Cognitive Behavior Management

The Abstract Index is intended as a quick reference while searching for a particular paper. Those papers online are linked from the Abstract Titles below.

THEORY ARTICLES

There are no Abstracts for Quick Concepts and the Language of Change.

Consciousness: In 1988 Bernard J. Baars published A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness which provides the final piece of our theoretical puzzle. The book is concerned with conscious and nonconscious processes. Consciousness is not something we can observe directly, other than in ourselves, and then only in retrospect. However, the fact that we can predict with considerable confidence indicates that conscious experience is something knowable.

A Biological Theory To Underpin Cognitive Behavior Management: There are fundamental laws about complex systems, but they are new kinds of laws. They are laws of structure and organization and scale, and they simply vanish when you focus on the individual constituents of a complex system - just as the psychology of a lynch mob vanishes when you interview individual participants." the brain-mind question is, according to one neurologist, a question of the survival of the fittest. Perceptual categorization is the first step, and it is crucial for learning, but is not something fixed, something that occurs once and for all. The evolution of thought allows for learning.

Precepts & Concepts: Based on theoretical work by Hofstadter the process of getting from perceptions to conceptions involves what begins randomly from the bottoms-up. As the organism is able to experience objects and relations, a knowledge base is created upon which meaning and value can be abstracted. As experiences and events gain meaning and value, the process becomes increasingly top down as the mind in attempt at an orderly process influences perception though beliefs, goals and external process - we perceive more and more of what we expect to perceive.

Belief Systems: What people believe to be true is that which is coherent to their already established cache of truisms. This cache is developed over time and is significantly shaped by the significant people in the environment. Its development is monitored by the rigor with which each new proposition is analyzed in relationship to what already exists. But the child who has a poorly developed set of logical skills; whose information cache is personalized and moralized; and has little energy to deal with noncoherent propositions, will develop a reality which very likely depreciates his/her self concept which is likely to result in antisocial behaviors which set in motion a reality [pragmatics] which reinforces this perspective.

Communication: The human behavior stream is contingent upon communication for social learning and the development of personal mental schema about, among other things, self, others and future prospects. Communication and information are coterminous constructs. Communication is information; and information is the means of communicating. Since communication has two distinct poles: the conveyor of information and the receiver of information; precepts become an important part of the creation of concepts. Thus the perception becomes a part of the communication process. What happens between perception and conception is also interesting.

Culture: The scientific study of human social life must concern itself with two different kinds of phenomena. On one hand, there are the thoughts and feelings that humans experience within their minds; on the other, there are the activities that constitute the human behavior stream. The relationship between mental and physical behavior events are significant. If beliefs are mental representations which predispose towards action, then the mental activities and context have some relationship to the physical outcomes.

Restructuring Judgement: The investigation biases in judgement has followed from the study of perceptual illusions. Our understanding of the human visual system, for example, comes in part from the study of situations in which our eye and brain are "fooled' into seeing something that is not there or not seeing what is there. With cognitive biases, the analogue of the ruler is not clear. Against what would we validate our judgmental system?

Language & Thinking: Human beings have developed consciousness through the use of language symbols. With this innovation, humans became capable of an awareness of their own mental processes and through that event become amenable to modification and adaption of the very schemata which creates their reality. The result is that each individual, within some limitations, has the capacity to modify their own reality to make it more satisfying.

Metaphor: The process of the human experience of learning is dominated by analogy [the heart is like a pump] and metaphor [the heart is a pump]. In learning we transform the strange into the familiar as in our comparison of the heart to a pump. In innovating, we change contexts by transforming the familiar into the strange. Because such analogies or metaphors do not quite fit, the process of comparison of similarities and differences helps us to conceptualize a new perspective. In this vein and for purposes of learning, I would like to compare human social relations to quantum physics.

Perceptive & Personality: In some ways, this illusion, because of its multiple perspectives, provides the best concrete example of what lay people refer to as personality. The personality of an individual person is based on the attitudes and behaviors that they convey to others in various situations. Some attitudes and behaviors will only become apparent in certain situations, while others will be fairly obvious at all times.

Rationality: Several different views of the nature of rationality in intelligent behavior have been introduced in the development of artificial intelligence. A quick statement of some theoretical constructs will help, perhaps, to demonstrate a point concerning provision of services to people with problems in living; particularly those whom we consider to be not rational. Allen Newell [1982] proposed as the principle of rationality the Maximum Rationality Hypotheses: 'If an agent has knowledge that one of its actions will lead to one of its goals, then the agent will select that action.' This principle of rationality suggests that a rational entity always chooses actions which it believes are in its own best interest.

Reality: The classical ideal of objectivity - the idea that the world has a definite state of existence independent of our observing it, has been effectively ravaged by quantum physics. "The actual state of existence depends in part on how we observe it and what we choose to see. Objective reality must be replaced by observer created reality." [Pagels - 1982] The conceptual framework of observer created reality is carried into the macroworld through the functioning of the mind.

Science: The word "science" seems to be used interchangeably in general conversation in at least three quite distinct and nonequivalent ways:

A set of facts and a set of theories that explain the facts.
A particular approach, the scientific method.
Whatever's being done by institutions carrying on "scientific" activity.

As a general rule, the nonscientific public tends to opt for the third interpretation. If people describe themselves as "scientist", what they do must be scientific.

Social Context: Kerr and Nelson [1989] suggested three functional explanations for aggression in the classroom:

students may lack the ability to discriminate the environmental cues or prompts that set the occasion for prosocial rather than antisocial behaviors. [Inappropriate or ineffective stimulus control].
aggressive behaviors are reinforced by tangible reward or personal gain, by the reaction of others, or by the avoidance of aversive, unpleasant situations or consequences. [Direct or indirect reinforcement.]
aggressive behavior may be imitated. [Modeling of aggression]

Emotions: The question of emotions is one that is critical to cognitive/behavioral skill development. "...our deepest feelings, our passions and longings, are essential guides, and our species owes much of its existence to their power in human affairs" [Goleman - 1995]. That emotions have evolutionary importance goes without saying.

Fear, Anger and Attachment: an exploration - Fear is the primordial emotion. Fear is the survival response. Fear, oddly, is also the basis of "trust". Since fear spurs the animal into action, the animal must trust its instincts and trust the warning; ultimately trusting the person who gives the alarm. For humans anger is a moral emotion. It is righteous. For most of us our attachment to "things" [thoughts, goals, objects and people] are critical to our evaluation of ourselves.

Telos & Responsibility: Victor Frankl [1959] suggests that the search for meaning is the primary motivation in life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives. People, he suggests, need "something" for the sake of which to live. 'Teleology' is the term for this belief that events are pulled by a purpose toward a definite end. The first and original meaning for telos was formulated by Aristotle: 'that for the sake of which'.

PRACTICE ARTICLES

Casting a New Functional Assessment: Tthis is an article about assessment. It is built upon three concepts: 1) that interactions between people create thoughts in the other person which may be helpful and/or harmful; 2) that this interrelatedness extends to all of the people who regularly populate an individual's ecosystem; and 3) that these regular participants need to take responsibility for the whole, not simply draw attention to a part. These concepts might suggest that referral and assessment for professional clinical services may be 'toxic' as presently implemented.

The Problem with Psychiatric: Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived. The truth is too complex and frightening; the taste for the truth is an acquired taste that few people acquire. The unethical and fraudlent self promotion of psychiatrists leads to 'physician-induced need,' or what the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA) refers to as an increased 'volume' and 'intensity' of prescribing. And, when that no longer compensates, they take to inventing diseases.

Enhancing Positive Behavior Supports: In reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Congress has provided for the use of functional behavior assessment and positive behavior supports. While the history of such approaches have met with some success, they also have some extraordinary failures. In an attempt to address these failures, we enhance these processes with a cognitive flavor.

Reflective Openess: This article dicusses guidelines to group decision making behaviors. If you believe that your solution is right, you cannot proceed. If you believe that your solution is best, it can be improved. Ruthless compassion brooks no compromise in both sharing one’s feelings and views and being open to having those views change.

Cognitive Rehabilitation: Cognitive rehabilitation does not assume that individuals start with any motivation to change. Creating conscious choice is the heart of motivating antisocial offenders to change. The program challenges children to make a conscious choice and to accept full responsibility for that choice. Giving choice and acknowledging that they have the potency to make such choices is empowering. It changes the dimensions of the situation, acknowledging potency rather than attempting to control. The understanding of what to change, how to change, and the motivation to change will lead to the ultimate goal of the program: reduction of antisocial behavior. This goal will not be achieved in everyone who completes the program. Cognitive change is self-change.

Generic Cognitive Behavior Management Practice: This article attempts to define the generic aspects to Awareness, Attendance, Analysis, Alternatives and Adaption and connect these to the goal seeking aspects of the individual.

Cognitive Constructionism: Restructuring mind maps: Educators, researchers and policymakers have been discussing constructivism and a constructivist approach to learning [and therefore teaching]. During the past few years, this orientation has become de rigueur in educational circles. The use of a constructionist perspective therefore to help children gain a deep understanding of themselves in relation to others in the world, should not therefore be foreign to most educators. Yet the issue of whether the teacher him/herself should directly intervene in such affairs is one of concern. Two factors must be addressed in making such a decisions: a) is this an activitiy which requires permission from the child's family, and b) is this a responsibility for which I should expend considerable time? These are not easy answers, and should be addressed by each school district as part of the framework for teaching. However, in order to make such a decision, teachers and administrators should have a clear understanding of what cognitive restructuring is all about, and as good constructivist, we should start from a concept that most will know and understand.

Anxiety: Everyone knows what it is like to feel anxious. Anxiety arouses you to action, It gears you up to face threatening situations. The "butterflies" focus you for better response. Anxiety in children is normal at specific times in development. Healthy youngsters may show intense distress [anxiety] at time of separation from their parents. Young children may have short-lived fears such as fear of the dark, thunder, animals or strangers. Yet when anxiety becomes severe either exaggerated or chronic in duration, it can disrupt daily life and the ability to cope.

Aetiology: Assignment of a cause; philosophy of causation. If we become who we are through learning, it is fair to ask, how such learning takes place and to identify the origins for positive social adjustment. But before outlining personal growth and development phases, it is important to disclaim any single factor or system of learning through social experience.

Addressing Cognitive Issues in an Educational Setting: While the primary function of the school is to educate, the school also provides a common and important social environment for all children. Perhaps, more importantly, the school is often the first formal opportunity for a conflict with values, attitudes and practices which the child has acquired from his/her family. When the primary function of eduction is inhibited by the social issues of the student, the school has both an obligation and an opportunity to ameliorate those issues.

Cognitive Restructuring: The traditional approaches to people with thoughts and behaviors that cause them problems in living tend also to increase the problems. Delinquency is often punished rather than rehabilitated, and mental health "controls" through chemical or physical restraints. Both procedures are easily interpreted as unhelpful, if not downright hostile. Despite the poor prognosis and stability given by the mental health professionals, all is not lost. For our cognitive structures and even the unconscious contexts, are open to conscious consideration and decision making.

Remedial Options: Cognitive change is based on the simple fact that how people think has a controlling effect on how they act. Common themes of antisocial thinking include the belief and mind-set that they are being victimized. Many offenders are accustomed to feeling unfairly treated and have learned a defiant, hostile attitude as part of their basic orientation toward life and other people.

Uncertainty & Preference: Decisions concerning the evaluation and treatment of any child are heavily embedded within the child's social and cultural milieu, and are always the result of ongoing judgements that are either made or not made by significant individuals in the child's environment, usually parents and teachers.Reduction of uncertainty is a requirement of any system of social intervention. Minimum ethical standards must include determining whose objectives should the intervention aspire to reach and keeping records that document the effectiveness of treatment in achieving its objectives.

Social Learning Interventions: Social education is often taken for granted.While not everyone has the opportunity to bond to a mother who is warm and supportive, have peers who are oriented to appropriate social play and find heterosexual relationships which support positive mental schema about oneself, others and future prospects, we think that somehow they should be aware of what is right. Therefore when they do not behave as expected we identify them as abnormal; meaning either deviant or criminal [perverted or evil].

Universal Interventions: Cognitive and behavioral approaches have been used throughout the history of man. As natural components of life, they have occurred naturally for good or evil and have been extensively honed by spiritual leaders from the oldest known records of the Vedic teaching to Buddha and Jesus. There are three practical techniques in Cognitive Behavior Management: 1) Cognitive Restructuring, 2) Cognitive Skills Development, and 3) Cultural Restructuring

Finding The Keys To Change: The National Corrections Training Institute [NCTI] identifies eight keys to change, which we believe need extrapolation and enhancement. These keys to change are not "in and of themselves" wrong; but they certainly could be improved. The keys fail to identify areas such as unconditional positive regard or opportunities for role performance such as altruistic & productive roles; if we cannot be productive and give to others we probably cannot think well of ourselves and the downward cycle begins, empowerment through personal responsibility and responsibility for others.

Social Education Curriculum: There is a mountain of literature about cognitive, affective and behavioral mastery through learning. Our labor is to mold that literature into a course of study which will enable children to reach this ideal destination. It is the content of social experience in which teachers are variable, not in the process of teaching.

The Neuro in NLP: Much of Neuro-Linguistic Programming [NLP] operates on the cognitive level, i.e. by manipulating images, words, and feelings through an organized process. However, NLP also purports to utilize neurological approaches. According to Lee Lady, the neurological approaches go about changing the mind's programming by confusing the nervous system in ways that the subject doesn't directly connect to the subjective phenomena s/he wants changed.

MANAGEMENT ARTICLES

Schools & Behavior Health Rehabilition Services: In Pennsylvania the Office of Medical Assistance [medicaid] has developed the use of managed care organizations in an attempt to save money. This article explores suggestions as to how to bring a very fragmented system of child services together in creative ways to enable children with problems in living to improve social performance. Behavioral health is the current metaphor for 'mental illness' a metaphor for problems in living which make the person appear to be bizarre.

Schools & Social Competence: This article examines ways that schools can develop services and support for students with problems in living as a means of enhancing social competence.

Organizational Models: Making a shift in a system of human services from a medical model to a cognitive behavior model requires significant design changes within all factors of the system. A paradigm shift of significant proportions requires that the policy maker/manager understand that most people simply "won't get it". When such changes are attempted, managers often attempt to address only one part of the system at a time because they are convinced that such practices are pragmatic. However, such practices allow the old way of thinking to continually undermine the process of change. In making the shift from traditional models of serving people with problems in living to a transitional model dedicated to the use of cognitive behavioral management, one is required to look at the full range of organizational elements which have been identified by Robert B. Waterman, Jr., Thomas J. Peters and Julian Phillips in a 1990 article called STRUCTURE IS NOT ORGANIZATION.

Changing an Organizational Culture: Managing people in an organization has certain congruence with managing people with problems in living. In both cases, there is a requirement to get the personal preferences of the individuals involved compatible with a specific, defined set of assumptions which the manager believes will be beneficial to both the individual and the organization or society. And in both cases, the critical assumption underlying the need for change is that the learning environment [culture] has somehow created and maintained thoughts which are now considered to be incompatible with the desired culture.

Performance Mangement: Human service managers today are intrigued by outcomes. It is a fad which is given a great deal of "lip service" but often without merit. The reason for this is that we so often measure outcomes without a standard. "I want to do what's best for kids." What a wonderful thought. Shouldn't we all be this caring? However, people who use this as a mantra often believe that 'what is best for kids is' something that people who believe in social learning theory would feel is very negative for kids. Until we decide what is best for kids, we have no means of measuring outcome nor making decisions about management performance.

Planning : Planning is essentially a process of collecting information which will enable one to make decision about some future point or goal. When one talks about planning in the context of human services one needs to collect a great deal of information from diverse fields; reach consensus about the relevance of that information to groups and individuals; and make decisions about various components of systems regarding the best possible strategies and tactics to meet an agreed upon mission.

Philosophy: Managers often look askance at philosophy as though it were a "frill" and not an essential. They feel, perhaps, that results oriented people are pragmatic, not philosophical. Unfortunately, no organization can reach right results without a clear definition of its own summum bonum, (life's greatest good). This process is important, not only to the field of human services, but to the process by which people with problems in living seek coherence.

Developing Social Policy: We will examine coherence as it applies to the development of a systematic connectedness based on the development and implementation of social policy in regard to the management of the delivery of human services. It is our hypothesis that the inability of government to steer [set precise goals both for direction and measurement of accomplishment]; and to learn [identify discrepancies between goals and outcomes and design new alternatives to more optimally meet those goals] has left our society with a human services network which marches toward oblivion with very good intentions. We further suggest that the conflict of explicit [that which is stated] and implicit [that which is intended] social policy along with the fallout lack of consistent patterns of values and incongruous sets of ideological principles, results in real harm being done to people with problems in living.

Values: Values are held at three levels: as ideals which may never be reached but are what is what we hope for; as goals which we will work towards with the expectation that some day we will get there, and as commitments which means that every person is working on these values NOW! Often values are not held as commitments by staff people even though they are held as commitments by organizations. This is sometimes due to the vague manner in which they are articulated.

Program Management & Staff Practice: Changing a human service system is a process of developing clarity between beginning points and outcomes and developing new problem solving solutions to bridge the gap between the two. The intent here is not to develop a text in regard to all of the specific steps of that solution process, but rather to identify some of the salient components of a transformational system.The most single characteristic of a human service delivery system is the quality of its personnel.

Human Service Systems: If the human service system is really a system, what are its goals and outcome expectations and how are they measured? This examines some of the pitfalls of the traditional system of providing services to people with problems in living.