New Research Shows Power of Neuro Associations

Blogged by Art Markman, Ph.D. on April 29, 2009 - 11:54am in Ulterior Motives

I like this article because it outlines some of what is happening at the neuroassociative level when you begin to feel resentment, anger, stress, or dislike for people - the process is the same. We are simply linking positive or negative emotions with certain stimuli. Think about the reach of this research: what negative associations do you have with waiting in line? Driving in traffic? Receiving criticism at work? Being nagged by your spouse? About having or not having money? This is where triggers come from... the meaning we attach to things. This is pretty interesting stuff, and definitely food for thought, especially where relationships are concerned. Enjoy!

How do you know that you like someone or something? Often, seeing a person you like gives you a good feeling inside or makes you smile. You have that reaction far before you could say exactly why you like that person. Indeed, you might find it hard to put into words exactly why you like them, but you know you do.

There is a lot of work in Psychology showing that you can come to like someone (or some thing for that matter) not because of anything they have done, but just because you tend to feel good when you are around them. There is a procedure called evaluative conditioning that shows how this can happen.

As one example, Michael Olson and Russell Fazio presented studies in the journal Psychological Science in 2001. They had people stare at a computer screen while images were presented to them very rapidly (at a rate of 1.5 seconds per image). They told people that they were studying people's ability to do surveillance in a complex environment. The images consisted both of pictures (of different Pokemon characters) as well as words. Sometimes, more than one word or picture appeared on the same screen. In fact, one Pokemon character was repeatedly paired with positive words and images (like the word excellent or a picture of a sundae).

A second character was repeatedly paired with negative words and images (like the word terrible or a picture of a cockroach). Later, people were asked to rate how much they liked the character. People consistently gave higher ratings to the character that was paired with positive words and pictures than to the character that was paired with negative words and pictures. This difference occurred, though the participants in the study were not aware of which words and images had appeared with the characters.

So, what is going on here? In a May, 2009 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Christopher Jones, along with Russell Fazio and Michael Olson argue that this change in evaluation of the objects occurs because of a mis-attribution of the good feeling to the object. That is, in these kinds of experiments, the positive words and pictures make the person feel good. They are not sure why they feel good, so the good feeling is attached to the Pokemon character that is consistently associated with feeling good. Likewise, the negative words and pictures make them feel bad. They are not sure why they feel bad, so they attach the negative feeling to the Pokemon character that is consistently associated with feeling bad.

Often, of course, this strategy is a pretty good one. If there is a person in the world, and you usually feel good around that person, chances are that person is making you feel good. If there is a person and you usually feel bad around them, chances are that person is making you feel bad. However, this strategy can lead to the wrong outcome too. You may end up liking people and things you encounter in positive situations more than perhaps you should. Similarly, you may end up disliking people and things you encounter in negative situations more than you should.

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Stress Tips to be Shared Today on CTS Television

Watch CTS Television today at 2 p.m. as Julie Christiansen, "The Anger Lady" appears LIVE with host Christine Williams to discuss the challenges of stress and anger in today's society. Julie will be appearing as a guest expert along with Gerry Smith of FGI (formerly Warren Sheppell).

Julie Christiansen is the author of Stress Less in 27 Days - a comprehensive toolkit of practical strategies to help readers transform consuming stress into mobilizing energy in less than 30 days. The book is available at http://www.angersolution.com/. (Softcover, trade paperback, 175 pages, $22.95).

CH TV is local to the GTA in Ontario and is available via satelite. Visit the site, http://www.ctstv.com/ to find out what channels offer their family friendly programming.

Four Ways that Deep Breathing can lower your risk for disease

The website, http://www.healthoxygen.com/ lists several curative effects of oxygen, which include an increase in energy levels, detoxifying the body, aiding digestion, and enabling muscle recovery. However, you cannot achieve the curative effects of oxygen if you don’t breathe deeply enough to effectively oxygenate your body! Here are four key ways that deep breathing can actually lower your risk for disease.

1. You will oxygenate your body. Oxygen boosts the immune system and has been used for years in hospital settings as a method to assist with patient recovery. Think about it: oxygen is essential for sustaining human life! When the body is deprived of oxygen (for example – because of poor posture, slouching, or shallow breathing) at the outset it results in headaches, muscle fatigue, blurred vision and distorted focus. Imbalances in oxygen levels have been linked to migraines as well as certain types of cancers. Deep, diaphragmatic breaths can reduce your risk for these types of ailments.

2. Breathing deeply will slow down your heart rate. When the body is stressed it goes into fight or flight mode. When this happens the heart beats faster, blood thickens (causing the heart to pump harder), and blood pressure rises. Prolong these effects over time and you will be at risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). When you are feeling stressed or tense, take a moment to slow your breathing, with a concentration on filling your lungs to capacity, circulating the oxygen through your system, and slowly releasing the air from your lungs. You will find after a few deep breaths that your heart rate will begin to slow, and you can bring your body functions back to baseline. Your heart gets enough wear and tear throughout the course of daily living – give it a break by regulating your breathing.

3. Deep breathing expels toxins from the body. The process of breathing serves an important function – aside from just keeping you alive. As you inhale, you are taking in oxygen – this oxygen travels through the blood stream, circulating throughout the body. Cells travel along this route to gather up toxins and “bad air” (aka carbon dioxide) which is then expelled each time we exhale. Shallow breathing does not allow for adequate collection of these toxins. Sure, we are keeping ourselves alive and we are circulating our blood and oxygen; however, when you take a deep cleansing breath, you will feel and see the difference immediately.

4. You will re-energize your brain. A properly hydrated and oxygenated brain is a high functioning brain. Studies state that we humans only use about 2% of our brain power. Imagine how a lack of oxygen and water contributes to the lack of functionality of that 2%! Deep breathing circulates oxygen back to the brain, which will result in better focus, clearer thinking, less headaches, and a more peaceful rest.

Learn more about how deep breathing can improve your overall health, and practice the breathing techniques in Chapter 9 of Stress Less in 27 Days – “Inhale!” Available now at http://www.angersolution.com/products.php.

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Holiday Stress is Everyday Stress - Magnified

Sure the holidays are over but the stress is hanging around... why is that? Could it be that holiday stress is just everyday stress magnified times 10? Stress defined is emotional/physical duress that occurs when we perceive that the demands currently placed on our lives exceed the resources we have available to deal with them. Ths 6 minute clip shares some insights into why we get stressed - not only at the holidays but all year round. If you're ready to get a handle on your stress, go to www.angersolution.com/products.php and order your very own copy of Stress Less in 27 Days.

Order your copy of Stress Less in 27 Days at www.angersolution.com/products.php.

Anger Solutions is also available at www.angersolution.com/angerbook.php.

If you are interested in ordering bulk copies - for your team, family, or staff - call us direct at 1-866-754-6169.

Get ready to be Transform[ED]

I am so excited to bring Transform[ED] Coaching to you beginning January 5th, 2009. What a great way to start the New Year! We all make resolutions about what we want to change, and what we will do differently, but very soon into the first few weeks of January or February, we revert back to our old ways. Do you ever wonder why it is that way? Is it possible that the change we seek is too far outside of our comfort zone? Perhaps, we see what we want to achieve, but we don’t have the tools or the roadmap to get there. Most definitely, we lack the skills to make change sustainable over the long term.

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Transform[ED] Coaching is an 8-week group process that you can participate in from the comfort of your own home. All you will need is your telephone, a journal, and a pen. I will provide you with the roadmap, the tools, the insight, and the leverage you need to make the changes you desire. You can be assured that your personal information will remain confidential, and your self-work will be seen only by me. Each hour-long session will focus on a particular task or issue, and there will be an opportunity for question and answer at the end of each call. Those questions that cannot be answered within our time will be covered in an e-mail. Because I want to be able to give each participant the personal attention they deserve, registration in these sessions is limited to the first 20 who sign up.

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