Psychological Profession’s General Status – 21-22 June 2023 -Rome
The Psychology is preparing for facing needs of the current society in more effective way. After the meting in Florence: towards an idea of integrated health “biological, psychological and social systems”, it has been organized a further meeting in Rome: “the general status of the psychological profession”.
I follow the issue with great attention either as psychologist or as teacher. Of course, first of all I am a teacher, but because it seems almost sure the psychologist’s presence in school, it should be necessary teacher and psychologist would work on parallel paths in order to contribute to get the same goal: the child’s cognitive-behavioural process as prevention and/or care for psychological disturbances. For that the decisions taken by CNOP are very important for the school as well.
Unfortunately, as already I said in my previous article published June 6 2023, the psychology and the education system/school disagree with the starting point of the common process. The psychology starts from the emotion (top-down), the school from the proprioception/perception of him/herself and the perception of the external world (bottom-up); then, through the passage from objective to subjective (consciousness’ s biological basis, correlation between cognitive and psychological process) it comes to emotion as the biological theory of the mind states. The latter was published by me “la motricità, dall’oggettivo al soggetttivo nel processo cognitivo e riabilitativo” Florence – (2008).
A this point it is necessary to highlight the following: “The neuroscience accept a theory about the emotion on condition that it gives an explanation about the correlations between cognitive and physiological process”. (Eric R. Kandell – 2003). Right this my theory demonstrates.
The current psychology rejects and accepts, at the same time, my biological theory of the mind; that is: it leaves out the phase which generates emotion, but it accepts the passage from objective to subjective in order to justify the correlation between biological-psychological process. Also, it accepts and applies attachment’s theory by J. Bowlby (1969). In accordance with the latter the subject copies/imitates caregiver’s behaviour in virtue of the trusted relationship established between them; that is: it leaves completely out the phase which causes/builds the self, as well as mirror neuron’s theory leaves out the phase which causes their firing. In conclusion the current psychology relieves the subject from his decisional role and it relegates him to simple spectator/executor. On the same principle is based the current psychological therapy and the artificial intelligence too.
In this ambiguous background it is difficult to find out the scientific evidences in order to justify the relationship between cognitive and physiological process, therefore, the presence of the psychology on the idea of integrated health which should see joined together biological, psychological and social systems. In Florence (21-22 May 2023), a proof was made through the olfactory system (see my article).
The current psychology notices the gap. Also in this meeting, we can find the same attempt in the scientific evidence’s panel (Rome 22 June 2023). Concerning this, the slide below reported, is very significative; it gave me perplexity. For these reasons, I photographed it for analysing it together.
In the upper part of the slide we can read: “the solitude has significant effects on the brain”. But if we read the lower part of the slide, inside the green bend, we read the data are referred to research’s stress as a response to long Antarctic expositions. The new England Journal of Medicine was the publisher (December 2019).
The speaker, in accordance with the current psychology, took into consideration the phenomenon/top-down not the cause. Arbitrarily, he compared the mental state of negative solitude to the stress due to a long Antarctic expositions. If we examine the causes: the stress is caused by a harmful, external stimulus: a long exposition to cold in this case, to which the human body reacts as a defence by climatic changes of the external environment. The solitude is a subjective, mental condition which depends on proprioception, self confidence and perception’s social relationship, it can also be negative or positive one.
For these reasons, the scientific evidences the speaker looked up on the slide above reported are improper, arbitrary and not only, certainly they do not justify the scientific evidences that he will demonstrate.
Once again the current psychology is scientifically unable to demonstrate the relationship between cognitive and physiological process, biological and psychological. For that it cannot be considered a science, it can not be included in an idea of integrated health and even less in school as a social system.
The questions we can ask are the following:
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Why does the current psychology reject bottom-up’s phase of the biological theory of the mind? Firstly it demonstrates the correlation between biological and psychological process (consciousness’s biological basis); it is utilized in robotic rehabilitation even if its maternity is silent (I am the author).
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Which are the detriments for users? In the clinical field it prevents an effective and lasting recovery of patience’s psychological disturbances, on the educational field, it upsets the educational process and promotes the development of a frail individual, easy to be influenced. In the last analysis, it opens the route to psychological troubles that, on the contrary, it should prevent.
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Which are the obstacles for research? The discovery of Autism’s causes, for example. (see my talk in New york 10-11 Avril 2023).
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Which are the advantages? Only the politics can get advantage, a blinded politics which looks at profit in order to avoid obstacles to get power.
A further observation I must do about psychologist’s deontological code, (a matter faced in this meeting).
Among four ethic principles it is firstly named:” respect and promotion of the rights and dignity of the persons and animals. In particular, the psychologist works to promote freedom, independence and psychological well being, towards the subjectivity of any person, group or community”.
As a consequence of what we have above deduced, the behaviour suggested to psychologist can not be defined either scientific or ethic. For that, I maintain a psychology understood in this way is harmful both in school and society.
Note well: persons and animals have the same dignity, according to the psychologist’s deontological code.