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Robert Leopold Spitzer the 80 year old retired professor of psychiatry and psychology renowned as an architect of the modern classification of mental disorders and the champion of a ‘gay cure’, now apologizes for the ‘fatally flawed’ study. Spitzer states ”From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question. …There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid. I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals.”

 

Inspired by Paul Harris ow.ly/b7pPY image source sfist ow.ly/b7pJV

Jonah Lehrer the 30 year old American author and journalist who writes on the topics of psychology, neuroscience, and the relationship between science and the humanities has been profiled by Paul Harris for The Guardian in an article titled ‘Jonah Lehrer: the prodigy who lights up the brain’. Harris states of Lehrer “He brings an artist’s skill to the latest research in neuroscience, making him a huge success at only 30. Now his latest book aims to demystify the workings of creativity… He strives to link art and neurology: how chemical reactions within three pounds of squidgy grey matter inside our skulls actually make us love, laugh and lead our lives. That sounds profound and much of Lehrer’s writing is full of wondrous examples of brain and art colliding and collaborating. He shows how writers and painters pre-empted the insights of neuroscience; how different parts of our brains battle with decisions; how creativity is not simply a God-given gift to a lucky few but can be understood, learned and nurtured. But his goal is not without its critics. Where some see Lehrer as a genius, others might see him repackaging plain old common sense in fine prose. It is something that is a risk of the field.”

 

Inspired by Paul Harris http://ow.ly/aS6Ul image source Twitter http://ow.ly/aS6Qd

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