Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 11.
Pennington's associate professor Dr. Robert Newton, Jr., was interviewed for USA Today by Rodney Brooks about African-Americans facing a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease than whites, Dr. Newton is associate professor and the Director of the Physical Activity and Ethnic Minority Health Laboratory at Pennington.
Newton told USA Today that researchers are looking at many avenues to understand the link. “Part of it is genetics. Are there some genetic markers that African Americans have higher risks that predispose them to higher risk of dementia? Is it lifestyle? Are there social factors? Is it education or stress? Researchers are looking at many avenues.”
will recruit older African American
Dr. Robert Newton, Jr., speaking to psychologists at the LPA Science Cafe in 2017. Dr. Newton was interviewed for USA Today recently. He is associate professor and the Director of the Physical Activity and Ethnic Minority Health Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 14.
The Southeastern Psychological Association will hold its 2019 conference March 20-23, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, Jacksonville, Florida.
Presenters from Louisiana include the following: "Remembering and Rejecting: Not Just Two Sides of the Same Coin," by Niels Dickson, Daniella Cash, & Megan Papesh, Louisiana State University; "College Students’ True and False Memories at Three Time Intervals," by Theodore Smith and Lauren Short, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; and "Examination of Facial Emotions Before, During, and After a Texting Demand while Driving," by Theodore Smith, Ashifur Rahman, Colten Dore, Xiaoduan Sun, & Lauren Short, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
SEPA is the Southeastern Psychological Association founded in 1955. It is the largest psychological organization in the Southeast. SEPA’s mission is to stimulate the exchange of scientific and professional ideas across the diverse areas of psychological inquiry and application. SEPA welcomes both professional and student members.
SEPA President, Dr. Mike Beran said, "I know our 2019 meeting will again be a wonderful collection of exciting and thought- provoking presentations."
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 2.
In Monty Python's comedic satire of hyper-masculinity, King Arthur (riding his invisible horse) approaches a bridge guarded by the Black Knight and politely demands to cross. The two proceed to wage a lively battle until Arthur strikes off one of the Knight's arms. Blood gushes as only it can in British comedy. "Now stand aside worthy adversary," says Arthur.
" ‘tis but a scratch," says the Black Knight.
"A scratch!?" says Arthur. "Your arm's off!"
"I’ve had worse. Come on, you pansy."
The fight continues until Arthur hacks off the Knight's other arm. "You're indeed brave Sir Knight," says Arthur, "but the fight is mine."
"Oh, had enough have you?" taunts the Knight and begins kicking Arthur.
"Look you stupid bastard, you’ve got no arms left."
"It’s just a flesh wound."
The skit continues in comedic gore until the Knight, a stump on the ground, missing all his limbs, is left yelling over his shoulder, "You yellow bastard. Come back here and I'll bite your legs off! The Black Knight never loses!"
The caricature of hyper-masculinity reminds us that the authors of the new American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines for practice with boys and men have a point––males might need to ease up at times.
But the APA message faltered. What the authors said and how they said it came across to many in the public as an unconvincing scold–– and a demeaning view of men.
I believe there are some reasons for the negative responses we received from the public that could have been prevented.
First, the authors took on too many complicated topics. They tried to address children and adults together, two profoundly different areas of psychology. And then they tackled aspects of racial differences, differences in sexual orientation, transgender issues, socioeconomic differences, then shifted perspectives to sexism, racism, and social status and entitlement. Topics rattled around like marbles in a bucket. Rationales were muddled and arguments unconvincing.
Since authors took gender as their unifying concept (we could see this based on their definitions section which listed gender, cisgender, gender bias, gender role strain, masculine ideology, gender role conflict, oppression, privilege, and gender sensitive), the authors were then trapped into having to cobble everything to gender.
The authors noted that "disparities" between males and females are a concern, but their reasoning seemed strange. So masculinity is why men don't live as long as women? So masculinity is the reason for more cardiovascular disease in men? Masculinity is why men are incarcerated more often than women? The authors were stuck with sounding like these were causes rather than correlations.
An element that helped create a "demeaning" tone, as cited by the public, was how the authors handled base rates. For example, the idea that masculinity is somehow the cause of "violence," when the base rate for violence is very low, and most males who possess a degree of masculinity, are not violent.
Another problem was that the authors omitted important themes that could have added balance and believability to their argument. How do we in today's world discuss men's health and happiness without an in depth look at the benefit of a good marriage? A search of the text revealed not a single use of the word marriage. And what about the staggering exodus of men from the labor market?
The public noted a "pathologizing" of men that could have been soothed by including kudos for the positive masculine. Some of humanity's greatest advances have come from the masculine combined with conscientiousness.
With these and other slants on the topic, the Guidelines appear to be dragged down in scientific rigor. What should be precise, unbiased thinking on such an important, complex topic, fell short. It looked like the authors didn't figure out how to separate the science from the social justice goals.
The Guidelines do not help us with our brand or reputation. The public already doesn't trust us, as Scott Lilienfeld has shown in his work about the public’s skepticism of scientific psychology. The Guidelines may have been a good idea overall, but what we said or how we said it, just did not ring true to many in the public.
I checked this with Pennebaker's linguistic analysis and discovered the public may be right. On the Authenticity scale, 1 to 100, professional scientific writing is low, averaging 24.8. But our Guidelines come in at 2.4. The Authenticity scale relates to honesty in writing, and the absence of self-deception.
The Black Knight isn't the only one with some self-deception at work. Psychology's poor reputation in the public is more than just a flesh wound.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 2.
We typed "Pubic" rather than "Public Education" but Leslie Todd's journalism background and eagle eye spotted it fast and we corrected it in a second run. We've done this typo before, entertaining our readers
without trying. Send your corrections to:
psychologytimes@drjulienelson.com
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 3.
Governor John Bel Edwards formally launched his campaign for re-election. In a number of press releases he points to his accomplishments: he passed a bipartisan budget compromise that took us from record deficits to surpluses and stable funding for our critical priorities; secured more than 100 major economic development projects, nearly 30,000 new jobs, and $30.7 billion worth of capital investments; expanded Medicaid to 480,000 working Louisianans, cutting the uninsured rate in half, keeping rural hospitals open; and brought together law enforcement, the faith community, Republicans and Democrats to pass a package of bipartisan criminal justice reform laws used as a model by President Trump. A recent poll shows Gov. Edwards with a significant lead over GOP opponents. Forty-five percent of those surveyed said they would vote for Edwards if the election were held today. Thirty-two percent were unsure and 1 percent would vote for someone else.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 3.
To the Editor:
Due to my experiences with the Louisiana Psychology Board, I feel compelled to offer the latest update to your readers.
Please see my latest FB posting entitled Louisiana Corruption at
https://www.facebook.com/eric.cerwonka
In this posting I discuss the odd relationship between the Board, and a certain private attorney who appears to exert a remarkable influence over Board personnel.
While this attorney represented a previous patient of mine in a successful lawsuit, I now find that he and his clients were assisted in their suit by Jamie Monic and Amy Groves- Lowe, and this assistance included the delivery of thousands of pages of documents to assist him in this ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 6.
At the regular meeting on Friday, December 14, 2018, the psychology board was scheduled to discuss these topics: 1. Recap LRP Meeting Action Items – –Rulemaking 2018-19 i. Telepsychology* ii. Chapter 15. Rules for Disciplinary Actions* iii. Reciprocity Applications iv. Applied Health Care Specialty/Applied General License ––EPPP-2 2. Proposed Rules: Continuing Education Requirements, Exemptions and Fees (LAC
46:LXIII. 601, 603, 803, 805, 811, 905 and 4001) 3. 2018-19 Board Meeting Dates 4. LSBEP Resource Page Disclaimer […] 5. FARB Forum and Comprehensive Regulatory Training, January 24- 27, 2019, New Orleans, LA*
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 6.
At the regular meeting on Thursday, January 10, 2019, the psychology board was scheduled to discuss these topics: 3. Chapter 3 Training and Credentials: Applied Health Service Provider (HSP)/General Applied Psychology (GAP) (GG) 4. Developmental Training Programs including but not limited to University of New Orleans (KB) 5. Provisional Licensure, procedures, notices and verification of provisional license (LC) 6. Proposed Rules: Continuing Education Requirements, Exemptions and Fees (LAC 46:LXIII. 601, 603, 803, 805, 811, 905 and 4001)* (LC) 7. Record Retention Policy* (JM) 8. Forms Review* (JM) 9. Policies and Procedures – Hearing Procedures (JM)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 6.
The Department of Health (LDH) will hold hearings to receive public comment from any interested person regarding the rules of the agency during March and based schedule below. The regulations to be considered are these sections of the administrative codes: Title 48, Public Health – General; Title 49, Public Health – Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics; Title 50, Public Health – Medical Assistance; Title 51, Public Health – Sanitary Code; Title 61, Revenue and Taxation; Title 67, Social Services. See https://www.doa.la.gov/Pages/osr/lac/b ooks.aspx
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 6.
Gov. Edwards announced his newest appointment to Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, Vincent R. Forte, MD, of Monroe. Forte is a physician and partner of Louisiana Pain Care. He will serve as a representative of the Louisiana State Medical Society.
Currently, Marc Zimmermann, PhD, MP, serves on the Advisory Council as rep. of La. Psychological Association.
The Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council is responsible for monitoring and reporting to the governor and the legislature on the implementation and administration of laws pertaining to the administration of workers' compensation claims and making specific recommendations thereon.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 1. Source pages: 7.
INNOVATION Dr. Susan Tucker
We can't say enough about the innovations in prison reforms sweeping the state, that are part of Dr. Susan Tucker's work. She has been commended by the Legislature and by national groups for her innovative treatment reforms for offenders, and now helped the state rid itself of the label of the highest incarceration rate in the US. It is rare to have one psychologist accomplish so much, saving lives and millions of dollars, and showing others that there is a better way by psychological science.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 1. Source pages: 8.
PUBLIC EDUCATION Dr. Courtland Chaney
Getting the word out about what psychology and psychologists can do for others and the community has never been easy for us, but Dr. Courtland Chaney may be helping change that. Everywhere we looked during 2018, there he was, in front of the public or helping others get there. He led the Louisiana Psychological Association's Speakers Bureau, chaired public education, led numerous community projects, and was appointed to the Governor's task team on workplace harassment, speaking himself on LPB. Dr. Chaney was a great ambassador for psychology in 2018.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 1. Source pages: 10.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Dr. Michael Cunningham
Tulane Professor and Provost, Dr. Michael Cunningham, never quits providing wise, timely, and generous leadership to others, mentoring and engaging his students, colleagues, and the larger community. His 2018 efforts included serving as the the American Psychological Association Diversity delegate, helping promote the social networking for African-American psychologists and professors, and taking part in numerous programs where he led in ideas and by example. It is no wonder he has been named an “Inspiring Leader," and recognized for Psychology in the Public Interest.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 1. Source pages: 12.
COURAGE Dr. Tammy Savoie
We don't know how a person can have more courage than Dr. Tammy Savoie, psychologist and retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who went straight up against the well-funded, incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise in the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana for U.S. Representative. Savoie did not shy away from the challenge at all, but faced into the effort with a positive and upbeat style that made us all proud to be her colleague. It's how you play the game and she did it with good sense, grace and courage.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 1. Source pages: 13.
VISION Dr. Burt Ashworth, Dr. Mkay Bonner, Dr. Bill McCown
How much vision does it take to understand the benefit of reincarnating a great tradition? That's what happened when a team of psychologists rebooted the well-respected, 1980s, regional journal, The Southern Psychologist, into the new Contemporary Southern Psychology. Co-Editors Drs. Burt Ashworth, MKay Bonner, and Bill McCown did it! Giving the rest of us something to feel proud about and a place to grow our science with a southern regional perspective and identity. Hooray! (Below, Dr. McCown presenting.)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.