A Listening Review of Podcasts Episode 107: Freud, Positive Tests ... and Poetry and Episode 182: Gamification

The fields of clinical and counseling psychology are very appealing to me. This is mainly the area that I would like to work since I would get to work with people. Working as an administrator or in program development and evaluation is not as appealing to me because they sound more like desk jobs and would not allow me to actually interact with clients. I particularly find counseling psychology to be of interest. Something that I found to be particularly interesting was the fact that a Substance Abuse Counselor is one of the only require an associates degree to start in the field, although certification is required at that level and a bachelor’s level (Kuther & Morgan, 2012, p. 24). I would have assumed it was just like any other sort of counseling job and would require graduate level education. However it makes sense that with the strong need for those willing to work in this field that they would offer more opportunities to enter the field.

The first podcast that I listened to was Episode 107: Freud, Projective Tests and …. Poetry. This podcast deals with projection and what it means in the real world. This is a common, everyday occurrence in that we put our assumptions and feelings onto others, which may not always be correct. In the podcast, Michael Britt read a poem titled “How It Will End” by Denise Duhamel about an older couple that are watching a fight between another couple and projecting their problems onto the fight they are watching (2009). This is a common thing to do and we are all guilty of it on occasion. It was also discussed how projection tests have been used in research to determine if a person has a fear of failure, based on how they described the events of an ambiguous picture and where they stood to throw darts (Britt, 2009). This can be considered a hot topic because the results themselves are dependent on a person interpreting what they mean. So in actuality, the person conducting the test may actually be projecting their thoughts and feelings onto those participating. This makes it a hot topic since it could be creating answers based on faulty information. For example, say a psychologist makes a diagnosis of a patient based on the results from a Rorschach test and no other diagnostic tool (although this is very unlikely to happen in real life, it is still a possibility). This could create a false diagnosis since it is possible that the particular patient was just having a bad day. Essentially what the podcast was saying is that projection test can offer some insight, but they are also jeopardized by the fact that someone is in charge of interpreting the results (Britt, 2009).

The second podcast I listened to was Ep 182: Gamification – An Example of How To Do It. In this podcast, Michael Britt discuses the principles of gamification, which is using the basics of games i.e. rewarding, levels, competition, and having a goal, to create motivation (2012). A good example of how this can be applied to daily life is the way some people may motivate their children. In some instances, a parent may create a level system where if a child reaches the top level on a color chart, that child may receive a reward like candy or a new toy. This system could be dependent on a child’s good behavior, cooperation, and performing chores. My brother and his wife use such a system to motivate their kids to get along and help around the house. Each child starts on the lowest level of the chart, red, and by following directions, being helpful, and getting along with siblings, they are moved up a level. There are four levels that correlate to a color, red is the bottom, then orange, followed by yellow, and then green is on top. The child has all day to reach green and if she does, she receives a special treat (usually a few extra minutes of story time before bed). In this system, a child can only move up, so instead of being punished for bad behavior, she is being rewarded for doing the right thing. A great example of a hot topic for gamification, is the yearly Monopoly game that McDonald’s does. During this time, people are more likely to go to McDonald’s in hopes of collecting all the game pieces to win a new car, a vacation, or the huge money prize. Even if a large prize is not won, there are plenty of small food prizes to be won, which brings people in to try again. The problem some people see with this game is that it promotes the over consumption of foods that are very unhealthy.