FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[What's Burning?]

ZA... that you managed to read all of this bilateral drivel and remain objective, you are indeed a cut above.

[Hammer278]

I think Roth did an online course on those topics.

[CookinFlat6]

I hope you have pscyhchology training Zurich, you will need it to decipher the answer if there is one

[zurich_allan]

I hope you have pscyhchology training Zurich, you will need it to decipher the answer if there is one

I don't have a specific psychology qualification, no. However when I did my undergraduate law degree I took and passed psychology modules as my optional subjects. In my PhD thesis I cover a significant amount (circa 30,000 words) on how the environment affects human behaviour, so spent about 6 years researching many issues of psychology at postgraduate level, and all of that was part of the reason I was successful in moving from law to social sciences as a lecturer about a year ago where I now lecture criminology and victimology (whilst still lecturing law and working in the area of law for two other universities other than my own).

So I would consider psychology to be a major area I'm experienced and involved in - yes.

[What's Burning?]

Below is a snippet form something I'd read, you might find this interesting, or know a bit about it already, NASA did quite a bunch of testing on the Mercury mission astronauts. I laughed out loud at the part in bold.

Following the physical testing, the candidates were subjected to an extensive psychological exam at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is Dayton. This second phase of the selection process consisted of elaborate environmental stress tests, physical endurance tests, anthropometric measurements, and psychiatric studies. As with the physical exams, skepticism reigned among candidates. Stress tests administered in controlled environments were, as Deke Slayton pointed out, a poor indication of a candidate’s reactions to stress compared to his combat flight records. At the time of his psych exams, Slayton had flown combat missions and operational and test flights for seventeen years. That he was alive ought to have been a sufficient indicator that he could handle himself well in stressful situations. (Above, Wally Schirra has cold water pumped in one ear so doctors can measure the effect this has on his balance. The sensation induces nystagmus, an involuntary movement of the eyes. The glasses allow the doctors to see this reaction.)

The testing took roughly 30 hours per candidate and was designed to determine not only which men could withstand the psychological stresses and pressures anticipated from spaceflight, but also why these men wanted to go into space in the first place. Where they interested in personal gain? Taking risks? Did they have a death wish? The perfect astronaut was one who possessed enthusiasm and willingness without recklessness. Mental stability was an absolutely necessary train in an astronaut. The tests were designed to profile the candidates in three main areas: personality and motivation, intellectual function and special aptitudes, and reactions to stress tests

Full article

[CookinFlat6]

So Zurich, in your semi professional capacity, would you care to furnish us with an opinion of whether there is a case for claiming Lewis alone, actually lets keep it simple, that Lewis has a mental weakness that affects his day job as a race driver that Nico categorically doesnt have? Is there evidence that Lewis' ability as a driver is more affected by stress than Nicos.

The evidence for the defence is the last 2 races (lets forget career etc) and the evidence for the lynch mob, sorry for the prosecution is the quali results for the last few races as well as his recovery drive when he made contact with Button?

You may recess to consider

[zurich_allan]

So Zurich, in your semi professional capacity, would you care to furnish us with an opinion of whether there is a case for claiming Lewis alone, actually lets keep it simple, that Lewis has a mental weakness that affects his day job as a race driver that Nico categorically doesnt have? Is there evidence that Lewis' ability as a driver is more affected by stress than Nicos.

The evidence for the defence is the last 2 races (lets forget career etc) and the evidence for the lynch mob, sorry for the prosecution is the quali results for the last few races as well as his recovery drive when he made contact with Button?

You may recess to consider

My answer to that is quite tricky. One of the areas I'm heavily involved in currently is 'Life Course' theoretical modelling. This basically is all about a number of combined factors such as psychology, sociology, environment, economics etc. Effectively what I would argue is that none of these factors, especially someone's psyche are 'static'. An individual's psychological makeup will change due to environmental factors and situations at a given time. This is why I don't particularly like labels being placed on people on a long term basis. I don't believe that 'criminals' need always be 'bad', and I don't think that people with certain (not all) mental disorders should always be labelled as 'nuts'.

Psychologically people could be affected due to loads of issues in F1, change (of team, of mechanics, of team mates etc.), how they perceive themselves within an organisation, how they are perceived external to that organisation, past treatment, success, failure etc.

What I don't personally see in Lewis is any recurring tendency or giveaway that he has a specific psychological weakness. All I see are what appear to be within the normal range of responses to given situations.

[zurich_allan]

Actually - realised that all of that might have been a bit 'babbly' - to summarise - I don't think it's possible to discuss an individual's behavior using psychology alone, so any evaluation that uses only psychology as a basis of argument is fundamentally flawed.

[CookinFlat6]

Thank you Mr. Allen

1 more thing while we have an esteemed expert witness at hand;

What could be a reason for a non qualified mental health commentator to persist with a claim of an ongoing and permanent mental handicap compared to his teammate ( or any other driver) despite a plethora of contradicting evidence and indeed despite a procession of several different witnesses speaking for the defence and despite the lack of provision of any evidence for the prosecution beyond the curcumstantial?

[Hammer278]

Holy sh*t dude you're reminding me of Ron Dennis.

[CookinFlat6]

Holy sh*t dude you're reminding me of Ron Dennis.

dont stress Hamms, just listen out for the words 'guilty' and 'to be taken to a place of public execution' and 'by the neck'



No!!!!! I take that all back, knowing Zurichs scrupulousness and fairness, he will throw the case out as I have predjudiced proceedings

I am sure Roth will find the humour in our kangaroo court what with being an Aussie in all
and I hope Putin is taking notes here

[What's Burning?]

This place never ceases to entertain!

[racechick]

Here's a take on the team orders fiasco from F1 fanatic. It also lists all the pit to car comments around the time of the team order. It was Lewis' engineer asking him to pull over. That's surely a bit off for the relationship between them?

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/07/29/m ... ng-sunday/

[What's Burning?]

Fantastic read RC, especially the line with Lewis hinting right back to his engineer that his tires weren't going to last the entire race either. Pretty brilliant retort for a guy that's "not as sharp". i hear that before but didn't make full sense of it until it was put into context here.

Mercedes made a mistake and Nico made himself look quite a lot more like Vettel than Senna when he's thinking about how his "WDC" will be perceived by his adoring fans.

[Hammer278]

Awesome read, I made a mental note to look out for this article after every race from here on in.