Lecture 3/Flow and Mindfulness Flashcards
Cognitive engagement
Flow: a state of optimal engagement, in which attention is directed narrowly, with full concentration and complete involvement. Mindfulness: the ability to flexibly shift and focus attention. The opposite of “mindlessness.” When mindful, you can train attention on the present moment without distraction as well as expand attention to encompass both internal states and external stimuli without judgment.
Common to both: lose the curse of self-awareness
Both mindfulness and flow remove self-evaluation/self-judgment. Flow, because self-awareness is lost altogether and mindfulness because self-evaluation is removed. This is valuable because self-awareness is often deeply uncomfortable (it either removes the awareness or the discomfort). Self-awareness: the ability to take the self as an object of thought (to think about oneself) and to recognize the self as an individual separate from others and the environment. It’s rare, only primates, cetaceans, corvids, elephants, and rats appear to have it. Humans do not develop it until 2.
Self-awareness = self-evaluation
Until a child can recognize him/herself in the mirror (mark test), he/she cannot feel shame or embarrassment, both require self-awareness. Self-awareness spontaneously cues self-standards and comparison of the self to those standards.
Self-awareness interrupts otherwise automatic behaviors
If you try to think about an otherwise automatic behavior - it will get worse. Choking under pressure: the reduction in performance due to increased self-awareness. Sufferers of social anxiety usually have strong social skills but mess themselves up because of self-awareness.
SA is uncomfortable
For most individuals, being left alone with one’s thoughts and being self-aware is uncomfortable. How uncomfortable? Wilson et al 2014, some people prefer to give themselves painful electric shocks (that they previously said they’d pay to avoid) when left alone with their thoughts and nothing else for 15 minutes.
Mirror and thoughts
This isn’t as replicated. Theory of suicide as an escape from SA. Regardless of how much you think you’re meeting standards - respond to suicide words faster if you’re in front of a mirror.
Why is unmitigated self-awareness uncomfortable?
Without distraction, minds tend to wander to unpleasant thoughts, instances of shame, guilt, negative self-evaluations, or negative events. Often this is because we have tried to suppress these thoughts, and when the mind is not busy, those thoughts tend to rebound.
On white bears
Wegner- trying to suppress thoughts is not too good.
Mental control via complementary but oppositional process
The intentional operating process (the operator) works on the conscious level, helping us think about what we want to think about. Ironic monitoring process (the monitor) works unconsciously, telling us when we’re having or are about to have thoughts we do not want so that we can immediately correct them. The monitor is rehearsing the unwanted thought. Results in thought rebound at rest - anything suppressed becomes more accessible in our thoughts as soon as we relax cognitive control. So if we’re suppressing negative self-thoughts/memories on a regular basis, they will rebound when the mind is at rest. Study: think about anything you want but not a white bear, lots of white bear thoughts for those who suppressed
Concealment and health risks
People who are out of the closet have better health. You have to use a lot of control to hide. But any secret seems bad, don’t fully process painful event.
Self disclosure
Pennebaker - had experimental group write about most traumatic/upsetting experience that they ideally hadn’t shared much with others. People disclosed all kinds of things like rape, incest, family violence, suicide attempts, concealed homosexuality, alcoholism, public humiliation.
The benefits of self-disclosure
Disclosure through writing - improves perceived health, decreases doctor visits, boost the immune system, improves GPA in college students (more cognitive space to attend to other things). High external validity - happens in lots of samples. Positive health and behavioral effects have been found with maximum security prisoners, med students, community based samples of distressed crime victims, arthritis and chronic pain sufferers, men laid off from their jobs, and women who have recently given birth to their first child. These effects have been found in all social classes and major racial/ethnic groups. US, Mexico City, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands.
Why does writing about emotional topics improve health?
Explanation 1: Writing causes people to become more health conscious and change their behavior accordingly. But most find that after writing, participants continue to smoke, exercise, and diet in ways that are unchanged from before. Exp 2: writing allows people to vent negative emotions and blow off steam, thereby improving physical health. But if the process is really self-expression, one could argue that verbal and nonverbal means of expression would have comparable benefits, and they don’t. In one study by Pennebaker: students express traumatic experience by using bodily movement, to use movement then write, or to exercise in a prescribed manner for 3 days 10 mins per day. The two movement groups said they felt happier and mentally healthier in months after the study, but only the movement plus writing group evidenced significant improvement in physical health and GPA. The mere expression of trauma is not enough to bring about long-term physiological changes, Health gains appear to require translating it into language - moving away from self-judgment, more meaningful narrative.
Venting anger and aggression
Little scientific evidence that this works.
Why does writing work?
Exp 1: reduces thought suppression (counteracts thought suppression and concealment’s negative effects). Exp 2: changes thinking and language - changes the way individuals organize and think about the trauma, thereby helping one construct a meaningful narrative. LIWC - more causal and insight words associated with greater improvements in health. Distance and understanding. Exp 3 - facilitates social integration. EAR (electronic activated recorder) - 30 sec convos every 12 mins. Wore it for 2 days 2 weeks prior and 2 days 2 weeks after exercise. Compared with controls, trauma writers began talking with friends more, laughed more, used more positive emotions in daily language. Effects were stronger for men than women (women are more likely to talk through things).
