COGMAP List Publishes Breakthrough Psychology Paper



by JoAnne Shell



COGMAP@JISCMAIL.AC.UK, the moderated Cognitive Mapping psychology discussion list, has published what may be considered a breakthrough paper http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A1=ind0408&L=cogmap concerning how the human mind relates to a shifting geometric object called a Necker cube, and its relationship with a psychological test performed by the Open University and presented by the BBC Science website http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/neckercube/index.shtml .



The paper, Psychological Testing With The Necker Cube and Flawed Test Questions was researched and written by researcher and conceptual theorist Marshall Barnes of the United States. It is unique as it presents the issue from an outsider perspective that is unusually insightful, combining a deconstruction of the psychological test through the act of actually participating in it and then comparing his results with those overall, so far. He also reveals new perspectives on its use of a geometric figure which has unnoted connections to quantum theory as well as with conscious perception and the act of observation.



In it Marshall details how he discovered the test on the BBC Science web site after completing his own extensive research into the nature of the Necker cube and how its shifts are perceived. Marshall took the BBC/Open Univeristy test, designed by Dr. Peter Naish, and found it to be flawed. His own results proved he was correct when they violated the hypothesis behind the test. Further examination of other test results showed that they too were running contrary to what the test's hypothesis predicted. However, Marshall cites that the hypothesis is still untested because the test itself was designed so poorly. In turn, he reveals what he learned as far as how people can relate to the Necker cube and the impact ignoring that element had on the test.



Another unique aspect of the Necker cube that he reveals is that the cube doesn't flip along a 180 degree axis as many mathematicians and others have stated. Through careful analysis, Marshall has discovered that the flip is actually 90 degrees, from front to top or side, instead of from front to back. He points out that this is further evidence of how the Necker cube can be used to illustrate quantum theories as first demonstrated by Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0966132769/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-1816230-7034233#reader-link .



In the end, Marshall constructs a new test that could be used to properly test subjects to see if the hypothesis is correct or not.



Marshall is currently completing a book on a new theory that unifies elements of Euclidean geometry (Necker cubes and others), relativity theory, quantum mechanics and cosmology into a single continuum that describes spacetime reality the way we experience it and beyond. He will be presenting his latest paper, Avoiding Hidden Assumptions While Thinking Outside the Box at the 7th International Mars Society Conference in Chicago, August 21st at 4:30pm http://www.marssociety.org/docs/sched_04.pdf .



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