Now ask yourself, Can I afford to ignore these benefits? Depending on your answer to this question, you can make the choice to invest in your mind and make these benefits a real world reality, further investigate the details of this investment opportunity, or do nothing and perhaps miss discovering your authentic self.

iReading and Igniting Comprehension

"After iReading a book and taking some time to incubate, I will return to the book to activate the information and ignite comprehension, but the entire books seems foreign-- it is like I am seeing it for the first time. Am I doing something wrong?"

A: No, you are not doing something wrong. In fact, you should not recognize or feel familiar with the book when igniting comprehension. Remember, only after Step 2.7 of the iReading System will you begin to recall, and effectively know, the information contained within the book.

Here is what a member of our team had to say:
Familiarity and recognition simply aren't a criteria for me when executing EPI activation and Step 2.7. In fact, getting recognition or gaining understanding during the early stages of Step 2.7 is not a criteria for me either.

When I was first mastering the iReading System, I remember activating a book for 2 hours, all the while feeling like I was not retaining or getting anything out of it. Then, within 10 minutes, it all came to the surface for me, and I all of a sudden knew the book.

 
Q: When I am iReading and using the EPI activation process, is it okay to read at the pace of one word at a time while I investigate the text to ignite comprehension?

A: You should virtually never read any slower than 5-9 words.  Remember the Accelerated Reading technique.

By reading slowly, one word at a time, you are introducing a tremendous bottle neck to the iReading process.  And this is wasting your time and sabotaging your knowledge building efforts.

iReading and studying

"I have to read a lot of books that are technical in nature. Some contain new jargon and new concepts, while others contain charts and other graphical images that I will need to memorize for recall in a testing situation.

Does iReading allow me to retain information in such a way, that I will have excellent recall in an exam situation? Can I trust that I will KNOW the information in order to answer all relevant questions on an exam?"

A: iReading is a way of reading that allows you to read, learn, and process any type or configuration of information. Even new languages have been learnt at rapid speeds using the iReading methodology.

As you gain a greater grasp over the iReading System your retention and recall of what you iRead will continue to improve. By the time you finish your iReading training and apply the strategy to roughly 5-7 entire books, you will be getting extremely good at its application.

Ultimately, the more you iRead the greater your level of mastery. Eventually, whatever you iRead will be injected into your knowledge reservoirs forever-- the information will always be there and will always be quickly within reach

A member of our team used The iReading System to achieve tremendous results while in university. He would energetically iRead all his university course readings and texts within the first week of class. From there on in, each lecture he attended ignited his comprehension and improved his recall, because the information was already in his mind. While the rest of the class was learning the course content for the first time, the lecture was simply review to him.

Before an exam, he would then re-iRead everything and then study by drawing mind maps, answering practice questions, and the like. He did this not so much because he had to, but because it solidified his confidence levels and proved to himself that he had true mastery over the material. Needless to say, as a result of this approach, he scored
at the top of his class.

iReading and what you "see"

"When iReading, am I supposed to see the words doubled and blurry? If the subconscious mind captures a picture of the text.... does it take a picture of the words doubled, and if so, doesn't this confuse the subconscious mind?"

A: You shouldn't consciously see any words at all, doubled and blurry is about how they should be. The fact that you are seeing the words "doubled and blurry" is a very good sign.

The reason it works this way is, is because it is the only way to see two pages of text all at once-- you can't consciously zero in on each word, so you have to take a broad perspective and swallow the text in one blurry mouthful.

"If seeing double is normal, then is achieving divergent eyes the same as crossing the eyes to see double also?"

A: No, achieving divergent eyes is not the same as crossing them. Crossing your eyes means you are converging them inward, which is the opposite of diverging them.

How do I use the iReadng System for studying and learning very condense and important information?

Step 1:
Segment off each chapter or section: Consider each segmented section as a mini book.

Treat each chapter, section, or major subject divide as a whole— treat each segment as a mini book itself. What is the difference? Treating each chapter as a mini book means you execute step 1.1 through 2.7 in its entirety for that chapter, just as you would for a book.
Go through your text or notes and partition it off into mini books, by looking at the changes in subject matter, progression of content, length and depth. Use post-it notes or any other marker you can easily apply to flag these mini-books.

Step 2:
Apply the Infinity Reading System to each Mini Book

Begin at step 1.1 and proceed to step 2.7 of the Infinity Reading System for each mini book. Be sure to act in accordance with the following advisements as you execute step 1.3 and step 2.7.

A note about step 1.3:
Be sure to unearth your true purpose and intention. Many students make a costly error by having a purpose such as: “I want to know everything in the book so I can answer every question fully and properly on my test”.

Such a superficially simple purpose will not pique your mind, feed energy into your actions or drive your efforts. Those with such a weak purpose will achieve hollow results and waste their time.

To maximize your study performance and get at your real purpose for studying, try asking yourself the following questions:
“Why am I studying this information?”
“Why do you want to obtain an excellent grade?”
“What will this information help me do or be upon completion of school?”

A note about step 2.7:
As studying calls for an uncompromising and intense knowledge of all the details and aspects of a text, Process Two: Ignite Comprehension needs to be used in a recurring and repetitive sequence; in a series of layered actions until the level of required comprehension and mastery of the material is reached and until the content and information gels in your mind, consolidates in your subconscious and rises to the surface. Much like painting, the finished product will look much better with swift, thin and even coats as opposed to one rushed, shoddy, thick and time consuming coat.

Don't rush each pass you take over your mini book. Give yourself permission to Explore, Probe and Investigate each page more than once if you feel the need. Be sure to maintain focus on fulfilling your purpose and developing mastery of the information you need to know for the exam—don't waste time passively reading and exploring irrelevant material and information you already know.

How do I know that my brain is correctly falling into the alpha state?

So, the real way to prove to yourself that you're in the Alpha State, is to not clock your own brainwave speed (although it would be cool if you could without expensive medical instruments), but take action while you are in this state of "relaxation". You will feel the edge this relaxing state grants you as you work through the strategies detailed through out The Mind Accelerator, and over time, you will begin to recognize the critical differences between the Beta and Alpha State.

Do you feel that you are unable to enter the Alpha state? iMusic for Mind Acceleration is ultimate solution for entering the Alpha state.

The Phaonmneal Pweor of the Hmuan Mnid

About Phase Two of The Mind Accelerator

How do I know that my brain is correctly falling into the alpha state? How am I supposed to feel? I feel that I am relaxed but I don't notice anything else that is different.

So, the real way to prove to yourself that you're in the Alpha State, is to not clock your own brainwave speed (although it would be cool if you could without expensive medical instruments), but take action while you are in this state of \"relaxation\". You will feel the edge this relaxing state grants you as you work through the strategies detailed through out The Mind Accelerator, and over time, you will begin to recognize the critical differences between the Beta and Alpha State.

Do you feel that you are unable to enter the Alpha state? iMusic for Mind Acceleration is ultimate solution for entering the Alpha state.

Should I go listen to the recordings of my sessions afterwards?

If you are approaching the IMS session in search for answers or ideas, re-listening to your IMS session and creating mind maps from its content will provide you with insights and concepts that will give you understanding and insight on your problem, or whatever situation you may be facing.

Each IMS session is extremely symbolic of your beliefs, perspectives and life. It is always interesting and enjoyable to go through your recordings, and gain whatever information you may find there. It is in a state of reflection when you are most likely to find the missing piece to your puzzle.

Starting an IMS session

“Should I start an IMS session with an intentional image of my creation and then direct IMS session in a certain way, that has do with the problem or question I am seeking a solution or answer for?

For example, I want to know the fastest way to drive a race car around a corner. Would the best way to arrive at my answer, be to begin my IMS session by envisioning driving the car, describing the feeling of the speed and power, describing different objects in the cockpit, describing the road and how quickly it moves underneath me?”

A: As the iMind System states, in Step 2 you state your intention. For the example you provided, perhaps you could state your intention like this:

"I want to know how to get my car from this part of the road, to the part of the road at the other side of this 90 degree angle in the most efficient and effective way possible" (notice that saying, "the fastest way of driving the car around the corner" constrains the possibilities of what your mind could come up with).

With your intention for the IMS session stated, you have effectively set your mind up to create an answer.

Choosing a fixed starting point for your IMS session and guiding it from there will greatly hinder the delivery of your answer or solution. Answers come in rich symbolic forms, and are always "analogically formatted", and so placing yourself in a specific situation and guiding yourself forward constrains the flow of answers and solutions that come forth from the subconscious.

The answers may bubble up in an unapparentand frothy manner.  Perhaps it may take 2, 3 or more IMS sessions to see the common links and themes, and pinpoint those underlying answers… but this is how the ultimate answers arrive.

Guiding your IMS session places a ceiling on where you can go and what you can find. Zero limitations allows for an infinite amount of possible outcomes, and this is how revolutionary ideas and strokes of genius are created.

How do I know when I should end my IMS session?

With time and practive, you can use this strategy to make your time using the IMS as efficient as possible.

Keep in mind, when you are climbing the learning curve, you will have difficulty gauging the amount of time you should spend. Here is what the experts advise:

When you are in an IMS session and you begin to feel worn out, tired or bored you may have maxed out your set of images. Your visuals may be fully explored-- so rather than tapping a new set of visuals right away, it is sometimes best to stop, rest and set forth on another IMS session later that day or perhaps in the following 24 hour period.

Remember, the IMS is something you want to benefit from everyday for the rest of your life. If you get used to long drawn out sessions it will be difficult to sustain in the future. We recommened dynamic and vibrant, but shorter and more efficient IMS sessions for best results. Using the IMS for more than 45 minutes on a continuous basis may not be a habit you can keep.

Do I need to start an IMS session with a question?

Remember, as the Mind Accelerator states, you can use the IMS without a question and simply describe the images to stimulate improvements in your mental functioning. OR you can use the IMS to create ideas and search for answers to your questions (which would require you to begin with a question and evaluate your IMS session).

Advanced users tend to primarily use the IMS to answer questions and arrive at solutions, as accordance with the law of diminishing returns, the incremental improvements in intelligence and mental ability taper off over time.

IMS sessions and lucid dreaming

"As you go through an IMS session, can it turn into a sort of lucid dream, where you create a world around yourself by describing it, interacting with it, and doing anything you really want in this world? I sometimes feel as if I'm in the Matrix like the movie, and I just take off flying and doing things that I can only do in my mind: it is extremely fun."

A: If you are not using the IMS to discover a solution, idea, or answer to a problem, and are purely using the IMS for mental growth, powerful gains in creativity and the sheer pleasure of it, than guiding the session in the way you are doing so is a great way to develop your conscious-subconscious bond, and attain massive gains in IQ and other areas of intelligence.

How do I know that my brain is correctly falling into the alpha state?

So, the real way to prove to yourself that you're in the Alpha State, is to not clock your own brainwave speed (although it would be cool if you could without expensive medical instruments), but take action while you are in this state of "relaxation". You will feel the edge this relaxing state grants you as you work through the strategies detailed through out The Mind Accelerator, and over time, you will begin to recognize the critical differences between the Beta and Alpha State.

Do you feel that you are unable to enter the Alpha state? iMusic for Mind Acceleration is ultimate solution for entering the Alpha state.

When using the Infinity Mind System, are the images you're supposed to visualize vivid mental images like the images you see in front of you everyday, or are they supposed to be faint mental images, like those you see in daydreams or during dreams as you sleep?

live listener and the IMS

"I haven't had a live listener while I practice the IMS, and I've also avoided the expense of acquiring a tape recorder. Is this hurting my results? Is a live listener or a tape recorder really necessary?"

As it says in the book, a live listener is crucial. Whether you have someone sitting beside you, or a tape recorder, having something to describe what you see is important in both realzing greater brain power and decoding the messages hidden within the visuals your mind creates.

I am using a tape recorder during my IMS sessions. Should I go listen to the recordings of my sessions afterwards?

If you are approaching the IMS session in search for answers or ideas, re-listening to your IMS session and creating mind maps from its content will provide you with insights and concepts that will give you understanding and insight on your problem, or whatever situation you may be facing.

Each IMS session is extremely symbolic of your beliefs, perspectives and life. It is always interesting and enjoyable to go through your recordings, and gain whatever information you may find there. It is in a state of reflection when you are most likely to find the missing piece to your puzzle.

After the 12 Day Program

The Research behind The Mind Accelerator

Mind Accelerator | Study

METHODOLOGY: During Q1 & Q2 2003, each individual recruited for the beta trial first explored www.themindaccelerator.com, and then received the MA with no special instruction, schedule, or notice that outlined when the follow-up analysis would take place. They received only the book and the information it contained. Approximately 3 months after each participant received the MA, each participant was contacted to transcribe their experience, the change they encountered and to answer various specific questions.

OBJECTIVE: To conclusively determine exactly how effective The Mind Accelerator is as a tool for psychological change, and to what degree it can cause change within the human mental system of the user, with time, frequency and degree of appliance serving as variables. 

STUDY RESULTS:

65.89 percent of the total study participants, and 100 percent of those who completed the book according to the 12 day program, actively participated in the exercises and strategies, and continued to use the Key Success Strategies at a 50% or better execution rate and frequency thereafter, experienced what our research team labeled a revolutionary mental leap.

Such a leap is characterized by a significant change in ability and behaviour, onset by a radical transformation in key components of the subconscious mind such as self-concept, expectations and beliefs. Major improvement in intellectual power and IQ, as well stark increases in reading speed and ability are also distinguishing of this leap. Upward fluxes in reading speed from 50-750 wpm to 25,000-55,000 wpm and improved reading comprehension and ability to amass knowledge, were standard amongst those that realized this high level of growth.

With participants being drawn from all 6 continents of the globe, the only trait or characteristic common to these 626 individuals was their discipline and commitment to take continuous strategy-aided-habitual-action as outlined in the MA, and a desire for more.

Each of the 626 successful participants created strong upward momentum for themselves, resulting in compounding growth. As their skills, abilities, and performance levels improved, the real world results they reaped grew in magnitude and occurrences of success and accomplishment quickly increased.

With time, these individuals will steadily emerge as the leaders in their respective fields, rise to the top of any class, group or team they become part of, and become an exemplary example and model of super-achievement and world-class leadership for anyone they interact with.

*97.1 percent of all study participants achieved positive results, varying from small growth to a revolutionary mental leap.

*Of the 950 total study participants, only 27 failed to yield positive growth or change. Why? Because they didn't open the book.

*Expert support and help was not available for test participants, giving you reason to expect even better results.

COMPILED DATA:

1. Failed to open the book: 29

- No detectable mental growth/change: 27
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change: 2
- Medium positive mental growth/change:
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

2. Opened book, didn't finish Phase 1: 37

- No detectable mental growth/change: 7
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change: 30
- Medium positive mental growth/change:
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

3. Finished Phase 1 but didn't go beyond that: 44

Actively took part in each exercise and strategy and proceeded through the program as outlined in the book up until the point they stopped: 4
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change:
- Medium positive mental growth/change: 4
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

Did not: 40
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change: 27
- Medium positive mental growth/change: 13
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

4. Finished Phase 1 & 2 but didn't go beyond that: 32

Actively took part in each exercise and strategy and proceeded through the program as outlined in the book up until the point they stopped: 10
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change:
- Medium positive mental growth/change:
- Strong positive mental growth/change: 10
- Revolutionary mental leap:

Did not: 22
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change: 10
- Medium positive mental growth/change: 12
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

5. Finished Phase 1,2 & 3 but didn't go beyond that: 15

Actively took part in each exercise and strategy and proceeded through the program as outlined in the book up until the point they stopped: 6
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change:
- Medium positive mental growth/change:
- Strong positive mental growth/change: 6
- Revolutionary mental leap:

Did not: 9
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change: 5
- Medium positive mental growth/change: 4
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap:

6. Finished the entire book: 793

Actively took part in each exercise and strategy and proceeded through the program as outlined in the book up until the end, and continued to use the Key Success Strategies as explained, for more than 50% of the days thereafter: 626
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change:
- Medium positive mental growth/change:
- Strong positive mental growth/change:
- Revolutionary mental leap: 626

Did not: 167
- No detectable mental growth/change:
- Little or Small positive mental growth/change:
- Medium positive mental growth/change: 72
- Strong positive mental growth/change: 87
- Revolutionary mental leap: 8

*By developing a qualitative description of what each level of change and growth encapsulates, applying specific testing models and using several methodologies for mental testing, we were able to quantify each study participants results.

STUDY: Self-concept, Hope and Achievement:A look at the relationship between the individual self-concept, level of hope, and academic achievement

 Self-concept, Hope and Achievement:A look at the relationship between the individual self-concept, level of hope, and academic achievement
Teresa L. Hunt
Missouri Western State College
May 1, 1997

This study provides a supportive and expounding structure to The Mind Accelerator.

ABSTRACT

A review of the available literature reveals a link between factors of an individual's self-concept, their level of hope and achievement. The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (Fibel & Hale, 1978) represents a reliable measure of generalized expectancy that is defined as the expectancy held by an individual that he/she will be able to achieve desired goals. This scale is a useful tool for the study of aspects in the development of and influences on an individual's expectancy, and the impact of a generalized expectancy for success on goal-oriented behaviors. Degrees of hope can have an impact on an individual's confidence in his or her ability to perform a behavior that will lead to a goal. These levels can be measured using the Hope Scale (Snyder, et al.). This study uses these two scales in conjunction with a measure of achievement among first and second year college students (GPA). Although this particular study does not indicate a significant correlation among the variables; possible improvements could be to increase the sample size, include some upper level classes, and to distribute the survey at a community or vocational college as well.

INTRODUCTION

Do the factors that contribute to the development of an individual's self-concept have an impact on their level of hope and future success? A review of the available literature reveals a link between several aspects. In a study of generalized expectancy (Fibel & Hale, 1978) a scale was developed that allowed researchers to control for individual differences in expectancies for success. The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale represents a reliable measure of generalized expectancy that is defined as the expectancy held by an individual that he/she will be able to achieve desired goals. This scale is a useful tool for the study of aspects in the development of and influences on an individual's expectancy, and the impact of a generalized expectancy for success on goal-oriented behaviors.

With the onset of adolescence there is an increase of elements that affect the shaping of goals and goal-oriented behaviors (Jarvinen & Nicholls, 1996). It is at this time that an individual begins to spend less amounts of time with their family and more time with their peers. The satisfaction with these peer relationships is important to the development of a good self-concept. Adolescents are more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem and academic achievement if they are accepted by their peers. Those who are less accepted tend to be at greater risk for problems in later social and psychological functioning (Parker & Asher, 1987). Academic performance and educational aspirations have also been shown to have an affect on self-concept (Richman, Clark, & Brown, 1985).

Difficulties during adolescence can result in adolescent depression, however it is known that the majority of teens are able to get through this period of development with a positive sense of personal identity (Powers, Hauser, & Kilner, 1989). It is a phase of life characterized by change in every aspect of individual development, from social to biological. Negative reactions to the normal onset of puberty can have a serious effect on the perceived body image and self-esteem of a young adolescent. Adolescents who report having anxiety and depression along with other symptoms like feeling sad, lonely and worthless are considered to have what is known as depressive syndrome (Peterson, et al., 1993). For a large number of the teens who experience depressive symptoms, the feeling may just be a temporary response to the changes they are experiencing. Recent literature has emphasized the need for parents, teachers and counselors to pay close attention to these symptoms, so that help can be offered in the early stages, which can lessen the chances of more serious problems in the future (Taylor, Miller, & Moltz, 1991). Although there may be existing counseling services available, many students are not made aware of them or simply do not ask for help (Culp, Clyman, & Culp, 1995).

One of the core characteristics of depression is a sense of hopelessness (Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974). Snyder, et al. defines hope as a cognitive set that is composed of agency (goal-directed determination) , and pathways (planning of ways to meet goals). These components add up to the capacity for subjective evaluation of goal-related capabilities. There are individual differences of cognitive and emotional dispositions involving degrees of hope that can be measured using the Hope Scale. The components of this hope model are similar in comparison to the motivational theory of efficacy and outcome expectancies (Bandura, 1977, 1982); where efficacy refers to an individual's confidence in his or her ability to perform a behavior that will lead to a desired outcome (agency), and outcome refers to the belief that a certain behavior will produce a certain outcome (pathways). Higher levels of hope lead to greater perceptions of agency and pathways as people consider their goals. When compared with the specific area of college academic achievement, the results suggest that success in achievement appears to be related to higher hope (Snyder, et al.).

The goal of this study is to determine the relationship between self-concept developed in adolescence, level of hope and self-satisfaction with academic achievement among college students. There is an additional interest in the effects of adolescent depression and low self-esteem on goal direction and motivation in college; with hope that the findings may generate interest in the development of more programs for adolescents aimed at minimizing the stress involved with the factors that shape the individual self-concept.

Subjects

The participants consisted of 69 students from introductory psychology classes, 20 males and 49 females.

Materials

The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (GESS) (Fibel & Hale, 1978) was used, in conjunction with the Hope Scale (Snyder, et al., 1991), as measures of individual self-concept and level of hope. Also included was the demographic information of age and sex, along with grade point average, as a measure of achievement.

Procedure

Participants were asked to read the instructions and complete the survey. This was conducted by myself, with the cooperation of the instructors. All information was kept confidential.

RESULTS

I first conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the GESS and the Hope Scale. Results were r (68) = -.377, p < .01, which was a significant negative correlation.
I then conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the GESS and GPA. Results were r (68) = -.103, p > .01, which was not significant.

Finally, I conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the Hope Scale and GPA. Results were r (68) =.127, p > .01, which was also not significant.

DISCUSSION

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between factors of self-concept, levels of hope and academic achievement among college students. Research has shown that these elements are often interrelated. The existence of depression can also have an effect on achievement, and may be reflected in the scores of the scales that were used. Although this particular study did not indicate a significant correlation among the variables, future replications may generate different outcomes. One puzzling item was the negative value that resulted from the comparison between the factors of the GESS and the Hope Scale, which was probably due to a mistake in the way in which they were scored. The effectiveness of the study was inherently limited by the population from which the sample was obtained, from introductory classes, which are made up of mostly first or second year college students. Possible improvements could be to increase the sample size, include some upper level classes, and to distribute the survey at a community or vocational college as well. This would produce a greater control for the individual differences in self-concept and grade point average.

STUDY: Self-concepts and Self-concept Change

 Self-concepts and Self-concept Change:
A Status Dynamic Approach
Raymond M. Bergner, Ph.D., Illinois State University
James R. Holmes, Ph.D., University of West Florida Counseling Center

 This study concludes that changing and enacting improvement in ones self-concept will have a profound effect on their life and style of life-- a proven principle that accounts for The Mind Accelerator's effectiveness as a human change agent.

ABSTRACT

In this article, a new formulation of the self-concept and of self-concept change is presented. The article comprises the following parts: (a) a status dynamic conceptualization of the self-concept; (b) a delineation of the self-concept's many implications for the quality of person's lives; (c) an analysis of why self-concepts tend not to change in the face of disconfirming evidence; (d) some logical and empirical justifications for preferring the present formulation to existing alternatives; and (e) a presentation of some core therapeutic approaches to modifying self-concepts.

"The term stigma, then, will be used to refer to an attribute that is deeply discrediting, but it should be seen that a language of relationships, not attributes, is really needed."
Erving Goffman (1963, p. 3)

This article introduces a new formulation of the self-concept and of self-concept change. Conceiving the self-concept as a single causal/explanatory source lying at the heart of a wide array of many client's problems in living, the formulation illustrates how changes in it will result in profound and pervasive changes in the quality of these persons's lives. Further, it explains in a parsimonious fashion the self-concept's notorious resistance to change in the face of seemingly disconfirming facts. Finally, the formulation provides the logical basis for new and very powerful forms of intervention to change the self-concept, which forms

are described in the final section of the paper.

The present formulation, which is part of a larger conceptual system known as Descriptive Psychology (Ossorio, 1978, 1981, 1985), will be discussed in two major sections. In the first of these, the nature of the self-concept, its many critical implications for our client's wellbeing, and some empirical and logical justifications for preferring the present formulation to existing alternatives, will be presented. In the second, therapeutic interventions for altering the self-concept will be related.

The Self-concept and Its Implications
Nature of the Self-Concept

On the present account, an individual's self-concept is conceived as that individual's summary formulation of his or her status. (Ossorio, 1978; 1998). This conception differs significantly from traditional ones in which the self-concept is universally considered to be a kind of organized informational summary of perceived facts about oneself, including such things as one's traits, values, social roles, interests, physical characteristics, and personal history (James, 1890; Snygg & Combs, 1949; Rogers, 1959; Wylie, 1968; Kihlstrom & Klein, 1994; Baumeister, 1995). For this reason, and because the notion of "status" will be unfamiliar to most readers, this section will be devoted to explaining the present conception.

A helpful means for making the transition from thinking in informational summary terms to thinking in status terms is to consider what we might naturally say to a child if we were teaching her the game of chess. Suppose that we have a board set up, the pieces arrayed in a midgame situation, and we are explaining what a "knight" is. In doing so, it is highly unlikely that we would use an informational summary approach, which would include telling her such things as that our knights were made of onyx, weighed 2 ounces, were forty years old, and were made in . Rather, we would provide her with information that has to do with the knight's place or position in the total scheme of things. Thus, we would describe what a knight is by informing her of its relationships to the other pieces in the game (e.g., its ability to capture them, to block their movements, to move vis-a-vis them only in a certain distinctive fashion, etc.). Further, looking at any given knight's position relative to other pieces in the game situation displayed, we would help her to understand its current strategic importance. The crucial point here is that our thinking about the knight, indeed our thinking about what it is to be a knight, is quintessentially relational or positional in nature. When we have completed our description, what we have given our child is a summary formulation of the knight's status---its overall place in the scheme of things---not an informational summary of many different kinds of facts about knights.

Returning from chess pieces to persons, the status dynamic view maintains that the self-concept is most usefully identified, not with an organized summary of myriad perceived facts about oneself, but with one's summary formulation of one's status. That is to say, it is one's overall conception of one's place or position in relation to all of the elements in one's world, including oneself. In a simple and humorous, yet illuminating, illustration of this notion, cartoon character Charlie Brown once lamented that he was unable to initiate a relationship with a little girl on the playground because "I'm a nothing and she's a something."He then went on to relate that, if he were a "something," or she a "nothing," he could pursue her, but that, since "nothings" cannot hope to succeed with "somethings," he could not act. In this example, Charlie provides us with a simplified illustration of the self-concept as a summary formulation of one's status ("nothing" existing in a world comprised of "somethings" and "nothings"); and illustrates how what is fundamental about self-concepts is not that they are informational summaries of myriad facts about oneself, but that they place one somewhere in the scheme of things.

Self-concept Delimits One's Behavioral Possibilities

A person's self-concept, by virtue of it being a summary formulation of his or her status, is in the bargain a summary formulation of his or her perceived behavioral possibilities, and of the limits on these (Ossorio, 1978, 1982; Roberts, 1985). To pursue our chess analogy, when we have given a summary formulation of the status of a given knight by virtue both of its being a knight and its location vis-a-vis other pieces in an actual game, we have simultaneously formulated everything that this piece can do and cannot do at this point in the game. When Charlie Brown makes a summary appraisal of his own status as that of a "nothing in a world of somethings," we see that he has simultaneously appraised his behavioral possibilities and the limits on these.

One's self-concept sets limits on one's behavioral possibilities in several ways. The first of these, as captured in Charlie Brown's lament, is that, by virtue of one's self-assigned-status, one may appraise oneself as ineligible for many forms of valued life participation. When one considers certain commonly encountered, global, self-assigned statuses such as "unlovable," "irrational," "inadequate," "incompetent," "worthless," or "inferior," one can easily see that, by virtue of their ascription, persons have declared themselves ineligible for various forms of participation in life. To believe oneself "unlovable," for example, is to appraise oneself as ineligible for the love of another person. To believe oneself "irrational" is to appraise oneself as ineligible to render logical, well-grounded judgments and decisions, a perceived ineligibility that is vast in its behavioral implications.

A second limitation imposed by a person's self-concept is captured well in the expression: "I could never do that and still be me." Here, individuals are bound by self-concept in such a way that, being who they take themselves to be, the action in question is unthinkable as something they would or could do. In their minds, it would so violate who they are that, should they do it, they could no longer take themselves to be the same person, but would be forced to see themselves as a different (and usually distinctly lesser) person (Ossorio, 1976; cf. Rogers, 1959) . In general, this constraint serves as a force for social good insofar as for most people antisocial acts such as child abuse or murder are "unthinkable" or "something I just could never do." However, at other times, this constraint proves debilitating in people's lives because crucially needed actions have become for them such unthinkables (e.g., leaving a destructive relationship, or defending their rights in an assertive and forceful manner).

A third and final type of limitation imposed by the self-concept is on what a person will take to be the case about the world. Essentially, persons will "read" the world in ways that are in keeping with their self-concepts. For them, this will be "just the way the world is." For example, one client, when urged to look at some positive things about himself, told his therapist that "You don't seem to understand; the deep-down bedrock truth about me is that I am a complete and utter a--hole." From the point of view of this client, given who he was, the therapist's favorable comments could only be read as a case of misunderstanding. For this same client, minor criticisms from his wife simply "were" emotional abandonments, and praise from his employees simply "was" ill-motivated, deceitful flattery. To have a self-concept is, in the end, not just to have a certain appraisal of oneself--it is to live in a certain world.

Self-concept Influences How It is Deemed Appropriate to Act

In addition to restricting the behavioral possibilities of persons, the self-concept has important positive implications for how such persons will deem it appropriate to act. An old expression in the American culture is that of persons "knowing their place." Often used with reference to individuals in disadvantageous social positions, the expression indicates that the person in question understands his or her position vis-a-vis others and what it calls for in terms of behavior towards them, and acts accordingly. The expression, "knowing one's place," captures well certain behavioral implications of the self-concept when viewed as one's summary formulation of one's place or status. Clinically, we observe that persons whose self-concept is that of "lowly nothing" will often express this interpersonally by behaving in ways that are self-effacing, deferential, nonassertive, and even servile. In contrast, others, whose conception of themselves is that they are "special persons" (Raimy, 1975), will frequently express this with behavior that is arrogant, demanding, presumptuous, condescending, and heedless of the desires and rights of these others.

An important special case of the self-concept determining how it is appropriate to act concerns the matter of how persons treat themselves. Depending on the status one assigns to oneself, one may judge it appropriate to do such things as continually criticize oneself for one's many failings, disregard oneself, doubt the soundness of one's own judgments, engage in continual efforts to transform oneself from an unacceptable human being into an acceptable one, or even in extreme cases to execute oneself.

Self-concept Resists Empirical Disconfirmation

An empirically well-documented fact about the self-concept is that it possesses a curious resistance to change in the face of apparently disconfirming facts (Baumeister, 1995; Ossorio, 1978; Swann, 1992). A man continues to believe himself to be inferior despite what others view as compelling evidence to the contrary, and does so even when this evidence consists of facts that he himself admits are veridical. A woman believes herself selfish despite the many factual counterinstances posed by her reassuring friends. World renowned musicians and actors, despite years of glowing reviews from critics, continue to believe that they will surely fail and disgrace themselves the next time they go on stage.

On the status dynamic view, the self-concepts' imperviousness to seemingly contradictory factual input is explained by the hypothesis that the self-concept does not function as an informational entity, but as a positional one, and by noting the way that positional conceptions function vis-a-vis factual input (Ossorio, 1978, 1998). Essentially, so long as the ascription or assignment of a status (position) to something does not change, there is no way for any new fact to be disconfirming of that status. Indeed, in such a situation, there are no disconfirming facts. To illustrate this point by way of a simple nonclinical example, if I know that Tom's position on the baseball team is that of "pitcher," no fact that I discover about his behavior or accomplishments as a player will disconfirm my belief that he is a pitcher. The most that any such fact (e.g., that he bats .300, or that he does not possess a particularly strong throwing arm) might do is to apprise me of something that I find quite surprising for someone in his position. Moving in a more clinical direction, if I am a bigot, and I have assigned to some outgroup the status of "inferior," I may realistically perceive the impressive accomplishments of members of that outgroup but wind up thinking only that "some of them are surprisingly talented...but of course they're still inferior." Finally, if my self-assigned status (self-concept) is that I am an "uncaring" person, and I perform a caring and thoughtful act (e.g., I send a condolence card to a friend who has lost a loved one), for me this will not count as evidence that I was wrong about who I am. Rather, I will tend to regard it as an uncharacteristic (or questionably motivated, or merely socially obligatory, etc.) thing for an uncaring person like me to do. In the end, the important general truth here is that status takes precedence over fact (Ossorio, 1978, 1998).

Further Barriers to Self-concept Change

In most cases involving problems of self-concept, the origins of the problem lie in the statuses that clients were assigned when they were very young by their families, peers, school personnel, and others (cf. Koestner, Zuroff, & Powers, 1991; Swann, 1992). Parents, for example, may have assigned them statuses as various as "bad through and through," "mommy and daddy's perfect angel," or "our emotionally disturbed child," which statuses may have varied greatly in the degree to which they miscast the child. Each of these statuses carried with it certain ways that the child was to be regarded and treated, as well as a place or a part in the family drama that the child was to carry out (cf. Bowen, 1978, on "family projection process"; and Hoffman, 1981, on "typecasting").

For the most part, children tend to unreflectively accept the statuses that they have been assigned by important others (Marshall, 1993). Unfortunately, by the time they have acquired the sorts of observational and critical powers that might enable them to evaluate and question these statuses, they already have well-established self-concepts. Thus, for a considerable period of time, they have been operating from within a formulation of self-in-relation-to-world, which formulation has long been an unquestioned given powerfully determining how they saw themselves and their worlds, how they acted, how they restricted themselves, how they viewed events, and more. Furthermore, they have with some frequency incorporated certain attributes into their self-concepts (e.g., "irrational," "stupid," "crazy") that are such that they have disqualified themselves as persons who are competent to rethink and redecide their status. Finally, in many cases, they may find themselves unable to negotiate their status with important others (e.g., to effectively dispute the family's or the spouse's view of them as "irrationally emotional") (Kirsch, 1982). For all of these reasons, the effects of parents and others assigning negative statuses to children can be both devastating and permanent.

Despite this rather discouraging picture, clients nonetheless occupy a position of power, greater or lesser depending on the individual, from which to reconsider and to change their self-concepts. The critical fact here is that, in the last analysis, the self-concept is by definition self-assigned--is one's own conception of oneself. While individuals may in most cases have had little say in its formation, they are now in every case persons who are accepting the statuses assigned by others, and assigning them to themselves. As implied in Eleanor Roosevelt's assertion that "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent"(Bright, 1988, p. 159), they retain the critical power, at times precious small, to effectively dissent from and to revise the debilitating statuses that have been assigned to them by others.

Advantages of the Present Formulation

The present conception of the self-concept conveys a number of important advantages over traditional informational summary accounts. Foremost among these are the following.

Parsimonious account of resistance to change. As noted previously, abundant empirical evidence supports the contention that the self-concept is resistant to change in the face of seemingly disconfirming empirical evidence (Baumeister, 1995; Swann, 1992). If the self-concept is conceived as an organized summary of perceived facts about oneself, it becomes difficult to see how new information that is recognized by the person, and that is inconsistent with his or her current conception of self, does not result in self-concept change. Traditionally, the way out of dilemmas involving inconsistent factual information has been to posit ego-defensive mechanisms and biases that result in persons either failing to register negative evidence about themselves at all, or distorting such evidence so as to render it non-injurious to self (e.g., Baumeister, 1995; A. Freud, 1936/1966, p. 109; Greenwald, 1992; Raskin & Rogers, 1995). However, such accounts encounter several serious problems. First of all, some of them entail positing unobservable and highly questionable censoring mechanisms that somehow review all facts, decide if their level of threat to the self is tolerable, and if not repress or distort them. Second, all such accounts have difficulty accomodating the frequent, highly clinically significant, cases where the disconfirming facts in question are positive, fully recognized, and acknowledged as veridical by the individual ("Yes, I know that I spend countless hours doing things for my children, husband, and others, but I still feel like I am a selfish, narcissistic person"). Third, all such accounts require a commitment to a view of persons as inherently irrational (i.e., as creatures ineluctably caused to deny or distort reality in light of their needs), a position that is enormously undermining to the whole enterprise of science as a rational enterprise since presumably scientists, as persons, are not exempt from such reality-distorting inevitabilities (Ossorio, 1978). The formulation of self-concept as summary formulation of one's status, as demonstrated above, explains the phenomenon of resistance to change more parsimoniously, does so without mysterious mental mechanisms, easily accomodates the case where such resistance occurs in the face of positive and fully recognized information, and accomplishes all of this without any commitment to a view of persons as inherently irrational.

Ties together a wide range of phenomena. The present account of the self-concept ties together a wide variety of observed empirical phenomena. As documented above, it explains restrictions on individual's behavioral possibilities, held conceptions of how it is appropriate to act, ways of viewing the world, the binding effects of the self-concept on changes in itself, and the resistance of self-concepts to change in the face of what would seem disconfirming evidence. From a pragmatic clinical standpoint, these many linkages bring home an important point for the efficient and powerful conduct of psychotherapy: the self-concept is a "linchpin" factor (Bergner, 1998), i.e., a single causal/explanatory source lying at the heart of a wide array of factors crucial to the quality of client's lives. Changes in it may therefore be expected to result in changes in these many factors and thus to have a profound impact on the overall quality of these lives. With this in mind, let us turn to a presentation of some core therapeutic interventions that are heuristically suggested by the present account, and that have been employed by the authors and their colleagues to good effect for many years.

Psychotherapy: Changing Self-Concepts
In the status dynamic approach to helping persons alter their self-concepts, change is fundamentally about enabling clients to move out of the limiting, self-assigned statuses that are the source of their problems, and assigning themselves new statuses that convey far more behavior potential. To accomplish this objective, the fundamental general strategy of status dynamic therapists is to create a two-person community with their clients, assign certain statuses to them, and treat them with the utmost consistency as persons who have those statuses (Bergner, 1999). In essence, while they might employ traditional means such as cognitive restructuring, insight conveyance, or behavior rehearsal, their primary means of achieving change is that of actually placing clients in relational positions that are incompatible with the ones articulated in their self-concepts .

Since this conception of psychotherapy is a relatively novel one, the following examples, two fictional and one real, will hopefully serve to orient the reader to it. First, in the film classic "It's a Wonderful Life," the protagonist, George Bailey, holds a conception of himself as a "complete failure in life." George's "therapist" (and guardian angel), Clarence, has a rather different view. Appraising George as an invaluable positive contributor to his family, friends, and community, Clarence sets out to bring about a change in his self-concept. He does so, not by conventional therapeutic means, but by magically placing George in a new relational position, that of visitor to his small town community as it would have been had he never been born--an infinitely poorer place where people's lives are far more wretched. In essence, he places George in a position where he could not have been the failure that he takes himself to be and have made the kind of difference that in fact he has made. By this means, George comes to a new and far more positive conception of himself, his place in the world, and the significance of his entire life. Second, in the stage musical classic "Man of La Mancha," the hero Don Quixote brings about fundamental changes in the self-concept and in the life of the prostitute Aldonza when he assigns her the status of his "Dulcinea" (i.e., the elevated "lady" in whose service his knightly quests are undertaken) and steadfastly treats her accordingly. Finally, bringing this matter out of the fictional and into the real world realm of psychotherapy, the central element in the person-centered therapy of Carl Rogers (1957; Raskin & Rogers, 1995) was his assignment to all clients of the status "unconditionally acceptable person" and his subsequent, highly persistent treatment of them as such.

In this section, we will relate some of the ways in which this core idea of therapeutic status assignment may be carried out by therapists in helping their clients to alter their self-concepts (for further interventions, see Bergner, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1999). First, we will discuss the essentially a priori application of this idea in the therapeutic relationship. Second, we will discuss other, more empirically-based applications. Throughout, it may be noted that the utilization of these ideas can be undertaken in concert with other, more traditional therapeutic interventions.

The Therapeutic Relationship: Assigning A Priori Statuses

Above, we briefly considered the therapeutic work of Carl Rogers. Expanding upon this, if we view his work, not through his own person-centered lenses, but through status dynamic ones, we see Rogers as someone who assigned to all of his clients the status "unconditionally acceptable human being," not on the basis of observation, but a priori. The central element in person-centered therapy, and indeed the element cited by its practitioners as necessary and sufficient by itself to achieve therapeutic change (Raskin & Rogers, 1995; Rogers, 1957), consisted in providing a relationship in which clients, independently of the facts about their lives and persons, were genuinely regarded and treated as acceptable persons.

Where Rogers assigned one status a priori, the status dynamic approach to the therapeutic relationship advocates that therapists assign a large number of statuses on this basis (Bergner & Staggs, 1987). In status dynamic therapy, the client is regarded and treated, a priori, as a person (1) who is acceptable; (2) who makes sense; (3) whose best interests come first in the therapeutic relationship; (4) who is important and significant to the therapist; (5) who already possesses enabling strengths, knowledge, and other resources for solving problems; (6) who, given a choice between equally realistic but differentially degrading appraisals of him or her, is to be given the benefit of the doubt; and (7) who is an agent (i.e., an individual capable of entertaining behavioral options and selecting from among them, as opposed to a helpless victim of genetic, historical, environmental, or other forces).

The therapeutic policy becomes one of assigning all of these statuses a priori, and treating the client with the utmost consistency as one who has them. Thus, in this two-person community, the therapist sees to it, to the limits of his or her ability, that the client is accepted, does make sense, is significant; is given the benefit of the doubt, and so forth. In this regard, to cite an old aphorism, "actions speak louder than words." Just as the lover must go beyond merely saying "I love you," and genuinely regard and treat the other as a beloved, so the therapist must genuinely regard and treat the client in these ways--must genuinely give the client these places in his or her world--if the therapeutic relationship is to be more than an empty and ineffectual ceremony (see Bergner & Staggs, 1987, and Bergner, 1995, for detailed treatments of this approach).

Most people who come to therapy with negative self-concepts view themselves as not beingacceptable, not being someone whose interests really matter to others, not being someone with significant personal power, and so forth. Thus, to be genuinely regarded and treated in the above ways is already to have been moved to a new and more accredited position, and is a critically important part of the effort to alter the client's self-concept.

Assessment, Reformulation, and Therapeutic Status Assignment

In the status dynamic approach, the fundamental task of assessment is to determine the nature of the individual's presenting difficulty and, when the facts so indicate, the problematic formulation self-in-relation-to-world that is at the root of it (Bergner, 1999). To return once again to our Charlie Brown heuristic, we would assess Charlie's presenting concerns of depression and behavioral paralysis, and establish how these are rooted in his conception of himself as an ineligible "nothing" existing in a world of worthy "somethings."

Having assessed these matters, the next task of the therapist is that of reformulating who the client is--of reformulating the client's status within his or her world. In the optimum case, this reformulation would possess the following characteristics. First, and most fundamentally, it would expand the client's behavior potential. That is, it would take a form such that, should the client accept it, previous limitations would be diminished and new possibilities and alternatives would be opened up for him or her. Second, the reformulation would be realistic. It would be, as it was in the case of George Bailey, consistent with the facts regarding the client's actual position in the scheme of things. It would not be some implausible view that the client would find incredible or, should he or she accept it, find impossible to carry off in the real social world. Third, it would alter the significance of the client's whole life. In the optimum (if not always realized) case, the new status assignment would be one that would change the significance of the client's behavior, and even of his or her whole life, without the client doing anything different. In the case of George Bailey once again, as soon as he had accepted Clarence's status assignment, the significance of what he had been doing all along, and indeed of his entire personal history, was transformed ex post facto: he already was and had long been an invaluable contributor to his family and community. The contrast here is to therapeutic approaches that would require clients to change their behavior and/or cognitions first before success could be attributed: "Well, you are quite unassertive now, but with some assertiveness training I believe you can someday do much better." From a status dynamic point of view, it is better to provide clients with empowering actualities than it is to give them only hope for better

possibilities.

The foregoing considerations apply straightforwardly to cases where the therapist, like Clarence above, assesses the situation and sees the client in very status-enhancing ways. However, as we will see in one of our cases below, there are times when the therapist surveys the situation and finds that the client's position in the scheme of things is a far less salutary one. To illustrate our point once again with a familiar fictional example, one has only to think of the three ghosts who placed Ebenezer Scrooge in a position to see the not very flattering picture of who he had become. In such cases, the therapist, like the three ghosts, may need to assign a less socially desirable status, but nonetheless one calculated to make an immediate difference in the client's behavior potential. Such a status assignment, further, would hopefully prove transitional and would help the individual to a new and better position in the world and a corresponding conception of self.

Finally, having arrived at a reformulation of the client's status, the fundamental strategy of the status dynamic therapist is to assign the client this status, and to steadfastly treat him or her accordingly. The therapist, often in concert with traditional interventions such as imparting insight, altering maladaptive cognitions, and encouraging new behavior, engages in the powerful tactic of putting the client in a new position, and treating him or her as an occupant of that position with the utmost consistency possible. Expressed verbally, it is as if the therapist is saying to the client: "This is who you are, and I will treat you as such." Obviously, as with any approach, it is critically important for therapists to be watchful for any reactions or further information from the client that would indicate that their assessments and/or interventions have been misguided, and to make appropriate modifications if needed.

In order to convey how the status dynamic approach to modifying self-concept is implemented in actual cases, this paper concludes with two case examples.

Case #1. Sandy, a young college woman, had long appraised herself as "intellectually dull." She had acquired this view of herself in the context of being the youngest child in a family composed of rather accomplished individuals. Since the family placed a great premium on the importance of being intelligent, being "slow" was a core, and very painful, element in her self-concept, and one that had caused her to set her sights in life rather low. Growing up in her family, Sandy was always a bit behind everyone else since she was two years younger than her next youngest sibling. The family treated her as the cute, amusing, but slightly dim "baby of the family," and she came in this way to adopt such a view of herself. Sandy, however, had completed grade school with virtually all A's, and matriculated from a very competitive high school with a 3.5 grade point average. When she entered therapy, she was carrying the identical 3.5 average while taking a rather demanding curriculum at a large state university.

In the course of therapy, Sandy was asked how she squared all of the evidence from her scholastic career with her view of herself as "intellectually dull." How could she continue to look at the countless "A" and "B" grades from teachers in demanding courses and still regard herself as unintelligent? In teasing out the answer to this question, Sandy revealed many ways in which she preserved this status in the face of what would seem contradictory evidence. Confronted with an "A" grade, for example, her primary explanation was along the lines of the old saying about genius being more a matter of perspiration than of inspiration: "Isn't it amazing what an unintelligent person like me can do if I work hard enough!" On other occasions, she would explain away her success on grounds that she had been lucky, that the professor was not very demanding, that she had fortunately studied just the right things, and/or that it was her roommate's help that got her through. Finally, when Sandy occasionally did receive a bad evaluation, she viewed this simply as confirmation of her lack of intelligence. The net result of all of this was that her self-assigned status, "unintelligent person," had remained remarkably intact despite massive evidence to the contrary.

In Sandy's case, the therapist brought about change in this central aspect of her self-concept in the following manner. First, having personally assigned her the status of "intelligent individual," he helped her to see how "unintelligent" was essentially a place that she had been assigned in her family of origin, and that the facts strongly suggested that this place was assigned more on the basis of her necessarily lagging position in the family than on anything factual about her intellectual abilities. Second, in collaboration with Sandy, he teased out the picture described in the preceding paragraph of how she unwittingly preserved her status, "unintelligent," by holding fast to it as an unquestioned given, while interpreting all events in light of it. Third, in order to place her squarely in a position of power that she already occupied but didn't realize, the therapist assigned her the following homework. Having written down on an index card all of the specific ways in which she preserved her self-concept in the face of seemingly disconfirming evidence, he instructed her to go out that week and, every time she did something that seemed to require significant intelligence, she was to take the card out and say to herself: "I am an unintelligent person; this seeming discrepancy can be explained away in the following manner..." and then to check off one or more of the discounting explanations listed on the card. In implementing this exercise, Sandy was in effect consciously occupying a position that she had unconsciously occupied all along, that of one who preserved a negative status by systematically discounting a great deal of evidence. Operating from this position, she found herself increasingly unable to continue to do so and, in the end, was able to assign to herself a new status: "intelligent person."

In this case, it should be underscored, the basic intervention was not the classical cognitive one of evaluating a self-schema in light of empirical evidence (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Beck & Weishaar, 1995). Rather, it was the status dynamic one of placing the client in a new position, that of intelligent person who was actively (if unwittingly) discounting her own achievements, and of exploiting this new position to bring about fundamental change in her self-concept (Bergner, 1993).

Case #2. TJ, a man in his late forties, requested therapy initially because he had been having multiple affairs during most of his 30 year marriage, despised himself for this, but did not think he could stop. In addition to this primary concern, TJ reported others. In his job, he was in trouble much of the time because he repeatedly informed his superiors that he was completing work when in fact he was not. He was constantly in debt because he acted the role of "big spender" and "man of means" with others, when in fact he was often on the verge of bankruptcy. He had a long history of alcohol abuse, but had been sober for several years when he entered therapy. Basically, TJ lived his life with smoke and mirrors and was always just a few steps away from one crisis or another, all of his own making.

At the time of intake, TJ's basic conception of himself was that he was a "nobody masquerading as a somebody." Beneath his public displays of bravura, he saw himself as a weak man who in his countless affairs, pretenses at being a man of means, lies to his superiors, financial crises, and abuse of alcohol, had failed at everything in his life.

A man of relatively small stature who grew up in a tough neighborhood, TJ had always yearned to be a big man on the street. In his neighborhood, the model of a big man was the "made man" or professional criminal who played by his own rules, cared about little, and was afraid of nothing. While TJ did not have the size and strength to make it as a physical tough, he was able to achieve status in his neighborhood by becoming a consummate con man--someone who could talk people into doing what he wanted, who could get women to feel sorry for him and lure them to his bed, who could always get around doing what he was supposed to do, and who was very good at getting out of any trouble he might create, often by having his parents, and later his wife, clean up any messes that he made.

In the past, other therapists had tended to tell TJ what was wrong with what he did, but TJ seldom went back for more than 2 or 3 sessions. Not wanting to repeat this unsuccessful strategy, the status dynamic therapist elected to assign TJ a new status, one that both fit the central facts of TJ's life and that cast him, in certain important respects, as both successful and powerful. However, given the largely unsavory details of TJ's life, the status assigned was less like the highly positive one assigned by Clarence to George Bailey, and more like the rather negative one assigned by the three ghosts to Ebenezer Scrooge. Like the latter, further, the hope in this case was that the new status would spur positive changes in TJ and thus prove a transitional one.

The therapist's basic message to TJ was: "The way I see it, you have succeeded very well in becoming exactly who you always wanted to be: a successful con man who can deceive others into giving him what he wants, who can get all the women he wants, who derives enormous satisfactions from presenting himself as a big man and a big spender, who doesn't have to play by the rules like everyone else, who can successfully avoid the tedious, day-to-day stuff that ordinary people have to put up with--and who at the end of the day can always get away with it. You've been very successful at becoming exactly who you wanted to be, so why give it up unless you find something even better."

TJ readily accepted this status assignment--this portrayal of who he was. However, since the portrayal spoke to and satisfied only one side of his ambivalence (i.e. the part of him that had always wanted to be a successful criminal; but not the part that had destroyed his marriage, family, and career, and that experienced emptiness, self-hatred, and worthlessness), it did not take him long to become dissatisfied with the status quo. TJ soon began to ask questions like, "Well, if it makes so much sense for me to do all these things, how come I don't enjoy them anymore?" and "How come nothing and nobody means anything to me?" The therapist then began to show TJ that the most he could ever accomplish if he pursued his lifelong agenda was to become a better con man, and no matter how good a con man he became, he was likely to find it provided limited satisfaction and little significance once he proved he could get away with it. Having given TJ the status of "successful con man," the therapist in essence turned the tables on him by having him experience the emptiness of his place in the world.

If TJ wanted enjoyment and significance in his life, the answer was conceptually simple: give up being a con man and be authentic; i.e., give up impersonating someone with something to offer and be someone with something genuine to offer. At this point, the therapist, noting certain motivations and other qualities in TJ, assigned him a second and more accrediting status: that of someone who did have something genuine and valuable to offer others. Not surprisingly, getting TJ to a place where he could see that he actually had something of value to offer others, and that he had more behavior potential through being authentic than through being a con man, took a good deal of time. While the details of this effort are beyond the space limitations of the present article, two examples may serve to convey the nature of this final phase of the therapy.

TJ knew a good deal about computers and was something of a graphics expert. In the course of therapy, the therapist made it a point to ask for TJ's advice about a number of computer problems. In doing so, his objective was to assign TJ the status of "computer expert and consultant," and to treat him in this respect as someone who had a genuine, high quality contribution to make. TJ responded to this by offering his help freely and was obviously quite pleased that he was able to be helpful to the therapist. The therapist then focussed on what it was like for TJ to be in a relationship in which people could and would depend on him. This led to a series of discussions on what it would take for the therapist to trust TJ if they had met outside of therapy.

A second significant interaction had to do with the fact that TJ often ended up in situations in which he had to lie to his family or his employer. The therapist one day simply said to him, "You usually don't have to cover things up if you have clean hands." This became a motto for TJ in many of his subsequent dealings with the world. While he struggled with it, it became an important part of his formulation of who he was becoming: a person who played it straight and did not have to lie because he kept his hands clean.

Over several years time, TJ came to develop a radically different self-concept, that of someone who had something genuine and valuable to offer others, and who therefore could succeed without being a con man. As this conception developed, he began to venture into a wide range of new positions in the world. He obtained a new job that put him in a place in which he had to produce at a high level on a regular basis. He decided to try to develop a love relationship with his wife even though that meant dealing with the results of many years of betrayal and mistrust. He was able to regain the respect of his children. At last report, he and his wife are making significant strides in their relationship. He has performed exceptionally well in his job. Recently, his difficulty in managing financial responsibilities resulted in a fairly significant crisis, but he took full responsiblity for the crisis and managed to find a way to deal with it on his own.

Summary
In this article, a new formulation of the self-concept and of self-concept change has been presented. The article has included (a) a status dynamic conceptualization of the self-concept; (b) a delineation of the self-concept's many implications for the quality of person's lives; (c) an analysis of why self-concepts tend not to change in the face of disconfirming evidence; (d) some logical and empirical justifications for preferring the present formulation to existing alternatives; and (e) a presentation of some core therapeutic approaches to modifying self-concepts.

STUDY: A Self Concept Based Model of Work Motivation

A Self Concept Based Model of Work Motivation

 NANCY H. LEONARD
Assistant Professor
College of Business Administration
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Avenue Evansville, IN 47722 Phone: (812) 479-2854
Fax: (812) 479-2872

LAURA LYNN BEAUVAIS
Associate Professor
Department of Management
University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881-0802
Phone: (401) 874-4341
Fax: (401) 874-4312

RICHARD W. SCHOLL
Professor of Management Director of Graduate Programs
Department of Management
University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881-0802
Phone: (401) 874-4347
Fax: (401) 874-4312

This paper discusses the impact self-concept has on the organization and provides a scientific commentary that explains the positive impact The Mind Accelerator can bring to organizations and the people who work for them.

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces a unifying model of work motivation based on theories of self concept that have been proposed in the sociological and psychological literatures. Traditional theories of work motivation are reviewed, the model is presented, and used to link sources of motivation to organizational inducement systems.

INTRODUCTION

There is a growing realization that traditional models of motivation do not explain the diversity of behavior found in organizational settings. While research and theory building in the areas of goal setting, reward systems, leadership, and job design have advanced our understanding of organizational behavior, most of this work is built on the premise that individuals act in ways to maximize the value of exchange with the organization. In addition, some researchers have called attention to the role of dispositions and volitional processes in models of motivation (Kanfer, 1990). Others point out that we have a variety of motivation theories that have no unifying theme and are not supported well by the research (Locke & Henne 1986). In an effort to address these issues, some researchers have turned to self theory as an alternative explanation for organizational behavior. Specifically, social identity theory (Stryker, 1980, 1986; Tajfel & Turner, 1985), self presentation theory (Beach & Mitchell, 1990; Gergen, 1968; Schlenker, 1985), and self efficacy theory (Bandura, 1982, 1986), are all fundamentally rooted in the concept of self.

In this paper, we introduce a unifying model of motivation based on theories of self concept that have been proposed in the sociological and psychological literatures. We will begin by reviewing some traditional theories of motivation, specifically concentrating on their limitations with regard to external validity and generalizability across situations. Then we will present a comprehensive model that proposes the self concept as the underlying force that energizes, directs and sustains behavior across a wide variety of situations. We will discuss how the self concept influences behavior in organizations and present a typology of sources of motivation which can be used as a unifying framework based on the self concept. We will conclude with managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

WHY A SELF CONCEPT-BASED MODEL OF WORK MOTIVATION IS NEEDED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There have been a number of attempts at developing models of self concept-based motivation, but none as yet have been integrated into the mainstream of organizational research and teaching (Brief & Aldag, 1981; Gecas, 1982,1986; Korman, 1970; Schlenker, 1985; Shamir, 1991). Most organizational behavior textbooks provide only a cursory overview of self-based constructs. What is missing is a model of the self concept that clearly defines these constructs and explains how they can be integrated with traditional work motivation models. After reviewing the literature on motivation, we have determined that there are four major reasons why we need the addition of self concept-based constructs to more completely understand and predict organizational behavior. Specifically, these four reasons are: (1) the need to explain non-calculative-based work behavior; (2) the need to better account for internal sources of motivation; (3) the need to integrate dispositional and situational explanations of behavior; and (4) the need to integrate existing self-based theories in the literature.

Need to Explain Non-Calculative-Based Work Behavior. Most of our currently popular theories of work motivation assume that individuals are "rational maximizer(s) of personal utility" (Shamir, 1990, p. 39). For example, expectancy theory assumes that motivation is a result of calculatively determined probabilities associated with different levels or types of behavior and the valences of the outcomes associated with these behaviors. Equity theory may be considered calculative insofar as it assumes that people cognitively assess their own attitudes and job performance by comparing their input/outcome ratio to that of a referent other. If this ratio indicates an imbalance between inputs and rewards as compared to the referent, then inequity is produced. This inequity causes cognitive dissonance that the individual is motivated to reduce. These cognitive choice or calculative models assume that behaviors are the result of hedonistic processes (i.e., people will behave in ways that maximize positive outcomes and minimize negative outcomes).

Although research over the past twenty years in decision-making, occupational choice, and achievement motivation (see Kanfer, 1990, for a review of this literature) has provided strong support for these calculative models, they cannot account for the full range of motivated behavior. For example, these models do not explain changes in behavior across situations when expectancies and valences remain constant (Atkinson & Birch, 1970). In addition, individuals may differ in the use of expectancy and instrumentality information (Rynes & Lawler, 1983). Self theory supplements calculative models by suggesting the concept of self as a basis for non-calculative explanations of behavior.

Need to Account for Internal Sources of Motivation. There are a number of theories that attempt to capture types or sources of motivation affecting organizational members. For instance, in discussing internal and external causes of behavior, deCharms (1968) suggested the dichotomy of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation to characterize the different loci of causality. Intrinsically motivated behaviors (i.e., those behaviors that occur in the absence of external controls) are said to represent internal causality, whereas behaviors that are induced by external forces are said to represent external causality. Deci (1975) explored the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation and in doing so, tried to shed some light on the meaning of intrinsic motivation. He suggested that intrinsically motivated behaviors fall into two categories. The first category includes behaviors that individuals engage in to seek out challenging situations. These challenges represent incongruities between stimuli and comparison standards. The second category includes behaviors aimed at reducing these incongruities (i.e., overcoming challenges). Thus, intrinsically motivated behavior, according to Deci, is conceptualized as a continual process of seeking and overcoming challenges.

Another understanding of intrinsic motivation is offered by Katz and Kahn (1978). They argue that the bases of motivation can be categorized in terms of legal compliance, external rewards (i.e., instrumental satisfaction), and internalized motivation. Internalized motivation is further broken down into self-expression, derived directly from role performance and internalized values, resulting when group or organizational goals become incorporated into the value system of the individual. Etzioni (1975) takes a similar view when arguing that organizations induce involvement from their members by one of three means: alienative, calculative, or moral. Alienative and calculative involvement are explained by exchange processes. Moral involvement is more complex. According to Etzioni, there are two kinds of moral involvement, pure and social. Pure moral involvement is the result of internalization of norms, while social involvement results from sensitivity to pressures of primary groups and their members. Moral involvement is not based on expected satisfaction of needs and may even demand the denial of need satisfaction and the sacrifice of personal pleasure. For example, military personnel who serve in the armed forces demonstrate the value of serving one's country to the point of risking their lives, and the individual who works a double shift for a friend who needs the night off demonstrates the value of friendship. In these instances, the consequence of acting in line with one's internalized values is not a sense of pleasure or need fulfillment, but rather a sense of affirmation attained when the person abides by his or her moral commitments.

The above approaches are strikingly similar in that they allow for both an instrumental, or exchange basis of motivation, and an expressive basis of motivation, whether it is termed intrinsic motivation, intrinsically motivated behavior, moral involvement, or internalized motivation. This paper is concerned with clarifying our understanding of expressive motivation by integrating these different approaches in a model of the self concept.

Need to Integrate Dispositional and Situational Explanations of Behavior. Psychologists have long postulated that individual dispositions or personalities are significant determinants of behavior. The assumptions underlying this approach are that (1) there are individual differences in ways of behaving; (2) individual behavior is somewhat stable over time; and (3) individual behavior is somewhat consistent across situations (Pervin, 1975). At the other extreme is the view that behavior is determined by situational factors and that similarity in behavior results from similarity of situational circumstances. Supporting this latter view, Mischel (1968) argued that personality traits have accounted for little variance in behavior across situations. Recently, some researchers have begun to provide new evidence for the dispositional view. For example, Staw and Ross (1985) found in a longitudinal study, that job attitudes were significantly stable over a five year period and that there was significant cross-situational consistency when individuals changed occupations and/or employers. Gerhardt (1987) replicated these findings using a younger sample of both men and women and a more sophisticated methodology that controlled for job complexity. Arvey, Bouchard, Segal, and Abraham (1989) have even provided evidence for a genetic disposition in the determination of job satisfaction.

Today, most researchers have taken an interactionist view that states that behavior is a function of both environment and personality (Mitchell & James, 1989; Pervin, 1989). Specifically, these researchers are suggesting that a dynamic reciprocal interaction occurs between the person and the situation. Pervin challenges researchers to develop models that will explain how people are able to shift from situation to situation, often exhibiting different patterns of behavior, while still retaining a recognizable personality structure. To meet Pervin's challenge, the self-concept model proposed in this paper provides a way of explaining both consistency and variability in individual work behavior across situations.

Need to Integrate Existing Self-Based Theories. In recent years, a plethora of self-based theories have been proposed (Korman, 1970; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Schlenker, 1985; Shamir, 1991; Snyder & Williams, 1982). All of these theories are based on the assumption that "human beings have a fundamental need to maintain or enhance the phenomenal self" (Snyder & Williams, 1982, p. 258). Because of this fundamental need, individuals are motivated to behave in ways that are consistent with existing self-perceptions. Thus, these theories may be useful in expanding our notion of motivated behavior in the workplace.

Unfortunately, because of the different streams of research in this area, our knowledge of self theory is piecemeal in nature and highly disorganized. Further, a proliferation of terms and concepts that often overlap in meaning has resulted. What is needed is an integrative model of the self-concept that will clarify the nature of self theory constructs and organize them in a nomological net that will guide empirical research.

If self theory is to be useful to organizational researchers, it must do a number of things. First, it must provide a detailed description of the structure and content of the self concept and an understanding of how it is developed. Second, it must address how the self concept influences behavior in organizations. Third, it must explain how the self concept affects employee reactions to organizational systems that are in place to induce specific behaviors (e.g., reward systems, cultural systems, etc.). We will begin with an overview of the self concept in terms of structural components and developmental processes.

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF CONCEPT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a recent review, Markus & Wurf (1987) state that the most dramatic advances in the last decade of research on the self concept can be found in work on its structure and content. Historically, one of the major stumbling blocks to linking the self concept to behavior has been the view of the self concept as a stable, generalized, or average view of the self. More recent research in social psychology (Greenwald & Pratkanis, 1984; Schlenker, 1980) has resolved this problem by conceptualizing of the self concept as a multifaceted phenomenon composed of a set of images, schemas and prototypes (Markus & Wurf, 1987). There has been a similar movement in sociology where the self is defined in terms of multiple identities (Schlenker, 1985; Stryker, 1980). Identities include personal characteristics, features and experiences, as well as roles and social statuses. In both streams of research, authors define the self concept in terms of various self-representations. Their work indicates that some self-representations are more important than others (Schlenker, 1980, 1984); some are representations of what the self is perceived to be, versus what the self would like to be (Markus & Wurf, 1987); some are core conceptions (Gergen, 1968) or salient identities (Stryker, 1980, 1986) while others are more peripheral; and some are relatively stable (Sullivan, 1989) while others are dynamic (Markus & Wurf, 1987).

In the self concept-based model of motivation which we are proposing, one's concept of self is composed of four interrelated self-perceptions: the perceived self, the ideal self, one's self esteem, and a set of social identities. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in understanding how the self concept relates to energizing, directing and sustaining organizational behavior. Each of these self-representations will be described and their interrelationships discussed.

The Perceived Self
Most models and descriptions of the self involve elements of self perceptions; however, most are unclear as to what aspects of the self the individual holds perceptions of. One of the earliest theorists writing on the nature of the self was William James (1890). He saw the self as consisting of whatever the individual views as belonging to himself or herself, which includes a material, a social, and a spiritual self. The perceptions of the material self are those of one's own body, family, and possessions. The social self includes the views others have of the individual, and the spiritual includes perceptions of one's emotions and desires. Kihlstrom, Cantor, and their associates suggest that individuals hold perceptions of themselves in terms of traits and values (Kihlstrom & Cantor, 1984), their attributes, experiences, thoughts and actions (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1985; 1987), and their physical appearance, demographic attributes and dispositions of various sorts (Kihlstrom, Cantor, Albright, Chew, Klein & Niedenthal, 1988). Gecas (1982) asserts that the content of the self concept consists of perceptions of social and personal identities, traits, attributes, and possessions.

The model which we propose utilizes three general categories of self-perceptions which we believe incorporate most of those suggested in earlier research. These include traits, competencies and values.

Traits. Traits are labels for broad reaction tendencies and express relatively permanent patterns of behavior (Cattell, 1965). Fundamental to this definition is the assumption that people make internal attributions to individuals who demonstrate a particular behavior pattern in different situations or at different times without apparent external reasons. The more cross-situational consistency one observes, and the more external causes of behavior seem to be lacking, the more likely one would make an internal or dispositional attribution (Harvey, Kelley, & Shapiro, 1957). It is not important at this point to understand what really motivates aggressive behavior. What is important is that individuals hold a set of self perceptions regarding many different traits.

Competencies. A second element in the perceived self is competencies. Individuals hold perceptions of what skills, abilities, talents, and knowledge they possess. These can range from very specific skills, such as the ability to run a turret lathe, to more general competencies, such as the leadership skills to create and manage change.

Values. Values are defined as concepts and beliefs about desirable end states or behaviors that transcend specific situations, guide selection or evaluation of behavior and events, and are ordered by relative importance (Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990). Individuals demonstrate certain values through their speech and actions. This element of the perceived self is concerned with the set of values that the individual believes guides his or her decisions and actions.

An individual's perception of his/her attributes (i.e., traits, competencies, and values), can be describe in terms of two separate dimensions, level and strength. Level of self perception refers to the degree to which the individual perceives he/she possesses this attribute. Does the individual see himself or herself as highly introverted (trait), or a very good tennis player (competency), or a hard worker (value)? This dimension deals with the issue of where individuals see themselves, relative to their ideal selves, and is directly related to the issue of high and low self esteem. (The components of ideal self and self esteem will be described shortly.)

When determining the level of an attribute, individuals use two types of evaluative frames of reference. An ordinal standard or frame of reference is used when the individual rates or compares himself or herself to others (i.e., how good is he or she relative to others). To be first or the best is the ultimate criterion when using this type of standard. An individual may also use a fixed standard, whereby he/she rates or evaluates attributes against a goal or predetermined metric or criterion (i.e., to earn a bachelors' degree). This may take the form of reaching a set of internalized goals or timetables.

The second dimension of the perceived self is the strength of the perception, and refers to how strongly the individual holds the perception of attribute level. Individuals with strong perceived selves are relatively firm in their perceptions of an attribute level. These strong perceptions of self are a result of consistent and clear feedback regarding the attribute. A weak perceived self is reflected in individuals who are relatively unsure of an attribute level, often resulting from conflicting or ambiguous feedback regarding the attribute. How these self perceptions develop is explained next.

Development of Perceived Self. Self perceptions are determined through interaction with one's environment. Processes of attitude formation, attitude change, (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) and self attribution (Jones, 1990) all contribute to the development of a set of self perceptions. As indicated above, when feedback is unambiguous, plentiful, and consistent, a set of strongly held self perceptions is formed. Ambiguous, lacking, or inconsistent feedback results in weakly held self perceptions.

Two primary forms of information one receives about the self from the environment come in the form of task feedback and social feedback. Task feedback comes directly from observation of the results of one's efforts on different task activities. Completion of a project, accomplishment of a goal, and winning a competition are all forms of task feedback. Social feedback is probably the most prevalent type of feedback one receives regarding his or her traits, competencies, and values. It is the feedback one derives from the behavior and communication, verbal and non-verbal, of others.

The link between social feedback and the perceived self is grounded in the process of attribution. As people seek to understand the behavior of a particular individual, they make certain attributions as to the causes of patterns of behavior they observe in that individual (Jones & Nisbitt, 1971; Kelley, 1971). Under certain conditions, observers make internal or dispositional attributions, mostly in the form of traits, competencies, or values, and these internal attributions become the basis for self perceptions. These attributions are communicated to the person in a number of ways, both directly and indirectly. Attributions may be communicated directly in the form of written or oral evaluation, praise, reprimand, or recognition. For example, direct feedback may be regarding a trait (you're too aggressive), a competency (you're an excellent teacher), or a value (you're an honest person). In addition, attributions are communicated indirectly in a number of ways. An evaluative statement regarding a project or task for which the individual feels responsible is an example of indirect social feedback. Other types of indirect social feedback come in the form of inclusion or non-inclusion of the individual by group members in their activities, the bestowing of positions of status on the individual, and when others accept or fail to accept an individual's influence by acting or failing to act on his or her advice, recommendations, or orders. It is important to note that the feedback provider does not have to intend to provide feedback for the feedback receiver to interpret an action as social feedback.

The Ideal Self
While the perceived self describes the set of perceptions individuals hold of their actual traits, competencies, and values, the ideal self represents the set of traits, competencies and values an individual would like to possess (Rogers, 1959). By possess we mean that the individual desires to believe that he/she actually has a particular trait, competency, or value, or wants others to believe that the individual has the trait, competency, or value. This view of ideal self is similar to Schlenker's (1985) "idealized image" (i.e., the ultimate person one would like to be).

Development of the Ideal Self. In the early stages of interaction with a reference group, whether the reference group is the primary group (i.e., the family for a young child) or a secondary group (i.e., one's peers or co-workers), choices and decisions are channeled through the existing social system. As an individual interacts with the reference group, he/she receives feedback from reference group members. If the feedback is positive and unconditional, the individual will internalize the traits, competencies and values which are important to that reference group. In this case, the individual becomes inner-directed, using the internalized traits, competencies and values as a measure of his/her own successes/failures. Internalized competencies and values have been suggested as the basis of the ideal self (Higgins, Klein & Strauman, 1987) and as an internal standard for behavior (Bandura, 1986). If the individual receives negative feedback or positive but conditional feedback, the individual may not internalize or only partially internalize the traits, competencies and values of the reference group. This type of individual becomes other-directed and will either withdraw from the group or seek constant feedback from group members.

Thus, the establishment of the ideal self is determined through a mix of external, or other-directed standards, and internal, or inner-directed standards, depending on one's orientation to the world (Reisman, 1961). The ideal self of the other-directed individual is developed largely through the established norms and role expectations of reference group members. The audience for one's actions becomes the reference group, in that it is important that reference group members see the individual as possessing accepted attributes. For the inner-directed individual, the ideal self is determined largely through the development of a set of internalized goals and standards, and the individual becomes his or her own audience. Gottfredson's (1981) perspective on individual and social achievement motivation is similar to this conceptualization. This latter author asserts that in individually-oriented achievement motivation, the individual strives to achieve some internalized standards of excellence. In contrast, socially-oriented achievement motivation reflects an individual's perseverance to fulfill the expectations of significant others.

Social Identities
According to Ashforth and Mael (1989), social identification is a process by which individuals classify themselves and others into different social categories, such as "woman," "Catholic," and "nurse." This classification process serves the functions of segmenting and ordering the social environment and enabling the individual to locate or define him- or herself in that social environment. Thus, social identification provides a partial answer to the question, "Who am I?" Social identities are thus those aspects of an individual's self-concept that derive from the social categories to which he or she perceives him- or herself as belonging (Tajfel & Turner, 1985).

Development of Social Identities. Individuals establish social identities through involvement with reference groups in social situations. Reference groups provide three major functions with respect to social identities: (1) the determination of the profile of traits, competencies, and values for a particular social identity; (2) the establishment and communication of the relative value and status of various social roles or identities; and (3) are the basis of social feedback regarding one's level of these traits, competencies, and values.

Specifically, social identities link individuals to reference groups. These groups establish a set of role expectations and norms which guide the individual's behavior within each of the social identities. For example, the identity of an accountant may be associated with reserve and self control (traits), analytical ability and good memory (competencies), and honesty and free enterprise (values). Individuals who desire to be identified with the reference group will attempt to demonstrate the traits, competencies, and values associated with that identity. These aspired-to traits, competencies, and values serve as the basis for the ideal self. Once established, the attributes then reinforce the identity. The determination of the relevant set of attributes that comprise the identity is not fixed, but rather is the result of an interaction process between individuals and subgroups and members of the relevant reference group. This definition and redefinition of the identity is a constant process (Bandura, 1986; Markus & Wurf, 1987).

Individual's establish at least two types of social identities: a global identity and role-specific identities. The global identity is the identity one wishes to portray across all situations, across various roles, and to various reference groups. The global identity exists independently of any specific social identity. The reference group for the global identity includes those members of one's primary group, and the traits, competencies and values which are relevant to the individual are those which are reinforced by the individual's culture. The global identity is formed early in life, and one's family, functioning as a primary reference group, performs the three functions mentioned above.

The global identity provides a starting point for role-specific identities. As the individual matures, the control of the primary group lessens and the individual begins to establish certain role-specific social identities. Role-specific social identities are those identities established for a specific reference group or a specific social role. It is this process of selecting and "earning" the identity that acts to define one's self to various reference groups. By "earning" the identity, we are describing the process whereby the individual meets basic expectations of the reference group (either formal or informal credentialling) necessary to carry out the role.

As an individual begins to interact with reference group members in a role-specific identity, the global identity provides input to this specific identity. However, as an individual remains in a role-specific identity and receives positive feedback from group members, the role-specific identity begins to provide input to the global identity. The reference groups in these social situations (e.g., one's co-workers, friends, etc.) begin to perform the functions which were previously performed by the primary reference group. The individual is now exposed to the traits, competencies, and values which are valued by each new reference group. The identity-specific reference groups also provide the social feedback important in the development of the perceived self.

Thus, identities may be thought to exist in a hierarchy, starting with the global identity and working through role-specific identities. As reference groups become more specific, the identity becomes more specific, and thus the attributes associated with the identity become more specific. For example, an individual may identify him/herself as an academic at one level, a member of the business administration faculty at another, and a finance professor at yet another level of specificity (Stryker & Serpe, 1982). Roberts and Donahue (1994) provide empirical evidence that individuals do see themselves differently in each of their roles and, in particular, they rate the trait attributes of some roles more highly than the trait attributes of others. They also found that general self perceptions (i.e., global identity) are related to the role-specific self perceptions.

As participation in a social identity continues over time, the reference group itself becomes the basis of identification, and the success or failure of the reference group as a whole becomes a source of feedback for the individual. As defined by social identity theory (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Tajfel & Turner, 1985), social identification is the perception of oneness with or belonging-ness to a reference group. When an individual identifies with a social referenced group, he/she perceives the fate of the group as his/her own (Foote, 1951; Tolman, 1943). The more an individual identifies with a social identity, the more the individual vests his/her self concept in the identity.

Self Esteem
The self esteem is the evaluative component of the self concept (Gergen, 1971; Rosenberg, 1965). It is a function of the distance between the ideal self and the perceived self. When the perceived self matches the ideal self, self esteem is relatively high. Low self esteem occurs when the perceived self is significantly lower than the ideal self. Since the distance between the ideal and perceived self constantly varies depending on task and social feedback, self esteem is a dynamic component of the self concept and it is always in a state of change and development.

Korman (1970) suggests three types of self esteem: chronic self esteem, which is defined as a relatively persistent personality trait or dispositional state that occurs consistently across various situations; task-specific self esteem, which is one's self perception of his/her competence concerning a particular task or job; and socially-influenced self esteem, which is a function of the expectations of others. Chronic self esteem is the result of past experience and focuses on one's competencies. An individual's confidence in his/her competencies directs the individual into situations which will require the use of those competencies. Task-specific self esteem is the result of feedback which comes directly from observation of the results of one's efforts. Lastly, socially-influenced self esteem results from communication or feedback from reference group members or society as a whole, concerning the value of an identity and the individual's ability to meet the expectations of the reference group and/or society as a whole.

SUMMARY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The complete model of the self concept including the four components described above is illustrated in Figure 1. The following summarizes the structure and development of the self concept as proposed in our model:

The self concept is a relatively stable, but changeable, set of self perceptions that are developed through social interaction, and includes self perceptions, ideal selves, social identities, and self esteem.
The perceived self is comprised of a set of self cognitions regarding one's traits, competencies and values. It is developed and reinforced through social and task feedback, which results in two dimensions: level of perceptions and strength of perception. Level of perceptions refer to the degree to which an individual possesses an attribute relative to their ideal self and is expressed on a continuum from low to high. Strength of perception refers to how strongly the individual holds the perception of attribute level and is expressed on a continuum from weak to strong. The frame of reference or standard used to compare perceived and ideal self is either fixed or ordinal. The type of feedback which an individual receives from their primary group (i.e. conditional /unconditional) determines whether they use an inner- or other-directed standard to measure the ideal self.
Social identities are those aspects of the self concept that derive from social categories to which he/she perceives him/herself as be-longing. Reference groups establish the role expectations and norms which guide the individual's behavior within the social identities. Two types of social identities are established: global identity and role-specific identities. The global identity is formed early in life and is the identity one wishes to display across all situations, roles and reference groups. The global identity forms the basis for role-specific identities. Role-specific identities are those identities established for a specific reference group or social role. Global and role-specific identities are inter-active.
Self-esteem is the evaluative component of the self concept, and is a function of the distance between the ideal self and the perceived self. Three types of self-esteem are proposed: chronic, task-based and socially influenced.

Figure 1 Self Concept-Based Model of Motivation

The next section explains how the self concept provides the basis for a broader yet more parsimonious explanation of motivated behavior in organizations.

HOW THE SELF CONCEPT INFLUENCES BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The structure of the self concept may be thought of as a relatively stable set of cognitions that provide the basis for the expectancies, instrumentalities, and valences in instrumental or calculative motivation. However, there is also an expressive component of the self concept, which refers to how an individual processes information (feedback, observations, etc.) and uses the structure of the self concept to filter incoming information and translate this information into action. Much of the work in motivation relies heavily on cognitive models of behavior, and while many behaviors are the result of thought processes that are open to the individual's conscious inspection, other behaviors are the result of a process that is not entirely understood or conscious to the individual. We will refer to these acognitive processes, as the expressive component of the self concept. Both the expressive or acognitive processes, as well as the cognitive processes, are important in understanding the link between the self concept and behavior.

It is proposed that self perceptions of one's traits, competencies and values exist as knowledge structures which serve to monitor and control current experience, thought and actions. Some knowledge structures are cognitive in nature and provide data for information processing in a given social situation. These knowledge structures lead to behavioral patterns that appear stable across situations. Other knowledge structures, under certain conditions, may be inaccessible to retrieval and conscious introspection. Kihlstrom et al. (1988) call these aspects of the self, preconscious or subconscious. These acognitive knowledge structures account for individual behavior which seems to counter individual goals, or behavior which deviates from the individual's intentions and causes the individual to behave in ways that appear variable across situations. Expressive motivation is best explained by these acognitive knowledge structures.

Nisbitt and Wilson (1977) argue that people have access to (know) the products of cognitive processes but cannot access the actual workings of those processes. When applied to the self, this would suggest that people utilize the knowledge structures which are cognitive in nature to determine motivation at a calculative level, while motivation which results from acognitive knowledge structures must be inferred indirectly on the basis of behavior. Both cognitive knowledge structures and acognitive structures are often termed schema, or schemata, and provide a framework that helps the individual organize his or her world and provide meaning and structure to incoming information (Graesser, Woll, Kowalski & Smith, 1980). Schlenker (1985) refers to these self-schemata as "identities" and defines an identity as a theory or schema of an individual that describes, interrelates, and explains his or her relevant features, characteristics, and experiences. Thus, an individual's identity specifies the contents of what he/she is like, and secondly, it guides and regulates his/her subsequent experience by affecting thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and outcomes.

The major purpose of developing a model of the self concept is to provide a unitary construct that is able to explain both cognitive and acognitive motivational processes. Before linking self concept-based ideas to such motivational processes, we must first discuss what we call the sources of motivation: instrumental, intrinsic process, goal internalization, and internal and external self concept-based motivation.

SOURCES OF MOTIVATION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As indicated earlier, most motivation theorists have proposed that there are two major sources of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic (deCharms, 1968). Extrinsic motivation is that which derives from external forces and is represented in our model as instrumental sources of motivation. Our conceptualization of intrinsic motivation expands deCharm's definition of intrinsic motivation as behaviors which occur in the absence of external controls. This expansion integrates Deci's (1975) classification of intrinsic motivation as behaviors that individuals engage in to seek out challenging situations or to overcome challenges, Katz and Kahn's (1978) definition of internalized motivation as self-expression or internalized values and Etzioni's (1975) conceptualization of pure moral involvement which results from internalized values, and social moral involvement which is results from feedback from reference group members. These types of motivation are represented in our model as intrinsic process, goal internalization, and both internal and external self concept-based processes. In this section, we will discuss each of the sources of motivation in more detail.

Instrumental Motivation: Instrumental rewards are a motivating source when individuals believe that the behaviors they engage in will lead to certain outcomes such as pay, praise, etc. Rooted in the work of Barnard (1938) and March and Simon (1958), the basic assumption is that individuals and organizations constitute an exchange relationship. This is similar to Katz and Kahn's (1978) legal compliance and external rewards as bases of motivation and Etzioni's (1975) alienative and calculative involvement. Expectancy and equity theories are currently accepted models of motivation based on exchange relationships.

Intrinsic Process Motivation: Individuals are motivated by intrinsic process rewards when they perform a behavior just because it is "fun". In other words, the motivation comes from the work itself. Individuals enjoy the work and feel rewarded simply by performing the task. There are no external controls regulating the behavior (deCharmes, 1968) and behavior that is challenging (Deci, 1975) may be considered enjoyable to some people. Hackman and Oldham's (1976) job characteristics model is representative of intrinsic process motivation.

Goal Internalization: Behavior is motivated by goal internalization when the individual adopts attitudes and behaviors because their content is congruent with their value system (Kelman, 1958). Katz and Kahn (1978) term this type of motivation, internalized values, and a similar concept is suggested by Etzioni's (1975) pure moral involvement. Some researchers have examined goal internalization as one dimension of organizational commitment (Becker, 1992; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1986).

Internal Self Concept-based Motivation: Self concept motivation will be internally based when the individual is primarily inner-directed. Internal self concept motivation takes the form of the individual setting internal standards that become the basis for the ideal self. The individual tends to use fixed rather than ordinal standards of self measurement as he/she at-tempts to first, reinforce perceptions of competency, and later achieve higher levels of competency. This need for achieving higher levels of competency is similar to what McClelland (1961) refers to as a high need for achievement. The motivating force for individuals who are inner-driven and motivated by their self concept is task feedback. It is important to these individual that their efforts are vital in achieving outcomes and that their ideas and actions are instrumental in performing a job well. It is not important that others provide reinforcing feedback as is true for other-directed individuals. This process is akin to Deci's (1975) idea of intrinsic motivation as representing one's attempt to seek out and overcome challenges, and Katz and Kahn's (1978) idea of internalized motivation as self-expression derived from role performance.

External Self Concept-based Motivation: Self concept motivation is externally based when the individual is primarily other-directed. In this case, the ideal self is derived by adopting the role expectations of reference groups. The individual attempts to meet the expectations of others by behaving in ways that will elicit social feedback consistent with self perceptions. When positive task feedback is obtained, the individual finds it necessary to communicate these results to members of the reference group. The individual behaves in ways which satisfy reference group members, first to gain acceptance, and after achieving that, to gain status. These two needs, for acceptance and status, are similar to McClelland's (1961) need for affiliation and need for power. The individual continually strives to earn the acceptance and status of reference group members. This status orientation usually leads to an ordinal standard of self evaluation. This type of motivation is also similar to Etzioni's (1975) social moral involvement.

Individuals experience both internally- and externally-based self concept motivation to varying degrees. Whether or not an individual will be motivated by his or her self concept and whether the source of that motivation is internal or external, are dependent on a number of things. As discussed above, an individual may have a high or low self concept, strong or weakly held self perceptions and utilize a fixed or ordinal standard of evaluation. These characteristics lead to individual self concept types and patterns of behavior. In order to demonstrate how the proposed model of self concept-based motivation can increase our understanding of organizational behavior, we will discuss two of these types as examples.

High and weakly held self concept, outer directed, using an ordinal standard. These individuals are highly competitive and self presentation is important. They have a need to put finger prints on success and to disassociate with failure. A prime concern for these individuals is establishing blame when failure occurs or establishing credits for group successes. These individuals are status and power oriented with a strong need for external or social affirmation.
High and weakly held self concept, inner directed, using a fixed standard. These individuals set high standards for themselves. Each project is a test of their competency. These individuals seek task feedback and involve themselves in projects that test competencies and allow for this type of feedback. They must have ownership (control) over project outcomes. While they have a high self concept, this is not strongly held and thus they need to continually seek feedback through task performance.
While intrinsic, instrumental and goal internalization have been discussed extensively in previous literature, the focus of this paper is on self concept-based sources of motivation. If internal and external self concepts are valid bases of motivation distinct from the other sources, then they must be able to independently explain motivated behavior. In the following section, we will demonstrate how the self concept can enrich our understanding of traditional models of motivation. We will also discuss how the self concept directs behavior via adaptive strategies.

THE IMPACT OF SELF CONCEPT ON MOTIVATIONAL PROCESSES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The motivational processes of expectancy, attribution, cognitive dissonance, and reinforcement have all been used to explain motivation. The following section will describe how each of these motivational processes can be understood by using the self concept as a basis of motivation.

Expectancy. The concept of expectancy is the cornerstone of the cognitive school of motivation. Expectancy theory posits that individuals choose among a set of behavioral alternatives on the basis of the motivational force of each alternative. The motivational force is a multiplicative combination of expectancy (i.e., the perceived probability that effort will lead to a desired outcome), instrumentality (i.e., the probability that this outcome will lead to a desired reward), and valence (i.e., value of the reward).

In the self-concept framework, individuals cognitively assess the likelihood of given actions leading to levels and types of task and/or social feedback consistent with their self perceptions. The valence of this feedback is based on the value or values associated with the role-specific identity as determined by the reference group. In other words, individual behavior is a choice process that is engaged in to obtain feedback on traits, competencies or values which are important in relation to the ideal self.

Attribution. The attribution process is concerned with the way in which individuals attempt to determine the causes of behavior. External attributions are those that are made when the observer (self or other) of a behavioral pattern believes that the actor is responding to situational forces, such as the expectation of a bonus. Internal attributions are made when the observer believes that the behavior is the result of some disposition of the actor such as a personality trait or internal value. Since the self concept is comprised of self perceptions of traits, competencies, and values, how the individual and others assess these attributes is important in the maintenance of these self perceptions.

In this process, the individual attempts to have others attribute certain traits, competencies and value to him/herself. The traits, competencies and values which the individual wishes to have attributed to him/her are those traits, competencies and values which are valued by the reference group to which the individual aspires. In order to achieve internal attribution, individuals must behave consistently across situations and across time. For example, with respect to competencies, individuals must establish control over task/project outcomes in order to generate the type of task/social feedback which is consistent with their self perceptions. In order for success to be attributed to the competencies of oneself, the other-directed individual seeks this control so that others attribute the outcomes of the task/project to him/herself. On the other hand, inner-directed individuals seek control of the task/project outcomes for their own satisfaction.

Cognitive Dissonance. According to the theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), inconsistency between two cognitive elements, whether they represent beliefs, attitudes, or behavior, gives rise to dissonance. Assumed to be unpleasant, the presence of dissonance is said to motivate the individual to change one or more cognitive elements in an attempt to eliminate the unpleasant state. With respect to the self concept, dissonance occurs when task or social feedback differs from self perception. When dissonance occurs, individuals attempt to resolve it by utilizing one or more of the following adaptive strategies.

Adaptive Strategies. Adaptive strategies are the primary mechanisms which individuals use to deal with dissonance (i.e., conflict between their self perceptions and social or task feedback). The strategies may be cognitive, or they may take the form of acognitive scripts (i.e., patterns for behavior) which people call upon regularly when faced with disconfirming feedback. These adaptive behaviors include:

Motivation -Expending greater effort to improve the feedback in the future.
Discounting Feedback - Seeking out confirming feedback to discount the disconfirming feedback, or discrediting the source of the disconfirming feedback.
Changing Feedback - Presenting evidence, and/or arguing, that the individual's evaluation was incorrect. (I am not, you are too; am not, are too.)
Disassociation - Disassociating oneself from the outcome of a project. Publicly showing that one was not really trying so that the link between task outcome and traits, competencies and values is not likely to be made.
Association - Attempting to create a strong perceptual link between task outcome and traits, competencies and values. Linking oneself to successful or high status organizations or groups.
Reaction Formation - Convincing the world, and oneself, that a particular trait, competency or value is of no importance.
Feedback Avoidance - Avoiding the opportunity to receive feedback or to subject one's traits, competencies or values to confirmation.
Reducing Status of Others - Attempting to show that others have lower traits, competencies or values than oneself.
Reinforcement. Reinforcement theory explains behavior in terms of the reinforcing consequences of the behavior. Individuals learn to repeat certain behaviors because they are rewarded and they discontinue behaviors that are either punished or not rewarded (Thorndike, 1911). Reinforcers are the stimuli that are presented to the individual upon engaging in a behavior and serve to increase the probability of that behavior in the future.
Task and social feedback which confirm self perceptions act as basic reinforcers. The strength of the self perception is a function of the relative amount of prior reinforcement. Perceptions that are consistently reinforced become strong and lead to a strong self concept. When feedback is lacking or inconsistent, the result is a relatively weak self concept. In other words, whether the self concept is perceived to be either high or low on any trait, competency or value, it is the consistency of the feedback which determines the strength of these perceptions. The weaker the self concept, the greater the need for either task or social feedback, and thus the stronger the self concept-based motivation.

Now that we have shown how motivation can be explained by utilizing the construct of the self concept, we need to discuss how organizational systems designed to induce motivation are related to such a construct. Thus, the next section will discuss managerial implications of a self concept-based theory of motivation.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: SELF CONCEPT AND INDUCEMENT SYSTEMS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inducement systems are those design aspects of an organization which act to energize, direct, or sustain behavior within the organization. The most commonly studied inducements systems are the reward, task, managerial, and social inducement systems. The reward system involves the design and implementation of formal reward systems in the organization, such as the compensation system and the promotional system. The task inducement system is involved with the motivational aspects of job and task design. The managerial inducement system derives its motivational properties from aspects of leadership style. Finally, the motivational impact of the work group or the organization as a social system defines the social inducement system.

The Reward Inducement System. The impact of reward systems on motivation has been analyzed mainly from a cognitive /instrumental perspective (Lawler, 1971). The motivational properties of pay systems have thus been tied to the expectation that increased effort will lead to greater pay and the instrumental value of pay to the individual. Thus, instrumental motivation is the primary source of motivation that the reward system attempts to induce. From a self concept perspective, pay provides a very potent form of social feedback. It tends to reinforce one's perception of competencies and provides an important source of status. Therefore, maintenance of the external self concept is an alternative source of motivation induced by the reward system. For example, a pay raise may be a form of pure instrumental motivation, or it may provide the basis upon which the individual's self perceptions are reinforced or enhanced.

Task Inducement System. The task design literature points to autonomy, task significance, feedback, task identity, and skill variety as attributes of the task that impact motivation (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). These authors claim that work redesign provides a strategy for enhancing internal work motivation (i.e., the individual does the work because it interests or challenges him/her). In terms of the self concept, the degree of autonomy would affect an individual's opportunity to attribute outcomes to his/her traits, competencies and values. The significance of a task, and one's contribution to the success of the task, would determine how important the feedback (task for inner-directed and social for other-directed) is to traits, competencies and values that comprise a role-specific identity that may be crucial to an individual's self concept. Task feedback is a necessary ingredient in reinforcement or affirmation of self perception, and one's ability to identify with a task would affect how important that feedback is to an individual's self concept. Skill variety would provide information regarding a number of traits, competencies and values that comprise different role specific identities. Goal internalization is the motivating source when the successful completion of a task helps fulfill important organizational goals that the individual has internalized into his/her own value system. Therefore, the task system induces motivation from all four of these sources (i.e., intrinsic process, internal and external self concept, and goal internalization) in significant ways.

The Managerial Inducement System. This inducement system also energizes, directs, and sustains behavior through a number of sources. Transactional leadership style is based on exchange relationships and is best utilized with individuals who are primarily instrumentally motivated. Socio-emotional leadership style provides an important source of social feedback, and is especially effective with other-directed individuals. Task leadership style provides inner-directed individuals with important task feedback regarding traits, competencies, and values. Leadership style, in terms of conditional /unconditional feedback, impacts one's self perception as well as one's self esteem. It is affected by the employee's ability to attribute task results to him/herself, depending on whether the leader is autocratic or participative. Lastly, transformational leadership style motivates by appealing to values and interests of the organization that have been internalized by the employees.

Social Inducement System. Under this inducement system, instrumentally-motivated individuals respond to norms and sanctions enforced by the work group or organization. These norms and sanctions provide both rewards and punishments that direct and sustain behavior. With regard to the self concept, individuals are motivated to demonstrate the traits, competencies, and values which are important to the work group. Thus, the social system provides the social feedback regarding one's level of these attributes.

Figure 2 presents a matrix of the five sources of motivation and the four inducement systems, illustrating how these sources are linked to each system as described above.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this paper we have proposed a model of organizational behavior which is based on the self concept. Expanding current theories of motivation to include the self concept, in terms of self perception, an ideal self, self­esteem, and social identities, allows us to account for both situationally inconsistent behavior as well as the overall stability or cross­situational consistency of behavior. While this model is in some ways considerably more complex than existing models, it integrates an extremely large and diverse research literature in a unique way. Rather than arguing that self concept motivation replaces the calculative exchange paradigm, this model accounts for and expands our notion of motivated behavior. Most importantly, the self concept model provides a basis for explaining a wide array of phenomena typically grouped under the title of expressive or intrinsic motivation. It is our hope that it will provide a more realistic portrayal of motivation and a basis for future research.

Mind Accelerator research record

 Mind Accelerator Research Record

References / Further Reading

Here is a comprehensive, but still incomplete, bibliographical record of studies and sources that were used during development of The Mind Accelerator.

- Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and students motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 261-271.

- Anderman, L.H. (1999). Classroom goal orientation, school belonging, and social goals as predictors of students' positive and negative affect following the transition to middle
school. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 32, 89-103.

- Anderman, L.H., & Anderman, E.M. (1999). Social predictors of changes in students'
achievement goal orientations. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 21-37.

- Blau, F. & Kahn, L. (2000). Do cognitive test scores explain US wage inequality? NBER Working Paper No.8210. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

- Chirkov, V.I., & Ryan, R.M. (2001). Parent and teacher autonomy-support in Russian and U.S. adolescents: Common effects on well-being and academic motivation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 618-635.

- Collins, P. A., Wright, J. C., Anderson, D. R., Huston, A. C., Schmitt, K. L., & McElroy, E. S. (1997). Effects of early childhood media use on adolescent achievement. In J. C. Wright (Chair), The long-term effects of television viewing. Symposium sat the biennial meeting of the Society for research in Child Development, Washington, DC.

- Crane, J. (1991). The epidemic theory of ghettos and neighborhood effects on dropping out and teenage childbearing. American Journal Sociology, 96(5), 1226-59.

- Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1). Available on-line:
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n1

- Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human
behavior. New York: Plenum.

- Felgin, N. (1995). Factors contributing to the academic excellence of American Jewish and Asian students. Sociology of Education, 68, 18-30.

- Finn, J.D., & Rock, D.A. (1997). Academic success among students at risk for school failure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 221-234.

- Fitts, W. H. The Self Concept and Performance, The Dede Wallace Center, Nashville, 1972.

- Freud, A. (1966). The ego and the mechanism of defense. The writings of Anna Freud (Vol. 2, rev. ed.). New York: International Universities Press. (Originally published, 1936).

- Gamoran, A. (1996). Student achievement in public magnet, public comprehensive, and private city high schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(1), 1-18.

- Goldhaber, D. & Brewer, D. (1997). Why don't schools and teachers seem to matter? Assessing the impact of unobservables on educational productivity. The Journal of Human Resources, 32(3), 505-523.

- Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

- Greenwald, A. (1992). Unconscious cognition reclaimed. American Psychologist, 47, 766-779.

- Goyette, K., & Xie, Y. (1999). Educational expectations of Asian American youth:
Determinants and ethnic differences. Sociology of Education, 72, 22-36.

- Henderson, V.L. & Dweck, C.S. (1990). Motivation and achievement. In S.S. Feldman & G.R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 308-330). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

- Hershenson, D. B., and Lavery, G.J. Sequencing of vocational development stages: Further studies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 12, 1978, pp. 102-108.

- Jordan, W.J., & Nettles, S.M. (1999). How students invest their time out of school: Effects on school engagement, perceptions of life chances, and achievement. Report No. 29. Washington, D.C.: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk.

- Katz, D., & Kahn, R.L. (1978) The social psychology of organizations. New York: Wiley.

- Kelly, H.H. (1971). Attribution in social interaction. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.

- Kelman, H. (1958). The induction of action and attitude change. In G. Nielson (Ed.), Proceedings of the XIV International Congress of Applied Psychology: 81-110

- Marsh, H.W. (1991b). Failure of high ability schools to deliver academic benefits commensurate with their students' ability levels. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 445-480.

- Marsh, H.W., & Byrne, B.M. (1999). Causal ordering of academic self-concept and
achievement: Reanalysis of a pioneering study and revised recommendations.
Educational Psychologist, 34, 155-148.

- Marsh, H.W., & Yeung, A.S. (1997). Causal effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement: Structural equation models of longitudinal data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 41-54.

- Marsh, H.W., & Yeung, A.S. (1998). Longitudinal structural equation models of academic self concept and achievement: Gender differences in the development of math and English constructs. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 705-738.

- Marsh, H.W., Chessor, D., Craven, R., & Roche, L. (1995). The effects of gifted and talented programs on academic self-concept: The big fish strikes again. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 285-319.

- Pajares, F., & Graham, L. (1999). Self-efficacy, motivation constructs, and mathematics
performance of entering middle school students. Contemporary Educational Psychology,
24, 124-139.

- Raimy, V. (1975). Misconceptions of the self. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

- Raynor, J. O. Motivation and career striving. Motivation and Achievement, edited by J. W. Atkinson and J. O. Raynor, John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 369-387.

- Rogers, C. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 95-103.

- Rhodes, J., Grossman, J., & Resch, N. (2000). Agents of change: Pathways through which mentoring relationships influence adolescents' academic adjustment. Child Development, 71, 1662-1671.

- Schlenker, B.R. (1980). Impression manage-ment: The self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

- Schlenker, B.R. (1984). Identities, identification, and relationships. In V. Derlega (Ed.), Communication, intimacy, and close relationships. New York: Academic Press.

- Schlenker, B. R. ( 1985) Identity and selfidentification, In The self and social life. B.R. Schlenker (ed.), 1599. New York: McGraw Hill.

- Schwartz, S.H. & Bilsky, W. (1990). Toward a theory of the universal content and structure of values: Extensions and cross-cultural replications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 878-891.

- Shamir, Boas (1990). Calculations, values and identities: The sources of collective work motivation. Human Relations, 43, 313-332.

- Swann, W. (1992). Seeking "truth," finding despair: Some unhappy consequences of a negative self-concept. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 15-18.

- Teo, A., Carlson, E., Mathieu, P.J., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L.A. (1996) A prospective
longitudinal study of psychological predictors of achievement. Journal of School
Psychology, 34(3), 285-306.

- Whitehead, J. (1984). Motives for higher education: A study of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in relation to academic attainment. Cambridge Journal of Education, 14, 26-34.

Infinity Mind System | The Reinert Study

 This study conducted by Dr. Charles P. Reinert, documented the effects “image streaming”, the acting engine in the IMS, had on a test group. Read this study overview to learn about the extreme level of change the Infinity Mind System is proven to have on your mind.

ABSTRACT

A special one quarter, 4 credit hour course was developed at Southwest State University in order to begin to understand the effect of a verbally described imagery process, generically referred to as Image Streaming, on the development of intellectual skills of university students. Most of the students in the course had been provisionally admitted to the University, with a measured I.Q. slightly below 95. Pretests and posttests of analytical skills, creativity, and learning style were administered. Student's verbalization techniques were monitored during each class. Cerebral dominance was measured using eye, ear, and leg preference. Occasional feedback was solicited from students concerning health, the number of intuitive insights experienced and other factors.

Preliminary analysis of results suggests that students' analytical skills rose with increasing hours in image streaming, with the largest rates being measured for the lowest initial analytical skills. The corresponding I.Q. gain per hour of practice ranged from a high of +2.3 I.Q. points per hour to a low of -0.9 I.Q. points per hour, with a standard deviation of 0.7. There was some indication that students with the highest I.Q. gain rates tended to be left cerebral dominant, those with intermediate gain rates were mixed dominant, and those with the lowest rates were right cerebral dominant. The average gain was 0.44. Increases in "artistic" creativity were also noted, with slightly larger increases noted for students with initially higher analytical skills. These students also reported more intuitive insights than the students with initially lower analytical skills. A modest decrease in "verbal" creativity was noted, this decrease being slightly greater for those students with initially higher analytical skills. As a whole, the group moved slightly toward preferences for "active experimentation" and "concrete experience", as measured by Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. Limitations of the study are discussed.

I. INTRODUCTION

In the winter 1988-89, this author undertook a first preliminary study of the effect of "Image Streaming" upon the performance of students in a general education level physics course at Southwest State University in Marshall, MN. ("Image Streaming" is a term coined by Dr. Win Wenger, president of the Institute of Visual Thinking of Gaithersburg, MD., who developed and refined the image streaming process. Strictly speaking, image streaming applies to only the imagery//verbal description process associated when no "trigger" is used, as described later.) In this first study, students with an average I.Q. of 106 were given initial instructions for image streaming, checked twice thereafter, but otherwise did all of their image streaming out of class, on their own time, and kept their own time records.

The results of the first study, suggested a positive correlation between hours of image streaming and an increase in student's analytical skills, as measured by a simple 38 point test, the Whimbey Skills Inventory. This "WASI" test had previously been correlated with the Otis Lennon Mental Ability Test (A. Whimbey, private communication). On the basis of the correlation, the resulting I.Q. increase was found to be approximately 0.8 I.Q. point per hour of practice. It was also found that the average learning style of the students who image streamed moved toward a more "balanced" position, as measured by Kolbs Learning Style Inventory (Kolb, 1976). Later analysis of this data indicated that the I.Q. gain rate dropped somewhat with increasing initial I.Q.

In the fall of 1989, this author again attempted to measure the effect of image streaming, this time dedicating an entire 40 clock hour university course to the process. The course, remedial in nature, met for one hour each day, 4 days per week, in the same, comfortable room as used for one of the sections in the earlier study. The routine was approximately as follows: Relaxing music ("Crystal Suite" by Steven Halpern or similar) was used during each class, played by CD system through a stereophonic sound system, and at a level sufficiently low that students could easily converse above it. At the beginning.of the class, 5 minutes of simple stretching exercises were used to prepare the students for class. This was followed by a 20 minute period during which the students "image streamed": The process was one of typically closing the eyes, then describing to a partner (each in turn), the images which appeared "before the eyes". Specific instructions were given each class period that the description was to be very detailed, and that students were to attempt to describe using all five senses, and in the present tense. In approximately 1/3 of the class periods, a "trigger" was used to encourage the students to "get started"-- for example, the students were invited to describe a "beautiful garden" as the first imagery exercise. In a later session, they were invited to image receiving a "letter from NASA", with an invitation to participate in a voyage to Mars, etc. Students had the option of using the trigger or not; most did when it was suggested. Following the twenty minute period, students were asked to rate the experience on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best). They were then to spend the next fifteen minutes writing about their imagery and and then fifteen more minutes sketching (with colored markers) their imagery. Attendance at the class sessions averaged approximately 75%. As "homework", the students were to originate two more imagery sessions, done in the same way, with or without a trigger as they chose. Students kept track of their own time spent in the imagery process.

Occasionally during the ten week class, student feedback was solicited concerning physical/emotional health, attitude toward the class, and number of intuitive "insights" experienced recently.

 

II. RESULTS A. Average Results: 1. Number of students assessed: 24 2. Average time in image streaming: 20.5 hours 3. Average attendance, percent: 70% 4. Average entry level I.Q.: 94 5. Average exit level I.Q.: 103 6. Average I.Q. gain rate: 0.44 IQ pt/hour 7. Entry level creativity scares: Guilford "Decorations" 38.9 Guilford Expressional Fluency: 4.2 8. Exit level creativity scores: Guilford "Decorations" 49.6 Guilford Expressional Fluency: 3.6 9. Entry level Kolb coordinates: Active Experience - Reflective Observation: -1.2 Abstract Conceptualization - Concrete Experience: 0.8 10. Exit level Kolb coordinates: Active Experience - Reflective Observation: 1.0 Abstract Conceptualization - Concrete Experience: -0.2 B. Analysis Of Trends In an effort to sift the data for trends, the results were divided into two groups, based upon their rate of Increase of I.Q. with time. The 13 students with the highest rate of Increase with time (I.Q. gain rate) are identified as the "high 13"; those 11 students with the lowest rate of gain are identified as the "low 11" in the results following: High 13 Low 11 1. Entry level I.Q.: <90 101 2. Cerebral Dominance: 5L, 5M, 2R 5L, 2M, 2R 3. Gender distribution: 7M, 6F 8M, 3F 4. Entry level "Decorations" 35.6 42.8 Entry level "Expressional Fluency" 4.1 4.4 Entry level Kolb L.S.I.: AE-RO: -2.8 0.9 Entry level Kolb L.S.I.: AC-CE: 2.3 -1.1 5. Exit level "Decorations" 54.8 45.2 Exit level "Expressional Fluency" 3.6 3.6 Exit level Kolb L.S.I.: AE-RO: 1.0 0.9 Exit level Kolb L.S.I.: AC-CE: 1.6 -2.3 6. Average I.Q. gain rate 0.7 0.2 7. I.Q. gain rate by linear regression No correlation 0.9 pts/hour III. DISCUSSION A. IQ GAIN RATE The average rate of Increase in I.Q. as measured by the 38 point Whimbey Analytical Skills Inventory was found to be 0.44 IQ points per hour of image streaming practice. What may be more indicative, however, is a mathematical fit to the data. The functional fits of the IQ change versus hours of practice via linear regression analysis are as follows, for the two subgroups. 1."Lower 11": WASI change (WC) versus I.S. hours (ISH): WC = -12.3 + 0.62 ISH Coefficient of determination = 0.25 Coefficient of correlation = 0.50 Standard deviation = 11.1 2. "Upper 13": WC = 27.3 -- 0.41 ISH Coefficient of determination = 0.117 Coefficient of correlation = -0.34 Standard deviation = 9.86. The correlation for the "lower 11" is considered to be sufficiently, high that one can place some trust in the fit. In this case and in view of the 1.5 ratio between IQ change and WASI change, the IQ gain rate becomes slightly over 0.9 IQ points per hour of practice. Note that the coefficient of determination is not large. (A COD of 1.0 would be "perfect".) The mathematical slope of the function is 0.54, comparable to the value of 0.62 obtained with the 1988 study. The large value of the "constant", -12.3 in the mathematical fit for the "lower 11" suggests that, in this case, about 13 hours of image streaming were required before any IQ gain began to show. The correlation for the "higher 13" is seen to be negative, though of a lesser magnitude. and therefore less reliable. Note that the coefficient of determination in this case is only 0.117, and therefore the mathematical function cannot be considered very reliable. B. CREATIVITY GAIN RATE 1. Change in "Decorations" (DECC) with image streaming hours (ISH) For "lower 11": DECC = 0.18 + 0.71 ISH COD = 0.1 COC = 0.32 SD = 16.4 For "upper 13": DECC= 9.02 - 0.03 ISH COD = 7.7 x 10-4 COC = 0.03 SD = 6.7 2. Change in "Expressional Fluency" (EFC) with image streaming hours (ISH) For "lower 11": EFC = 0.25 -0.023 ISH COD = 0.01 COC = -0.11 SD = 1.3 For "upper 13": EFC = 0.75 -0.055 ISH COD = 0.014 COC = -0.12 SD = 2.8 Evidentially, there is a modest correlation between image streaming hours and the "Decorations" score for the "lower 11" group, but a negligible correlation for the "upper 13" group. The correlation is negligible for both groups with the "Expressional Fluency" test. IV. SUMMARY At this stage of analysis, a model which fits all of the data has not suggested itself to this author. Simplistically speaking, however, I suggest the following for consideration: A. For students with IQ's above 100 (and perhaps the absence of clearly defined "learning difficulties"), there seems to be a reasonable, positive correlation between IQ gain as measured by the 38 point Whimbey Analytical Skills Inventory and the hours recorded by students as spent in image streaming. The rate of gain is in the vicinity of 0.9 IQ points per hour of image streaming practice, which is consistent with (even somewhat greater than!) the rate of gain measured in the author's earlier work. (One should bear in mind that students normally spent some additional time in writing about, and in drawing, their Images following the image streaming exercise per se.) B. For students with IQ's below 100 (and perhaps additionally with "learning difficulties), there appears to be much more scatter in the data, though the larger IQ gains do appear in this group. The mathematical slope of the the "best fit" line is actually negative for this group, however the goodness of fit is much poorer than the the other group. Perhaps there was a good deal of experimentation, reorganizing, what have you, happening for these students. C. There is a modest, positive correlation between creativity as measured by the artistically oriented "Decorations" test and image streaming hours for the "lower 11" group. This suggests that image streaming has a positive effect on some types of creativity for some IQ groups. On the other hand, the "upper 13" group (lowest entry level IQ's) had no such correlation. Apparently, creativity gains for lower IQ's do not change rapidly with image streaming practice. Following the suggestion of Win Wenger (personal communication), perhaps "what needs fixing worst gets fixed first'-- It may be that IQ is the first quantity to change, and when this has increased sufficiently, positive changes in creativity begin to occur. D. Clearly, much more work needs to be done. This author is presently compiling additional data from other classes where image streaming was used, and colleague Win Wenger has a major study in progress as well (personal communication). The limitations of this study are clear, at least to the author: IQ testing has been rudimentary and certainly not "standard"-- the 38 point WASI is convenient but does not have high status in the field. Also, the creativity tests which were used are "old", and there may be much better ones now available. Attendance data for this work was inadequate, as was the method of allowing students to monitor their own time investment. Additionally, the conditions under which the class was conducted are not typical-- music and a generally low stress environment are, regrettably, not yet the classroom norm. (It is worth noting in this regard, however, that while student technique was closely monitored in this study, the image streaming in the earlier study was done entirely independently. Yet we achieved similar results in terms of the IQ gain per hour investment.) Finally, larger student numbers, and better data on student entry capabilities are in order. From a personal perspective of working with approximately 200 students over 1 1/2 years, the author remains very impressed with not only the quantitative improvement, which seems to accompany the image streaming process, but also its ease of use. I have yet to work with a student who, when using proper technique, was unable to "get pictures". Some are of course much better at the process than others, but it seems possible, and relatively easy, for all to successfully use this technique. Considering that, once the student has been taught the proper technique, no instructor seems really necessary thereafter, it is tempting to suggest that this technique may be a very useful one for assisting large numbers of students (e.g. thousands) in basic skills development. A basic 5 clock hour course in image streaming technique would seem more than sufficient to allow the motivated university freshman to continue skill his/her own skill development, perhaps to much higher levels than we are accustomed to thinking about for our students. Finally, the author is personally convinced that creativity increases do accompany the image streaming process, If for no other reason than from the accounts by surprised students of the intuitive insights which begin to occur after about the first 4 weeks of image streaming practice. Though difficult to measure, I'm convinced they are there. Image streaming may therefore be very useful in the inventive/problem solving process which we must value highly in this technological society. In view of at least suggestions that the gain may be larger for lower values, its use by the mentally impaired is also important to consider.

   

STUDY: Self-concept, Hope and Achievement

 Self-concept, Hope and Achievement:A look at the relationship between the individual self-concept, level of hope, and academic achievement
Teresa L. Hunt
Missouri Western State College
May 1, 1997

This study provides a supportive and expounding structure to The Mind Accelerator.

ABSTRACT

A review of the available literature reveals a link between factors of an individual's self-concept, their level of hope and achievement. The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (Fibel & Hale, 1978) represents a reliable measure of generalized expectancy that is defined as the expectancy held by an individual that he/she will be able to achieve desired goals. This scale is a useful tool for the study of aspects in the development of and influences on an individual's expectancy, and the impact of a generalized expectancy for success on goal-oriented behaviors. Degrees of hope can have an impact on an individual's confidence in his or her ability to perform a behavior that will lead to a goal. These levels can be measured using the Hope Scale (Snyder, et al.). This study uses these two scales in conjunction with a measure of achievement among first and second year college students (GPA). Although this particular study does not indicate a significant correlation among the variables; possible improvements could be to increase the sample size, include some upper level classes, and to distribute the survey at a community or vocational college as well.

INTRODUCTION

Do the factors that contribute to the development of an individual's self-concept have an impact on their level of hope and future success? A review of the available literature reveals a link between several aspects. In a study of generalized expectancy (Fibel & Hale, 1978) a scale was developed that allowed researchers to control for individual differences in expectancies for success. The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale represents a reliable measure of generalized expectancy that is defined as the expectancy held by an individual that he/she will be able to achieve desired goals. This scale is a useful tool for the study of aspects in the development of and influences on an individual's expectancy, and the impact of a generalized expectancy for success on goal-oriented behaviors.

With the onset of adolescence there is an increase of elements that affect the shaping of goals and goal-oriented behaviors (Jarvinen & Nicholls, 1996). It is at this time that an individual begins to spend less amounts of time with their family and more time with their peers. The satisfaction with these peer relationships is important to the development of a good self-concept. Adolescents are more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem and academic achievement if they are accepted by their peers. Those who are less accepted tend to be at greater risk for problems in later social and psychological functioning (Parker & Asher, 1987). Academic performance and educational aspirations have also been shown to have an affect on self-concept (Richman, Clark, & Brown, 1985).

Difficulties during adolescence can result in adolescent depression, however it is known that the majority of teens are able to get through this period of development with a positive sense of personal identity (Powers, Hauser, & Kilner, 1989). It is a phase of life characterized by change in every aspect of individual development, from social to biological. Negative reactions to the normal onset of puberty can have a serious effect on the perceived body image and self-esteem of a young adolescent. Adolescents who report having anxiety and depression along with other symptoms like feeling sad, lonely and worthless are considered to have what is known as depressive syndrome (Peterson, et al., 1993). For a large number of the teens who experience depressive symptoms, the feeling may just be a temporary response to the changes they are experiencing. Recent literature has emphasized the need for parents, teachers and counselors to pay close attention to these symptoms, so that help can be offered in the early stages, which can lessen the chances of more serious problems in the future (Taylor, Miller, & Moltz, 1991). Although there may be existing counseling services available, many students are not made aware of them or simply do not ask for help (Culp, Clyman, & Culp, 1995).

One of the core characteristics of depression is a sense of hopelessness (Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974). Snyder, et al. defines hope as a cognitive set that is composed of agency (goal-directed determination) , and pathways (planning of ways to meet goals). These components add up to the capacity for subjective evaluation of goal-related capabilities. There are individual differences of cognitive and emotional dispositions involving degrees of hope that can be measured using the Hope Scale. The components of this hope model are similar in comparison to the motivational theory of efficacy and outcome expectancies (Bandura, 1977, 1982); where efficacy refers to an individualÕs confidence in his or her ability to perform a behavior that will lead to a desired outcome (agency), and outcome refers to the belief that a certain behavior will produce a certain outcome (pathways). Higher levels of hope lead to greater perceptions of agency and pathways as people consider their goals. When compared with the specific area of college academic achievement, the results suggest that success in achievement appears to be related to higher hope (Snyder, et al.).

The goal of this study is to determine the relationship between self-concept developed in adolescence, level of hope and self-satisfaction with academic achievement among college students. There is an additional interest in the effects of adolescent depression and low self-esteem on goal direction and motivation in college; with hope that the findings may generate interest in the development of more programs for adolescents aimed at minimizing the stress involved with the factors that shape the individual self-concept.

Subjects

The participants consisted of 69 students from introductory psychology classes, 20 males and 49 females.

Materials

The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (GESS) (Fibel & Hale, 1978) was used, in conjunction with the Hope Scale (Snyder, et al., 1991), as measures of individual self-concept and level of hope. Also included was the demographic information of age and sex, along with grade point average, as a measure of achievement.

Procedure

Participants were asked to read the instructions and complete the survey. This was conducted by myself, with the cooperation of the instructors. All information was kept confidential.

RESULTS

I first conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the GESS and the Hope Scale. Results were r (68) = -.377, p < .01, which was a significant negative correlation.
I then conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the GESS and GPA. Results were r (68) = -.103, p > .01, which was not significant.

Finally, I conducted a Pearson product-moment correlation between the scores of the Hope Scale and GPA. Results were r (68) =.127, p > .01, which was also not significant.

DISCUSSION

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between factors of self-concept, levels of hope and academic achievement among college students. Research has shown that these elements are often interrelated. The existence of depression can also have an effect on achievement, and may be reflected in the scores of the scales that were used. Although this particular study did not indicate a significant correlation among the variables, future replications may generate different outcomes. One puzzling item was the negative value that resulted from the comparison between the factors of the GESS and the Hope Scale, which was probably due to a mistake in the way in which they were scored. The effectiveness of the study was inherently limited by the population from which the sample was obtained, from introductory classes, which are made up of mostly first or second year college students. Possible improvements could be to increase the sample size, include some upper level classes, and to distribute the survey at a community or vocational college as well. This would produce a greater control for the individual differences in self-concept and grade point average.

The Science behind The Mind Accelerator

The Science Behind the Infinity Reading System

The acting engine of the Infinity Reading System is surprisingly simple to grasp when one examines the science and logic behind it.

A wide body of minds from both science and psychology backgrounds, specifically George A. Miller of Harvard University, have concluded that the conscious mind can only absorb seven (plus or minus two) chunks of information at once. Additionally, it has also been concluded that most conscious thought and perception occur in the regions of the brain that support verbal communication, causing our conscious mind to work at this pace (the speed we talk at), which is usually one word at a time. It is these principles of our psychology that explain why the effectiveness of conventional reading techniques and others like speed reading are so limited.

We have a natural inclination to read at the pace of one word at a time--with "speed reading" training this number can only increase to approximately seven words at a time.

This is the ceiling, which is why using the conscious mind as your access point for information absorption creates a tremendous restriction. By using your conscious resources to read and absorb information, you are employing a largely inefficient channel of data input, causing you to use a mere percentage of the performance powers you lay claim to.

The solution to overcoming these limitations is to read using your subconscious, which is just what the Infinity Reading System shows you how to do. It is within the subconscious realms of the brain that aren't linked to verbal communication where astonishing feats are accomplished. Electroprobe measurements show the performance levels in the subconscious expanses of the brain to be 10,000 to 100 million times faster than the areas of conscious though.

Research on subconscious processing and unconscious perception has shown that our subconscious mind can absorb visual information through a direct access line that effectively bypasses the conscious mind. Through this access point, our brains can absorb visual text on a subliminal level, meaning, information can enter our mind below the threshold of conscious perception. Without even noticing or realizing that it's happening, textual information can be propelled into our subconscious via this information superhighway at a rate unequalled through any other means.

A mere fraction of one percent of the population has recognized the built-in "broadband" access point to the subconscious that each and every human has.

The Infinity Reading System and the strategy it contains will show you how to use this broadband access point, unlock your currently unused performance powers and stop the stalling of your internal system to which you are presently accustomed.

iReading 25,000 wpm is just the beginning, and is no where near a limit to how fast you can iRead once you claim dominion over your subconscious mind.

Should you learn to iRead?

Only if the the following seems beneficial to you:

Read, learn, and acquire more information and knowledge in a fraction of the time.

Have less reading to do for school or work in the evenings, giving you the time to do the things you really want to do.

Grow to be passionate about learning and reading, and find it more enjoyable and less wearisome and tedious.

Expand your vocabulary. Be well-read, and gain the wisdom required to lead conversation, dazzle those around you with your wit and intelligence, and always come up with those timeless quotes that fit certain situations so perfectly.

Comprehend and retain what you read to a fault. When you spend time reading, never let a moment be wasted, have more time to use your knowledge by spending less time gaining it.

Never have a stack of unread papers, reports, or books again. Information overload will become a thing of the past. Feelings of despair, shame or frustration will quickly become obsolete.

Develop a fine tuned sense of focus and concentration, a trait that will allow you to easily surmount challenge with quick application of your instrumental attention.

Access the seemingly infinite potential of your subconscious, and by doing so, develop your skill at using it. Creativity, intuition, analytical skill, a fail safe memory, excellent information recall, and an agile mind are the results you can expect. Ideas of what is and isn't possible will quickly need to be redefined. Your future will suddenly seem as open ended and bountiful as the unexplored vastness of the stellar universe.

Now ask yourself, Can I afford to ignore these benefits? Depending on your answer to this question, you can make the choice to invest in your mind and make these benefits a real world reality, further investigate the details of this investment opportunity, or do nothing and perhaps miss discovering your authentic self.

The Science Behind the Infinity Mind System

Regardless of your station, profession, current level of intelligence, race or gender, your brain has approximately 100 billion neurons or otherwise called brain cells— a fact that holds true for both the world's greatest minds and the world's greatest failures.

Research and present day science has shown that it is not the quantity of ones neurons that determines ones level of “intelligence” or mental abilities, for each and every one of us has approximately the same amount of them. It is the connections betweens these neurons called dendrites that determine the operational qualities of the mind. Put simply, the more dendrites you have, the more neuronal connections there are within your brain, the smarter you are.

Studies have concluded that each of your neurons can form up to 20,000 connecting branches… 20,000 dendrites. Those who have the most dendrites and form the most connections between their neurons hold dominion over a mind of pinnacle quality and function with supreme mental facility.

How can one develop more dendrites and thus improve their intelligence?

The human system can initiate the development of dendrites through specific training and exercise that challenges and tests the brain. Working out your brain will yield an increase in intelligence, and in much the same manner, failing to use your brain will cause it to become just as weak and flabby as your abdominals can grow to become without training.

Increase your IQ, develop your imagination and engage your greater abilities by using the Infinity Mind System: the only proven neural speed performance aid.

---

The Infinity Mind System has been found to have a profound, positive impact on all 8 intelligences as proposed by Harvard professor Howard Garder. The 8 intelligences that can be sharply augmented by proper use of the Infinity Mind System are as follows:

• Visual/Spatial - Involves visual perception of the environment, the ability to create and manipulate mental images, and the orientation of the body in space.
• Verbal/Linguistic - Involves reading, writing, speaking, and conversing in one's own or foreign languages.
• Logical/Mathematical - Involves number and computing skills, recognizing patterns and relationships, timeliness and order, and the ability to solve different kinds of problems through logic.
• Bodily/Kinesthetic - Involves physical coordination and dexterity, using fine and gross motor skills, and expressing oneself or learning through physical activities.
• Musical - Involves understanding and expressing oneself through music and rhythmic movements or dance, or composing, playing, or conducting music.
• Interpersonal - Involves understanding how to communicate with and understand other people and how to work collaboratively.
• Intrapersonal - Involves understanding one's inner world of emotions and thoughts, and growing in the ability to control them and work with them consciously.
• Naturalist - Involves understanding the natural world of plants and animals, noticing their characteristics, and categorizing them; it generally involves keen observation and the ability to classify other things as well.

---

Volition Store

Using the Volition Store and Volition ID

How do I get my iMusic MP3 download?

Once you place and confirm your order, you will have a download link in your invoice, in addition to receiving a download notification via email. Click on this link, to access a web page with a download key/link. LEFT CLICK the download key/link, and select your 'save as' option. Then choose a location on your hard drive that you will remember, like your "My Music" folder. The download will then begin, and then stop once it is complete. Most CD length iMusic MP3s are approximately 60-90 mb in size. You will know that you received the full download, if upon listening, the music slowly fades out at the end, and does not stop abruptly.

Tell me about the quality of iMusic MP3s?

We've engineered each iMusic MP3 to produce the same expansive benefits and results of an iMusic CD, but in a compact file size. Each iMusic MP3 carries a 128 kb bit rate, and is encoded at the same bit rate as an iMusic CD. Choosing an MP3 over a CD, will not sabotage your results or listening experience in any way.

Members: Tell me how to use my Volition ID and Volition Points? - Accessing iMusic MP3s and creating BrainMixes

BrainIgnite Members and BrainMix Members are able to claim a certain number of iMusic MP3s and create a certain number of BrainMixes each month, in any combination. (Ex.1 iMusic MP3, 2 BrainMixes)

When you are a member, you will be give a certain # of Volition Points each month. 

1 Volition Point = 1 Dollar

To give you the freedom to choose from the entire range of iMusic MP3s that are available in our store, we assign these points to your Volition ID account.

All you have to do is sign in with the username you created in our store. Your username is your Volition ID. Your Volition ID also stores your name, contact and address information, so you never have to re-enter this information.


Logging into your Volition ID Account
You can login to your Volition ID Account by entering your ID and Password at the top right hand area of any page in our Volition Store.


Don’t know your Volition ID?
Enter your email in this page to have it emailed to you:  www.vth.biz/whatismyid


Check your Volition Points Balance:
To check your Voliton Points balance, log in with your Volition ID and then goto: www.vth.biz/howmanypoints



How to claim iMusic MP3s using Volition Points:
Once you sign in to our store, select the iMusic MP3 you want, just as if you were shopping in our store normally.   When you go to the checkout, select “Volition Points” as your payment option, and enter how many you want to use towards payment for the iMusic MP3.  Typically, you will select 40 points in the iMusic MP3 is $39.95.

Select iMusic MP3 >  Checkout > Sign in  > Select Volition Points as your payment option > Enter the number of points you would like to use towards your purchase.

You can use all or some of the Volition points you have earned at any time.



How to create a BrainMix using Volition Points:
Go to the BrainMix web interface to create a BrainMix.  40 Volition Points will be deducted from your Volition ID account automatically once your BrainMix is finished.  If you do not have enough Volition Points, your BrainMix will not be created and your submission will be ignored.

What currency are Volition Store product prices in?

All prices in the Volition Store are in US dollars. We've chosen this currency as it is for most countries, an international standard.

Want to know how our US prices relate to  your local currency?

Use the famous and free universal currency converter found here:
http://www.xe.com/ucc

When you purchase from us, your credit card or payment agent will use the most up to date conversion rate, so you will be charged in your local currency.

When sending us payment via check or money order, we ask that you send it in US dollars. Your bank can do this for you.

---

White Papers

A Brief History of Brainwave Entrainment

Brainwave entrainment was first identified in 1934, although its effects had been noted as early as Ptolemy.

Not long after the discovery of the Alpha brainwave by Hans Berger in 1929, researchers found that the strength of the wave could be "driven" beyond its natural frequency using flickering lights. This is called "Photic Driving", which is another word for brainwave entrainment using photic (light) stimulation. In 1942 Dempsey and Morison discovered that repetitive tactile stimulation could also produce entrainment and in 1959, Dr. Chatrian observed auditory entrainment in response to clicks at a frequency of 15 per second.

By the 1960s entrainment started to become a tool rather than a phenomenon of the brain. Anesthesiologist M.S. Sadove, MD, used photic stimulation to reduce the amount of anesthesia needed for surgery. Bernard Margolis published an article on brainwave entrainment used during dental procedures, noting less anesthesia required, less gagging, less bleeding and a general reduction in anxiety.

In a 1973 issue of Scientific American, Dr. Gerald Oster examined how combining 2 pure tones resulted in a rhythmic beat which he called Binaural and Monaural Beats. In comparing Binaural beats against Monaural beats, Oster noted that Monaural beats were shown to elicit extremely strong cortical responses, which is the electrical activity responsible for entrainment. Oster concluded that while Binaural Beats produced very little neural response (because the depth of a Binaural Beat is only 3db or 1/10 the volume of a whisper), they could be useful in diagnosing certain neurological disorders.

In the 1980's studies continued with Dr. Norman Shealy, Dr. Glen Solomon and others researching entrainment for headache relief, Serotonin and HGH release, as well as general relaxation. Michael Hutchison wrote his landmark book MegaBrain in 1981, outlining the many possible uses of entrainment from meditation to super-learning. In 1980, Tsuyoshi Inouye and associates at the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Osaka University Medical School in Japan found that photic stimulation produced "cerebral synchronization". Dr. Norman Shealy later confirmed the effect, finding that photic stimulation produced synchronization in more than 5,000 patients. In 1984, Dr. Brockopp analyzed audio-visual brain stimulation and in particular hemispheric synchronization during EEG monitoring. He said "By inducing hemispheric coherence the machine can contribute to improved intellectual functioning of the brain."

In 1981, Arturo Manns published a study which indicated the amazingly strong entrainment value of Isochronic Tones, as opposed to Monaural or Binaural beats. This was later confirmed by others such as David Siever.

Studies continued into the 90's with researchers such as Dr. Russell, Dr. Carter and others who explored the vast potential of using entrainment with ADD and learning disorders. Research has also been conducted into PMS, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Pain, Depression, Hypertension and a number of other disorders. Steady research continues today with the work of Dr. Thomas Budzynski, David Siever, psychologist Michael Joyce and many others. The results of entrainment have been so promising that many modern clinical EEG units presently come with built in entrainment devices.

There is over 70 years of solid research behind brainwave entrainment . So why hasn't it become more well known? Mainly because our culture is very much dependent on drugs, and, in comparison to the pharmaceutical giants, there is not a lot of money to be made in entrainment: it is inexpensive, easy to use at home and can be a viable solution to a huge variety of problems. Also, the idea that music is able to directly affect the brain sounds preposterous at first, until you read the research and discover the science behind it. We have found that most people are skeptical until the day they actually use iMusic. Despite the combination of solid scientific, empirical and a huge amount of anecdotal evidence, the world is still very skeptical of entrainment and brain training. But the word is spreading. Every day more psychologists, mental health clinics, coaches, teachers and professionals are discovering entrainment, and finding it remarkably useful.

Further Reading

Responses to Clicks from the Human Brain: Some Depth Electrographic Observations, Gian Emilio Chatrian, M.D., Magnus C. Petersen, M.D., and Jorge A. Lazarte, M.D. - Rochester State Hospital (1959).

Academic Performance Enhancement with Photic Stimulation and EDR Feedback, Thomas Budzynski, Ph.D., John Jordy, M.Ed., Helen Kogan Budzynski, Ph.D., Hsin-Yi Tang, M.S., and Keith Claypoole, Ph.D., Journal of Neurotherapy

Repeated stimulation induced neuronal activation (SINA), with cognitive and behavioral functioning changes in ADHD children., Harold Russell, Ph.D., Journal of Neurotherapy

A Comparison of Depths of Relaxation Produced by Various Techniques and Neurotransmitters by Brainwave Entrainment, Shealy, N., Cady, R., Cox, R., Liss, S., Clossen, W., Veehoff, D., Shealy and Forest Institute of Professional Psychology A study done for Comprehensive Health Care.

Auditory beats in the brain., Oster, G., Scientific American, 229, 94-102.

Isochronic Tones and Brainwave Entrainment, David Siever, C.E.T.

The central effects of rhythmic sensory stimulation., Walter, V. J. & Walter, W. G., Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1, 57-86

Visual Evoked Responses Elicited by Rapid Stimulation, Kinney, J.A., McKay, C., Mensch, Lurisa, Encephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol 34: 7-13

The Interaction of Certain Spontaneous and Induced Cortical Potentials, Dempsey, E., Morison, R., American Journal of Physiology, 135, 310-307

Neurochemical Responses to Cranial Electrical Stimulation and Photo-Stimulation via Brain Wave Synchronization., Dr. Roger K. Cady, Dr. Norman Shealy, Study performed by the Shealy Institute of Comprehensive Health Care, Springfield, Missouri, 1990

The Application of Audiostimulation and Electromyographic Biofeedback to Bruxism and Myofascial Pain-Dysfunction Syndrome, Dr. Arturo Manns, Miralles, R., Adrian, H., Oral Surgery, 1981, Vol. 52

The Procrastination Eliminator

 Procrastination


Benjamin Franklin once said: Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. This disease of delay has overtaken and overwhelmed even the most successful individuals. We've all been plagued by procrastination at one time or another. For some, it's a chronic problem. Others find that it hits only some areas of their lives. The net results, though, are usually the same wasted time, missed opportunities, poor performance, self-deprecation, and increased stress.

Procrastination is letting the low-priority tasks get in the way of high-priority ones. It's socializing when you know that important work is due tomorrow, watching TV instead of working towards your goals, or talking about superficial things with your study group rather than discussing the task at hand.



Why individuals procrastinate: like any bad habit, there are causes.

1. They think that no matter what, regardless of what they do, they will fail or perform poorly if they try. Many hold a firm and unwavering belief that they will fail, thus they decide to avoid the unpleasantness of having their skills put to the test. They fail to act decisively so they procrastinate and of course not do well.

2. They feel that if they don't try, they won't have to feel like they truly failed. Everybody has heard this before: "I hardly studied, so that D grade on the exam is pretty good in all consideration." This attitude is a way of avoiding responsibility, and causes you to not act with maximum effort.

3. They have ineffective behavioral patterns. Getting started on an unpleasant or difficult task may seem impossible for some. Procrastination is likened to the physics concept of inertia mass at rest tends to stay at rest. Great force is required to start change, but once change begins, momentum kicks in, and change becomes easily sustainable.

4. Somehow, however silly it is, individuals believe that the alternative activity they waste their time doing, rather than doing what they should be doing, will be more pleasurable. They fail to realize, that in the long run, instant gratification and simple pleasures fail to equal the success and great feeling that effective action creates.



INDECISIVE ACTION


You'll always have plenty of energy to do the things you really want to do, and enjoy doing, whether that be partying, athletics, or studying. That's human nature.  You may feel stuffed after dinner, but when the scent of dessert fills the air, you suddenly have room for more. In the same sense, when you perceive tasks as difficult, inconvenient, or scary, you may shift into procrastination mode.


Imagine yourself on a typical frigid Thursday in January. You wake up at 7:00 a.m. to catch that bus and make it to your 9:00 a.m. class: two hours of lecture, and then you hustle to make it to your 11:30 a.m. class: two hours of note-taking, and you then burst out the door to catch that same bus home again. *unclear You just miss it, and find yourself slowly, lethargically walking the hour and a half home, after failing to get a hold of your parents/friends on that payphone to pick you up. You're cold, tired, and arrive home starving. You quickly wolf down a meal, and head back to school for that study group you committed to do.

It was a long and hard day. You finally arrive home at 7:30 p.m., exhausted, and weary. You just then realize that you have a term test the next morning, and it's going to take you six solid hours to get through the three chapters covered. Oh my god, you think to yourself, I can barely put one foot in front of the other, let alone cram for that test. You've been up since 7:00 a.m., it's been a long hard day, and you just don't have the energy or desire to do it.

Just than the phone rings, it's your best buddy, and he/she explains: "Everyone is going out for a full-blown, killer night at the clubs; we're talking hours of dancing, partying and fun. We're leaving in twenty minutes. Can you make it" Your reaction "Can I! I'll be at your place in ten minutes!"


Here is The Secret: if you commit to doing the things you have to do, when you ought to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.

Motivating yourself to pay that price, making the occasional painful sacrifice, will result in the self-pride and desire to continue paying that price. One day you will achieve and earn the pleasure of freedom, time, energy, and success; then and only then will you truly be able to do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.  How soon depends on how smart, and motivated you work now. By wasting today, you will be one day older tomorrow, with the same amount achieved.  Delay only causes stagnation, never realization.


PROCRASTINATION ELIMINATION

To Ignite Internal Motivation, and Prompt Action

A s k    Y o u r s e l f    T h e s e    3    Q u e s t i o n s


1. Why am I doing this?

2. What if I don't do this?

3. What will happen if I do this later?


Once you realize why you should act, affirm to yourself  "Act now" repeating it over and over. Make a habit of saying this mantra whenever you feel yourself postponing action. Living and acting in the present is the only way you can build a future.


The Perpetual Model of Action

Improvement comes once you realize that the pleasure gained by avoiding an activity in the short run will be less than the pleasure gained when taking effective action in the short run. The continual transmission mechanism that exists between your thoughts and actions creates a perpetual pattern. Effective action creates positive and pleasurable thought, and thus induces more effective thought, and results in more effective action. This perpetual pattern ultimately results in you taking great pleasure and gratification in acting effectively and decisively, leading to greater accomplishment and success.



Failing to Act in "Full Effect"

Procrastination is so closely associated with a fear of failure, that it can be said to be a direct side effect. What is the connection? For many individuals, it isn't laziness, or the fact that they are unmotivated, that causes them to procrastinate. It is simply because they are afraid to discover what might happen if they act in the present, and maximize their effort. What would happen if they didn't succeed They would no longer have a blanket excuse, such as "I hardly studied."

Many students sit for hours on end in the university library with books opened in front of them. But they are not studying; rather, they are staring out the window, chatting to strangers, and generally doing nothing. No doubt these students tell themselves and others that they study for three or four hours a day. The truth is, they don't study; they put in time. They have not developed that intense desire to learn, and as a result they don't. On the other hand, I have seen students cramming for a course on the night before an examination. Their whole grade, perhaps their whole college career, depends on what they do that next morning. In three or four hours these students can sometimes learn almost the entire content of a sociology or history course. They can learn it because they want to, and because they have to in order to achieve what they desire.

High-achieving individuals, those who have tapped their inner success force, recognize that it doesn't always matter how the hole got in the boat. All that matters is that it gets fixed today so that you can get on with the fishing. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

Copyright Volition Thought House Inc.

BrainIgnite | A Scientific Overview

The Peak Experience Event

We've all experienced a moment when we seemed to be at our best, a moment when our mind and body functioned together with the precision of a perfectly calibrated machine, churning out an exceptional effort: A truly peak experience event. What happens in the brains of people who encounter a peak performance event and experience illumination, extreme clarity, enlightenment, flow and ingenuity?

Finally, science has allowed us to fully explore these distinctive states of peak performance. Neuro scientists around the globe have investigated the brains of celebrated artists, monumental geniuses, mathematicians, top physicists, monks, yogis, top performing athletes and numerous field-leaders using cutting edge brain observation equipment such as the EEG (electroencephalograph), PET (positron emission topography), SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device); watching with full attention as these very special subjects experienced rapid brain state changes and entered amazing states of cognition.

These observations have been integrated with clinical studies, anecdotal and empirical research by psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, therapists, physicians, sports trainers, counselors, researchers and clinicians, leading to this universally accepted and unified conclusion: heightened states of mental functioning are consistently linked to specific and clearly defined patterns of activity and events in the brain and more specifically, changes in the brain's electrical activity.

The High Performance State

The brain is powered by a vast network of neurons that discharge waves of electrical energy in different frequencies and patterns; it is this phenomenon that we call brainwaves. Brain observation equipment allows us to read and monitor every tiny electrical signal and flash that happens within the brain much the way an anemometer records the currents and gale forces of the wind. We can accurately measure the electrical patterns within the millions of neurons that comprise the vast neural network of the human brain and determine the frequency and intensity of the pulsations that occur. With this ability, experts in the field have been able to match peak performance states with the actual physiological brainwaves that allow them to occur.

Exceptional performers have been monitored, and it has been found that certain brainwave frequencies and states are associated with high performance in certain tasks. We know the exact frequencies of brainwave activity that are present when geniuses such as Einstein and Edison conceive amazing new ideas, when artists such as Da Vinci and Picasso paint brilliant art and when grandmasters such as Bobby Fischer mentally play out a chess game 8 moves ahead.

Take a look at Your Guide to Brainwaves to learn more about brainwaves and mental states.

 

The Frequency Following Response

How do I optimize my brain, enter the ideal mental state and perform at my best? The answer can be found by looking at the principle of the Frequency Following Response. If you have ever jogged in pace with another, walked in rhythm with another, or sung in harmony with another, you've experienced this universal force.

CASE IN POINT
In 1656, a Dutch scientist named Christian Huygens patented the first pendulum clock, greatly increasing the accuracy of time measurement. About 10 years later, Huygens discovered that mounting two of his pendulum clocks side by side created a strange effect. The pendulums would slowly synchronize with one another and form a mutual rhythm;a shared beat and concurrent cadence that was so precise, not even mechanical intervention could more accurately calibrate them synchronously. According to George Leonard, this occurs due to nature seeking the most "efficient energy state and it takes less energy to pulse in cooperation that in opposition". This phenomenon has come to be known as mutual phase-locking of two oscillators, or the Frequency Following Response.

Solar systems spin and twirl in accord, dust flies through the air at the same speed as the wind blows and a stick floats down river at the speed of the current because it's more efficient, so says the principle of the Frequency Following Response.

Rhythms and patterns affect our brain and more specifically, our brainwaves in much the same way.  If you apply a stimulus to the brain at a certain frequency or tempo, the brains neurons will start to fire a response and vibrate at the same frequency. This occurs because of a powerful Frequency Following Response within the brain.

For instance, if you listen to music containing a frequency that the neurons of monks and very relaxed people fire at when they feel very relaxed, it will cause you to feel very relaxed, because your brain will begin to follow this frequency and reproduce the rhythm in the music. You will automatically generate more brainwaves at a frequency that is relaxing. (See Your Guide to Brainwaves to learn more about the different brain states).

Virtually any repeating stimulus that is applied to your brain or body, whether it be sound, lights, visual images, vibrations or electrical sensations, causes the electrical activity in your brain to change. If you watch the intense pyrotechnics of a rock concert or the strobe light in a night club, your brain will respond in a different way and produce different types and frequencies of brainwaves, than if you are watching a ceiling fan. You've probably experienced this without ever realizing it, if you've ever stared at a camp fire, felt the physical rush and natural mental high from night club dance music, or felt relaxed by the vibrations felt while sitting in a car.

The principle of the Frequency Following Response has been applied, knowingly or not, among civilizations of the past and super achievers of the present. Even politicians and statesmen benefit from it. How? The most basic and well understood way many of us benefit from this principle is to focus our mind and attune our body by taking slow, steady and deep breathes that bring us into a more relaxed and centered state, readying our physiology before doing anything important such as a public address. We've witnessed this phenomenon at work as professional sports teams form together and chant fast paced team mantras to charge their minds and tune their brains into a high energy state, in preparation for intense physical action.

For thousands of years, primitive cultures have taken advantage of it through breathing techniques, visual stimuli, music and ritualistic dances to lift the spirit, galvanize the soul and repair the body. The repetitive chants, mantras and rhythmic drum beats of Tibetan monks, Native American shamans, Hindu healers, Sufi dervishes, and practiced Yogis are central to their cultures and have been chronicled by anthropologists for centuries. Many believe such primitive, ancient cultures were aware of the Frequency Following Response and the power it has to alter the state of the mind before modern science did.

 

The Power of BrainIgnite

Music has a powerful influence on our thoughts, mood, state of mind and even attitude. Amid the vast variety of consumptive activities and pop-culture experiences that vary from delightful to euphoric rapture, few modern day experiences can match listening to music in pure evocative power. It can soothe the most savage of beasts, captivate the soul, promote order within the mind, stir our emotions, incite energy in our loins and cause a broad range of intense emotions from cloud 9 level euphoria to abysmal sadness.

"Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without." Confucius

Music has a scientifically documented ability to diminish the electrical resistance of our skin, cause the pupil of our eye to dilate, quicken or slow down our respiratory system, increase our heart rate and blood pressure, increase our muscular tone, entrain the brain and change the amplitude and frequency of our brainwaves. But with the advent of BrainIgnite, never before has sound elicited such a precise, powerful and performance enhancing response from the brain.

People of the past and present have uncovered countless ways of arousing, stimulating and stoking the human brain, but none are more effective, convenient and more simply applied than tools that contain BrainIgnite.

How does BrainIgnite work?

While BrainIgnited music, or iMusic sounds like regular music, it contains powerful mind activating characteristics.

The ear is the super highway to the brain, a channel through which BrainIgnite sends nearly undetectable beats (all you hear is beautiful music) and pulses through your ear drums into your brain creating subtle vibrations that echo into the sensory cortex, causing a precise cortical evoked response that causes a change in neuro frequency, eliciting an immediate and powerful change in mental state. No matter your age, intelligence, cultural background or system of beliefs, this physiological phenomenon is a hardwired and natural behavior that we all share. Whether we're learning, thinking, relaxing, working, training or playing, with BrainIgnite, the experience can become richer, more powerful, higher in intensity and produce better quality results.

The science of psychomusicology and the principles of the brain have been united to create a zenith of understanding; a powerful foundation upon which BrainIgnite has been built. For the first time ever it requires zero training, commitment, discipline nor effort to access your peak performance state, dial into your best self and activate permanent improvements in your intellectual abilities.

Noise does not steal focus

Even the most annoying racket can be beneficial, contends Bart Kosko in the book Noise.  He's a professor at the university of Southern California with degrees in electrical engineering, law, mathetmatics, economics and philosophy.  In an interview with Wired magazine, he made these observations:
- "The more you can concentrate with background noise, the more it strengthens the brain.  Isaac Asimov used to set his typewriter up in stores and other loud places to work.  His claim was that you get really good at writing when you're in a crowd.  You want to be energized by that background noise, rather than distracted."

Many individuals are convinced that they cannot read, learn or focus in a loud environment, or with music playing. However this is simply not true.  The moment this belief is cast aside and eliminated from the mind, iMusic powered peak mental performance can be experienced.

NASA: Brainwave Training Developments

 

The same techniques used to optimize and measure brain activity in NASA pilots during flight simulation exercises are an integral part of iMusic. For years, scientists from NASA's Langley Research Center have researched and developed various physiological methods for assessing sustained attention, engagement, awareness and pilot stress in laboratory flight simulators. Such tests are crucial to maintaining the focus of pilots, taking into consideration that the task of flying a plane can sometimes be monotonous.

One of the most progressive physiological methods to spawn from Langley biofeedback research is iMusic, a real world application that will improve overall mental awareness for indiviuals of all ages.

These training methodologies have been also been transferred to a technology called Extended Attention Span Training (EAST). As a modification of biocybernetic technology used to increase the mental engagement of pilots, EAST transcends conventional neurofeedback systems by taking the form of a video game that responds to brain electrical activity and joystick input.

Extended attention span training system
Pope, Alan T.; Bogart, Edward H.
NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI)
NASA, Washington, Technology 2001: The Second National Technology

Transfer Conference and Exposition, Volume 1, p 368-374 , 19911201
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a behavioral disorder characterized by the inability to sustain attention long enough to perform activities such as schoolwork or organized play. Treatments for this disorder include medication and brainwave biofeedback training. Brainwave biofeedback training systems feed back information to the trainee showing him how well he is producing the brainwave pattern that indicates attention. The Extended Attention Span Training (EAST) system takes the concept a step further by making a video game more difficult as the player\'s brainwaves indicate that attention is waning. The trainee can succeed at the game only by maintaining an adequate level of attention. The EAST system is a modification of a biocybernetic system that is currently being used to assess the extent to which automated flight management systems maintain pilot engagement. This biocybernetic system is a product of a program aimed at developing methods to evaluate automated flight deck designs for compatibility with human capabilities. The EAST technology can make a contribution in the fields of medical neuropsychology and neurology, where the emphasis is on cautious, conservative treatment of youngsters with attention disorders.

 

Letting Thoughts Take Wing
Jorgensen, Chuck; Wheeler, Kevin
NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI)
Aerospace America, 33-37 , 20020301; March 2002

Scientists are conducting research into electroencephalograms (EEGs) of brainwave activity, and electromyography (EMG) of muscle activity, in order to develop systems which can control an aircraft with only a pilot's thoughts.
Document ID: 20030107489

BrainIgnite Grade School Survey

 

BrainIgnite Grade School Survey
Executed by the Volition Performance Agent Team, Volition Thought House Inc. Sept. 2004

With over 12 public schools taking part throughout North Eastern USA and South Western Canada, 110 teachers of grades 3 through 8 were requested to play BrainIgnite iMusic for their class over a 2 week period. After this 2 week period, the teachers were asked to complete a survey to help us better understand the effects of BrainIgnite on school aged children. The following summation presents the teachers responses regarding their experience with BrainIgnite.

Survey Results Overview:

- 98.2% of the teachers surveyed felt their class was better poised for learning while BrainIgnite iMusic was played.
- 89.1% of the teachers surveyed observed their classroom to be quieter and less noisy while BrainIgnite iMusic was played.
- 100% of the teachers surveyed observed their students to be more focused and attentive while BrainIgnite iMusic was played.
- 95.5% of the teachers surveyed felt their students were more productive and made better use of their time while BrainIgnite iMusic was played.

Conclusion:
The results point to a dramatic change in the behavior and dynamic of classrooms that play BrainIgnite iMusic—showing that BrainIgnite benefits students in a classroom environment. We hypothesize that continued use of BrainIgnite will lead to improved student performance.

Further research should be pursued to better document the the full extent of improvements BrainIgnite will have on student test scores and overall academic performance.

REPORT: Neurofeedback, A breakthrough with learning disabilities

Riding the Waves

Neurofeedback: A breakthrough with learning disabilities?

Psychotherapy Networker Inc 2003
7705 13th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20012,
Phone 202-829-2452; Fax 202-726-7983

By Sebern Fisher

All brain function—normal and pathological, intellectual and emotional—is bioelectric as well as biochemical. In fact, the brain communicates to itself and organizes its activity through its constant creation of brain waves of differing frequencies. The degree of our mental or emotional arousal largely depends on the frequency of our predominating brain waves. We know that large-amplitude, slow brain waves—known as delta waves—are associated with sleep. Theta waves are associated with a dreamy, sometimes hypnogogic, state. Alpha waves are usually associated with a relaxed meditative state of “open focus.” Narrowly focused states of attention, needed to perform tasks, are characterized by beta-frequency brain waves.

Although the brain's electrical activity plays a major role in how an individual functions, until recently, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the electrical aspect of the brain. Instead, we've tended to view the brain solely as a biochemical organ, devoting billions of dollars to the development and promotion of psychotropic drugs.

At the same time, researchers and therapists have been teaching people to change their brains' bioelectric activity—and hence their functioning—without chemical intervention. Today, this method, called neurofeedback, is being used by therapists around the world to address an increasing number of disorders, from ADD and AD/HD to bipolar illness, autism, and learning disability.

Neurofeedback is biofeedback to the brain—a form of operant conditioning that rewards the brain for activity at desired frequencies while discouraging activity at other frequencies. As a therapeutic intervention, neurofeedback training can reduce symptoms quickly, allowing the therapist and patient to better focus on broader psychological issues. Their attention need no longer be riveted to disruptions of emotional regulation, like rage, or the attempt to quell them, like excessive drinking. Emotional symptoms are seen and treated as indicators of firing disregulation in the brain.

Since integrating neurofeedback with psychotherapy seven years ago, I've used it in the treatment of more than a hundred people, some with diagnoses as severe as dissociative identity disorder, Asperger's syndrome, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The case that follows highlights its particular effectiveness in treating emotional overarousal.

The Unregulated Brain

Tony, a tall, husky, visibly distressed, 27-year-old man with severe dyslexia came to see me because a friend told him that I could “change his brain.” He paced my office as he described what it felt like to live with dyslexia. Since earliest childhood, classmates had teased him mercilessly. By eighth grade, he felt so humiliated, angry, and filled with self-hatred that his parents thought it best to send him to a boarding school specializing in learning disabilities. “If it hadn't been for that school,” Tony said, “I'd be either dead or in jail.”

Being with others who were dyslexic, and with teachers who understood and empathized with his condition, made his life bearable. As with most dyslexics, reading was very difficult, and Tony got through school only with the help of tutors and special programs. He was accepted at a community college with a center for learning-disabled students, but he quit after the first semester, discouraged, bitter, and depressed because it was too hard. Since then, he'd worked sporadically as a manual laborer. He told me he dreamed of becoming a filmmaker, because he “thought better in pictures than in words,” but doubted that he ever could succeed in anything.

Tony attributed virtually every problem he had—his chronic depression and seething anger, his excessive drinking, his inability to find a good job, and his history of unstable relationships with women—to dyslexia, either directly or indirectly. He often flew into rages, breaking anything at hand. He couldn't hold on to relationships or jobs, had panic attacks, couldn't sleep, and chewed his nails. At the point he came to see me, he was drinking a case of beer a night to manage his agitation and despair.

Although I usually use psychotherapy in conjunction with neurofeedback, all Tony wanted was the neurofeedback. No talk therapy. I thought this would be a good case in which to test the effects of using neurofeedback exclusively.

Before beginning the training, I did a complete assessment of the problematic patterns in Tony's brainwaves. I began with a symptom-focused questionnaire to systematically evaluate his arousal. Once I'd completed that assessment, I determined that, to control his temper, drink less, and even stop biting his nails—symptoms that indicate a high degree of arousal in the right hemisphere—Tony needed to learn to produce calming alpha waves on the right side of his brain, the hemisphere devoted to affect regulation. So, one treatment goal was to teach Tony to lower arousal in this hemisphere. Additionally, to address the dyslexia, which Tony considered to be the primary symptom, he needed to increase the arousal in the left hemisphere of his brain. Tony's initial EEG assessment also revealed that he was producing an excess of delta and theta waves in both hemispheres, which interfered with the alertness required for such tasks as driving a car or reading an article. As a result, for Tony, concentrating on reading was like swimming across a lake against huge waves. Another treatment goal, then, was to train Tony's brain to inhibit the production of excess slow waves and excess fast waves, both of which interfered with his ability to remain focused and relaxed, in addition to encouraging him to produce the frequencies that lowered arousal in the right hemisphere and raised arousal in the left.

Putting on the Brakes, Stepping on the Accelerator

We were ready to begin Tony's neurofeedback training. As I do with all clients, I explained that the video game he was about to play was linked directly to his EEG, and that its beeps and displays would encourage and reward his brain for the production of the brain waves that would, over time, change his experience. He sat in a comfortable chair in front of a computer screen, and I applied sensors to his head to detect his brain's electrical activity. The EEG signal was displayed across the top of my computer screen. It showed his brain activity in three bandwidths: the band I wanted to encourage, or the “reward band,” and the two bandwidths I wanted to discourage, or “inhibit bands.”

Tony's screen had a video game with three spaceships set to respond to his brain waves. The middle space ship represented the frequency that I wanted him to increase. The other two represented the very slow and very fast frequencies that I wanted him to decrease. Whenever Tony's brain generated the optimal brain-wave pattern, the middle spaceship would pull ahead, and he'd score points in the video game. It was a simple video game, but without a joystick: Tony had to control the game solely with his brain.

Most clients, including Tony, have difficulty believing that “trying” to make the spaceships move doesn't work. But they don't know, at first, how not to try. Tony asked several times how to do it, and I couldn't tell him, any more than I could tell him how to ride a bike. I just assured him that his brain would learn what it had to learn. When he tried to make the space ship move, it stayed in its dock. When he relaxed, the space ship flew out into space. Every time his brain “happened on” the correct frequencies, the center space ship would move ahead, while the other two would fall behind. Tony's brain gradually began to learn, automatically and without conscious volition, to use this instantaneous feedback as a road map of which way to go. Unlike drug therapies, neurofeedback is a process of learning—the brain learns to regulate itself.

We trained two or three times a week, with 20 minutes of checking in and reassessment and 30 minutes of neurofeedback training each time. I used the quality of his sleep, the amount he was drinking, his appetite, his mood, and the frequency and intensity of his aggressive outbursts for my ongoing assessment of his progress. Changes in these markers indicated shifts in brain function. If the shifts were positive, I'd continue to train left and right hemispheres as I'd been doing. If the shifts were negative and he seemed worse in any of these areas, I'd reassess the training and change the brain-wave frequency of the reward band as needed.

By the fourth session, Tony reported that he was sleeping better, that he felt less angry, and that he'd started taking photographs again. He was also drinking less. But he still felt restless and dissatisfied with himself.

At session seven, he reported that he was bored with TV, that he was no longer sleeping during the day, and that he was feeling calmer and more organized. He could focus better and reported living “a more ordered life.” Tony was, it seemed, beginning to live in a more coherent brain. Neurofeedback training helped him feel increasingly calm and, as that happened, he became less fearful. It was also clear that Tony was beginning to trust me.

As with talk therapy, there are occasionally bumps in the road with neurofeedback. I had to be away for a month, and while I was gone, Tony's father had a stroke. Tony also quit his new job in a rage and went out drinking several times with friends. The bright spot was that he found that soon after the initial binge, he didn't want to drink at all. “I just don't like it anymore.”

The stress of his father's illness, coupled with the absence of training, accounted for the lapses in his ability to regulate his temper. All brains, particularly early in training, can default to older, familiar patterns of firing. Tony, however, was discouraged by his failures. I asked that he withhold his judgment while we continued to train.

Over the next several sessions, Tony spoke to me with increasing openness about his two most important relationships, his father and his girlfriend. He was still reporting problems with anger and depression, but he began to have more insight into these problems. He talked about his anger at his father, who was now recovering, and his feelings about his deceased mother. Talking like this was new to him, but he hardly seemed to notice. Almost inadvertently, he'd started to engage in talk therapy as well as neurofeedback. This isn't uncommon with people who come in only for neurofeedback—the training enhances clients' ability to relate.

At the twelfth session, Tony told me, “You might be interested. I read an entire book, for the first time.”

“What did you read?”

“A book about Vietnam. I've always been interested in Vietnam,” he said nonchalantly.

I couldn't believe that the first book Tony would read, after never voluntarily reading more than a paragraph, was historical nonfiction! The brain's electrical “short-circuits” had repatterned themselves and the printed page became accessible. The training was working. It was organizing him cognitively and quieting him emotionally.

Tony trained for 10 additional sessions. By the end, he was reading every day and we were talking at every session. He was holding down a steady job on a road crew and making plans for his future. He no longer suffered panic attacks, had stopped drinking, and had ended the relationship with his girlfriend, which he realized was destructive. He was sleeping well and rarely had explosive outbursts. He felt that neurofeedback had been more helpful to him than anything else he'd done, and that he'd accomplished most of what he'd sought to achieve. Most important perhaps, he felt good about himself.

I ran into Tony a year and a half later. He'd opened his own retail business. He was working at another job part time to support his fledgling endeavor, but would soon be making enough money to devote himself entirely to his new enterprise. I asked him, with equal parts curiosity and trepidation, if he was still reading. “Oh yeah.” he said, “that stuff you do must work.” He was reading a book on management, and he read fiction for pleasure. An inveterate channel surfer before neurofeedback, he no longer watched TV. The brain regulation that he'd learned in less than 12 hours of actual training time had held for 18 months without any further intervention, without any further training, with little psychotherapy, and with no medication.

Tony's case demonstrates that biofeedback directly to the brain can help organize brain function, both cognitively and emotionally. It can do so predictably and efficiently, and it can do so even for the large part of the population in need of help who, like Tony, have no interest in psychotherapy. Through reducing overarousal, boosting underarousal, and organizing the brain to function closer to its optimal capacity, neurofeedback enhances clients' ability to relate and, in many cases, makes therapy with them not only possible, but more deeply rewarding.

Melodic Therapy Changes Brain Activation and Promotes Language Recovery

Melodic Therapy Changes Brain Activation and Promotes Language Recovery

After Brain Damage Music therapies are in widespread use for a variety of behavioral and neurological problems. When positive effects are obtained on behavior, the brain mechanisms involved remain a mystery. Now comes evidence that a certain type of music therapy has behavioral benefits via measurable changes in brain function. Dr. Pascal Belin and his associates, working at the Service Hospitalier Frederic Joliot in Orsay and other institutions in France report that Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) promotes recovery from aphasia, a severe language disorder subsequent to stroke. MIT involves speaking in a type of musical manner, characterized by strong melodic (two notes, high and low) and temporal (two durations, long and short) components.

Reporting in the December 1996 issue of Neurology (vol. 47, pgs. 1504-1511), Belin et al studied seven patients who had a lengthy absence of spontaneous recovery. They also evaluated the effects of MIT on the brain by measuring relative cerebral blood flow (CBF) and PET scanning during hearing and repetition of simple words and of "MIT-loaded" words. MIT produced recovery of speech capabilities. Of great interest, a critical regions of the brain was activated by "MIT-loaded" words but not regular words. This is Broca's Area in the left hemisphere, known for over 100 years to be critically implicated in language and speech.

The authors believe that the reactivation by MIT of Broca's Area was critical to recovery of speech. These findings provide enormous promise for both the treatment of aphasia and understanding the role of music in normal and abnormal brain function.

What is Brainwave Entrainment?

 

Brainwave entrainment refers to the brain's electrical response to rhythmic sensory stimulation, such as pulses of sound or light.

When the brain is given a stimulus, through the ears, eyes or other senses, it emits an electrical charge in response, called a Cortical Evoked Response (shown below). These electrical responses travel throughout the brain to become what you "see and hear". This activity can be measured using sensitive electrodes attached to the scalp.

When the brain is presented with a rhythmic stimulus, such as a drum beat for example, the rhythm is reproduced in the brain in the form of these electrical impulses. If the rhythm becomes fast and consistent enough, it can start to resemble the natural internal rhythms of the brain, called brainwaves. When this happens, the brain responds by synchronizing its own electric cycles to the same rhythm. This is commonly called the Frequency Following Response (or FFR):

FFR can be useful because brainwaves are very much related to mental state. For example, a 4 Hz brainwave is associated with sleep, so a 4 Hz sound pattern would help reproduce the sleep state in your brain. The same concept can be applied to nearly all mental states, including concentration, creativity and many others.

Our Changing Brains

"The human brain can readily change its structure-- a phenomenon scientists call neuroplasticity," writes Jim Holt in the New York Times.  "A few years ago, brain scans of London cabbies showed that the detailed mental maps they had built up in the course of navigating their city's complicated streets were apparent in their brains.  Not only was the posterior hippocampus-- one area of the brain where spatial representations are stored-- larger in the drivers; the increase in size was proportional to the number of years they had on the job."

These cabbies of the urban jungle are living proof that exercising your brain strengthens and conditions your mind.

First-instinct Fallacy

Stressed exam takers are usually advised to go with their first impulse when answering questions on multiple-choice exams such as the SAT, says Psychology Today.  But a recent study (2005) has found that this strategy actually hurts performance and test scores. 

Why?

Because on average, test takers most often change answers from incorrect to correct, improving their test scores.  This "first-instinct fallacy" persists, says Justin Kruger, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, because instances when we change an answer from right to wrong loom larger in memory and lead to frustrated "if only" self-recriminations.

These findings represent crucial advice for students everywhere.

 

 

 

Juggling Increases Brain Grey Matter

It's a great party trick and useful for circus performers but scientists said this week that learning to juggle can cause changes in areas of the adult brain.

Mastering the skill increases the amount of grey matter in areas of the brain that process and store visual information, proving what was not thought possible -- that new stimuli can alter the brain's structure.

A comparison of brain-imaging scans of non-jugglers and other volunteers before they learned to juggle and three months later, revealed an increase in grey matter in certain areas of the newly trained jugglers' brains.

"Our results challenge our view of the human central nervous system. Human brains probably must be viewed as dynamic, changing with development and normal learning," said Arne May, of the University of Regensburg in Germany, who headed the research team.

Grey matter refers to parts of the brain and spinal cord that are comprised of the tightly packed nuclei of nerve cells. In the brain it is mainly found in the outer layers of the cerebrum which is responsible for advanced mental functions.

In a report in the science journal Nature, May and his colleagues said brain scans done three months after the new jugglers had stopped juggling showed the increase in grey matter had been reduced.

This finding is in direct alignment with iMusic use. The strong results that iMusic creates are permanent -- but if iMusic is not employed over the course of a few months, improvements and intelligence increases will begin to dissipate.

 

Schmoozing is good for the brain, study suggests

 Talking with friends helps keep the mind sharp, a U-M study suggests.

"As the population ages, interest has been growing about how to maintain healthy brains and minds," U-M psychologist Oscar Ybarra says. "Most advice for preserving and enhancing mental function emphasizes intellectual activities such as reading, doing crossword puzzles and learning how to use a computer. But my research suggests that just getting together and chatting with friends and family may also be effective."

In a series of studies with older and younger adults, Ybarra examined the degree to which social engagement predicted cognitive, or mental, function. In one study, he analyzed data on 3,617 Americans between the ages of 24 and 96, including measures of how often participants reported talking on the phone with friends, neighbors and relatives; how often they reported getting together with them; and how many people they identified with whom they could share their most private feelings and concerns.

The interviewers administered a mental exam and a series of arithmetic tasks to assess participants' cognition and working memory. In analyzing the results, Ybarra controlled for physical health and physical activity as well as a range of relevant demographic factors, including age, education, gender, income, marital status and race/ethnicity.

"Across all age groups, the more socially engaged participants were, the lower their level of cognitive impairment and the better their working memory perfor
mance," says Ybarra, a faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research.

In another study, Ybarra analyzed the connection between social engagement and cognitive function, including everyday decision-making, as well as memory and cognition, in nearly 2,000 older residents of four Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. Again, he controlled for a wide range of factors that could account for any correlation and found that the more participants reported being socially engaged, the less cognitive impairment they suffered and the more they participated in everyday decision-making.

While Ybarra emphasizes that his analysis shows correlations between mental function and social engagement and does not establish causation in either direction, he believes that the link between the two cuts across cultures and is perhaps fundamental to what it means to be human.

"To some extent, the human mind evolved to deal with social problems, so it's not surprising that exercising that aspect of our minds has downstream benefits," Ybarra says. "In fact, it may be that our technical prowess depends on our social intelligence. In studies of primates and other mammals, the size of the brain has been correlated with the size of the social group the animals typically form."

By encouraging children to develop their social skills, he speculates, parents and teachers also could be helping them to improve their intellectual skills. In the workplace, instead of encouraging employees to keep their noses to computer monitors and complete their tasks, effective supervisors might encourage them to take plenty of time out to socialize. Here, Ybarra notes, cultural differences often emerge, with Americans generally impatient about mixing socializing and work. "In some other cultures," he says, "people are much more likely to blend the two."

The trend is simple.  The more you work your brain, the more it works for you.

Study uncovers mystery cell's role in wiring the brain

Study uncovers mystery cell's role in wiring the brain

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stanford University scientists have filled an important gap in understanding how the brain works, discovering what prompts nerve cells to build the vital connections they need to communicate.

Glial cells, long thought to be just some passive scaffolding for the brain's all-important neurons, are directly responsible for how many connections neurons form so they can talk to each other, the scientists report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

The surprise discovery could lead to better understanding of how memory forms, and perhaps shed new light on what causes certain brain diseases such as epilepsy or Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I'll bet money that there is going to be some disease that is a breakdown in this regulation," said Dr. Charles Stevens, a neurobiologist who wasn't involved in the new research and calls it a major finding.

More immediately important is the basic understanding of how glial cells affect those vital neuron connections called synapses, he said.

"If you want to understand how the brain computes, you have to understand how they form," explained Stevens, who is with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California.

Glial cells make up most of the brain's cells -- for every one neuron there are 10 glia, says Stanford lead researcher Dr. Ben Barres. The scientific dogma was that they only supported neurons, perhaps by providing nutrition, but nobody really knew.

So Barres and postdoctoral student Erik Ullian set out to uncover the function of a main glial cell called an astrocyte.

Neurons are nerve cells that send and receive messages by swapping chemical signals, such as signals that say you're suffering pain or move that leg to walk or retrieve that memory. To do that communicating, neurons first must form synapses.

Scientists once thought neurons were wired to simply build as many synapses as needed. Not so, Barre's team discovered -- young neurons form only a few immature synapses when there are no astrocytes nearby, he said.

But add astrocytes to neurons in laboratory dishes and suddenly they form seven times more synapses, and strong, healthy ones, Barres said. Ullian confirmed the finding with another experiment in which he took astrocytes away and the synapses promptly started shriveling.

"People really have not had a good feel for how the brain controls the number of synapses -- is the neuron just born with it or are there environmental signals?" Barres said. "Our results show absolutely clearly that environmental signals can have a profound effect on how many synapses neurons can have."

What does it mean for brain research? "We're very interested in the possible disease implications," he said.

Under the microscope, numerous brain diseases show "gliosis," an abnormal accumulation of glia in the brain-injured area. Perhaps glia overreact to an injury, causing neurons to form too many synapses and thus triggering the overfiring that means an epileptic seizure, Barres theorized.

Or consider degenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig's, in which neurons initially die in just one area before the disease spreads. Could overreacting glia kill those additional neurons by overstimulating them?

Then there's the question of memory. Many scientists believe memories are stored by building or strengthening synapses. Astrocytes signal neurons to build synapses by secreting a protein. If Barres could identify that protein -- he has experiments under way to try -- then scientists could test both the disease and memory theories.

The Millionaire Mind

 A British Study, conducted by Tulip Financial Research, has found that millionaires are significantly more likely to suffer from dyslexia, says The Sunday Times of London. "Psychologists who analyzed the mental makeup of business winners found learning difficulties are one of the most important precursors of financial success. About 40 per cent of the 300 [peope] studied had been diagnosed with the condition--four times the rate of the general population. Experts believe one reason may be that dyslexics, who tend not the be good at details, learn to excel by grasping the bigger picture and producing original ideas." For instance, Sir Richard Branson, a billionaire tycoon, admits he did not understand the difference between net and gross profit until it was explained to him in 2001.

Don't let learning difficulties diminish your own belief in what you can achieve.

The Phaonmneal Pweor of the Hmuan Mnid

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid.  I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg.  Aoccdrnig to the rsceearh taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt thing is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm.  This is bcuseae the human mind deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.  Scuh a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia.  Amzanig hun?  Yaeh and you awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

 

Tihs is jsut one of the anazmig tnighs yuor mnid can do. 

 

 

Sound health: prevent a noisy environment from affecting your well-being

American Fitness,  Nov-Dec, 2004  by Cosima Jocelyn

 

Noise constantly surrounds you. Your alarm clock jolts you out of sleep, honking horns and buzzing engines whiz by you on the road, you carry a cell phone which interrupts you throughout the day, as well as watch TV and listen to the radio while eating and reading. Even when you think your home is silent, there's the soft hum of electrical lighting, refrigerators and other appliances. All this noise adds to your stress levels and impacts your overall health.

Einstein proved the universe consists entirely of energy. Therefore, all the items in your physical world are frequencies of energy. Each type of matter has a specific frequency at which it vibrates, including your organs and cells. The sound of your environment is essential to your overall well-being since it impacts the frequency of your body, your own natural rhythm. According to the physical Law of Entrainment (described in Itzhah Bentov's book, Stalking the Wild Pendulum), an external rhythm will automatically override your natural internal heart rhythm, causing your heart to beat faster. Even when you lie down to watch TV, your heart rate isn't at the desired relaxed level. The TV's fast moving images, plot changes and music deny your pulse an opportunity to slow down. A loud TV raises your heart rate even further.

By not allowing your body a resting period, you aren't giving your internal organs a chance to heal or balance themselves. This imbalance can result in stress and lead to future health problems. It can weaken the immune system, increase muscle tension, over-thinking and overall tension. Ignored stress builds up in the body and suppresses the thymus gland, which in turn reduces your energy and resistance to disease. The body is a self-healing system and needs a quiet and relaxing space to heal. Without constant noise to influence and override your body's natural balance, it can restore itself to harmony.

In addition to your heartbeat and brain activity, exposure to loud sounds for a long period of time damages inner ear structures, causing noise induced hearing loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the condition affects over 28 million Americans. Anyone can develop hearing loss and it's becoming more common in children and young adults. Fifteen percent of college graduates already have hearing loss equivalent to their parents. Any noise over 90 decibels can cause damage. This includes a subway's screeching brakes, the noise in a crowded bar or restaurant and most construction zones. Hearing loss at a young age may seem insignificant, but straining to hear basic conversation adds another small element of stress to life.

The idea that sound affects health has been around for centuries. Plato believed music so profoundly affected behavior that it should be regulated by the state and that certain types of music be banned because of their negative effects. Moreover, various cultures throughout history have used music to heal. Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic healing methods and Shamans have all used sound as a part of their healing philosophies. Chanting, toning and singing bowls are used in many different cultures to heal and balance the mind and body. Whether or not you look into music therapy, chanting or toning, reducing the amount of time you are exposed to loud and fast sounds will help you relax, aid your body in its self-healing process and create a quieter mind. Until recently, music therapy had not received much attention or credibility, but it's reaching a larger American audience as more people experience the effect soothing music has on their stress levels and overall health.

There are times when fast paced music can be beneficial. For example, an up-tempo song can elevate your mood and heart rate, which will keep your energy high, help you move faster and enable you to get more out of a workout. If you have excess tension or emotional buildup, exercising to up-tempo music can help you burn off anxiety and let go of tension. After the workout, stretch to New Age or classical music to help regulate your heart rate and return the body to balance. It can also be beneficial to listen to invigorating music while cleaning or waking up in the morning.

Ideally, you want your body to be balanced and run smoothly. However, in modern society it is impossible to create a life completely devoid of stressors, especially noise. The intention is not to eliminate all popular music or TV from your life, but to be aware of what effects they have on your health, so when life is stressful, you can make choices to help balance your body and relieve stress. Here are some ways to combat the stress noise adds to your life:

* Listen to jazz or classical music while cooking and eating dinner. Not only does it give your family an opportunity to talk, the soothing sounds of jazz and classical music can aid digestion and eliminate the added stress of watching TV (especially the news) as well.

* Set a time limit for TV-watching every night, both for yourself and your family. Set an allotted number of hours or pick the shows you want to watch, then turn the TV off. Many people end up watching shows they aren't interested in because it resides between two shows they want to watch or starts before they turn the TV off. This results in spending the whole evening in front of the TV when, in fact, they only desired to watch an hour and a half.

* Give yourself a few moments each day to not think about anything. You may want to experiment with a yoga or meditation class, even pausing for a few deep breathing cycles will have a strong impact on your day. It may sound too simple or even silly, but stopping your hectic day for at least four deep breath cycles can have a profound effect on your stress and tension levels.

It's always a good idea to deal with stress head-on. Stress won't go away if you simply ignore it. In fact, not dealing with stress increase it. Stress is inevitable. You can't control traffic congestion, problems at work or accidents that happen to you or your family. Dealing with the small stressors in life, however, gives you more energy to handle the large stressors. Eliminating small stressors also gives your body and mind time and space to heal and rejuvenate.

We don't get enough sleep: Poll Shows

A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in 2002 showed that approximately 74% of the population has trouble sleeping at some point in their lives. And the root of the problem might simply be our lifestyles.

According to Dr. Gary Zammit, Director for the Sleep Disorders Institute at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, about 9% to 18% of adults actually suffer from chronic insomnia and aren't able to sleep for a few days or longer.

"Insomnia is associated with deficits in attention, concentration, memory and ability to stay 'on task.' It's also associated with impairments in social and occupational functioning, poor quality of life, increased risk of accidents or injuries, and higher health care costs," he explains.

Insomnia may also be associated with a number of other risks, such as the development of psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. Sleep deprivation has also been linked to weight gain and poorly functioning immune systems.

"We're always looking to blame or deny what\'s right in front of our eyes. Caffeine, eating late right before bed, too much alcohol before bedtime--these can cause an insomnia problem because they are varying you in and out of bed time," says Russell Rosenberg, Ph.D. and Director at Northside Hospital Sleep Medicine Institute in Atlanta, Ga. "Even watching news before bed isn't good."

 

If you find you can't focus at work or you're complaining of being tired or feeling irritable, these can all be signs that you aren't getting enough Zs.

 

And if you find yourself waking up unrefreshed and if your quality of life is affected because you're irritable or constantly stressed due to lack of sleep, it may be time to take a step back and evaluate your habits. But if you are like most people, changing your behaviour is not something that you are likely to do.

 

Luckily, more ways to treat and beat insomnia are becoming available.  At the end of the day, and after all the multitasking, solutions such as iMusic are there to get us out of the no-sleep rut, and into bed.

Habits never die

The brain never completely deletes old patterns, according to Ann Graybiel of MIT. Negative habits lie dormant waiting for familiar stimuli, says the brain researcher, whose study about the basal ganglia brain region appeared in the journal Nature in October. She has identified the basal ganglia as the hub of all choices we make about habits, reports The Seatle Post-Intelligencer. The basal ganglia awakening from a dormant state is "a familiar situation to anyone trying to lose weight," she says.

"Just the sight of a piece of chocolate can reset all of those good intentions."

Using Your Brain = Alzheimer's Protection

Daily Mental Challenges Keep Brain in Tip-Top Shape

By Jeanie Lerche Davis, WebMD Medical News

Reviewed By Brunilda  Nazario, MD

Aug. 2004 -- Got a mind-draining job? It might protect you from Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

The causes of dementia and Alzheimer's disease are still being scrutinized. Scientists know that genetics account for only a part of the 4.5 million Alzheimer's disease patients in the U.S. But they have difficulty teasing out the impact of such factors as education, diet, and socioeconomic status -- including occupation.

Several studies have found that blue-collar workers develop more cases of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in their later years. But why?

This current study delves more deeply into occupation to understand the specific job demands that make the difference, lead researcher Kathleen Smyth, PhD, a sociologist at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, tells WebMD.

Her study, which appears in an issue of the journal Neurology, involved a group of people over age 60. Through extensive testing, 122 patients were diagnosed as having signs of Alzheimer's disease. The 235 people in the comparison group were the patients' friends and neighbors whose tests showed no signs of Alzheimer's.

Family members provided information about jobs the Alzheimer's patients held. The comparison group provided similar job history details.

Researchers then sifted through thousands of Department of Labor job descriptions. That helped them identify factors like job complexity, training required, aptitude required, whether activities required abstract, creative abilities vs. routine and concrete ones, physical demands, and work conditions.

Early Signs of Dementia?

The Alzheimer's patients had held mostly blue-collar jobs. However, another pattern emerged.

"When both groups were in their 20s, there were few differences in the mental demands of their jobs," Smyth tells WebMD. "But in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, we did find differences -- increased mental demands among [the comparison group]. For those with Alzheimer's disease, the mental demands from their jobs stayed flat ... they did not advance."

In those early years, something had changed. "We don't know exactly what," says Smyth.

One theory: Even as early as their teens or 20s, "Alzheimer's may have been affecting them in some subtle way, keeping them from moving into more advanced jobs," Smyth tells WebMD. "Many researchers feel that a big piece of dementia is 'brought to the table's at a very early age."

Another theory: "Life circumstances kept them from getting more advanced jobs," she says. "They didn't get the right opportunities and got stuck in low-level jobs. It's use it or lose it. Over three decades, if you're not mentally stimulating yourself, it's not good for your brain."

"We're hoping this is the take-home message -- build variety into your job," Smyth says. "Choose jobs where you have variety. And if you have a job that is routine, compensate in other ways. Studies looking at leisure activities show they have an impact. There's pretty wide acceptance that trying to keep your mind active is what's important."

A Second Opinion

"All these Alzheimer's studies have a fundamental problem that is tough to overcome -- that people are very complex, and success in your career is much more than book smarts and educational achievement," James Lah, MD, PhD, a clinical neurologist and neuroscientist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, tells WebMD. Lah agreed to provide insights on Smyth's study.

Indeed, the development of Alzheimer's may start much earlier than once thought. Or another contributing factor may be in place, like a developmental problem, he says.

Lah points to a famous study of 30 nuns from the order of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who provided blood samples and underwent testing of their mental abilities from their 70s until their deaths. The nuns also gave permission to be autopsied after death. The findings have helped provide answers to the puzzle of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers analyzed essays the nuns wrote 50 to 60 years earlier, when they were novitiates in their teens or early 20s. "Their writing indicated their linguistic abilities, a measure of intelligence. But their writing -- whether it was complex or not -- also showed subtle signs of Alzheimer's disease," Lah tells WebMD. "It could be that something was going on in their brains that affected their writing, that also played a role in their developing Alzheimer's disease later on."

Nevertheless, he continues counseling patients to do crossword puzzles and to continue interpersonal interactions, to keep their brains in good operating condition. "It's something a lot of us would like to believe is true -- that we can actively prevent dementia. We don't know for sure it's going to help, but we know for sure it's not going to hurt."

With iMusic, training the brain and keeping your neurons snapping into old age is easier than ever!

---

 

SOURCES: Kathleen Smyth, PhD, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland. James Lah, MD, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. WebMD Medical News: "Genes and Environment Affect Alzheimer's Risk."

Mind Aerobics: 10 ways to get your memory in shape

Mind Aerobics: 10 ways to get your memory in shape

By Susan Jacoby

Andrew A. Skolnick, a 57-year-old editor and writer, moved last year to Amherst, N.Y., to take a new job with the Center for Inquiry, a research institute promoting science and reason. To his chagrin, Skolnick, overloaded with new numbers, addresses and passwords, couldn’t memorize his phone numbers for three months.

"I pride myself on my mathematical ability," Skolnick says, "so it was a humbling experience."

Talk to almost anyone over 50 and you hear the same stories about memory glitches—time-consuming searches for misplaced glasses and keys, difficulty recalling names only minutes after an introduction and, perhaps most frustrating of all, coming up empty when a familiar word is on the tip of the tongue.

People tend to joke about "senior moments," but often the humor masks an underlying fear of Alzheimer’s disease. Their concern isn’t unfounded: about 5 percent of people age 65 and older (and a much larger proportion over 80) develop Alzheimer’s. However, there is mounting evidence that memory lapses don’t necessarily foreshadow dementia.

What often leads to these lapses are "brain busters" such as fatigue, depression, poor physical health and medication, says Janet Fogler, a clinical social worker at the University of Michigan’s geriatric clinic .

Stress is another factor getting closer scrutiny. Researchers at Yale Medical School, for instance, reported in the journal Science last fall that stress activates a brain protein called kinase C, or PKC, that can undermine short-term memory. Other researchers have found that sustained high levels of the stress hormone cortisol can damage the hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s central to memory.

"People experience tremendous changes between ages 50 and 70" that are stressful, says Gary W. Small, M.D., director of the Center on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles. You’re retiring or starting new careers, taking care of aging parents, watching your children leave the nest. "There’s more to remember," he adds, "than ever before."

It’s possible to fight brain busters, scientists increasingly believe, by taking control of your life and reducing stress. What works is a strategy to improve overall health—and to stimulate the brain with exercises that Small calls "aerobics for the mind."

"The next big fitness movement is the brain fitness movement," says Small, who wrote The Memory Prescription. "We can modify a lot of the risk factors for brain disease in the same way that we can reduce the risk factors for, say, heart disease."

Get a jump-start. Here’s a 10-step memory workout based on the latest scientific findings.

1. Exercise regularly
Aerobic activity—walking, dancing, biking, for at least 20 minutes three times a week—increases blood flow and the delivery of oxygen, sugar (as glucose) and nutrients to the brain. In 2003 researchers from Wayne State University and the University of Illinois, Urbana, showed that aerobic fitness may reduce the loss of brain tissue common in aging.

2. Stick to a healthy diet
Avoid sugar and saturated fat. And eat lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, spinach and beets. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported in December that the magnesium found in dark green, leafy vegetables appears to help maintain memory.

3. Learn something new
Mastering activities you’ve never done before, such as playing the piano or learning a foreign language, stimulates neuron activity. For best results, remember this: People exposed to positive reinforcement before completing memory exercises scored well above others exposed to negative reinforcement in a study led by Thomas Hess, a North Carolina State University psychologist.

4. Get enough sleep
Too little sleep impairs concentration. Anecdotal evidence shows a good night’s sleep appears to boost memory after learning something new.

5. Devise memory strategies
Make notes or underline key passages to help you remember what you’ve read. Invent mnemonics—formulas to help you remember things. An example in Fogler’s book: a man’s two cars—one tan, one black—had gas tank doors on opposite sides. To remember which was which, he associated the lighter-color car with the word "left," the side the gas cap was on.

6. Socialize
Conversation, especially positive, meaningful interaction, helps maintain brain function.

7. Get organized
Designate a place for important items such as keys and checkbooks. Keep checklists for things like daily medications or items to pack when you travel.

8. Turn off the tube
Some experts say too much TV watching weakens brain power.

9. Jot down new information
Writing helps transfer items from short- to long-term memory.

10. Solve brainteasers
Crossword puzzles, card games and board games like Scrabble improve your memory. Other games are good for remembering numbers (Concentration), spatial concepts (pinball, pool) and strategizing (chess, checkers).

 

This is Your Brain on Music

This is Your Brain on Music
By Sini Matikainen

From the allure of salsa at a dance club to the dignity of the wedding march, we count on music to provide the soundtrack for our lives. But what if the music were more than just a reflection of our moods -- what if the soundtrack changed the course of the movie itself?  
	A group of interdisciplinary presenters wants to examine just that in an upcoming conference hosted by Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. The conference, titled "Brainwave Entrainment to External Rhythmic Stimuli" unites presenters under the common interest of how music affects the brain -- and, more specifically, how music can alter our brainwaves, and by extension, alertness, mood and even certain disorders.	
	"It seems that if you focus your attention intensely enough on any rhythmic stimulus in your environment, your brainwaves will begin to synchronize to that rhythm and become more and more synchronized the longer that you pay attention to it," explains Symposium Coordinator and visiting scholar Gabe Turow.
	Turow continues, "Given that your EEG rhythms -- the electromagnetic pules coming from the cortex -- are tied closely to your state of arousal and attention, brainwave entrainment seems to represent a way of systematically altering your brainwave state for short periods of time, eliciting a different state of arousal or attention in the process," he continues.  
	Though this phenomenon is observable in everyday life -- Turow gives examples such as the rhythmic movement of cars lulling people to sleep and the calming influence of playing an instrument -- it also has possible medical applications. Disorders such as insomnia, ADD, depression and anxiety have been linked to specific brain wave patterns, suggesting that treatment for these disorders could come from music rather than drug therapy. People with ADD, for example, could listen to fast electronic music in order to speed up the slower-than-average brainwaves in the frontal cortex.
	 The use of music for therapy is one of the major topics of discussion at Saturday's conference, which will feature 30-minute presentations from fields as diverse as psychology, computer science and philosophy.    
	Judith Becker, a professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, will give a presentation that examines how music is used for healing in rituals in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
	She writes in the online description of her project, "I will present some video footage of two rituals that involve intense, repetitive music in rituals of healing and trance. The first example is of a Buddhist healing ritual from Sri Lanka in which the drummers successfully attempt to induce trance in the sick person. The second example is a ritual from Bali, Indonesia, that involves neutralizing the negative power of a magnificent witch...An essential part of the ceremony is the trance induction of a group of village volunteers...who after initially attacking the witch, turn their daggers upon themselves, but are seldom harmed."
	Another presentation by Thomas Budzynski, Affiliate professor of psychology at the University of Washington, will examine how light and music together can affect brainwave patterns and even improve cognitive performance in senior citizens.
	The conference is not just limited to clinical or scientific research; it will also feature a performance by Italian music group, Musicantica. The ensemble, which performs a style of trance music called tarantella, features two ethnomusicologists who will follow the performance with a discussion of how tarantella relates to the topics discussed at the conference.
	This academic breadth is one of the highlights of the conference, says organizer and Department of Music Chair Jonathan Berger. "This conference brings together neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists, computer scientists and ethnomusicologists all working on pieces of this large puzzle. It is the first of its kind and an exciting moment for Stanford and for the research community at large," he explains.
	Turow agrees about the wealth of information available at the conference and adds that it should have far-reaching appeal.
	"I think there's something for just about everyone in this conference.  Everyone has emotional experiences that seem out of their control-this conference suggests a non-invasive means to find a way to deal with them," says Turow. "And for those who play or listen to music, this should start to give them some clues as to why they are affected in certain ways by certain pieces and maybe it'll encourage them to pay more attention to those effects and possibly even cultivate them."

---

Powered by KnowledgeBuilder