29th March 2018: Psychology and Behaviour Modelling Meetup by Leon Paterson

Come along to Cabaret Voltaire (36-38 Blair St, Edinburgh, EH1 1QR), doors open at 6.30pm and the talk starts from 7pm. Come along for a bite of food, a chance to socialise and get involved in a discussion on psychology and behaviour modelling…

Table of Contents

Title of talk:

Psychology and Behaviour Modelling Meetup

Bullet points of what you would like to talk about:

Come along to this highly interactive psychology meetup event. No previous knowledge necessary just a sense of curiosity and openness to engage with others.
Each meetup we will explore a specific topic of human behaviour that has been widely researched and experimented upon.
There will be a formal introduction of the subject as well as opportunity for you to share your ideas and knowledge of this topic area.
Then through a number of explorative tasks and mini experiments we will have a chance to test out the subject matter for ourselves.
This process can involve working with others in small groups, or sharing in a guided group exploration.

A few paragraphs on your subject:

The first week’s topic -“We only see what we want to see” – Reality is a construct of our experience.

There are a number of different psychology experiments in which people fail to notice apparently obvious alterations to a scene. People switch places, pictures are manipulated, all without the unwitting subject’s knowledge. In these experiments it is claimed a large part of what we notice is not the raw sensory information in front of us. But a construct based on our model of the world (of what we expect to see there).
So does this sort of response only happen in psychology experiments?
Another way to explore this subject matter is to consider how we make sense of our everyday experience. A common phrase “glass half empty, glass half full” is often used to describe the different ways people measure the world. The person (subject A) who notices the glass half empty is measuring what’s not there. The person (subject B) who notices it half full is measuring what is there. So although the amount of liquid inside the glass is the same, subject A and subject B are measuring it differently. There are lots of ways we can potentially investigate our everyday measuring of the world, some of which we will test.
People’s sense of reality can also be affected by their beliefs about what kind of world we live in. Someone who believes in conspiracy theories may notice and interpret the world as a dark and fearful place. They can become suspicious of mainstream news and dismissive of hard factual evidence. For example there has recently been a resurgence in people who believe the earth is flat. This may seem ludicrous given the scientific evidence. But serves to demonstrate how people can interpret the world as they see and believe it to be.
If you’re a flat earther, or just curious or want to get involved in this new, intriguing, interactive meetup. We look forward to sharing ideas and more with you.

A few paragraphs about you:

Leon Paterson lead systemic psychotherapist and personal development coach/consultant at Changease psychotherapy, counselling and personal development. Leon has over 10 years experience training and practicing in the most up to date therapy and personal development approaches in behavioural science.
As a trainer he has provided training and development programmes to organisations such as Citizen’s advice. He is currently running transformational workshops which are available to the public.

What free internet knowledge resources would you recommend to others if they wish to explore your chosen theme further?

What are your weblinks?

Website – changease.co.uk
Facebook – www.facebook.com/changease.co. uk/
Public Email – [email protected]