Ambivalent Animal

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ambivalent Animal AMBIVALENT ANIMAL A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty by Geoffrey Thomas In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree PhD, Digital Media in the School of Literature, Communication & Culture Georgia Institute of Technology May 2010 AMBIVALENT ANIMAL Approved by: Dr. Jay Bolter, Advisor Dr. Yi-Luen Ellen Do School of Literature, Communication & School of Architecture Culture Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Eugene Thacker Dr. Jane Prophet School of Literature, Communication & Department of Computing Culture Goldsmiths, University of London Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Carl DiSalvo School of Literature, Communication & Culture Georgia Institute of Technology Date Approved: March 30, 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Jay Bolter for his help and feedback with my research during my time at Georgia Tech. I would like to thank Eugene Thacker, Carl DiSalvo, Ellen Do, Ali Mazalek and Jane Prophet for their insights and inspiration. I would also like to thank the LCC community for providing a rich environment of scholarship and creativity. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES iv SUMMARY x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Human, Animal and Machine Interactions 1 1.2 The Ambivalent Animal 3 1.3 The Dialectics of the Ambivalent Animal Project 5 1.3.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality 5 1.3.2 Autonomy & Integration 6 1.3.3 Aura & Abjection 7 1.4 Ambivalent Aesthetic 7 1.5 Ambivalent Alba 10 2 CYBORG 20 2.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality 21 2.1.1 Cybernetic Totalism 21 2.1.2 Cyborg Animals 24 2.1.2.1 Wild Cyborgs 24 2.1.2.2 Domesticated Cyborgs 27 2.2 Autonomy & Integration 31 2.3 Aura & Abjection 36 2.3.1 Auratic Cyborg 36 2.3.2 Abject Cyborg 40 iv 2.4 Conclusion 46 3 CLONE 54 3.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality 54 3.1.1 Genetic Essentialism and Material Variation 55 3.1.2 Biotech’s Transcendence and Immanence 59 3.2 Autonomy & Integration 63 3.2.1 Human, Nonhuman Subjectivity 63 3.3 Aura & Abjection: Multiplicity 69 3.4 Conclusion 75 4 CHIMERA 83 4.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality: Informational Bodies 84 4.1.1 Informational Biology’s Alliance with Cybernetics 86 4.1.2 Platonic Forehand 87 4.1.3 Synthetic Biology 90 4.1.4 Biopower 93 4.2 Autonomy & Integration 98 4.3 Aura & Abjection 108 5 SHAPESHIFTER 126 5.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality 127 5.1.1 Multiple Worlds 128 5.1.2 False Sense of Understanding 130 5.1.3 Alterity as a New Form of Regulation 133 5.2 Autonomy & Integration 134 5.2.1 The Animal’s New Status 135 5.2.2 Complications of Anthropomorphism 139 5.2.3 The Animal’s Diminished World 143 v 5.3 Aura & Abjection 155 5.3.1 Affirmative Alterity 156 5.3.2 New Forms of Alienation 158 5.4 Conclusion 166 6 THEORY & PRACTICE 173 6.1 Writing & Making 173 6.1.1 Methods 174 6.1.1.1 Personal Perspective 174 6.1.1.2 Eclecticism 175 6.1.1.3 Aesthestic Framework 176 6.1.1.4 Repetition 176 6.1.2 Speculative Creative Research 177 6.2 Irreducibility & Procedurality 182 6.2.1 Language Games 182 6.2.2 Ways of Knowing 184 6.2.3 Interactions of Theory and Practice 189 6.3 Autonomy & Integration: Transgressed Divisions 194 6.3.1 Complicity and Critique 198 6.3.2 The Importance of Difference & Division 207 6.4 Aura & Abjection 215 6.4.1 Identity and Materiality 218 6.5 Conclusion 222 7 CONCLUSION 227 7.1 Combining Theory and Practice 229 7.1.1 Zoocentrix & Petite Charm 229 7.2 Three Dialectics 233 vi 7.2.1 Irreducibility & Procedurality 235 7.2.2 Autonomy & Integration 237 7.2.3 Aura & Abjection 238 7.3 Central Themes 240 APPENDIX A: ZOOCENTRIX & PETITE CHARM DOCUMENTATION 246 A.1 Zoocentrix: Purrplex Documentation 246 A.1.1 Cutomized CatTV 246 A.1.1.1 Customized CatTV Arduino Code 247 A.1.1.2 Customized CatTV Processing Code 249 A.1.2 Meat Mobile 254 A.1.2.1 Meat Mobile Arduino Code 255 A.1.3 OutsideIn 258 A.1.3.1 OutsideIn Arduino Code 259 A.1.3.2 OutsideIn Processing Code 262 A.1.4 Tail Twitcher 280 A.1.4.1 Tail Twitcher Arduino Code 281 A.2 Petite Charm Documentation 284 A.2.1 Petite Charm Stuffed Animal Prototypes 284 A.2.2 Petite Charm Web Site 285 A.2.3 Petite Charm Parafernalia 290 BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Diagram of the Dialectics of Ambivalence 5 Figure 1.2: IRNA transgenic rabbit 12 Figure 2.1: Lely’s Austronaut 29 Figure 2.2: James Auger and Jimmy Loizeua, Augmented Animal 38 Figure 2:3: Boredom Research, Real Snail Mail 41 Figure 2:4: Cellborg humidity sensor 44 Figure 2:5: Augmented monkey, University of Pittsburgh 45 Figure 2:6: Preemptive Media, Zapped! 47 Figure 6.1: Illustration for the Lovely Monster project 183 Figure 6.2: Illustration for Petite Charm project 184 Figure 6.3: Petite Charm coloring books, Puff Petite rings, and badge 186 Figure 6.4: Customized Cat-TV 203 Figure 6.5: OutsideIn’s interface 204 Figure 6.6: Fall 2009, LCC Demo Day 205 Figure 6.7: Tail Twitcher: mice tails that twitch when a cat approaches 206 Figure 6.8: Meat Mobile 212 Figure 6.9: Petite Charm dogs 213 Figure 6.10: Fall 2009, LCC Demo Day 215 Figure A.1: Customized CatTV 246 Figure A.2 Customized CatTV Circuit Diagram 247 Figure A.3 Meat Mobile 254 Figure A.4 Meat Mobile Circuit Diagram 255 Figure A.5 OutsideIn 258 Figure A.6 OutsideIn Circuit Diagram 259 viii Figure A.7 Tail Twitcher 280 Figure A.8 Tail Twitcher Circuit Diagram 281 Figure A.9 Zoocentrix Poster 283 Figure A.10 Petite Charm Dogs 284 Figure A.11 Petite Charm web site: Home page 285 Figure A.12 Petite Charm web site: Profile page 286 Figure A.13 Petite Charm web site: Petite Care page 287 Figure A.14 Petite Charm web site: Shop page 288 Figure A.15 Petite Charm web site: Play page 289 Figure A.16 Petite Charm Stickers & Badges 290 Figure A.17 Petite Charm Coloring Book 291 Figure A.18 Petite Charm Poster One 292 Figure A.19 Petite Charm Poster Two 293 Figure A.20 Petite Charm Poster Three 294 ix SUMMARY The Ambivalent Animal project explores the interactions of animals, culture and technology. The project employs both artistic practice and critical theory, each in ways that inspire the other. My creative practice centers around two projects that focus on domestic pets. These projects highlight the animal's uncertain status as they explore the overlapping ontologies of animal, human and machine. They provide concrete artifacts that engage with theoretical issues of anthropocentrism, animality and alterity. My theoretical work navigates between the fields of animal studies, art and design, media and culture studies, and philosophy. My dissertation explores animality through four real and imagined animal roles: cyborg, clone, chimera and shapeshifter. Each animal role is considered in relation to three dialectics: irreducibility and procedurality, autonomy and integration, aura and abjection. These dialectics do not seek full synthesis but instead embrace the oscillations of irresolvable debates and desires. The dialectics bring into focus issues of epistemology, ontology, corporeality and subjectivity. When the four animal roles engage the three dialectics, connected yet varied themes emerge. The cyborgian animal is simultaneously liberated and regulated, assisted and restricted, integrated and isolated. The cloned animal is an emblem of renewal and loss; she is both idealized code and material flesh and finds herself caught in the battles of nature and nurture. The chimera is both rebel and conformist; his unusual juxtapositions pioneer radical corporeal transgressions but also conform to the mechanisms of global capital. And the shapeshifter explores the thrill and anxiety of an altered phenomenology; she gains new perceptions though unstable subjectivity. These roles x reveal corporeal adjustments and unfamiliar subjectivities that inspire the creative practice. Both my writing and making employ an ambivalent aesthetic—an aesthetic approach that evokes two or more incompatible sensibilities. The animal's uncertain status contributes to this aesthetic: some animals enjoy remarkable care and attention, while others are routinely exploited, abused and discarded. Ambivalence acknowledges the complexity of lived experience, philosophical and political debate, and academic inquiry. My approach recognizes the light and dark of these complex ambivalences—it privileges paradox and embraces the confusion and wonder of creative research. Rather than erase, conceal or resolve ambiguity, an ambivalent aesthetic foregrounds the limits of language and representation and highlights contradiction and irresolution. xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Human, Animal and Machine Interactions Contemporary cybernetic systems mingle hardware and software in complex digital ecologies. These responsive systems were once inspired by biological mechanisms.1 After developing into sophisticated hardware-software configurations, cybernetic systems have returned to their biological roots. The methods and tools of information technology now underpin the fields of molecular biology and biotechnology. The most idealized biotech projects perceive biological materials as something similar to digital media. Organic matter becomes plastic and replicable2 and flesh is programmable. Donna Haraway notes: …communication sciences and modern biologies are constructed by a common move—the translation of the world into a problem of coding, a search for a common language in which all resistance to instrumental control disappears and all heterogeneity can be submitted to disassembly, reassembly, investment, and exchange.3 For the body to become a medium, its internal mechanisms need to be defined as fundamentally informational.
Recommended publications
  • Subcultural Appropriations of Appalachia and the Hillbilly Image, 1990-2010
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2019 The Mountains at the End of the World: Subcultural Appropriations of Appalachia and the Hillbilly Image, 1990-2010 Paul L. Robertson Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Appalachian Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Other Film and Media Studies Commons © Paul L. Robertson Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5854 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Robertson i © Paul L. Robertson 2019 All Rights Reserved. Robertson ii The Mountains at the End of the World: Subcultural Appropriations of Appalachia and the Hillbilly Image, 1990-2010 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. By Paul Lester Robertson Bachelor of Arts in English, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2000 Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies, Appalachian State University, 2004 Master of Arts in English, Appalachian State University, 2010 Director: David Golumbia Associate Professor, Department of English Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia May 2019 Robertson iii Acknowledgement The author wishes to thank his loving wife A. Simms Toomey for her unwavering support, patience, and wisdom throughout this process. I would also like to thank the members of my committee: Dr. David Golumbia, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Emotions That Facilitate Language Learning: the Positive-Broadening Power of the Imagination1
    Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz SSLLT 2 (2). 193-213 http://www.ssllt.amu.edu.pl Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power 1 of the imagination Peter MacIntyre Cape Breton University, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada [email protected] Tammy Gregersen University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, USA [email protected] Abstract The imagination is powerful, in part, because of the emotions that can be activated by imagining future states. Imagined future states are a key fea- ture of the L2 self-system proposed by Dƅrnyei, and emotion may be the key to the motivational quality of the imagined future self. In particular, this pa- per focuses on positive anticipated and anticipatory emotions related to language learning. It is argued that, in general, positive emotion has a dif- ferent function from negative emotion; they are not opposite ends of the same spectrum. Based on the work of Fredrickson, we argue that positive emotion facilitates the building of resources because positive emotion tends to broaden a person’s perspective, opening the individual to absorb the lan- guage. In contrast, negative emotion produces the opposite tendency, a nar- rowing of focus and a restriction of the range of potential language input. This article draws a framework for finding a balance between the positive- broadening and negative-narrowing emotions in the language classroom, 1 Authors’ note: This research was facilitated by a grant from Cape Breton University. We would like to thank Jillian Burns for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ambivalence of Executive Power
    1 Introduction: The Ambivalence of Executive Power o understand the modern doctrine of executive power, we Tneed to know, at least approximately, what executive power is. It might at first seem best to go directly to the thing and to ignore opinions about it. For executive power is universally agreed to be a modern necessity: why, then, should it be pre­ sented as a modern doctrine? No modern state is considered a going concern unless it is equipped with a strong executive, and every state without one is held to be courting disaster, and re­ garded with pity and contempt by those more fortunate. Nor can the necessity of executive power be dismissed as an unconscious assumption which, being universal, goes unchal­ lenged. It is challenged, but never successfully. Even though the assumption regarding the necessity of executive power is univer­ sal, there are always some and sometimes many living under free governments who grumble about strong executive actions they find distasteful. They deplore and oppose them as the practices of tyranny, calling them by one of the many contemporary equiv­ alents for that term which our prudery requires and our experi­ ence makes very familiar. Yet the protestations subside soon enough as if in recognition of necessity, unless indeed the tune is changed and a clamor begins for strong executive actions which the formerly disapproving now find beneficial. The necessity of a strong executive has, therefore, been tested by those to whom it has not been obvious. Those who speak against it either fall silent or contradict themselves. So to present executive power as 1 ...
    [Show full text]
  • Spencer Brisson Bagley Gómez Carlos Reber Crossley
    RATED CROSSLEY REBER CARLOS GÓMEZ BAGLEY BRISSON SPENCER 0 0 3 1 1 $4.99 US T+ 3 7 5 9 6 0 6 2 0 1 3 3 4 BONUS DIGITAL EDITION – DETAILS INSIDE! Years ago, as a high school student, PETER PARKER was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained the proportional speed, strength, and agility of a SPIDER, adhesive fingertips and toes, and the unique precognitive awareness of danger called “SPIDER-SENSE”! After the tragic death of his Uncle Ben, Peter understood that with great power there must also come great responsibility. He became the crimefighting super hero called the Amazing Spider-Man! PART THREE Things have never been worse for Spider-Man as five different teams of villains are after him! There’s Doc Ock’s SINISTER SIX, Beetle’s SINISTER SYNDICATE, Foreigner’s WILD PACK, Vulture’s SAVAGE SIX, and Boomerang and the SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN! It’s all happening at mysterious villain Kindred’s graveyard, where he plans to punish Spider-Man for perceived sins. Spidey stands alone against thirty villains. NICK SPENCER BRIAN REBER with ANDREW CROSSLEY | colorists VC’S JOE CARAMAGNA | letterer and ED BRISSON BRYAN HITCH ALEX SINCLAIR | cover artists writers and MARK BAGLEY, JOHN DELL, and BRIAN REBER [Connecting Variant]; MARK BAGLEY, CARLOS GÓMEZ, DAVID BALDEÓN and ISRAEL SILVA; CARLOS GÓMEZ and MORRY HOLLOWELL; and ZÉ CARLOS JEFFREY VEREGGE | variant cover artists pencilers ANTHONY GAMBINO | designer LINDSEY COHICK | assistant editor NICK LOWE | editor C.B. CEBULSKI | editor in chief ANDREW HENNESSY, ANDY OWENS, SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE and STEVE DITKO JOHN DELL, CARLOS GÓMEZ, and ZÉ CARLOS inkers SINISTER WAR No.
    [Show full text]
  • (“Spider-Man”) Cr
    PRIVILEGED ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED LICENSE AGREEMENT (“SPIDER-MAN”) CREATIVE ISSUES This memo summarizes certain terms of the Second Amended and Restated License Agreement (“Spider-Man”) between SPE and Marvel, effective September 15, 2011 (the “Agreement”). 1. CHARACTERS AND OTHER CREATIVE ELEMENTS: a. Exclusive to SPE: . The “Spider-Man” character, “Peter Parker” and essentially all existing and future alternate versions, iterations, and alter egos of the “Spider- Man” character. All fictional characters, places structures, businesses, groups, or other entities or elements (collectively, “Creative Elements”) that are listed on the attached Schedule 6. All existing (as of 9/15/11) characters and other Creative Elements that are “Primarily Associated With” Spider-Man but were “Inadvertently Omitted” from Schedule 6. The Agreement contains detailed definitions of these terms, but they basically conform to common-sense meanings. If SPE and Marvel cannot agree as to whether a character or other creative element is Primarily Associated With Spider-Man and/or were Inadvertently Omitted, the matter will be determined by expedited arbitration. All newly created (after 9/15/11) characters and other Creative Elements that first appear in a work that is titled or branded with “Spider-Man” or in which “Spider-Man” is the main protagonist (but not including any team- up work featuring both Spider-Man and another major Marvel character that isn’t part of the Spider-Man Property). The origin story, secret identities, alter egos, powers, costumes, equipment, and other elements of, or associated with, Spider-Man and the other Creative Elements covered above. The story lines of individual Marvel comic books and other works in which Spider-Man or other characters granted to SPE appear, subject to Marvel confirming ownership.
    [Show full text]
  • Mixed Feelings: the Case of Ambivalence
    Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Mixed feelings: the case of ambivalence 1 2 Iris K Schneider and Norbert Schwarz Mixed feelings come in many forms. We focus on mixed Attitudinal ambivalence feelings resulting from conflicting evaluations of a single Attitudinal ambivalence refers to the simultaneous occur- attitude object, that is, attitudinal ambivalence. Research on rence of positive and negative implicit or explicit evalua- attitudinal ambivalence has led to specific measures that tions of a single attitude object [3–6]. Ambivalence has assess the presence, intensity, and resolution of ambivalence, been documented for a wide range of stimuli, including shedding new light on underlying dynamics and moderators. abortion, organ donation, euthanasia [7], contraception This work has also spawned an interest in the metacognitive [8], minority groups [9], food [10,11], labor laws [12], experiences of conflict that arise from ambivalence and their tobacco [13], and consumer products [14–16] (for over- downstream consequences for judgment and choice. Because views, see Refs. [17,18,19,20]). On a neurological level, research into mixed emotions may benefit from these attitudinal ambivalence is associated with increased acti- conceptual and methodological developments, the current vation in the anterior cingular cortex [21,22], an area article provides an introductory overview of attitudinal associated with conflict monitoring processes [23]. ambivalence and its measurement. Ambivalence is distinct from uncertainty, because each of the two conflicting evaluations can be held with great Addresses 1 confidence [19,22,24]. It is also distinct from ambiguity, University of Cologne, Germany 2 where the attitude object cannot be interpreted due to University of Southern California, United States lack of cues [25].
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Emotion from Mouse Cursor Motions: Affective Computing Approach
    Cognitive Science (2017) 1–49 Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0364-0213 print / 1551-6709 online DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12557 Reading Emotion From Mouse Cursor Motions: Affective Computing Approach Takashi Yamauchi, Kunchen Xiao Department of Psychological and Brain Science, Texas A&M University Received 1 March 2016; received in revised form 5 July 2017; accepted 22 August 2017 Abstract Affective computing research has advanced emotion recognition systems using facial expres- sions, voices, gaits, and physiological signals, yet these methods are often impractical. This study integrates mouse cursor motion analysis into affective computing and investigates the idea that movements of the computer cursor can provide information about emotion of the computer user. We extracted 16–26 trajectory features during a choice-reaching task and examined the link between emotion and cursor motions. Participants were induced for positive or negative emotions by music, film clips, or emotional pictures, and they indicated their emotions with questionnaires. Our 10-fold cross-validation analysis shows that statistical models formed from “known” partici- pants (training data) could predict nearly 10%–20% of the variance of positive affect and atten- tiveness ratings of “unknown” participants, suggesting that cursor movement patterns such as the area under curve and direction change help infer emotions of computer users. Keywords: Mouse cursor motion analysis; Affective computing; Choice reaching trajectory; Emotion
    [Show full text]
  • The ABC of Ambivalence: Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Consequences of Attitudinal Conflict
    ARTICLE IN PRESS The ABC of Ambivalence: Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Consequences of Attitudinal Conflict Frenk van Harreveld*,1, Hannah U. Nohlen*, Iris K. Schneider†,{ *Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Social Psychology Program, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands †Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA { Department of Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1Corresponding author: e-mail address: [email protected] Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. What Is Ambivalence? 3 3. Ambivalence and Attitude Strength 4 4. Consequences of Ambivalence 6 4.1 A: Affect 6 4.2 B: Behavior 14 4.3 C: Cognition 19 5. The ABC of Ambivalence 25 5.1 Objective ambivalence causes negative affect when both evaluative components are accessible and conflict ensues 25 5.2 Affect influences cognitions 26 5.3 Affect influences behavior 27 5.4 Cognition influences objective ambivalence and affect 27 5.5 Behavior influences affect 28 5.6 Putting it all together 28 6. Discussion 29 References 33 Abstract In a world where individuals are continuously exposed to information, the experience of ambivalence has become an intricate part of human existence. Recently, the conse- quences of ambivalence have been the subject of considerable research attention. In this chapter, we provide an overview of this research and present the ABC (Affect, Behavior, Cognition) model of ambivalence that integrates recent insights into the affective, behavioral, and cognitive consequences of ambivalence. This research shows when and why ambivalence leads to negative affect and that this affective response is Advances in Experimental Social Psychology # 2015 Elsevier Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • CHRONIC PAIN, ANGER, AMBIVALENCE OVER EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION & INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS a Thesi
    CHRONIC PAIN, ANGER, AMBIVALENCE OVER EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION & INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton _____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Psychology (Clinical) _____________________________________ By: Purnima Jain Approved by: Barbara Cherry, Department of Psychology, Chair Jennifer Trevitt, Department of Psychology William Marelich, Department of Psychology Summer, 2017 ABSTRACT There is growing research interest in studying the role of ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) and anger in adjustment to symptoms of chronic pain. The present research involved studying the mediating effect of AEE between anger and chronic pain in a target sample of patients with FM, and the interaction between intrusive thoughts and AEE in predicting pain. Participants completed standardized measures of AEE, pain, and anger. The variables age, duration of FM, depression, and pain disability were controlled for their effects on the outcome variable of pain magnitude. The present thesis had statistical analyses based on 21 female participants with FM with a mean age of 52.62 with an average of 12.77 years of diagnosis with FM. Correlation analyses showed that there were significantly positive correlations between: anger and pain, AEE and anger, AEE and pain. However, there was no significant correlation between intrusive thoughts and pain or intrusive thoughts and AEE. Baron and Kenny’s model of mediational analysis (1986) and Olkin and Finn’s test of mediation (1986) were used to test the relationship between AEE, anger, and pain. Olkin and Finn’s test of mediation revealed that AEE mediated the relationship anger and pain.
    [Show full text]
  • Resolving Ambivalence and Tipping the Balance Toward Change
    Resolving Ambivalence and Tipping the Balance Toward Change Doug Kleintop Leslie Stapleton Review of Workshop #1 – Switching from a Problem-focused to a Strength-based Approach Strength-based Problem-focused approach approach People have the capacity to Helping is focused on learn, grow, and change. problems and their causes. The attention is on strengths The person being helped needs “fixing.” rather than deficits. The helper is an expert with The participant is seen as the skills to identify what needs to director of his or her life. change and find solutions. The partnership between the Individuals are viewed through case manager and the the “filter” of the agency – its participant is a catalyst for language and requirements. discovering strengths and mobilizing resources. All environments, even the most bleak, contain supports and resources. Review of Workshop #2 – Coaching to Motivate and Build Solutions A coaches role is to support and assist Express empathy Develop discrepancy Roll with resistance Support self-efficacy Solution-oriented strategies to respond to resistance Core value of respect Listening for values Where Are We Headed? Strategies for Change Talk Techniques to Resolve Ambivalence and Build Motivation Partner exercise Giving Information and Advice Resolving Ambivalence Signals of change: When you see a participant weighing the pluses and minuses of a possible change Your goal: • Prompt a commitment to change • Use what you know about their values or find out more Ambivalence Defined Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. - Jim doesn’t want his kids to take the bus so he drives them to school everyday, which makes him late to work and causes him to lose his job.
    [Show full text]
  • Workshop 1: Principles of Motivational Interviewing
    BASIC VOLUME Elements of Drug Dependence Treatment Module 2 Motivating clients for treatment and addressing resistance Basic counselling Special Principles of skills for drug considerations motivational dependence when involving interviewing treatment families in drug dependence treatment Workshop 3 Principles of motivational interviewing Training objectives At the end of this workshop, you will be able to: ► Understand the nature of motivation as it influences behavioural change ► Understand the role of the clinician and the patient/client when using motivational strategies for behavioural change ► Understand the Stages of Change Model and be able to identify a minimum of 3 components ► Identify a minimum of 3 principles of motivational interviewing An introduction to motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change Motivating clients: Definition Motivational interviewing is a client-centred style of interaction aimed at helping people explore and resolve their ambivalence about their substance use and begin to make positive changes. 6 In other words… Many people who engage in harmful substance use do not fully recognise that they have a problem or that their other life problems are related to their use of drugs and/or alcohol. It seems surprising… That people don’t simply stop using drugs, considering that drug addiction creates so many problems for them and their families. 7 However… People who engage in harmful drug or alcohol use often say they want to stop using, but they simply don’t know how, are unable to, or are not fully ready to stop. Understanding How People Change: Models ► Traditional approach ► Motivation for change 8 Traditional approach ► Change is motivated by discomfort ► If you can make people feel bad enough, they will change ► People have to “hit bottom” to be ready for change ► Corollary: People don’t change if they haven’t suffered enough 9 Traditional approach If the stick is big enough, there is no need for a carrot.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Ambivalence, Shame and Guilt: Perceptions Regarding Termination of Pregnancy Among South African Women
    EDITORIAL Of ambivalence, shame and guilt: Perceptions regarding termination of pregnancy among South African women Termination of pregnancy (TOP) for health or other With regard to the question ‘What were your thoughts after the reasons is an emotive and contentious issue, steeped in procedure?’, ambivalence was again a common theme. Regarding the context of a political, moral and religious climate. respondents’ experience of the actual procedure, the theme of For most women, the decision to have a TOP is not ambivalence was once again prominent. Negative feelings about the easy, regardless of the reason. While early literature[1-3] experience were mainly personal feelings of guilt and shame and supported the notion that that there is little in the way of negative pain. Many women expressed surprise that there was so much pain, sequelae following TOP, more recent long-term studies[4-6] have suggested and wished that they could have been offered more pain relief, while that negative sequelae may be more common than was previously others believed that they ‘deserved’ to be experiencing pain. Positive thought. Risk factors for the development of negative sequelae include the feelings were those of relief, feeling supported and happy, and feeling attitude projected by those providing the procedure (negative attitudes that they were treated well in a non-judgemental environment. It was of providers tend to promote emotional sequelae in women undergoing important that they were managed in a safe environment, that the TOP), previous psychological/psychiatric history (associated with higher treating person was sympathetic and that they were told what to rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression[6] following expect and how to relax.
    [Show full text]