Doubles or Quads in < perspective >

Bruno Latour describes the double role of perspective as a tool of realism and illusion as the "four-way freeway" of representation: perspective does not only allow us to realistically represent a scene (one-way freeway) or to pragmatically act upon an external reality (two-way freeway); not only can we "displace cities, landscapes, or natives and go back and forth to and from them along avenues through space, but we can also reach saints, gods, heavens, palaces, or dreams with the same two-way avenues and look at them through the same 'windowpane' on the same two-dimensional surface. The two ways become a four lane freeway! Impossible palaces can be drawn realistically, but it is also possible to draw possible objects as if they were utopian ones."* p.26.

*Latour, B. (1986) Visualisation and Cognition: Thinking with Eyes and Hands. In H. Kuklick (editor) Knowledge and Society Studies in the Sociology of Culture Past and Present , Jai Press vol. 6, pp. 1-40.

My source:
Sheil, B. & Pearce, T. (2014) Digital doubles, colliding in mid-air prototyping a post-human scenography, In P.E.A.R. Paper for Emerging Architectural Research, ISSN 2041-2878 (print) Issue 7, pp. 26-31.

Reading between the lines...

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Gender models role models and cognitive models... Discuss?

As a male nurse I have been aware of gender throughout my career ever since my student days (late 1970s-early 80s) - mental health - and then as a student again for two years general nurse training. The cultural, professional and global changes over the past three decades and more have been quite profound all influencing the perspectives and realities of gender in nursing today.

Since 1987-88, when I discovered Hodges' model I was also bound to wonder about gender in terms of:

• the number of male nurse theorists and their contribution (should this matter!)?; 
• other male nurse theorists globally and the influence of other cultural perspectives;
• the need to consider gender of course in terms of 'standpoint' within research;
• Is Hodges' model gender biased as its structure and basis comprised of categories of care concepts is a very masculine activity? (Even though the intention in identifying the boxes is to transcend and integrate them.) Please see below (and no pun intended).
• Therefore nursing (still primarily a female profession) may ignore/discredit the potential of the model?

Possibly, the stand-out feature of Hodges' model is its invitation to categorise and typify. There could be gender-based consequences in how the model is perceived and received, which in turn could affect interest and participation in research on this subject? In designing studies of the model the feminist standpoint might be useful?:

“What, then, about the further charge that making clear-cut classifications of this kind is a very masculine thing to do? … It reaches its peak in empirical science as we know it, itself a very male affair, and it embodies the desire to have control of things and to know what is likely to happen. It issues in the kind of binary opposites we have found feminists, especially postmodernist feminists, decrying so vigorously-antimonies such as thought/language, nature/culture, reason/emotion, theory/practice, white/black, and especially men/women.” Crotty, (1998) p.171.

Crotty, M. (1998) The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process. SAGE Publications Ltd.

This post was prompted by an item on GANM (Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery)

Contextual annealing: Research rolling - hotter, colder, hotter

In conducting research you focus on the question, then the method follows. You may have to go back to the question (in truth) as the methods available to you present their own opportunities and constraints.

Over the past two months this has been a questionnaire within residential care facilities.

Sometimes a confounding factor is to how to describe the study. It's a bit like the figure-ground illusion. One minute you are thinking of the individual, the care worker; the next moment the organisation.

Perspectives shift all the time. This is one of the roles of Hodges' model. The ability to switch from individual to group (population) and various other perspectives and contexts.

I’ve an image of an iceberg. At any one time the questionnaire study’s above the water, the institutional case study under: but then it rolls.

Box (-es) [ 1 ] [ 0 ] [ 1 ] [ 0 ]

DTMD 2013 & Three different perspectives on a model

I am really looking forward to next week's the Difference That Makes a Difference an interdisciplinary workshop on Information: Space, Time, and Identity at the The Open University and the MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK. 

There's a session of instant interest to me as it refers to Peter Gärdenfors' work on conceptual spaces -

Session 1: Information and Space

Spacification: How to design and construct spaces
that can enhance artistic experiences

Ambjörn Naeve (KTH, Sweden) and Carl Smith (London Metropolitan University, UK)

Naeve and Smith provide a further reference:

A (conceptual) model is a description of the most important concepts and their respective relationships within a certain domain of interest. Whatever domain of interest that you focus on, your model will consist of (conceptually simplified) parts that interact with each other in some way. This leads to three different types of models:

1. The static model describes WHAT the (most important) parts are about.
2. The dynamic model describes HOW these parts interact with each other.
3. The intentional model describes WHY they display this behavior.

As we will see, these modeling types can often be mixed into a single model, and then these different types should be thought of more as “aspects” or “perspectives” of the model.

Ref: Ambjörn Naeve. 2011-01-31. A Modeling Primary on Methods and Techniques for Communicative Modeling and Disagreement Management. European Commission Seventh Framework Project (IST-257822).

The Bigger Picture - Hockney: Hodges' model 4 dynamic perspectives

In the decades to follow the patient, the carer, the health and social care professional must all be dynamic. All must be capable of movement - that is taking in several perspectives. As always composition is vital. So is choreography. As Hockney indicates the picture comprises both ordinary perspective and reverse perspective.


If static, found only for a moment: an assessment, plan, evaluation. A snapshot. Then moving a-gain.

Ever seeking the dynamic.
 
Acknowledgement: David Hockney


My source:
'The mass media has lost its perspective'.
David Hockney, The Financial Times, Page 11, October 27-28, 2012 

Image source:
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/a-bigger-picture

Additional post:
http://hodges-model.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/bigger-picture-david-hockney-ra.html

Reflections [VII] Conceptual Spaces At Work: OntoSpaces - A Perspectivist Approach to CS

This session started fairly quietly but was one that rather shouted out in the end because of its possible relevance to Hodges' model. There was a clue having recognised one contributor from a reference already found:

Hautamäki, A. (1992). A Conceptual Space Approach To Semantic Networks, Computers and Mathematics with Applications. 23, 6-9, 517-525.

Kaipainen and Hautamäki began by asking what is the origin of quality dimensions? They proceeded to explain their use of perspectivism and the perspectival nature of cognition directing the audience to Giere (2006). The history of this is based on philosophy and the work of Nietzsche, Goodman and Putnam.

The work of Kaipainen and Hautamäki proposes the OntoSpace as a means to further extend Gärdenfors' work. An ontospace is an n-dimensional metadata space. In this space a perspective is an array of weights. The weights express the interest or attention towards each onto-dimension.


A transformation can be made from Ontospace A to lower dimensional space B. There are many technical points here to get to grips with. A figure was provided (I have gone over the yellow square 'Topical Domain' as it was indistinct; the green circle reads 'b Representational Space B').

This is an ecological and manageable means to conceptualization of a topical domain in ontospace A. Mention of ecological and manageable prompted me to clarify what this means, as I can see h2cm as being ecological and manageable. In the sense of breadth and depth of knowledge and possibly reducing the data context (as ever), patient, carer, nurse, learner....

The presentation included a software demonstration insofar as time allowed. The context was banking. The interface both applied dimensions and prioritised them. In the break I was able to explain Hodges' model to Mauri (Kaipainen), using a board in the upstairs dining room. By email Mauri subsequently noted that the home page of the old website actually reflects the model down to the placement of the menu links. (This is a struggle with Drupal and its themes, trying to come up with something that is original, represents the model and yet is not gimmicky the interface being obscure.) I approached Mauri and his colleague regards referencing their draft paper and they are happy for me to do so.

In health and social care of course we are very used to 'perspectives'. Especially seeking a caring perspective through empathy and rapport, putting on the shoes of the other and trying to appreciate the perspective they may or may not see. As I have said before I wonder at times if my passion for h2cm is an overvalued idea. I feel at times I am clutching at straws to find a theoretical underpinning for Hodges' model. At this conference there were no warts, and this presentation added more very useful ideas and in this case interdisciplinary bridges:

Solomon describes Nietzsche’s perspectivism so that it’s a view that “one always knows or perceives or thinks about something from a particular perspective - not just a spatial viewpoints, but a particular context of surrounding impressions. influences, and ideas, conceived of through one’s language and social upbringing and, ultimately, determined by virtual everything about oneself, one’s psychophysical make-up, and one’s history” (Solomon 1996, 195). Kaipainen and Hautamäki (to follow)

Ontospaces also seems to reflect the resulting dialogues found in health and social care and the need to constantly attend to and reconcile the same:

As Baghramian sees it, there can be more than one correct account of how things are in any given domain (2004, Chapter 10). Thus the issue is not which perspective is correct or true, but how to explore and mutually relate multiple perspectives.

Kaipainen, M., Hautamäki, A. Ontospaces: A Perspectivist Approach to Conceptual Spaces (to follow).

Giere, Ronald, N. (2006). Scientific Perspectivism. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

Images: Peter Jones (with thanks to the presenters)

h2cm: Globalization, Accommodation theory and Relativism (Grayling, 2010)

From A.C. Grayling's Ideas that Matter, 2010, Phoenix.

Globalization: p. 235-236.

A more neutral account of globalization describes it as the process of making things known, done, available or possessed worldwide - such as Internet access, telecommunications, medical knowledge and benefits such as vaccines, transport technologies, political ideas, art and music, books and much besides.

Grayling also explains how the increased distribution associated with globalization is unequal, hence the sense of injustice that is felt resulting in protest.

The health care domains model is concerned with making things known - helping to make knowledge available on a personal, group and family level. This is no Mercator projection, not even Peter's projection but it is a global map.

Accommodation theory: p. 3-5.

Accommodation theory states that when people talk to each, they adjust their behaviour and manner of speech to take account of (to accommodate themselves to) the topic, the circumstances, and the other people engaged with them in conversation.

There are many theories to explain how we communicate and thereby model(?) ourselves, others and the world. Imagine a doctor's surgery and the morning's clinical consultations, it is easy to envisage the role that accommodation routinely plays. The one-to-one conversation (dialogue, argumentation, debate) can be extended, and viewed as the combined chatter, the whole series of multidisciplinary Q&A with the breaks (the silences when we are listening!). Accommodation theory has proved of value in multiculturalism, especially on policy concerning immigration and integration. p.5

The care domains provide an ethnoculturally neutral space (it could be argued) for the accommodations that are demanded in the 21st Century. 

Relativism: p.433.

There is a distinction to be drawn between moral or cultural relativism, on the one hand, and cognitive relativism on the other. The former concerns the difference between cultures, or between different historical phases of the same culture, with respect to religious, social, and moral values and practices, that is, with respect to what might be called the 'superstructure' of the culture's conceptual scheme. Cognitive relativism concerns the 'infrastructure', the level of basic beliefs about the world, such as that there are perception-independent, re-identifiable and individually discriminable objects or events, occupying space and time, interacting causally, and bearing properties of various kinds.

Much is said of the games that people play. Whether the care domains model provides a game board that can accommodate both the super- and infrastructural conceptual levels is open to question. In the health career model the infrastructure level concepts are light - as we find that they reside in the upper part of the model: perceived, individually discriminable (INTRApersonal) objects occupying space and time (SCIENCES) with mass, weight, inertia. ... The political domain prompts access to values and how these shape the total conceptual landscape(s), the conversations and silences that go on there ...

Care is a 4 perspective business ...

Health care as practised in whichever sector prides itself on being business-like and professional. As we are often reminded health care costs. Health care is a business and like finance a very serious one.

On the computer graphics card notice the four display ports? This card - the NVIDIA® Quadro® NVS 450 is apparently capable of driving up to four 30" displays and is designed to meet the needs of today’s most demanding business user.

I wonder if there is another application that could also utilise
four perspectives? What about the business of care?

Cognitive tools and fashion: no accounting for taste!

As a child of the rose tinted 60s and 70s I've seen all sorts of fashions come and go. Likewise with the tools used in nurse education. At least with cognitive tools, such as Hodges' model we don't have to wear them on our sleeve. ...

Thank goodness for that!

Image source with many thanks: John Eric Hughes

Socio-technical ticket stubs

Psychologists are a busy bunch. The number of tests, assessment schemes and theories to help explain intrapersonal and socio-political phenomena are legion. All strive to be scientific, constantly refined and evidence based.

It was recognised a long time ago how we humans have a tendency to polarise, dichotomise - left-right, good-bad. ... We have to dice and slice the world in order to make it accessible and understandable. Life and death decisions have always depended upon this ability, which is one of the reasons why we're all here today.

This vital capacity also assures the creation of socio-technical structures. A ticket that provides entry to several problem domains, each with two, three, four, five .... viewpoints. And as safety dictates there are at least two entrances-exits.

The problem is of course that as is customary only half the ticket is actually 'used'. So many stubs end up on the floor. Such a waste.

Make sure you use and retain yours. Happy memories of a project well done!

Hodges' model - How many interfaces are there?

If you were stood at the centre of Hodges' model - the nexus - where exactly is that 'place'? Looking out from there what would you see?

In a way from that vantage point our senses and imagination should encounter precisely whatever the model is capable of modelling?

One of the four reasons for the creation of the model was to assure an holistic approach. Well consider this a mind experiment, a test. So, what do you think?
Would you be at the heart of SOME-things, or the heart of ALL-things?

You would certainly be at the heart-of and part-of an interface.

This (possibly daft?) question needs to be asked. Why? Well, because an effective interface should be - at least - two-way.

So what interface(s) does Hodges' model need to handle? If h2cm provides the scaffold, what are we then able to build?

When Brian posed the initial questions when formulating the model he conducted a scoping exercise. The outcome determined the scope of the model, but what sort of scope? Is this scaffold sufficient to model the many situations, phenomena and issues encountered within health, social and pastoral care and without?

On the website I've identified six interfaces that I believe can be accommodated within Hodges' model:

FACE 2 FACE [person - person] HUMAN 2 MACHINE [person - device] PERSON 2 EARTH INDIVIDUAL 2 GROUP PERSON 2 SPIRITUAL REASON 2 REALITY

When you wrap up these interfaces, you've created quite a curriculum! Looks like we are back where we started in previous posts - a house of ideas!

No surprise there then; and of course there aren't just one or two dice being thrown here. Time and information: the messengers between the interfaces changes our priorities constantly...

"Never a dull moment!" Of course no wonder, that's what makes health and social care so interesting!