is for the extra credit!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment on the crazy dogs. I myself, as well as a few of us, have a dog that does some pretty crazy things. Dogs are a lot like humans, I think more than we really realize. I have a wiemaraner and they a prone to seperation anxiety, it is in their breed. My dog is a boy and he is just about 10 months old and luckily for my boyfriend and I he hasn't suffered from seperation anxiety until just a few weeks ago. I just got a job so on top of school I go to work and then dance so I am gone almost all day. Since I have had this busy schedule we have noticed that our dog licks his paw, just like the doberman, until it is raw. He has a sore on his paw from it. The point I am getting at is dogs are a lot like humans, when they go through something stressful they deal with it in a certain way. Dogs tend to have OCD as well as humans, I have heard a lot of stories of crazy and weird things that dogs do as their OCD. So just like humans, dogs can have OCD, personality issues, and seperation anxiety. I think dogs are some of the funniest and very fun animals their are. I thought it was interesting how this issue was brought up because it is something that has just started with my dog.
905069441...This is for the extra credit!!
ReplyDeleteThis is in regards to the CIO with babies. My parents used this method to an extent, if we were crying to long they said they would come to us. My parents said they had a challenge with me though because I was a colic baby so I cried constantly. They really struggled because with my brother they would let him cry it out before he went to bed because he would eventually fall asleep and he was fine. But with me I cried constantly because I was in pain. I think having a colic baby would be very difficult to deal with, just knowing their is nothing you can really do. They said that they tried everything with me to make me feel comfortable, they finally learned that I liked to be in my car seat on top of the running dryer. It is true with parents their styles may have to change to the type of child they have.