Recap of Cognition and its use
In part 1 of this post, I described the differences between thought and cognition in how they are used in science. I talked about the “cognitive revolution”: how theorists took the ‘black box’ of cognition – recognizing that the brain’s information processing changes the behavior that results – and somehow equated it with the much more narrow process of thinking. This is misinformation.
Cognition and therapeutic principles
We can see a problem develop, by equating thoughts with Tolman’s cognition. Do changes happen in the brain? Without a doubt. Do these changes lead to changes in behavior? Also, unquestionably. Are those brain changes thoughts? Well…
That conclusion certainly does not make sense to me.
Here’s why it does not. When you hear your alarm going off in the morning, you are not actually hearing the alarm. You are sensing your brain’s output message, filtering what it believes is a meaningful sound from the many soundwaves received by your eardrums. When you are reading this on the screen, it is not the screen you see but your brain’s output message interpreting light bouncing off the shapes and motion in front of you, as received by your eyes. And when you have a thought, this is likewise not your brain’s processing, but the output message of this processing.
It is hard to remember this when it comes to sight and sound. We’re used to responding to what we see and hear, and treating it as truth of what is happening. But we’ve all experienced times when the actual truth is revealed. Such as the dress illusion. Our own, unique experiences shape what we perceive, and so two people can truly see the same thing differently. This is even harder to recognize when it comes to thoughts. Why? Perhaps because we regularly respond to thoughts. We have internal conversations. But what we are aware of is not the actual conversation, but the readout of this conversation.
Wait – my thoughts aren’t what’s making me do things?
What?!!, you say? Think about it. You’ll notice plenty of times when you are “lost in thought” and having this internal dialogue, without any specific awareness of specific words. The processing is happening. Your mind can go merrily along, doing its thing. Just no conscious output. Until you notice it. And then there it has always been.
Maybe this is why babies can do complex things, but can’t communicate well about it. The processing is happening, but we need to be trained to read the output.
Computer analogy
I’m generally not a fan of comparing human experience to computers, but when thinking about specific parts of our experience, it can be a helpful analogy. Trying to change a thought is like being in a computer document, seeing something you want to edit on your computer screen, and taking a marker to the screen to change it. Of course, touch screens can – you have to be imagining a dumb screen. Though a marker on a touch screen would also be silly. (Makes me think of when little kids nowadays, so used to touch screens, go up to paper and other old-fashioned technology, and try to move things around or click on items with their fingers.)
It may sound silly, but that’s what I see happening when someone tries to change a thought. They are putting one thought on top of another thought. Now that can be fine, if you can then just leave the other thought there and move on with your day. But if you start expecting the other thought to have been erased, or, in the analogy, the words not to reappear the next time that document is opened… you’re in for a lot of frustration. Maybe kicking the computer monitor a bit.
Effects of misinformation about cognition and thought
Now that you understand (hopefully) the problem with seeing thoughts as the same as brain processing, I can come to its effects.
The light side of the cognitive force
I find that this sets people up for a vicious cycle. If thoughts are active change-producers, this makes them powerful and puts a heavy burden on them. Am I having the right thoughts to produce the effect I want? Which are the right thoughts? How would I know? Individual words become incantations. For example, I told myself, supportively, “You can do it! You can explain how the words thought and cognition function in psychology.” But these are hard ideas, and what if I really can’t? Am I setting myself up for failure? Maybe I should say, “Try your best!” But then is that really giving myself the push to do it justice, and do myself justice? Aaaand… so on.
Lots of people spend hours each day in this endless circling. Psychologists give it a fancy name: rumination. (Which is what cows do to digest food, by going through cycles of swallowing and vomiting it back out for further processing. Lovely.) People who get stuck in this type of circling, when they choose to seek help from a mental health professional, may get labeled with an anxiety disorder.
The dark side of the cognitive force
Believing that thoughts have the power to change has a darker side, as well. (Wait, that was the light side?) What does it mean when I think unwanted thoughts? Why would I think such a thing? And if I am thinking it, does that mean that I want to do it? Or that I’m going to do it?
This can get very scary, very fast. We are imaginative creatures, and our minds produce all sorts of things. He’s going to attack me. Or, I’m having sexual thoughts about someone I really shouldn’t. Or, He makes me so mad, I want to hurt him. Why do I think such awful things? I must be an awful person and a danger to others. Perhaps I shouldn’t be here.
People who get stuck on these types of thoughts and meet with a mental health professional often end up getting more “severe” labels. Major depression. Obsessive compulsive disorder. Schizophrenia. Why more severe? Because of that same belief, that thoughts are powerful. People not only fight themselves over them. They also keep them to themselves. They know, correctly, that they will be judged if they share these thoughts. So they don’t. They hide as long as possible. Sometimes circumstances change, and the thoughts go away (remember, thoughts are mainly output). Other times, the vicious cycle just gets more vicious. Rumination turns thoughts into input for the next cycle, and this can continue for a long while. People may only seek help when it has become severe.
Psychologists call this assumed link between what we think and what we do “thought-action fusion.”
Important note to readers about these thoughts
If you’re reading this and wondering about your own thoughts, or those of someone you care about who has shared with you, that’s natural to do. You care and want to make things right. Hopefully this post gives you some relief that your/their thoughts are just thoughts. But if you are feeling stuck, that’s okay too. Lots of people do, and you/they don’t need to face that alone. Please talk it over with someone you trust. And think about finding support from a mental health professional.
Cognition and change
Alright, so trying to change thoughts may not be the best cognition to act on. This leads to the next question. If you cannot change thoughts, but changing cognition goes with changing behavior, what then?
Actually, the computer analogy still holds here, too. You don’t try to edit the words on the screen, right? Instead, you use the mouse and keyboard (or, on a touch screen, your fingers) to select, erase, and type in new words. You change the inputs. For example, if you struggle with alcohol and always go to a particular bar on your way home from work, one of the easiest steps you can take is to pick a different route home. You’ll notice a major shift in thoughts and feelings during your travel.
If you are avoiding having a talk with someone, you may be thinking you have to summon the courage or eliminate your fear, or think confident thoughts. You don’t. Just focus on the tasks needed for the goal itself: jot a few notes down about what points you want to make, what points they may say in return and how you’d respond, rehearse these a bit, arrange to meet with the person. And show up. There’s more to it than that, in how you treat yourself. But regarding thoughts and cognitions: that’s it.
Validity of common wisdom
This is the wisdom behind many cliches about handling problems. Face your fears. Fake it till you make it. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. None of these cliches are magic bullets. Many of them are problematically judgmental. But they recognize the key elements of change: preparation, practice, feedback, and repeat. Cognitions are involved in all of those pieces. Thoughts are simply feedback.
Summary: Psychological Misinformation about Cognition
This is a complex post: welcome, all, to the end. You’ve made it. I think the points are important ones, though. I went over how thoughts are the narrow output of ideas we are aware of, whereas cognitions span the entirety of what the brain does. In our culture, and particularly in some forms of psychotherapy, these two are mistaken as identical. People then may view their thoughts as deciding what they do, or who they are. They are simply a small bit of output, a tiny piece of what our brains and bodies are doing. If you’re not happy with a particular thought, remember that you contain multitudes. Put what you believe is right into action, and your thoughts, eventually, will follow.
I wish you all to find peace with your thoughts. All of them.