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Originally Posted by jo_thorne
I just saw this thread.
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Thank you for weighing in; I always appreciate your posts - even in threads I don't contribute to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jo_thorne
I don't see any defensiveness in the way you respond. It seems like the logic part of your brain points out to you that the question could be taken two ways.
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My education is in mathematics and physics, I'm a chess master and backgammon grandmaster. Whether by childhood programming or design, I'm really wired for logical thought. Through a lifetime of effort (I am fifty years old), I have learned to make good use of my right brain, but I have often said that while proficient on both sides of my brain - I always lead with my left (logical).
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Originally Posted by jo_thorne
I do this myself sometimes and there have been times when it has led to awkwardness.
I think saying "I don't know" is by far the best option if you 1) either can't quickly decide what the person really means or if 2) the person has phrased their question awkwardly enough that there really is no way to tell what they mean. (And speaking of awkward, that sentence was.)
I've decided that "I don't know" or "I'm not sure" is the best response after saying "I don't understand" several times and getting a defensive response.  |
*nods* I agree, the problem is, and really the reason for this question and the accompanying anxiety surrounding it (which is mild but measurable), is that I am facing a series of psych tests in the near future and I can't answer a ridiculous number of those questions.
For instance, on the MMPI-2, which I am about to take, I am equally stymied by questions numbers two, five, eight, nine, twelve... There are 567 true/false questions and not answering forty or more of them makes the test invalid. There is no one to ask the questions to because the administrator of the test is not allowed to answer questions during the test - and there isn't time prior to the test.
Quick FAQ to save time:
Yes, I know all the questions on the test, by heart and in order which is how I know which questions are problematic for me.
Yes, I've told my pdoc and therapist this. My therapist even tested me verbally, i.e. What is question number 265? What is question 412? What subscales does it correspond to? etc.
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Originally Posted by jo_thorne
I'm sorry to say that I don't know the name for this particular phenomenon. My impression from inside my own head is that it may have something to do with processing speed. It's like my brain slows down for a split second when it realizes that two meanings are possible.
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I think, and this is just a thought - you may be right that it slows down, that my processing speed remains the same until it reaches an error message. For instance, when I realize that there are two meanings (which happens so quickly, I can't determine which meaning I identified first), I oscillate between the two trying to find which is more likely. It's like I start with 50-50 and try to analyze them both to get to 60-40. If that fails and I can't move from the 50-50 analysis, I come to a full stop (i.e. the error message).
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Originally Posted by jo_thorne
My brain doesn't do this all the time, and it seems to crop up less often the older I get. I'm happy about that, because as you said, it requires a lot of work trying to figure out what people meant. (I think you said that; I can only see the last two lines of your post on my screen and I'm too lazy to scroll back to confirm.)
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Oh how I wish getting older slowed it down, but I think it's just the opposite for me. As I've gotten older and the experience that comes with age, I see more possibilities in everything instead of less. Thanks so much for weighing in.