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Notes on video lecture:
Mind Modularity, Cravings, and Self Control
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on January 10, 2017 (go to class or lectures)


Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
sexual, brain, attention, winner, rage, aware, decision, curious, clenching, consciously, reputation, RAIN, self, succumb, frames, long, hatred, retaliation, attention, reason, distant, pronouns, quieter, temptation, gratification, investigate, modular, partake, restlessness, two, drinks, short, chemical, feelings, lay, organism, cheat, Chief, turns, fruit
push back against the view of the mind
sometimes these of mind set in
I'm not really of them happening
they are sometimes triggered by
I could see a movie that could affect my subsequent behavior
but there are sometimes when I, the Executive Self, make a decision
I may be tempted to eat a powdered doughnut, but I say no, it's not in my -term interest to do it
rebuttal to this view
from a standpoint its fine to talk like this
e.g. if you are talking to your family at the dinner table, it's fine
eventually psychology as a scientific enterprise is going to have to move on from sentences that have like that
those sentences, to be more accurate of what happens in the world, are going to be more along the lines of
there are certain systems in your that are designed to be motivated to eat high calorie foods
there are other systems in your brain which have motives associated with long-term health
so the latter modules inhibited the behavior that was being facilitated by the -term modules
in that description there's no were "I" in there
there are no pronouns pointing to non-scientifically identifiable entities in the world, but rather nouns that are more likely to correspond to brain states that can actually be detected
conscious making
examples
which car should I buy
which college should I go to
which job offers should I accept
control
how many should I have at a party
should I smoke this cigarette
should I on my spouse
can this thing that feels like the reasonable me make decisions
is there some sense that can enter the equation
creating reasons
extramarital affair
one module that wants short-term gratification
one module is concerned about your
one module is worried about
the overall reason one has to have needs to be more complex than e.g. the reason that the sex-seeking module gives
so we come up with other reasons
if you knew how emotionally my spouse was you would understand
we rehearse these reasons
the conscious mind is doing this since it is this part of the mind that communicates with other people
like a company with CEOs that are different
the PR director does not declare one a but wants to hear the reasons so that they are prepared to share these reasons pub
one CEO might be giving a reason that won't work in public
use of reason
the brain pays when it is not in one's long-term interest to do something
if you realize that reasons are not going to be accepted, then the conscious mind will cut this out
with addictions, reason tends to play less and less a role
e.g. becoming an alcoholic, you eventually stop producing reasons why you are drinking, you just drink
modules gain more power with victory
be careful to succumbing to that first time since it gets harder to resist
it could have been that they just take
but that's not the way it works
the way for natural selection selected them
the modules are stacked from basic to more complex
one rule is that modules that achieve in gaining
if the short-term sex module suggest you have quick sex with someone, and another module warns against it, and you in the sex, and it is pleasure and no consequences come of it, then is is success and will be encourages in the future
this can be explained in evolutionary terms such that when you see trees in the distance and a mind module that is responsible for identifying food suggest that the trees do have , and they do, then this module will be given preference in the future
addiction
the reward system was not so easy during our evolution
craving
the default mode network gets during meditation
mindfulness meditation to overcome smoking
get them to view the craving differently
acronym
Recognize what craving feels like
Allow it to be there
we often push away unpleasant things but you have to allow it to be in your body in order to it
Investigate
get , ask what does the craving feel like in my body right now
when you are really curious about something, it flips the valence from unpleasant to pleasant
use of a noting process: take note of tension, , burning, and other feelings in the body as the craving comes and goes away
the RAIN approach enables those dealing with cravings to ride the wave of craving instead of getting sucked into it
we often think that when a craving comes, we have to either to it or push it away
RAIN allows you to observe, or ride the wave
it's important to be with the craving, notice its physical sensations in their body, the mental , and if they don't act on it, they don't fuel it
mindfulness as operant conditioning
when you feel
when you pound your desk and yell at someone
if nothing bad happens, is that defined as success in natural selection terms
if you feel
you go around saying unfavorable things about them
it feels good
especially if they hate them too, or if they are persuaded
modules can be thought of metaphorically as which operate on conditional thinking
each vy for your
Vocabulary:
valence, n. negative or positive psychological value assigned to something based on its attractiveness ⇒ "When you are curious about something, it flips the valence from unpleasant to pleasant." |
Ideas and Concepts:
On the self as less-than-accurate superstition, via tonight's Buddhism and Modern Psychology class:
"We often experience a natural push back against the modern modular view of the mind. Although we acknowledge that sometimes frames of mind set in which our conscious selves were not so aware of what was happening and so we were led to behavior which was later difficult to explain, and which was triggered by deep feelings and emotions seemingly beyond our control. For example, we could see a movie or have some intense experience, which could, for a time afterward, affect our subsequent behavior much beyond our control, etc.
But then there are definitely times when my self, my Chief Executive self, seems to take over and make a conscious decision. For example, I may be tempted to eat a piece of chocolate, but then I think about it and say to myself:no, it's not in my long-term interest to eat this chocolate.
From a lay standpoint, its fine to talk like this, e.g. if you are talking to your family at the dinner table, it's fine.
But eventually, psychology as a scientific enterprise is going to have to move on from sentences that have these non-referential pronouns in them. These sentences, to be more accurate of what happens in the world, are going to have to be changed more along the lines of:there are certain systems in my brain that are designed to be motivated to eat high calorie foods. There are other systems in my brain which have motives associated with long-term health. The latter modules inhibited the behavior that was being facilitated by the short-term modules, which prevented my organism from eating the chocolate.
In this description, there was no word "I" in there. There were no pronouns pointing to non-scientific entities. Rather, there were nouns that are more likely to correspond to brain states that can actually be detected by our most modern technology."
"We often experience a natural push back against the modern modular view of the mind. Although we acknowledge that sometimes frames of mind set in which our conscious selves were not so aware of what was happening and so we were led to behavior which was later difficult to explain, and which was triggered by deep feelings and emotions seemingly beyond our control. For example, we could see a movie or have some intense experience, which could, for a time afterward, affect our subsequent behavior much beyond our control, etc.
But then there are definitely times when my self, my Chief Executive self, seems to take over and make a conscious decision. For example, I may be tempted to eat a piece of chocolate, but then I think about it and say to myself:no, it's not in my long-term interest to eat this chocolate.
From a lay standpoint, its fine to talk like this, e.g. if you are talking to your family at the dinner table, it's fine.
But eventually, psychology as a scientific enterprise is going to have to move on from sentences that have these non-referential pronouns in them. These sentences, to be more accurate of what happens in the world, are going to have to be changed more along the lines of:there are certain systems in my brain that are designed to be motivated to eat high calorie foods. There are other systems in my brain which have motives associated with long-term health. The latter modules inhibited the behavior that was being facilitated by the short-term modules, which prevented my organism from eating the chocolate.
In this description, there was no word "I" in there. There were no pronouns pointing to non-scientific entities. Rather, there were nouns that are more likely to correspond to brain states that can actually be detected by our most modern technology."
Mindful meditation on cravings, via tonight's Buddhism and Modern Psychology class:
"One approach to get people to view cravings differently is with the RAIN acronym. First, you (R)ecognize what craving feels like, and (A)llow the craving to be there. We often try to push away unpleasant sensations that we have, but you have to allow these feelings to be in your body in order to (I)nvestigate them as a craving, get curious about it, ask yourself what the craving feels like in your body right now. When you are curious about something, it flips the valence from unpleasant to pleasant, so that you can (N)ote what is going on in your body:take note of tension, clenching, burning, and any other feelings in the body as the craving comes and goes away.
We often think that when a craving comes, we have to either succumb to it or push it away, but the RAIN approach gives you another option:simply observe it, ride the wave of craving instead of getting sucked into it. And when you are busy observing a craving, you don't act on it, and hence, don't fuel it."
"One approach to get people to view cravings differently is with the RAIN acronym. First, you (R)ecognize what craving feels like, and (A)llow the craving to be there. We often try to push away unpleasant sensations that we have, but you have to allow these feelings to be in your body in order to (I)nvestigate them as a craving, get curious about it, ask yourself what the craving feels like in your body right now. When you are curious about something, it flips the valence from unpleasant to pleasant, so that you can (N)ote what is going on in your body:take note of tension, clenching, burning, and any other feelings in the body as the craving comes and goes away.
We often think that when a craving comes, we have to either succumb to it or push it away, but the RAIN approach gives you another option:simply observe it, ride the wave of craving instead of getting sucked into it. And when you are busy observing a craving, you don't act on it, and hence, don't fuel it."