Empathy is the key to unlocking the door to compassion
Contemplation, one line a day.Towards a more humane society, an empathic society.
Blindsight
Blindsight is the neurological phenomenon that challenges our understanding of human consciousness and perception. It occurs when individuals with damage to the primary visual cortex of the brain, the area responsible for conscious visual awareness, demonstrate a surprising ability to respond to visual stimuli despite claiming to be blind. In blindsight, sensory modalities are not limited to the subjective experience of seeing; instead, they encompass the brain's ability to process visual information and use it to guide behavior, even when the individual is not consciously aware of the visual input (ie: you have vision if your brain can use visual signals to orient behavior.) This challenges the traditional notion that vision is solely defined by conscious visual experiences. In blindsight, the brain can still receive and process visual signals, allowing individuals to navigate their surroundings, detect objects, and even respond to visual cues, all without the conscious experience of seeing.
In the realm of blindsight, the dichotomy between subjective experience and functional ability becomes apparent. Despite the individual's assertion of being blind, the brain's ability to process visual information allows for subconscious recognition and response to visual stimuli. Studies have shown that patients with blindsight can accurately guess the location, movement, and even emotional expression of objects and faces they claim not to see consciously. Blindsight highlights the complexity of sensory processing, suggesting that perception involves multiple layers of neural processing beyond mere awareness. The brain, in cases of blindsight, can extract valuable information from visual input and integrate it into motor responses and decision-making processes, demonstrating that vision transcends the confines of conscious experience. Blindsight challenges our conventional understanding of vision by emphasizing the importance of the brain's ability to interpret sensory input and use it to shape behavior, underscoring the intricate interplay between sensory modalities and cognitive processes in the human brain.
Stims and Multisensory Integration
In the context of multisensory integration, autism stims or self-stimulatory can be understood as a way to manage and regulate sensory input from their environment. Multisensory integration refers to the neurological process where the brain combines information from different sensory systems to form a comprehensive understanding of one's surroundings. For autistics, this integration process can be atypical, leading to unique sensory experiences and responses.
Understanding Stims in Relation to Multisensory Integration:
Implications for Support and Intervention:
Understanding Stims in Relation to Multisensory Integration:
- Compensating for Sensory Processing Differences: Autistics may experience hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to sensory stimuli. Stims can be a method to either dampen overwhelming sensory input or to seek additional stimulation to compensate for under-responsiveness.
- Creating Predictable Sensory Experiences: Repetitive behaviors, such as rocking or hand-flapping, provide a predictable and controllable sensory experience in a world that can often feel unpredictable and overwhelming. This predictability aids in multisensory integration by providing a constant sensory feedback loop.
- Facilitating Focus and Concentration: For some, engaging in stimming behaviors can enhance focus and help filter out extraneous sensory information. This self-regulation can aid in better integrating relevant sensory inputs.
- Self-Soothing and Emotional Regulation: Stimming can be a way to calm oneself in response to sensory overload. It serves as a mechanism to regulate emotional responses that arise from difficulties in processing multisensory information.
- Enhancing Sensory Discrimination: Certain stims may help autistics to differentiate between different sensory inputs. For example, tactile stims like rubbing textures might help in focusing on specific tactile sensations amidst a confusing array of sensory data.
- Aiding in Social and Communicative Functions: In a social context, stimming might assist autistics in managing the multisensory complexity of social interactions, such as processing visual, auditory, and spatial information simultaneously.
Implications for Support and Intervention:
(THIS AREA IS STILL NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD & VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS)
- Personalized Sensory Environments: Creating environments that take into account an individual's specific sensory processing needs can reduce the necessity for stimming as a compensatory mechanism.
- Sensory Integration Therapy: In theory this therapy is supposed to help autistics develop better skills to integrate and process multisensory information, potentially reducing the reliance on stimming behaviors for sensory regulation. But there is a lot of confusing and conflicting information about what exactly constitutes SIT.
- Educational and Behavioral Strategies: Incorporating multisensory learning and behavioral strategies that align with an individual's sensory preferences can enhance their ability to process information from multiple senses simultaneously.
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Philosophy v Psychology
Philosophy and psychology share intertwined histories yet represent distinct approaches to understanding the human experience. Philosophy, the ancient and foundational discipline, explores profound questions about existence, reality, knowledge, and ethics. Philosophers engage in abstract reasoning and critical thinking to analyze concepts, often delving into debates about consciousness, morality, and the nature of reality. Philosophy operates on a theoretical level, focusing on conceptual exploration and reasoning. Throughout history, philosophical inquiries laid the groundwork for the study of the mind and behavior, providing the philosophical underpinnings upon which psychology would emerge.
In contrast, psychology emerged as a separate scientific discipline in the late 19th century, building upon the philosophical inquiries of earlier scholars. In the 19th century, figures like Wilhelm Wundt and William James are often credited with establishing psychology as a separate discipline. Wundt, for instance, founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, where he conducted experiments to study the elements of human consciousness. James, in the United States, wrote the influential book "The Principles of Psychology" in 1890, which helped establish psychology as a formal academic discipline.
In contrast, psychology emerged as a separate scientific discipline in the late 19th century, building upon the philosophical inquiries of earlier scholars. In the 19th century, figures like Wilhelm Wundt and William James are often credited with establishing psychology as a separate discipline. Wundt, for instance, founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, where he conducted experiments to study the elements of human consciousness. James, in the United States, wrote the influential book "The Principles of Psychology" in 1890, which helped establish psychology as a formal academic discipline.
Rooted in empirical observation and experimentation, psychology employs rigorous scientific methods to study human thought, emotion, and behavior. Psychologists use experiments, surveys, and observations to gather data, aiming to understand the underlying mechanisms that govern human actions. While philosophy contemplates abstract questions, psychology employs empirical evidence and data-driven approaches to explore topics such as perception, memory, and social behavior. Despite their shared historical roots, philosophy and psychology represent distinct methodologies—one characterized by theoretical inquiry and abstract reasoning, the other by empirical investigation and scientific observation.
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