Malcolm Gladwell always writes interesting stuff. I like the way he thinks through topics of
interest. Of course, after reading his
book, “What the Dog Saw,” I have to be careful about making generalizations and
assuming I know what’s going on in his mind!
Gladwell examines the ways people are always trying to
figure out what other people are thinking.
He gives many scenarios: the TV
infomercial guys, tastes in ketchup, investment risks, the Pill, the “Dog
Whisperer,” and many others. Each one is
an opportunity to explore how any topic, situation, or person can be seen from
more than one viewpoint. Sometimes the
most obvious conclusion, the “common sense” conclusion, is actually an
incorrect one. Errors of this type especially
apply to generalizations, decision-making and understanding each other.
We make generalizations when we see a pattern and assume
that pattern applies every time.
Gladwell points out that generalizations are not reliable if there is an
unstable relationship between the category and the traits you are looking
at. Huh?
He gives pit bulls as an example.
Many people believe that pit bulls should be banned because of their
reputation for attacking people. But the
category (pit bulls) and the trait (viciousness) are not always associated with
each other, and police records show the vicious trait
expresses more in different breeds in different years. It turns out that viciousness is more a result
of the owner personality and the owner/dog relationship. Our generalization was faulty.
Sometimes our generalizations are correct to begin with, but
become faulty because of unseen changes over time. Maybe a resident is very independent and, because
of this, always tends to be agitated during activities of daily living (ADLs) and refuses to come out for
group activities. Can we assume this
generalization is always true? What if
this month the resident has an undetected injury, maybe a spontaneous fracture,
and is in significant pain? The trait of
resisting activities or help with ADLs will still be present, but for a
different reason.
Activity professionals, due to the nature of our jobs, are in a unique position to notice things that other staff might not. Many times I’ve had a resident tell me about pain they were suffering. Had they told their nurse, I ask? “No,” they say with a shrug. So we continue to try to figure out the residents’ thought processes. And, bless their hearts, they try to figure out ours. What a challenge!
Activity professionals, due to the nature of our jobs, are in a unique position to notice things that other staff might not. Many times I’ve had a resident tell me about pain they were suffering. Had they told their nurse, I ask? “No,” they say with a shrug. So we continue to try to figure out the residents’ thought processes. And, bless their hearts, they try to figure out ours. What a challenge!
© Donna Stuart, ADPC
June 27, 2014*
Gladwell, Malcolm. What the Dog Saw. New York:
Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group, 2009.
*This article first appeared on the Metrolina Activity Professionals Association Facebook page on 6/27/2014.
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