A small complaint.
I would like the ability to do a lot of things that I do on the go (90% of the time this is "On the bus" or something similar).
The best way I have of doing this so far is a little "Hipster PDA" of sorts in my back pocket. However, as I've mentioned in "Idea Capture Upkeep", I have problems with this. That, and, I'd like to keep a more permanent long-term journal or something similar. For example, if I want to flesh out a post while writing "on the go", I inevitably have this 'transfer phase' that makes the upkeep somewhat irritating; i.e., if I succeed in getting myself to use the "Hipster PDA" for everything, I would still have extra upkeep (and thus extra problems in a behaviorist sense) by way of transferring this to a computer. Most handheld computers, however, don't have functional inputs, or have this problem (for me) of portable internet access that comes with the device.
This gets to a more general point, which is that often when we are shifted out of our normal environment temporarily, we lose a lot of our previous reinforcement chains, which causes a load of new positive habits or negative habits to form. The classic stereotypical example of this is someone gaining weight over a vacation. But it can also occur that someone suddenly isn't an alcoholic anymore when they're forced to move. Or, there were quite a lot of mathematicians that became amazingly reinvigorated when they moved (like when Sylvester moved to the U.S., and again when he moved back to Britain).
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Idea Capture Upkeep
I have a "Hipster PDA", it is a wonderful idea and suits me fairly well. I am horrible at organizing and upkeeping it though, and in what follows, I'm going to complain about a fairly simplistic phenomenon in a part to beg for some simple solutions, as I hope some of the previous posts gives some indications to how my mind ticks; and hopefully they make sense.
I tend to have the following system:
-One card dedicated to logs.
-One card dedicated to random thoughts.
-One card generated to ideas for conversations I want to propose to various people/e-mails I want to send/things I would like to do on the internet in bulk.
-One card for schedule appointments
I think I have two basic problems:
-Optimal transferring
-Access
Optimal transferring refers to the fact that I, annoying, have to double up on how I update the device. I.e., I tend to like to keep a running log total on my computer. This requires me having to go through the Hipster PDA and manually input the data. This isn't long, but it's sometimes annoying.
And it somewhat adds up.
Because I have to do the same for the e-mail ideas, the random thoughts, the appointments, etc.. Eventually, I sit until one of my cards is full, and then the thing turns into a device that seems more appropriate for Columbo (or, at least, looks like a version of George Costanza's wallet) than a nifty organizational device.
I'm not exactly sure how to solve this problem either.....
I tend to have the following system:
-One card dedicated to logs.
-One card dedicated to random thoughts.
-One card generated to ideas for conversations I want to propose to various people/e-mails I want to send/things I would like to do on the internet in bulk.
-One card for schedule appointments
I think I have two basic problems:
-Optimal transferring
-Access
Optimal transferring refers to the fact that I, annoying, have to double up on how I update the device. I.e., I tend to like to keep a running log total on my computer. This requires me having to go through the Hipster PDA and manually input the data. This isn't long, but it's sometimes annoying.
And it somewhat adds up.
Because I have to do the same for the e-mail ideas, the random thoughts, the appointments, etc.. Eventually, I sit until one of my cards is full, and then the thing turns into a device that seems more appropriate for Columbo (or, at least, looks like a version of George Costanza's wallet) than a nifty organizational device.
I'm not exactly sure how to solve this problem either.....
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Cognitive-Behavioral-Needs Model
The following are some personal thoughts on what I consider to be (FWIW) all the important elements of needs/physiological/behavioral/cognitive models into one giant stew and point out the neuroscientific underpinnings.
A lot of these are based on various studies that you can find in references that the references link to (that was not a typo, I meant to say references twice like that), you can look at the references at the bottom of this post, and there are a few that I highly recommend and might do later posts on. I would ideally like to make a thymological framework based on methodology of performative contradictions; however, baring that, I can accept one step down in the methodological ladder (the fairly widely acceptable empirical approach (yes, this brings up a whole other can of worms about the base methodology I work under, which I won't get into here)). Regardless, I still view this as a sort of personal thymology (hopefully, the previous post set down some background for what thymology is).
EITHER WAY, ENJOY.
Introduction
My major claim is that all problems of self-control are problems of emotional regulation. By treating issues of akrasia as a contradiction in emotional state to a goal to its intellectual desirability, we can hopefully use emotional regulation techniques to balance this out.
THE COGNITIVE OUTER LAYER
The cognitive thymological model for self-control is expounded in pretty much the same format in every book I've read on the subject [1] [2] [3] [17] [21]:
*Situational Selection/Modification
*Attentional Redeployment
*Cognitive Reappraisal
*Response Modulation
The model is not completely arbitrary, but is a set of definitions to techniques dependent on what time in the emotional state one is present in. I.e.:
Before emotional state-Situational Selection/Modification
At Recognition of emotional state-Attentional Redeployment
During emotional state-Cognitive Reappraisal
After emotional state-Response Modulation
We will go into each part in detail and discuss the neuroscientific bases involved.
Situational Selection/Modification
This is a technique that takes place before an emotion takes place. You know beforehand through various experience or thought or information garnered through the final stage (Response Modulation) about what are your emotional triggers, and wish to get around them beforehand. Furthermore, beforehand, we can either decrease the cognitive strength of emotions, or increase our aptitude to handle strong emotions. The former requires manipulation of the limbic system (as this is where emotional states are derived from), and the latter requires manipulation of other physiological factors that increase our cognitive capacity. As such, the techniques deployed here are either based in:
1-Limbic system manipulation
2-Physiological manipulation
We go into each one in detail.
Limbic System Manipulation
We first describe what the limbic system is, how it influences emotions, techniques for manipulation, and finally give some examples.
Neuroscience 101: A short outline of the Limbic system
A lot of the things here is just for general knowledge's sake. And over part of my interest in seeing the evolutionary connection between the brain and the triune model. The key idea for the purposes of this write-up is that the limbic system is the classic behaviorist part of the brain. It regulates the reward/punishment connection of Premack's Principle (high frequency behavior reinforce low-frequency behaviors) to the behaviorist model of the brain. Various parts of the limbic system relate to the four F's (fear, flight, fight, and...fuck) and release various neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, seratonin, etc.) that regulate whether a behavior should be positively or negatively reinforced and this information is appropriately stored.
With that said, if you're still curious about some neuroscience, here are some major parts of the limbic system and what they do:
*Amygdala-Controls Fear
*Hippocampus-Creates New Memories
*Thalamus-Processes pain
*Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)-Controls manufacture of dopamine
*Nucleus Accumbens (NA)-Controls release of dopamine.
*Insula-Controls the bodies reaction to emotion (heart rate, breathing, etc.)
And, also, as a refresher, the following is a description of various neurotransmitters; and their role in behavior function:
*Dopamine-Reward, Cognition, Endocrine (positive stimulus more or less)
*Noradrenaline-Fight/Flight (negative stimulus more or less)
*Seratonin-Mood, Satiety
*Gabba/Glutamate-inhibitory/excitatory
*Cholinergic-Learning, Short-term memory, arousal, reward
Something that's probably relevant to you-the limbic system, on its own, does nothing. The entire goal of the limbic system is to eventually manipulate hypothalamic function (hormone/endocrine (seratonin/dopamine (i.e., creation of reward pathways)) secretion). E.g., if hormonal control is out of whack, then what manipulation occurs with the limbic system is neglible.
[4] [5] [6] [17] [21]
Limbic System Manipulation: Behaviorism
Given that the limbic system relies on a carrot/stick paradigm, a behaviorist approach is one that follows in this paradigm. The idea is that by providing a schedule of presenting or removing positive or negative stimuli after a behavior (called reinforcement), one can create a schedule of reinforcement that induces certain emotional reaction (or at least mitigates or lessens these reactions) for certain behaviors.
Because of the long-term consequences of various types of reinforcement, it is helpful to set up some definitions for the various kinds of reinforcement:
*Positive Reinforcement-Presentation of a positive stimulus.
*Negative Reinforcement-Removal of a negative stimulus.
*Positive Punishment-Removal of a positive stimulus.
*Negative Punishment-Presentation of a negative stimulus.
The use of punishment has been noted by Skinner, Fester, et. al. to have various problems:
* Leaves behind strong emotional precursors, such as anxiety, which lead to excessive avoidance patterns.
* Only represses the behavior. Does not eliminate it.
* Can have unmitigated tertiary effects by providing negative reinforcement to unintended behaviors.
However, most importantly are the long-term consequences, namely, using punishment to avoid occurrence of a behavior can not last in the long-run for the following reasoning. Any self-inflicted punitive behavior needs to either (indeed, any behavior, should it hope to continue to occur):
-Be initially motivated (either by a previous sequence of reinforcement, or through sufficient volition and other means of motivation).
-Reinforce itself
The second is a contradiction. If a punitive consequence were positively reinforcing itself, it would not be punitive.
As such, a self-inflicted punitive behavior needs to be initially motivated. This, I claim, is what initially substantiates self-punitive behavior to work. However, as the punishment is continued, because of the previous paragraph, the initial motivation is continually countered by a progressive sequence of punishing consequences. I.e., the initial motivation is self-punished enough until it no longer exists. At which point the self-punishing behavior no longer takes place, whereupon old behaviors are established up until the point where initial motivation is restored, and the cycle continues again.
A final useful concept are some definitions relating to various reinforcement schedules, i.e., at patterns determining how reinforcement should be meted out. This distinction is useful in designing highly reinforcing schemes with minimal effort:
*Interval Schedule-Reinforcement is meted out on a routine schedule (every so many minutes of behavior, reinforcement is provided)
*Ratio Schedule-Reinforcement is meted out per occurrence of behavior (every so many times a behavior occurs, reinforcement is provided)
*Fixed Schedule-Reinforcement is provided on a linear schedule (_every_ X minutes or X times)
*Variable Schedule-Reinforcement is provided on a stochastic schedule (every X minutes or X times there is a Y% chance)
Although both interval and ratio schedule do as intended, interval schedules tend to provide better long-term behavior. Since in providing ratio schedules, immediately after the occurrence of a behavior there is low probability the behavior will occur again. Whereas this does not occur as markedly in interval schedules. To put into common parlance--interval schedules reward the journey whereas ratio schedules reward the product.
Variable schedules also tend to reinforce behavior much more efficiently than fixed schedules. This is the principle behind casinos, and the rationale is essentially the same as interval v. ratio schedules. On a fixed schedule of reinforcement, procrastination tends to be rewarded (i.e., waiting until just before the deadline before doing all of the work), whereas this behavior is fairly dangerous in a variable schedule.
Finally, to create an optimal schedule of reinforcement, the alloted ratios or intervals should not remain fixed; but should rather be increased slowly over time (or decreased slowly over time if you are trying to overcome an addictive behavior) to avoid extinction bursts.
In this way, many psychological 'needs' can be viewed as a historical reference to some ingrained reinforcement schedule.
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [31]
Specific Behaviorist Techniques
As per the previous section, all behaviorist techniques essentially amount to either positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment.
Even though this is the case, there are still techniques that are general enough to not be immediately recognizable as one of these three, nor as specific examples.
As such, we immediately follow with some examples after each technique.
Positive Reinforcement Techniques
Bundling Reinforcement
This is basically the "Mary Poppins" technique: a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. One associates others positively reinforcing things with the desired behavior by making them run concurrently.
*Basic Bundling-Taking a positively reinforcing stimuli and placing it in the background of a task or behavior.
*Feedback-Displaying encouraging feedback upon completing behavior.
*Gamifying-Basic Bundling of a task with game mechanics.
Some aspects of game mechanics include a meaning/autonomy/purpose dichotomy, but explain why these are reinforcing in a behaviorist viewpoints. The following are tips to enhancing these and providing a behaviorist explanation of games.
Features that provide Meaning
-Customizable goals: tap into personal goals, things that already have positive reinforcement
-Status/Community Updates: tap into social positive reinforcement
-Story: create positive reinforcement by tapping into something else that already provides positive reinforcement by means of a narrative/poetic idea. C.f. LiteratureReinforcement
Definition of Meaning in the context of positive reinforcement: reinforcers that are created by virtue of connecting with other things that are intrinsically motivating.
Features that provide Mastery
-Rule impositions: golf is made interesting by using a stick and having all these strange rules. It wouldn't be that interesting if it were just about picking up a ball, walking over, and placing it in a hole (inb4 you tell me that this is basketball).
-Goal scaffolding/paced/varied: the goals placed on a user should be staggered and balanced.
-Provide feedback. (be wary of punishment in feedback!)
Definition of Mastery in the context of positive reinforcement: the aspect of influencing the quality of the positive reinforcement by optimizing the reinforcement schedule (e.g., choosing variable ratio schedules)
Features that provide Autonomy
-Eliminate extrinsic rewards: extrinsic rewards diminish autonomy/meaning.
-Unexpected awards
Definition of Autonomy in the context of positive reinforcement: the degree to which something is a positive reinforcement v. positive punishment.
Furthermore, these things determine the quality of positive reinforcement directly in the game. The aspects of points/badges/leaderboards that are found in many games are simply aspects of token economies from a behaviorist perspective.
[13]
*Metering-The classic modus operandi of positive reinforcement. Allowing treats after behavior.
Examples
One example of each appropriately:
*Playing music while running/working.
*Using logs that are designed like EXP bars--they only increase upon behavior.
*Chore wars.
*Breaks are a classic form of positive reinforcement. It may be frustrating to stop work, but in the long run it induces motivation to the task.
Covert Reinforcement
Covert reinforcement entails providing positive reinforcement by imagining the contigent scenario and subsequent positive reinforcement.
[14]
Examples
*Some Literature Reinforcement is coincidental with this technique. E.g., making imaginative literature than entails such a covert reinforcement schema.
*Another example (that is currently being tested), is creating a MUSH environment to provide the covert reinforcement within. This then connects covert reinforcement with aspects of Gamification Reinforcement.
Delaying Reinforcement
If one is trying to stop a certain behavior that has naturally occurring positive reinforcement that can be delayed, there is great benefit in doing so. By delaying the positive reinforcement received by a behavior, one induces hyperbolic discounting, thus reducing the net effect of positive reinforcement the behavior metes out. If the positive reinforcement can be delayed until the behavior ends, then one is reinforcing stopping that behavior and continuing whichever behavior immediately follows doing so.
Examples
*In response to internet addiction, offload everything that is positively reinforcing (download it to a USB stick): e-mails, pages that I wanted to look at, etc.. Then instead of looking at it in the computer lab, only look at it once leaving. I.e., positively reinforce leaving the lab (to look at what goods have been obtained).
Literature Reinforcement
Using aspects of literature or art to make a behavior more positively reinforcing.
Examples
* This can be as simple as trying to make poetry of what one is doing. Literally or in a figurative/existentialist sense.
* 'Cultivating an aesthetic appreciation of the subject'. I.e., by realizing the mimetic qualities of the subject at hand, one induces the mimetic factor of artistic appreciation in the subject at hand.
* * Make analogies
* * Recognize applications
* Make propaganda
Social Reinforcement
Social reinforcement entails providing positive reinforcement by incorporating (bundling) a social aspect into a desired behavior.
Examples
* A classic example of social reinforcement is the study group, which is also fairly self-explanatory.
* Another example is Rothbard's salon-like atmosphere, or many of the teahouses of Europe during the enlightenment.
* * Or the Vienna Circle.
* (Really, though, these are all variations of more 'socially acceptable' (ironically) versions of the study group.)
[28] [29] [30]
Negative Reinforcement Techniques
Creating Negative Reinforcement Contingencies
Setting into place some other contigency that automatically induces an aversive stimulus in the environment until a behavior is stopped.
Examples
*A major technique is schedule blocking--when one uses another important item in their daily schedule to use as a barrier. (this is negative reinforcement because one is extremely anxious and uneasy (especially as the date nears) up until the behavior is stopped so the normal schedule can continue)
**You need to use the internet to check your e-mail, and you have class at 10:30. So, you check your e-mail at 10:20, thereby necessitating that you'll only be on the internet for 10 minutes at most.
**By creating and maintaining a daily routine, you'll have more 'points' at which to schedule block. E.g., if you've taken the bus at 17:30 every day for more than a year, then netting at 17:15 would probably be another ideal point to use schedule blocking.
**You can use other people's schedules to schedule block with. E.g., use empty classrooms before classes begin.
*Eat foods that stick to your teeth for breakfast so you want to floss your teeth.
Reducing Negative Stimuli
Reducing the amount of negative stimulus inherent in a task to make it more likely that a behavior will occur. This comes in two forms:
-Delaying the negative stimuli by delineating a number of steps needed to be done in an aversive behavior over time. Breaking something into small manageable portions of negative stimuli.
-Removing the negative stimuli entirely.
Examples
*Chunking tasks. Instead of looking at a paper as "Write a 10 page paper". Look at it as "Write an outline", and delay the negative stimuli of the thought of the rest of the task until that is completed. Then work on the next step, and the next step, and...
*Create routines. By subitizing a common routine and making something a non-thinking habit, one reduces the cognitive load and negative stimuli associated with it.
*Making Memoranda and situational cues to reduce cognitive load (a negative stimulus) even further. [27]
Punishment Techniques
One-time Environmental Modification
Technically, abstention is punishment based technique. However, as in the reasoning above, the major issue is continued adherence to a punitive standard. Thus, if there is a one-time change that can be somewhat permanent, then the problem of long-run acedia can be mitigated. Therefore, performing one-time environmental modifications could potentially work in the long-run.
Examples
*Removing internet from house.
*Removing chocolate cake from fridge.
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [31]
Physiological Manipulation
We first describe some components of the brain that lay on top of the limbic system (quite literally--as they are a distinct components of the brain evolved after the creation of the limbic system and are found in primates (humans) and dolphins (if you are curious, McClean's Triune model of the brain. The stem came first and is pretty much the same and is visible in all vertebrates (controlling movement, reptile brain; brain stem, hypothalamus, pituitary), next comes the limbic system literally on top of this (controlling emotion), and (I don't think this vocabulary is standard at all, but this will be between you and me) we will call this the 'cognitive layer'. I.e., the collection of brain components that outer-regulate limbic system behavior. We then describe what sort of things affect the processing of these components, then give some specific theoretical techniques, and again end with some examples.
Neuroscience 101: A short outline of the Cognitive Layer
Again, this is mostly here for knowledge's sake. The key thing to take away is that the cognitive layer lays on top of the emotional limbic system, and is concerned with long-term planning and emotional regulation. Moreover, this cognitive layer is not a behavioral system and includes complexities (like, in the cortex proper, language) that behaviorism does not fully explain (i.e., behaviorism explains a proper subset of activities from the brain) ([26]). Two such key areas of the brain to consider are:
*Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC)-Deals with planning, processing consequences, executive function.
*Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)-Deals with focus, attention, and emotional awareness.
[4] [5] [17] [21]
What's particularly important about this information, is its limited nature. Because the brain tries to be efficient with its use of metabolic resources, there is a limited amount of energy at the disposal of the PFC and ACC; this determines a limited nature in willpower.
[17] [25]
Specific Physiological Techniques
Taking care of specific physiological necessities, by the previous, really serves as means of optimizing the functioning of the cortex.
Exercises
"What's good for the heart is good for the mind". In general, the name of the game is improving blood flow. This helps to make sure the brain gets the nutrients necessary. That really is it. So long as your heart pumps efficiently and you don't have any weight-related health problems and engage in mild caloric restriction you should be in the clear.
Thus, aerobic exercise can reverse executive function and cognition loss. Aerobic exercise. Aerobic mfing exercise. Lifting weights does not help ([16] in particular). 20 minutes over the course of the day, 3 days a week, is all that's needed. If you don't exercise for even as little as 6 days, the cognitive benefits immediately reverse themselves
[15] [16]
Also, simply practicing focus significantly trains the ACC and the mounting evidence at least pointing to this is kind of hard to ignore.
[17] [18] [19] [32]
Sleep
The rule of thumb '1 hour of lost sleep=2 hours of lost productivity' seems to be backed up. In general, get _more_ than enough. I have not seen much research of very negative effects from getting too _much_ sleep. Insomnia is defined very loosely as simply 'waking up tired', and the cognitive effects of it are pretty severe.
[15]
Nutrition
All I know of is stuff from the book "Think Smart"; e.g.:
*Leafy vegies
*Anti-oxidant
*Trans fats are bad.
*Omega-3s/farmed fish/walnuts
[15] [16]
Examples
Aside from following the general advice above, one additional idea is the following:
Blood-flow Boost
Once every hour or so, try to move around, do a small set of exercises. Not running around the block, just like 10 squats or something. The point is to get your heart-rate up for a little bit. By doing so, this increases blood-flow in the short-term, which increases blood-flow to the brain, and in particular to the PFC and ACC. This can ensure continued emotional control.
Practice Focus
Every day, for just a few minutes, try to clear every other thought (EVERY other thought) and only focus on one thing. When you get interrupted, return the focus to whatever you are practicing focus on.
This helps to build up the potential of the PFC and ACC.
[17] [18] [19] [32]
Attentional Redeployment
This is the technique itself. Namely, upon immediately noticing an unwanted emotional state distract yourself. Try to use the ACC to overpower the limbic system. Throw your attention elsewhere. I know of two techniques directly to do this:
*Use the focus exercise described in the previous section, and try to continue it until the emotional state is weakened or has passed.
*Always keep a large list of things you can switch to at hand (emphasis on the word _large_). (There is an expected value argument that one could give here. Simply speaking, if each task present a 1% chance that you'll do it, then if you keep around enough tasks...)
[1] [2] [3] [17] [21]
Cognitive Reappraisal
This is a very tricky technique and comes in various forms depending on the emotion at hand. Moreover, they are best applied during the throes of a particular emotional state. However, they are all mainly psychotherapeutic, rely completely on the cognitive layer (although there are some behavioral techniques in here; namely using covert stimuli and the non-punishing authority can be interpreted as part behaviorist/part cognitive based techniques), and rely on Marcus Aerilius' Dictum "The pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it." [20] During an emotional state, try to identify the cause and reappraise it to reduce or eliminate the emotional influence. For example, if you are are anxious because you think someone was ignoring you at a social event, simply finding out that the individual had a lame eye that night (just as an example), could allow you to reappraise the event as 'He wasn't ignoring me--he simply just didn't see me'.
At the moment, I'm still working on some organizing framework here, so the following is just a haphazard list of techniques.
Non-Punishing Authority
By consistently having a person or covert entity act as a nonpunishing audience, patterns of negative reinforcement can be broken down to reduce anxiety in a given situation. It can also be viewed as a reappraisal--viewing an alternate individual as an authority--as opposed to the individual likely to be causing the anxiety.
Block-quotation from Skinner:
"There is a second stage in the therapeutic process. The appearance of previously punished behavior in the presence of a nonpunishing audience makes possible the extinction of some of the effects of punishment. This is the principal result of such therapy. Stimuli which are automatically generated by the patient's own behavior become less and less aversive and less and less likely to generate emotional reactions. The patient feels less wrong, less guilty, or less sinful. As a direct consequence he is less likely to exhibit the various forms of operant behavior which, as we have seen, provide escape from such self-generated stimulation."
[11]
Covert Stimuli
This involves using covert reinforcement in the act to try and directly manipulate reinforcement states that may be activating the given emotional complex.
Montaignes
This works primarily for embarrassment when dealing with your own embarrassing memories of life, remember the embarrassing details of life that other have lived through. (one that I particularly like is this young 17 year old snowboarder for the U.S. at the Olympics--she lost the gold medal because she tried to show off by doing a trying to do a trick on her last jump; she fell flat on her face on national television and her mistake was broadcasted on mainstream news networks everywhere the next day...it's really hard to beat that level of embarrassment.)
Senecans
This works primarily for anxiety. By envisioning the worst possible outcome of an event inducing anxiety, and creating a contigency for it, one helps mitigate the original reason for the anxiety.
REBT
(side-note: I am dubious of this one, which I will follow up with another post about hopefully)
REBT acts under the following model:
Situation(A)-> Automatic thought->Emotion/Reaction (C)
Where the Automatic Thought is derived from Core Belief->Intermediate Belief(B)->Automatic thought
Where:
A-Activating Event
*There is an extual event A and implied event A.
B-Belief
*Most beliefs are flexibile.
*There is an underlying assumption that most beliefs are not of the extreme variety. I.e., some form of 'must' suggested as:
**'Awfulising'
***'This is _absolutely_ terrible.'
**Low frustration tolerance
***'This _will_ cause frustration'/'This _isn't_ worth it'
**Depreciation
***Part-whole fallacy, 'I _will_ be a complete failure because of aspect X'.
C-Consequences
*What happens due to B.
Solutions: (using the example above where you are upset over someone ignoring you)
-Change implication in A. (he just didn't notice me, he didn't ignore me)
-Change B with rationalization. (he doesn't have an obligation to talk to me all the time)
-Change to more constructive C. (maybe I should talk to him about it instead of moping about)
[22] [23] [24]
Socratic Questioning
Use socratic questioning as an introspective tool to uncover and induce some form of cognitive reappraisal of the events that led to your emotional state. (dubious)
Pros/Cons List/Labeling
Simply labeling and listing out the details (like pros/cons) of a situation has an incredible cognitive effect (even simply saying to oneself "I am upset", helps). It may not eliminate the emotional state, but it does help reduce it.
[17] [23]
Response Modulation
This can be thought of as a meta-cognitive reappraisal (after emotion has died down). The goal is to create long-term plans for when the situation occurs again, gather info to help enhance previous stages. For example:
*The situational selection/modification stage
**Alter reinforcement schedules appropriately
*Attentional Redeployment
**Practicing focus can help the attentional redeployment stage
*Cognitive Reappraisal
**Pre-creating Senecans (make a plan in advance for the worst likely outcome of things that commonly give you anxiety, thereby mitigating a large source of the anxiety) helps for cognitive reappraisal.
[1] [2] [3] [21]
Conclusion/tl;dr
*Situational Selection/Modification
**Limbic Manipulation
***Positive Reinforcement
****Basic Bundling-Taking a positively reinforcing stimuli and placing it in the background of a task or behavior.
****Feedback-Displaying encouraging feedback upon completing behavior.
****Gamifying-Basic Bundling of a task with game mechanics.
****Metering-The classic modus operandi of positive reinforcement. Allowing treats after behavior.
****Covert Reinforcement
****Delaying Reinforcement
****Literature Reinforcement
****Social Reinforcement
***Negative Reinforcement
****Creating Negative Reinforcement Contingencies
****Reducing Negative Stimuli
***Punishment
****One-time Environmental Modification
**Physiological Manipulation
***Aerobic Exercise
***Leafy vegies
***Anti-oxidant
***Trans fats are bad.
***Omega-3s/farmed fish/walnuts
***Sleep more than enough
***Focus training
***Blood-flow boost
*Attentional Redeployment
**Focus training
**Switch tasks
*Cognitive Reappraisal
**Non-Punishing Authority
**Covert Stimuli
**Montaignes
**Senecans
**REBT
**Socratic Questioning
**Pros/Cons List/Labeling
*Response Modulation
=Questions/Tasks Remaining=
Here are some final questions I have, given all of the above:
-How much more or less effective are the physiological techniques as compared to any of the other techniques?
-How reasonable is the research of practicing focus? Is it really worthwhile?
-Do we have a reasonably fixed cognitive capacity?
-What are the physiological effects of punishment, if any?
-Can abstention be viewed as one-time punishment?
-Does one-time punishment still have negative effects--enough to preclude avoiding using such methods?
-How can the Cognitive Reappraisal stage be better organized?
-How can these habits be better committed to memory?
-What is the overall effectiveness of...any of this?
References
[1] "Handbook of Emotion Regulation"
[2] "The Rational Emotive Behavior Approach to Therapeutic Change" by Dryden and Neenan
[3] "Cognitive Therapy Basics and Beyond" by Beck
[4] Sapinsky's Neuroscience Stanford Opencourseware Lecture 14, "Limbic System" (highly recommended)
[5] Wikibook on Neuroscience
[6] "The Neurobiology of Motivation and Reward"
[7] "Changing Human Behavior"
[8] "On the Self-Regulation of Behavior"
[9] "Handbook of Mental Control"
[10] "Intrinsic Motivation"
[11] "Science and Human Behavior" by B.F. Skinner
[12] "Behavioral self-control" by Thoresen (highly recommended)
[13] Deterding's Google Talk
[14] Any research done by Cautela
[15] "Think Smart" (highly recommended (this one grew on me))
[16] "Brain Rules" by John Medina
[17] "Your Brain at Work" Google Tech Talk by David Rock (highly recommended)
[18] "Transform Your Mind, Change Your Brain" (recommended, a nice compendium of information about practicing focus)
[19] Sam Harris
[20] "Meditations" by Marcus Aerilius (about the only interesting thing I found in there)
[21] "Neuroscience of Emotions" Google Tech Talk by Philippe Gordon (highly recommended)
[22] "The Rational Emotive Behavior Approach to Therapeutic Change" by Dryden and Neenan
[23] "Cognitive Therapy Basics and Beyond" by Beck (recommended)
[24] "Three Minute Therapy"
[25] "Procrastination" http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination/
[26] "On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's 'Verbal Behavior'" by Kenneth MacCorquodale
[27] "Enjoy Old Age" by B.F. Skinner
[28] "How They Succeeded" by Orison Swett Marden (highly recommended)
[29] "Men of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell
[30] "My Years with Mises" by Margit von Mises
[31] "Self-Regulation"
[32] "Way to Willpower" by Hazlitt (highly recommended)
A lot of these are based on various studies that you can find in references that the references link to (that was not a typo, I meant to say references twice like that), you can look at the references at the bottom of this post, and there are a few that I highly recommend and might do later posts on. I would ideally like to make a thymological framework based on methodology of performative contradictions; however, baring that, I can accept one step down in the methodological ladder (the fairly widely acceptable empirical approach (yes, this brings up a whole other can of worms about the base methodology I work under, which I won't get into here)). Regardless, I still view this as a sort of personal thymology (hopefully, the previous post set down some background for what thymology is).
EITHER WAY, ENJOY.
Introduction
My major claim is that all problems of self-control are problems of emotional regulation. By treating issues of akrasia as a contradiction in emotional state to a goal to its intellectual desirability, we can hopefully use emotional regulation techniques to balance this out.
THE COGNITIVE OUTER LAYER
The cognitive thymological model for self-control is expounded in pretty much the same format in every book I've read on the subject [1] [2] [3] [17] [21]:
*Situational Selection/Modification
*Attentional Redeployment
*Cognitive Reappraisal
*Response Modulation
The model is not completely arbitrary, but is a set of definitions to techniques dependent on what time in the emotional state one is present in. I.e.:
Before emotional state-Situational Selection/Modification
At Recognition of emotional state-Attentional Redeployment
During emotional state-Cognitive Reappraisal
After emotional state-Response Modulation
We will go into each part in detail and discuss the neuroscientific bases involved.
Situational Selection/Modification
This is a technique that takes place before an emotion takes place. You know beforehand through various experience or thought or information garnered through the final stage (Response Modulation) about what are your emotional triggers, and wish to get around them beforehand. Furthermore, beforehand, we can either decrease the cognitive strength of emotions, or increase our aptitude to handle strong emotions. The former requires manipulation of the limbic system (as this is where emotional states are derived from), and the latter requires manipulation of other physiological factors that increase our cognitive capacity. As such, the techniques deployed here are either based in:
1-Limbic system manipulation
2-Physiological manipulation
We go into each one in detail.
Limbic System Manipulation
We first describe what the limbic system is, how it influences emotions, techniques for manipulation, and finally give some examples.
Neuroscience 101: A short outline of the Limbic system
A lot of the things here is just for general knowledge's sake. And over part of my interest in seeing the evolutionary connection between the brain and the triune model. The key idea for the purposes of this write-up is that the limbic system is the classic behaviorist part of the brain. It regulates the reward/punishment connection of Premack's Principle (high frequency behavior reinforce low-frequency behaviors) to the behaviorist model of the brain. Various parts of the limbic system relate to the four F's (fear, flight, fight, and...fuck) and release various neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, seratonin, etc.) that regulate whether a behavior should be positively or negatively reinforced and this information is appropriately stored.
With that said, if you're still curious about some neuroscience, here are some major parts of the limbic system and what they do:
*Amygdala-Controls Fear
*Hippocampus-Creates New Memories
*Thalamus-Processes pain
*Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)-Controls manufacture of dopamine
*Nucleus Accumbens (NA)-Controls release of dopamine.
*Insula-Controls the bodies reaction to emotion (heart rate, breathing, etc.)
And, also, as a refresher, the following is a description of various neurotransmitters; and their role in behavior function:
*Dopamine-Reward, Cognition, Endocrine (positive stimulus more or less)
*Noradrenaline-Fight/Flight (negative stimulus more or less)
*Seratonin-Mood, Satiety
*Gabba/Glutamate-inhibitory/excitatory
*Cholinergic-Learning, Short-term memory, arousal, reward
Something that's probably relevant to you-the limbic system, on its own, does nothing. The entire goal of the limbic system is to eventually manipulate hypothalamic function (hormone/endocrine (seratonin/dopamine (i.e., creation of reward pathways)) secretion). E.g., if hormonal control is out of whack, then what manipulation occurs with the limbic system is neglible.
[4] [5] [6] [17] [21]
Limbic System Manipulation: Behaviorism
Given that the limbic system relies on a carrot/stick paradigm, a behaviorist approach is one that follows in this paradigm. The idea is that by providing a schedule of presenting or removing positive or negative stimuli after a behavior (called reinforcement), one can create a schedule of reinforcement that induces certain emotional reaction (or at least mitigates or lessens these reactions) for certain behaviors.
Because of the long-term consequences of various types of reinforcement, it is helpful to set up some definitions for the various kinds of reinforcement:
*Positive Reinforcement-Presentation of a positive stimulus.
*Negative Reinforcement-Removal of a negative stimulus.
*Positive Punishment-Removal of a positive stimulus.
*Negative Punishment-Presentation of a negative stimulus.
The use of punishment has been noted by Skinner, Fester, et. al. to have various problems:
* Leaves behind strong emotional precursors, such as anxiety, which lead to excessive avoidance patterns.
* Only represses the behavior. Does not eliminate it.
* Can have unmitigated tertiary effects by providing negative reinforcement to unintended behaviors.
However, most importantly are the long-term consequences, namely, using punishment to avoid occurrence of a behavior can not last in the long-run for the following reasoning. Any self-inflicted punitive behavior needs to either (indeed, any behavior, should it hope to continue to occur):
-Be initially motivated (either by a previous sequence of reinforcement, or through sufficient volition and other means of motivation).
-Reinforce itself
The second is a contradiction. If a punitive consequence were positively reinforcing itself, it would not be punitive.
As such, a self-inflicted punitive behavior needs to be initially motivated. This, I claim, is what initially substantiates self-punitive behavior to work. However, as the punishment is continued, because of the previous paragraph, the initial motivation is continually countered by a progressive sequence of punishing consequences. I.e., the initial motivation is self-punished enough until it no longer exists. At which point the self-punishing behavior no longer takes place, whereupon old behaviors are established up until the point where initial motivation is restored, and the cycle continues again.
A final useful concept are some definitions relating to various reinforcement schedules, i.e., at patterns determining how reinforcement should be meted out. This distinction is useful in designing highly reinforcing schemes with minimal effort:
*Interval Schedule-Reinforcement is meted out on a routine schedule (every so many minutes of behavior, reinforcement is provided)
*Ratio Schedule-Reinforcement is meted out per occurrence of behavior (every so many times a behavior occurs, reinforcement is provided)
*Fixed Schedule-Reinforcement is provided on a linear schedule (_every_ X minutes or X times)
*Variable Schedule-Reinforcement is provided on a stochastic schedule (every X minutes or X times there is a Y% chance)
Although both interval and ratio schedule do as intended, interval schedules tend to provide better long-term behavior. Since in providing ratio schedules, immediately after the occurrence of a behavior there is low probability the behavior will occur again. Whereas this does not occur as markedly in interval schedules. To put into common parlance--interval schedules reward the journey whereas ratio schedules reward the product.
Variable schedules also tend to reinforce behavior much more efficiently than fixed schedules. This is the principle behind casinos, and the rationale is essentially the same as interval v. ratio schedules. On a fixed schedule of reinforcement, procrastination tends to be rewarded (i.e., waiting until just before the deadline before doing all of the work), whereas this behavior is fairly dangerous in a variable schedule.
Finally, to create an optimal schedule of reinforcement, the alloted ratios or intervals should not remain fixed; but should rather be increased slowly over time (or decreased slowly over time if you are trying to overcome an addictive behavior) to avoid extinction bursts.
In this way, many psychological 'needs' can be viewed as a historical reference to some ingrained reinforcement schedule.
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [31]
Specific Behaviorist Techniques
As per the previous section, all behaviorist techniques essentially amount to either positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment.
Even though this is the case, there are still techniques that are general enough to not be immediately recognizable as one of these three, nor as specific examples.
As such, we immediately follow with some examples after each technique.
Positive Reinforcement Techniques
Bundling Reinforcement
This is basically the "Mary Poppins" technique: a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. One associates others positively reinforcing things with the desired behavior by making them run concurrently.
*Basic Bundling-Taking a positively reinforcing stimuli and placing it in the background of a task or behavior.
*Feedback-Displaying encouraging feedback upon completing behavior.
*Gamifying-Basic Bundling of a task with game mechanics.
Some aspects of game mechanics include a meaning/autonomy/purpose dichotomy, but explain why these are reinforcing in a behaviorist viewpoints. The following are tips to enhancing these and providing a behaviorist explanation of games.
Features that provide Meaning
-Customizable goals: tap into personal goals, things that already have positive reinforcement
-Status/Community Updates: tap into social positive reinforcement
-Story: create positive reinforcement by tapping into something else that already provides positive reinforcement by means of a narrative/poetic idea. C.f. LiteratureReinforcement
Definition of Meaning in the context of positive reinforcement: reinforcers that are created by virtue of connecting with other things that are intrinsically motivating.
Features that provide Mastery
-Rule impositions: golf is made interesting by using a stick and having all these strange rules. It wouldn't be that interesting if it were just about picking up a ball, walking over, and placing it in a hole (inb4 you tell me that this is basketball).
-Goal scaffolding/paced/varied: the goals placed on a user should be staggered and balanced.
-Provide feedback. (be wary of punishment in feedback!)
Definition of Mastery in the context of positive reinforcement: the aspect of influencing the quality of the positive reinforcement by optimizing the reinforcement schedule (e.g., choosing variable ratio schedules)
Features that provide Autonomy
-Eliminate extrinsic rewards: extrinsic rewards diminish autonomy/meaning.
-Unexpected awards
Definition of Autonomy in the context of positive reinforcement: the degree to which something is a positive reinforcement v. positive punishment.
Furthermore, these things determine the quality of positive reinforcement directly in the game. The aspects of points/badges/leaderboards that are found in many games are simply aspects of token economies from a behaviorist perspective.
[13]
*Metering-The classic modus operandi of positive reinforcement. Allowing treats after behavior.
Examples
One example of each appropriately:
*Playing music while running/working.
*Using logs that are designed like EXP bars--they only increase upon behavior.
*Chore wars.
*Breaks are a classic form of positive reinforcement. It may be frustrating to stop work, but in the long run it induces motivation to the task.
Covert Reinforcement
Covert reinforcement entails providing positive reinforcement by imagining the contigent scenario and subsequent positive reinforcement.
[14]
Examples
*Some Literature Reinforcement is coincidental with this technique. E.g., making imaginative literature than entails such a covert reinforcement schema.
*Another example (that is currently being tested), is creating a MUSH environment to provide the covert reinforcement within. This then connects covert reinforcement with aspects of Gamification Reinforcement.
Delaying Reinforcement
If one is trying to stop a certain behavior that has naturally occurring positive reinforcement that can be delayed, there is great benefit in doing so. By delaying the positive reinforcement received by a behavior, one induces hyperbolic discounting, thus reducing the net effect of positive reinforcement the behavior metes out. If the positive reinforcement can be delayed until the behavior ends, then one is reinforcing stopping that behavior and continuing whichever behavior immediately follows doing so.
Examples
*In response to internet addiction, offload everything that is positively reinforcing (download it to a USB stick): e-mails, pages that I wanted to look at, etc.. Then instead of looking at it in the computer lab, only look at it once leaving. I.e., positively reinforce leaving the lab (to look at what goods have been obtained).
Literature Reinforcement
Using aspects of literature or art to make a behavior more positively reinforcing.
Examples
* This can be as simple as trying to make poetry of what one is doing. Literally or in a figurative/existentialist sense.
* 'Cultivating an aesthetic appreciation of the subject'. I.e., by realizing the mimetic qualities of the subject at hand, one induces the mimetic factor of artistic appreciation in the subject at hand.
* * Make analogies
* * Recognize applications
* Make propaganda
Social Reinforcement
Social reinforcement entails providing positive reinforcement by incorporating (bundling) a social aspect into a desired behavior.
Examples
* A classic example of social reinforcement is the study group, which is also fairly self-explanatory.
* Another example is Rothbard's salon-like atmosphere, or many of the teahouses of Europe during the enlightenment.
* * Or the Vienna Circle.
* (Really, though, these are all variations of more 'socially acceptable' (ironically) versions of the study group.)
[28] [29] [30]
Negative Reinforcement Techniques
Creating Negative Reinforcement Contingencies
Setting into place some other contigency that automatically induces an aversive stimulus in the environment until a behavior is stopped.
Examples
*A major technique is schedule blocking--when one uses another important item in their daily schedule to use as a barrier. (this is negative reinforcement because one is extremely anxious and uneasy (especially as the date nears) up until the behavior is stopped so the normal schedule can continue)
**You need to use the internet to check your e-mail, and you have class at 10:30. So, you check your e-mail at 10:20, thereby necessitating that you'll only be on the internet for 10 minutes at most.
**By creating and maintaining a daily routine, you'll have more 'points' at which to schedule block. E.g., if you've taken the bus at 17:30 every day for more than a year, then netting at 17:15 would probably be another ideal point to use schedule blocking.
**You can use other people's schedules to schedule block with. E.g., use empty classrooms before classes begin.
*Eat foods that stick to your teeth for breakfast so you want to floss your teeth.
Reducing Negative Stimuli
Reducing the amount of negative stimulus inherent in a task to make it more likely that a behavior will occur. This comes in two forms:
-Delaying the negative stimuli by delineating a number of steps needed to be done in an aversive behavior over time. Breaking something into small manageable portions of negative stimuli.
-Removing the negative stimuli entirely.
Examples
*Chunking tasks. Instead of looking at a paper as "Write a 10 page paper". Look at it as "Write an outline", and delay the negative stimuli of the thought of the rest of the task until that is completed. Then work on the next step, and the next step, and...
*Create routines. By subitizing a common routine and making something a non-thinking habit, one reduces the cognitive load and negative stimuli associated with it.
*Making Memoranda and situational cues to reduce cognitive load (a negative stimulus) even further. [27]
Punishment Techniques
One-time Environmental Modification
Technically, abstention is punishment based technique. However, as in the reasoning above, the major issue is continued adherence to a punitive standard. Thus, if there is a one-time change that can be somewhat permanent, then the problem of long-run acedia can be mitigated. Therefore, performing one-time environmental modifications could potentially work in the long-run.
Examples
*Removing internet from house.
*Removing chocolate cake from fridge.
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [31]
Physiological Manipulation
We first describe some components of the brain that lay on top of the limbic system (quite literally--as they are a distinct components of the brain evolved after the creation of the limbic system and are found in primates (humans) and dolphins (if you are curious, McClean's Triune model of the brain. The stem came first and is pretty much the same and is visible in all vertebrates (controlling movement, reptile brain; brain stem, hypothalamus, pituitary), next comes the limbic system literally on top of this (controlling emotion), and (I don't think this vocabulary is standard at all, but this will be between you and me) we will call this the 'cognitive layer'. I.e., the collection of brain components that outer-regulate limbic system behavior. We then describe what sort of things affect the processing of these components, then give some specific theoretical techniques, and again end with some examples.
Neuroscience 101: A short outline of the Cognitive Layer
Again, this is mostly here for knowledge's sake. The key thing to take away is that the cognitive layer lays on top of the emotional limbic system, and is concerned with long-term planning and emotional regulation. Moreover, this cognitive layer is not a behavioral system and includes complexities (like, in the cortex proper, language) that behaviorism does not fully explain (i.e., behaviorism explains a proper subset of activities from the brain) ([26]). Two such key areas of the brain to consider are:
*Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC)-Deals with planning, processing consequences, executive function.
*Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)-Deals with focus, attention, and emotional awareness.
[4] [5] [17] [21]
What's particularly important about this information, is its limited nature. Because the brain tries to be efficient with its use of metabolic resources, there is a limited amount of energy at the disposal of the PFC and ACC; this determines a limited nature in willpower.
[17] [25]
Specific Physiological Techniques
Taking care of specific physiological necessities, by the previous, really serves as means of optimizing the functioning of the cortex.
Exercises
"What's good for the heart is good for the mind". In general, the name of the game is improving blood flow. This helps to make sure the brain gets the nutrients necessary. That really is it. So long as your heart pumps efficiently and you don't have any weight-related health problems and engage in mild caloric restriction you should be in the clear.
Thus, aerobic exercise can reverse executive function and cognition loss. Aerobic exercise. Aerobic mfing exercise. Lifting weights does not help ([16] in particular). 20 minutes over the course of the day, 3 days a week, is all that's needed. If you don't exercise for even as little as 6 days, the cognitive benefits immediately reverse themselves
[15] [16]
Also, simply practicing focus significantly trains the ACC and the mounting evidence at least pointing to this is kind of hard to ignore.
[17] [18] [19] [32]
Sleep
The rule of thumb '1 hour of lost sleep=2 hours of lost productivity' seems to be backed up. In general, get _more_ than enough. I have not seen much research of very negative effects from getting too _much_ sleep. Insomnia is defined very loosely as simply 'waking up tired', and the cognitive effects of it are pretty severe.
[15]
Nutrition
All I know of is stuff from the book "Think Smart"; e.g.:
*Leafy vegies
*Anti-oxidant
*Trans fats are bad.
*Omega-3s/farmed fish/walnuts
[15] [16]
Examples
Aside from following the general advice above, one additional idea is the following:
Blood-flow Boost
Once every hour or so, try to move around, do a small set of exercises. Not running around the block, just like 10 squats or something. The point is to get your heart-rate up for a little bit. By doing so, this increases blood-flow in the short-term, which increases blood-flow to the brain, and in particular to the PFC and ACC. This can ensure continued emotional control.
Practice Focus
Every day, for just a few minutes, try to clear every other thought (EVERY other thought) and only focus on one thing. When you get interrupted, return the focus to whatever you are practicing focus on.
This helps to build up the potential of the PFC and ACC.
[17] [18] [19] [32]
Attentional Redeployment
This is the technique itself. Namely, upon immediately noticing an unwanted emotional state distract yourself. Try to use the ACC to overpower the limbic system. Throw your attention elsewhere. I know of two techniques directly to do this:
*Use the focus exercise described in the previous section, and try to continue it until the emotional state is weakened or has passed.
*Always keep a large list of things you can switch to at hand (emphasis on the word _large_). (There is an expected value argument that one could give here. Simply speaking, if each task present a 1% chance that you'll do it, then if you keep around enough tasks...)
[1] [2] [3] [17] [21]
Cognitive Reappraisal
This is a very tricky technique and comes in various forms depending on the emotion at hand. Moreover, they are best applied during the throes of a particular emotional state. However, they are all mainly psychotherapeutic, rely completely on the cognitive layer (although there are some behavioral techniques in here; namely using covert stimuli and the non-punishing authority can be interpreted as part behaviorist/part cognitive based techniques), and rely on Marcus Aerilius' Dictum "The pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it." [20] During an emotional state, try to identify the cause and reappraise it to reduce or eliminate the emotional influence. For example, if you are are anxious because you think someone was ignoring you at a social event, simply finding out that the individual had a lame eye that night (just as an example), could allow you to reappraise the event as 'He wasn't ignoring me--he simply just didn't see me'.
At the moment, I'm still working on some organizing framework here, so the following is just a haphazard list of techniques.
Non-Punishing Authority
By consistently having a person or covert entity act as a nonpunishing audience, patterns of negative reinforcement can be broken down to reduce anxiety in a given situation. It can also be viewed as a reappraisal--viewing an alternate individual as an authority--as opposed to the individual likely to be causing the anxiety.
Block-quotation from Skinner:
"There is a second stage in the therapeutic process. The appearance of previously punished behavior in the presence of a nonpunishing audience makes possible the extinction of some of the effects of punishment. This is the principal result of such therapy. Stimuli which are automatically generated by the patient's own behavior become less and less aversive and less and less likely to generate emotional reactions. The patient feels less wrong, less guilty, or less sinful. As a direct consequence he is less likely to exhibit the various forms of operant behavior which, as we have seen, provide escape from such self-generated stimulation."
[11]
Covert Stimuli
This involves using covert reinforcement in the act to try and directly manipulate reinforcement states that may be activating the given emotional complex.
Montaignes
This works primarily for embarrassment when dealing with your own embarrassing memories of life, remember the embarrassing details of life that other have lived through. (one that I particularly like is this young 17 year old snowboarder for the U.S. at the Olympics--she lost the gold medal because she tried to show off by doing a trying to do a trick on her last jump; she fell flat on her face on national television and her mistake was broadcasted on mainstream news networks everywhere the next day...it's really hard to beat that level of embarrassment.)
Senecans
This works primarily for anxiety. By envisioning the worst possible outcome of an event inducing anxiety, and creating a contigency for it, one helps mitigate the original reason for the anxiety.
REBT
(side-note: I am dubious of this one, which I will follow up with another post about hopefully)
REBT acts under the following model:
Situation(A)-> Automatic thought->Emotion/Reaction (C)
Where the Automatic Thought is derived from Core Belief->Intermediate Belief(B)->Automatic thought
Where:
A-Activating Event
*There is an extual event A and implied event A.
B-Belief
*Most beliefs are flexibile.
*There is an underlying assumption that most beliefs are not of the extreme variety. I.e., some form of 'must' suggested as:
**'Awfulising'
***'This is _absolutely_ terrible.'
**Low frustration tolerance
***'This _will_ cause frustration'/'This _isn't_ worth it'
**Depreciation
***Part-whole fallacy, 'I _will_ be a complete failure because of aspect X'.
C-Consequences
*What happens due to B.
Solutions: (using the example above where you are upset over someone ignoring you)
-Change implication in A. (he just didn't notice me, he didn't ignore me)
-Change B with rationalization. (he doesn't have an obligation to talk to me all the time)
-Change to more constructive C. (maybe I should talk to him about it instead of moping about)
[22] [23] [24]
Socratic Questioning
Use socratic questioning as an introspective tool to uncover and induce some form of cognitive reappraisal of the events that led to your emotional state. (dubious)
Pros/Cons List/Labeling
Simply labeling and listing out the details (like pros/cons) of a situation has an incredible cognitive effect (even simply saying to oneself "I am upset", helps). It may not eliminate the emotional state, but it does help reduce it.
[17] [23]
Response Modulation
This can be thought of as a meta-cognitive reappraisal (after emotion has died down). The goal is to create long-term plans for when the situation occurs again, gather info to help enhance previous stages. For example:
*The situational selection/modification stage
**Alter reinforcement schedules appropriately
*Attentional Redeployment
**Practicing focus can help the attentional redeployment stage
*Cognitive Reappraisal
**Pre-creating Senecans (make a plan in advance for the worst likely outcome of things that commonly give you anxiety, thereby mitigating a large source of the anxiety) helps for cognitive reappraisal.
[1] [2] [3] [21]
Conclusion/tl;dr
*Situational Selection/Modification
**Limbic Manipulation
***Positive Reinforcement
****Basic Bundling-Taking a positively reinforcing stimuli and placing it in the background of a task or behavior.
****Feedback-Displaying encouraging feedback upon completing behavior.
****Gamifying-Basic Bundling of a task with game mechanics.
****Metering-The classic modus operandi of positive reinforcement. Allowing treats after behavior.
****Covert Reinforcement
****Delaying Reinforcement
****Literature Reinforcement
****Social Reinforcement
***Negative Reinforcement
****Creating Negative Reinforcement Contingencies
****Reducing Negative Stimuli
***Punishment
****One-time Environmental Modification
**Physiological Manipulation
***Aerobic Exercise
***Leafy vegies
***Anti-oxidant
***Trans fats are bad.
***Omega-3s/farmed fish/walnuts
***Sleep more than enough
***Focus training
***Blood-flow boost
*Attentional Redeployment
**Focus training
**Switch tasks
*Cognitive Reappraisal
**Non-Punishing Authority
**Covert Stimuli
**Montaignes
**Senecans
**REBT
**Socratic Questioning
**Pros/Cons List/Labeling
*Response Modulation
=Questions/Tasks Remaining=
Here are some final questions I have, given all of the above:
-How much more or less effective are the physiological techniques as compared to any of the other techniques?
-How reasonable is the research of practicing focus? Is it really worthwhile?
-Do we have a reasonably fixed cognitive capacity?
-What are the physiological effects of punishment, if any?
-Can abstention be viewed as one-time punishment?
-Does one-time punishment still have negative effects--enough to preclude avoiding using such methods?
-How can the Cognitive Reappraisal stage be better organized?
-How can these habits be better committed to memory?
-What is the overall effectiveness of...any of this?
References
[1] "Handbook of Emotion Regulation"
[2] "The Rational Emotive Behavior Approach to Therapeutic Change" by Dryden and Neenan
[3] "Cognitive Therapy Basics and Beyond" by Beck
[4] Sapinsky's Neuroscience Stanford Opencourseware Lecture 14, "Limbic System" (highly recommended)
[5] Wikibook on Neuroscience
[6] "The Neurobiology of Motivation and Reward"
[7] "Changing Human Behavior"
[8] "On the Self-Regulation of Behavior"
[9] "Handbook of Mental Control"
[10] "Intrinsic Motivation"
[11] "Science and Human Behavior" by B.F. Skinner
[12] "Behavioral self-control" by Thoresen (highly recommended)
[13] Deterding's Google Talk
[14] Any research done by Cautela
[15] "Think Smart" (highly recommended (this one grew on me))
[16] "Brain Rules" by John Medina
[17] "Your Brain at Work" Google Tech Talk by David Rock (highly recommended)
[18] "Transform Your Mind, Change Your Brain" (recommended, a nice compendium of information about practicing focus)
[19] Sam Harris
[20] "Meditations" by Marcus Aerilius (about the only interesting thing I found in there)
[21] "Neuroscience of Emotions" Google Tech Talk by Philippe Gordon (highly recommended)
[22] "The Rational Emotive Behavior Approach to Therapeutic Change" by Dryden and Neenan
[23] "Cognitive Therapy Basics and Beyond" by Beck (recommended)
[24] "Three Minute Therapy"
[25] "Procrastination" http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination/
[26] "On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's 'Verbal Behavior'" by Kenneth MacCorquodale
[27] "Enjoy Old Age" by B.F. Skinner
[28] "How They Succeeded" by Orison Swett Marden (highly recommended)
[29] "Men of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell
[30] "My Years with Mises" by Margit von Mises
[31] "Self-Regulation"
[32] "Way to Willpower" by Hazlitt (highly recommended)
Skinner, Behaviorism, and Me
Henry Hazlitt started off his book The Way to Willpower by boldly stating in the introduction, "There is no such thing as Willpower." However, I will mean it in a different sense than he did. My thesis is that Willpower is that you have an innately puny amount of willpower. So that, if you think you are doing something out of willpower, it is my thesis that you are doing it subconsciously out of clever self-manipulative tricks or clever cognitive rephrasing. To back up this claim, there is some research I'd like to bring up:
-Check out this Google talk:
The speaker talks about the incredible limitations our pre-frontal cortex have. And that, when the subconscious limbic triggers, we literally have seconds to respond.
-Check out this article on procrastination. Specifically, they give a nice summary of the classic marshmallow experiment which I will allude to later, but now I just want to focus on the fact brought up in the article that willpower qua willpower is not the issue.
-If the opposite of the claim is accepted (i.e., by way of contradiction), then this runs into logical contradictions. (the outline of this argument runs along the lines: If we had complete free will we would be able to control our own free will.)
-If the opposite of the claim is accepted, then this runs against a LOT of common experience out there. The vast number of AA chapters, rehab clinics, and cyclical diet phenomena seems to suggest that if this were apt to a "brute willpower" motivation, that if people have enough motivation to start these social groups and try these various things, that that kind of strategy would have worked. tl;dr, "brute willpower" is the DEFAULT strategy that pretty much everyone starts with doing, thus, this seems to indicate that something else is going on here.
-Third of all, it's kind of insulting. Some guy is and has been on and off trying to get off of alcohol for 20 years. And someone comes along and says, "Man up, just use your willpower dude." He has twenty years of experience to the contrary. Perhaps people have different modes of willpower and we should respect that. Or perhaps there is a different thing going on here altogether that we should appreciate.
That's my evidence that willpower is not the way to beat procrastination. That's my argument against "MAN UP", and I'd like to give an alternative approach. It was, for the most part, discussed in my previous huge post on thymology, so this will be retreading some old ground found there.
What I find as the alternative, that has worked for me so far, is implementing the ideas of Behaviorists (which is a subset of all that I would suggest), which I will get to in....THE NEXT POST.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Thymology v. Psychology
I don't want to get into economics here, but rather psychology. And as Rory Sutherland has pointed out, psychology and perspective is fairly important. Furthermore, one of the things to ponder about is what _is_ psychology? As opposed to the usual classification of psychology, there is another term called 'thymology' that might be useful (you're going to see "Mises" come up, I'm not going to go into his economics here, I just think the definitional distinction is useful; so if you hate Austrian Economics, hold onto your pants, I'm not going down that road), the following is the only solid written definition I've seen given by Bettina Bien Greaves:
'Psychology is concerned with the minds of men. It has two major meanings. The sciences of human action are not primarily concerned with the physiological meaning, sometimes known as natural or experimental psychology. Whenever Mises refers to psychology in economic studies, he has in mind what some call "literary psychology" and which he has called Thymology in Theory and History and The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Sciences. In this sense, psychology "is on the one hand an offshoot of introspection and on the other a precipitate of historical experience. It is what everybody learns from intercourse with his fellows. It is what a man knows about the way in which people value different conditions, about their wishes and desires and their plans to realize these wishes and desires. It is the knowledge of the social environment in which a man lives and acts."
It signifies the cognition of human ideas, emotions, volition, motivations and value judgments which are an indispensable faculty of everyone. It is the specific understanding of the past which gives men an insight into the minds of other men. Psychology, like economics, starts with the individual. It concerns the internal invisible and intangible events of the mind which determine man's value scales which result or can result in action. Economics begins at the point psychology leaves off."' [http://mises.org/easier/P.asp#61]
For the most part, when I talk about psychology here, I think of it as a thymological enterprise.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
A Borderline Follow Up
Yesterday while hanging out with my friend and asked her a question that just popped into my head.
Am I a likeable person? It's really a set up question. I already knew the answer. Of course I am. I'm a chameleon. But this set up question number two: Am I too likeable? There's a part of me that thinks that I am too likeable. Or perhaps, too flirty? Or maybe people just give me too much of a chance to make them fall for me.
Don't get me wrong, I don't intend on having people fall for me but I think that I think if given time I can do it. That sounds horrible, but to be honest when you study people for so long you start to pick up on what they want to hear. This goes back to the chameleon thing. I think perhaps I try too hard for people to like me. That leads to me becoming too flirty and ultimately too likeable.
I know that there are people out there that would want to be more likeable but I worry that in my case I'm taking advantage of people. Not in a sexual or monetary way, but in an emotional way. I think I've gotten to the point where making friends is less about what we actually like but manipulating them into liking me.
Maybe I'm wrong and over think the idea of making friends but it seems like that's what I do. Maybe that's what everybody does to some extent and we just don't realize it. Take going to the bar for example. You don't go into a bar planning on just being yourself. You go in with the intention of having a good time and meeting a few nice ladies (or dudes if you're into that). I've only been to a bar a couple of times in my life because of my stance on alcohol, but in the short amount of time I've been in them that's what I noticed.
That's not how people are going to act on Monday morning. They're not going to be so outgoing and free about everything. That's before they've even begin drinking. They make this connection in their brain that that's a place of openness and that they can be anything they want. But what they want to be the most is liked, so they end up changing who they are. Or if they aren't that good at it they let the beer do it for them.
Now, I'm not sure that a lot of people would even notice their change in personality. In fact I don't think any of them do unless they do something wrong. Most alcoholics don't recognize the problem until something happens and it makes them stop and look back on their life. The same with people being a chameleon. It's not until we do something stupid or something we never thought we would do do we start to recognize what we're doing.
I'm not sure exactly when I realized that I was a chameleon but I have a few guesses. It's probably when I noticed that I was willing to do anything to make one person happy, even if that included smoking or spending all my money on them. I've gotten out of control before and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble. It's still a problem for me too. The problem is that when I realize that I'm doing it again it's already too late and I can't stop it. It's like watching myself being piloted by someone else and I'm just a passenger. It's scary sometimes how far I can let things go. Really scary.
Don't be a chameleon, be gecko. Those are the unique ones.
Am I a likeable person? It's really a set up question. I already knew the answer. Of course I am. I'm a chameleon. But this set up question number two: Am I too likeable? There's a part of me that thinks that I am too likeable. Or perhaps, too flirty? Or maybe people just give me too much of a chance to make them fall for me.
Don't get me wrong, I don't intend on having people fall for me but I think that I think if given time I can do it. That sounds horrible, but to be honest when you study people for so long you start to pick up on what they want to hear. This goes back to the chameleon thing. I think perhaps I try too hard for people to like me. That leads to me becoming too flirty and ultimately too likeable.
I know that there are people out there that would want to be more likeable but I worry that in my case I'm taking advantage of people. Not in a sexual or monetary way, but in an emotional way. I think I've gotten to the point where making friends is less about what we actually like but manipulating them into liking me.
Maybe I'm wrong and over think the idea of making friends but it seems like that's what I do. Maybe that's what everybody does to some extent and we just don't realize it. Take going to the bar for example. You don't go into a bar planning on just being yourself. You go in with the intention of having a good time and meeting a few nice ladies (or dudes if you're into that). I've only been to a bar a couple of times in my life because of my stance on alcohol, but in the short amount of time I've been in them that's what I noticed.
That's not how people are going to act on Monday morning. They're not going to be so outgoing and free about everything. That's before they've even begin drinking. They make this connection in their brain that that's a place of openness and that they can be anything they want. But what they want to be the most is liked, so they end up changing who they are. Or if they aren't that good at it they let the beer do it for them.
Now, I'm not sure that a lot of people would even notice their change in personality. In fact I don't think any of them do unless they do something wrong. Most alcoholics don't recognize the problem until something happens and it makes them stop and look back on their life. The same with people being a chameleon. It's not until we do something stupid or something we never thought we would do do we start to recognize what we're doing.
I'm not sure exactly when I realized that I was a chameleon but I have a few guesses. It's probably when I noticed that I was willing to do anything to make one person happy, even if that included smoking or spending all my money on them. I've gotten out of control before and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble. It's still a problem for me too. The problem is that when I realize that I'm doing it again it's already too late and I can't stop it. It's like watching myself being piloted by someone else and I'm just a passenger. It's scary sometimes how far I can let things go. Really scary.
Don't be a chameleon, be gecko. Those are the unique ones.
Boiling Water
Ugh, boiling. Boiling water. It took humanity so friggin' long to realize that simply boiling water solves so many health problems.
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