Character

September 27th, 2011

What makes up character? A great NYTimes article follows two school directors – one from KIPP academy and the other from a private school – trying to define and teach it.

They begin, with the help of Seligman, the father of the positive psychology movement, by defining it.

Initially they define character as being made up of 24 traits, including: bravery, citizenship, fairness, wisdom, integrity, love, humor, zest, appreciation of beauty; social intelligence (the ability to recognize interpersonal dynamics and adapt quickly to different social situations), kindness, self-regulation, and gratitude.

They found the list too unwieldy and pared it down to: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity. They also discovered that students that possessed these traits did well in life – as opposed to just well on tests.

Interestingly, the article hints at how to build character – teaching cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) concepts. Finally! It would be great if more people were exposed to CBT.

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The Knobe Effect

September 26th, 2011

What is it? An experiment conducted by Professor Josh Knobe of Yale University in 2003 tested the intentionality ascribed to actions.

Here’s how it went:
Scenario 1: A business executive is told that a new product will increase profits but hurt the environment. He responds that he doesn’t care about the environment, just profits. The product is released and results in higher profits, but the environment is hurt. When asked if the business executive hurt the environment, 82% of participants answered yes.

Scenario 2: A business executive is told that a new product will increase profits and help the environment. He responds that he doesn’t care about the environment, just profits. The product is released and results in higher profits, and the environment is helped. When asked if the business executive helped the environment, 23% of participants answered yes.

The Knobe Effect states that “people are more likely to assign blame for things that go wrong than to give credit for things that go right.”

Interesting, but isn’t that our evolutionary need to focus on the negative to ensure survival? Which of course highlights the debate around experimental philosophy AKA X-Phi.

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ACE

September 23rd, 2011

ACE is a test you don’t want to ace. ACE is an abbreviation Adverse Childhood Experience. The ACE study focuses on how childhood trauma affects adult health. A pioneer doctor who integrates the study into her clinical practice is Dr. Nadine Burke here in the Bay area.

Here are the questions.

Growing up did you experience any of the following conditions in the household prior to age 18:

1. Recurrent physical abuse
2. Recurrent emotional abuse
3. Contact sexual abuse
4. An alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
5. An incarcerated household member
6. Someone who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal
7. Mother is treated violently
8. One or no parents
9. Emotional or physical neglect

Exposure to one category equals one point (not a point per incident). See the study for what your score means.

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