intro.psych (Psyco 105) Discussion

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Is the research important?

intro.psych (Psyco 105) Discussion: Group 1 Discussion Group: Reading the Research-DID: Is the research important?

By Admin on Thursday, November 12, 1998 - 10:15 am:

Do you think this research is important? What theoretical and/or practical issues can the research address (if any)?
this discussion question is for marks
Back to the Introduction

By Jep on Sunday, November 22, 1998 - 01:38 pm:

I think that the research can be important when trying to figure out how the implicit/explicit memory works, but it does not address the true reason why DID occurs. I think researchers should focus more on how to cure/help the patient. Why try to figure out how the memory of someone with DID works when you can be trying to figure out why it is like this or what the importance of these certain memory tasks says about the illness.

By Admin on Sunday, November 22, 1998 - 01:46 pm:

Maybe we could use this to aid in diagnosis of DID. Many cases of DID are diagnosed under hypnosis (often the only time when "other personalities tend to come out). People with DID are very hypnotizable (is that a word? maybe I mean suggestable) and maybe they don't have multiple personalities at all but are responding to the hypnotist's suggestion. Making them do stemm completion might help in sorting our "real" diagnoses.

Connie

By Ivanka on Sunday, November 22, 1998 - 08:06 pm:

One thing that comes to mind is that if DID doesn't really exist then people who claim that they have it are consciously aware that they are switching "personalities" and would choose what to remember or not. If they say that they can't remember between personalities then they would loose factual information learned while being another person. But deep in their subconscious some personality features (implicit) would remain constant. This kind of research would be good in testing memory if the theory of DID exists. If in reality it really does not exist the way the person says it does, it seems that it would be quite easy to give the researcher the answers they were looking for

By Jep on Sunday, November 22, 1998 - 10:02 pm:

Well it was said that someone with DID has usually been subjected to severe abuse, causing another personality to come out and "save" the individual. So DID is brought on and not an actual diability. It would make sense that implicit memories would remain intact because they are in the subconsious and if not harmful to the individual then they would be "allowed" to come out.

By Ivanka on Monday, November 23, 1998 - 10:16 am:

What Jep says makes sense. I just wondered how easy it would be to "fake" the responses and choose which info to withold. I'm not saying that DID does not exist but if you were actually in the room with these people during the experiment you would see the same person sitting there answering questions but with different personalities. It would make me wonder if that person could be choosing the info they give.

By Jep on Monday, November 23, 1998 - 11:50 am:

I would think that they are subconsiously choosing what they are saying. It ties into one personality hiding what really happened (abuse) to the other personality. It seemed to me that the man in the video we watched was hiding something. When the little boy came out he appeared scared but as soon as the psychologist started asking questions as to why he was shaking, the little boy dissapeared and another personality that seemed more incontrol came out.

I think that it may be able to "fake" without actual knowledge that they are "faking". If they are able to withold certain information from themselves as well as the doctors, they may be able to do it with something that is not as "scaring". I don't think however that it is always if ever intentional.

By Admin on Tuesday, November 24, 1998 - 12:31 pm:

Jep says "I think that it may be able to "fake" without actual knowledge that they are "faking"."

Wow, that's a tough concept. How might we test whether it is possible? Maybe thru the pet scans we learned about on the video?

Connie

By Jep on Tuesday, November 24, 1998 - 12:45 pm:

I guess maybe what I am trying to say that in the whole process of DID may be "faking" because originaly the personality is trying to cover up something hence the word "faking" what is going on in the mind and what is known by the individual.