DMIT vs.Conventional Career Counselling
About
DMIT:
Dermatoglyphics refers to the branch of
science which constitutes the study of the patterns i.e. prints of skin (dermal
ridges) on the fingers, toes and the soles of human beings. Dermatoglyphics Multiple Intelligence test
is a biometric assessment of the individual’s finger prints to map his/her
brain functioning.
Conventional
Career Counselling, on the other hand takes aid of
standardised Psychometric Tests in order to identify an individual’s
intelligence, interests, aptitude and personality. These factors are then
carefully analysed and a summary of most suitable careers is drawn for the
individual, keeping in mind his/her identified attributes.
To briefly discuss the history of DMIT: in 1926,
Harold Cummins proposed the term “Dermatoglyphics” for the study of
fingerprints at the American Morphological Society. After this, Noel Jaquin
researched and proposed that each fingerprint pattern corresponds to a specific
type of personality, in the year 1958. Subsequently, in the year 1981, Professor
Roger W. Sperry and his co-researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in
Biomedicine for their research work on the left and right brain functions as
well as the dual-brain theory. Finally, in 2008 Prof. Lin Ruei procured U.S.
Patent for Dermatoglyphics.
DermatoglyphicMultiple Intelligence Test [DMIT] came into being
when the idea of Dermatoglyphics was combined with the theory of Multiple
Intelligence. Multiple Intelligences was theorised by developmental
psychologist Howard Gardner in the year 1983 in his book 'Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences'.
Gardner’s theory opposes the idea of one
dominant factor of intelligence. He states that there can be several different
types of intelligences, i.e. linguistic, musical, kinaesthetic etc. The idea is
to not generalise intelligence as one factor and put a numerical value to it,
but to identify the areas towards which the individual has inclination in terms
of potential and interest. For example, a child with low IQ score as determined
by convention methods could have an exceptional musical ability, a feature
often observed in William’s syndrome, that would be his specific intelligence.
Career
Counselling process, as mentioned earlier, tests an
individual on three different parameters. Intelligence: which informs about the
overall cognitive capacity of an individual to understand instructions and
adapt to the environment. Aptitude: this helps identify the specific area in
which an individual has potential. Interest: this is an objective and
systematic method of concluding which field will be most suitable for the
individual, given the activities that interest him. Personality: different jobs
require a different personality type. For example, it would be very difficult
for a shy and introvert person to be a party conductor. Thus knowing one’s
personality traits and determining the career path ensures that one enjoys
their work in a stress free manner.
DMIT is, hence, a so called ‘psychometric’
tool to assess the specific intelligence and innate aptitude of an individual. Proponents
of DMIT advocate it to be a better alternative to Conventional Career Counselling.
By the time a foetus is six months old and
approximately 12 inches in size, his/her fingerprints and footprints are fully
developed. Once formed fingerprints are static and do not change with age—so an
individual will have the same fingerprints throughout life. This is pointed out
as an advantage of the DMIT technique, as the results are a pure measure of
innate abilities, not tampered by environmental conditions. However,
Environmental factors definitely play a role in finger print formation, such as
the foetus's exact location in the womb as well as the density of the mother's
amniotic fluid. Conventional Career Counselling, on the contrary, does not
claim to measure innate factors exclusively, rather it takes into account both
genetic and environmental factors.
One of the main pros of DMIT that is often emphasised is that
the test cannot be forged or get confounded by social desirability as it is not
possible for the client to influence the input. This is the primary advantage
that DMIT claims to have over Conventional Career Counselling. However, most of
the psychometric tests used in the process of Conventional Career Counselling
have an in-built lie scale or some sort of correction for social desirability.
Therefore, this argument is not entirely one-sided.
Criticism
of DMIT:
Genetic
determination of intelligence also implies that one’s aptitude, interest and
behaviour patterns are fixed and have no scope of change through lifetime; this
again could not be further from the observed truth. An individual could be weak
in, let’s say numerical ability, in their school years but develop impressive numerical
ability in adulthood. One’s aptitude increases and enhances with experience and
practice.
The
psychometric measures used in the process of conventional career counselling
identify the individual’s aptitude at that given point of time. Thus the
results that are obtained reflect a constellation of all the factors that have
played a role in the individual’s life and hence the individual’s present
potential. The traits that are measured via this process are a confluence of
both, one’s innate abilities and one’s learning. Thus the results might not be
identical at all points of time, which is a good thing. Since Convention Career
Counselling can capture the enhancements that an individual has gone through
and accordingly suggest what’s best for him/her from here onwards.
Secondly,
DMIT attempts to measure factors likeIQ, AQ, and EQ etc. IQ means "Intelligence
Quotient" which is a numerical representation of one's intelligence.
Scientific research has, till date, shown no specific correlation between IQ
and fingerprints. Same applies for the other ‘Quotients’ as well. Conventional
Career Counselling on the other hand, uses thoroughly researched, standardised tests
that have been validated and proven reliable, where each item is carefully
selected, to measure one’s IQ.
Thirdly,
DMIT is entirely based on the concept of Multiple Intelligences by Dr. Howard
Gardner, with many arguments suggest that Gardner's theory is not built on
empirical evidence and is actually recognized as an example of pseudoscience. It is more of a concept rather than an empirically proven
framework or model of intelligence.
Fourth, another concept that DMIT heavily relies
on is that of the 'left-brain vs. right brain lateralization' which became
popular after the findings of neuropsychologist Roger W. Sperry's 'split-brain experiments'
in1970's. These findings are now outdated and recent researches point towards
the contrary. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting ‘brain plasticity’
as opposed to brain localisation, meaning that the brain works like a whole
network rather than different areas specialising in different functions. Thus
this theory lacks support from modern brain research.
The origins or a start of the 'finger-brain
lobe connection' can be traced to Taiwan, and in specific the works of
education Professor Lin & kindergarten Principal Mary Lai. They proposed
the 'finger-brain lobe connection' hypothesis - which suggests that each finger
represents a brain lobe on the opposite side of the body. This too is
contradictory to brain research findings, that conclude that all five
fingers have the strongest connection with only a small parts of the brain
that is known to represent the 'primary motor cortex' and the 'primary sensory
cortex’. For example, according to DMIT 'Musical Intelligence'
manifests in the hand through the left ring finger and is assumed to correlate
with especially the right temporal brain lobe. Actually, according the
cognitive neuroscience research today, musical skills actually require the
involvement of both hemispheres and various brain lobes from both hemispheres
are involved in the processing of music.
Some serious concerns
Since DMIT claims to report a child’s aptitude
and interests from toddler years onwards, and also suggests that education and
parenting should be tailored accordingly, this can have devastating
implications in events when the analysis is inaccurate. This will lead to the
child being put in a box and forced towards only one kind of activities that
he/she might not be suited for.
Such a pattern of upbringing is detrimental
to exploration and to the freedom of choice, at the core. It is a natural part
of development to try out new activities and consequently infer what one’s best
fit is. Since DMIT claims to pre
analyse what one’s best fit is, this process is thwarted, and so is a major
area of personality development.
The errors in Conventional Career
Counselling are less likely, since they are self-report tests, and also heavily
based on scientific research. Also it suggests the best career path for an
individual while giving a summary of their interests, aptitude and personality.
It does not concretise an individual to a particular field. Additionally, it
recognises that one’s interests,
personality and aptitude change throughout life, and thus conventional
career counselling is a lifelong process and takes into account these changes.
Conclusion:
To conclude, while DMITCounseling comes with a new and innovative method of career Counseling, it might
not be the most trustworthy. Conventional Careercounselling might come with its own set of drawbacks, but it is a well-tested
and scientific method. This model has been functioning well for years, and if
it must get replaced, it should be with something that stands even more firmly
on scientific grounds. Since, what career path to choose is one of the most
important decisions in an individual’s life, it can, therefore, certainly not
be taken a chance with.
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