Familiarity Misattribution Theory

I went to read your blog last week and couldn’t find it. Are you still writing every week day?

Oh my! I thought I had written and posted blogs for the week of Thanksgiving. That sometimes happens when I see things clearly in my mind’s eye and then later on thought I had actually done it! According to an article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology,  the familiarity misattribution theory posits that “the imagination inflation effect is likely to occur because imagining an event increases familiarity with that event. This familiarity is then misattributed and interpreted as evidence that the event actually occurred.” Apparently, this phenomenon is more likely to occur with activities that frequently occur. I write a blog every weekday. Thinking about doing that ended up as a perception that I had actually done it for the Thanksgiving week—which, incidentally, I took off from work. I regret you didn’t find a blog! Now we both know the reason!  Guess what? I just decided that I will take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s from writing blogs, as well! My brain will enjoy the break!  I am quite sure my brain will be watching and listening for things I can write about when I  begin again on January 1st, 2024.

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Obesity Prevention

The World Health Organization has pointed out that at the individual level, people can take steps to limit energy intake from total fats and sugars, and increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts. They can engage in regular physical activity (60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes spread through the week for adults). At the societal level it is important to support individuals in following the above, through population-based policies that make regular physical activity and healthier dietary choices available, affordable, and easily accessible to everyone, particularly to the poorest individuals. The food industry COULD play a significant role in promoting healthy diets by: Reducing the fat, sugar, and salt content of processed foods; Ensuring that healthy and nutritious choices are available and affordable to all consumers; Restricting marketing of foods high in sugars, salt and fats, especially those foods aimed at children and teenagers; Ensuring the availability of healthy food choices and supporting regular physical activity practice in the workplace.

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Obesity Links

Obesity is a disease impacting most body systems. It is now linked with more than 50 chronic diseases that affect the heart, liver, kidneys, joints, and reproductive system. It leads to a range of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, various forms of cancer, as well as mental health issues. People with obesity are also three times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19. WHO has stated that overweight and obesity, as well as their related noncommunicable diseases, are largely preventable. Supportive environments and communities are fundamental in shaping people’s choices, by making the choice of healthier foods and regular physical activity the easiest choice (the choice that is the most accessible, available and affordable), and therefore preventing overweight and obesity. Children are exposed to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, energy-dense, and micronutrient-poor foods—which tend to be lower in cost but also lower in nutrient quality—on TV and in movies, in stores, and even in their own homes. These dietary patterns, in conjunction with lower levels of physical activity, result in sharp increases in childhood obesity.

World Obesity Day

 

World Obesity Day

 I would have thought your brain was more sensitive and would not mention obesity in any of your presentations. Do you want people to feel bad? Why even talk about it?

 Actually, I want people to feel good. I talk about it because I have devoted much of my life to providing information to help individuals stay younger and healthier for longer. I would prefer that individuals avoid developing one or more of 50+ chronic diseases that are now linked with chronic inflammation and obesity They may choose not to turn the information into practical and applied knowledge, but at least they can make an informed choice. On World Obesity Day in 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a news bulletin that contained some staggering information. Did you know that more than 1 billion people worldwide are obese: 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children—and those numbers are increasing? WHO estimates that by 2025, approximately another 167 million people—adults and children—will become less healthy because they are overweight or obese.

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Research ...

 

I always defined Theology is what you think in your head, Religion as what you do with your hands, and Spirituality is what you perceive in your heart. Is that right?

I believe there are others who would ascribe to those definitions. My brain’s opinion is that there is no one way to define these concepts. There may be as many ways as there are individuals inhabiting Planet Earth. According to studies by Andrew Newberg, a Neuro Theologian, and Mark Waldman, co-authors of a book entitled How God Changes Your Brain, Americans are becoming less religious but more spiritual as they embrace images of a universe that is scientific yet mystical. Studies at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Spirituality and the Mind regarding the effects of different spiritual practices have shown that individuals who regularly engaged in these spiritual practices exhibited significant improvements in memory, cognition, and compassion, along with a reduction in anxiety, depression, irritability, and stress. You may want to explore Practical Applications for more ideas and comments. https://www.arlenetaylor.org/resources/practical-applications/brain-bent/7337-spirituality

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Higher Power

I’ve always thought of my higher power as a force outside of myself that is more powerful and knowledgeable, but I’m not sure exactly what that is for me.

Some researchers talk about a baby’s mother initially functioning as that child’s higher power, a force outside itself that the infant perceives cares for it, loves it, and is all powerful. By adulthood, children eventually transfers that maternal higher-power connection to a force outside of themselves, often depending on how they were raised. It could be a religious being or a universal power. Christians call their Higher Power “God.’ Other religious beliefs may use a different name such as Allah. Still other belief systems have a plethora of ‘gods’ for different reasons. Some individuals make powerful substances their higher power, the leader of a popular political power, a charismatic faith healer, successful sports figure, or a country’s dictator. Some individuals worship money, wealth, notoriety, beauty, genius, and so on. It appears that an individual’s “higher power” can be whatever that person chooses to transfer their initial childhood “higher power” perception to—animate or inanimate. You choose.

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Brain Wiring for Connection

Studies are showing that from rodents to humans, their social environment shapes them. Their brains are wired with an innate need to connect. If social bonds are severed during childhood, the individual can experience long-term problems. Studies have shown that a child’s spirituality connection is shaped primarily by their mother’s and grandmother’s spiritual practices. Children with a spiritual connection were 90% less likely to be depressed as teens or young adults. This did not necessarily mean the children were required to go to church regularly but that their mother’s spirituality, including how she prayed, was what made the difference. In her book “The Spiritual Child,” the author points out that the innate need to connect must be nurtured—“the essential sense of a transcendent power in the world, one that will love, guide, and accept them and wrap them in a protective layer of self-worth, has to be nurtured.” Women, mothers and grandmothers especially, appear to be central to the spiritual development of children and their sense of spirituality and connection with a higher power.

 

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12-Step Programs & Religion

There are a variety of supposedly successful 12-step programs that acknowledge a “higher power” but that are not aligned with any specific religion. Are those religious or spiritual programs and do they work?

 According to M. Scott Peck, the human brain comes with an innate desire to align with someone or something powerful outside of it the self. He wrote in his book “People of the Lie,” that individuals who have not been able to get in touch with their innate spirituality, often settle for “spirits” instead. Studies reportedly have shown that of all the alcohol-recovery programs surveyed, 12-Step Programs have been the most successful in helping individuals stop drinking alcohol. They do talk about a Higher Power “as each individual perceives it,” and provides group meetings to help hold individuals accountable for their choices. That approach seems to work. Defining spirituality as the spirit with which one lives life, could align with this 12-step approach. 

Spiritual or Religious

Is there a difference between spirituality and religiosity?

 In the past, spirituality and religiosity have been lumped together as one in the same in many research studies. Recently, researchers are attempting to separate these two functions. Some define spirituality as the spirit with which you live life, finding your purpose and meaning in life. Religiosity can be defined as subscribing to a body of beliefs, practices, and style of worship. Ostensibly, the purpose of religion was  intended to help individuals develop their spirituality and put it into daily practice. This means that the two concepts may be combined by some individuals. It also means that there are very spiritual individuals who do not align with a specific religion as well as those who practice religiosity but are not very spiritual. 

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Spiritual & Physical Modes

Do males and females approach spiritual and physical modes the same?

Males tend to relate to the world primarily through a physical mode (e.g., objects that are perceived through the five senses) or an intellectual mode (e.g., thinking, imagining, attitudes, viewpoint, inventing). Therefore, males tend to translate spiritual information either into a physical mode (e.g., building cathedrals, creating statues or art work, designing flags or icons or other symbolic objects) or into an intellectual mode (e.g., dogma, rituals, philosophy, doctrine, rules, regulations) as well. Typically, males assume that females also speak from a physical or intellectual mode, as well, even when they are discussing topics involving spiritual or religious concepts. Females can relate via physical or intellectual modes, but they can also respond through direct feeling states that are outside physical language and intellectual definition. They can experience a spiritual relationship with a Higher Power directly through emotions and feelings without having to translate it into either physical or intellectual modes. When females speak directly from a feelings mode, males may misread or misunderstand what the females are saying because, typically, males avoid venturing into the more nebulous realms of feelings.

Spirituality – Brain Location

I read that 80% of people sampled around the world said they were Spiritual or Religious. Is there a center or spot in the human brain related to spirituality and religiosity?

The results of a study published in Biological Psychiatry reported that spirituality (“spiritual acceptance”) appears to be located in the brain stem in a specific brain circuit known as the PAG, short for periaqueductal gray. PAG functions include altruistic behviors, pain modulation, unconditional love, and fear conditioning. Michael Ferguson, PhD, principal investigator, was quoted as saying, “Our results suggest that spirituality and religiosity are rooted in fundamental, neurobiological dynamics and deeply woven into our neuro-fabric. Why do only an estimated 80% of individuals on Planet Earth define themselves as spiritual, religious, or both? Why not 100%? Good question. My guess is because the brain is also desirous of “free choice,” and a myriad of risk factors may help to determine free choice for each individual.

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Bullying Risk Factors

What type of brain bullies others or is bullied by others?

Bullying behaviors are learned. Risk factors that can influence a brain to bully others or that allows a brain to be a target/victim include:

1. Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs, that set up the brain to be a perpetrator (or a target / victim)

2.     Jealousy, envy, a craving for power and control

3.     Craving power and control

4.     Desire to impress others or to be noticed and get attention

5.     Retaliation for earlier abuse that witnessed or received

6.     Anger, intolerant of differences

7.     A dysfunctional friendship group who egg them on

8.     A lack of empathy or “evil” taking over the brain

9.     Hurting someone weaker triggers an adrenalin ‘high’ or ‘Rush’

10. Narcissistic or even sociopathic tendencies

11. Copying bullying  behaviors by watching family members or others bullying, or by watching TV / movies that glorify bullying

12. Low self-esteem and/or low Emotional Intelligence

13. A disability or appearance that differs them from their peers

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Bullying Dangers

Perpetrators may aspire to be powerful and popular or may be bored and just trying to get noticed—even negative attention is attention. They may bully in an attempt to limit competition, cleverly portraying themselves as either hero or victim but never as the perpetrator. Those who enjoy seeing others suffer or who are trying to compete with individuals they envy and aspire to topple and displace can be vicious and dangerous. They may get an adrenalin “high” or “rush” from their bullying activities that motivates them to continue bullying or even to expand their behaviors, which  can turn into an addictive behavior. Unfortunately, those with little or no empathy often have such deep psychological problems and/or mental disorders that they are unresponsive to disciplinary actions and/or resistant to counseling, treatment, and learning new behaviors. In these instances, bullying can quickly turn into harassment, abuse, homicide, and even suicide.

Bullying Impacts

Bullying behaviors negatively impact everyone: the perpetrators, the targets or victims, families, often close friends, anyone who witnesses bullying behaviors, and sometimes even those who simply hear about the events. Eleanor Roosevelt has been quoted as saying, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Managing bullying or victim behaviors begins with a mindset that you are valuable simply because you exist on Planet Earth. You can learn the skills to be successful. Naturally, it will be easier for adults to learn the skills that will make them less likely to be bullied than it is for children—who often are afraid to confront those who are bullying them for fear the bullying will get worse or because some brains bond to their oppressors.

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Bullying Goals

Bullying behaviors may be used to destroy the credibility and reputation of other individuals. Perpetrators may feel threatened by their target’s giftedness, integrity, confidence, popularity, or success. Perpetrators each has their own unique style with preferred tactics to intimidate and control their targets. They may work hard to make friends with their victims, all the while planning to jerk the rug out from under them or find a way to stab them in the back. In general, what comes around goes around as all actions have consequences. Bullying behaviors are learned through personal experience, from observing older siblings, parents, other adults, “celebrities,” political power brokers, dictators, criminals, corrupt public servants, and from watching television and movies that condone or venerate bullying behaviors.

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Bullyiing Estimates

Children can be bullied at home by siblings and/or parents. Children can be bullied at school by peers and sometimes even by teachers or teacher’s aides. Therefore, children need to be protected, as individuals who were once bullied may become perpetrators later in life. In some environments, even when bullying of a child is observed, the victim is blamed or the observers turn a blind eye. Estimates are that 50% or more of children have been bullied at home or at school; 56% of adolescents have been verbally and/or physically bullied resulting in serious psychological distress (SPD) or symptoms of PTSD; one in three individuals experience social-relational bullying during their lifetime; and most adults experience emotional bullying during their lifetime—it appear to me that bullying really is a continuing problem. Unfortunately, targets or victims often do not report being bullied out of shame or for fear of repercussions for revealing it. 

Bullying versus Fighting

Bullying differs from fighting. Fighting is more likely to occur between peers to test their strength and is not repeatedly aimed at one individual. If gangs are involved, one gang may fight another gang. Bullying behaviors are learned behaviors. This can occur by watching others in the family or at school, by watching TV and movies, and through observation of ways in which to feel powerful and in control. It goes without saying that bullying behaviors negatively impact everyone: the perpetrators, the targets or victims, their families and close friends, anyone who witnesses the bullying behaviors, and sometimes even those who simply hear about the events. Bullying creates all manner of conflict—internally and externally. . Be very clear that bullying behaviors represent little or no Emotional intelligence. All things being equal, those with high  Emotional Intelligence (EQ) would never treat others as they themselves would not wish to be treated.

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