Newspaper Page Text
griffin daily news magazine
• His pockets full of form sheets, his head buzzing
with touted tips, the inveterate horse-player invari
ably builds up his confidence in his ability "to pick
’em” from the moment he plunks his money down
at the $2 window of his favorite racetrack. And his
confidence grows and grows until that moment of
truth when he hears: ‘‘They're off!"
Why horse-players continue to buck the odds
is the main theme of a scientific study made
by Robert E. Knox and James A. Inkster of the
University of British Columbia in ‘‘Journal of Per
sonality and Social Psychology,” as reported by
Trans-action magazine.
Knox and Inkster felt that the psychological
theory called "cognitive dissonance” held much of
the answer to why horse-piayers were so confident
despite their past performances of leaving more at
the track windows than they take away. This theory
sounds very "scientific” but it is no more involved
than figuring out a dopester’s sheet of racing Ups.
It states that one of the major motives of a person's
behavior is to reduce the psychological distress
caused by holding incompatible beliefs or pieces of
information. In other words, in trying to make up
his mind about which horse is going to win, a horse
player or anyone— makes a decision and then wor-
ries whether he made the right one.
To reduce this distress, the horse-player, as soon
as he puts his money down, begins to wonder why he
ever considered any other horse, and his selection
begins to look better and better to him.
Testing their theory at two racetracks, one in
Vancouver and one in Ladner, British Columbia,
Knox and Inkster interviewed horse-players going
to and from the $2 bet window (before the race,
of course). Players who had not yet bet their money
thought their choices had a fair chance of winning.
Those who had already bet thought their horses
had a good or even an excellent chance of racing
into the winners' circle.
Researchers were too busy totaling up their find
ings to see if all this confidence was well placed.
WHAT GIVES A » . . <7
HORSE-PLAYER W* J
/
• Is moonshining bad for mental health ?
"Moonshiners" (makers of illegal
whisky) may be able to elude “reve
noo" agents. But there is increasing
evidence that they cannot escape an
agent that exacts its toll — not in
taxes—but by sapping the mental
health of those who make and con
sume illegal alcohol.
Physicians practicing in the south
eastern U.S., where moonshining is
most prevalent, have been alerted to
watch for psychiatric symptoms in
patients suffering from lead ence
phalopathy, a brain disease caused
by chronic lead poisoning. Dr. James
C. Cheatham, of Chattanooga, Tenn.,
in a report to the Southern Medical
Association, said: "Apparently, the
lead contained in illiciUy manufac
tured alcohol is liberated as a result
of chemical reaction to solder in the
couplings of discarded auto radiators
used as condensing coils”—an inte
gral part of distilling apparatus.
Dr. Cheatham's report, according
to "Medical Tribune,” was based on
a continuing study that was begun
in April, 1967, and prompted by the
clinical impression that many heavy
2
!f L Jy fs— 1. •":•••- — <nnr
d Wi
V By
BIZ/
a?- ■*—
X •'■■Tafier-
zZ
/ V 11
y l 9
nB- > cjft 1
drinkers were victims of a charac
teristically acute psychiatric syn
drome, marked by confusion, dis
orientation, frequent convulsions,
and in some cases visual and/or
auditory hallucinations. These symp
toms, of course, are also present in
cases of lead poisoning that do not
involve alcohol at all. Chattanooga,
with its disproportionate incidence
of cases of lead poisonings, has *
proportionate number of plumbers,
painters, plasterers and other crafts
men whose occupation makes them
susceptible to lead poisoning.
One thing that does stand out
about his city, says Dr. Cheatham, is
that "Chattanooga is the focal point
in the manufacture and consumption
of illicit alcohol. White whisky is
imported for distilling in the volume
of some 5,000 gallons per week . .
Fortunately, treatment of con
firmed cases of lead encephalopathy
is effective. Medication promptly
administered induces the patient to
excrete his store of lead, resulting
in abatement of psychiatric symp
toms and distress.
• Should fear be shamed out of a child ?
Fear is normal with a child. It is
not something that he must over
come in a hurry. It is nothing to be
ashamed of and it should not be
shamed out of a child.
A boy, for example, who is afraid
of the water is sometimes tossed
into the shallow end of a pool and
soon the child learns to swim.
"But what of the others who
would never go swimming again?”
asks Jerome S. Fass, in “A Primer
for Parents” (Trident Press). "Who
is willing to make a judgment as
to how any fearful child is going to
react? I know I won’t. Better to
allow a child the time he seeks in
overcoming such a fear.”
Often the child who is rushed into
an attempt to conquer his fear of
water may not only retain a life
long fear of it, but he may also de
velop a deep-rooted sense of in
security, stemming from the feeling
that his parents cannot be trusted.
Every youngster should be made
to feel that his parents understand
that his being afraid is part of the
problems of growing up. He should
<c 1368, King Features Syndicate, Inc.)
sat, and Bon., Nev. S-3, 1968
not be forced to do the things he is
afraid of. If he does act fearful, it
is generally because his parents have
made him feel that way. It is up to
them to help him win back the sense
of security that they may have un
intentionally taken from him, or
help him acquire that feeling, if they
have failed to instill it in him.
"Some parents,” says Dr. Fass,
"feel as threatened when the child
shows some fear as they do when
he sucks his thumb or has some
other habit about which the parents
feel ashamed. The parents may feel
that it is a reflection of their own
poor parenthood, and worry that
others may see that there is some
thing wrong.”
Parents should try to encourage—
not force —the child to do the things
he is afraid of. But they should first
attempt to build up his confidence.
If they show their willingness and
their ability to protect him under
all circumstances, he may— at a
time set by himself, not his parent*
—learn that the things he fear*
won’t hurt him.