customizing my emotoinal spin cycle

We all occasionally do things that we later regret. Have you ever wondered why we sometimes do strange things and how we can keep from doing them in the future? As direct result of cultural influences and life events we have all evolved habitual patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. This habitual pattern if unrecognized serves to limit our ability to see the range of options available to us. In recognizing the intimate connection between the habits of feeling, thinking, and behaving, (otherwise known as the three-fold self) and the potential to isolate and modify each of these, we can break these self-imposed limits and gain greater control over our own behavior.

In report one I shall break the emotional spin cycle down into its most basic elements and describe the role each plays in our "behavior". I will describe the most fundamental aspect of the emotional spin-cycle, the three-fold self and then further break the three-fold self into its three main components. I will then provide real life situations to portray the effects of each of these components on the next, and the bi-directional influence each element has over the next. Finally I shall describe how we can break negative cycles of behavior, and encourage positive ones.

In report two I shall provide my own experiences with my emotional spin-cycle and describe what types of bridges I used to escape negative zones of the spin-cycle. I will observe and document my feelings, thoughts, and actions three times a day for two weeks and see if I can manage to practice what I preach. If I "succeed", my documents will provide a model for controlling one's emotional spin-cycle. If I fail my documents will serve as a powerful reminder of the intimate relationship between the affective, cognitive, and sensori-motor components of the three fold self. Even in failure this documentation will serve as motivation to control one's affect and cognition as a means of controlling sensori-motor behavior. If there are any terms unclear at this point fear not and proceed forward, for as I said I will break it down.

Overview

Three domains of behavior, the affective domain, the cognitive domain, and the sensori-motor domain dictate each individual’s behavior and indeed even their own sense of self. These three domains of behavior are known jointly as the three-fold self. The affective domain consists of all our habits of feelings and includes all our emotions and values. The cognitive domain consists of all our habits of thinking and perception. The sensori-motor domain consists of all our habits of acting and includes sensory as well as motor behaviors. For the sake of discussion I will refer to the sensori effects of the sensori-motor behavior as sensori-motor effects and the motor effects of sensori-motor behavior as sensori-motor behavior, and will italicize it every time I am referring to a particular term. Each of these domains of behavior has a strong effect on the other two. As a result, a negative effect in one domain is likely to translate to a negative effect on the other two and vise versa hence the name the emotional spin cycle. The following graph created by Dr. James provides a much clearer visual picture of exactly what the emotional spin cycle is.

Since two of the components included in my definition of the affective domain of behavior, feelings and emotions, are often used interchangeably in everyday speech, I shall first provide a better definition of exactly what it is before I go on to describe the three-fold self.

Emotions

Emotions are what one feels in one’s heart, non-observable sensations usually lacking in any type of tangible basis. They are our, “deepest feelings, our passions and longings” (Goleman, 3). In other words, emotions underlie how we feel about various situations. If for example we are emotionally attached to a dog, we will feel extremely sad when it dies.

Feelings

Feelings are the non-observable sensations grounded in both internal (emotions) and external stimuli (past or current experiences). Very often feelings are based on both internal stimuli and external stimuli in that our emotions (underlying feelings) about a certain situation affect the sensations we feel when the situation occurs. According to the definition provided in the World Book Dictionary, feelings are, the “sensitivity to the higher or more refined emotions” (World Book Dictionary). It seems reasonable that feelings be regarded as “more refined emotions” in that our feelings are based on the sensations we experience, in light of our emotions as well as the presence of external stimuli. “To some the initial ‘feel’ is that emotions were eliminated” (http://www.skysite.org/feeling.html).

Emotions Vs. Feelings

Many people regard emotions and feelings as one and the same, and indeed in the majority of the articles I found these two terms were used interchangeably, however, upon closer examination we find that there are subtle differences between these two concepts. Norwood insists that, “Feelings are more focused on the body and sensations… and emotions are more the product of the mind and spirit…”. Emotions are often intangible sensations that underlie our feelings. Feelings, being more stimuli based, are often more tangible thought no less difficult to isolate and define. Since we have much greater control over internal stimuli than we do over external stimuli, it seems a linear conclusion that “emotions are more manageable [then feelings]” (http://www.innergames.com/page12.html).

The Three Fold Self

Kathleen Matayoshi claims that, "The Threefold Self is what we are made up of. It is three different mental states ranging from low to high. The low level is referred to as the automatic self. The middle level is referred to as the reflective self. The high level is referred to as the spiritual self. There is also three categories in the make up of the Threefold Self. There is the affective, cognitive, and sensori-motor categories.”

"Within these levels and categories, there is different behaviors and levels of thinking. In every human being, the Threefold Self exists. The Threefold Self is our way of thinking, our inmost feelings, desires, loves, hates, our ability to rationalize, etc. We all relate to the three levels of the Threefold self in our daily lives. Given is a chart of the Threefold Self to help you visualize what it actually is.”

	Affective	Cognitive	Sensori-motor
Spiritual Self	Spiritual Strivings----> Loves---->	Rational Truths or Falses----> True or False Principles---->	Good or Evil Works Good or Bad Uses
Reflective Self	Strivings----> Harmony Aptitude or Interest---->	Reasoning----> Persistent---->	Understanding Higher Skills
Automatic Self	Sensory Drives----> Sensory Input---->	Conditioning----> Meaning or Information---->	Skill Motor Reaction

The Three-Fold self is the determining factor behind our every thought, feeling, and behavior. As the name suggests, the three fold-self is composed of three domains each of these domains having an intimate often inseparable influence on the other two. While I will try to isolate each domain from the next for the purpose of dissection and study, it is important to keep in mind that this is a simple cross-section of events and that if I were to report more into it, there were domains preceding the one I am reporting and definitely other domains that will follow.

Affective effects on the three-fold self

Since of course no one can tell what we are feeling (affect) or thinking (cognitive), others can judge and react to us based only on our observable (sensori-motor) behaviors. Emotions and feelings in and of themselves as I pointed out earlier are non-observable, but this by no means implies that they are not influential in our social selves, in fact, Antoine de Saint-Exupery says in the Little Prince that, “It is with the heart that one sees rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye” (Goleman, 3). It is implicit in this claim that our emotions should be our guide to behavior. Though this sounds great from an ascetic perspective, it is very easy to see how from a logical perspective, following one’s heart without acknowledging one’s logic (cognition) is what often leads us do things that we later regret.

A 29 year-old Cincinnati officer named Steven Roach is very familiar with this concept. On April 7, 2001 Steven Roach a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black 19 year-old man. The officer did not claim to have been threatened by the victim or have anything seen anything resembling a weapon in his hand. So what made him shoot? His defense lawyer claimed that “These are not cognitive decisions” and that basically Steven Roach perceived a threat and acted on it without thought (The Gun Just Went Off). Implicit in this claim is that Roach’s feelings caused by his emotions as well as the situation dictated his behavior, in this case, fear of potential threat caused Roach to fire his gun without thinking. While it may well be true that Roach did not remember thinking “fire,” does this make him any less guilty? Can one really act without thinking? This Cincinnati judge apparently thought so, charging him with negligent homicide (essentially accidentally killing someone) punishable by a maximum of 9 months in prison.

I think this is a moral outrage. So much so that I can see how it “polarized the Cincinnati community”. While the statement of Rochelle may be somewhat overly encompassing I for the most part agree that, "If something happens to you, there is no one else to blame but yourself." Although I can sympathies with Roach to a degree in understanding that an inability to control one’s emotional spin cycle is a common problem amongst most people, I hold him no less responsible. Whether we notice it or not, virtually all sensorimotor behaviors pass through our cognition. Our bodies do not act on their own. Without thinking walk we obviously will not walk or do anything else for that matter. Though most severely brain damaged people can still feel emotions, can they walk, talk, eat, or pull a trigger? If we are able to recognize each element of our spin cycle and are able isolate and modify them, there are few if any behaviors that are beyond our control.

Caroline Agbayani of generation 14 reported on the effects of high emotions at children’s sporting events. “The news Shocked the nation” she quotes, “an irate father beat another father to death in front of the man’s children during an argument at a youth hockey game near Boston.” She claims that, “Parental rage in sports is not new. It has been around just as long as sports have.”

While Caroline does a wonderful job describing this phenomena and provides some evidence that in fact “parental rage in sports is not new,” she offers little by way of explanation for this phenomena, however, it is quite obvious that affect unchecked by cognition causes parents to lash out violently at others. This father like officer Roach probably believed that his behavior was a reflex a reaction that involved no thought, however, obviously it is impossible to act without thought. Without some cognitive process our body would not be able to move.

No matter how angry we get and no matter how vehemently others may claim the contrary, our body will not punch or kick someone without our brain thinking punch or kick. The goal then is to recognize the occurrence of the improper feeling and be able to stop it in the cognitive stage, modify this improper cognitive thought and modifying our behavior.

As we have seen, our affective domain of behavior has an intimate though often unrecognized impact on our cognitive domain of behavior, which thereby directly affects our sensori-motor behavior. When the affect is so powerful that it makes us unable to recognizing the eminent cognition process following and our ability to isolate and modify our cognitive process, serious problems in our socialization can result. “There are few things in life that DEMAND an INTENSE emotional reaction” (http://www.skysite.org/feeling.html). “It is clear, however” Goleman insists, “that, without the preference reflected by positive and negative affect, our experiences would be a neutral gray. We would care no more about what happens to us or what we do with our time than does a computer.” Goleman is obviously right, what motive would we have to act or even live for that matter if we had no affect? The affective domain of behavior is an integral part of our socialization, the only problem is that, “Most of our learning and all of our schooling are focused on training our intellectual abilities. Very little time is devoted to observing, understanding or controlling our emotions” (http://www.sirius.com/~deke/toolshut.html). It is little wonder therefore that people have difficulty recognizing and defining their feelings and isolating it from their thought and behavior.

Cognitive effects on the three-fold self

All our cognitive thoughts are directly influenced and inseparable from our affect (feelings). Like our affect, our cognition cannot be directly observed by others, and therefore cannot be a basis for others to judge us in and of itself. Just as our affect directly influences our cognition, however, our cognition directly influences and is inseparable from our sensorimotor behavior, which is observable and can serve as a basis upon which others can judge us. All three domains of the three-fold self then are intimately connected and inseparable from each other.

The article “Thinking About Errors May Foul Up Athletes,” examines the cognitive effects on sensori-motor behaviors. McKinney, the author of this article claims that, “In a study of novice golfers, researchers found that frequently visualizing negative images—overshooting or undershooting the targets—before putting had a negative effect on putting performance.” McKinney quotes Dr. Sian L. Beilock as saying “The effects of positive imagery are still up in the air” because in their studies, “positive imagery didn’t benefit performance in comparison to a control group”. She suggests a couple of possible reasons for this lack of correlation between positive imagery and improved performance. Beilock suggest that it is possible that the lack of correlation between positive imagery and improved performance is the result of a lack of motivation saying, “the effects of imagery may differ when performed during practice, rather than during actual competition, when stakes are higher.” Another possibility she suggest is a lack of skill in imagery techniques saying, “imagery itself is a skill… it’s something that needs to be practiced along with physical skill.”

Another article I found “The Content of Psyching” obtained different results than did Beilock. Shelton found that indeed positive cognitive thoughts did have a positive effect on sensori-motor behavior of weightlifting. He found that “Under various experimental manipulations, the best lifting performances were obtained under a ‘psych yourselves’ treatment as opposed to baseline and distraction.” He also noted that, “The best preparations occurred when the athlete controlled content and implementation.”

This experiment raises other possibilities as to the lack of correlation between positive cognitive behavior and improved sensori-motor performance in the study conducted by Beilock. Perhaps it was the implementation of the controlled content, and or the trait being analyzed that negates any positive cognitive influence on putting. In Beilock’s study the sensori-motor trait being analyzed was putting, however, perhaps at the root of successful performance in this apparently sensori-motor skill is the more fundamental cognitive trait of focus. If this is the case, it is reasonable to assume that the implementation of content designed to improve affect did not facilitate improved cognitive focus and it is likewise reasonable therefore, that improved performance was not observed. In the study of weight lifting, however, the sensori-motor trait being analyzed is strength. Based on the positive correlation between “psyching” and positive weightlifting performance and the lack thereof in terms of putting, perhaps the trait being analyzed in weightlifting, strength is more influenced by positive affect than is putting. It is reasonable therefore, that perhaps in the case of weight lifting the cognitive therapy employed was more effective to the task at hand which accounts for improved performance. This is not to say that positive cognitive thoughts cannot help to improve focus, on the contrary, I believe that though it is more than possible to control the vast majority of sensori-motor behaviors Beliock perhaps simply used the wrong cognitive thoughts to improve that particular sensori-motor thought.

The HealthScoutNews article entitled “Weight Gain Therapy Helps Women Stop Smoking” portrays the intimate connection between cognition, affect, and sensori-motor behavior. This article insists that, “cognitive-behavioral therapy is a way of talking about the connections between how you think, feel, and behave” (Black). They stress cognitive therapy as a means of improving their subjects’ thoughts about weight gain by getting “some women to accept some weight gain as the trade-off for being able to quit smoking” (Black). They insist that this cognitive therapy made them feel better about the weight gain and made it easier for them to stop smoking. They reported some extremely powerful results. They claimed that, “One-year after treatment, 21 percent of women who had received cognitive therapy successfully quit smoking. That compared to 13 percent of the women who received weight control counseling and 9 percent of the women who received only smoking-cessation tips” (Black). The amazing results of women that received cognitive therapy emphasize the powerful indirect effect of the affect on sensori-motor behavior.

Though of course sensori-motor behavior can’t occur without cognitive behavior preceding it, this study illustrates that we must simultaneously modify our affect, and cognition to change our sensori-motor behavior. This article also portrays the fact that because our affect is such a powerful influence on behavior, feelings often must be modified through the cognition before thinking about changing the sensori-motor response. It is obvious from this article that many of the women prior to cognitive therapy, felt that they would rather be thinner than quitting smoking. Under such circumstances no matter how much they think they want to quit smoking, they never will if it means weight gain. When our feelings contradict our thoughts, it is necessary to use out thoughts, which as we said earlier are more honed to modification than are feelings, to question our feelings by evoking higher values. Once we have modified our feelings, we will have more positive thoughts and a more positive behavior. In this case, these women were asked to think about what they valued more, which helped them change their feelings about weight gain, thereby allowing them to think more positive thoughts about quitting smoking and then modify their behavior to do so.

As we have just seen cognitive control can help to improve sensori-motor behaviors that do not even appear to involve a conscious decision such, as pull the trigger in the case of Roach. I purposely chose these particular cases related to sports performance to illustrate the extreme power the right cognitive thoughts could have on the quality of sensori-motor behavior. How much more control would this imply of behaviors in which we measure not the quality of the sensori-motor behavior but rather the presence or lack there of. To liken my example to the case of Roach we would not have to try to find the cognitive thoughts that would help him handle the situation in the best possible way (as was our goal in the cases related to sports) only the appropriate cognitive thoughts to keep him from pulling the trigger.

I also chose the article “Weight Gain Therapy Helps Women Stop Smoking” because it illustrates how controlling our cognition can help us to control even habitual sensori-motor behaviors. Quitting smoking like refraining to pull the trigger is not a matter of quality but rather the presence of a behavior or lack thereof. It is quite apparent to me, however, that cognitively controlling ones feelings in a way that allows one to quitting smoking is much more difficult than cognitively keeping oneself from pulling a trigger.

Some may dispute my claim saying that the difference between these two cases is that the women who were attempting to quit smoking had more time to think about the consequence of their actions than did Roach so it is unfair for me to make such a judgment. The first response I would make to such a claim is to question what made it so necessary for Roach to act so quickly? If you remember Roach did not claim that he thought the man was armed or that the man was threatening him or running towards him or anything else, just that it was not a conscious decision. Even if someone could convince me that perhaps Roach was forced to make a quicker decision than were these ladies, I would propose that Roach had a similar advantage over these ladies in that he did not habitually shoot people. Many smokers claim that the extreme habitual aspect of smoking causes them often unconsciously to pop a cigarette in their mouth and light it without ever remembering doing so. Does not habitualization cause these women to make a very similar claim as did Roach’s attorney that it was not a conscious decision? Furthermore, the habitual aspect of smoking even if one were to consciously think about all the consequences could often drive a person to smoke none-the-less.

Sensorimotor effects on the three-fold self

Thus far we have examined sensorimotor behavior solely as the effect of our affect and cognition. Though the emotional spin cycle most often travels from affect to cognition to sensorimotor behavior, this pattern is far from a law as we saw in the article “Weight Gain Therapy Helps Women Stop Smoking”. There are, however, two constants of the emotional spin cycle, one is that the affective domain always precedes the cognitive domain and the other is that the cognitive domain always precedes sensori-motor behaviors. This, however, is not to say that a sensori-motor behavior can’t influence our affect, cognition, and subsequent sensori-motor effects as well.

Curtis et. al address the sensori-motor effects of music on driving. They question, "Does the music that you listed to affect the way you drive. Does the same music affect you in the same way each time, or are ather factors involved?"

While they do not provide any direct answer to their question, their question may provide an answer in itself. This quote was taken directly with all its typos or play on words. If you noticed they used the word affect instead of effect. While first use of the word affect is grammatically correct, since "affect is used only as a verb, whereas effect is most commonly used as a noun" their second use of the word affect may be a play on words to indirectly suggest the relationship between the sensori-motor effect of music on the affect (The World Book Dictionary). Whether intentional or unintentional, Curtis et al. invoke serious thought about the intimate relationship between each element of the three-fold self. While they imply a sensori-motor effect of music on the driving, there is an underlying implication of a indirect relationship. Rather then the sensori-motor effect of music having a direct influence on the sensori-motor behavior of driving there is an underlying implication of the sensori-motor effect of music effecting the affect which thereby effects the sensori-motor behavior of driving.

Rochelle Tactacan and "Popular Radio DJs Participate In Drunken-Driving Test" portray different aspects of a situation in which sensori-motor behaviors can have a direct effect on sensori-motor effects. While each sensori-motor behaviors we display affects every sensori-motor effect we experience, as I shall prove later, few have as direct and as powerful an impact as do these cases. The article "Popular Radio DJs Participate in Drunken-Driving Test" considers the direct effects of alcohol on the affect as well as sensori-motor effects and Rochelle addresses the dangers of these effects on driving and how they can lead to subsequent sensori-motor effects. The article "Popular Radio DJs Participate in Drunken-Driving Test" claims that, "Many times a person gets to .04, .05 and they say, 'I shouldn't be driving a vehicle. I just don't feel like I should be driving'. And as soon as they progress in the alcohol, they get to .08, and they start to say, 'Well I feel fine,' realizing that earlier they already felt impaired, but it's that cognitive thinking that gets impaired, and they think they're OK when they're really not." Rochelle tells of how Mercy Flower allowed her fiancé to drive while intoxicated and as a result "ended up sitting up in a wheel chair." Tactacan says that Flower, "stated that choice is really important. If something happens to you, there is no one to blame but yourself." Tactacan emphatically agrees with Flower's claim, insisting that, "we are responsible for our actions in everything we do."

In truth every sensori-motor behavior we display affects every affect, cognition, and sensori-motor effect we experience. It is often said that “He/She didn’t do anything to deserve it” while it may be true that they didn’t do anything to deserve it, this does not mean that a different behavior couldn’t have altered the situation. Even in a case of a completely innocent murder victim, while they did nothing to deserve it they could have altered the turn of events by not being there no matter where there is even if it is in the middle of a supermarket. While it is also true that such an even in this case could not be foreseen it does not mean that it was not preventable by a different behavior.

The Reuters news article entitled “Day Care Quality May Predict Later Academic Success” demonstrates the effects of the sensori-motor domain on cognition. This article insists that, of children that are of day care age, “The quality of day care may determine his or her social and academic skills through the second grade,” and that, “these children also exhibited less problem behavior and were more sociable than were their peers.” One of the people they interviewed for this article supports this claim saying that Investing in better quality child care for children in preschool years enables them to be better prepared for school and to do better once they get there.”

This article beautifully illustrates how having the right sensori-motor experiences early in life can stimulate one's cognitive development and the appropriated affective feelings thereby helping one to display more favorable sensori-motor behaviors in the future. This article also portrays the extremely cyclical nature of our emotions, thinking, and behavior hence the name the emotional spin cycle.

The Sensori-motor domain of behavior includes not only the things that we do, but also the things that happen to us as a result of previous actions, the sensori-motor effects. Sensori-motor effects serve to influence further cognitive and affective domains of behavior, and play an integral role in the cycling of domains within a positive or negative domain of behavior. If we feel good, and think I should bring a friend a gift, and actually do it, you may be rewarded by a smile or kind words (the sensori-motor effect), this will make you feel good about yourself, think better of yourself and increase the likelihood of doing good deeds in the future (sensori-motor behavior). On the other hand, if we feel angry, think punch that guy and we actually do it, punching the guy, (sensori-motor behavior) this may cause us to get arrested and go to jail (sensori-motor effect or lack there of). This will definitely make us feel and think less of ourselves and may cause us to commit self destructive behavior (sensori-motor behavior).

The Three-Fold Self Summarized

As we have seen each domain of the three-fold self is intimately connected. Every sensori-motor behavior we portray must first go through our affective as well as cognitive domains and each sensori-motor experience serves to motivate subsequent affects as well as cognitions. Whenever we enter a zone in the spin cycle whether negative or positive, there is a tendency to stay there for example if we have a negative red feeling we are likely to have negative red thoughts and negative red actions or any combination there of within that zone. If we are find ourselves in a negative zone of behavior the goal then is to bridge over from the negative zone to the positive zone by invoking the domain of behavior that we have the most control over, our cognition. In order to keep from reverting into the negative zone of behavior, however, we must simultaneously change our affective domain of behavior by cognitively considering our hierarchy of motives.

Trapped in a Negative Zone of the Spin Cycle

As I have just stated there is a tendency for domains of behavior to cycle within a particular zone whether it is positive or negative. If we are trapped in a negative zone of the spin cycle how then do we break this chain? Before I answer this question let me first better illustrate this tendency for behaviors to cycle within a particular zone.

Ryan Mitsui beautifully illustrates how a one negative domain of behavior can spread to other domains within that same zone. Ryan Mitsui admits that, “I noticed that I tended to speed more when I felt angry. I think the reason that people speed when they are angry is because it is an attempt to regain control of something.” Mitsui beautifully and perhaps unconsciously describes the tendency of one domain to ripple into other domains. Note that Mitsui admits that he tends to speed when he is angry. Implicit in his latter claim that “it is an attempt to regain control of something” is the unmentioned declaration of helplessness or powerlessness. He feels angry (negative blue or red feeling depending on whether he is angry with himself or someone else) and then thinks that there is nothing he can do about it (negative red or blue thinking) and as a results not only speeds (negative red or blue doing) but also justifies speeding by telling himself

that he is doing it to regain control of something (negative blue or red thinking). As a result of this negative feeling, thinking, and doing, Mitsui ultimately crashed his car and though he doesn’t discuss it, very likely increased his negative feeling, thinking and doing.

The article, "A conceptual framework for explaining information behavior" allowed me to see how I trapped myself in a negative zone of the spin cycle. This article insists that affective uncertainty in the realm of technology causes cognitive incomprehension in many. The author Diane Nahl referred to this cognitive incomprehension of technology resulting of affective uncertainty as technophobia, which they claim, "threatened to arrest the computer revolution, limiting it to a few techno-savvy individuals. While she insists that, "Many users lack motivation for becoming technologically literate" she also acknowledges that, "affective information problems are also present in highly motivated individuals" claiming that a "positive attitude and effective coping skills" are also elements of the affect that may impact ones ability to learn.

This article was an extremely powerful conceptual tool for me to understand how we often trap ourselves in negative emotional spin-cycles.

Before designing this report, I had extremely negative feelings about computers. While I by no means lacked the motivation, I did have an extremely negative attitude about computers. As a result, try as I might I could not figure out how to work anything on this website. Because I had such negative feelings about my ability to learn how to operate computers, I could not learn because "acquiring information is an interactive, affective-cognitive skill." Because I could not learn to

operate computers I could obviously not operate them, and as a result this inability further served to reinforce my negative perception about computers. Only after convincing myself that I can do, and have done anything that I put my mind to, and that computers were no different, did I begin to start learning a little about using computers. While I must admit that I did have a good deal of help from my newly acquired FrontPage program as well as a book entitled Microsoft FrontPage 2002 fast & easy, I could not have learned anything I read had I not simultaneously changed thoughts and feelings about computers.

Negative effects on one domain of behavior can, and almost always do create ripple effects into other domains of behavior. Since cognition is the domain of behavior that we have the most control over, the most common intervening point, within the spin cycle is cognition. If for example we are caught in a negative spin-cycle we must step back from our emotions identify the negative cognitive though and modify it into a more positive one, a concept known as bridging. The key here, however, is to be able to simultaneously change our cognition as well as our affect, because if our affect stays in the negative domain it may pull our cognition back over into the negative domain instead of the other way around. We can do this by cognitively considering our hierarchical affective motives.

Hierarchy of motives

Thus far I have explained the importance of, and the ability each of us possesses to control our cognition as a means of controlling our sensori-motor behavior. I have also discussed the importance of simultaneously changing ones affective domain of behavior to prevent slipping back into the negative domains of thought, and action, but I have not as of yet directly discussed how we are to do this. How is one to change such an influential and instrumental aspect of their personality as feelings? In the article “Weight Gain Therapy Helps Women Stop Smoking” the subjects were able to change the way they felt about weight gain and thereby change their thoughts and actions. They were able to do this by invoking their hierarchy of motives.

The hierarchy of motives is a term coined by Dr. James used to explain the hierarchy of our affective behaviors. The lowest on this hierarchy is emotions, which can be categorized as an element our automatic selves (refer to the chart at the beginning of the section entitled three-fold self). Emotions often come about naturally with little or no external stimulation, it is automatic, such concepts as love at first sight or being in a “good” or “bad” mood can be categorized as elements of emotions. Feelings come next on the hierarchy and can be categorized as an element of our reflective selves. Feelings often involve some from of external stimulation and are influenced to a degree by our emotions. Since feelings involve an element of objective reality revealed in the external stimuli, they are often more difficult to change than are emotions though at times no less irrational. If one is in a bad mood (emotions) and someone further agitates them, they may feel like punching that person. Values take the highest place on our affective domains of behavior, and can be categorized as an element of our spiritual selves. Values are our strongest desires, goals, or loves. “Values are our ideas about how things should be, ie. The ideas we hope to strive for” (http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap3/chap3f.htm). Only by cognitively considering our values which are higher up on the hierarchy than are feelings can we change the way we feel about something, and successfully alter the zone in which we preside.

Summary

“How many times have you seen people make the same pattern of mistakes…” what they don’t realize is that, “they have the option of breaking the cycle by making changes in themselves” (http://epi.org/focart.htm). In learning about our own individual emotional spin cycles we will be able to identify and modify each domain of behavior. Once we are able to do so we will provide ourselves with a variety of choices that were previously unavailable to us. We will realize that though cultural influences and life events condition a tendency for us to feel, think, and act in certain ways, and that we ultimately have the last say in any behavior that we perform. Realizing this we are more likely to feel that we are in control of our own actions thereby starting us off on the right foot in our goal of learning to customizing our emotional spin-cycles.

Bibliography

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Citation: “Sports Rage by Caroline Agbayani.” Internet. 20 Sept. 2001. Available:

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Citation: “Values and Morals, Being Good is Hard – Psychological Self-Help.” Internet. 17 Oct. 2001. Available:

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News Media

Original Citation (September 18 06:04 PM EDT): “Witness: Officer said gun that killed teen ‘just went off.’ Internet. 20 Sep. 2001. Available:

Citation: “Weight Gain Therapy Helps Women Stop Smoking.” 20 Sept. 2001. Available:

Citation: “Day Care Quality May Predict Later Academic Skill.” 20 Sept. 2001. Available:

Citation: “Thinking About Errors May Foul Up Athletes.” 19 Sept. 2001. Available:

Citation: "Popular Radio DJs Participate In Drunken-Driving Test." 19 Sept. 2001. Available:

CUSTOMIZING MY EMOTIONAL SPIN CYCLE:

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BY: HARVEY NAKAMOTO

PSYCHOLOGY 459/FALL 2001/G15

Introduction