3.2 Consciousness of the body Phenomenological theorists distinguish between the subjective body (as lived and experienced) and the objective body (as observed and scientifically investigated). These are not two different bodies as such (phenomenologists pride themselves on overcoming dualisms!); rather they are different facets of our experience and consciousness. The body-subject, or subjective body, is the body-as-it-is-lived. I do not simply possess a body; I am my body (Merleau-Ponty, 1962
3.1 Lived experience Phenomenologists seek to describe people's lived experience, meanings and consciousness (i.e. the way we perceive, think and feel). They focus on how bodies are experienced at a subjective and intersubjective (relational) level. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), an early existential philosopher, insisted on the primacy of the body, and resisted mind–body dualism, arguing for the unity of mind (or soul) and body: 2.3 Summary Mind–body dualism has been a pervasive problem since the seventeenth century. One consequence of this dualism is the way in which bodies have been treated in psychology. They have generally either been ignored or reduced to biology. However, our bodies are much more than simply biology; at the very least, they are the interface between the individual and the social world or, more radically, they are inherently social objects. There is growing recognition of the interaction between our bodie 1 Embodiment Behind your thoughts and feelings, my brother, stands a mighty commander, an unknown sage – he is called Self. He lives in your body, he is your body. (Nietzsche, 1961 [1883], p. 62) At first glance you might be curious about why we're including a unit on bodies, or rather embodiment – the process or state of living in a body – in relation to social psychology. The body has gen Learning outcomes By the end of this study unit you will be able to: demonstrate an understanding of fundamental aspects of the theory and methodology underpinning phenomenological psychology; critique simplistic mind–body, individual–social and agency–structure dualisms and appreciate how the body, self and society are interconnected; describe how phenomenological psychologists conceptualise the body. Introduction The body has traditionally been treated as a biological object in psychology. However, some psychologists believe there is more to our bodies than that as they recognise that it is through the body that we relate to other people and the world about us. This unit explores one particular theoretical perspective on embodiment: the phenomenological psychological perspective. This is an approach to psychology that acknowledges the social nature of embodiment, placing embodied experience centre sta Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licencelicence. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit: The content acknowledged below is Prop References 5.4 Summary of Section 5 Many familiar themes have re-emerged in this section, together with the recognition that attention is involved in the assembly of remembered material as well as of current perceptions. Attention is associated with the generation of perceptual objects. In addition to being an essential part of external stimulus processing, attention influences remembered experiences. ERP data show that cortical signals derived from una 5.3 Event-related potentials When a sense organ (eye, ear, etc.) receives a stimulus, the event eventually causes neurons to ‘fire’ (i.e. produce electrical discharges) in the receiving area of the brain. The information is sent on from these first sites to other brain areas. With appropriate apparatus and techniques it is possible to record the electrical signals, using electrodes attached to the scalp. The electrical potentials recorded are called event-related potentials (ERPs), since they dependably follow 5.1 Introduction Modern techniques for revealing where and when different parts of the brain become active have recently provided a window on the processes of attention. For example, one of these brain-scanning techniques, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has been used to show the behaviour of an area of the brain that responds to speech. It turns out also to become activated in a person viewing lips making speech movements in the absence of sound. For this to happen there must be connecti 2.3 Towards a theory of parallel processing When people are asked to guess about masked material, they are commonly able to provide some information, but it often lacks detail. For example, if participants in a Sperling-type experiment have recalled three letters, but are pressed for more, then they can often provide one or two. However, they generally do not know information such as whereabouts in the display the letters occurred, or what colour they were. These, of course, are exactly the kinds of detail that can be used to select it References 3.8 Summary Because the subject matter of psychology (ourselves and non-human animals) is complex and reactive, psychologists have to choose from amongst a wide range of methods. Psychologists make use of methods that aim to maximise objectivity; they also use methods that focus on and explore subjectivities and meanings. Depending on the topic they are researching, psychologists can choose to adopt an outsider viewpoint or an insider 3.7 Ethical considerations Since psychological research is mostly done on people and animals, it is often the case that the observations or experimental interventions that a psychologist might want to make have the potential to harm participants and hence raise ethical issues. Furthermore, consequences that might not be directly undesirable for the participants might raise more general ethical principles to do with moral standards and values. Psychologists have increasingly become aware of ethical issues and recognised Introduction How does the board of governors of a school work? This unit looks at the roles of Chair of Governors, Vice-chair and Clerk to the board and examines how the workload can be shared between the members. The governing body should focus on the quality and delivery of education provided by the school, not on daily management. 5.4.3 How to evaluate accessibility Accessibility guidelines and checklists can be used to evaluate a design or prototype. Despite the difficulties associated with the use of guidelines, they can be a useful tool for getting general insight into the accessibility of a website or system. As we discussed earlier, the main limitation of the use of guidelines or checklists is the fact that background knowledge of disability and assistive technology is required in order to effectively interpret and apply such guidelines. Once 5.4 Evaluating accessibility It is good practice to include evaluation in the development of any product or resource, but it is particularly important to evaluate accessibility because of the difficulties associated with the use of accessibility guidelines, described earlier in ‘Design guidelines and their limitations’. Accessibility can be evaluated in different ways. Testing with disabled users. Testing by accessibility experts. Asses 3.10.2 Other impairments There are people with a wide range of other impairments that are not covered by the above groups, but which may affect study. Some examples are listed below. People with diabetes may have reduced sensitivity in their hands. People with many different conditions may experience severe pain, which makes it difficult for them to concentrate on a task. People with mental illness may have a range of difficulties, including 3.10.1 Use of computers by dyslexic people In general, people with dyslexia may have difficulty reading, and may also have difficulty in composing and physically writing or typing their own work. This group can be supported by assistive technology for both input and output and they may use a range of software to assist them in reading and writing, depending on their particular needs. People who have difficulties with reading may use text-to-speech software that reads out text. For example, the screen readers used by visually impaired
