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Thursday, 18 March 2010

Can brain scans help companies sell more

Neural marketing-In the battle for our money and loyalty, companies wanting to sell us products have turned their attention to something right under our noses. Or behind our noses. The brain is now being called the ultimate business frontier and technology is letting firms take a look inside our heads. In this neurological market research participants wear a cap fitted with brain sensors as they watch adverts. Emotional response, attentiveness and memory function are all measured. An electroencephalogram or EEG, a painless brain scan, allows researchers to track the electrical impulses across the surface of the brain. I volunteered as a guinea pig to see how it works. EEG's have been around for roughly ninety years and are regularly used in medical applications for diagnosing epilepsy. In the last two decades the technology has moved on. Activity used to be recorded using pens on moving paper, now it can be digitised instantaneously into graphs. The equipment has also recently become a lot smaller and more portable so the marketing experts now believe it can be used more widely as a tool for studying the reactions of potential consumers.
Trade secrets
In the demonstration of the technique, I was fitted with something that looked a bit like a swimming cap full of holes. Sensors which capture brainwave activity 2,000 times a second were plugged into the holes. A gel was squeezed into the holes to allow my brain's electrical signals to be picked up. As the sensors were fastened in place in the cap and two put by my eye to monitor blinking, Darren Bridger, director of lab operations at Neurofocus Europe, explained the basics. "Computers now allow you to aggregate the results and sample more people. You can also calibrate responses according to previous results. "You get different responses depending on whether you're looking at a large or a small screen; say a television or a mobile phone. And if you're walking around a supermarket you're going to get a different response from if you're looking at a static screen." My sensor cap was covered with a floppy hat before we filmed. Darren explained that was to hide trade secrets, the location of the sensors, from competitors. It seems neuromarketing is a cut-throat business - financial stakes from potential clients in the world of marketing and branding are high. As it was Monday morning, I wasn't too sure how much brain activity I would have going on but as the equipment fired up different coloured lines started to squiggle across the screen. I was given a couple of short films to watch. My brain waves appeared as constantly updating graphs. These are translated into indicators for attention, emotion and memory. Algorithms are used to calculate which scenes you like the most.
Appealing penguins
After the first film Neurofocus's Quentin Baldwin, who demonstrates the technology for clients, pronounced that I liked penguins. This is not unusual, he explained, most people find penguins appealing because their waddling movements resemble small children walking. I was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of my thoughts and reactions being spied on. After the second promo Quentin told me my subconscious had really liked the giraffes as well as the faces. "As humans we're really drawn to faces, especially close up faces, eyes and things like that. Neurologically they appeal a lot," he told me. Nothing too sinister revealed there then. In a real sample at least 24 participants are used and between 64 and 128 sensors per head are used to measure the reaction to a company's messages and products. The sensors are used in conjunction with eye tracking equipment to give an overall picture of the subject's reactions.
Subconscious shopping
But to what extent can a brain scan really determine our preferences? Professor Nilli Lavie, from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, expressed some doubt. She also pointed out the possible benefits. "Neural marketing is becoming a hot topic in the marketing and scientific communities," she said. "In general, the approach can be very productive and may potentially reveal information about the consumer's brain that would otherwise be hard to obtain. "But in some areas I think the gap between what we know scientifically and what we know about predicting consumer choice is still too big. "Neuro-scientific research can be used to find out what type of marketing tools or advertisements better attract the consumers attention." But she cautioned that it might be more difficult to find out what exactly dictates the consumer's choice in terms of what they eventually purchase. "At the end of the day we have to accept that, to some extent, purchases may also be decided upon by whimsical, impulsive urges." Professor Lavie said there was another type of neuroimaging that might be preferable. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) gives a clearer indication of what is going on in the consumer's mind. It provides better spatial resolution, meaning you can tell more easily which brain areas are active. "When it comes to specific neural marketing tools the clearest method and the one that has been researched the most in the scientific domain would be brain scanning with fMRI." It is an expensive route to take though. "A big concern is that one needs to assess the cost versus the benefit and the cost is naturally very high for use in these methods," added Professor Lavie. Researchers expect neuromarketing to become more accurate and more widely used. Our subconscious is getting involved in the shopping experience as never before. (my view)-Looks like FORCED SLAVERY is coming back with government backing,first making us shop and get into more debt than we can imagine,working in conditions that is very dangerous and more.........the governmental shits will not stop!our free will will be controlled,WE MUST STOP THEM...just when you thought our freedom was taken away already they produce this to control us all

Hidden problem of children sexually abusing children

To find out your five-year-old son has been sexually abused is, of course, devastating. But how do you cope when you find out that his abuser is his seven-year-old sister? Claire's daughter Hannah was discovered abusing her brother, late last year. Both names have been changed to protect their identities. "That was probably the darkest week of my life without a doubt," explains Claire. "All the anger and the rage, the confusion, the revulsion. I couldn't look at her. I wanted to grab my son and run and never see her again. I was just terrified." But Claire had more to face when it quickly emerged that Hannah had also been sexually abusing several other children. Hannah is typical of one third of the children who display sexually harmful behaviour - to use the preferred clinical terminology - in that she has also been sexually abused herself.
Learned behaviour
Hannah was regularly sexually assaulted by a teenage boy for around two years. "She didn't understand at the beginning what she was doing was wrong. For her it was just learnt behaviour," explains Claire. "Her interaction with other people was all based on that because it went on for two years. So that can't be wiped away, we just have to steer her away in a different direction." Claire says that finding out what had been happening has had a devastating effect on her relationship with her daughter. Initially, she says, she even questioned whether she would be able to love Hannah again and rebuilding trust in her little girl is still proving hard. "Even after all this period of time has passed I still worry, what's she doing? I worry when she's at school. Is she being monitored? Is everything ok, are other children safe around her and what will the future be?" It is a startling fact that one-third of those who sexually abuse children are just children themselves; something which challenges our notions of childhood and understanding of what children are capable of.
Dismissed as play
Claire says that her experience has made her realise just how taboo the subject is with people, most of whom prefer to think that what is actually sexually harmful behaviour is just normal childhood playing. Even professionals, she says, questioned whether she was misinterpreting what her daughter had been doing. "If I hadn't been thrust into it in such a horrible way, I wouldn't have wanted to believe it either," she says. "But this wasn't kiss chase. This wasn't something innocent... it was a sexual act. It wasn't role play in a childlike way. "It was something you might imagine seeing in a late-night porn show." Hannah and her family are now receiving treatment with a specialist counsellor at a project run by the charity Action for Children. But the experts who work with children like Hannah say many of them are not getting the help they need to stop. The systems in place to deal with this problem are often so inadequate that child professionals either do not spot sexual abuse being carried out by children or - perhaps even worse - they recognise it but do not know what to do about it.
Problem ignored
Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Eileen Vizard works with many of the most disturbed young people in Britain and is a leading expert on children who display sexually harmful behaviour. In the past, she worked with one of the boys who sexually assaulted and murdered James Bulger. By the time young people get to her unit they are extremely dangerous sexual abusers. But she says that in many cases their problematic sexual behaviour has been spotted by other professionals years earlier, who through panic or poor training, either ignore it or mark it down and pass on the file. "Our research shows that they may wait on average four-and-a-half years before they come to be seen by us. Often that child's case will come in with a huge amount of associated background information. "Sometimes there are boxes of meticulously written notes which I would have thought that anybody reading would think 'this isn't too good, why don't we do something?'" Dr Vizard is not alone. Several specialists have said they are equally frustrated by the lack of action. One doctor - who did not want to be named - said it was not uncommon for a serious teenage sex offender to be referred to him, complete with a detailed chronology marking down instances of very problematic sexual behaviour dating back to when he was three or four years old, but nothing had been done.
Support patchy
Inconsistencies in the way young abusers are dealt with are also a concern. Professor Simon Hackett, whose work at Durham University focuses on child welfare, conducted a survey of services available across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Forty percent of respondents said they had no access to any kind of assessment service in their area, and only 8% said they were satisfied with the availability and quality of intervention services. Prof Hackett says that effectively what exists is a postcode lottery. "Three 13-year-olds in different parts of the country behaving in the same way - one of them may get no service at all and the family might be left on their own struggling with how to help that child. "The second child might be given a child in need service routed through the Child Welfare Service, and the third child maybe convicted and sent through a criminal justice system."
Failure to act
For several years there has been widespread recognition, even within government, that the system is not working as it should. As far back as 2003, former Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Lord Falconer acknowledged it was an area which had been neglected and there was a need for a national strategy. In 2006, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, said such a strategy for England could be expected by the end of that year. It was again expected by the end of 2009, but the Department of Health have now pushed that back to the coming summer. Dr Vizard, who contributed detailed submissions to a draft strategy around five years ago, is mystified by the delays, but certain of their impact. "I do think the main cost has been with the victims who have been created by these children and adolescents who have not been able to access good services because whilst they have not been helped... more victims have been created, [and] have suffered a very great deal."
Slipped through the net
One woman who knows that from bitter experience is Liz Neailey. Her 11-year old son, Wesley, disappeared from his home in Newcastle in June 1998. Wesley's body was found a month later. He had been battered with a wrench and strangled. His murderer was 18-year-old Dominic McKilligan. He had a string of convictions for serious sexual assaults against young boys dating back to when he was just 11 years old - all known to a variety of different agencies. A review found a litany of missed opportunities and attacked the authorities for failing to work together, effectively letting McKilligan slip through the net. Among its key recommendations was an urgent need for a national strategy to deal with young sex offenders, but nearly 12 years since her son's death Mrs Neailey is still waiting.
For her the delays are quite simply a betrayal.
"They've let me down, they've let my dead son down and they've let other children down. When are they going to take things seriously? "We need these strategies put in place, not just to help my children, but your children and your grandchildren too." (my view)-Well...the government wanted kids to learn all about sex education from a VERY young age and made it compulsery(5 and up)well........now look...they got their wish

Man thrown off train over set list

A musician has spoken of his shock at being removed from a train for "behaving suspiciously" by writing a list of songs which included the band name The Killers. Tom Shaw was travelling on a South West Trains when he began writing a list of song titles which his band The Magic Mushrooms would play at a forthcoming gig. But the 25-year-old was approached by two security staff employed by the train company and asked to leave the train at Fareham railway station. Mr Shaw, who works with young people with learning difficulties, said they told him he had been behaving suspiciously and asked him to explain the list he had been writing. The set list included Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand, Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis and Love Me Like You by The Magic Numbers. Mr Shaw, of Portsmouth, Hampshire, said his band also intended to play All These Things That I've Done by The Killers but he had simply written "killers". He told the Portsmouth News: "They made me get out at Fareham and when I asked what was wrong they told me to show them the piece of paper I'd been writing on. They said I'd been behaving suspiciously. I couldn't understand it. It seemed very strange as it was only a list of songs. We had a gig coming up so I was writing out what we could play. They made me explain song by song." Mr Shaw added that the security staff told him that he had been questioned because there had been a number of arrests in the area including a man who had murdered his wife. A South West Trains spokeswoman said Mr Shaw was asked politely to leave the train because it was busy and the officers wished to speak to him about their concerns. She added: "We employ a team of highly professional rail community officers who work closely with the British Transport Police in protecting the security of passengers on the rail network. During a routine high-visibility patrol back in early March, they talked with a passenger on the platform at Fareham station. The team clarified the nature of the individual's business, were satisfied with his explanation and the man went on his way. We would like to thank the passenger for his co-operation and understanding of the need to be vigilant in the current environment."

Treatment for tech-addict children

Children who are hooked on computer games, the internet or their mobile phone can now seek help from what is thought to be the first dedicated technology addiction service for young people in Britain. Capio Nightingale Hospital, in central London, launched the service following calls from parents concerned about their children's behaviour. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham said parents told him their children flew "into a rage" when they were told to turn off their computer and police had even been called to sort out the rows. Dr Graham, who is leading the new addiction treatment, said services need to "adapt quickly" to help young people affected by technology addiction - who he dubbed "screenagers" - rather than sticking with the same treatment models used for substance abuse. "Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds that young people inhabit, and understand just how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game," he said. "We have found that many of the existing services fail to recognise the complexity of these situations, borrowing from older models of addiction and substance misuse to very limited effect. "This is why Capio Nightingale Hospital has launched the first Young Person Technology Addiction Service, which we hope will address the underlying causes of this addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers." The treatment aims to increase off-screen social activities and improve the person's confidence in face-to-face situations, the lack of which may have made them more susceptible to technology addiction. It also encourages them to think about their relationship with their phone, computer games or social networking websites like Facebook and teaches them skills to help them to switch off. Dr Graham told the London Evening Standard the technology addicts - who he compared to gambling addicts - were hyper-stimulated so they were "always on the alert" and could suffer withdrawal symptoms like agitation. I've been contacted by parents who see their children going into a rage when they're told to turn off their computer. Some end up having to call the police," he said. Other clinics, including The Priory, offer treatment for internet addiction but have no dedicated service for young people.(my view)-This is just another con for MORE money raped from our hands,plus this will not cure addicts as tech is thrusted in peoples faces day in day out.....the governments to blame and then they blame us for addiction when their the suppliers

Katie Price plans second wedding

Katie Price has told of her plans for a second marriage ceremony with Alex Reid following her whirlwind trip down the aisle in Las Vegas. The reality TV star said the blessing this summer would be a "family thing" and a DIY job. She also told This Morning that she intended to keep her life more private - before revealing she was having her period. "We are doing a blessing in the summer 'cos we want all our family there," Price told the ITV1 show. "And obviously (Reid's) mum would like to see her son get married ... so yeah, I can't wait." She said the couple would make the arrangements for their blessing together. "We're both going to decide together and get our families involved, his mum, my mum. We're all going to do it as a family thing, how really it should be done, not how other people tell you to do it. "We're not going to have a wedding planner, we're literally going to do it ourselves." Talking about her marriage to cage fighter Reid, Price, who was previously wed to singer Peter Andre, said: "I absolutely love it being married again. It's just completely different ... We're actually looking to buy a house together." She confirmed she had barred filming of her Las Vegas wedding ceremony to Reid. Price said: "We didn't do a magazine deal and we didn't let the cameras in 'cos we just wanted it private. It's not a Pete and Kate relationship. It's more private this time."(my view)-"We didn't do a magazine deal and we didn't let the cameras in 'cos we just wanted it private"........shes a fucking lier,shes doing it again for the money as the first time she wanted to HURT peter.....FACT!and when she learn't she didn't she thought"o'well!i'll do another one to get more money

Man shocked to 'death' on TV show

A French TV show which invited contestants to give a man increasingly large electric shocks until he apparently died said it was astonished by their willingness to comply. The Game Of Death, which goes out on Wednesday night on the state-owned France 2 channel, recruited ordinary people who had no idea they were being set up. Based on a US psychological experiment in the 1960s, the man apparently being shocked is zapped each time he gets a quiz question wrong. Each time the show's hostess urged contestants to turn up the voltage until the man screamed in pain with the audience, who also believed the game was real, shouting "punishment" as encouragement. Eventually the "victim" appeared to drop dead. "We were amazed to find that 81 per cent of the participants obeyed" the sadistic orders of the television presenter, said programme-maker Christophe Nick. "They are not equipped to disobey," he added. "They don't want to do it, they try to convince the authority figure that they should stop, but they don't manage to," he told French news agency AFP. Out of 80 players, just 16 walked out refusing to administer the shocks.

Dog recovers after eating football

A dog owner has told how his pet bounced back to health after swallowing a football. Bracken the labrador ended up with the deflated ball stuck next to his heart after munching it while out of sight of his owner John Grant and would have died without surgery. Mr Grant realised the two-year-old dog needed medical attention when he started coughing incessantly