My Emotional Spin Cycle --

The Four Options and the Two Bridges:

Annotated Bibliography

By: Michelle Tran

See instructions for this report

        Table of Contents

        I. INTRODUCTION

        II. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

            a. Cognitive Scripts

            b. Behavioral Routines

            c. Cognitive Appraisal

            d. Emotional Intelligence

        III. BIBLIOGRAPHY

I.    Introduction

                Throughout our daily lives, be are continuously inundated with emotions.  In effect, these emotions shape our lives by how we handle circumstances within our environment.  These emotions define and mold the person that we are and how others perceive us.  Every individual has a Threefold-Self in serving three functions: habits of feeling (affect), habits of thinking (cognitive), and habits of sensation of acting out (sensorimotor).  The two arenas in which this threefold-self functions are 1) the others and the world and 2) yourself or private inner world.  Each of these arenas require their own particular way of functioning -- as we are required to function in both arenas every hour of every day when dealing with others and the world, as well as ourselves.  These two arenas can be broken down into the negative and positive of threefold self.  Throughout our daily lives, we drift back and forth through the negative and positive zones.  The connections which allow this drift between the zones are called bridges.

                The bride that connects between negative and positive emotions about others and the world is called the red bridge.  A negative emotion against others and the world under the "Four Options Model would be rage or arrogance.  Opposite of the negative emotions would be the positive emotion of resolve with compassion.  This is similar to the positive and negative emotions about ourselves.  The positive for ourselves would be enthusiasm and self-confidence.  And the negative would be depression or inadequacy.  How we feel about ourselves in these positive and negative ways are crossed over by the blue bride.

                The Four-Options Model is also known  as the "emotional spin cycle" because they map out the cultural norms of behavior we acquire in our socialization or upbringing.  In essences, it is the four choices in which you can function.  Below is a simple diagram developed by Dr. James Leon to give an illustrated view.      

"The Four-Options Model" of Dr. Leon James

                To function s socialized individuals our threefold self must acquire particular habits that run themselves according to a standard behavioral routine.  These socialized habit routines are called "social scripts" or "schemas".  My report 1 will be describing scripts and schemas which are involved with the Four Options Model.  My second report will be a self-evaluation on one aspect of my emotional spin-cycle.  After this evaluation, I will be devising an intervention to apply the bridge technique.  These two reports develop upon each other and will help us to get a better understanding of emotional intelligence.

        Back to Top

        Terms:

        -    Cognitive Scripts: the term used for the themes that flow habitually through our thoughts. These cognitive scripts can       influence both our emotions and our behavior. They have been described as the tapes we play repeatedly in our heads -- those things we tell ourselves over and over again, often without conscious awareness.  With these cognitive scripts we can be able to see what the potential outcome might be in a given situation.

        -    Behavioral Routines: habits that we acquire throughout our everyday life from the social environment which surrounds us.  From these routines of behavior that we are accustomed to, we develop schemas fro the situations that we are in to help guide us in future scenarios.

        -    Cognitive Appraisal: is the act of recognizing and interpreting our emotions and behavior and questioning our method of coping with the situation that produced the emotion.  Cognitive appraisal guides you to relevant, logical thinking corresponding with the positive red and blue of the emotional spin cycle.

        -    Emotional Intelligence: The awareness of and ability to manage one's emotions in a healthy and productive manner.  Emotional intelligence is related to both the positive red and blue zones.

How do these terms interrelate?

Examples derived from general instructions 

Example of Blue Zone

Example of Red Zone

II. Annotated Bibliography

"Cognitive Scripts"

Schema's and Stories

        a) Source #1

        b) This website provides a deeper understanding of what cognitive scripts are and how they play an important role in our daily lives.  They describe everything from politicians answering questions to people giving speeches.  The author states that by analyzing communication, we can discover and, ultimately, describe the underlying forms of narrative and value judgment, that are the basis of human life.  The following example is of the author discussing how come incoherent stories don't start from beginning to end, forcing us to pass judgment.  To make assumptions to a story, we are "tapping" into our cognitive scripts to fill-in-the-blanks.

In most communications, of course, we don’t find coherent stories with a beginning and end, and a cast of characters who are introduced and get their just deserts. Rather, we encounter bits and pieces of stories - a remark here, a gesture there, which take their meaning from the larger stories of our lives to which they refer back. We also find far more organized and carefully constructed narratives, including various forms of art and entertainment; news stories; many forms of political rhetoric, instruction manuals, and so on. In theory, if I can adapt an idea that underlies the work of the theorist of literature Northrop Frye, all these stories can be put together into the one grand narrative of life and human life, the ultimate model of how we portray the world, of which all our private plots, character traits and so on, are bits and pieces, fragments of a larger whole.

        c) This is relevant to the spin-cycle because we can take a look a this situation in two different perspectives.  By receiving a story that is incomplete, one could develop a negative rage towards the person who gave us the incomplete story, thus starting the spin cycle.  Being able to recognize this would lead to one crossing the red bridge and resolving the situation in a more positive way.  Without intervention, we may be stuck lacking emotional intelligence and not being able to cross neither the red nor blue bridge leading to more positive emotions.

        Back to Top

Social Cognition and Cognitive Schema

        a) Source #2

        b) This is the website of Dr. Richard W. Scholl on social cognition and cognitive schema.  He is a Professor of Business       Management for the University of Rhode Island who is involved in empirical research studies of cognitive styles and work motivation.  The vocabulary is broken down and helps to explain in a less scientific manner the concept of cognitive schemas.  Scholl helps to explain the blue bridge area of the four options when he defines self-schemas.   Here is a copy of the types of terms which were defined as sub-schemas for the cognition.

1. Cognitive Schema- the organization of knowledge about a particular concept. The schema contains the features or attributes that are associated with a category membership. Types of schema include:
   1. Person schemas- Schemas about the attributes (skills, competencies, values) of a particular individual. This often takes the form the personality we attribute to that person.
   2. Event schemas (cognitive scripts)- These are processes, practices, or ways in which we typically approach tasks and problems. They are the programs we call upon when faced with a certain stimulus. These are behaviorally oriented
   3. Role schemas- These schema contain sets of role expectations, that is, how we expect an individual occupying a certain role to behavior. They are used frequently for the following:
      1. Evaluation- When we evaluate individuals occupying a certain role (e.g., doctor, accountant, actor, artist), we compare their behavior to our culturally derived role schema for that role.
      2. Role playing- In assuming a certain role, the role schema often becomes our scripts as to how to behave.
      3. Identification- We often identify and categorize individuals by the role they assume. We use these role schema to help us place individuals into a certain category by matching their observed behavior with our role schema.
      4. Prediction- Once an individual is placed into a category (role) we tend to assume he or she will behave in accordance with the role schema and use this as basis to predict future behavior of this person.
2. Self-schemas- Generalizations about the self abstracted from the present situation and past experiences. This is essentially one's self concept which is in essence perceptions of oneself in terms of traits, competencies, and values (see Laura's notes on Self Concept Based Motivation). Self-efficacy is a type of self schema that applies to a particular task.
3. Schema organize knowledge about specific stimulus domains and guide both the processing of new information and the retrieval of stored information. They can be viewed as structured expectations about people, situations, and events.
4. Script- a type of schema involving behavior or action.
5. Schema Development
   1. Schemas are constructed through experiences with specific instances. They start as a simple network and develop into more complex structures. Mature schemas are more extensive, more organized, and contain more characteristics that do less mature schemas.
   2. Cognitive scripts can be acquired either directly or indirectly.
   3. Direct- going through a process and confirmation through repetition.
   4. Indirect- Stories, myths, films, movies, conversations, role models.
   5. Behavioral scripts are learned through organizational socialization and on the job experience
6. Types of Information Processing
   1. Data-driven or stimulus-driven processing occurs when no schema exist form which to process information. The individual examines all information and proceeds through a careful decision making process.
   2. Schema-driven processing occurs when an individual responds to a stimulus (decision making or problem solving situation) by evoking a programmed response or behavior script (schema). This is done without extensive data collection or analysis.
7. Schema and Culture
   1. A group script can be viewed as a consensual cognitive structure that, when activated, establishes the expectations and sequences of events for a given situation.
   2. Organizational culture can be viewed a set of consensual schema, through the development of shared understanding of how things are done.
   3. One function of a common organizational culture is to create fairly similar mental models for organizational members, which promote efficiency of operations and communications
   4. The establishment of rigid cognitive schema can retard organizations when they thwart the organization's ability to change in response to a changing environment.
   5. Socialization provides the means whereby new members of an organization develop consensual schema or scripts
8. Schema and Decision Making
   1. An individual's schema can range between relatively flexible and relatively rigid. A schema is said to be relative rigid then:
      1. The individual no long questions the relationship between the enacted schema (process, work method, plan) and the intended outcome. Even negative feedback relative to expected outcome does not lead to a questioning of the schema. This tends to block accurate diagnosis of problem causes.
      2. The stimulus that enacts the schema is very generalized. The individual does not see or does not make distinction among similar but relatively different situations (stimuli) and thus uses the same plan or work method (schema) as a response to a wide variety of problem situations. This presents a performance problem when the situations actually require a unique response.
   2. Rigid schema, or rigid mental models, tend to be associated with a strong Judging (J) cognitive style, while individuals with a strong Perceiving (P) cognitive style tend to develop flexible mental models.

        c)  This website is relevant to the spin cycle project because it defines the definition of a cognitive script or schema.  In addition, the author of the website defines other types of schemas, how they develop, and how it affects the decision-making process. For example, the event schema helps us to form the way we will handle our situations.  From there, we form a number of positive outcomes, and are more likely to cross the red and blue bridges.  This is because, when we know how to positively handle a situation from past experiences we hopefully will be able to handle it positively again in the future.

        Back to Top

Violence on Television - What do children learn?  What can parents do?

        a) Source #3

        b) The world around us are said to be responsible for a number of both our positive and negative actions.  When a child observes the entertainment and media on television, children can learn from the type of programming which is observed.  Take for example a child who watches violence all day long, psychological researchers have said that:

• Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others
• Children may be more fearful of the world around them
• Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

Children who watch a lot of TV are less aroused by violent scenes than are those who only watch a little; in other words, they're less bothered by violence in general, and less likely to see anything wrong with it. One example: in several studies, those who watched a violent program instead of a nonviolent one were slower to intervene or to call for help when, a little later, they saw younger children fighting or playing destructively.

        On this website it is observed that watching violence and aggressive behavior on television can potentially lead to destructive behaviors.

        c) This article is of relevance to the spin cycle in terms of intervention for crossing the red and blue bridges.  Although children may watch television and develop aggressive behavior, their understanding of this may help towards the intervention of such behavior.

        Back to Top       

        a) Source #4

        b)  This site describes cognitive mapping as a way that we use our past experiences to motivate how we interpret new experiences.  The article also discusses various mapping techniques for organizational analysis including: simple content analysis of text, the use of repertory grid techniques, the systematic coding of cause and effect relationships, special interviewing techniques, computer software analyses of interview data, and argument mapping.  Below is a sample of the text found at this site.  

The terms 'cognition' is used in a variety of different ways in the literature (e.g. Rummelhart and Ortony, 1977; Bartlett, 1932; Schank and Abelson, 1977). Here, 'cognition' is used to refer to the mental models, or belief systems, that people use to interpret, frame, simplify, and make sense of otherwise complex problems. These mental models are referred to, variously, as cognitive maps (Tolman, 1948), scripts (Schank and Abelson, 1977), schema (Bartlett, 1932), and frames of reference (Minsky, 1975). They are built from past experiences and comprise internally represented concepts and relationships among concepts that an individual can then use to interpret new events. This is important because decision-makers have a limited capacity for processing information so that, when dealing with complex problems like innovation, they could rarely process all the information that would be relevant. Their mental models help decision-makers to select information and to decide what actions are appropriate (Weick, 1979). Thus individuals' cognitions may shape organizational decisions, although the extent to which this will occur will depend on the socio-political context and on their ability to influence decisions in their organization.

        c) This can be related to the spin cycle in the fact that the cycle represents habits in our feeling, thinking, and acting.  These habits develop over time from our experiences.  Therefore, our cognitive map reflects these habits.  Below is a sample of the text found at this site.

        Back to Top

 Hostile Attribution Bias and the Self: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

        a) Source #5

        b)   This article deals with the ‘hostile attribution bias’ present between cultures. These varying cultural beliefs together with misunderstandings and perceived threats cause individuals to exhibit panic schemas when confronted with something unfamiliar. In the theory of flight or flight, most often individuals choose the defensive mechanism of fight, which leads to aggression.  An attributional approach to the study of aggressive behavior explores cognitive construction of causality and affective response.  Furthermore, several aggression researchers have investigated biases in cognition.  They reported that aggressive children display a marked attributional bias to infer hostile intent following a peer-initiated negative event (e.g. milk gets spilled in the cafeteria on the child’s back), particularly when the cause of the event is portrayed as ambiguous.

        c) I chose this article because it give a good example of how ‘cognitive scripts’ and schemas are formed early on and traverse our attitudes and lifespan. We always go back to what we know, and what we are falling back on are our cognitive scripts. In this article, when an individual has an uncertain affect, they go back to defensiveness and caution, ready to strike. Understanding the process will help me to trace my schemas to the origin of their cause, how I perceive situations, and try to deter any negative thoughts and actions. Hopefully this will help me to prevent negative motivations or affect towards others.

Once the cues are encoded, they are sent to the long-term memory along with their meaning. In social situations, this process involves interpretations of people’s intention and the resultant causal attributions about the stimulus. An individual’s interpretation of cues has been shown to be a function of his or her selective attention to particular cues, such as malicious or benign information, as well as a function of the use of self-schemata, such as those concerning the probable meaning of similar cues in past experiences.

        Back to Top

"Behavioral Routines"

Understanding Conflict

And War: Vol. 1:

The Dynamic Psychological Field

        a) Source #1

        b) Chapter 15 in R. J. Rummel's book, Understanding Conflict and War:  Vol. 1:  The Dynamic Psychological Field is about "Situation, Expectations, and Triggers."  Rummel writes about expectations that we have in life and how we handle the conflict between these expectations and the outcomes.  Outcomes do not result in the way that we expect, which is why we settle into routines.  Without routines, we would have to think through every situation instead of already knowing what to expect or thinking that we know what to expect.   Trigger events disrupt our routines and challenge us to deal with change.  Once there is a change, we modify that routine within ourselves.

        c) This chapter helps us understand the conflict between what we think is going to happen and what actually happens and helps us to understand the different routines that we settle into.  These routines serve as mechanisms to deal the expected and unexpected outcomes with a familiarity and comfort so that we wouldn't have analyze the same familiar situation.   This applies to the spin cycle because behavioral routines can prevent us from crossing the red or blue bridges whenever we're faced with a situation that makes us angry or depressed.  Below is an excerpt from the article.

        Back to Top

Prior Knowledge
 

        a) Source #2

        b) Below is an excerpt that is a summary of what the article is about.

This paper focuses on behavioral routines in adaptive decision making. In an experiment consisting of two phases, participants worked on recurrent, multiattribute choice problems. In the first phase, routines were induced by relying upon the human ability to adapt to situational changes by changing decision strategies. To induce strategy change, time pressure was varied as a within factor. Payoffs were manipulated so that an adaptive change in strategy led participants to maximize choice frequency for one out of three options (routine acquisition). After a one week time lapse, participants worked on similar problems, containing the previously preferred routine option. In this second phase, payoffs favored deviation from the routine option. Results showed that choices were almost perfectly calibrated to payoffs under low time pressure. However, if time pressure increased, participants were more likely to prefer the routine option, even though search strategies were still used adaptively and evidence discouraged routine selection. Results are discussed with reference to the model of adaptive decision making (Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1993), and the MODE model of attitude-behavior relation (Fazio, 1990).

        c) This article is of relevance to our spin-cycle because it discusses why sometimes prior knowledge may not come into play and disrupts us from crossing the red and blue bridges.  The article discusses that if we have more time to contemplate on an issue, the less likely we are to use our routines.  But on the other hand, if we are pressured, our first reflex is to reach for our routines, especially aggressive ones.

        Back to Top

Do Incentives Affect Routinized Behavior?

        a) Source #3

        b) This article was written by Patelli Paolo for the Santa Fe Institute and the purpose of the experiment was to test the effect of different incentive structures in the routinization process.  Paolo claims that organizational learning is largely path dependent and based on behavioral routines. 

        c) This research was rather interesting.  It is said that behavioral routines are practiced out of reflex, but if they are able to change through incentives and is recognized by the person, how is it possible that it is said to be a habit?  This forces me to take a look at myself and see the types of behavioral routines which I have acquired through the years.

When a person is in a changing environment, for example, it can be helpful to establish stability through behavioral routines and habits. Behavioral changes, however, are best managed through establishing consistent mental strategies and plans.

        Back to Top

UCLA Study

        a) Source #4

        b) This short article is on how AIDS-Intervention Programs have curbed risky sex and drug use behaviors by the HIV-positive youths.  The program was started by researchers to teach these youths to live a healthy lifestyle and reduce their high-risk behaviors.

        c) This article pertained to the emotional spin cycle their behavioral routines evolved by their social interactions.  This created a habit of sexual promiscuity and drug abuse when encountering stimuli that triggered their schema of the situation.  These negative behavioral routines that they had developed would be changed so that they are able to have a new healthy behavioral routine to help themselves and others.

A recent study from the University of California at Los Angeles found that HIV-infected youths participating in an AIDS-intervention program voluntarily decreased their high-risk sexual behavior by 82 percent and their drug use by one-third. The findings, reported in the March edition of the American Journal of Public Health, offer some encouragement in the effort to curtail the spread of HIV among young people. During the study, researchers worked to assist participants maintain emotional wellness, take responsibility for their health, and reduce their high-risk behaviors. The "Stay Healthy" part of the program involved 12 sessions aimed at helping participants change their behaviors. The teens were introduced to modified behavior routines designed to keep them healthy, and they were educated about how to cope with their HIV status, disclosure issues, and medical-decision making. The second section, called "Act Safe," targeted the prevention of disease transmission to others.

        Back to Top

Crisis Transition and Transformation

        a) Source #5

        b) This article talks about change and how it is a dynamic transition in our everyday life.  Although we would like to maintain stability through behavioral routines, the situation and environment forces us to change the way that we would react to a particular situation.

        c) In relation to the emotional spin cycle, the environment is the determining factor as to what kind to transitions we would adapt to and what types of transitions we will resist.  We may handle many situations unconsciously through behavioral routines, but the stimuli given will affect which zone whether positive or negative, we will fall into.  Take for example, one day, I could be driving and a car cuts me off without signaling.  I had a bad day and therefore put myself into the negative zone without crossing over the red bridge.  If this happens over and over again, this will become a behavioral routine where I get mad every time I get cut off.  But imagine if I had a good day after a number of those incidences, this may be a transition that could affect the way I react when someone cuts me off that day.  I will not use my behavioral routine but possible be able to cross the red bridge into the positive zone.

Excerpt:

Change and transition are facts of life. They are simultaneously the source and the outcome of all interactions within a living system. In fact, it has been argued that, in a dynamic system, “the only constant is change.” Change is at the basis of both growth and destruction. Thus, change can be either a resource or a problem depending upon the impact is has on the rest of the system. Too little change can lead to stagnation and rigidity. Too much change can create chaos and disorder. Effective adaptation and evolution are a result of balancing change and stability.

There are various levels of change within a system. For human beings, change can happen at the level of their environment, behavior, thoughts (mental skills and capabilities), beliefs, values, and identity. Each level of change involves different dynamics and has a different impact on the person and his or her life situations.

Stability in one part, or at one level, of a system often requires or creates change in another part, or at another level, in the system. (As Aristotle pointed out, “That which creates change or movement, is that which does not change.”) One principle for effectively managing change is that, in general, change on one level most ecologically takes place in the context of stability on a higher level. Thus, when something is changing or unstable on one level, it is helpful to establish stability at the next highest level of structure.

When a person is in a changing environment, for example, it can be helpful to establish stability through behavioral routines and habits. Behavioral changes, however, are best managed through establishing consistent mental strategies and plans. Developing new mental skills or capabilities, on the other hand, is best supported by having stable beliefs and values. But if a person is in a situation in which he or she is changing beliefs or needing to shift or re-prioritize his or her values, it will make it easier if that person has a stable sense of identity. So that even if the person does not know what to believe anymore, the person still knows who he or she is. Similarly, if a person’s identity is changing or unstable, it would be important for that person to find a point of stability in terms of his or her position within the larger system of which he or she is a part.

The ability to effectively manage change and “flow through transitions” involves the development of both inner stability and flexibility at all of these different levels. This program presents strategies and skills which can be used for managing life change and transitions of all types. Participants will have the chance to develop the inner resources and wisdom in order to change and take charge of the things they can, and accept the things they cannot control.

        Back to Top

"Cognitive Appraisal"

Stress and Health

        a) Source #1

        b) This article discusses conflict, stress and how with stress.  The article also talks about using cognitive appraisal as a tool to deal with different types of stressors such as family death, life-changing events, and daily hassles.

        c) When dealing with others, the world, and self, emotional intelligence helps when dealing with emotions in a positive way.  Cognitive appraisal helps guide you to  a more rational way of dealing with events.  In situations where anger and frustration is involved, many times we forget how to think and behave rationally. Using cognitive appraisal allows you to have more positive life outcomes and be able to handle other stressors you might encounter in the same way by using cognitive appraisal and achieving the blue zone. 

        Back to Top

Help Me: Coping with the Nursing Home Decision

        a) Source #2

        b)  I found this cite to be very intriguing and informative.  It provides a window into the minds of how elderly people feel when dealing with the decision to commit themselves into a nursing home.  Elderly folks experience a mixed bag of emotions when placed into nursing homes of anger, sadness, helplessness, morbid thoughts of death.  There are number of topics which a touched upon such as reasons to enter a nursing home, reactions to losses and transitions, and losses that are experienced. 

Many of the elderly posses feelings of morbidity by thinking of death and rather being dead than being put in a nursing home and be lonely.  This is a good article because it not only discusses how elderly people feel and why they feel the way that they do, they also incorporated cognitive appraisal pieces from individuals.  By doing so, it gives us a sense of testimonial that these people actually do feel the way that is discussed; angry, sad, and helpless.  Also, the article gives an effective emotional appeal to see how and why these people feel sad to be segregated from familiar environments. 

        c)  This article shows cognitive appraisal such as the one example below.

For example, I might be placed in a nursing home because I need skilled nursing care that is not available to me in my home. I then become very angry at my son who has made the decision to place me there. I direct all my thoughts of anger toward him in order to avoid dealing with the hurt and sadness I am feeling as I cannot take care of myself. I am losing my home, friends, church, community, and many other comforts because I can no longer live alone. Anger allows me not to think about the fact that I probably do not have much time left to live, and that I should value each moment I have. My anger toward my son for placing me in a nursing home can mask out many weaker but uncomfortable feelings and thoughts.

                This parent performs the function of cognitive appraisal by recognizing her feelings and analyzing why she felt this way.  She had taken components of why she was angry, what she did with that anger, and why she chose to take that course of action with her anger.  By being able to separate her affective and cognitive thoughts to explain her sensorimotor, this woman is on her way to emotional intelligence and being able to modify her behavior and cross the red bridge to turn negative feelings into positive ones.  She has recognized that she felt angry and sad because of her loss in home, friends, church, and community.  Her anger had evolved out of feelings of helplessness to mask the pain that she felt deep down inside.

        Back to Top

Those Who Stay Healthy

        a) Source #3

        b) This article I found deals with research on how executives stay healthy even with stressful situations in personal lives and in the workplace.  What Kobasa and her colleagues found was that people who stayed healthy had a different way of looking at, and dealing with, stressful events.  For instance, healthy executives considered change, good rather bad, as an inevitable part of life and an opportunity for growth and new experience rather than as a threat to security.  They had made practical use of an "optimistic cognitive appraisal.  Thus, they could control the impact of problems and the problems themselves.  Kobasa and her colleagues found that people who have acquired "hardy" personalities help to protect them against illnesses.  These hardy people when put under stress seemed to have a sense of control and challenge a commitment to life.  They are also deeply involved with their work and families, and this commitment gives them a sense of meaning, direction and excitement.  The sample taken from the text below is a simplified outline of how these executives who work under stressful environments are able to maintain their healths.

Thus effective coping, which means the ability to increase our resistance to both mental and physical illness, consists of

1. viewing problems with less pessimism and reducing the intensity of their psychological and physiological impact;
   
    
2. taking some action to change the external problem, if change is possible; and
    
3. palliating the physical and mental effects of the problem by exercise, relaxation training or some other healthy behavior.

        c) By maintaining a confident attitude and taking life as a challenge rather than stress, people are preserving their cognitive appraisal and being able to cross the red bridge from having a negative outlook from environmental stress to a positive one.   Take for example, a lawyer who has a high-profile sexual assault and battery case that is going into litigation.  He is prosecuting the offender, but the woman has very little evidence to support her claims.  This lawyer is bound in finding witnesses and evidence for his prosecution.  Instead of taking this as a hard job to find witnesses and evidence, he could break out his role and "play" detective to find such proof to solidify his case.  This way, he is taking it as role-playing and a learning experience rather than a needed job.

        Back to Top

Tactics for Managing Stress and Anxiety

        a) Source #4

        b) The main idea of this article is pretty self-explanatory in the title.  The website teaches methods in which to manage stress and anxiety through anticipatory planning, time management, methods for reducing anxiety, and positive thinking.  To manage stress and anxiety, all these methods are useful.  Time management and anticipatory planning are two aspects that if people are to successfully administer these two types of planning and fail to procrastinate their tasks, they would not have to stress in the end.  For example, a student who has a a research paper that is due in December but is warned at the beginning of the semester in August.  This is a time span of almost 4 months of which the student is able to prepare and write his research paper.  Most students would actually put this assignment off till the last minute and concentrate on other things during the semester.  By doing so, students are actually putting more stress on themselves if they underestimate the extent of research needed to write the paper.  If they had did research and made preparations in advance, they would not need to do the research, interpret the research, and write the paper all in one week but 4 months time span. 

        c)  The emotional spin cycle of environmental influences and personal influence is affected by this procrastination.  The individual feels angry because he/she is on a time constraint from the environment.  This rage could impair the person's thinking and rational behavior.  For example, the person would not be able to function correctly and complete the task.  This will then affect the personal emotional spin cycle because the person will then become angry at his/her self for not starting the task ahead of time.  The only way for this individual to cross the red and blue bridges is to accept the mistake, and try to amend for it through finishing the task.  A helpful tip from the article for this is time management.

        Back to Top

Success Through Hypnosis

        a) Source #5

        b) This article speaks specifically of a method that could lead to the benefits that the conscious is unable to tap into.  It is the method of hypnosis.  Below is a brief explanation from the article about hypnosis and it's benefits.

The most rewarding factor of hypnosis that I found are the therapeutic benefits. For example, most weight problems are a result of physical, mental or emotional abuse. Until you get to the source (the cause of the problem!), you can diet all your life and never keep the weight off. To have permanent results you have to go back to the time you started to gain and to build that "wall of protection around you".

            In the article, the author also gives an example of hypnosis used on a young woman named Lorie and how she had been sexually abused by her stepfather at a very young age.  She had married  man who verbally abused her and occasionally beat her.  Her self-esteem had plummeted and she began to destroy herself by gaining over sixty pounds.  Her rationale for this was that if she was obese, she could protect herself from men.  This way they could not find her attractive and hurt her again.  This woman claims that after hypnosis sessions with Lorie and remembering her childhood sexual abuse, she gained the courage to divorce her husband and begin to lose her weight without regaining it again.

        c)  Hypnosis is similar to a form of professional cognitive appraisal.  People are able to appraise their emotions and thinking for free, but a few opt to pay for professional services.  Because hypnosis is similar to cognitive appraisal, it is a useful form of therapy.  For Lorie, by remembering her sexual abuse as a child and assessing how she felt, it could possibly explain why she opt to go for the men who beat and verbally abused her.  By figuring out how and why she felt such pain and anguish leading to her gaining weight, she was able to cross the red bridge and feel better about herself.  She possibly found that none of this was her fault and that she shouldn't punish herself for being beautiful, but it was others who manipulated and took advantage of her.  Her emotional spin cycle worked in a downward spiral and was never able to cross the red bridge into positive emotions until she receive hypnosis/cognitive appraisal to assess her feelings and emotions to positively alter them; as discussed in the article as well.

Another method is regression or past life therapy which involves releasing and re-integrating the energy and trauma of unresolved past experiences. In hypnosis, many patients recall different traumatic patterns that repeat in various forms in lifetime after lifetime -- abusive relationships, fears, addictions, chronic health problems -- regression therapy can help. Regression therapy is going back to an earlier time to retrieve memories that may still be negatively influencing your present life and can be the source of your problems.

        Back to Top

"Emotional Intelligence"

Emotional Intelligence

        a) Source #1

        b)  This website clearly defines emotional intelligence as being "the capacity to create positive outcomes in your relationships with others and with yourself."  It also discusses how emotional intelligence can be the ability to measure up a situation and appraise it accordingly to regulate our emotions and be in control.  This site also provides a link to http://www.6seconds.org/ which is an organization that works to teaching, sharing, and promoting emotional intelligence.

        c) Emotional intelligence is an important aspect of the emotional spin cycle because it is the determining factor in which we can control our emotions and be able to cross the red or blue bridges.  For example, a girl may have a negative impression of herself an she feels depressed all the time.  If she does not recognize what the source of her depression and anguish is, she would not be able to manage her emotions.  But if she is able to recognize the fact that she is depressed because of her weight and the fact that it seems like all her friends have abandoned her, she may be able to find a solution to the problem.  She could try to find out why she feels her weight is not at a desirable level and why her friends abandoning her bothers her.  By understanding why she feels and what she feels, she can be able to solve her dilemma.  By solving her dilemma, she can be able to make herself cross the blue bridge and think positively in terms of thinking realistically that maybe she just grew apart from her friends and enhancing herself by possibly working to her level of desired weight.  In essence, like the article states, with emotional intelligence you are able to come through with positive results in all aspects of your life.

Positive outcomes include joy, optimism, and success in work, school, and life. Increasing emotional intelligence (EQ) has been correlated with better results in leadership, sales, academic performance, marriage, friendships, and health. The explosion of research about the brain and human behavior has led to this exciting new perspective on the way people inter-relate. Six Seconds is dedicated to helping you learn about EQ for yourself, your students, family, and work.
 

        Back to Top

Helping Children with Cognitive Disabilities Cope with Disaster

        a) Source #2

        b) This article was written in light of the September 11 attacks in New York City.  It is hard for adults who cope with the scope and magnitude of this disaster either affected directly or indirectly.  But even harder are children who are affected by this event, and to teach children who don't understand what happened.  The article outlines what kind of reactions to expect from children of different age groups and how we as adults could help them cope.

        c) This is related to the emotional spin cycle on the emotional intelligence level because this article has recognized a problem, distinguished why there is this problem and how it was affectively linked, and methods in which to cope.

This guide provides suggestions for helping children with cognitive impairments or delays to cope with this disaster. Like everyone, children with disabilities have fears and concerns unique to their experiences and skills. This guide includes general information about what to expect. It provides strategies for caregivers and teachers to use with children with mental retardation, autism, or other disabilities affecting learning, communication, and understanding.

• Address concerns about safety. Discuss safety with children. Children will be assured by knowing steps authorities are taking to protect the public. Explain in concrete terms how our leaders are working together to restore normalcy and increase security. Be honest and calm about risk; don't promise that nothing like this will happen again. Explain that most of us will live long and grow old. Reassure children that you will do everything in your power to protect them.

    Back to Top

Emotional Intelligence:  Why it can matter more than IQ

        a) Source #3

        b) This site is based upon the book "Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ".  The book speaks of how today emotional intelligence is considered more important to employers than intelligence alone.  They give examples such as employers asking questions such as "How would you handle an angry customer?" and "How can you drive a de-motivated team?".  It is said that these questions have as much of a positive impression as qualifications experience.  The five elements of this emotional intelligence is self-awareness, emotional self-regulations, self-monitoring and goal setting, empathy and perspective taking, and social and communication skills as explained below by an excerpt from the article.

The five elements
Self-awareness: This is the key to emotional intelligence, it is the ability to identify what exactly one is feeling, i.e. name the emotion, and realize why one is feeling this emotion. A specific emotion for a specific reason is simpler to tackle than a vague feeling of discomfort. Self-awareness helps one manage emotions better. The more self-assured one is, greater the productivity. Moreover, such people are approachable and easy to deal with.

To develop self-awareness, introspect. Make the effort to turn on all your five senses, examine how you feel and name the emotions. Understand your motives and the actions that result from it.

Emotional self-regulation: Understanding one's emotions and managing them. An emotionally intelligent person will keep anger or anxiety in check. He/she is unlikely to give in to impulses.

Self-regulation involves talking to oneself, resolving internal conflicts, training oneself to think logically etc.

Self-monitoring and goal setting: People with high EQ are self-motivated. They are clear about their motives, objectives and how to achieve them. They are also the most committed and stay in organizations which aid their self-actualization. Moreover, these strong individuals can influence others leading to increases in standard.

Motivation can be enhanced with positive internal dialogue, associating with positive people, creating a positive environment etc.

Empathy and perspective taking: Empathizing with another is key to building strong relationships. A leader, who cannot understand that a team member needs time off to recover from a personal tragedy, will be earning the ill will of all the others members and may soon see his team disintegrating. Such a leader can neither offer advice, nor can he help others solve problems.

To be empathic, be more sensitive to your environment, be genuinely interested in other people, and work on your communication skills.

Social and communication skills: Awareness of one's own values, perspectives etc., inevitably lead to stronger social skills. As one gets more comfortable with oneself better will be his/her ability to relate to others. And, according to experts, understanding people helps in managing them and inducing desirable behavior.

To develop effective social skills, make an effort at every interaction. Anticipate moods, watch out for non-verbal cues, understand body language, listen actively, react appropriately and positively, and reinforce desirable behaviors or reactions. Make the person you are dealing with feel comfortable.

        c)  It is like the articles says, " We may like to behave objectively and act on facts.  But, very often, it is our emotions that direct our actions.  As simple as the emotional spin cycle illustrates.  Our negative and positive emotions control the course of our actions.  By being negative and frustrated, most times we behave irrational and participate in aggressive and destructive behavior.  Of course, with positive emotional thinking, we are rational and display supportive and constructive behavior.  By having emotional intelligence and being able to practice cognitive appraisal, our emotional spin cycle is positive and constructive.  The simple fact is that employers would rather hire someone with positive and constructive thinking rather than someone who is negative and destructive. 

        Back to Top

Emotional Intelligence: Why you should care

        a) Source #4

        b) This article is helpful in that it defines emotional intelligence, explains the fundamentals, and teaches how to build this emotional intelligence.  The basic structure of this as explained below is through three key areas of knowing yourself, choosing yourself, an giving yourself.

To help learn and teach emotional intelligence, Six Seconds considers how emotional intelligence is lived in our daily lives. There are three key areas:

Give yourself means that you are making choices that connect you to others. That you are taking a place in the larger context of society and humanity. That you are giving and taking in balance, because that interdependence is the most meaningful and powerful expression of your self knowledge and self choice. When you give yourself, you move from "human having" to "human being."

        c)  By having cognitive awareness in any situation, it will help you to look at the situation from a different perspective and be able to either self-manage yourself through anger management and such to turning something negative to positive.  Take for example, you are sitting in your car at the market when the driver of the car in the stall in front of you reverses and smashes your bumper.  Instead of being angry that this "idiot" did this, think of it in a more positive perspective.  Look at it in terms of the fact that your bumper had a small dent in it and rock chips already, so it's better that you get a newer bumper.  By taking this incident into a positive perspective, it allows you to be rational and emotionally intelligent.  Instead of rushing out of your car yelling at the idiot in front of you, you remain calm and exit the car slowly.  The other guy comes out and it's a 6'5" Samoan guy who could "beat you to a pulp".  Now aren't you glad you remained calm?  This emotional intelligence allows you to avoid disastrous situations as this by allowing your emotions to cross the red bridge from the negative to the positive level.

        Back to Top

Emotional Intelligence In Schools

        a) Source #5

        b)  Much opposition has been demonstrated over the years in introducing emotional intelligence in schools from parents, students, and teachers.  It has been proposed that perhaps this emotional intelligence should not be taught in schools just yet but rather, be taught in centers and communities around the school first.  This could be used as a pilot program to resolve conflicts on the school playgrounds and artistic-expression groups.  Below are some skills which were suggested that should be taught in schools and within the community.

• Self awareness
  One of the basic emotional skills involves being able to recognize feelings and put a name on them. It is also important to be aware of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and actions. What thought sparked off that feeling? What feeling was behind that action?
   
• Managing emotions
  It is important to realize what is behind feelings. Beliefs have a fundamental effect on the ability to act and on how things are done. Many people continually give themselves negative messages. Hope can be a useful asset. In addition, finding ways to deal with anger, fear, anxiety and sadness is essential: learning how to soothe oneself when upset, for example. Understanding what happens when emotions get the upper hand and how to gain time to judge if what is about to be said or done in the heat of the moment is really the best thing to do. Being able to channel emotions to a positive end is a key aptitude.
   
• Empathy
  Getting the measure of a situation and being able to act appropriately requires understanding the feelings of the others involved and being able to take their perspective. It is important to be able to listen to them without being carried away by personal emotions. There's a need to be able to distinguish between what others do or say and personal reactions and judgments.
   
• Communicating
  Developing quality relationships has a very positive effect on all involved. What feelings are being communicated to others? Enthusiasm and optimism are contagious as are pessimism and negativity. Being able to express personal concerns without anger or passivity is a key asset.
   
• Co-operation
  Knowing how and when to take the lead and when to follow is essential for effective co-operation. Effective leadership is not built on domination but the art of helping people work together on common goals. Recognizing the value of the contribution of others and encouraging their participation can often do more good than giving orders or complaining. At the same time, there is a need to take responsibilities and recognize the consequences of decisions and acts and follow through on commitments.
   
• Resolving conflicts
  In resolving conflicts there is a need to understand the mechanisms at work. People in conflict are generally locked into a self-perpetuating emotional spiral in which the declared subject of conflict is rarely the key issue. Much of the resolution of conflicts calls on using the other emotional skills mentioned here.

        c) The emotional spin cycle plays a major role in everybody's live from day to day relations with other people to how we personally feel about ourselves.  It is best that children be taught these in schools to create better environments with no hostility on playgrounds and eliminating anger amongst children who can't get along.  A lot of people do not learn about the emotional spin cycle and learn how to control it until they are adults and have gone through such pain and anguish.  By allowing children to learn emotional intelligence at a young age, they are able to cross the red and blue bridges to make a happier generation.

        Back to Top

III. Bibliography

Citation: The Four Options Model    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy16/g16reports-instructions.html

Citation: Schemas and Stories    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.transparencynow.com/news/schemastories.htm

Citation: Social Cognition and Cognitive Schema    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.cba.uri.edu/Scholl/Notes/Cognitive_Schema.htm

Citation:  Violence on Television - What do children learn?  What can parents do?    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/violence.html

Citation: Instructor's Guide Trainer Notes: Cognitive Mapping Techniques    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://omni.bus.ed.ac.uk/opsman/oakland/inst18.htm

Citation: Hostile Attribution Bias and the Self: A Cross-Cultural Analysis    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://employees.csbsju.edu/jmakepeace/Perspectives2k/f24Benderlioglu.jmm.html

Citation: Understanding Conflict And War: Vol. 1: The Dynamic Psychological Field     Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DPF.CHAP15.HTM

Citation: Prior Knowledge    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://verlag.hanshuber.com/Zeitschriften/SJP/99/sp9903.html

Citation: Do Incentives Affect Routinized Behavior?    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.santafe.edu/~paolo/documents/sfi1.pdf

Citation: UCLA Study     Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.hivdent.org/pediatrics/pedussaipcrs032001.htm

Citation: Crisis Transition and Transformation    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.nlpu.com/flow.htm

Citation: Stress and Health     Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~epritch1/stress.htm

Citation: Help Me: Coping with Nursing Home Decision    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.alharris.com/harker/helpme.htm#Reactions

Citation: Those Who Stay Healthy    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.noetic.org/Ions/publications/review_archives/07/issue07_08.html

Citation: Tactics for Managing Stress and Anxiety    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.coun.uvic.ca/personal/stress.html

Citation: Success Through Hypnosis    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.innerself.com/Behavior_Modification/Success_Through_Hypnosis.htm

Citation: Emotional Intelligence    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.theselfimprovementsite.com/eq.html   

Citation: Helping Children with Disabilities  Cope with Disaster  Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/add/Sept11/addcoping.html
 

Citation: Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.people-one.com/thehub/mindandsoul/mindandsoul-emotionalintelligence.asp

Citation: Emotional Intelligence: Why you should care    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/emot.intel.html

Citation: Emotional Intelligence in Schools    Internet    October 2, 2003, Available

http://www.connected.org/learn/school.html

        Back to Top

HOME

Class Homepage