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| from wikipedia |
Neutral primes such
as office, table, boat, and picture or being told to "imagine yourself
going to a grocery store and buying products you need for your house" did
not create the secure or altruistic response. [1]
It is an approach being used by Daniel Sonkin, Ph.D., in his
practice as a marriage and family therapist. His book, Learning to Live Without Violence: A Handbook for Men, has been
published in English, Spanish and Japanese and is utilized by treatment
programs around the world.
He points out that "the more accessible the positive
memories and mental images are, the more likely those positive attachment
representations will help guide your reactions and decisions in your real-life
relationships. These positive thoughts may ultimately help you become a more
sensitive and skilled caregiver to the loved ones in your life." [2]
Sonkin is a proponent of the secure base priming principles
and uses them in his practice. He argues that repeated priming can have long-lasting
positive effect. He, like, Mario Mikulincer and Phillip Shaver in their priming
experiments uses words: Comfort, Embrace, Love, Support along with pictures of
those same interactions between people. In looking them over myself I can attest
to the targeted emotions of these human images along with the words.
Secure base priming at school
The question then becomes: can priming create a similar
response in children at school? Can the viewing of words and pictures bring out
positive moods and even the motivation to succeed in academic tasks?
First of all, one way or another schools do a fair amount of
priming, whether they know it or not. The mottos on buildings, pictures in the
hallway, and all classroom décor serves as primes for students. Elementary
school teachers spend a considerable amount of time decorating their classrooms
with a wide range of scenes and objects to create both the academic and
picturesque perspective to make the room inviting and learning-friendly.
The middle and high schools are similar but usually designed
to be content-relevant in their respective rooms. Some keep trophies of their
teams from regional and state competitions as well. Pictures of famous authors and
historical figures are hung, too, along with quotes from these individuals. One
teacher in my high school purchased about thirty pictures of animals in cute
situations with worded human emotion quoted near the critters. When he retired I took the one
with two adorable beagles and posted it in the front of my room.
In my case I had a few periodic tables of the elements as
well as decorative cartoon lab safety reminders. One year I posted large
pictures of my eleven advisees and their extracurricular activities. I guess I was
priming my students without having any knowledge of what secure base priming meant
to show that chemistry was important but that my students were important, too,
and the beagle poster was there to create an adorable/cuddly feeling in the
room.
We prime the students when we give motivational talks about
being successful in our classes or even when we chide them for not showing
enough drive and initiative. We prime them by how we dress, our age, the expression
on our face, our homework, our rules, and much more. The students are bombarded
with all kinds of messages from every corner of the school. Their lockers are
often decorated with pictures of ballplayers or entertainment stars or even
grotesque attention-grabbing images. Their cellphones provide an abundance of
images and texts for after school viewing.
I feel that you as an educator consider what will prime
students most positively in terms of posters and handouts. Thirty animal
posters might be an overkill but a rotation of images from week to week would
be novel. Think about how retailers decorate and arrange merchandise to create
the most pleasant atmosphere and ease of shopping to minimize distraction and
confusion. Think about how they incorporate both music and lighting to
accommodate your sensory pleasure. That is priming.
Consider, too, the priming that students get through the
media and advertising. Much of it wants to convince us to purchase their car or
eat at their restaurant or buy cleaning products, and they pay handsomely to
advertising agencies and the networks to make them attractive to you. It goes beyond even that. Our society is
bombarded with messages of virtues of honesty, kindness, friendship, and
tolerance but it also has greed, sex, anger, violence, and vindictiveness thrown
in. Compounding that are news reports from both local and national outlets
filled with human atrocities.
As I mentioned in the previous post: Brandon Centerwall, writer and Psychiatrist in Seattle, Washington points
out that "while children have an instinctive desire to imitate, they do
not possess an instinct for determining whether a behavior ought to be
imitated. They will imitate anything, including behavior that most adults
regard as destructive and antisocial. The evidence indicates that if,
hypothetically, television technology had never been developed, there would be
10,000 fewer homicides each year in the United States, 70,000 fewer rapes, and
700,000 fewer injurious assaults. Violent crime would be half what it is."
This is serious priming in my opinion and many students view 'antisocial'
behavior by professional actors regularly. [3]
Our society is also contending with gender-related concerns
that are affecting relationships and safety also.
"Reactively
aggressive adolescents – most commonly boys – frequently misinterpret their
surroundings, feel threatened, and act inappropriately aggressive," says Guido
Frank, professor at the University Of Colorado Department Of Psychiatry. "They
tend to strike back when being teased, blame others when getting into a fight,
and overreact to accidents. Their behavior is emotionally 'hot,' defensive, and
impulsive."
"There are two
main features that seem to distinguish teenagers from adults in their decision
making," adds Laurence Steinberg, a researcher at Temple University in
Philadelphia. "During early adolescence in particular, teenagers are drawn
to the immediate rewards of a potential choice and are less attentive to the
possible risks. Second, teenagers in general are still learning to control
their impulses, to think ahead, and to resist pressure from others." These
skills develop gradually, as a teen's ability to control his or her behavior
gets better throughout adolescence. [4]
Sexualization is believed to affect a child's cognitive and
emotional being. "What young women believe about themselves and how they
feel in the present moment about themselves were shaped by how they were
treated and what they were exposed to when they were girls. Cognitively,
self-objectification has been repeatedly shown to detract from the ability to
concentrate and focus one's attention, thus leading to impaired performance on
mental activities." [5]
The YWCA reported that the "Young women of this
generation have learned from a very young age that the power of their gender
was tied to what they looked like—and how 'sexy' they were—than to character or
achievement." [6]
The standards set by most educational institutions are a refreshing
change from the negativity that exists outside the walls of the school
building. Be grateful for the nurturing teachers and counselors that are
essentially saviors in an impulse driven sexualized society.
References
[1] Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P., "Attachment
Theory and Reactions to Others' Needs: Evidence That Activation of the
Sense of Attachment Security Promotes Empathic Responses," Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 2001, Vol. 81. No. 6. 1205-1224
[2] Daniel Sonkin, Ph.D., Secure Base Priming Program,
Retrieved from http://www.securebasepriming.org/
[3] Centerwall, B., "Television and Violent Crime", The Public Interest, 1993
[4]. Chein, J., Albert, D., O'Brien, L., Uckert, K., and
Steinberg, L., Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain's reward circuitry, Dev Sci. 2011 Mar; 14(2): F1–F10.
[5] The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force
on the Sexualization of Girls, 2007
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx
[6] YMCA, Beauty at
Any Cost: The Consequences of America's Beauty Obsession on Women & Girls,
