As humans we live in our Minds

The Mind is its own place The mind is its own place And in itself can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell Milton The Mind is its own place

Three Functions of Mind

Dimensions of Mind – Thinking Feelings – Desires Dimensions of the Mind Cognitive Dimension Affective Dimension Dimensions of Mind – Thinking Feelings – Desires

Thinking – Feeling – Wanting – Action

Cognition & Affect

Four Examples – Thinking – Feeling – Action If I think that I don’t need a college degree to get a good job, I will feel satisfied with a high school education. Therefore I will not pursue higher education. If I feel humiliated in the classroom because I think I have been treated unfairly by the teacher, I will avoid actively participating in group discussions Four Examples – Thinking – Feeling – Action

If I feel…because I think…I will be motivated to… If I think…I am motivated to…and I will feel… If I want to…it is because I think…and I feel…

Thinking Feeling Wanting Doing – arrows between them

Feelings – Desires  change through thinking

Webster’s Definition of Egocentric Egocentric (as defined by Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary): Having little or no regard for interests, beliefs or attitudes other than one’s own; self-centered. Webster’s Definition of Egocentric

Egocentric Thinking Humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others. Humans do not naturally appreciate the point of view of others. Humans do not naturally examine their beliefs. Rather, they naturally protect them and hold them uncritically. Humans become explicitly aware of egocentric thinking only if specially trained to do so.

“The world would be a lot better place if everyone else just thought like me.”

Two Motives of Egocentric Thinking: Get what it wants, Validate its thinking

Thoughts, Feelings, Desires – Rational or Irrational Chart

Think for yourself (5-1): Beginning to understand egocentrism Think of the most self-centered person you know. This may be someone who is fundamentally selfish or arrogant. Describe the person’s behavior in detail. Based on the person’s behavior, how would you describe her/his thinking? What types of feelings does s/he display? What is the person motivated to do? To what extent does the person use other people to get what s/he wants? To what extent does the person exhibit sincere concern for the thoughts and feelings of others?

Think for Yourself (5-5): Discovering Prejudices in Your Beliefs As egocentric thinkers we see ourselves as in possession of the truth. At the same time, we form many beliefs without the evidence to justify them. In other words, we form many prejudices (judgments before the evidence). If this is true, using our rational capacities we should be able to begin to unearth some of our prejudices. In an attempt to begin this process, complete the following statements:

1. One of the prejudices I have is …(think of generalizations you tend to make even though you don’t have the evidence to justify them. It can be about anything you please: about a religion, about atheists, about men, women, homosexuals, heterosexuals, etc…Put your prejudice in this form: All x are y, as in all women are ??, or all men are ??.) 2.  A more rational belief with which I should replace this faulty belief is… 3. If I use this new belief in my thinking, my behavior would change in the following ways…

Think for Yourself (5-8): To What Extent Are You Rational? 1.  If you were to divide yourself into two parts, one being egocentric and the other rational, to what extent would you say you are either? Would you say you are 100% rational, 50% rational and 50% egocentric, or how would you divide yourself? 2.  What reasoning would you give to support your answer to number one above? 3.  To the extent that you are egocentric, what problems does your egocentrism cause? 4.  Does your egocentric thinking tend to cause more problems for yourself or for others? Explain.

2. Some examples of my dominating egocentric behavior are… Think for Yourself (5-9): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Dominating? Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Complete the following statements: 1.  I tend to be the most (egocentrically) dominating in the following types of situations… 2.  Some examples of my dominating egocentric behavior are… 3.  I am usually successfully/ unsuccessfully able to dominate others when I try to. 4.  My dominating behavior creates problems because…

2. Some examples of my submissive egocentric behavior are… Think for Yourself (5-10): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Submissive? Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Complete the following statements: 1.  I tend to be the most (egocentrically) submissive in the following types of situations… 2.  Some examples of my submissive egocentric behavior are… 3.   I am usually successfully/unsuccessfully able to manipulate others through submissiveness when I try to. 4.  My submissive behavior creates problems because…

Think for Yourself (5-11): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Dominating versus Submissive? Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Do you tend to be more dominating or submissive in most situations in which you are egocentric? What about your friends, family members, coworkers? Do they tend to be more dominating or submissive? Given your experience, what problems emerge from people behaving in dominating or submissive ways?

How do the concepts of egocentricity, egocentric domination and egocentric submission help us understand and address problems in student thinking? If sociocentricity is in part an extension of egocentricity, how can you relate the concepts in egocentricity to sociocentric thinking? What about group selfishness, group rigidity? How does dominating behavior affect group behavior? How does submissive behavior play a role in groups?

Thinking, Feeling, Wanting In pairs or groups of three, silently read pp. 2-5 in the Human Mind guide. Then discuss your understanding of the key concepts on these pages. How do you understand these concepts? How do they help us understand student thinking?

Thinking, Feeling, Wanting In pairs or groups of three, silently read pp. 6-9 in the Human Mind guide. Then discuss your understanding of the key concepts on these pages. How do you understand these concepts? How do they help us understand student thinking?

The Problem of Egocentric Thinking Person B reads pp. 10-11 in order to teach it to person A. Person A reads p. 12-13. Take notes in order to teach to your partner.

Read and Discuss Together, read and discuss p. 14. Then read and discuss p. 15. As you discuss, consider this question: How do these ideas relate to problems in student thinking?

Egocentric Thinking Now person A reads pp. 18-20 in order to it to person B. Person B reads p. 24-25. Take notes in order to teach. As you study, consider this question: How do these ideas relate to problems in student thinking?

Emotional Intelligence Working with a partner, read page 28 together and discuss you understanding of the concept of emotional intelligence. How does this concept relate to the problem of student self-handicapping behavior?

Headache

The “Successful” Ego Though egocentric thinking is flawed, it can be successful in achieving what it is motivated to achieve. We see many persons of power and status in the world – successful politicians, lawyers, businesspeople, and others that are skilled in getting what they want and are able to rationalize unethical behavior with great sophistication.

Successful Ego Examples: Corporate executives that overstate expected earnings of the company Corporate executives that justify excessive salaries Teachers who justify ineffective teaching practices Companies that justify polluting the earth “Mine is better, because, because, because…”

The “Unsuccessful” Ego Defensiveness Irritable Anger Depression Resentment Indifference Alienation

Something I feel strongly about Think of something you feel very strongly about. The powerful emotion I feel is… The thinking that leads to this powerful emotion is… As a result of the thinking and emotion, I want to… Something I feel strongly about

Bringing in all together Put together a group paper, wherein everyone in the group contributes a part. Decide what each of the parts will be, but include the following: The functions of the mind The interrelationships between the functions and the relationship between the mind and behavior Examples to support the theory The special role of thinking in the mind – if you see one.