CIA and FBI agents have been sent to the Met in New York City to refresh their powers of observation: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8086280/CIA-and-FBI-sent-on-museum-course-to-refresh-sense-of-inquiry.html
There are a couple of interesting things about this article. First, it was found in a UK newspaper, rather than a US one (in fact, that was the first place I heard anything about it.) Second, for those of you in Museums Today this semester, we learned about the medical student beginnings of this program, and the use of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS).
So now I've seen it used in medical school, reportedly teaching future doctors how to just LOOK at a patient, observe their symptoms, and really take everything in, and have seen the FBI and CIA use it to refresh powers of observation with respects to crime scenes. Do you think VTS really has an effect on these situations, or is it just due to the participants being in a different setting? Do you think that the effects could be diminished by seeing crime scenes or patients day after day? Are there other fields that VTS and specifically The Art of Perception could be applied to?
I don't know if VTS strategies are exactly what these sorts of professionals need because this teaching model often ignores pertinent information. That being said though, I think there is something very powerful in good observation skills.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of doctors, I feel like they often may immediately go to tests or put someone on medicine without proper observation, and thus evaluation. I think things like VTS can help other professionals learn these necessary "looking" tools in order to become better at their respective jobs.
These questions remind me of the human development class I'm taking right now. We talk about the ways people think, tackle problems, and therefore refer to a lot of math and science. My professor gave an example of a study of some sort where college grad students in physics were asked which would hit the ground first: a ball thrown or a ball dropped directly to the ground. The students immediately tried to use equations etc to solve the problem instead of using, pretty much, common sense. This scenario relates I think because it is an instance of people over-using professional tools instead of relying on their inherent knowledge/gut instinct/etc.