Bloodline

Last night I watched an episode of Criminal Minds, and I was so in awe of their jobs and 'criticality.' Yes, yes, I know how much overrated these kind of series are in depicting what real Forensic Psychology is, but still they give you the basic frameworks what forensic psychologists could be working on with their knowledge.

And no, it's not only about psychological autopsy, it's about analyzing the criminal's behaviors and mind in relation to their own crimes. Try to watch Season 4, Episode 13, titled "Bloodline." As experienced behavioral analysts with critical thinking, not only the criminal's mind were they looking at, they looked wholly at some other aspects.

1) Cultural aspect: The criminals are Romanian, and their behaviors reflected of what the extremist Romanian people do with their ritual obsessions.

2) Sociological aspect: The analysts not just deciphered the behaviors individually, but the criminals as a collective unit (since the criminals were a family, a basic unit of society). This reflects the importance of sociological social psychology.

3) Attention to small details: A critical analyst would not abandon any single detail he or she could acquire in investigation process. The knowledge of the kid's asthma condition helped them obtain more information on further moves the criminals might make.

4) Holistic approach of investigation: Not only one technique of investigation was used, but a holistic approach was utilized. This can be seen when in the interrogation room, there is a "bad cop" and a "good cop" where coercive and gentle kind of interrogation were used to enhance results acquisition. Try to watch this, how good cop and bad cop looked like, well, kind of.

5) Cognitive interviewing: More and more research have been supporting this technique's effectiveness, why do we not make it a part in our Malaysian investigative system?

Yes, I am still in awe. One of my dreams is to work at an organization like this. Building up my critical thinking, and be more creative in solving a behavioral problem. Pray for me guys....

Are Shy People Lazy?

In the world, when talking about shyness, the psychologists have these terms that describe the degree of outgoing-ness that people have - extraversion or introversion. Basically extroverts become very active and energetic when it comes to being around people, while the introverts are fine with being alone. You see, introverts are not always shy people, psychologists have always attempted to distinguish the two (Cheek & Buss, 1981; Eisenberg, Fabes, & Murphy, 1995). Basically, their assertion is that introversion is lacking of interest in socializing and shyness is being fearful to it (Dembling, 2009).

But you see, of all kinds of people, the shy ones always face problems with getting into a relationship. Many testimonials from Carducci's (2000) survey revealed that shy people got married mostly because the other spouse picked them, or they just simply feel superior with other people, a way to rationalize their own shyness. Ninety percent of the respondents also said that shy people employed some strategies to overcome their shyness, but unfortunately those strategies are ineffective, mostly because when they try to socialize (or called as forced extraversion), they expected people to do the rest for them.

So, based on these findings, can I say that shy people do not put hard enough efforts to get into relationships? Why is it that they have to be picked, or people have to do the approaching and introducing for them? While, other people of other kinds of traits are busy starting a conversation, or being laughed at for lame jokes, or finding the politest way to ask for numbers, the shy people just stand there waiting for people to come to them and say "hi!". My exact point is that, they should stop making shyness as an excuse for their own being alone, or worse off, lonely.

Well, I'm called to write this because I'm shy myself and I always wonder why is it so hard for me to be in a relationship - superficial or deep - with others? I am struck when learned that yes, I never did hard enough to make sure that people can actually at least notice my presence. I'm waiting at a corner, hoping people's paths will cross mine and everything will start out magically...

So, shy people, act!

Reference:

Carducci, B. (2000). Shyness: The new solution. Psychology Today. Retrived on February 08, 2010, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200001/shyness-the-new-solution?page=1

Cheek, J. M. & Buss, A. H. (1981). Shyness and sociability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 330-339.

Dembling, S. (2009). Introversion vs. shyness: The discussion continues. Psychology Today. Retrived on February 08, 2010, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-introverts-corner/200910/introversion-vs-shyness-the-discussion-continues

Eisenber, N., Fabes, R. A., & Murphy, B. C. (1995). Relations of shyness and low sociability to regulation and emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 505-517.

The Secret of the Secret

 

I read one article in www.psychologytoday.com that talked about what made it possible that the Law of Attraction can work to some people. Lyubomirsky (2008) stated that the law itself might be a huge example of placebo effect - the condition in which fake or sham treatment can actually work on people (just like when "sugar pill" can cure headache).

Basically, the Law of Attraction asserts that we should focus on the good things that we want to achieve, be emotionally parallel with our own desires, be grateful, and list down all the good things that we already have. Then, the universe responds by making us closer to what we desire.

Since watching the documentary explaining what the so-called "secret" is, I have been wondering, is it that easy to get what we want? Is it true that the successful people actually do this technique? I always want to see the mechanics, the real one, behind the Law of Attraction, especially when one of the speakers inside the documentary said that there was one instance that a painter got double date and a marriage after he painted such desire in his house. The reason being is that when he painted his desires, he'd "announce" what he wanted to the universe, thus making the latter to respond by getting him closer to his desires.

What I was thinking is that, perhaps it works because as I stated in my previous entry, "Redha" that when we feel content about something, we're more likely to put efforts that can increase chances to actually get what we want. One of the substance of the Law of Attraction is that we feel good about us, the life, people around us, about everything. When we do, it's easier for us to put our efforts and it's clearer for us to see what path to take just simply because we feel content and grateful.

One commenter of the article also stated something about "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy," the instance when our expectation can be sufficient to produce changes in people's attitude and behaviors. It's like, A thinks B is nice while the latter is actually not so nice, but A keeps treating B like he's a nice person, so time after time, B becomes nice. Of course I have understated what Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is in my description just now, but basically mere expectations (or attitude) can be as powerful to produce changes in people and outcomes in the future.

So guys, what do you think?

Reference:

Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Is "The Secret" just a giant placebo effect? Psychology Today. Retrieved on February, 2, 2010, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/how-happiness/200805/is-the-secret-just-giant-placebo-effect