Hawthorne effect, placebos & CHMB controversies


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Posted by gary g (209.187.112.22) on September 13, 1999 at 12:13:14:

In Reply to: For garyg, and all analytics posted by Todd on September 12, 1999 at 19:04:56:

IMHO -
the Hawthorne thing you mentioned is EXACTLY the same as a lot of effective techniques for coping (NOT curing, not stopping) with CH

the same applies in animal training
the same applies in dealing with kids

it even applies in keeping an aquarium clear
(and I'm NOT gonna explain THAT one - if you care, so some research)

make an sudden environmental change, or supply a suggestive placebo, and people/critters tend to refocus and pay closer attention, PLUS reactive bio & chemical systems are often catalyzed into adjustment/reaction by the simple expedient of a disruptive force being introduced

I think with CH & similar challenges, when they do this it is usual that if there is anything they could do to help themselves, but had let slip, they will probably get back on it -
voila: improvement

a friend of mine often has to chair after-hours focus group sessions at work - when everyone starts to drift & grumble, she says nothing - gets up, walks over & turns off the lights;
after a minute or two, she turns them back on, returns to the table and picks up where she left off - with everybody paying attention & mentally "reset"

works like a charm
~~~~~~~~~~

BTW -
I agree with Bob P - it is getting a lot easier & more meaningful to take a lot of this to email exchange

whether it seems it or not to some of you, I DO NOT believe it is my job to tell the "board" what to post, or how to go about it -
I have made SUGGESTIONS before, if I sincerely believe that trying them MIGHT make it more useful for all of us

but many people can't read someone else's ideas or opinions without having their egos insist that the post is a shot at them personally because they don't agree with it -
this behavior is NOT unique to CHMB msg bd by any means - but it is pretty straightforward and not that hard to recognize-

if you make a statement about something in general, and I find myself getting personally upset & insulted - this ISN'T something wrong with what you said -
it is merely my childish ego insisted that I am the center of the universe, and demanding everything said has to do with me somehow, and I have to let everybody knbow how it affects me, and for some reason expecting them all to pay attention to me

that's exactly the reason they have kid's tables at big family dinners, folks

but, like Bob, I too am shifting to emailing people re: specific questions or issues on CHMB, because I just get tired of the peripheral stuff that almost any issue seems to generate -

sometimes the controversies are the only way to fully light up a particular topic, but more often than not, frankly, they seem like endless chains of people who like to hear themselves talk

that is FINE, but it DOESN'T FOLLOW that anyone else is obligated to read, or respond to, the chains

that's the other side of "free speech" that people don't like to talk about -
I have a right (usually) to say what's on my mind, but I DON'T have a right to compel or expect you to listen !!!!!!!!!!!

I'm often real softheaded on this stuff myself, and allow myself to get peeved when someone doesn't carefully read what I write BUT THEN:
picking out a few words skimmed out of context, to react to, and then launch into a hostile & personally critical response, based on what is obviously a misunderstanding from being too lazy to read carefully & think it through first -

so -
sometimes, I "just don't want to deal with" that expectable response and take my action elsewhere

but it definitely isn't just us -
our entire culture seems to increasingly demand nothing but short sound bites and "politically correct" conventional responses to everything -
I will agree that is now the STANDARD means of communication

and THAT means exactly nothing
after all -
"the ultimate product of pure democracy is legally enforced mediocracy"

and if you stuck with THIS peripheral drivel this far..

thanks for listening !!





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