Blame the Victims and Make Them Feel Guilty – Part 2 by Norman Costa Part 1 of “Blame the Victims and Make Them Feel Guilty” can be found HERE. {Synopsis of Part 1} Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, visited the United States in April of 2008. He addressed the sexual abuse of…

Blame the Victims and Make Them Feel Guilty – Part 1 by Norman Costa The Pope arrives to address the problem. What problem? In April of 2008 I followed the story of Pope Benedict XVI visiting the United States. I was very interested in what he had to say about clergy sex abuse of minors.…

Anna O. was the pseudonym of a patient of Josef Breuer, who published her case study in his book Studies on Hysteria, written in collaboration with Sigmund Freud. Her real name was Bertha Pappenheim (1859?1936), an Austrian-Jewish feminist and the founder of the Judischer Frauenbund (League of Jewish Women) Psychological Science: Sigmund Freud – “A…

by Norman Costa Note: This narrative was created from three true stories. Each character is a combination of more than one real person. I changed names and story elements to preserve the privacy of individuals. Part 1 of this story can be found HERE. The story so far My nephew, Samuel Anders, was arrested, at…

My Life As A Crime Fighter: Absolute Prosecutorial Discretion – Part 1 Norman Costa Note: This narrative was created from three true stories. Each character is a combination of more than one real person. I changed names and story elements to preserve the privacy of individuals. Call in your troubles My nephew, Samuel, called me…

by Norman Costa Part 1 of “Psychological Science: Sigmund Freud – A Personal and Scientific Coward?” can be found HERE. Note: Sources for this article, Part 1 and Part 2, can be found at the end of this article. Questions, Questions, Questions! In Part 1 of this article, I posed three questions: 1. How did…

Psychological Science: Sigmund Freud – A Personal and Scientific Coward?byNorman Costa This article is, in part, a retelling of 'The Heroic Age of Hysteria,' a section from chapter 1, 'A Forgotten History,' in the 1997 book, “Trauma and Recovery: The aftermath of violence – from domestic abuse to political terror,” by Judith Herman, M.D. It…

Psychological Science: Measurement, Uncertainty, and Determinism – Part 2 by Norman Costa Part 1 of this article can be found HERE. Other articles in Norman Costa's 'Psychological Science' series can be found HERE. The [Sad] Story So Far Few ideas are as fundamental to psychological science, and all science, as the concept of measurement. Science…

by Norman Costa Scientific Psychology, an Oxymoron? In the minds of many, including scientists from the more successful sciences, the field of psychology is not a science and may never be a science. The Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman, was kind in his criticism of psychology as a science when he said that we have the…

By Norman D. Costa Note: The following is a true story, but the names of certain individuals, and other identifying details, have been changed. Part 1 of this story can be found HERE. The story so far: I learned to hit a bull’s eye with an M14 rifle in U. S. Marine Corps officer training…

Note: The following is a true story, but the names of certain individuals, and other identifying details, have been changed. A bullet through the head The summer between my sophomore and junior years of college was the first of two six-week training programs at the Marines Corps officer training base at Quantico, Virginia. The second…

“Psychological Science: The [Non-]Theory of Psychological Testing – Part 1” can be found HERE. “Psychological Science: The [Non-]Theory of Psychological Testing – Part 2” can be found HERE. Note: My views in these three articles on Psychological Test Theory (PTT) are limited to psychological science, particularly what we know as the statistical theory of psychological…

“Psychological Science: The [Non-]Theory of Psychological Testing – Part 1” can be found HERE. Q & A Q. If Psychological Test Theory (PTT) is not a theory but a tautology, then what should be substituted in it's place? A. How about replacing it with a scientific, or observational theory. * * I hope those who…

This is the first in a planned series of articles with the frontispiece title, “Psychological Science:”. To give you an idea of other topics that may develop, here are a few working titles. “Sigmund Freud, a Personal and Scientific Coward”, “Classical Inference, Bad. Bayesian Inference, Good”, and “Fighting Over Combat Related PTSD”. These will not…

Part 1 of “My Life as a Crime Fighter: The Case of the Predator Psychiatrist” can be found HERE. [Note: Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals, especially the victims.] Wearing a Wire I offered to go see the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph R. Dorsey, and try to get him…

[Note: Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals, especially the victims.] Justice There is no justice except that for which you are willing to fight. There is no freedom except that which you claim as your own, and for which you are willing to suffer and fight. There is…

Part 1 of “A Scientist Goes to an Ashram for a Personal Retreat” can be found HERE. Part 2 of “A Scientist Goes to an Ashram for a Personal Retreat” can be found HERE. (Note: I do not use the real names of people, nor do I identify the specific Ashram. I changed a few…

Part 1 of “A Scientist Goes to an Ashram for a Personal Retreat” can be found here: (Note: I do not use the real names of people, nor do I identify the specific Ashram. I changed a few details. The purpose is to protect the privacy of the individuals. Readers who are familiar with this…

Frank P. Costa, Sr. is 91 years old and resides in the Home Sweet Home assisted living residence in Kingston, NY. Quite by accident, I saw my father in a TV ad for Home Sweet Home on a local TV station. I mentioned the TV ad to a cousin of mine and we talked about…