Dear Colleagues, I think this anecdote is particularly relevant in light of the various school shootings in recent years and the issue of whether folks "should have seen it coming" and related heuristics about the characteristics that folks "think" are signs (of course, mostly in hindsight) of potential danger. I had a long talk with my sister this weekend about a man in the small company (approx. 70 employees) in which she works. Seems this guy is very interested in (i.e., "stalking"?) one of the sales associates. He has sent her flowers and has subscribed her to some provocative magazines. He bought $70 worth of Girl Scout cookies when she brought in the order forms for her daughters. He recently informed the son of one of the top executives that he was writing poetry about this woman on poetry.com (and this is after he was told to stop his unusual behaviors by one of his bosses). Since poetry.com is a public site, I've taken the liberty of attaching a copy of one of his poems for your perusal. Now, what does this all "mean"? I am not about to do any analysis (I'm not a clinical psychologist... I don't even play one on TV). Anyway, I raised this issue in one of my classes this morning. Should we be alarmed by such behaviors? Should we, in foresight, "see it coming" (whatever "it" is)? Don't individuals have a right to write poetry? Should I fear for my sister? Should the police do something (they've been called and, reasonably I think, won't do anything because no crime has been committed)? Where do individual liberties clash with prevention of tragedy? I don't have any of the answers of course. But this poem is pretty freaky if you ask me. Oh yeah, and btw, should I be "worried" about the student who asked me in class on Friday whether I feel as though I am a likely target (I love this) "especially because of the courses I teach" (stats and methods)? All very interesting for psychology majors I would hope. And I think it's worth discussing as a class.
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poem.doc
Description: MS-Word document
On Feb 17, 2008, at 7:04 PM, Shearon, Tim wrote: > > That reminds me of a well known psychological hypothesis I wish would > vanish!! The profile or characteristic background of the campus > shooter- that "We could have seen it coming". Even after it was pretty > clear that this young man had friends, a good family, no violent > history, etc. and violated the mythic profile, the press had to find > something to fit the theory (off his meds, a time in an institution, > etc- see the crazies are dangerous!!). Ooouuuuuhhhhh. I was livid. > That takes us back to K&T I guess- confirmatory bias. Sad. Also, I > think, it illustrates how such erroneous theories and belief in them > can hide us inside a convenient mis-perception. > > _______________________________ > Timothy O. Shearon, PhD > Professor and Chair Department of Psychology > The College of Idaho > Caldwell, ID 83605 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; > history and systems > > "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done > for others and the world remains and is immortal." - Albert Pike > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sun 2/17/2008 4:37 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Two failures of peer review > > I suppose Chris is right, it may not be that surprising. Overwork > appears to be most prevalent with professor/researchers. > > The dissertation story is pretty funny. Madening if no one won the > bottle--I like whisky. > > --Mike > > > --------------------------------- > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. > Try it now. > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])<winmail.dat> ======================================================== Steven M. Specht, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Utica College Utica, NY 13502 (315) 792-3171 "Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)
