Sunday, May 1, 2011

Emerging Youth and Unemployment

Emerging Youth and Unemployment

By: Dr.Athiqul H. Laskar

Poverty and unemployment go hand in hand. Unemployment broadly refers to a state where a person is unable to find sufficient income-generating means in spite of having the physical ability and mental willingness to do so. This article examines the extent of unemployment, and under-employment in India and its effects on the psyche of the Indian youth.
The NSSO has defined ‘work’ or ‘gainful’ activity as the activity pursued for pay, profit or family gain or in other words, the activity which adds value to the national product. While complete unemployment means no job at all, under-employment means, lack of insufficient work that is barely enough to make ends meet. The Government of India has certainly taken up a lot of measures to combat the menace of unemployment. For e.g. the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) Scheme for Educated Unemployed Youth. This scheme has been designed to create employment for over a million people by the setting up of 7 lakh micro enterprises by the educated unemployed. Special focus was given by the government for the employment of the rural youth. The IRDP or the Integrated Rural Development Programme was meant to help farmers and the rural artisans below the poverty line to learn advanced skills necessary for converting their skills into income. The TRYSEM (Training of Rural youth for self-employment) was launched in 1979. Its major aim was to empower the rural youth by giving them technical training so that they could be self-employed along with the payment of a stipend during training. However in 1999, IRDP, TRYSEM and other such programmes were combined into one holistic programme known as Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana wherein 10% of the financial allocation is set up for the training of the ‘Swarozgaris’. However, what is worth studying is the actual amount that is utilized. Research has time and again demonstrated that in many such government schemes, the allocated money is either lost the maze of corruption or lies unused until the government decides to launch another scheme after the failure of the previous one.
The issue of unorganized nature of work creating insecurity among the workers is not new. The poor income groups cannot afford higher education for their children and thus their chances of employment in the organized sector are scarce. The unorganized or the ‘casual’ sector of work is highly exploitative and the workers in such industries work for low wages and many times in sub-human working conditions. Indian farmers, who form a major bulk of the rural workforce, work in the unorganized sector. The Urban workforce in the unorganized sector consists of contract based workers and those people who migrates from villages to the city in search of work and end up working as manual laborers or other such unorganized form of work. According to the CIA World Fact book, (Central Intelligence Agency-United States of America), in India in 2009 unemployment was growing at a rate of almost 10.7%. These are the official figures and may not include under-employment. Thus, actual rate of unemployment can only be higher than this figure.

Liberalization means more industries, more industries mean more jobs. How can unemployment figures rise in spite of liberalization? The answer is- liberalization demands a large scale, mass based mode of production. So heavy machinery replaces human resource and this is the major cause of post-liberalization unemployment. Machines beat man as far as mass production is concerned. Hence, while liberalization does create more jobs, an equal or in fact, an increasing number of jobs are lost every day. The downfall of the trademark Mumbai ‘Mill Culture’ illustrates this phenomenon. An example of how industrialization does not necessarily mean more jobs can be seen from the Washington based Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). According to this study, “the combined sales of the world’s top 200 MNCs is now greater than the combined GDP of all but the world’s nine largest economies. Yet the total direct employment generated by these multi-nationals is a mere 18.8 millions –one-hundredth of one percent of the global workforce.” (indiaonestop.com). Unemployment means no income for the individual and his family and hence the vicious circle of poverty-unemployment-poverty exists in our society. However poverty is not the only reason for unemployment in India. One of the most important reasons for unemployment is the colossal growth in the population. “India's labour force is growing at a rate of 2.5 per cent annually, but employment is growing at only 2.3 per cent. Thus, the country is faced with the challenge of not only absorbing new entrants to the job market (estimated at seven million people every year), but also clearing the backlog.” (indiaonestop.com). As a result of population explosion, the number of jobs created has always been less than the number of candidates qualifying for a post, thus increasing competition for one post. “In 1971, 2, 88,487 degree holders and technical personnel were unemployed or seeking jobs.” (G.D Sharma, 1976). In fact an analytical study conducted in 2004 by S Ray and Rattan Chand concluded that unemployment was the highest for the ‘graduate and above’ category. (Chand, 2004) Why is it that even after completing graduation some people could not get the desired job? On one hand there is increased competition and on the other, the present education system is highly unequipped to arm the students with industry-oriented skills. So, only those students who can convert the theory-oriented learning into practical skills stand a chance to secure a job in the organized sector. Other candidates inspire of completing graduation and other higher studies cannot secure high-profile jobs. After so much of education, settling down for a mediocre job may get on to their nerves and thus fill them with a sense of frustration. Some of these unemployed graduates might eventually be successful in getting part-time jobs or may start small businesses, but that might not be exactly what they had aspired for.

However a vast majority of these unemployed graduates who do not have the resources or the skill to start their own business may end up suffering from depression and many other similar problems in days to come. (Writer is a retired US Army Officer and former NATO Commander in Holland sector, athiqul16@yahoo.co.in)

Issues and concerns of youth

Dr.Athiqul H Laskar

Environment Of all the planets known to science and mankind, the most beautiful is the earth, we comfortably live on. The earth was created with perfect ecological balance. The primitive man did no harm to destroy the environment. There is a long distance from the primitive man’s era to the modern era of the twenty first century. When man became more civilized, he began to exploit nature. Exploitation in due course took the form of destruction to a great extent. Injuries inflicted by series of wars are scars on the earth. The earth is being damaged by man. Ozon layer is dangerously damaged. Water bodies are widely polluted. Disposal of nuclear waste is posing threat to health of human beings and the whole nature. Environmental protection is a subject of top priority of international organizations now.
While looking at the emerging world and the issues and concerns wrapping it, one can not be very optimistic and should not be pessimistic. Pessimism is a crime. Looking at the gloomy side of things is necessary for evaluation. But skipping the sunny side makes the onlooker a pessimist or negative character. Let us look at things with possible neutrality and least partiality.
Poverty:
The biggest concern of our times is gross poverty in certain parts of the world Namibia is a glaring example. Countries with lot of natural resources are not able to utilize it for the well being of the people. Cruel and Corrupt rulers who go after amassing wealth and enjoying comforts create hell for the people. The rulers and their families prosper. No means of living, no earnings, nothing to eat, falling health and no health care measures are visible signs of the miseries. Poverty and diseases have claimed millions of lives. Infants become skeletal and succumb to death for want of food and nutrition. Parents can not even bury the bodies of their offspring due to lack of energy to stand up. When things become the worst, the rest of the world know about it and send food supplies, medicines, doctors etc. to the suffering people. U.N. aids and aids from the developed countries helped to tide over such situations by minimizing the death toll. The same situation repeats with no durable solution for that. Bad governance, wrong policies, incorrigible and graft oriented fiscal system etc. are the stones which construct foundation for such unfortunate predicament of the people who do not enjoy even the natural rights animals have in their habitat - forests.
Peace under threats:
Threat to peace is an issue annoying all subjects, rulers, world leaders and international organizations. Palestine is a bleeding wound on the global body. Mind set of the majority of Palestinians does not favour war. When they are being repeatedly harassed, they will retort. Israel has the most intelligent people. One can not but wonder why they do not love peace. The Jews had suffered a lot in the hands of Hilter and Russians. They were wandering with out a land of their own. When they settled in the new Israel, they forgot their unfortunate past and lost empathy and sympathy which are the noblest qualities human beings have. The need of the hour is not truce and it is certainly peace. Who will make peace?

Unexpected developments:
Scandinavia consists of Norway, Sweden and Denmark which are considered to be welfare states. With vast national resources and less population, Scandinavia is free of major problems. Politicians/public men are answerable before Ombudsman and for that reason corruption is not at all a topic to discuss. In the midst of such a serene atmosphere, a Danish news paper published a cartoon to defame Prophet Mohammed. It was cruel. Islam is the religion of peace. Born in the desert, Islam suffered so much to survive. The prophet had to fight wars lead by his own clan-quereshis. The prophet exhorted his followers to be good human beings. There are a lot of peace loving people among Muslims. Surprisingly, a large section does not follow the preaching of the prophet or contents of holy Quran. Modern civilization was not widely acceptable to Arabs/Muslims. Turkey was the only country which kept in pace with Europe. Turkey became ultra modern and less religious. They have problems created by that. Bare materialism solves no psychological problems or issues related to sentiments.
Iraq is in grief after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Was he a tyrant? Answers are different from different points of view. He was a strong ruler but failed to make an amicable settlement among different sects of Muslims in his country. Kurdhs were always aggrieved and they did not conceal their hostility towards Saddam. Clan rivalry was a major threat to his regime. Democratic principles were not followed as Saddam was a ruler in uniform. Saddam will always be remembered as a ruler of strength and esteem. The serious flaw of his administration was war against Kuwait. It was not indeed war. It was callous trespass into the territory of Kuwait to usurp valuable wealth of Kuwait. Iraq became poor after protracted war with Iran. Kuwait was rich and the war was an impulsive misdeed or mishap. Due to that Kuwait was in ruins for some time. This particular political situation invited the pressure and presence of U.S. military in the Middle East. U.S. has no policy of going back from such places even if the turmoil ends. War against Kuwait paved a path for U.S. to unlawfully enter Iraq and gradually fight a war to topple Saddam’s Government and installs a pro U.S. Government. The story narrated on possession of nuclear weapons by Iraq was only to scare the world and mobilize support against Iraq. Fall of Saddam has not solved the problem of Iraq. Iraq has no peace. People live in fear. Thousands of people die in Bomb blast daily. The media report only a part of it. Iraq is unstable. Saddam was hanged in his own soil by a foreign power or their native agents. How cruel?
Iran is another country facing problems. International fora should objectively consider problems giving due weightage to issues involved. Attempts to incriminate Iran and deny the sovereignty vested in the people of Iran will not be welcome by peace loving people all over the world. When Iranians say that they have a right to be independent, who can object to it? Even if there are objections, it should be based on true state of affairs and with a motive to maintain peace. No one has right to force decisions on Iran. Iranians traditionally are good people. Problems began when islamic clergy began to decide rulers and issue fathwas. That period has ended. War with Iraq for nine years is a nightmare even today for the people in both the countries. How much of wealth was destroyed by the war? How many men died in the war? How many war widows had to be maintained by the state. Iraq and Iran could not heal all wounds of that old war, even in the twenty first century. All these give a message on the need for peace, durable peace. Iran’s ambition to be a nuclear power has to be in conformity with the principles and norms approved by international organizations.
Gorbachev’s rule ended with the disintegration of Soviet Union. Hard and fast rules with no consideration of human feelings can not solve problems. Chechnia is the best example before the world. Chechnians are being tortured fighting a war against them by Russians. But they refuse to yield and dare to fight. War has a bad odor. It spreads fast. It reaches places far away from the battle field and disturbs the sleep of innocent people who have nothing to do with the war. Chechnya disturbs the minds of all peace lovers.
Tibet for a long time is not a state of free identity. It is according to China, a Chinese territory and the Tibetans are traitors to their mother land. Who will come to the rescue of Tibetans? The problems faced by a section of Chinese who embraced Islam continue to be unsolved. When feelings run high, stubborn approaches fail to yield results. The Chinese are very clever, industrious and successful. But they lack soft skills for developing friendly relations with different sections of their own people. Tibetans are living in a state of exile scattered all over the world. A small section of Tibetans is living in different parts of India also. Tibet is representing the nagging pain of a helpless community. Dalai Lama is their spiritual leader and ruler in spite of attempts to unseat him even in exile.
Srilankan leaders are under the impression that they could exterminate LTTE. LTTE chose its end with atrocities committed with out second thoughts. Tamilians living in Jaffna and other parts are not enjoying human rights rather they are denied human rights. They are in distress. Third degree methods of Army, Para Military forces and Police have not spared even wage earners among Tamilians. LTTE was formed to fight injustice towards Tamilians living in Srilanka for generations. Tamilians live in Srilanka or the old Ceylon for nearly two centuries. Tamilians have played an important role in building up modern Sri Lanka. Tamilians never got adequate representation in the Parliament or Local bodies. Linguistic discrimination made them angry as well. Tamilian are very fond and proud of their mother tongue, Tamil. Tamilians are from Tamil Nadu, India. Mother tongue of Sreelankans, Sinhalese has its roots in Sanskrit, the language of civilization and great source of knowledge. It can be certainly inferred that Sreelankans had remote relations with India linguistically literally and culturally. No one bothered to find areas for agreement and harmony. Each group competed to find areas of difference and points for promoting hatred. Sreelankan Administration is not successful in settling ethnic issues and solving the human rights problems faced by Srilankan Tamilians.
Refugees from Srilanka living in Indian Camps narrate stories which would shear hearts of listeners. Insurgency, if relapsed, can take dangerous dimensions. No regime can boast of destroying all enemies or disarming all opponents. Rise of fighters against injustice occurs as a decision of history. It is a recurring affair any where, any time. Tamilians of Sreelanka are deserving humanitarian consideration and fair deal. Economy of Sreelanka is greatly in debt to these people. It is easy to precipitate things when sagacity is absent. To sort out problems and find lasting solution, wisdom and will to compromise are essential. Let us hope that wisdom will prevail up on Sreelankan leaders and they will put an end to the sufferings of aggrieved Tamilians of Sreelanka.
Bangladesh was created with great sacrifice of Indian Forces. Indian army fought with the Mukthi Bahini (Liberation Army) of Bangladesh to defeat Pak Army. Surrender of Pak Army was instrumental for the rise of Bangladesh. The family of Mujibur Rahiman, father of Bangladesh acknowledges the role of India in winning the war and creating their free nation. But majority of the people are not willing to accept this fact.
Hostility towards India is promoted by negligible groups who have vested interests. Flaws in the intelligence administration are giving room for terrorists to enter Bangladesh in disguise. In spite of lot of foreign aids, Bangladesh has not achieved the progress it should have achieved. Bangladesh has border with India on three sides. Poverty stricken people from Bangladesh cross the border and find a domicile in India illegally. It is not easy to identify all such trespassers because they speak Bengali in the same accent as people of West Bengal in India speak.
Pakistan was part of British India. Religion had no great relevance in British India. People from Calcutta to Peshawar and Kashmir to Kanyakumari lived under the oppressive colony rule of Britain; Religion had least importance in social affairs except the freedom to follow any religion. When freedom was on the threshold of India, Muslim leaders from the Sind region wanted a separate Muslim state. Against the will of Mahatma Gandhi, India was divided into India and Pakistan. Territories with vast majority of Muslim population formed the new state of Pakistan. Urdu speaking West Pakistan and Bengali speaking East Pakistan continued in disharmony till separation of East Pakistan and formation of Bangladesh.
Pakistan is in dispute with India on the issue of Kashmir. Recurring wars divided Kashmir into three parts, Jammu Kashmir in India, Pak occupied Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. The issue is not resolved. Pakistan’s logic is not true to facts. They feel that Kashmir has Muslim majority and therefore it should be part of Pakistan. History of the last century denies it. It is true that Kashmir has Muslim majority. It had a Hindu King till independence. The King did no harm to Kashmir and Muslims lived a peaceful life there. State of Hyderabad had Hindu majority. The state had a Muslim King called ‘Nizam’. There was no harm to Hindus. There are many other examples also. This is history and India has the largest Muslim population in the world. Pakistan encouraged terrorism and harboured terrorists. The commons of Pakistan have no peace. The internal situation is always tense. Bombs can blast any time and any where. Any one can be its victim. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhuto died in a bomb blast or sabotage. Pakistan and India spent a huge part of the revenue for war or defense. If there was no war or threats, both the countries would have progressed tremendously. India has a democratic government. Pakistan government is, I am afraid, subordinate to its armed forces. How far is peace from India and Pakistan? Maoists are gaining strength in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. It has disturbed the internal security of India. Maoists are functioning as outlaws. But the issues raised by them in respect of the needs of the have nots leading poor lives in the tribal areas and remote villages are very relevant. Forces or weapons can not solve their problems. Maoists can not be easily subdued by the man hunt operations of Police or Army.
Afghanistan is another example for the cold war between big powers. Afghanistan had a government supported and patronized by Russians. With its fall, clergy lead Taliban came to the helm of affairs. Defeat of Taliban brought in a new social atmosphere and Government. But Taliban would not accept the democratic government of Afghanistan. According to Taliban, Afghan government is a puppet government with U.S. behind the curtain. With out the presence of U.S. forces in Afghan, Taliban would have made it more bloody. Taliban claim to be fundamental Muslims who resists compromise with any kind of religious revisionism. Prophet Mohammed loved peace for the well being of his people and followers. He fought war when it was forced upon him. He never attacked any one. He only lead defence operations. He could have retreated. He knew that if he retreated, he would retreat to the sea shore and drown in Arabian Sea. That is why he had to fight. He was not a conqueror. He was a holy prophet deserving all reverence and honour. Let us hope that the life and messages of the prophet will throw light into the minds of people who are bent up on breaking peace.
Australia was a peaceful country. Now there are attacks against Indian Students by young Australians. Seats in Australian Universities are not filled by Australians. Only the elite among Australians are interested in education. Others are jealous to students from other countries who study and do part time work for financial support to meet the cost. Indians with the backing of their educational and professional background get good jobs and salary. This fact can not be digested by Australians in the lower strata. They wage war against foreign students especially Indians considering them to be enemies.
In Myanmar, peace is alien. Democratic forces continue to fail there. Any one who does not subscribe to the views of the regime has to stay home under house arrest or stay in a Prison. Things do not change notably well.
Thailand was doing well producing and exporting good rice and marketing Tourism. Of late, we are hearing the frightening sounds of gun fire and seeing blood stains in places including Bangkok. Peace is so much endangered and serenity becomes a dream.
Racism has not ended at all. Blacks suffer discrimination for traditional reasons and reasons of cultural gap. Obama’s elevation to the White House is a land mark in the social and political history. Even then the blacks are many years behind the whites in all walks of life. In African Countries also, the rich leads and the common black is far behind in the social race. In the U.S also majority of blacks are not a class with ambitions in life. They create a world of their own with all kinds of illegal and criminal tendencies.
North Korea and South Korea have started their fights again. A ship of South Korea was destroyed by a submarine of North Korea. U.S has promised its support to South Korea as usual. Asia has now more pockets of unrest than ever in the past.
Global Economic Crisis
Recession is the latest global concern. Economic crisis did not occur all of a sudden. Bad policies and executive idiocy lead big Corporations to grave yard. It started more than ten years back. The sudden fall of Enron Corporation was incredible. A company considered to be strong and wealthy with huge income collapsed to the surprise of the Corporate world. It was a warning to other corporations and banks. It appears that no one learned any lesson from the fall of Enron.
Management as a separate discipline was introduced after Peter Drucker. Before Peter Drucker also there were mentors of management. The conventional business man followed a very simple formula in business. Any business should earn more than it spends or spend less than it earns. If money is borrowed for business, it should be employed in such a way that there is sufficient returns to repay the loan and maintain the business with profit. This was a natural theory developed from the experience of businessmen of the sixteenth century. There were no text books available then to study techniques of management. Banks and big companies collapsed in U.S. The collapse can be attributed to sheer mismanagement. There is a principle that the net worth of a company can be calculated exactly only at its closure or collapse. A running company can create bad impression. Such impressions will not last. When the company is unable to pay dividents to the share holders, it means that it is the beginning of its end. Most of the companies which collapsed had a large staff structure with fat salary. It can be seen that no one assessed the income expenditure ratio. In zero based budgeting every expenditure should have a corresponding benefit. If there was no benefit, how did those companies incurred expenditure? The recession which began to show its teeth and nails in U.S, suddenly spread to other countries also. Thousands of people lost jobs. New opportunities were rare. People who lost jobs had to subsist with social security money paid an account of unemployment. There are countries like India where there is no system of paying social security money.
Gulf countries were forced to reduce workers and cut wages. All these created discomfort and alarm to workers and executives in the Gulf region. Any downward trend in the gulf region will reflect in India especially Kerala. Thousands of people from Kerala work in the gulf countries. Recession cuts jobs and wages. It leads to reduce confidence of work force and their dependents. The world is slowly recovering from the clutches of recession.
Injustice social, political and cultural invites resistance from the affected groups. Insurgency is a product of oppressive state measures and unbearable sufferings. Atrocities of the state open war fronts against it. Fair deal to all section of the society is an accepted principle of fair governance. The difference between capitalism and socialism has become negligibly thin. Capitalism cannot move with anti-labor policies and unending war with the working class. Similarly, socialism can not create a flat society with no difference in the life style of various groups. Life style is not dependant on income alone. Culture is the foundation on which life style is built.’
The greatest threat to mankind at present is terrorism. Difference in names or labels does not make terrorists superior or inferior. Terrorism is plaguing the global society. A large section of terrorist groups claim to be “jihadis”. Killing innocent people can not be called jihad. It is called massacre in the unkindest form. Cold blooded callous men’s fraternity for destruction and killing can not be any holy act. The so called jihadis are unholy sinners who do not get pardon. Attack on the world Trade Centre was indeed an invasion on the ego and esteem of U.S. U.S. is the only country with the strictest visa regulations. X ray of Chest, Neck, and Head are taken for close scrutiny to prevent impersonation by all means. Visa papers go through bottle necks for long period. There was no such lengthy procedures for student visas. Rich men or well funded persons could make holes in the iron curtain of U.S. by managing entry into U.S. in disguise. U.S. is more cautious now and has widened the net of intelligence direct or indirect in forms one can not easily imagine. Turning the World Trade Centre into Zero Ground was one of the cruellest acts the world has ever seen. Intelligence failure was the major cause. U.S. was always probing what happens in other countries. They saw developments in distant places and did not see what was happening around their feet, under their eyes. U.S. had a wild confidence that U.S. was not vulnerable and under perfect protection against any threat or fear. Failure in intelligence, failure in screening students of flying clubs, failure in airport security, failure in standards of Air Traffic Control etc. individually and jointly defeated the calculation of U.S. Enemies were inside the ship for long time. The Captain or his Adjutants never knew this. They knew the fact only after the ship sank to the sea bed.
Attack on the Indian Parliament Building and Mumbai, the industrial and economic hub of India, happened in the recent past. Terrorists are well founded, well funded and trained to work as suicide invaders with no fear for life. U.S. Embassies and Consulates all over the world are under threat. Allies of U.S. are also facing threats and risks. How to alleviate threats and fight terrorism is a big question before the world.
Somalian pirates are hijacking ships for ransom It is shameful that the big powers with powerful army, air force and navy are not able to check this. Are their Satellites blind? Disposal of nuclear waste is a boiling issue. Nuclear waste and solid waste from developed countries are shipped into poor countries. That does not solve the problem. Contamination has high speed. It can spread in seconds and reach distant destinations in minutes. It is necessary to find fair scientific ways to dispose nuclear waste.
The global community should gain strength to stand united to resolve the issues of poverty, hunger, diseases, covert fights, terrorism and threats posed by nuclear reactors/weapons. What is done here is only cataloguing issues and concerns. It should be debated widely with mass participation. The winners of losers are the people who are inhabitants of this beautiful plant “the earth”. Let us dream of a world with out terror and war. At present we are breaking the home we live in and cutting the branch we sit on. Let us hope that every one holds a branch of olive above his head and fly pigeons of peace to mark the opening a new era with less issues and serious concerns.

SEMESTER SYSTEM: IS IT A CHOICE OF COLLEGES AND STUDENTS IN NORTHEAST INDIA?

SEMESTER SYSTEM: IS IT A CHOICE OF COLLEGES AND STUDENTS IN NORTHEAST INDIA?
By: Dr. Athiqul H. Laskar

Since decades, the Indian education system has been under constant scrutiny by academicians, parents and students. Schools and colleges in India typically follow two systems for an academic year – the quarter system and the semester system. Both systems have their own set of pros and cons and it is at times up to the individual to decide which one to choose. In the following paragraphs, we shall explore the benefits and drawbacks of each system separately and analyze them in perspective of the education system currently followed in northeast India.
How does the semester system work? In the semester system, the academic year is divided into two large phases called ‘semesters’. Each semester is close to 15 weeks long with an extra week for finals. In this way, the academic year spans over 32 weeks. A student takes approximately 5 classes each semester and therefore, about 10 classes in a year. Students receive a set of permanent grades at the end of each semester and the two semesters in every academic year are separated by a summer and winter break, one of which is longer than the other.
Since a semester is lengthier than a quarter, students have more time to grasp their coursework. Classes are relatively slow-paced and this offers students ample opportunities to pursue extra-curricular activities and other interests if they wish to. This system works favorably for individuals who tend to procrastinate or prefer to study at an easy pace. However, if a student happens to dislike a particular class, he or she cannot change it till the end of the semester.
How does the quarter system work? The quarter system is far more fast-paced than the semester system as it comprises of an academic year divided into four quarters namely – fall, winter, spring and summer. Summer classes are usually optional and therefore, each academic year effectively constitutes of three quarters. Each quarter is about 10 weeks long with an extra week added for finals which means that the academic year is 33 weeks long (about as long as with the semester system). Students typically take three to four classes in each quarter which adds up to about 12 classes each year. The only advantage is that if a student does not like a class, he or she does not have to suffer with it for too long as classes finish earlier.
Since quarters are shorter in duration, classes are significantly compact and a lot of syllabus is covered in each meeting. This eventually means that a student is expected to grasp a lot of coursework in a short while and work harder to keep abreast with class work. Missing a class could cause a student to lag behind and face difficulties in coping up. Therefore, quarter system is quite challenging and demanding as compared to semester system. It virtually leaves the student with no extra time for extra-curricular and recreational activities.
The importance of making the right choice: When students make a switch from semester system to quarter system or vice-versa, they may experience difficulties in adjusting to the new pace of coursework and examination patterns. Choosing the right system for a student essentially depends upon individual personality traits and study habits. For instance, people who can deliver goods only under stress and pressure may find the semester system too laidback and may feel at their productive best in a quarter system. On the other hand, students who like to study for fewer hours in a day and involve themselves in other activities may find the quarter system to stressful. Here, a semester system would be the thing of choice. In this way, the choice of system greatly affects the productivity and output of a student.
Which system is recommended for NE India? In view of the current situation in northeast India, colleges would benefit immensely from the semester system. As we have already seen, the semester system allows for suitable proportioning of coursework so that students have the flexibility and freedom to modify their workload based on individual needs. Since continuous assessment is an important component of the semester system, students are motivated to work systematically and deliver consistent results. Students are able to achieve their academic goals in a better way and at the same time, learn to be self-reliant and disciplined. Professor Helmand Kumar Baruah, Senior Lecturer at Tangla College, Assam is strongly in favor of adopting the semester system for all colleges in the region. According to him, “Continuous internal assessment with more emphasis on abilities that are not vested by a semester examination forms an integral part of the system. It is, therefore, necessary to keep internal assessment and external semester examination marks/grades separate. Students have the opportunity to discuss their answers in all accepted tools of internal evaluation which adds to reliability. Periodical tests prepare students continuously for the final examination, thereby eliminating the fear of the unknown”.
Moreover, semester system is far more lenient with attendance requirements so that students have the freedom and opportunity to channelize their energy to subjects and classes that require more attention. The quality of communication between teachers and students is higher in a semester system as there is a lot of interaction on a one-on-one basis.
With the semester system however, care must be taken to distribute course content in accordance with the teaching and evaluation methods. Students must gradually be introduced to complex topics and testing their abilities must also follow an order starting from basic to advance.
According to Sweta Sharma, a lecturer at Commerce College in Kokrajhar, Assam, “As a matter of fact, introduction of semester system at undergraduate level will be a great remedy to a lot many problems. Apart from maintaining regularities in study patterns, semester system will go a long way in making the study of commerce a real success on part of the students”. With the semester system, students and teachers will be able to manage their time more effectively between academics and other activities. Students will be able to study each subject in detail and have time to gain diversified knowledge through various mediums such as seminars, debates, group discussions, case studies, independent studies, practical visits and project preparations.
The potential barriers: Like with any other major systematic change, making a switch from quarter system to semester system in academic institutions of northeast comes with its own set of barriers and problems. With inadequate infrastructure and faculty in some colleges, it is practically not viable to implement a new system. There is an acute shortage of competent lecturers and examiners and most faculty members are overburdened with multiple tasks. The teacher-student ratio is seriously skewed (it is currently 56:1 as opposed to the ideal 25:1) and this hampers healthy interaction between the two. “No doubt, semester system of examination is better but the crux of the problem lies in the implementation of the new system. Hence it looks difficult and we naturally apprehend certain practical difficulties” – says Professor A N Shankar of Mizoram University, Aizawl. He however insists that semester system can be introduced and rather, should be introduced for increased uniformity. The efforts can be backed up by appointing new teachers and improving infrastructure along with academic facilities.
Benefits of semester system for colleges in northeast India: On an average, students have to attend seven classes daily – needless to say, this can be quite monotonous and tiring. It is often seen that students are unable to concentrate after about five classes and eagerly wait for the classes to end. With a semester system, students will have to attend four classes which will keep their minds fresh and hence more receptive to what is being taught.
Manik Lal Kalwar, a lecturer at Guwahati Commerce College says - “Since the Assam government (of NE region in particular) has already decided to separate higher secondary classes from colleges and shift them to the higher secondary schools, colleges will have classroom facilities readily available for other purposes. Classroom facilities are always lacking in most schools in NE India. These available classrooms could be fruitfully used. I don’t see any problem in introducing the semester system”. Manik further adds, “In another scenario colleges or academic institutions can have a double shift system – one class from 8 am to 12 noon, and the second starting from 1 pm to 5 pm. The classrooms can even be used for community vocational classes at night for general public”. Vocational classes like handicrafts, carpentry, music and dance are immensely beneficial for the growth of a society as a whole and will also increase employment opportunities for locals.
The semester system provides for enough time in-between classes that students can use to perform part-time jobs to pay for their tuition and academic expenses. There are various campus jobs like assistant lectureship, library jobs, accounting and reception jobs that can help students gain independence and exposure. Opportunities like this will motivate more students to complete their college education, especially those who hold back due to financial constraints. It will also solve the problem of youth employment to a certain extent.
Conclusion: In keeping with several aspects, it is obvious that semester system would be ideal for students, teachers and the society in northeast India. Although indirectly, it would open up a sea of development and employment opportunities and lessen the burden that students have to face today in terms of finance and academic stress. There may be some initial difficulty in implementing this change but in the long run, it will certainly be worth the effort. Decentralization and privatization of institutions can go a long way in improving the quality of infrastructure, educational facilities and staff. (Writer is an ex-professor of US College and NATO Commander of Holland sector)

The Land of Animals and Fables

The Land of Animals and Fables

By: Dr. Athiqul H. Laskar


You would be so excited to know all the beautiful the animals in Germany. During my military service to that country, I used my leisure time to travel around and went sightseeing. I've visited libraries, learning centers, animal reservations, zoos, wilderness, and recreation parks. Actually being there has done so much to change the way I perceive that part of the world. There is so much to see and learn.
I'm sure readers would love to know about the rear animals! Germany is home to several species of deer, and also to elk, bison, wolves, and bears. Unfortunately, lots of animals have either become extinct or migrated someplace else; but the ones I mentioned can be found in the wild state in significant numbers in northern Germany, Scandinavia, Russia, and the Balkan Peninsula, which is now the country of Yugoslav which I had also visited, of course, and some places I was not allowed to go being a member of NATO Forces Europe; but there are plenty of protected preserves where I went to see animals.
I was told that the people herd the Reindeers from northern parts of Europe. The other animals like Chamois (a sheep-like antelope) and ibex (a kind of sheep) are found in higher altitudes of the Pyrenees and Alps Mountains and the nearby areas. Probably some readers have never heard the names of these animals. I hadn't either, until my job took me there.
Germany is still the home of several types of tiny animals. There are weasels, ferrets, rabbits, hedgehogs, lemmings, foxes, and lots of squirrel. I see rabbits all the time. Sometimes I would just sit in my army battalion office (which is really an improvised tent) and watch them hop around. It is so beautiful there, and beauty really made me joyful.
Germany also has many varieties of wild birds like eagles, falcons, finches, nightingales, pigeons, sparrows, and thrush. There are also swans and, particularly in the southern part of Germany, storks. The German people believe that if a stork makes a nest on or near their house it brings good luck.
Fish are found in abundance. There are several kinds of salmon and also cod, mackerel, herring, and tuna. Fish called sturgeons are also found on Germany's coastline on the Caspian and Black Sea. Fishing is a big industry in Germany today.
One popular hobby in Germany is the taming of eagles. It is really in fashion for people to have them in their back yards. They looked beautiful!
While in Germany, I hear so much about German people. It is the nature of the German people to work very hard. I read that they were the first people to live in Europe. It is thought that they may have migrated here from Asia Minor. People were probably living in Europe by 4000 BC.
Early on, the people of different regions were very isolated from each other, because the places where they lived were separated by thick forests infested with wild animals, and very large mountain ranges. However, as time went on, people traveled more and some married into other clans. Soon people started moving a lot.
So now we know that Germany has always been a great country. It was the cause of two great world wars, and it produced that evil madman Hitler; but it has also made great contributions to the development of medical science and technology.
It is the home of famous alternative system of homeopathic medicine which we have today. Some might not have heard of homeopathy mostly among today’s’ younger generation, because it isn't very popular in British dominated countries in past centuries, but it is much more so here in India. It was developed in the early 19th century and is based on the interesting idea that disease can be cured when a patient is treated with minute quantities of the same substance that caused the disease in the first place. The same thing that will make a healthy person sick can make a sick person well. It seems to be that strange? This amazing thing was discovered in 1796 by a man named Samuel Hahnemann. People in the USA and other western countries have known about homeopathic medicine since 1825, but in India, it is considered an "alternative" form of medicine for babies.
Germany is also famous for its wonderful fables and children's stories. One can remember the story about the Pied Piper of Hamlin? That's a German story, and I actually visited that town. And, I felt like I was in a wonderland. There is a really nice park there and lots of people come to visit it from around the globe round the year.
So much wonderful folklore was written down by German writers. One probably never heard of Karl Haupt, and Anton Altrichter, but I bet some may know about the Grimm Brothers. They brought us Cinderella, The Bremen Town Musicians, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, The Brave Little Tailor, and so many more stories. Most of these fable stories are story-telling reading materials one act-play for some junior convent schools in India.



Animals of Germany

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The Experience of Costly Freedom

The Experience of Costly Freedom
By: Dr. Athiqul H. Laskar


Freedom is costly. Most of the countries that can claim it achieved their independence for a price. Great country like America or India is no exception. It had to fight Wars of Independence and freedom movements against the British Raj. For America, to expand the boundaries of freedom there was a costly Civil War. Once gained, freedom must be defended, and there were more wars -- in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
During my army service as an American Army Officer, I had undergone hard-core field training exercises with NATO forces in Europe. I had to get up very early in the morning, do a lot of pushups, and spend a lot of time running around and jumping into deep holes while other fellow officers, men and women pretend to shoot at me. At one time my army unit in Europe returned from the tank training area somewhere in deep terrain of Europe. It is called Hohenfeld, and Adolph Hitler built it during Second World War to train his soldiers to drive tanks. I and my group dug into mud trenches, attempting to hide both ourselves and our heavy-duty metal tanks (A1 Abraham) as we conducted mock war games. It's just make-believe, but like in a real combat situation, we had no time for proper rest and not a lot to eat. (What I did would cause any one of us in India to wrinkle his or her nose and say "Oh Yuck!") Day in, and day out, we train and train hard. It's no picnic, that's for sure. Such NATO military exercises are carried out off and on so that when some country needs us to help to protect their freedom, we will be ready. .
Sometimes I got so tired that I just conk out. The Army is lots of hard work with little time for play. Some would probably say that it "sucks," but, I actually liked being in the US Army although being very much an Indian with my heart and soul, and take my responsibility very seriously in defending freedom the country that I served. When I joined the US Army, I made a commitment to the United States Government, and I had to fulfill it – as true to my culture where I come from, and I had to live up to my responsibility . I was not in a great war during my time, except a minor invasion to Grenada Island in South Caribbean Island during November of 1983, and 1991 Iraq war. Not long ago, over 60 thousand Americans (as well as millions of others) lost their lives in World War II. This was all because of one mad man -- Adolph Hitler. Today all are enjoying precious freedom - American or India, tomorrow it may crumble; so its citizens of India or America must protect it by keeping its armies strong and ready. In another word, India and America both have enemies. That is why we must be alert at all times, no matter what it takes to do so. Perhaps, because we must realize what an important thing our freedom is.
Apart from America - Indian, a country of non-aligned is one of the leaders of democracy and world peace and by non-interfering with others countries to stay free. India does not approve of tyranny, nor do we tolerate it. Sometimes some stronger countries try to bully weaker countries. India does not!
If we turn the pages of history, the Second World War where all the European countries and several Asian nations were involved including America and British rule India too. Many Indian lives were lost all around the world like Corsica Island in Italy and other places only to achieve freedom as promised by British rule, and so are all Indians free today. Why do people fight wars? The answer is simple. They fight to achieve and protect freedom. Everyone wants to be free, but sometimes people come along who want to control others because they are greedy or afraid of losing their power. Such countries do awful things. Now we can understand why freedom is costly. One could not imagine the suffering and misery the people of Europe and Asia had to undergo during the Second World War. Millions of people died in concentration camps just because they were Jewish or were Gypsies. Hitler wanted to rule the whole world, and, for a while, he did take over many countries, like Poland, Austria, and France. The American Army was called in to their rescue their friend Great Britain. Finally war was won and India got its freedom from Great Britain and we are enjoying our freedom today. Whether India or America, we are so lucky to live in a society where free to learn about anything we want; to earn money -- to start your own business even; to say what is on your mind, even if other people don't agree with it; and to practice any religion you want. Did we forget that there have been societies where people couldn't own anything? Where people have no say at all in what goes on?
The name for our form of government, India and America is democracy. Democracy means of the people, for the people, and by the people. And lots of people -- brave men and women -- gave their lives for their freedom. We must think about them always and especially on our Independence Day. They deserve to be remembered.
America achieved its independence from Great Britain. From 1775 to 1783, which at the time was 13 English colonies, fought for the right to be an independent nation. England was ruled by a king, but America created a republican form of government where the power remained with American people. Like any other war, the Revolution cost many lives, and a lot of people had to make a lot of sacrifices. Do we keep an account of this loss? I'm afraid, that sometime we do not even remember we sacrificed many lives to protect our freedom in wars from 1948 to Kargil - across our borders. India achieved its independence from Great Britain too in the midnight hours of 15th august 1947 which is today.
While training at NATO camps in Europe, I was in midst of NATO's mock war zone during my active army duty, all I could think of was how any day this "pretend war" could turn into a real one where people pay the real price of freedom. We take freedom for granted, because most of us have never seen anything else, but someone had to pay for it. So many brave war veterans like Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhase Bose, and many others sacrificed for India’s freedom, and the likewise in America too, so the citizen of both countries could be free. So many soldiers and freedom fighters had laid down their lives. Some of them just disappeared. They were probably killed, but their bodies were never found. We refer to them as Missing in Action (MIA) in America and in India sometime it is unaccounted for. Some of these American heroes are buried in war memorial graveyards in different countries around the world. There are such graveyards in England, Holland, India (Nagaland), and many other countries. India’s fallen heroes are in the hearts of every Indian. On the other hand, some of the remains of American brave veterans’ heroes are turning into fossils in the remote terrain of Vietnam. Do we realize this? Who keeps an account of them? They sacrificed their lives to put down the madness of dictators and treacherous, racist leaders. So even though being an army officer is hard work, after considering all these facts of history, I don't feel at all sad to have been in the army to defend a country that I served. Rather, I feel proud to be a retired American army officer today enjoying freedom. We should be willing to give our last drop of blood for freedom at all time safe guarding from enemies. That's how much our freedom should mean to all of us. (Writer is a retired US Army Officer and Ex-NATO commander of NATO forces (Holland Sector)

The search for a perfect height in Sensation seeking

(Exclusively for the 5th National Conference of the Association of Psychological Counseling, Mind India, and Gawahati)
The search for a perfect height in Sensation seeking
Dr. Athiqul H. Laskar, M.Sc. (USA), Ph.D., (USA),
Sports Psychology & Motivation Consultant,
New Jersey, U.S.A.


Introduction

The term “sensation” is used rather than “stimulation” because it shows the sensory effects of external stimulation that is most important in defining the value of primary reinforcement. A television addict might be called a stimulation seeker, but television provides little in the way of novel sensation. Sensation seeking may be described as a “trait” or a “state”. A trait can be defined as the tendency to experience the relevant state and behave in a specific manner on many occasions in many (but certainly not all) situations. The trait of sensation seeking refers to the tendency to seek and explore relatively novel and stimulating situations. The state of sensation seeking is one defined by a predominance of characteristic types of strong, positive affect feelings in novel and risky.

If we look at the past history of sensation seeking(Dr. A.H. Laskar55), we may find that the sensation seeking and the thrill of adventure has attracted many people to the sports of : mountain climbing, skydiving, extreme sports, public speaking, roller coaster riding, extreme sports, hang gliding, thrill seekers report, bridge jumping, developing skill, self efficacy, outcome efficacy, people who avoid risk, negative thoughts, antidote for negative thoughts, rope courses, Marvin Zuckerman form V of Sensation Seeking, sensory deprivation, sensation seeking scale, sss components, sss predictor of addiction, male-limited alcoholic, brain response to novelty, psychological characteristics, brain chemistry differences, and important for prevention.

The search for sensation has caused many people to launch expeditions in risk involving mountains around the world, and other form of risking involving sports often without considering their own safety. As a result, many lives have been lost in the bed of sports arenas around the world so far including the Himalayas(1 & 56). Pinpointing the motivation for sensation seeking is difficult. What sensation seekers like Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, Nail Armstrong, John Gland (Astronauts), Tenzing Norgay (Mt. Everest Climber) and others see or feel is the beauty of the sports or invention, purity of its very spirit, solitude glory or the great challenge to ones endurance and resourcefulness. However, very few persons possess the actual requisite for physiological activation or interest in undertaking the risk of these extreme risking involving sports.

The concept of Sensation Seeking(1) is to assess individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation. Since its initial development, the sensation seeking scale has undergone various changes. The most recent form has 40 forced-choice items separated into factorial derived subscales designed to measure the dimension of sensation seeking (2) as a whole as well as Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Risk, Experience Seeking, Dis-inhibition, and Boredom Susceptibility, in another word, likely to be influenced or harmed by a specific thing.

The very concept of optimal level of stimulation, excitation, or activation(3) in a person who needs experiences to maintain an optimal level of arousal is called sensation seeking. His or her optimal level of arousal is assumed to be greater than that of non-sensation seekers. When stimuli and experience become repetitive, it is assumed that the sensation seeker will become bored and non - responsive more quickly than most other individuals. He or she is presumed to be sensitive to inner sensation and non - confirming to external constraints (restriction). The sensation seeking scale was developed to asses individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation.

Sensation Seeking as a Human Trait

The first scale developed was the general sensation seeking scale by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman(4). This scale was obtained from factor analyses of a broad range of items expressing preferences for or avoidance of dangerous sports, the need for general excitement, attraction to new and unfamiliar situations, a preference for irregularity as opposed to routine, and preference for exciting, as opposed to reliable or predictable, friends. Later factor analyses in America and England using rotational methods found four factors indicating a substantial factor reliability have been found in several other countries: Sensation seekers or mountain climbers according to Fowler,(5) person interested in climbing mountain in the Himalayas and other high mountain ridges around the world involving risk and danger. However, mountain climbing or any similar sports require skill, technique, and high activation. Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) subscale consists of items expressing desires to engage in sports or activities involving some physical danger or risk, such as mountain-climbing, bridge jumping, extreme sports, skydiving, parachute jumping, scuba diving, car speeding or racing, high altitude ski racing, etc(6). Experience Seeking (ES) subscale consists of items describing the desire to seek new experiences through travel and through the mind and senses by living in a non-conforming lifestyle with unconventional friends(6). Disinhibition (Dis) (less inhibited) subscale items describe the need to disinhibit behavior in the social sphere by drinking, partying, and seeking a variety of sexual partners.(6). Boredom Susceptibility (BS) subscale items indicate an aversion for repetitive experience of any kind, routine work, or even dull or predictable people. Other items indicate a restless reaction when things are unchanging(6).





Theories of Sensation Seeking

To understand Sensation Seeking more clearly, one needs an explanation of the many of the many theoretical views of the Sensation Seeking need. Sports psychologists and authors over the years have developed many scales to measure sensation seeking.

Penny’s(7) Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale was constructed to determine the amount of exteroceptive stimulus variation seeking customarily engaged in by an individual. Fiske and Madi (unpublished); in their paper proposed that varied experience is oriented toward and sought for its own sake. Anyone can choose to vary his environment by responding and changing stimulus conditions. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that stimulus variations seeking underlie exploration, alteration, curiosity, and play.

Another concept of stimulus variation seeking is optimal level of stimulation. A number of researchers and sports psychologists have suggested that stimulus seeking activity is designed to maintain stimulation at an optimal level. Other studies have yielded wide individual differences in stimulus variation seeking and presumably individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation.

Three properties of the Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale have been reported. The first property investigated was the reliability of the scale. The second property explored was its discriminant validity, i.e., a test can be invalidated by high correlation with other test can be invalidated by high correlation with other tests that purport or suggest to measure different traits. The third property investigated was the convergent (which comes together from all directions) validity of the scale. The Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale has been found to be related to auto kinesis (indirect movement of cell) and sensation seeking.

Leuba(8) adds that the principle of optimal stimulation may have a good deal to do with the gaining of ascendancy of priority by certain responses over others. He also adds that in infancy, random movements, as in babbling or during optimal stimulation, are reinforced over movements accompanied by either too little or too much environment to bear upon tactual and other sense organs, it will be most strongly reinforced provided only exploration does not produce excessive stimulation.

Atkinson’s(9) (study states that the first problem in risk-taking behavior is to account for an individual’s selection of one path of action from a set of possible alternatives. The second problem is to account for the amplitude or vigor of the action tendency once it is initiated, and for its tendency to persist for a timed in a given direction. According to Hebb,(10) man’s motivation is a function of his exteroceptive or physiology of stimuli that are external to an organism & stimulation. Isolation produces motivational and emotional disturbance quickly.

The stimulus seeking motivation of Farley’s(11) study is one of the most consistent findings with the Sensation Seeking Scale, as well as with some of the other measures, since age seems to be negatively correlated with stimulation seeking. In other words, stimulation seeking, as measured by these tests, seems to decline with age. O’Conner’s study(12) has stated that theory of achievement motivation provides a rationale for an achievement risk preference scale, which is a paired-comparison test of the intra-individual strength of motive to achievement success relative to strength of motive to avoid failure.

The Measurement of Sensation-Seeking Tendencies

Fowler(13), compared mountaineers, and a smaller group of persons not interested in mountaineering. Those compared a group of persons from a club interested in interested in mountaineering or mountain climbing scored significantly higher on the general and Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale IV form than the other student non-mountain climbers. However, his study was done on platelet non-mountain oxidize (MAO) enzyme, which is contained in the mitochondria of neurons in the brain as well as in other tissues. In the brain, MAO metabolizes the monoamine neurotransmitters.

Negative relationships have been found between MAO levels and the sensation-seeking trait in two studies conducted by Murphy, et al, (14, & 15). High sensation seekers tend to have high levels of MAO. The relationship between MAO and participation in mountain climbing is consistent with the idea that the same biological factors that play a role in the broad trait of sensation seeking may influence the attraction of some individuals to risky sports.

During 80s I have made a through research study concentrating on the measurement of Dr. Zuckerman’s Form V sensation seeking scale questionnaire instead of MAO enzyme. There has been no such investigation conducted in the past, particularly with mountain climbers and non-mountain climbers using this scale.

Other studies in this area of sensation seeking include in this area include the work of Hymbough and Garrett(16), in which skydivers were compared with an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, and socioeconomic variables. As a result, the skydivers scored higher than the control group. In a similar study, straub (17 & 18) compared groups of male Hang-Gliders and Auto Racers with a group of inter-collegiate bowlers (base ball) on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V of Dr. Zuckerman. Three of the four subscales, TAS, ES, and BS, significantly differentiated the groups. The ES scale actually accounted for the most between group variance in a stepwise discriminant function. However, discriminant function indicated that the automobile racers were higher than the hang-gliders and both of these groups were higher than the bowlers on sensation seeking.

Finally, in another study of Treiber(19) suggested that the Sensation Seeking may be systematically related to motives and patters or continues of use of drugs that are common in-groups of alcohol and drug abusers. Tendencies towards alcohol and drug abusers’ pleasure and motives violate social norms in search of excitement, mood state changes, and physiological arousal. Treiber, also found that in alcoholic offenders, sensation seeking as a personality trait was related to heighten social deviance or diverting from accepted social standards, and an alcoholic lifestyle, as reflected by repeated violations of public drunkenness statutes.

Form V of the Sensation Seeking Scale was developed based on factor analyses of Form IV that used a large heterogeneous sample of English students of both sexes (Male & Female). Factor analyses in the English samples yielded factors highly similar to those found in the American factor analyses. Based on the cross-sex and cross-national similarities in item loading, Form V was constructed. This form contains ten items representing each of the four factors. It does not contain the general scale, but uses a total score based on the sum of four factor scores.

Farley and Cax(20) in their study suggested that there might be more than one factor of sensation seeking; factor analysis was used in an attempt to discover what other factors might be included. Dr. Marvin Zuckerman (21) reported on the dimension of sensation seeking found in samples of male and female undergraduates in the Philadelphia area, where four factors were identified, three of them showed good reliability in their loading across the sexes.

Penny(22) defined Sensation Seeking optimal stimulation which is purported to measure individual differences as they are sensation oriented. However, Blackburn (23) rejects both Sensation Seeking and Sensation Seeking Scale because they do not measure Impulsivity or a strong urge to do something risky. On the other hand, different kinds of tests have been used to measure sensation seeking. These include (i) Dr. Marvin Zuckerman’s ii) Sensation Seeking Scale, (iii) Social Desirability Scale, (iv) Sensation Variation Seeking Scale, (v) Fear of Success Scale (FOSS), and (vi) Change Seeker Index (CSI).

The Sensation Seeking Scale of Dr. Marvin Zuckerman (24) designed to quantify the construct “optimal stimulation level.” The first version of the Sensation Seeking Scale was given to 268 male and 277 female undergraduate students at Brooklyn College. On about two-thirds of the items, the proportion of the Subjects choosing one of the forced-choices fell in the 30-70 percent range. The four items with the most extreme splits (greater than 85.15 percent) were dropped from the test. The remaining 50 items were Interco-related by using tetrachloric or four way correlation. The results revealed that large factor did emerge for both males and females. Twenty-six items for the males and 30 items for the females loaded. Thirty or higher on this factor. To determine the similarity of the item factor structure across the sexes, the item-factor loading of sexes were ranked for the males and females, and the two sets of ranks were correlated by using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation. Rho was 0.91, indicating near identity between the items-factor pattern in both Sexes.

Change Seeker Index (CSI) is habitually consistent pattern of behavior that controls the amount and the kind of stimulus input a given organism receives. Stimulus input includes stimuli from both internal and external sources. Change Seeker Index (CSI) items were selected from a number of existing personalities questionnaire items that seemed to reflect change seeking. A number of other items were also devised. The preliminary questionnaire consisted of 211 items. These were administered to 3 groups, 105 college males, 137 college females, and 60 soldiers. A “phi” or a plane angle coefficient or the constant quantity placed before and multiplying the variables in an algebraic expression was computed between each item response and the upper and lower 27 percent of each distribution. The items that correlated at the .05 level in two of the three groups were retained. The 95 items that make up the present form of the CSI meet these criteria.

Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) was developed by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman and Tresemer(25) to assess individual differences in the motive to avoid success. The first part of the manual deals with the construction of a fear-of success scale; the second part deals with personality correlates of the FOSS; the third presents experimental evidence supporting the predictive validity of the FOSS. Twenty-seven items of the FOSS were written with items total correlation or having relationship with affects with one score with another for males and females. The correlation was small but consistent.

High Risk Sports Populations

Hymbaugh and Garrett(26) compared 21 skydivers with an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, socio-economic, and occupational variables. They used the earlier Form II of the Sensation Seeking Scale, which contained only the General scales. As expected, the skydivers scored significantly higher than the control group on the General Sensation Seeking Scale. The mean difference of 8 points between the groups indicated that a single item pertaining to parachuting cannot account for the difference between the groups, but the other physical risk-taking items may have accounted for a large part of the difference. Straub(27) from here put all in the back compared groups of male Hang-Gliders and Auto-Racers (AR) with a group of inter-collegiate bowlers on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. Three of the four subscales, TAS, ES and BS, significantly differentiated the groups. The second-ranking discriminant variables were the Experience Seeking (ES), which actually accounted for the most between group variance in a stepwise discriminant function analysis. The TAS scale was the most discriminating variable. The Disinhibition scale, which ranked third, did not play a significant role in the discriminant function analysis. The BS scale ranked fourth in discriminative power. Discriminant-function analysis indicated that the automobile racers were higher than the hang-gliders were, and both of these groups were higher than the bowlers on sensation seeking. The hang-gliders and auto racers reported receiving more injuries than the bowlers did, and the majority of subjects from both of these groups regarded their sport as a high-risk activity. None of the blowers regarded their sport as a high-risk activity. None of the bowlers regarded that sport as risky. These items were not related to Sensation Seeking Scale in Stroub’s study, although reported injuries and risk appraisals might have proved an interesting comparison.

Kusyszynm, Steinberg and Elliot(28) compared a miscellaneous experimental group of “risk-takers,” including firemen, riot-squad policemen, Race-Car drivers, parachutists, and snowmobilers, with a control group consisting of 70 civil servants and college students. The risk takers scored significantly higher on the General and TAS scales of Form IV. It is not clear whether the two groups were compared on the other subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale or how well the groups were matched. The risk group included vocational risk takers, like firemen and policemen, along with sports participants like parachutists and snow-mobilers (motor-bike). While those choosing risky occupations, such as policemen, or firemen, or military aviation personnel may score high on TAS, they typically score lower on less “socially desirable” Sensation Seeking Scales like Experience Seeking and Dishibition (DIS). The control group, including civil servants and college students, was similarly heterogeneous or diverse in its characteristics.

Becon’s(29) salvage divers were experienced divers who volunteered their services for dangerous rescue and salvage diving. To raise funds for their work, this group held Stock-Car Races (SCR), in which the divers were the drivers. The group was a high sensation-seeking group by all behavioral criteria. The scored significantly higher than a group of college students, matched for age and socioeconomic back ground on the General, TAS, Dis, and BS scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V.

Connolly(30) compared skiers, including ski instructors, with non-skiers, including ski instructors, with non-skiers recruited from a health spa. Sky-divers scored higher than those in the control group on the total and TAS scales of Sensation Seeking scale Form V, and ski instructors scored higher than the other skiers on the Total, TAS, and ES scales.

Comparing 24 skiers who reported skiing injuries in the past and 20 who did not report any injuries, Connolly(31) found that skiers who had accidents were significantly higher than the others on the total, TAS and Dis Scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. These results show that Sensation Seeking may influence the degree of risk taking within a high Sensation Seeking group. This statement assumes that the skiers with accidents took risks, rather than that they were simply less competent skiers would not explain the result showing higher Sensation Seeking Scale scores for the ski instructors, who were undoubtedly more competent than most of the other skiers. More than three-fourths of those reporting accidents were males, consistent with the higher scores of male skiers on the Total and TAS, Sensation Seeking Scales (SSS) in Connolly’s study.

Fowler, Von Knorring, and Oreland(32) compared a group of persons from a club devoted to mountain climbing and a smaller group of persons interested in mountain climbing with a group of students not experienced or interested in mountain climbing. Those interested in mountain climbing scored significantly higher on the General and TAS scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale V than the other students. Blood samples were obtained from all subjects and levels of platelet (small cell) monoamine exidase (an enzyme present in most tissues which catalyses the oxidation and inactivation of monoamine neurotransmitters, in another word, allowing accumulation of serotonin and noradrenalin in the brain) (MAO) were assayed or a procedure adopted for measuring the biochemical activity of a samplewe. Those interested in mountain climbing had significantly lower MAO levels. MAO is an enzyme that is contained in the mitochondria biological structure found in most cells, in which respiration and energy production occur of neurons a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses in the brain as well as in other tissues. In the brain, MAO serves the function of metabolizing the monoamine neurotransmitters. The highest levels of MAO are found in the limbic brain system, which have important functions in the regulation of appetite, pleasure, and the pain, sensitivity to reward and punishment, and emotional and behavioral arousal in general. The relationship between MAO and participation in mountain climbing is consistent with the idea that the same biological factors that play a role in the broad trait of Sensation Seeking may influence the attraction of some individuals to risky sports.

Lower Risk Sport Populations

McCuthcheon(33) compared a group of 62 runners participating in races with group of non-runners matched for sex and age. The male runners did not differ significantly from non-runners on any of the Sensation Seeking Scale V except for a borderline significant difference (P<, 10) on the Dis scale; the ratings of the male runners were lower than those of the non-runners on this scale. The non-runners at a borderline significant level (P<, 10) on the Total score and were also significantly lower (P<.05) on the TAS scale. There was no correlation between Sensation Seeking Scale scores and the order of finish in the races in either sex. Apparently Sensation Seeking is less relevant to this low-risk sport than it is to the high-risk sports already discussed. The finding of a tendency toward lower Sensation Seeking, particularly in the female runners, must be interpreted cautiously because the control-group scores were somewhat higher than might be expected for persons of the age. There is one type of running in which the running in which the runners were found to have relatively high Sensation Seeking Scores, that is “streaking”a mark a fad of the early 1970’s, which has not been classified as a sport. The participants were persons, largely college students, who felt impelled to run total naked across campuses or down city street. Their numbers along prevented alone prevented mass arrests for exhibition or defiance of public decency. The individual motives for streakers remain a mystery to this day; however, one topical investigator at the University of West Virginia, Bone(34), felt compelled to investigate the phenomenon. Using an unstandardized, one-item streaking rating scale ranging from “no desire to streak” to “have streaked,” he found significant correlation between streaking and all of the subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale. The highest correlation were with the General and TAS Scales, supporting the contention were with the General and TAS scales, supporting the contention of those who characterized streaking as a sport. Whatever it was, it apparently satisfied many kinds of needs related to Sensation Seeking. Certainly it provided a novel experience for most participants with only modicum of risk. There are no data on how many real athletic runners participated; but, according to Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, guess, the participation was low in this group, if for nothing else than the risk of stepping barefooted on broken glass.

Straub(35) contrasted female gymnasts and bowlers on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. Although gymnastics is probably a higher risk sport than bowling, no differences were found between the two groups on any of the Sensation Seeking scales.

Do physical education majors, as a broad group of persons generally interested in sports, differ from other college students? Wickoff(36) compared male and female physical education major students with college normative groups. No differences were found on any of the Sensation Seeking Scale. In another study relating Sensation Seeking to participation in sports in a different kind of non-college group, Cellini(37) gave the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V scale, along with rating scales of participation in various sports, to a group of 65 ex-convicts tested for vocational guidance following parole. The primary findings were significant correlation of the Total, TAS, and ES scales with participation in football. Other sports, such as running, tennis, bicycling, and swimming, showed little significant correlation with the Sensation Seeking Scales. Football may be one of the best sports for draining some of the aggressive Sensation Seeking needs characteristic of this population.

Sensation Seeking Impulsivity and Psychopathic Personality Scales

For inclusion in the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) of Marlowe-Crowne(38) a number of current personality inventories were consulted in order to devise items. An item had to meet the criterion of cultural approval and was required to have minimal pathological or abnormal implication if responded to in either the socially desirable or undesirable directions. A major objective in the development of the MC SDS was the elimination of pathology relevant to item content. To test this and for comparative purposes, the M-C SDS was submitted and graduate students in a psychology department, for ratings of the degree of maladjustment implied by socially undesirable responses to the items. A five point scale, ranging from extremely well adjusted(Black 39) to extremely maladjusted persons was employed for all the items in the M-C SDS. The mean score of 2.8, slightly below the mid-point of the scale, implied neither good nor poor adjustment. The mean rating SDS items was 3.9, which indicates that the judges considered socially undesirable responses on this scale to be definitely indicative of maladjustment.

A preliminary scale was then administered to 76 students in two introductory psychology courses, and an item analysis was completed. Thirty three items discriminated at the 0.05 levels or better between high and low total scores. Of the 33 items, 18 were keyed true and 15 false, making a response set interpretation of scores highly improbable.

Conclusion

In general reviewing the above literature the researcher discovered that a problem in the investigation of Sensation Seeking behavior is the risk-taking behavior. A true definition of this concept has been made by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman(40, 41, 42, 43, 44). The main purpose is to predict the responses in experimental situations of sensory deprivation of subjects. Farley and Berkowitz(45, 46) also contributed much to the understanding of stimulus seeking behavior. Various theories of Penny and Zuckerman(47, 48) also clearly indicate that Sensation Seeking is another concept of the optimal level of stimulation (OLS). Leuba(49) adds that the principal of optimal stimulation may have a good deal to do the gaining of ascendancy by certain responses over others. Atkinson(50) in his study of risk-taking behavior clearly indicates that man’s motivation is a function of his exteroceptivestimuli external to organism stimulation. Farley(51, 52, & 53) also adds that stimulation seeking is held to be physiologically based in the concept of physiological activation with high stimulation seekers being characteristically low in physiological activation.

The broad trait of Sensation Seeking is related to a participation in specific kinds of sports; namely, those that provide unusual sensations and novel experience, such as those involved with skydiving, hang-gliding, skiing, and scuba diving. Persons who are more experienced in these activities generally score higher than novices or less experienced persons. Risk may not be the primary requisite of these sports. The study of novice divers(54) showed that, given the choice of more prolonged, shallow dives, which provide more opportunity for exploration of the novel underwater world, and more risky deeper dives, the high Sensation Seekers opted for prolonged exploration at the shallower depths; however, high Sensation seeking skiers. High Sensation Seekers have a pronounced tendency to underestimate risk, relative to low Sensation Seekers. This cognitive difference between high and low Sensation Seekers may account for the participation of Sensation Seekers in sports or activities shunned by low Sensation Seekers. It should be emphasized that only low negative correlation exist between Sensation Seeking and anxiety traits, and even these correlation are limited to a specific kind of anxiety trait; Fear and Physical harm.

























Bibliography

1 H.P.S. Ahluwalia’s “higher than Everest”, Vikas Publishing House, (P) Ltd, Delhi, Bombay and London, 1973, W.R. Berkowitz’s “Use of the Sensation Seeking Scale with Thai Subjects”, Psychological Reports, 1967,20, 635-641, and Dr. Marvin
Zuckerman’s “Sensation Seeking in England and America: cross-cultural, age and sex comparisons”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978, 46,139-149)
2 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman’s “Dimensions of Sensation-Seeking”, Journey of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1971, 36, 53-60)
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7 R.K. Penney, R.C. Reinehr, “Development of a stimulus variations seeking scale for adult”, Psychological Reports, 1966, 18, 631-638.
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11 F.H. Farley, “Social Desirability and Dimensionally in the Sensation Seeking Scale,” Acta Psychological, 1967, 26, 89-96
12 O’Conner, P., “An achievement Risk Preference Scale: A Preliminary Report”, American Psychologist, 1962, 17, 317, (Abstract).
13 C.J. Fowler, L. Von Knorring, and L. Oreland, “Platelet monoamine exidase activity in Sensation Seekers”, Psychiatry Research, 1980, 3, 273-279.
14 F. Johansson, L. Von Knorring, and L. Oreland, “Platelet MAO activity in patients with chronic pain syndromes”, Unpublished manuscript, 1976.
15 D.L. Murphy, R.H. Belmaker, M.S. Buchsbaum, N.F. Martin, R. Ciaranello, and R.J. Wyatt, “Biogenic amine related enzyme and personality variations in normalis”, Unpublished manuscript, 1977.
16 S.R. Heymen, and K.G.Rose, “Psychological variables affecting Scuba performance”, Unpublished manuscript, 1980.
17 W.F. Straub, “Sensation Seeking and Locus of Control of high and low risk female athletes”, Unpublished manuscript, 1982.
18 W.F., Straub, “Validation of Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale using high and low risk male athletes”, Unpublished Manuscript, 1982 (a).
19 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, “Sensation-Seeking in England and America: cross-cultural, age and sex comparisons”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978, 46, 139-149.
20 F.H.Farley, and S.O. Cox, “Stimulus Seeking Motivation in adolescent as a function of age and sex”, Adolescence, 1971, 6, 207-218.
21 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and Duane P. Schulz, “Sensation Seeking and Volunteering for sensory deprivation and hypnosis experiments”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 358-363.
22 R.K. Penney, R.C. Reinehr, “Development of a stimulus variations seeking scale for adult”, Psychological Reports, 1966, 18, 631-638.
23 R. Blackburn, “Emotionally, extroversion and aggression in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenic offenders”, British Journey of Psychiatry, 1968, 114, 130-132.
24 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and Duane P. Schulz, “Sensation Seeking and Volunteering for sensory deprivation and hypnosis experiments”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 358-363.
25 D.Tresemer, “Fear of Success: Popular but unproven”, Psychology Today, 1974, 7, 82-85.
26 K. Hymbought, and J. Garret, “Sensation-Seeking among sky divers”, Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1974, 38, 118.
27 W.F Straub, “Validation of Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale using high and low risk male athletes”, Unpublished Manuscript, 1982 (a).
28 I. Kusyszy, P. Steinberg, and B. Elliot., “Arousal Seeking Physical risk-taking, and personality”, paper read at the 18th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montreal, Canada, July, 1974.
29 J. Bacon., “Sensation-Seeking Levels for members of high risk organization”, Unpublished manuscript, 1974.
30 P.M. Connoly, “An exploratory study of adults engaging in the high risk sports of skiing”, Master Thesis, Rutgers University, 1981.
31 P.M. Connoly, “An exploratory study of adults engaging in the high risk sports of skiing”, Master Thesis, Rutgers University, 1981.
32 C.J. Fowler, L. Von Knorring ,and L. Oreland, “Platelet monoamine exidase activity in sensation seekers”, Psychiatry Research, 1980, 3, 273-279.
33 L.NMcCuthcheon, “Running and Sensation seeking”, North Virginia Community College Journal, fall 1980, II.
34 R.N.Bone, D.D.Montgomery, and E.S. Philip, “Relationship of Sensational-Seeking and anxiety”, Psychological Reports, 1972, 30, 874.
35 W.F.Straub, “Sensation-Seeking and Locus Control of high and low risk female athletes”, Unpublished manuscript, 1982 (b).
36 W.L. Wyckoff, “Are Physical Education majors Sensation Seekers?”, unpublished manuscript, 1982.
37 H.R. Cellini, “Personal Communication”, Study done for Safer Foundation, 1982.
38 D.P.Crowne, and D. Marlowe, “A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1960, 24, 349-354.
39 R. Blackburn, “Emotionally, extroversion and aggression in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenic offenders”, British Journal of Psychiatry, 1968, 114, 130-132.
40 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, “The development of an affect adjective check list for the measurement of anxiety”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1960, 24, 957-962.
41 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and R.N. Bone, “What is a Sensation Seeker? Personality trait and experience correlates of the Sensation-seeking Scale”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1972, 308-321.
42 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, “Sensation-Seeking: Beyond and optimal level of arousal”, Lawrence Erlbaum, associates, Inc., Publishers, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 07642.
43 Dr.Marvin Zuckerman, and C. Nathan, “Source of reports of visual and auditory sensations in perceptual isolation”, Psychological Bulletin, 1964, 62, 1-20 (b).
44 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and L. Wheeler, “To dispel fantasies about the fantasy-based measure of fear of success”, Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 2
45 W.R. Berkowitz, “Use of the Sensation Seeking Scale with Thai Subjects”, Psychological Reports, 1967, 20, 635-641.
46 F.H.farley, and S.V. Farley, “Extroversion on Stimulus seeking motivation”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 215-216.
47 R.K. Penney, R.C. Reinehr, “Development of a stimulus variations seeking scale for adult”, Psychological Reports, 1966, 18, 631-638.
48 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and K. Link, “Construct Validity for the Sensation-Seeking Scale”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 32, 420-426.
49 C. Leuba, “Toward some integration of learning theories: The concept of optimal stimulation: Psychological Reports, 1955, 1, 27-33.
50 J.W. Atkinson, “Motivational Determinants of Risk-taking Behavior”, Psychological Review, 1957, 64, 359-372.
51 F.H.Farley, “Social Desirability and Dimensionally in the Sensation-Seeking Scale”, Acta Psychological, 1967, 26, 89-96.
52 F.H. Farley, and S.O.Cox, “Stimulus-Seeking Motivation in adolescent as a function of age and sex”, Adolescence, 1971, 6, 207-216.
53 F.H.Farley, and S.V. Farley, “Extroversion on Stimulus-Seeking motivation”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 215-216.
54 S.R. Heymen, and K.G. Rose, “Psychological variables affecting Scuba performance”, Unpublished manuscript, 1980.
55 Dr. Athilqul H. Laskar, M.Sc., Ph.D., “The 20th Century Phenomenon Sensation Seeking Tendency in Mountain Climbers”, ISBN 0-595-09023-0, Writer’s Club Press, San Jose, New York, Lincoln, (Nebraska), Shanghai, 2000.
56 H.Woodburn, T.H. Scot, and W.H. Bexton, “Effects of deceased variation in the sensory environment”, Canada Journal of Psychology, 1954, 8, 70-76.







































Recommendation

The recommendations for any future research study with sensation seeking are:

1. an expansion of this study on a large sample is needed to generalize the findings in the sensation seeking tendency of mountain climbers and non-mountain climbers in India, especially in the North Eastern India.
2. A research study should explore the Sensation Seeking (SS) tendency in professional risk takers sports in India including a large sample size in order to determine any differences in sensation seeking tendency.
3. Further research investigation needs to be completed among professional risk takers in their day to day job of different cultures of India to determine any differences in sensation seeking tendency.
4. A broader study should compare the children of high sensation seeking parents with those of low sensation seeker parents who are involved in Assam Forest department including Kaziranga game sanctuary including other risky jobs in India to see whether there is any SS tendency difference.
5. a study should also explore for SS tendency between males in addition, females between 17 and 21 year of age of India based on India culture to see whether there are any SS tendency differences.
6 A study should explore whether there are any SS tendency differences between educated and uneducated sample youth of India
7. A study should explore whether there are any high risk takers between Indian University students and rural school students for recruitment of personnel in Indian armed forces for a more efficient army.
8. A study may also include to explore Sensation Seeking tendency among meritorious students and non-meritorious students in India universities.
9. A special study should included to explore high Sensation Seekers in coal mine workers and Police department personnel in India.
10. An exclusive study should be included to explore actual Sensation Seekers among members of Indian Olympic teams and Assam State Sports members to determine potential sports person for national team.
11. A study may include to explore possibilities among would be candidates seeking to join Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
12. An exclusive research study should also be done between Assam Refinery workers and Civil Secretariat workers in Assam.
13. A complete research investigation needs to be completed among professional risk takers among Industrial workers and administrative workers of India to determine any differences of risk taking and sensation seeking tendency.



















Power Point Presentation:

Slide #1ROLLER COASTERS
• Some folks love them.
• Go on coasters in the dark.
• Loosen seatbelts.
• Travel around the country.
• Exciting and pleasurable.
• For others, it’s a near death experience.
Slide#2 SKY DIVING
• Friend wanted to do something unique for her 50th birthday.
• Her kids suggested skydiving.
• Tandem dive.
• Great experience even with a broken ankle.
Slide#3 EXTREME SPORTS
• Thrill seekers.
• Natural highs.
• Action gamblers.
• Speed freaks.
• What do they have in common?
• Rewarding pathways in the brain.
Slide# HANG GLIDING
• Sport most likely to result in death.
• Thrill seeking appears irrational.
• Take unreasonable risks.
• Trigger fight or flight response.
• Adrenalin surge.
• Stress reaction.
• Why take the risk?
Slide # THRILL SEEKERS REPORT
• Psychological high.
• Sense of mastery.
• Have developed skills.
• Know how to use gear.
• Coping skills.
• Able to handle situation
Slide # BRIDGE JUMPING

Slide # DEVELOPING SKILL
• First timers report intense fear.
• With practice, fear disappears
• Psychological high remains.
• Self-satisfaction associated with highly developed coping skill.
• Learn how to control fear
Slide # SELF EFFICACY
• Belief in your abilities.
• Mobilize your energy.
• Physical and psychological resources.
• Know the appropriate action to take.
• Emergency responders.
• Handle the fear.
Slide # OUTCOME EFFICACY
• Belief that you will experience satisfaction from reaching goal.
• Mastery in the past.
• Sense of accomplishment.
• Worth taking the risk.
• Joy of success.
Slide # PEOPLE WHO AVOID RISKS
• Not because they experience fear
• Not close enough to experience fear
• Haven’t even approached the threat.
• In reality, they won’t be able to cope with the situation
• Expectation of fear and failure.
Slide # FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
• Work of Bandura.
• Greatest source of threat is our inability to deal with nagging doubts about our performance.
• Should I take public speaking course?
• Will I freeze?
• What will people think?
• Never sign up
Slide # NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
• Negative thoughts are powerful un-motivating force.
• Negative thoughts create anxiety.
• Anxiety makes us apprehensive.
• Avoid situation.
Slide # ANTIDOTE FOR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
• Self-efficacy best prevention against negative thoughts.
• Mastery in risky situations.
• Rope courses.
• Bob Marsh: “push the envelope of comfort.”
Slide # ROPE COURSES
• Safe way to develop mastery.
• Overcome fears.
• Develop trust in community.
• Improve self-image.
• Used extensively in drug rehab with adolescents.
• Team building for many different groups.
Slide # MARVIN ZUCKERMAN

Slide # SESORY DEPRIVATION
• Zuckerman was grad student in these studies.
• Interested in subjects who hated deprivation.
• Couldn’t tolerate low levels of stimulation.
• Wanted new experiences.
Slide # SENSATION SEEKING SCALE
• Developed new scale: SSS.
• Zuckerman on sensation seeking:
• “a trait defined by the need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences.
• And the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences.”
Slide # SSS COMPONENTS
• Thrill and adventure seeking. (action gamblers).
• Seek experiences outside the conventional lifestyle (travel, friends, and art).
• Disinheriting: release of inhibitions, escape the pressures of daily life. (escape gamblers).
• Low tolerance for boredom, repetition and sameness.
Slide # SSS PREDICTOR OF ADDICTION
• Sensation seeking as personality trait.
• Correlated with alcoholism.
• Gambling.
• Perhaps common in all addictions.
Slide # MALE-LIMITED ALCOHOLISM
• Males particularly susceptible
• Male limited.
• More severe, early onset.
• Many negative consequences.
• Trouble with law, at school, on job.
• Environment plays less of a role but can lessen the severity.
Slide # BRAIN RESPONSE TO NOVELTY
• Brain waves to novel stimuli.
• P3 waves.
• Less reaction in alcoholics.
• Need more stimulation?
Slide # PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Related to biology?
• Reward seeking.
• Impulsive.
• Easily bored.
• Risk takers
• Gregarious
• Push the limits
• Act out
Slide # BRAIN CHEMISTRY DIFFERENCES
• Naturally higher levels of some mood chemicals.
• Brain in high gear.
• In order to feel high, have to push the brain beyond normal level of activity.
• Greater sensation to get reward.
• Potential for addiction.
Slide # IMPORTANT FOR PREVENTION
• Gambling as example.
• Primary: before start gambling. Prevent early exposure.
• Secondary: intervene in early stages. Provide alternatives.
• Tertiary: treatment.
• Understand the role of sensation seeking to avoid switching addictions.
Slide # Conclusion
oOo





(Exclusively for the 5th National Conference of the Association of Psychological Counseling, Mind India, and Gawahati)
The search for a perfect height in Sensation seeking
Dr. Athiqul H. Laskar, M.Sc. (USA), Ph.D., (USA),
Sports Psychology & Motivation Consultant,
New Jersey, U.S.A.


Introduction

The term “sensation” is used rather than “stimulation” because it shows the sensory effects of external stimulation that is most important in defining the value of primary reinforcement. A television addict might be called a stimulation seeker, but television provides little in the way of novel sensation. Sensation seeking may be described as a “trait” or a “state”. A trait can be defined as the tendency to experience the relevant state and behave in a specific manner on many occasions in many (but certainly not all) situations. The trait of sensation seeking refers to the tendency to seek and explore relatively novel and stimulating situations. The state of sensation seeking is one defined by a predominance of characteristic types of strong, positive affect feelings in novel and risky.

If we look at the past history of sensation seeking(Dr. A.H. Laskar55), we may find that the sensation seeking and the thrill of adventure has attracted many people to the sports of : mountain climbing, skydiving, extreme sports, public speaking, roller coaster riding, extreme sports, hang gliding, thrill seekers report, bridge jumping, developing skill, self efficacy, outcome efficacy, people who avoid risk, negative thoughts, antidote for negative thoughts, rope courses, Marvin Zuckerman form V of Sensation Seeking, sensory deprivation, sensation seeking scale, sss components, sss predictor of addiction, male-limited alcoholic, brain response to novelty, psychological characteristics, brain chemistry differences, and important for prevention.

The search for sensation has caused many people to launch expeditions in risk involving mountains around the world, and other form of risking involving sports often without considering their own safety. As a result, many lives have been lost in the bed of sports arenas around the world so far including the Himalayas(1 & 56). Pinpointing the motivation for sensation seeking is difficult. What sensation seekers like Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, Nail Armstrong, John Gland (Astronauts), Tenzing Norgay (Mt. Everest Climber) and others see or feel is the beauty of the sports or invention, purity of its very spirit, solitude glory or the great challenge to ones endurance and resourcefulness. However, very few persons possess the actual requisite for physiological activation or interest in undertaking the risk of these extreme risking involving sports.

The concept of Sensation Seeking(1) is to assess individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation. Since its initial development, the sensation seeking scale has undergone various changes. The most recent form has 40 forced-choice items separated into factorial derived subscales designed to measure the dimension of sensation seeking (2) as a whole as well as Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Risk, Experience Seeking, Dis-inhibition, and Boredom Susceptibility, in another word, likely to be influenced or harmed by a specific thing.

The very concept of optimal level of stimulation, excitation, or activation(3) in a person who needs experiences to maintain an optimal level of arousal is called sensation seeking. His or her optimal level of arousal is assumed to be greater than that of non-sensation seekers. When stimuli and experience become repetitive, it is assumed that the sensation seeker will become bored and non - responsive more quickly than most other individuals. He or she is presumed to be sensitive to inner sensation and non - confirming to external constraints (restriction). The sensation seeking scale was developed to asses individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation.

Sensation Seeking as a Human Trait

The first scale developed was the general sensation seeking scale by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman(4). This scale was obtained from factor analyses of a broad range of items expressing preferences for or avoidance of dangerous sports, the need for general excitement, attraction to new and unfamiliar situations, a preference for irregularity as opposed to routine, and preference for exciting, as opposed to reliable or predictable, friends. Later factor analyses in America and England using rotational methods found four factors indicating a substantial factor reliability have been found in several other countries: Sensation seekers or mountain climbers according to Fowler,(5) person interested in climbing mountain in the Himalayas and other high mountain ridges around the world involving risk and danger. However, mountain climbing or any similar sports require skill, technique, and high activation. Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) subscale consists of items expressing desires to engage in sports or activities involving some physical danger or risk, such as mountain-climbing, bridge jumping, extreme sports, skydiving, parachute jumping, scuba diving, car speeding or racing, high altitude ski racing, etc(6). Experience Seeking (ES) subscale consists of items describing the desire to seek new experiences through travel and through the mind and senses by living in a non-conforming lifestyle with unconventional friends(6). Disinhibition (Dis) (less inhibited) subscale items describe the need to disinhibit behavior in the social sphere by drinking, partying, and seeking a variety of sexual partners.(6). Boredom Susceptibility (BS) subscale items indicate an aversion for repetitive experience of any kind, routine work, or even dull or predictable people. Other items indicate a restless reaction when things are unchanging(6).





Theories of Sensation Seeking

To understand Sensation Seeking more clearly, one needs an explanation of the many of the many theoretical views of the Sensation Seeking need. Sports psychologists and authors over the years have developed many scales to measure sensation seeking.

Penny’s(7) Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale was constructed to determine the amount of exteroceptive stimulus variation seeking customarily engaged in by an individual. Fiske and Madi (unpublished); in their paper proposed that varied experience is oriented toward and sought for its own sake. Anyone can choose to vary his environment by responding and changing stimulus conditions. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that stimulus variations seeking underlie exploration, alteration, curiosity, and play.

Another concept of stimulus variation seeking is optimal level of stimulation. A number of researchers and sports psychologists have suggested that stimulus seeking activity is designed to maintain stimulation at an optimal level. Other studies have yielded wide individual differences in stimulus variation seeking and presumably individual differences in optimal levels of stimulation.

Three properties of the Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale have been reported. The first property investigated was the reliability of the scale. The second property explored was its discriminant validity, i.e., a test can be invalidated by high correlation with other test can be invalidated by high correlation with other tests that purport or suggest to measure different traits. The third property investigated was the convergent (which comes together from all directions) validity of the scale. The Stimulus Variation Seeking Scale has been found to be related to auto kinesis (indirect movement of cell) and sensation seeking.

Leuba(8) adds that the principle of optimal stimulation may have a good deal to do with the gaining of ascendancy of priority by certain responses over others. He also adds that in infancy, random movements, as in babbling or during optimal stimulation, are reinforced over movements accompanied by either too little or too much environment to bear upon tactual and other sense organs, it will be most strongly reinforced provided only exploration does not produce excessive stimulation.

Atkinson’s(9) (study states that the first problem in risk-taking behavior is to account for an individual’s selection of one path of action from a set of possible alternatives. The second problem is to account for the amplitude or vigor of the action tendency once it is initiated, and for its tendency to persist for a timed in a given direction. According to Hebb,(10) man’s motivation is a function of his exteroceptive or physiology of stimuli that are external to an organism & stimulation. Isolation produces motivational and emotional disturbance quickly.

The stimulus seeking motivation of Farley’s(11) study is one of the most consistent findings with the Sensation Seeking Scale, as well as with some of the other measures, since age seems to be negatively correlated with stimulation seeking. In other words, stimulation seeking, as measured by these tests, seems to decline with age. O’Conner’s study(12) has stated that theory of achievement motivation provides a rationale for an achievement risk preference scale, which is a paired-comparison test of the intra-individual strength of motive to achievement success relative to strength of motive to avoid failure.

The Measurement of Sensation-Seeking Tendencies

Fowler(13), compared mountaineers, and a smaller group of persons not interested in mountaineering. Those compared a group of persons from a club interested in interested in mountaineering or mountain climbing scored significantly higher on the general and Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale IV form than the other student non-mountain climbers. However, his study was done on platelet non-mountain oxidize (MAO) enzyme, which is contained in the mitochondria of neurons in the brain as well as in other tissues. In the brain, MAO metabolizes the monoamine neurotransmitters.

Negative relationships have been found between MAO levels and the sensation-seeking trait in two studies conducted by Murphy, et al, (14, & 15). High sensation seekers tend to have high levels of MAO. The relationship between MAO and participation in mountain climbing is consistent with the idea that the same biological factors that play a role in the broad trait of sensation seeking may influence the attraction of some individuals to risky sports.

During 80s I have made a through research study concentrating on the measurement of Dr. Zuckerman’s Form V sensation seeking scale questionnaire instead of MAO enzyme. There has been no such investigation conducted in the past, particularly with mountain climbers and non-mountain climbers using this scale.

Other studies in this area of sensation seeking include in this area include the work of Hymbough and Garrett(16), in which skydivers were compared with an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, and socioeconomic variables. As a result, the skydivers scored higher than the control group. In a similar study, straub (17 & 18) compared groups of male Hang-Gliders and Auto Racers with a group of inter-collegiate bowlers (base ball) on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V of Dr. Zuckerman. Three of the four subscales, TAS, ES, and BS, significantly differentiated the groups. The ES scale actually accounted for the most between group variance in a stepwise discriminant function. However, discriminant function indicated that the automobile racers were higher than the hang-gliders and both of these groups were higher than the bowlers on sensation seeking.

Finally, in another study of Treiber(19) suggested that the Sensation Seeking may be systematically related to motives and patters or continues of use of drugs that are common in-groups of alcohol and drug abusers. Tendencies towards alcohol and drug abusers’ pleasure and motives violate social norms in search of excitement, mood state changes, and physiological arousal. Treiber, also found that in alcoholic offenders, sensation seeking as a personality trait was related to heighten social deviance or diverting from accepted social standards, and an alcoholic lifestyle, as reflected by repeated violations of public drunkenness statutes.

Form V of the Sensation Seeking Scale was developed based on factor analyses of Form IV that used a large heterogeneous sample of English students of both sexes (Male & Female). Factor analyses in the English samples yielded factors highly similar to those found in the American factor analyses. Based on the cross-sex and cross-national similarities in item loading, Form V was constructed. This form contains ten items representing each of the four factors. It does not contain the general scale, but uses a total score based on the sum of four factor scores.

Farley and Cax(20) in their study suggested that there might be more than one factor of sensation seeking; factor analysis was used in an attempt to discover what other factors might be included. Dr. Marvin Zuckerman (21) reported on the dimension of sensation seeking found in samples of male and female undergraduates in the Philadelphia area, where four factors were identified, three of them showed good reliability in their loading across the sexes.

Penny(22) defined Sensation Seeking optimal stimulation which is purported to measure individual differences as they are sensation oriented. However, Blackburn (23) rejects both Sensation Seeking and Sensation Seeking Scale because they do not measure Impulsivity or a strong urge to do something risky. On the other hand, different kinds of tests have been used to measure sensation seeking. These include (i) Dr. Marvin Zuckerman’s ii) Sensation Seeking Scale, (iii) Social Desirability Scale, (iv) Sensation Variation Seeking Scale, (v) Fear of Success Scale (FOSS), and (vi) Change Seeker Index (CSI).

The Sensation Seeking Scale of Dr. Marvin Zuckerman (24) designed to quantify the construct “optimal stimulation level.” The first version of the Sensation Seeking Scale was given to 268 male and 277 female undergraduate students at Brooklyn College. On about two-thirds of the items, the proportion of the Subjects choosing one of the forced-choices fell in the 30-70 percent range. The four items with the most extreme splits (greater than 85.15 percent) were dropped from the test. The remaining 50 items were Interco-related by using tetrachloric or four way correlation. The results revealed that large factor did emerge for both males and females. Twenty-six items for the males and 30 items for the females loaded. Thirty or higher on this factor. To determine the similarity of the item factor structure across the sexes, the item-factor loading of sexes were ranked for the males and females, and the two sets of ranks were correlated by using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation. Rho was 0.91, indicating near identity between the items-factor pattern in both Sexes.

Change Seeker Index (CSI) is habitually consistent pattern of behavior that controls the amount and the kind of stimulus input a given organism receives. Stimulus input includes stimuli from both internal and external sources. Change Seeker Index (CSI) items were selected from a number of existing personalities questionnaire items that seemed to reflect change seeking. A number of other items were also devised. The preliminary questionnaire consisted of 211 items. These were administered to 3 groups, 105 college males, 137 college females, and 60 soldiers. A “phi” or a plane angle coefficient or the constant quantity placed before and multiplying the variables in an algebraic expression was computed between each item response and the upper and lower 27 percent of each distribution. The items that correlated at the .05 level in two of the three groups were retained. The 95 items that make up the present form of the CSI meet these criteria.

Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) was developed by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman and Tresemer(25) to assess individual differences in the motive to avoid success. The first part of the manual deals with the construction of a fear-of success scale; the second part deals with personality correlates of the FOSS; the third presents experimental evidence supporting the predictive validity of the FOSS. Twenty-seven items of the FOSS were written with items total correlation or having relationship with affects with one score with another for males and females. The correlation was small but consistent.

High Risk Sports Populations

Hymbaugh and Garrett(26) compared 21 skydivers with an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, socio-economic, and occupational variables. They used the earlier Form II of the Sensation Seeking Scale, which contained only the General scales. As expected, the skydivers scored significantly higher than the control group on the General Sensation Seeking Scale. The mean difference of 8 points between the groups indicated that a single item pertaining to parachuting cannot account for the difference between the groups, but the other physical risk-taking items may have accounted for a large part of the difference. Straub(27) from here put all in the back compared groups of male Hang-Gliders and Auto-Racers (AR) with a group of inter-collegiate bowlers on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. Three of the four subscales, TAS, ES and BS, significantly differentiated the groups. The second-ranking discriminant variables were the Experience Seeking (ES), which actually accounted for the most between group variance in a stepwise discriminant function analysis. The TAS scale was the most discriminating variable. The Disinhibition scale, which ranked third, did not play a significant role in the discriminant function analysis. The BS scale ranked fourth in discriminative power. Discriminant-function analysis indicated that the automobile racers were higher than the hang-gliders were, and both of these groups were higher than the bowlers on sensation seeking. The hang-gliders and auto racers reported receiving more injuries than the bowlers did, and the majority of subjects from both of these groups regarded their sport as a high-risk activity. None of the blowers regarded their sport as a high-risk activity. None of the bowlers regarded that sport as risky. These items were not related to Sensation Seeking Scale in Stroub’s study, although reported injuries and risk appraisals might have proved an interesting comparison.

Kusyszynm, Steinberg and Elliot(28) compared a miscellaneous experimental group of “risk-takers,” including firemen, riot-squad policemen, Race-Car drivers, parachutists, and snowmobilers, with a control group consisting of 70 civil servants and college students. The risk takers scored significantly higher on the General and TAS scales of Form IV. It is not clear whether the two groups were compared on the other subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale or how well the groups were matched. The risk group included vocational risk takers, like firemen and policemen, along with sports participants like parachutists and snow-mobilers (motor-bike). While those choosing risky occupations, such as policemen, or firemen, or military aviation personnel may score high on TAS, they typically score lower on less “socially desirable” Sensation Seeking Scales like Experience Seeking and Dishibition (DIS). The control group, including civil servants and college students, was similarly heterogeneous or diverse in its characteristics.

Becon’s(29) salvage divers were experienced divers who volunteered their services for dangerous rescue and salvage diving. To raise funds for their work, this group held Stock-Car Races (SCR), in which the divers were the drivers. The group was a high sensation-seeking group by all behavioral criteria. The scored significantly higher than a group of college students, matched for age and socioeconomic back ground on the General, TAS, Dis, and BS scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V.

Connolly(30) compared skiers, including ski instructors, with non-skiers, including ski instructors, with non-skiers recruited from a health spa. Sky-divers scored higher than those in the control group on the total and TAS scales of Sensation Seeking scale Form V, and ski instructors scored higher than the other skiers on the Total, TAS, and ES scales.

Comparing 24 skiers who reported skiing injuries in the past and 20 who did not report any injuries, Connolly(31) found that skiers who had accidents were significantly higher than the others on the total, TAS and Dis Scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. These results show that Sensation Seeking may influence the degree of risk taking within a high Sensation Seeking group. This statement assumes that the skiers with accidents took risks, rather than that they were simply less competent skiers would not explain the result showing higher Sensation Seeking Scale scores for the ski instructors, who were undoubtedly more competent than most of the other skiers. More than three-fourths of those reporting accidents were males, consistent with the higher scores of male skiers on the Total and TAS, Sensation Seeking Scales (SSS) in Connolly’s study.

Fowler, Von Knorring, and Oreland(32) compared a group of persons from a club devoted to mountain climbing and a smaller group of persons interested in mountain climbing with a group of students not experienced or interested in mountain climbing. Those interested in mountain climbing scored significantly higher on the General and TAS scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale V than the other students. Blood samples were obtained from all subjects and levels of platelet (small cell) monoamine exidase (an enzyme present in most tissues which catalyses the oxidation and inactivation of monoamine neurotransmitters, in another word, allowing accumulation of serotonin and noradrenalin in the brain) (MAO) were assayed or a procedure adopted for measuring the biochemical activity of a samplewe. Those interested in mountain climbing had significantly lower MAO levels. MAO is an enzyme that is contained in the mitochondria biological structure found in most cells, in which respiration and energy production occur of neurons a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses in the brain as well as in other tissues. In the brain, MAO serves the function of metabolizing the monoamine neurotransmitters. The highest levels of MAO are found in the limbic brain system, which have important functions in the regulation of appetite, pleasure, and the pain, sensitivity to reward and punishment, and emotional and behavioral arousal in general. The relationship between MAO and participation in mountain climbing is consistent with the idea that the same biological factors that play a role in the broad trait of Sensation Seeking may influence the attraction of some individuals to risky sports.

Lower Risk Sport Populations

McCuthcheon(33) compared a group of 62 runners participating in races with group of non-runners matched for sex and age. The male runners did not differ significantly from non-runners on any of the Sensation Seeking Scale V except for a borderline significant difference (P<, 10) on the Dis scale; the ratings of the male runners were lower than those of the non-runners on this scale. The non-runners at a borderline significant level (P<, 10) on the Total score and were also significantly lower (P<.05) on the TAS scale. There was no correlation between Sensation Seeking Scale scores and the order of finish in the races in either sex. Apparently Sensation Seeking is less relevant to this low-risk sport than it is to the high-risk sports already discussed. The finding of a tendency toward lower Sensation Seeking, particularly in the female runners, must be interpreted cautiously because the control-group scores were somewhat higher than might be expected for persons of the age. There is one type of running in which the running in which the runners were found to have relatively high Sensation Seeking Scores, that is “streaking”a mark a fad of the early 1970’s, which has not been classified as a sport. The participants were persons, largely college students, who felt impelled to run total naked across campuses or down city street. Their numbers along prevented alone prevented mass arrests for exhibition or defiance of public decency. The individual motives for streakers remain a mystery to this day; however, one topical investigator at the University of West Virginia, Bone(34), felt compelled to investigate the phenomenon. Using an unstandardized, one-item streaking rating scale ranging from “no desire to streak” to “have streaked,” he found significant correlation between streaking and all of the subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale. The highest correlation were with the General and TAS Scales, supporting the contention were with the General and TAS scales, supporting the contention of those who characterized streaking as a sport. Whatever it was, it apparently satisfied many kinds of needs related to Sensation Seeking. Certainly it provided a novel experience for most participants with only modicum of risk. There are no data on how many real athletic runners participated; but, according to Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, guess, the participation was low in this group, if for nothing else than the risk of stepping barefooted on broken glass.

Straub(35) contrasted female gymnasts and bowlers on the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V. Although gymnastics is probably a higher risk sport than bowling, no differences were found between the two groups on any of the Sensation Seeking scales.

Do physical education majors, as a broad group of persons generally interested in sports, differ from other college students? Wickoff(36) compared male and female physical education major students with college normative groups. No differences were found on any of the Sensation Seeking Scale. In another study relating Sensation Seeking to participation in sports in a different kind of non-college group, Cellini(37) gave the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V scale, along with rating scales of participation in various sports, to a group of 65 ex-convicts tested for vocational guidance following parole. The primary findings were significant correlation of the Total, TAS, and ES scales with participation in football. Other sports, such as running, tennis, bicycling, and swimming, showed little significant correlation with the Sensation Seeking Scales. Football may be one of the best sports for draining some of the aggressive Sensation Seeking needs characteristic of this population.

Sensation Seeking Impulsivity and Psychopathic Personality Scales

For inclusion in the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) of Marlowe-Crowne(38) a number of current personality inventories were consulted in order to devise items. An item had to meet the criterion of cultural approval and was required to have minimal pathological or abnormal implication if responded to in either the socially desirable or undesirable directions. A major objective in the development of the MC SDS was the elimination of pathology relevant to item content. To test this and for comparative purposes, the M-C SDS was submitted and graduate students in a psychology department, for ratings of the degree of maladjustment implied by socially undesirable responses to the items. A five point scale, ranging from extremely well adjusted(Black 39) to extremely maladjusted persons was employed for all the items in the M-C SDS. The mean score of 2.8, slightly below the mid-point of the scale, implied neither good nor poor adjustment. The mean rating SDS items was 3.9, which indicates that the judges considered socially undesirable responses on this scale to be definitely indicative of maladjustment.

A preliminary scale was then administered to 76 students in two introductory psychology courses, and an item analysis was completed. Thirty three items discriminated at the 0.05 levels or better between high and low total scores. Of the 33 items, 18 were keyed true and 15 false, making a response set interpretation of scores highly improbable.

Conclusion

In general reviewing the above literature the researcher discovered that a problem in the investigation of Sensation Seeking behavior is the risk-taking behavior. A true definition of this concept has been made by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman(40, 41, 42, 43, 44). The main purpose is to predict the responses in experimental situations of sensory deprivation of subjects. Farley and Berkowitz(45, 46) also contributed much to the understanding of stimulus seeking behavior. Various theories of Penny and Zuckerman(47, 48) also clearly indicate that Sensation Seeking is another concept of the optimal level of stimulation (OLS). Leuba(49) adds that the principal of optimal stimulation may have a good deal to do the gaining of ascendancy by certain responses over others. Atkinson(50) in his study of risk-taking behavior clearly indicates that man’s motivation is a function of his exteroceptivestimuli external to organism stimulation. Farley(51, 52, & 53) also adds that stimulation seeking is held to be physiologically based in the concept of physiological activation with high stimulation seekers being characteristically low in physiological activation.

The broad trait of Sensation Seeking is related to a participation in specific kinds of sports; namely, those that provide unusual sensations and novel experience, such as those involved with skydiving, hang-gliding, skiing, and scuba diving. Persons who are more experienced in these activities generally score higher than novices or less experienced persons. Risk may not be the primary requisite of these sports. The study of novice divers(54) showed that, given the choice of more prolonged, shallow dives, which provide more opportunity for exploration of the novel underwater world, and more risky deeper dives, the high Sensation Seekers opted for prolonged exploration at the shallower depths; however, high Sensation seeking skiers. High Sensation Seekers have a pronounced tendency to underestimate risk, relative to low Sensation Seekers. This cognitive difference between high and low Sensation Seekers may account for the participation of Sensation Seekers in sports or activities shunned by low Sensation Seekers. It should be emphasized that only low negative correlation exist between Sensation Seeking and anxiety traits, and even these correlation are limited to a specific kind of anxiety trait; Fear and Physical harm.

























Bibliography

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Zuckerman’s “Sensation Seeking in England and America: cross-cultural, age and sex comparisons”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978, 46,139-149)
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20 F.H.Farley, and S.O. Cox, “Stimulus Seeking Motivation in adolescent as a function of age and sex”, Adolescence, 1971, 6, 207-218.
21 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and Duane P. Schulz, “Sensation Seeking and Volunteering for sensory deprivation and hypnosis experiments”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 358-363.
22 R.K. Penney, R.C. Reinehr, “Development of a stimulus variations seeking scale for adult”, Psychological Reports, 1966, 18, 631-638.
23 R. Blackburn, “Emotionally, extroversion and aggression in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenic offenders”, British Journey of Psychiatry, 1968, 114, 130-132.
24 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and Duane P. Schulz, “Sensation Seeking and Volunteering for sensory deprivation and hypnosis experiments”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 358-363.
25 D.Tresemer, “Fear of Success: Popular but unproven”, Psychology Today, 1974, 7, 82-85.
26 K. Hymbought, and J. Garret, “Sensation-Seeking among sky divers”, Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1974, 38, 118.
27 W.F Straub, “Validation of Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale using high and low risk male athletes”, Unpublished Manuscript, 1982 (a).
28 I. Kusyszy, P. Steinberg, and B. Elliot., “Arousal Seeking Physical risk-taking, and personality”, paper read at the 18th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montreal, Canada, July, 1974.
29 J. Bacon., “Sensation-Seeking Levels for members of high risk organization”, Unpublished manuscript, 1974.
30 P.M. Connoly, “An exploratory study of adults engaging in the high risk sports of skiing”, Master Thesis, Rutgers University, 1981.
31 P.M. Connoly, “An exploratory study of adults engaging in the high risk sports of skiing”, Master Thesis, Rutgers University, 1981.
32 C.J. Fowler, L. Von Knorring ,and L. Oreland, “Platelet monoamine exidase activity in sensation seekers”, Psychiatry Research, 1980, 3, 273-279.
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34 R.N.Bone, D.D.Montgomery, and E.S. Philip, “Relationship of Sensational-Seeking and anxiety”, Psychological Reports, 1972, 30, 874.
35 W.F.Straub, “Sensation-Seeking and Locus Control of high and low risk female athletes”, Unpublished manuscript, 1982 (b).
36 W.L. Wyckoff, “Are Physical Education majors Sensation Seekers?”, unpublished manuscript, 1982.
37 H.R. Cellini, “Personal Communication”, Study done for Safer Foundation, 1982.
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39 R. Blackburn, “Emotionally, extroversion and aggression in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenic offenders”, British Journal of Psychiatry, 1968, 114, 130-132.
40 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, “The development of an affect adjective check list for the measurement of anxiety”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1960, 24, 957-962.
41 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and R.N. Bone, “What is a Sensation Seeker? Personality trait and experience correlates of the Sensation-seeking Scale”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1972, 308-321.
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43 Dr.Marvin Zuckerman, and C. Nathan, “Source of reports of visual and auditory sensations in perceptual isolation”, Psychological Bulletin, 1964, 62, 1-20 (b).
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45 W.R. Berkowitz, “Use of the Sensation Seeking Scale with Thai Subjects”, Psychological Reports, 1967, 20, 635-641.
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48 Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, and K. Link, “Construct Validity for the Sensation-Seeking Scale”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 32, 420-426.
49 C. Leuba, “Toward some integration of learning theories: The concept of optimal stimulation: Psychological Reports, 1955, 1, 27-33.
50 J.W. Atkinson, “Motivational Determinants of Risk-taking Behavior”, Psychological Review, 1957, 64, 359-372.
51 F.H.Farley, “Social Desirability and Dimensionally in the Sensation-Seeking Scale”, Acta Psychological, 1967, 26, 89-96.
52 F.H. Farley, and S.O.Cox, “Stimulus-Seeking Motivation in adolescent as a function of age and sex”, Adolescence, 1971, 6, 207-216.
53 F.H.Farley, and S.V. Farley, “Extroversion on Stimulus-Seeking motivation”, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, 31, 215-216.
54 S.R. Heymen, and K.G. Rose, “Psychological variables affecting Scuba performance”, Unpublished manuscript, 1980.
55 Dr. Athilqul H. Laskar, M.Sc., Ph.D., “The 20th Century Phenomenon Sensation Seeking Tendency in Mountain Climbers”, ISBN 0-595-09023-0, Writer’s Club Press, San Jose, New York, Lincoln, (Nebraska), Shanghai, 2000.
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Recommendation

The recommendations for any future research study with sensation seeking are:

1. an expansion of this study on a large sample is needed to generalize the findings in the sensation seeking tendency of mountain climbers and non-mountain climbers in India, especially in the North Eastern India.
2. A research study should explore the Sensation Seeking (SS) tendency in professional risk takers sports in India including a large sample size in order to determine any differences in sensation seeking tendency.
3. Further research investigation needs to be completed among professional risk takers in their day to day job of different cultures of India to determine any differences in sensation seeking tendency.
4. A broader study should compare the children of high sensation seeking parents with those of low sensation seeker parents who are involved in Assam Forest department including Kaziranga game sanctuary including other risky jobs in India to see whether there is any SS tendency difference.
5. a study should also explore for SS tendency between males in addition, females between 17 and 21 year of age of India based on India culture to see whether there are any SS tendency differences.
6 A study should explore whether there are any SS tendency differences between educated and uneducated sample youth of India
7. A study should explore whether there are any high risk takers between Indian University students and rural school students for recruitment of personnel in Indian armed forces for a more efficient army.
8. A study may also include to explore Sensation Seeking tendency among meritorious students and non-meritorious students in India universities.
9. A special study should included to explore high Sensation Seekers in coal mine workers and Police department personnel in India.
10. An exclusive study should be included to explore actual Sensation Seekers among members of Indian Olympic teams and Assam State Sports members to determine potential sports person for national team.
11. A study may include to explore possibilities among would be candidates seeking to join Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
12. An exclusive research study should also be done between Assam Refinery workers and Civil Secretariat workers in Assam.
13. A complete research investigation needs to be completed among professional risk takers among Industrial workers and administrative workers of India to determine any differences of risk taking and sensation seeking tendency.



















Power Point Presentation:

Slide #1ROLLER COASTERS
• Some folks love them.
• Go on coasters in the dark.
• Loosen seatbelts.
• Travel around the country.
• Exciting and pleasurable.
• For others, it’s a near death experience.
Slide#2 SKY DIVING
• Friend wanted to do something unique for her 50th birthday.
• Her kids suggested skydiving.
• Tandem dive.
• Great experience even with a broken ankle.
Slide#3 EXTREME SPORTS
• Thrill seekers.
• Natural highs.
• Action gamblers.
• Speed freaks.
• What do they have in common?
• Rewarding pathways in the brain.
Slide# HANG GLIDING
• Sport most likely to result in death.
• Thrill seeking appears irrational.
• Take unreasonable risks.
• Trigger fight or flight response.
• Adrenalin surge.
• Stress reaction.
• Why take the risk?
Slide # THRILL SEEKERS REPORT
• Psychological high.
• Sense of mastery.
• Have developed skills.
• Know how to use gear.
• Coping skills.
• Able to handle situation
Slide # BRIDGE JUMPING

Slide # DEVELOPING SKILL
• First timers report intense fear.
• With practice, fear disappears
• Psychological high remains.
• Self-satisfaction associated with highly developed coping skill.
• Learn how to control fear
Slide # SELF EFFICACY
• Belief in your abilities.
• Mobilize your energy.
• Physical and psychological resources.
• Know the appropriate action to take.
• Emergency responders.
• Handle the fear.
Slide # OUTCOME EFFICACY
• Belief that you will experience satisfaction from reaching goal.
• Mastery in the past.
• Sense of accomplishment.
• Worth taking the risk.
• Joy of success.
Slide # PEOPLE WHO AVOID RISKS
• Not because they experience fear
• Not close enough to experience fear
• Haven’t even approached the threat.
• In reality, they won’t be able to cope with the situation
• Expectation of fear and failure.
Slide # FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
• Work of Bandura.
• Greatest source of threat is our inability to deal with nagging doubts about our performance.
• Should I take public speaking course?
• Will I freeze?
• What will people think?
• Never sign up
Slide # NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
• Negative thoughts are powerful un-motivating force.
• Negative thoughts create anxiety.
• Anxiety makes us apprehensive.
• Avoid situation.
Slide # ANTIDOTE FOR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
• Self-efficacy best prevention against negative thoughts.
• Mastery in risky situations.
• Rope courses.
• Bob Marsh: “push the envelope of comfort.”
Slide # ROPE COURSES
• Safe way to develop mastery.
• Overcome fears.
• Develop trust in community.
• Improve self-image.
• Used extensively in drug rehab with adolescents.
• Team building for many different groups.
Slide # MARVIN ZUCKERMAN

Slide # SESORY DEPRIVATION
• Zuckerman was grad student in these studies.
• Interested in subjects who hated deprivation.
• Couldn’t tolerate low levels of stimulation.
• Wanted new experiences.
Slide # SENSATION SEEKING SCALE
• Developed new scale: SSS.
• Zuckerman on sensation seeking:
• “a trait defined by the need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences.
• And the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences.”
Slide # SSS COMPONENTS
• Thrill and adventure seeking. (action gamblers).
• Seek experiences outside the conventional lifestyle (travel, friends, and art).
• Disinheriting: release of inhibitions, escape the pressures of daily life. (escape gamblers).
• Low tolerance for boredom, repetition and sameness.
Slide # SSS PREDICTOR OF ADDICTION
• Sensation seeking as personality trait.
• Correlated with alcoholism.
• Gambling.
• Perhaps common in all addictions.
Slide # MALE-LIMITED ALCOHOLISM
• Males particularly susceptible
• Male limited.
• More severe, early onset.
• Many negative consequences.
• Trouble with law, at school, on job.
• Environment plays less of a role but can lessen the severity.
Slide # BRAIN RESPONSE TO NOVELTY
• Brain waves to novel stimuli.
• P3 waves.
• Less reaction in alcoholics.
• Need more stimulation?
Slide # PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Related to biology?
• Reward seeking.
• Impulsive.
• Easily bored.
• Risk takers
• Gregarious
• Push the limits
• Act out
Slide # BRAIN CHEMISTRY DIFFERENCES
• Naturally higher levels of some mood chemicals.
• Brain in high gear.
• In order to feel high, have to push the brain beyond normal level of activity.
• Greater sensation to get reward.
• Potential for addiction.
Slide # IMPORTANT FOR PREVENTION
• Gambling as example.
• Primary: before start gambling. Prevent early exposure.
• Secondary: intervene in early stages. Provide alternatives.
• Tertiary: treatment.
• Understand the role of sensation seeking to avoid switching addictions.
Slide # Conclusion
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