"Everything Comes Down to Poo - Toilet Psychology"

University of Melbourne professor Nick Haslam is pushing the bounds of psychology where it has never gone before...literally.  In the June 2012 issue of The Psychologist, Haslam argues for more research into human excretion.  Although disgusting (at least in this blogger's opinion), I do agree with the points he makes:

“In 30 years of studying the field I rarely came across any recognition that human beings are creatures who excrete.  Much of what we psychologists care about is on the mental side of the mind/body divide, but even when we go corporeal we eliminate elimination. Psychologists have examined the psychobiology of eating, sleeping and sex at great length, and devoted numerous journals and professional associations to them. We have investigated how substances cross from outer to inner but largely ignored traffic in the other direction.”

He also argues that some gastrointestinal disorders are linked to psychological abnormalities, how excretion is linked to social attitudes, and how men and women view excretion differently (men are more open to discussing it, women tend to keep it hidden).


Check out Susan Perry's summary of the article in the MinnPost.
Give Haslam's article a read for yourself: it's pretty interesting (and free)!


How Does It Affect Education?
Well, this might be an interesting way to grasp students attention at the beginning of a unit.  There are multiple units that can open with this as Prof. Haslam has used multiple examples of how excretion is tied to psychology.