With this model, the
basis for who we are lies totally within our thought patterns and
mental habits. The saying goes, "As we think, so we also
behave". We are seen as active receivers of information, who
choose how we will interpret the information we receive. By
extension, we create our own reality through our perceptions of
information we get. Distortions in our thought processes create
dysfunctional behaviors and
nonproductive emotions. Distorted thinking is recognized by its
characteristics: narrow, resistant to change, egocentric, biased toward
negativity, and often irrational.
Since it is our thoughts that determine our feelings
and behavior in this model, the solution to
dysfunctional behaviors is to
change the thinking processes and patterns that create them. If
we can
learn better ways to
interpret in the information we receive, we
can be more productive, and by extension happier. We need to
monitor our counterproductive thoughts, make connections between those
thoughts and our emotions & behavior. We must learn to
examine evidence objectively, and replace our distorted patterns with
those based in reality.
Famous proponents of Cognitive psychology include
Albert Ellis, Aaron T. Beck, George Kelly, Judith S. Beck, and David
Burns.
Some common terms associated with the Cognitive
model are:
Processing
(Bottom-Up and Top-Down),
Heuristics,
Schemas,
Thoughts (Automatic &
Voluntary),
Metacognition,
Arousal (Trait & State),
Mental Rehearsal,
Attribution (and its
Retraining),
Achievement
Motivation, and
Achievement
Orientation.
Every day, we are bombarded by a variety of thoughts
on an uncountable number of subjects. As we awaken, we think
about what we have to do that day, what we'll have for breakfast, and
how soon our schedule kicks in. As the day progresses, we think
about many things we expect to (classes, relationships, lunch,
homework) and are faced with many unexpected situations that provoke
thoughts we could not anticipate. Even in dreams, our
unconscious mind may be working out
various problems that we didn't have time for during the day.
With this model, it is not the
stimulus
we receive that matters, but our perception of it, based on our
heuristics. [A dog runs
toward you and your friend. You reach down to pet it but he
prepares to run away. Your positive perception of dogs (friendly,
furry, comfortable) is very different from his (snarling, sharp teeth,
attacking).]
Cognitive psychology developed in response to the
theory that
what we
think, and
how we
think about it, has a great deal to do with the extent of satisfaction
we have about our lives. By inspecting our
heuristics,
schemas, and
automatic thoughts, Cognitive
psychologists expect to help us
learn
to think in better, more productive and satisfying ways. If we
have
faulty heuristics, or if
our
schemas are improperly
constructed, then problem behaviors and uncomfortable emotions are
likely to result. The simplified answer to changing our behaviors
and feelings is: Change Your Thinking! Subjects are encouraged to
use
logic and rational thought to
learn a more healthy
lifestyle. We use
metacognition
to actually think about how we think about things, we we'll be able to
recognize the weaknesses in our thought processes.
Naturally, there is disagreement about how best to
help a person change their thought processes. Some theorists
prefer an
indirect
approach to resolving the problems, so the basic method is, "Let's test
out this idea of yours and see how it holds up." Hopefully, by
approaching the problem in this way, the subject "fixes" their
own thought process, and
experiences the sense of accomplishment that comes with taking positive
action to improve their own life. Counselors using this method
may try techniques like these to reveal and change the faulty processes:
Decatastrophizing
- we prepare a plan to deal with the "worst-case scenario" so we will
be less afraid of a bad situation if it occurs.
|
Reattribution
- we consider all
the causes for an action, and look at who else shares responsibility
for the outcomes.
|
Redefining
- we make a clearer definition of what our problem is, so we
can "brainstorm" the most
possible solutions to it.
|
Decentering
- we learn to recognize
that we are not the center of universe, and that there is not as much
emphasis on us as we
think there is.
|
Albert Ellis preferred, and pioneered, the
direct approach to
resolving
faulty heuristics.
He believed that it was in our best interests to attack our distorted
thoughts directly, and actively change them, thus changing our lives
for the better. In order to make changes, we would have to first
recognize our biases, distorted
schemas,
and damaging
automatic thoughts.
Then, we would need to challenge and change our thought
processes. Finally, we would use rational thinking, logic, and
testable experimentation to fix our errors. As a result, our
lives would improve dramatically. He claimed that three
Irrational Beliefs kept many people
from functioning at their very best. Those
Irrational Beliefs are:
"I must perform well, and win
the approval of those who are important to me, or I am an inadequate,
worthless person."
|
"All other people must, under all conditions
and at all times, be both nice and fair to me, or you are rotten,
horrible people."
|
"My living conditions must be comfortable, safe,
and advantageous, or the world is a rotten place, I can't stand it, and
life is hardly worth living."
|
Taken out of context, each of these thoughts seems like something we'd
never say (at least not out loud), but if we look closely, we realize
that every day we border on thinking something very much like
this. Ellis saw many ways that we could eliminate these beliefs
from our regular processes. We could use
imagery to help us develop coping
skills for certain circumstances, argue with ourselves aloud to hear
how our thoughts sound, or
role play
both sides of the situation in order to see the other viewpoint.
We could laugh at ourselves and how silly we sound sometimes, and even
do outrageous (harmless) things to help ourselves deal with the shame
we often feel from "making a fool" of ourselves. We could share
in groups to see that we are not the only one thinking these
thoughts. We could
learn
to make forceful statements when we feel a
distorted thought coming on ("No,
that's not what really happened! Stop thinking such
things!")
To see examples of what we mean by
distorted thoughts (or
faulty heuristics) click
HERE.
Applications to sports for Cognitive theory are
widespread. We must
learn
how to play a sport, and along the way we learn to deal with the
stressors peculiar to that
sport. Unfortunately, we often learn improper or distorted ways
of viewing our performance and that of those around us. The
usefulness of
any
model lies in its abilty to help us overcome those distortions.
Skill acquisition contains many Cognitive components: problem-solving,
decision-making, the way we interpret feedback, and the way we keep
certain events in our memory.
Obviously, our thinking processes during competition
and practice are the primary area where Cognitive theory applies.
There are a variety of Cognitive techniques used to help us be more
productive and successful in games and practice. Let's look at
some of these applications:
(1)
Self-talk is a process by which we
prepare certain words or phrases that will help us bring up the
thoughts or feelings that we
want
to experience, rather than the
dysfunctional
ones we might have
learned
earlier in our lives. Some are repetitive commands that help us
get in the proper frame of mind before a game, practice, or skill
("Stay calm. Breathe deeply. Run Hard.") The
vocabulary is very important, because we focus on the positive and
active, saying what we are
going
to
do, rather than
what we do
not want
to do. Studies show that the word "don't" does not function in
our brain, because we cannot imagine the
absence of something
without imagining the thing itself. Thus when you say to
yourself, "Don't miss this shot!", the only concept in your mind is
"miss this shot". (Now you know why I get aggravated with cheers
that use this negative
imagery.)
(2)
Visualization is a commonly
used practice that allows us to "see" a situation or event before it
actually occurs. If you watch the Olympic bobsled team or lugers,
you will notice that before they leave the starting gate, they stand
with their eyes closed and imagine the entire run, to the point that
you will notice their bodies sway side-to-side with the "curves".
Nearly all world-class athletes use this technique, though in most
cases it may not be displayed so dramatically. Professional
golfers often visualize a shot before they hit it, imagining how it
will curve around a tree and roll onto the green. Basketball
players visualize the "swish" of a ball through the net, football
players visualize the results of their next crushing tackle or block,
and some track athletes visualize exactly how they will step over each
hurdle. (Edwin Moses, who holds the record for most consecutive
wins in the 400 meter hurdles, visualized every race several times
before he actually ran it.) Studies have proven that
visualization along with physical practice improves performance
greatly. (In fact, there are many stories of athletes who
succeeded in an event using
only
visualization, though I wouldn't recommend it.) Even in
mental practice or rehearsal,
skills must be practiced correctly for it to be helpful.
(3)
Arousal, the level of
excitement we have for a particular activity, is of great importance to
athletes. Sometimes, we just can't "get up" for a game or
practice, and professional athletes have the same difficulty (can you
imagine, really, the effort it requires to play 162 baseball games each
year?). There is a continuum on which some place our levels of
arousal: sleepy - bored - interested - excited - anxious. On this
line, we certainly wouldn't be productive at either extreme during a
sporting event, either too sleepy to exert enough effort, or too
anxious to control our actions effectively. We would most likely
want to be in the "excited" range, and Cognitive psychology attempts to
help us
think our way into
high-level performance. This is one of the places goals come in
handy, as the importance of the goal to us helps us determine our
arousal level and our feelings about the importance of success or
failure. We can improve our arousal level by being more
attentive to both our internal
state (thoughts, gut feelings, etc.) and external events (game
situations). Our level of focus and concentration are directly
related to our ability to perform at our level of ability.
(4)
Motivation is also a key focus
of Cognitive theory. We may sometimes ask ourselves, "Why am I
doing this?" We can
learn
to improve our outlook and motivation in sports by using Cognitive
techniques to improve 3 areas of our thinking: (A) Raising our level of
self-efficacy; (B) Improving
our self-confidence; and (C) Taking full value from our
competence. By working on these aspects of our thinking, we can
become more motivated to do our best. We can improve our
achievement motivation and perhaps
even change our
achievement
orientation.
(5)
Attribution retraining helps us
find ways of changing those things that we see as the
causes of our success or
failure. We can pick a task, compare the relationship between our
effort and our performance, acknowledge and celebrate our successes,
and then repeat the process with a new task. This helps us
realize that
we have
much to do with our successes and failures, and therefore a great deal
of control lies within our power.
(6) A great deal of study has been done lately on
the power of our minds to help heal our injuries. Though studies
are still in their relative infancy, it has been shown athletes can
heal much more quickly and more completely by incorporating Cognitive
techniques into their rehabilitation. Using
relaxation and
imagery, we can facilitate our
healing, correctly identify and control our pain, focus on rehabbing
with a positive attitude, continue to practice mentally while injured,
and block out thoughts of the original incident. When we return
to full health, we are much more likely to return effectively.
Cognitive psychology is largely responsible for the
presence of so many "mind-power" presentations in our society these
days. We are only beginning to comprehend the amazing effects
certain types of thinking or mental processes can have on us.
Does this mean that we will soon be moving chairs around the room and
reading other people's thoughts? Of course not. Does it
mean that we have the power to "think" our lives differently?
Yes, it does.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Do
one of these:
~ Print out the "
Attribution Chart", and complete it.
~ Ask me for the "
Ellis Questionnaire" and complete it.
Do
both of these:
~ Write a journal for your notebook about the following
questions: Why are you playing the sport in which you are
currently involved? What do you
think about the reasons you
have chosen for playing? How high is your
achievement movtivation in this
sport? Are you taking a task approach or an ego approach to this
sport? What do you think about your relative levels of
self-efficacy,
self-confidence, and competence in this sport?
~ Write a journal for your notebook about the following: Where
are you usually on the
arousal
continuum before, during, and after a sporting event? Which
emotions get the better of you in
relation to your sports activities? Which ones do you notice
occuring most often? What
automatic
thoughts do you have that cause you stress and difficulty?
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