Transcript Know That the Buck Starts and Stops With You

Know That the Buck Starts
and Stops With You
Chapter 2
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL
PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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THANKS
Determinism vs. Free Will
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Determinism – the view that
everything that occurs in nature
has lawful causes, even if we are
unaware of the specific causes,
including human behavior
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Free Will – human beings freely
choose how to act and ignore
so-called determining factors, like
the environment or genetics
Deterministic Theories
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Biologically based theories – we are a product
of our genetic heritage, ex. Children of people
with various abilities, schizophrenia, other
genetic disorders
Psychoanalytic Theory – Freud’s idea that
early experiences determine later behavior
Behaviorism – Our behavior is determined by
our learning and conditioning histories and
maintained by current reinforcements
Free Will Theories
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Existentialism – Based on European
philosophy, although life has restrictions
and problems, you have the freedom to
make choices that can transcend those
conditions.
Humanism – Our behavior is the result of
our choices and the unfolding of our true
selves, “self-actualization”
Cognitive - Behaviorism – the S-O-R model
Proactivity
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The recognition that our choices
determine our lives and that we can
take action to shape our own lives, we
are responsible for these choices and
consequences.
Behavior is a result of conscious choice
based on values, and not a product of
your conditions based on feelings.
Locus of Control
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Internal and External
Locus of Control Scale
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1. I usually get what I want in life.
2. I need to be kept informed about news events.
3. I never know where I stand with other people.
4. I do not really believe in luck or chance.
5. I think that I could easily win a lottery.
6. If I do not succeed on a task, I tend to give up.
7. I usually convince others to do things my way.
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8. People make a difference in controlling crime.
9. The success I have is largely a matter of chance.
10. Marriage is largely a gamble for most people.
11. People must be the master of their own fate.
12. It is not important for me to vote.
13. My life seems like a series of random events.
14. I never try anything that I am not sure of.
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15. I earn the respect and honors I receive.
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16. A person can get rich by taking
risks.
17. Leaders are successful when they
work hard.
18. Persistence and hard work usually
lead to success.
19. It is difficult to know who my real
friends are.
20. Other people usually control my life.
SCORING
Give yourself five points for every matching answer.
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1. T
2. T
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. F
7. T
8. T
9. F
10. F
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11. T
12. F
13. F
14. T
15. T
16. F
17. T
18. T
19. F
20. F
INTERPRETATION
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0-15 Very strong external locus of
control
20-35 External locus of control
40-60 Both external and internal locus
of control
65-80 Internal locus of control
85-100 Very strong internal locus of
control
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The Internal-External Control Scale (popularly
called “locus of control scale”) attempts to
measure the degree to which people perceive
a causal relationship between their own
efforts and environmental consequences.
People who score high (in the direction of
internal control) believe that reinforcement is
generally contingent on their own actions or
personal traits.
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Internal – tends to be self-motivated
and optimistic, tend to take
responsibility for their actions and see
themselves as the cause of what
happens in their life. They try to learn
what went wrong when they make
mistakes so they can correct them.
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External – tend not to see the
connection between their actions and
what happens. Will often blame others
for their problems and mistakes. They
may fear change and tend to look to
others to motivate them. They often
feel nothing can be done when things
go wrongLaunch Internet Explorer
Browser and will blame, “fate.”
Increasing Proactivity
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Focus on:
1. Your thoughts
2. Your language
3. Your actions
All three go into doing things, and
therefore influencing the reality you
create for yourself.
Focusing on Your Thoughts
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Worrying is one example of an
unproductive way of thinking, because
it doesn’t involve any solution to
anything, but is mostly a replay of dire
and negative possibilities. 80% of what
we worry about never happens.
Planning for the negative is not the
same as worrying about it.
Focusing on Your Language
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The way we speak to ourself goes a
long way to determining how we see
and relate to reality. If we say to
ourself, “That idiot made me angry” we
become the passive recipient of our
own emotions, but if we say, “I am
angry at that idiot’s behavior,” then we
recognize that we are controlling our
own emotions.
Focusing on Your Actions
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Proactivity in actions has two aspects:
1. Making promises and keeping them.
2. Setting small goals and working to
achieve them.
Effective people do the things that
ineffective people don’t feel like doing,
to be effective you must be willing to do
what is necessary.
Self-Talk
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We all have a running commentary in
our heads that acts as a buffer between
us and the environment, it is often
called Self-Talk.
Self-talk can be reasonable and
adaptive or it can become irrational and
interfere with our ability to function at a
high and healthy level.
Irrational Self-Talk
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There are two broad categories of
irrational self-talk:
1. Beliefs that other people or the world
or something should be different
2. Beliefs that your perceptions
represent the only reality and not just
your particular view of reality.
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Our experience of reality originates in
sensory experience which is then
elaborated on by our perceptions and
cognitions, which then influences our
emotions and physiology, which in turn
feeds back into our self-talk and the
cycle continues.
Beliefs, interpretive schemes, self-concepts, etc.
Personal construct, attitudes, learned reactions,
may or may not be adaptive or accurate, etc.
Outer
environment
super
ego
decoding
Stimuli
or
Input
ego ideal
con. mind
(ego)
self-concept
pre-con.
Self-concept:
perception of self and
self-skills and goals on
many levels and
idealized self –
accurate or inaccurate
filters for inner stimuli
unconscious
Inner world of stimuli
Interpersonal realm
Defenses against impulses &
emotional anxiety
realm of external
stimuli and
conditioning
Overall evaluation of
self as well as specific
acts
Physiological needs
Id drives
Graphics courtesy of Cristina Rivera
Common Forms of Irrational SelfTalk
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1. Statements that catastrophize – giving the
worst most horrible interpretation to events in
the absence of evidence, but based merely
on anxiety filled thinking.
2. Statements that are absolutes – these
demand that things “should, must, ought,
always, or never” be a certain way, and if
they are not it is “terrible, intolerable,
catastrophic, etc.”
Cognitive Restructuring
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This really means learning to think differently,
hopefully more reasonably.
Here are some common irrational beliefs that
can be “restructured.”
1. Everyone needs to like you, it is awful if
someone dislikes you.
2. You must be competent and perfect in all
you do.
3. Mistakes are sure proof that you are a
failure.
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4. You should never hurt anyone or refuse a
request/favor.
5. It is horrible if things don’t turn out the way you
want all the time.
6. You are helpless and have no control over your
feelings and experiences.
7. You will be rejected if you don’t go to great lengths
to please others.
8. There is a perfect love and a perfect relationship.
9. You shouldn’t have to feel pain, life should always
be fair and pleasant.
10. Your worth depends on what you achieve and do.
What to do?
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Once a variation of an irrational belief is
noticed, the first step is to examine and
challenge the validity of that belief with our
rational mind.
1. Is there reason to think the belief is true?
2. Is there evidence that this belief is untrue?
3. If I reject this belief, what is the worst that
could happen to me?
4. If I reject this belief, what good things
might happen to me?
New Rational Beliefs
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The next step is to substitute a new more
rational belief for the old, irrational one. What
are some more rational beliefs we can
substitute for these irrational ones?
1. Everyone needs to like you, it is awful if someone dislikes you.
2. You must be competent and perfect in all you do.
3. Mistakes are sure proof that you are a failure.
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4. You should never hurt anyone or refuse a request/favor.
5. It is horrible if things don’t turn out the way you want all the
time.
6. You are helpless and have no control over your feelings and
experiences.
7. You will be rejected if you don’t go to great lengths to please
others.
8. There is a perfect love and a perfect relationship.
9. You shouldn’t have to feel pain, life should always be fair and
pleasant.
10. Your worth depends on what you achieve and do.
Goodman’s Rules for Rational
Thinking
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1. It does not do anything to me – what we
say to ourselves produces negative emotions,
not the situation itself.
2. Everything is exactly the way it should be –
things are the way they are because of a long
series of causal events, saying they “should”
be different negates these causes.
3. All humans are fallible creatures.
4. It takes two to have a conflict – any party
to a conflict contributes at least 30% of the
fuel to keep it going.
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5. The original cause is lost in antiquityoften finding the exact cause of
something is almost impossible, best to
decide to change behavior now.
6. We feel the way we think – what you
say to yourself determines your
feelings.
Causation and Correlation
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What are the differences?
Empirical study!
A TRUE experiment is a research method
where one variable (IV) is manipulated to see if there
is a change in another variable (DV).
MOST social sciences research can’t be done in a lab, is
of pre-existing groups, etc. and is correlational...
Correlation does NOT mean
CAUSATION, however….
Wadsworth, Thomson Learning
Hutchens, 2002
How do we determine if a study is
done well?
What makes a good one? Look for…
1. Clearly defined variables.
DEPENDENT & INDEPENDENT variables
No confusion as to what is being measured or HOW!
2. Could YOU repeat the study? (replicability!)
3. What is its REPRESENTATIVENESS,
i.e., is it GENERALIZABLE?
Is the sample an accurate representation of all those to
whom it is suppose to apply?
4. Is it a CORRELATION study?
BEWARE if the authors infer (or state) CAUSALITY!!
Wadsworth, Thomson Learning
Hutchens, 2002
Social sciences research is often correlational.
What is correlation?? (“co-relation”)
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A relationship between two (or more) variables
Results are correlation coefficients
 Coefficients represent the strength of relationship
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Range: between +1.00 and –1.00
Correlations nearer to zero suggests no relationship
Coefficients represent the direction of the
relationship
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Positive correlations show a direct relationship, the same
direction (higher high school GPA & grades in college)
Negative correlations show an inverse relationship, in
opposite directions (increased student absenteeism &
grades on exams)
Optimism
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op·ti·mism n. A tendency to expect
the best possible outcome or dwell on
the most hopeful aspects of a situation.
The tendency to a world view that
focuses on reasons to be happy and
satisfied with life despite its
imperfections.
Optimism and Health
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Research shows that four traits are
associated with happy people:
1. Optimism
2. Good self-esteem
3. An internal locus of control
4. Extraversion.
These were established by correlational
studies
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Pessimism is associated with high stress
levels, depression, psychosomatic
problems, higher levels of physical
illness and premature death.
Optimism is a better predictor of college
success than SAT scores.
Emotional attitudes were a critical factor
in academic success.
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TAKE THE OPTIMISM TEST ON PAGE
35 AND 36.
Tips for Optimism
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Look for evidence, do not catastrophize
when negative things occur.
Don’t generalize from limited
information.
Examine alternatives. Look for what is
changeable, specific, and non-personal
instead of what is permanent, pervasive
and personal.
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If a negative belief turns out to be true,
decatastrophize it. Challenge the most
negative alternatives and examine how
realistic those alternative really are.
Optimists tend to:
Face problems directly.
Develop a plan
Accept the reality of the situation
Learn how to grow from adversity