Psychology – All The World’s A Stage "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his +me plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.” Jaques, Act II, Scene VII, As You Like It, Shakespeare. Introduc8on As the great bard in.mated, psychology touches all aspects of all ages all around the world. Life is dynamic and as we grow as individuals our psychological experiences and unique needs con.nually evolve. Our psychological profile depends on our genes and the environment we find ourselves in. Whether we are a child with dyslexia, a soldier returning from war or entering our last years with the possibility of demen.a, the discoveries and approaches made through psychological research can have a striking part to play. Infant At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; Nothing can be more important than geCng a good start in life. Since groundbreaking reward and punishment learning research in the 1930’s psychologists have been informing strategies to guide the way we teach and nurture our children1. Whether it be via Supernanny on the television, health visitors in paren.ng clinics or educa.onal psychologists in preschools, psychology’s focus on our children is of paramount importance. School-­‐boy And then the whining school-­‐boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school. Reading is a cri.cal life skill but some find it frustra.ng, non-­‐sensical and slow. Acceptance of dyslexia as causing difficul.es for otherwise intelligent children has fundamentally changed the approach of educators2. Tailored teaching by educa.onal psychologists, using scien.fically tested methods, has enabled many children to succeed in school3 when a genera.on ago they might have been wriOen off as stupid, inaOen.ve and disrup.ve. Lover And then the lover, Soldier Then a soldier, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrow. full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking the bubble reputa+on even in the cannon's mouth. New brain scanning techniques are opening up the mechanics of our emo.ons. Neuroscience research has iden.fied areas of the brain thought to play a role in emo.onal regula.on and found unusual func.oning in these areas in depressed people. Permanent inser.on of electrodes in these areas has provided relief for severely depressed, treatment resistant pa.ents4. As depression is predicted to be the 2nd highest cause of disease burden in the world by 20205, such research will prove invaluable. Shell shock or Post Trauma.c Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a devasta.ng disorder with sufferers repeatedly and vividly re-­‐
experiencing trauma.c events. 19% of US soldiers returning from Iraq suffered PTSD6. Psychologists are taking these soldiers back to war using virtual reality programmes to expose them to, and help address their fears6. This cogni.ve behaviour therapy is now being used to prepare soldiers in advance and has been shown to protect against PTSD6. Jus8ce And then the jus+ce, in fair round belly with good capon lin'd, with eyes severe and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances; and so he plays his part. Pensioner Old Timer The sixth age shiMs into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, with spectacles on nose and pouch on side; his youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide for his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, turning again toward childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound. Crime and violence are daily news but the work of forensic psychologists is o_en misunderstood. They work closely with police, lawyers, prison services and defendants. They iden.fy suspects using offender profiling, provide mental capability reports to courts, engage in rehabilita.on programmes and advise on risk to the public on release of offenders7. Here psychology plays an expansive role in protec.ng the sanc.ty of “safe” society whilst protec.ng and rehabilita.ng the criminals themselves. As we age, remembering to do things is fundamental to being able to go on living independently. Psychologists have explored why our memory for everyday tasks such as taking medica.on, washing and ea.ng regularly deteriorates. Research into cogni.ve ageing has elucidated why different tasks may be recalled more easily than others8 and how ac.vely voicing inten.ons can improve remembering9. Such research allows us to be safer and healthier in our own homes for longer, with benefits to us, our families, society and the NHS. Last scene of all, that ends this strange evenNul history, is second childishness and mere oblivion sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” Dignity at the end of our days seems liOle to ask for. With 80 million people worldwide expected to be suffering from demen.a by 204010 achieving dignity for all involved is a challenging task. At a current cost of £8.2bn a year to the NHS and social care, demen.a is a government priority and overprescribing of drugs is now being challenged11. Psychology is researching, evalua.ng and encouraging psychosocial therapies for pa.ents and carers, allowing us to hope that more of us will maintain our dignity un.l the end. Psychology has many facets, some of which have been explored above. It is clear that it plays a lead role in research and innova8ve treatments, making psychology an indispensible part of our everyday lives, as we like it. 1. Pearl, E. (2009). Parent management training for reducing opposi.onal and aggressive behavior in preschoolers. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 14, 295-­‐305. 2. Iden.fying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficul.es, An independent report from Sir Jim Rose to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families June 2009. 3. SEN Guidance, Pupil Support & Access: Inclusive Schooling – Children with Special Educa.onal Needs, Statutory Guidance, Nov 2001, DfES/0774/2001. 4. Mayberg, H.S., Lozano, A.M., Voon, V., McNeely, H.E., Seminowicz, D., Hamani, C., Schwalb, J.M. & Kennedy, S.H. (2005). Deep brain s.mula.on for treatment-­‐resistant depression. Neuron, 45(5), 651-­‐660. 5. Brown P. (2001) Effec.ve treatments for mental illness are not being used (editorial). The Bri+sh Medical Journal, 323, 769. 6. Wiederhold, B.K. & Wiederhold, M.D. (2008). Virtual Reality for PosOrauma.c Stress Disorder and Stress Inocula.on Training. Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilita+on, 1(1), 23-­‐35, 7. What do forensic psychologists do? www.bps.org.uk/careers accessed Oct 2010. 8. Craik, F.I.M. (1986). A func.onal account of age differences in memory. In F.Klix & H. Hagendorf (Eds.) Human memory and cogni+ve capabili+es. Pp. 409-­‐422. North Holland: Elsevier. 9. McDaniel, M.A., Einstein, G.O., Rendell, P.G. (2008). The puzzle of inconsistent age-­‐related declines in prospec.ve memory: A mulitprocess explana.on. In M. Kliegel, M.A. McDaniel, & G.O. Einstein (Eds). Prospec+ve memory: Cogni+ve, Neuroscience, Developmental and Applied Perspec+ves (Ch. 7). Abingdon: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 10. Facts on Demen+a, www.alzheimers.org.uk accessed Oct 2010. 11. Quality outcomes for people with demen.a: building on the work of the Na.onal Demen.a Strategy, Sept 2010, Department of Health. Artwork: Seven Ages of Man, reproduced with kind permission of the ar.st, David Gifford. Brain scan image – student’s own. Wendy Jephson BSc Psychology University of Reading