Dr. James Husen, Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Attorney, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

             Grice (1975) wrote that effective human discourse must be cooperative (p. 46). He called it the Cooperative Principle. This principle informs good communication. Grice described cooperative discourse by breaking it down into four constitutive factors: “Quality, Quantity, Relation, and Manner” (Ibid).              Hesse (1999) succinctly defined these four features of collaborative discourse as follows: Quality—be truthful, and have evidence for what you say. Quantity—be succinct, and yet complete. Relation—be relevant to the topic at hand. Manner—be clear and orderly. (p. 404).              Grice (1975) called Quality a “supermaxim” whose emphasis upon truth includes by implicature to never promote a known falsity. He also called "perspicacity" a "supermaxim" of cooperative communication. By which he meant on the positive side that cooperative communication involves joining what is said with what is meant or what one intends to say in wa

Wikipedia points out that pleiotropy "occurs when one gene influences two or more seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiotropy#Etymology). I like the word because it describes a dynamic I see in Toastmasters -- a great organization that helps people become better communicators and leaders. With Toastmasters you learn how to communicate and lead in a safe and supportive environment. This enables you to practice and learn communication and leadership skills in a place that promotes growth and encouragement. As you grow in the group it becomes pleiotropic because it begins to improve your relationships and performance outside the Toastmaster meetings into your work, family and other involvements. So I encourage you to join a local Toastmasters and give it a shot. You'll probably begin to see pleiotropic communication and leadership skills in not just one but several areas of your life. You are encouraged to come visit the Lemon Str

Ever wonder why your kids are smarter than you were at their age. I have and I think the Flynn Effect offers something of an explanation. According to Flynn, if people took IQ tests standardized to today's children, they would receive a score of about 70 (which would result in their being categorized as intellectually disabled (2 standard deviations below the mean). On the other hand, children on average today would be considered geniuses with a score of 130. Flynn (2014) att ributed this phenomena to a growing ability to take hypotheticals seriously--an ability which he points out enable moral development https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vpqilhW9uI Others have explained the Flynn effect as a symbiotic effect upon brain structure and function in the interactive interface between brain and artifacts/technology such as books, internet, computers and so forth (Forsythe, Liao, Trumbo & Cardona-Rivera (2014, pp. 140-142)--"the google effect". References Flynn,

Stress, Cognitive Reserve, and Dementia I've been studying the importance of taking time to engage in leisure activities that improve or contribute to your cognitive reserve (CR, Scarmeas, Levy, Tang, Many & Stern, 2001, p. 2240). These include "reading, visiting friends or relatives, going to movies or restaurants, walking, and going on excursions" all contribute to cognitive reserve (Ibid). CR represents the brain's capacity to cope with stress and injury ensuring on going functionality especially as we age (Stern, 2006). This psychophysiological ability of the brain and mind to cope and work around the wear and tear of stress becomes increasingly important as we get older and the prevalence of dementia and cognitive decline dramatically increases. I'm disappointed though. I hoped binge watching television and lying sedentary while eating ice cream, chips, and drinking beer might be healthy. They're not on the list. However, watching televi

Posture Deescalates Stress & Promotes Enthusiasm and Strength: The Power of Embodied Cognition               A recent study demonstrated that taking an upright posture promotes genuine feelings of enthusiasm and strength and simultaneously assists in overcoming fear, hostility and other negative emotions. Posture appears to be a relatively easy to control behavior that can almost instantaneously improve your emotional mood. The study compared 39 upright posture keepers with 35 randomized slumpers.     (Nair, Sagar, Soller, Consedine & Broadbent, 2015, p. 634)               The authors call the results of their study an addition to the existing literature on “embodied cognition” See also, Kraft and Pressman (2012) which found that smiling “can influence both cardiovascular and affective responses to stress.” (Nair, Sagar, Soller, Consedine & Broadbent, 2015, p. 638)   (Kraft & Pressman, 2012, p. 1374)               Embodied cog