A Memorable Season

Robert Fettgather, PhD, joined Mission College in 1979 and continues to teach psychology courses as an associate faculty member. Robert Fettgsther holds advanced degrees in both psychology and educationIn his spare time, Robert Fettgather enjoys sports and the history of baseball.

The year was 1962- a special year for San Francisco Giants fans.

The 1962 San Francisco Giants were one of the most memorable teams in the history of the franchise. Led by the legendary Willie Mays, the team finished the regular season with a record of 103-62, which was the second-best record in the National League that year. They won a thrilling three-game playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to advance to the World Series, where they faced off against the powerful New York Yankees.

The Gians had exceptional hitting and pitching throughout the line-up. The Giants had a number of future Hall of Famers on their roster in 1962. In addition to Willie Mays, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, the team featured Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry. Marichal was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, winning 25 games that season and posting a remarkable 2.41 ERA. Cepeda was the team's cleanup hitter, driving in 142 runs and hitting 35 home runs, while Perry was a young pitcher who would go on to have a Hall of Fame career of his own.

But all that was not enough- the Giants ultimately fell short in the World Series, losing to the Yankees in seven games. However, their remarkable season and memorable playoff run are still celebrated by Giants fans to this day, and the team's many Hall of Famers are remembered as some of the greatest players in the history of the franchise and the sport as a whole.

Sensational

Experienced educator, writer, and counselor Robert Fettgather Ph.D. teaches general psychology and developmental psychology at Mission College in Santa Clara, California, where he serves as associate faculty. Robert Fettgather holds a BA in psychology from San Jose State University as well as Masters and Doctoral degrees.

What does an egg yolk have to do with it? Read on!

Sensation is the process by which sensory organs in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, and other tissues receive and detect stimuli. When sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor, then sensation has occurred. Perception focuses on the organization and interpretation of these stimuli within the human brain. These two work closely together to allow us to experience the world as coherent and meaningful. Of course, an Escher print (and other optical illusions) is one example of visual stimuli that challenges our ability to form a coherent perception. 

Cloud gazing invites our own projections. A first glance, at a cloud embodies a sensation associated with your sense of vision-a cloud is just a cloud! But after gazing for awhile your brain may organize what you see into a perception of a face or the silhouette of a dog. 

What is the relationship of sensation to perception? Think of it this way- sensation is input about the physical world obtained by our sensory receptors, and integrates with perception, the process by which the brain selects, organizes, and interprets these sensations. 

Let’s consider another example. Have you ever noticed how the “hum” of a computer or an appliance might be bothersome at first- and then you don’t notice the sound at all? A sensation becomes a tuned out perception. That phenomenon is referred to as habituation.

In addition to cultural and individual differences, perceptions can be influenced by perceptual sets or expectancies. One example of perceptual expectancy is top-down processing. This happens when an individual utilizes pre-existing knowledge to place certain features into an organized whole. If there is no expectancy to help organize information, a person might use bottom-up processing to build a complete perception by making sense of the smaller features piece by piece. In one well known experiment, subjects read the words FOLK CROAK SOAK. Then were asked, "what do you call the white of an egg?" That expectation tricked the subject into a wrong answer, yolk!

In The Cupboard: Toxins In The American Home

Robert Fettgather taught adults with developmental disabilities at Agnews Developmental Center from 1979 to 2005, focusing on language development, sensorimotor development, and independent living skills. Furthermore, Robert Fettgather volunteered with the Coalition for Elder and Disability Rights in Saratoga, California, where he spoke at conferences on elder and disability rights, and visited elders while providing family support. A writer, Robert Fettgather has received recognition for his work, including a Certificate of Recognition for Published Work from Santa Clara University in 1991.

We should all take a look at the content of cupboards throughout the home. The list of potential toxins might surprise you!

Our homes themselves can be sources of indoor pollution especially pressed-wood furniture, carpets, and vinyl fooring-again formaldehyde. Moving to the kitchen, that hallowed space for food prep often contains cookware with teflon and a myriad of plastric (not so good for health) containers.  Cleaning supplies may contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia, chlorine, and phthalates, which can irritate the skin, eyes, and your respiratory tract. Even Air fresheners and scented candles can contain benzene formaldehyde. Not so refreshing after all!

Water and food! Water is essential to our lives. It is wise to be aware of potential contaminants in water supplied to the home. EWG has a Tap Water Defense data base that can be searched by zip code. Grocery shop with care. Read labels. Avoid pesticides, especially the "dirty dozen". 

Household toxins can be a threat-in plain sight! Information and an in home survey with corrective measures can promote the health of our families. After all, our home  should be a "home sweet home"!

Talk Therapy

 

Dr. Robert Fettgather holds a PhD in psychology, master’s degrees in psychology and special education, and a bachelor of arts in psychology. Since 1980 Robert Fettgathere has served as an associate faculty member with Mission College, where his course offerings have included developmental and abnormal psychology, and general psychology. Robert Fettgather previously volunteered with the Coalition for Elder and Disability Rights, supporting the organization’s efforts to promote human rights for seniors and adults with disabilities. 

Talk therapy, otherwise known as psychotherapy, has evolved through the centuries into a more viable treatment option for mental illness. However, mental illness was not always considered a medical condition. 

In the Middle Ages, following the fall of the Roman Empire, mental illness was regarded as a supernatural problem; “to be touched by witchcraft” was how some described the condition. And people who exhibited symptoms were tortured and forced to confess. However, the Ancient Greeks recognized mental illness as a medical problem. They developed condition specific methods for treating mental disorders such as bathing for depression and blood-letting for psychosis. Paracelsus, a Swiss physician who lived during the Renaissance, found the idea of demonic possession - the explanation for mental illness in the Middle Ages - absurd. A dissonance- a lack of psychological harmony- between man and the society he lives in was a better explanation. Most importantly, Paracelsus believed in the ideas that would influence psychotherapy tenets: prescription instructions, persuasion, and exhortation. “Psycho-therapeia’ was introduced by Walter Cooper Dendy, a London surgeon, in his 1853 treatise, Psyche: A discourse on the birth and pilgrimage of thought. 

Two decades later, Daniel Tuke adopted the term “psycho-therapeutics” to describe the healing power of the imagination over the body, giving rise to the construction of mental institutions across the United States and Europe in the 19th century. Despite many of the methods employed by these institutions, including conversations between patients and staff in sober, structured environments, detached from the chaos of the cities, discharge rates were low while the number of intakes spiked. The inability to rehabilitate patients in these asylums drove further explorations of new forms of therapy. German physician Franz Mesmer was convinced that within the mind existed hidden forces. A professor of medicine, Hippolyte Bernheim, described his use of hypnosis to treat his patients as psychotherapy. Paul Dubois rejected this view of psychotherapy, adopting the term to describe his method of treatment, dubbed “rational therapy.” 

Elsewhere in Europe, the collaborative efforts of Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, and Josef Breuer, an Austrian physician and physiologist, laid the foundation for modern-day psychotherapy. The duo co-authored a book entitled “Studies on Hysteria” in 1895 and are credited with officially establishing psychoanalysis. Keeping memories or thoughts in the subconscious, Freud believed, was what caused mental illness. He also believed that listening to the patient while interpreting their words, bringing memories to the fore, improved the treatment’s success and reduced the symptoms. In their book, Studies on Hysteria, they described the Cathartic Method, which they had applied to a patient called Ana O (whose real name was Bertha Pappenheim). Subsequently, together they developed free association, the archetypical picture of psychotherapy where a patient is lying on a couch, discussing with a therapist. 

America’s psychotherapy scene became redefined by a wave of psychoanalysts who flooded the New World after the Nazi’s conquest of Germany in 1933. The trained emigres, including Heinz Hartmann and Erik Erikson, would modify many of Freud’s concepts. Columbia graduate Carl Rogers wrote the first of many books in 1939 which explored his approach to psychotherapy. Instead of a strict technique, he encouraged a free-form process. He preferred the term “client” to “patient” and created client-centered therapy. This form of therapy became first-choice among American psychologists and social workers after the war.

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