cognitive science/therapy

Two pivotal books in the cognitive revolution of thought.
1. What we think determines what we feel.
2. If we have a negative emotion, many times there is a cognitive distortion or fallacy.
3. Identify the distortion.
4. Substitute a rational thought.
5. We change the thought, we change our mood.


Feeling Good by David D. Burns, M.D. (1980).
A New Guide to Rational Living by Albert Ellis Ph.D. and Robert A. Harper Ph.D. 1975, 1961

DEFINITIONS OF COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS :
1. All or Nothing Thinking : We think in all or nothing, black and white, right or wrong categories, rather than
seeing things more objectively, calmly, rationally and from many angles of truth.

2. Overgeneralization : You pick out one fact, comment or event and make it the totality of your sum
experience. Ex. You made a mistake on a test, and think you always or always will make mistakes.

3. Mental Filter : You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all
reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that colors the entire beaker of water.
Ex. You get one bad compliment and it ruins your entire day.

4. Mind Reading-Jumping to Conclusions : You think you know what someone is thinking of you. Many times a
negative label.

Fortune Teller-Jumping to Conclusions : You anticipate that things will go bad for you.

5. Magnification : You magnify your characteristics, attributes, and successes in your mind. The narcissism effect.

Minimizing : You minimize other people's characteristics, virtues, successes,or attributes.

6. Disqualifying the Positive : You reject positive experiences by insisting they don't count for
some reason or other. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by
your every day experiences.

7. Emotional Reasoning : I feel it to be true so it must be true.

8. Should statements. Self explanatory. I should/ought/must/have to ; they/he/she-ought/must/
should/have to ; the world or reality or life-should/ought/must/have to.

9. Labeling : labeling, name calling, pejoratives of self or others

Mislabeling-labeling : Involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and
emotionally loaded.

10. Personalization : You blame yourself for something not in your control. I.E. You
feel responsible for another person's actions or feelings. Or you blame yourself for
how an event or experience turned out, that was not to your liking.


The above 10 distortions are taken from David D. Burns ; Feeling Good (1980).

lightsun wrote:

Two pivotal books in the cognitive revolution of thought.
1. What we think determines what we feel.
2. If we have a negative emotion, many times there is a cognitive distortion or fallacy.

These two seem contradictory: (1) what we think determines what we feel, but (2) what we feel (negative emotion) determines what we think (distorts cognition). Which way does it go? Can it be either, depending upon the situation or person? I tend to think (2) is the more common, and the more counterproductive. If our facts are accurate and our reasoning sound, (1) seems realistic and healthy.

Romana, it is a loop.
Chemicals » emotions » thoughts » behavior and then the loop, like a snake curls in on it's
self.
If one can make a change in any segment of the circular loop, it affects all parts.
(1). You change the chemical, you will feel differently, producing thought changes, and which affects
behaviors, I.E., taking antidepressants or any mood stabilizers.
(2). You change your thoughts, changing your emotions and thus the chemicals in your brain. I.E.,
think of the happiest moment in your life. Your thoughts are producing memories, which are producing
emotions & the chemicals associated with those thoughts. For a second experiment : think of aa time
of grief. The brain will produce the visual, tactile, hearing, olfactory, and taste of the moment. This based
on the personality, and which mode of sensory awareness the person best thinks, reacts,and functions
in the real world. These memories will produce thoughts, which will lead to different emotions and
chemicals in the brain.
(3). You change your behavioral response. This will produce new experiences. Which will lead
to different memories. These memories and the thoughts associated with them, are producing
different chemicals producing different emotions.
Scientists still do not know all the how's and why'ing of the brains functioning. This is why the different
theorists, approach the problem from different angles of the segmented looping of the brain's functioning.
Behaviorists seek to change : the behavior » thoughts » emotions » chemicals..
Cognitive theorists seek the changing of thoughts. Which lead to different emotions.
Changing thoughts » emotions. » chemicals » behaviors.
Psychiatrists focus on the drugs and the neurotransmitters. Chemicals » emotions » thoughts » behavior.
There is much more here. I may have to reply once again, to pinpointing the questions you raised.