Making sense of high sensitivity!?

Prof.dr.AnnaM.T.Bosman

Radboud University,NijmegenBehavioural ScienceInstitute/SchoolofPedagogicalandEducationalSciencesa.bosman@pwo.ru.nlwww.annabosman.eu

SVComplexCongres ’MakingSense’.TilburgUniversity,April21,2017

Sensitivity

derivesfromtheLatinSensus; viatheFrenchSens,itbecameSense

Originalmeaning:findyourway

1400:abilitytoperceive,interpretation,feelings1526:referringtoexternalsenseorgans1816:referringtoextremephysicalexperiences1900:overlysensitive

Sensitive

CarlJung,MD(1875-1961)psychoanalyst

1913-1914inheritedtraitnotcausedbytrauma,butmaycauseneurosis

1921introvertisapersonwhodirectspsychicenergyinward,awayfromobjects,asiftheyareexperiencedastoopowerful

Source:Aron,E.N.(2004). JournalofAnalyticalPsychology,49,337–367

Sensitiveenvironment

JohnBowlby,MD(1907-1990)• Founderoftheattachmenttheory• PsychoanalystandEthologist

1950WHOasksBowlby foradviceonthementalhealthofhomelesschildren

Raisingachild toahealthypersonrequiresasensitivecaretaker

Source:Bowlby ,J.(1969).AttachmentandLoss.Volume1.Attachment,PelicanBooks

HighSensitivity

Scientificterm:‘Sensoryprocessingsensitivity’

Elaine N. Aron, PhD.

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HighSensitivity

Scientificterm:‘Sensoryprocessingsensitivity’

referstoarelativelysensitivenervoussystem- awareofsubtletiesintheenvironment:

bodily(physical)emotional(empathy)cognitive(understanding)

- moreeasilyoverwhelmed

Elaine N. Aron, PhD.SourceAron&Aron(1997)

ThecrisisinPsychologicalScience

Theconceptofdisease

TheancientGreekDiseaseisaresponsetoadisturbanceofanaturalequilibrium.Diseaseisqualitativelydifferentfromhealth.Itisadifferentorganisationororder

Modernmedicine(19th century)Adiseaseenterstheorganismasaresultofapathogen(germ).Theenemyusuallycomesfromtheoutsideandhastobebattled.Thepathogencausesasurplusoradeficitofsomethingphysiologicalthatcanbemeasured(diabetes:glucose;anemia:redbloodcells;HIV:T-helpercells)

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Bimodaldistribution:theGreekopinion

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Freq

uencies

Behavioural measure

HSP/ADHD/Autism/Dyslexia

Nolabel

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Unimodal distribution(notnecessarilyGaussian,actuallyunlikely)

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Behavioural measure

Disorder ?????

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SurplusorDeficit:Normsneeded

Norm = standard,pattern,model(1821)fromLatin

Norma =acarpenter’sT-square*(inusesince1670)

Normal= ‘usualsituationorcondition’(1890)Since1894itrefersto‘normalpersonorthing’

*T-squareisanartefact.

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SurplusorDeficit?Statisticsasasolution

Statistics=informationaboutapopulationfromasample

Statisticalinformationispresentedby• Frequencies• Mean,modus,median• Range,standarddeviation,variance

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Measuresandmeasurementtoolsrequired

Whatisavalidmeasurement?- Anattributeexistsinreality Requiresa

theory- Changeinattributecausallyrelatedtochangeintool

Realattributes:Temperature,Pressure,ElectricalCurrent,Velocity,etc…..

Akinetictheoryonheat 15

ScalesCelsiusFahrenheitKelvinRéamurRankineNewtonDelisleRØmer

TypesAlcoholWaterBi-metal

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Whataboutintelligencetests

1. WISC(WechslerIntelligenceScaleChildren)

2. WAIS(WechslerAdultIntelligenceScale)

3. KaufmanAssessmentBatteryforChildren(K-ABC)

4. Stanford-BinetIntelligenceScale(SB)

5. WJ-III(Woodcock-JohnsonIII)

6. SPM(StandardProgressiveMatrices)

7. NDT(NederlandseDifferentatieTest)

8. LDT(LeidseDiagnostischeTest)

9. RAKIT(RevisieAmsterdamseKinderIntelligentietests)

10. SON(Snijders-Oomennon-verbalintelligencetest)

11. Etc….

17Whatabouttestsforreadingskill?

1. One-minutetest(EMT;Brus &Voeten,1973)

2. Pseudoword readingtest(KLEPEL,vandenBos etal.;1994)

3. Three-minutetest(Verhoeven,1995)

4. Text-readingtest(AVI;Visser etal.2006)

5. Lexical-decisiontask(LD)orthecross-outtask(vanBon,2006)

6. Readingtechniqueandreadingspeed(2001)

7. Readingcomprehension(Aarnoutse,1996)

8. Readingcomprehension(deVos,2012)

9. Readingcomprehension(Cito,2006)

10. Readingcomprehension(A-Vision,2003)

11. Etc…

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ObjectiveversusNormativemeasures

Speed,120km/hour,isan‘objective’measurenormativeevaluationwithrespecttocontext

toofastonan80kmmaxroad,avoidingafinetooslowonaracecircuit,wantingtowin

Intelligence,IQ=70,isanormativemeasure(relativetootherindividuals)

Reading,Cito-scoreC,isanormativemeasure(relativetootherindividuals)

19PhysicalSciencesvs.LifeSciences

Sciencesofthenon-livingworld2isanevennumber Value-freefacts2H2 +O2 =2H2O

Sciencesofthelivingworld‘Lifecangowrong’,andorganismsmayencountersituationsthatareeithergoodorbadfortheirsurvival,therefore

‘Facts’inBiology,Psychiatry,(Child)Psychologyarevalue-laden:• Hygieneisimportant,itenhanceslongevity (=notafact,butsociallydesirable,

normative)• Beingabletoreadorspellisrequired,youwillearnmoremoney(=notafact,

butimplicitlyagoaltostrivefor,itisanormativejudgment)

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Pathology

GeorgeCanguilhem (1904-1995)Frenchmedicaldoctorandphilosopher:

Pathologyisareducedcapacitytomaintainlife(tosurvive),determinedbytherelationship betweenorganismandenvironment

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‘Psychological’pathology

AutismBaron-Cohen(2008):isacondition,systematizingratherthanempatizing mindGrandin (2012):withoutautism,wewouldnothavetechnologyandcomputers

DyslexiaElliott&Gibbs(2009):Readingproblemsexit,butdoesdyslexia?Bosman(2015):Readingskillisonacontinuum;problemsexist,butasadisorder?

ADHDSaul(2014):ADHDdoesnotexistTonti (2013).ADHDasadifferenceincognition,notadisorder.

NB.Please consulttheURLs for thought provoking ideas

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Pathologyimpliessuffering

Pathosis‘suffering’

Canguilhem (1966):“diseaseiswhatirritatesmeninthenormalcourseof

theirlivesandwork,andaboveall,whatmakesthemsuffer”

Pathology• emergesfromtherelationshipbetweenorganismandenvironment• isanindividualnorm

Disorder,preferablydifferentorder,maybepathological.

Apersonwithadifferentordermayalsojustbedifferent

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Autismor….18juni2017 25

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