Neuroscience
This tale predates my formal interest in academic psychology. That began one fateful afternoon in the sixth-form library, when I spotted a psychology textbook on the desk of a girl I very much wanted to talk to. I approached with the immortal and completely untrue line, "You do psychology, don’t you? I was thinking of taking it at university." (Gross, it was. The textbook, I mean.)
That was the moment Psychology snuck up on me, gave me a voice and whispered in my ear "You’re mine now!" But I see now that I had been at its mercy for years. I certainly was one snowy evening circa 1982, as I waited for a lift to Cub Scouts.
We were outside Dunstan’s house, woggles straightened, caps neatly perched on our innocent heads. Then someone said: "I dare you to chuck a snowball at that car".
Now I know it’s hard to believe, but I didn’t used to be the socially confident, key influencer of today. No, really. In fact, foreshadowing my later research into bullying as a group process, I was prone to going along with anything that kept me off the bottom of the pile.
But I was no mug. Again suggesting some kind of strange quantum echo of my future research interest in mentalising and theory of mind ability, I realised that I only needed to make the assembled group think that I intended to hit the car. "Aim really high," I thought, "they’ll never know". I did just that, and said "nah, missed!" as I turned to accept the plaudits for my chutzpah.
The car screeched to a halt. The driver got out, and lurched menacingly towards us. I noticed that his glasses were hanging off, and a river of slush slid down his furious face.
"Who threw that?", he bellowed. It became clear that his sunroof had been open (why?!), and that I had scored a direct hit.
Having got me into this mess, psychology at least had the decency to help me out. Display rules of emotion took over … I cowered, whimpered and generally made it clear that despite my apparent attack I was in fact no threat to anyone. Thankfully his Violence Inhibition Mechanism (Blair, 1995) kicked in and I was spared, to toddle off to Cubs and learn how to "be prepared" next time.
So my psychology was my salvation, but – as so often – it was my downfall too. I’m keeping score.
--
Dr Jon Sutton is Editor of The Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Find him on Twitter @psychmag and @jonmsutton
Return to the menu for Psychology to the Rescue
- Tom Stafford: Avoiding Bystander Apathy
Psychology actually helped me come to someone else's rescue once. One day, after lunch, I was heading back to the University of Sheffield Psychology department when I saw that a car had broken down in the middle of the road. Traffic was building up...
- Sue Blackmore: Coping With Demented Patients
When my mother began a vendetta against next door’s dustbins and conceived a hatred of seagulls, we thought it was just Mum at her worst and even found it quite funny, but when she began getting lost and demanding to move to a cottage in the middle...
- Introducing The Forthcoming Occupational Digest
The BPS Research Digest is proud to announce the pending birth of an offspring title - the Occupational Digest. About the forthcoming Occupational Digest The BPS Occupational Digest is a new blog and email produced by the British Psychological Society,...
- David Lavallee: Sporting Rituals
I wish I knew why I sometimes engage in superstitious behaviours while playing golf. When I play I am interested in psychological phenomena such as self-handicapping, the attributions people make on the course and how a round can deteriorate after a bad...
- January's Psychologist Magazine - Free For All!
The next issue of The Psychologist magazine has been made publicly available in its entirety via the digital platform Issuu (click mini version below to see full mag). This service allows you to flick threw the pages online as if you had the magazine...
Neuroscience
Jon Sutton: Pride before a fall
That was the moment Psychology snuck up on me, gave me a voice and whispered in my ear "You’re mine now!" But I see now that I had been at its mercy for years. I certainly was one snowy evening circa 1982, as I waited for a lift to Cub Scouts.
We were outside Dunstan’s house, woggles straightened, caps neatly perched on our innocent heads. Then someone said: "I dare you to chuck a snowball at that car".
Now I know it’s hard to believe, but I didn’t used to be the socially confident, key influencer of today. No, really. In fact, foreshadowing my later research into bullying as a group process, I was prone to going along with anything that kept me off the bottom of the pile.
But I was no mug. Again suggesting some kind of strange quantum echo of my future research interest in mentalising and theory of mind ability, I realised that I only needed to make the assembled group think that I intended to hit the car. "Aim really high," I thought, "they’ll never know". I did just that, and said "nah, missed!" as I turned to accept the plaudits for my chutzpah.
The car screeched to a halt. The driver got out, and lurched menacingly towards us. I noticed that his glasses were hanging off, and a river of slush slid down his furious face.
"Who threw that?", he bellowed. It became clear that his sunroof had been open (why?!), and that I had scored a direct hit.
Having got me into this mess, psychology at least had the decency to help me out. Display rules of emotion took over … I cowered, whimpered and generally made it clear that despite my apparent attack I was in fact no threat to anyone. Thankfully his Violence Inhibition Mechanism (Blair, 1995) kicked in and I was spared, to toddle off to Cubs and learn how to "be prepared" next time.
So my psychology was my salvation, but – as so often – it was my downfall too. I’m keeping score.
--
Dr Jon Sutton is Editor of The Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Find him on Twitter @psychmag and @jonmsutton
Return to the menu for Psychology to the Rescue
- Tom Stafford: Avoiding Bystander Apathy
Psychology actually helped me come to someone else's rescue once. One day, after lunch, I was heading back to the University of Sheffield Psychology department when I saw that a car had broken down in the middle of the road. Traffic was building up...
- Sue Blackmore: Coping With Demented Patients
When my mother began a vendetta against next door’s dustbins and conceived a hatred of seagulls, we thought it was just Mum at her worst and even found it quite funny, but when she began getting lost and demanding to move to a cottage in the middle...
- Introducing The Forthcoming Occupational Digest
The BPS Research Digest is proud to announce the pending birth of an offspring title - the Occupational Digest. About the forthcoming Occupational Digest The BPS Occupational Digest is a new blog and email produced by the British Psychological Society,...
- David Lavallee: Sporting Rituals
I wish I knew why I sometimes engage in superstitious behaviours while playing golf. When I play I am interested in psychological phenomena such as self-handicapping, the attributions people make on the course and how a round can deteriorate after a bad...
- January's Psychologist Magazine - Free For All!
The next issue of The Psychologist magazine has been made publicly available in its entirety via the digital platform Issuu (click mini version below to see full mag). This service allows you to flick threw the pages online as if you had the magazine...