Dear Shalom,
All four pieces you posted on the current situation in Israel were excellent, and lead me to wonder how psychologists might distinguish between Attenders and Distractors in this situation. If Michelle Smilowitz's students felt calmer after not watching the gruesome videos, does this mean that they were all Distractors who had unfortunately been coerced into watching by their friends, or would this approach also work for Attenders? Wouldn't Attenders need to watch these videos to maintain their calm? (That seems to be the case for several people I know, though personally I prefer to minimize the amount of exposure I have to this material.)
A quick turn to Dr. Google reveals that "children characterized as distractors who were provided with guided imagery tolerated more pain than did either distractors or attenders who were provided with ..." (Shaw et al, Textbook of Pediatric Psychosomatic Medicine). Apparently, Distractors, who are forced to pay attention in the right way, will cope better than those who instinctively distract or attend, so clearly, the picture is more complex than it appears at first and the educational models that Julie Joseph mentioned will need to take this into account.
May we know more peaceful days,
Meshulam
Meshulam Gotlieb, MA
Academic Translator and English-Language Editor
Member of the Israel Translators Association
www.MGtransed.com
