Polarization in pseudoscalar meson photoproduction

Two problems of current interest in the use of polarization observables for pseudoscalar meson photoproduction to probe the basic dynamics are discuss ed. The first one concerns the extraction of the ratio of electric quadrupo le to magnetic dipole transition strengths in the photo-excitation of the D elta(1232). The predictions of various models are compared with the recent LEGS and MAMI data obtained with polarized photon beams. The second one is a proposal by Saghai and Tabakin to use the nodal structure of spin observa bles re unveil underlying dynamics in the production process. We demonstrat e with the example of gamma p --> K+ <(Lambda)over right arrow> at 1.2 GeV photon energy that the assumption of multipole truncation, which enters int o their nodal analysis, is questionable.