Archive for June, 2012

I have been reading an excellent book, “The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence had Declined” by Steven Pinker of Harvard. Pinker presents a huge amount of evidence that violence of all types has declined over past centuries and recent decades. The per capita rates of murder, rape, wife-beating, child spanking, animal abuse, etc., have dropped. Per capita deaths in wars have dropped, other than during world wars — the last of which was 70 years ago. Pinker gives several reasons for the positive changes:  Increases in rule by government, democracy, education, international trade, international organizations, and information flow. Also, the development of the rule of law and human (and animal) rights have played important roles. Other variables include increases in abstract reasoning, empathy, and self-control. I want to focus here on self-control. Roy Baumeister at Florida State University has shown that self-control operates like a muscle in that (1)  it can get worn out in the short run by high use and (2) individuals can increase their reserve of self-control by exercising self-control repeatedly. For instance, brushing one’s teeth with the non-dominant hand over a period of weeks helps a person deal better with a self-control challenge, according to research. Coincidentally, I have been brushing my teeth this past week with my nondominant hand. My goal was to strengthen the motor areas of the right side of my brain. Now I know that I am also stengthening  areas of the brain (the frontal lobes) involved in self-control. Other methods used in studies to exercise self-control have included using no swear words and never starting a sentence with “I.” After weeks of these exercises, studies show that individuals smoked less, drank less alcohol, spent less money, studied more, and washed the dishes more often!

What are you doing to increase your researve of self-control?  What experiences in the past have helped you develop the self-control you now have?

John Malouff, PhD, JD, Assoc Prof of Psychology

Many people want to stop doing something — smoking, biting their finger nails, overeating, worrying nonstop. I often preach in my Behavior Modification class that it is very hard just to eliminate an habitual behavior because creating a void tends to lead to a return of the behavior, especially when something stressfult happens. One secret to making a permanent change is to replace the undesirable behavior with a more adaptive behavior that serves the same functions. I recently saw evidence of this view in the published results of a study done by a former student of mine, Sally Rooke. She studied individuals who had tried to quit using marijuana. Half succeeded and half failed. The ones who succeeded were significantly more likely to use strategies that involved alternative behaviors that served the same stress-reduction functions as marijuana, e.g., using “calming thoughts” and finding “other ways to relax.” Many maladaptive behaviors serve a calming function. Other common functions of maladaptive behavior are entertainment and controlling others. For each function, there are usually more adaptive ways to achieve the goal. For individuals to change and to maintain their progress, they usually need to identify the functions (rewarding effects) of the undesirable behavior, develop alternative behaviors to achieve those functions, and practice those until they become habitual. If the new behaviors adequately serve the functions, a person can make a permanent change.

I used this method to eliminate (mostly!) the use of curse words. I replaced them with similar-sounding other words. Now when I make a mistake, I say “shucks” or something similar.

Have you replaced one behavior with a more adaptive one? What?

John Malouff, PhD, JD
Assoc Prof of Psychology

I just read an article about what not to do during a job interview. One idea: Don’t use filler sounds, such as um, you know, OK, like. Eliminating these pointless sounds is not easy. I asked my behavior modification students what they would suggest to a person who wanted to eliminate filler sounds in all situations. Marcela Costanzo recommended habit reversal therapy methods. Used to eliminate filler use, these methods involve four steps: Becoming aware of the use of the filler as it occurs or just before, for instance by recording each use and identifying high-risk situations that require special vigilence; using a more adaptive competing behavior, e.g., keeping lips together to remain silent; garnering social support for eliminating the filler, such as by asking friends and family to point out each time you use the filler; and maintaining motivation to change, for instance by creating a list of benefits for changing and reading that every day or by setting daily goals for maximum number of filler uses and celebrating achievement of the goal. Rosemary Torbay suggested using self-regulation methods. These include eliminating triggers for using a filler. The typical trigger is anxiety about not saying anything. Once a person realizes that others prefer silence to fillers, the anxiety may decrease. Do others prefer silence? I would rather hear silence from another person than a filler. I bet you would too. Fillers are the pomegranate seeds of conversation. Focusing in high-risk situations on remaining silent rather than using a filler can start a person toward a new, more adaptive habit that eventually takes no conscious effort. Persistence with change efforts, especially goal setting and self-monitoring, is key because it can take some time to eliminate the filler habit. Rosemary used self-management methods to eliminate her use of “OK” while teaching. Another instructor I know used similar methods to eliminate a filler he used during teaching. Teachers like me often try to eliminate fillers because we hear our use of them when we listen to recordings of our teaching.

Have you eliminated a filler? How did you do it?

John Malouff, PhD
Assoc Prof of Psychology