Representational systems (also abbreviated to VAKOG[1]) is a postulated model from neuro-linguistic programming,[2] a collection of models and methods regarding how the human mind processes and stores information. The central idea of this model is that experience is represented in the mind in sensorial terms, i.e. in terms of the putative five senses, qualia.[3]
According to Bandler and Grinder our chosen words, phrases and sentences are indicative of our referencing of each of the representational systems.[4] So for example the words "black", "clear", "spiral" and "image" reference the visual representation system; similarly the words "tinkling", "silent", "squeal" and "blast" reference the auditory representation system.[4] Bandler and Grinder also propose that ostensibly metaphorical or figurative language indicates a reference to a representational system such that it is actually literal. For example, the comment "I see what you're saying" is taken to indicate a visual representation.[5]
Further, Bandler and Grinder claim that each person has a "most highly valued" (now commonly termed preferred) representational system in which they are more able to vividly create an experience (in their mind) in terms of that representational system, tend to use that representational system more often than the others, and have more distinctions available in that representation system than the others.[6] So for example a person that most highly values their visual representation system is able to easily and vividly visualise things, and has a tendency to do this more often than recreating sounds, feelings, etc.
Representational systems are one of the foundational ideas of NLP and form the basis of many NLP techniques and methods.[7]
"At the core of NLP is the belief that, when people are engaged in activities, they are also making use of a representational system; that is, they are using some internal representation of the materials they are involved with, such as a conversation, a rifle shot, a spelling task. These representations can be visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or involve the other senses. In addition, a person may be creating a representation or recalling one. For example, a person asked to spell a word may visualize that word printed on a piece of paper, may hear it being sounded out, or may construct the spelling from the application of a series of logical rules." Daniel Druckman (Ed.) (1988), Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques (pp. 138–139)[8]
For many practical purposes, according to NLP,[who?] mental processing of events and memories can be treated as if performed by the five senses. For example, Albert Einstein credited his discovery of special relativity to a mental visualization strategy of "sitting on the end of a ray of light", and many people as part of decision-making talk to themselves in their heads.[improper synthesis?]
The manner in which this is done, and the effectiveness of the mental strategy employed, is stated by NLP[by whom?] to play a critical part in the way mental processing takes place. This observation led to the concept of a preferred representational system,[citation needed] the classification of people into fixed visual, auditory or kinestheticstereotypes. This idea was later discredited[by whom?] and dropped within NLP by the early 1980s,[citation needed] in favor of the understanding that most people use all of their senses (whether consciously or unconsciously), and that whilst one system may seem to dominate, this is often contextualized – globally there is a balance that dynamically varies according to circumstance and mood.[clarification needed]
NLP[who?] asserts that for most circumstances and most people, three of the five sensory based modes seem to dominate in mental processing:
auditory (or linguistic) thoughts – sound, speech, dialog, white noise
kinesthetic (or proprioceptive) sense – somatic feelings in the body, temperature, pressure, and also emotion.
The other two senses, gustatory (taste) and olfactory (smell), which are closely associated, often seem to be less significant in general mental processing, and are often considered jointly as one.
For this reason, one often sees the term VAK in NLP reference texts,[citation needed] to signify these three primary representational systems, as well as the term 4-tuple (or VAKOG)[citation needed] if the author wishes to include all senses including taste/smell. The same term is also known as First Access (John Grinder),[9] or primary experience (Freud)[citation needed][improper synthesis?].
In documenting mental strategies and processing by the senses, NLP practitioners[who?] often use a simple shorthand for different modalities, with a letter indicating the representation system concerned, and often, a superscript to indicate how that system is being used. Three key aspects are commonly notated: The representation system being used (visual/V, auditory/A, kinesthetic/K, and occasionally, O/G), whether the direction of attention is internal (i) or external (e), and whether the event is a recollection of an actual past event (r) or construction of an imaginary event (c). Due to its importance in human cognitive processing, auditory internal dialogue, or talking in one's head, has its own shorthand: Aid.
Putting these together, this is a very simplified example of some steps which might actually be involved in replying to a simple question such as "Do you like that dress?". The table below is useful for teaching how to identify and access each representational system in context:
Step
Activity
Notation
What it's being used for
1
auditory external
Ae
Hear the question
2
visual internal
Vi
picture to oneself the meaning of the question
3
visual external
Ve
look at the dress
4
visual internal constructed
Vic
create a mental image of the dress worn by the person
Logically, these or similar steps must take place somewhere in consciousness in order to cognitively make sense of the question and answer it.[citation needed] A sequence of this kind is known[by whom?] in NLP as a strategy – in this case, a functional outline of the strategy used by the mind in answering that question. In a similar way, the process leading to a panic attack of the form "I see the clock, ask myself where the kids are, imagine everything that could be happening and feel scared" might be notated as having a subjective structure: Ve → Aid → Vic → Ki, signifying that an external sight leads to internal dialog (a question), followed by internal and constructed images, leading to a feeling.
Generally speaking, most human perceptual and cognitive processing occurs before conscious awareness.[10][relevant?] For example, few people would ordinarily be aware that between question and even considering an answer, there must be steps in which the mind interprets and contextualizes the question itself, and steps which explore various possible strategies to be used to obtain an answer and select one to be followed.[citation needed] The mental occurrence of these steps is often identified by deduction following skilled observation, or by careful inquiry, although their presence is usually self-apparent to the person concerned once noticed.[citation needed]
Sensory predicates and eye accessing cues
Grinder and Bandler believed they identified pattern of relationship between the sensory-based language people use in general conversation, and for example, their eye movement (known as eye accessing cues).[11][unreliable fringe source?]
A common (but not universal) style of processing in the West[citation needed] is shown in the attached chart, where eye flickers in specific directions often seem to tie into specific kinds of internal (mental) processing.
NLP[who?] also suggests that sometimes (again not universally) such processing is associated with sensory word use; for example, a person asked what they liked about the beach, may flick their eyes briefly in some characteristic direction (visual memory access, often upwards) and then also use words that describe it in a visual sense ("The sea looked lovely", and so on). Likewise asked about a problem, someone may look in a different direction for a while (kinesthetic access, typically downwards) and then look puzzled and say "I just can't seem to get a grip on things". Taken together, NLP[who?] suggests such eye accessing cues (1) are idiosyncratic and habitual for each person, and (2) may form significant clues as to how a person is processing or representing a problem to themselves unconsciously.[citation needed]
The most common arrangement for eye accessing cues in a right-handed person.
Note: – NLP does not say it is 'always' this way, but rather that one should check whether reliable correlations seem to exist for an individual, and if so what they are
Common (but not universal) Western layout of eye accessing cues:
Upwards (left/right) – Visual (V) – "I can imagine the big picture"
Level (left/right) – Auditory (A) – "Let's tone down the discussion"
Down-right—Kinesthetic (K) – "to grasp a concept" or "to gather you've understood."
Eye movement to the left or right for many people seems to indicate if a memory was recalled or constructed.[citation needed] Thus remembering an actual image (Vr) is associated more with up-left, whilst imagining one's dream home (Vc) tends (again not universally) to be more associated with up-right.[citation needed]
When we think about the world, or about our past experiences, we represent those things inside our heads.[citation needed] For example, think about the holiday you went on last year. Did you see a picture of where you went, tell yourself a story about what you did, feel the sun on your back and the wind in your hair? Can you bring to mind the smell of your favourite flower or the taste of a favourite meal??
The use of the various modalities can be identified based by learning to respond to subtle shifts in breathing, body posture, accessing cues, gestures, eye movement and language patterns such as sensory predicates.[12][unreliable fringe source?][13][unreliable fringe source?]
Uses
NLP's interest in the senses is not so much in their role as bridges to the outside world, but in their role as internal channels for cognitive processing and interpretation.[citation needed] In an NLP perspective,[weaselwords] it is not very important per se whether a person sees or hears some memory.[citation needed] By contrast, NLP[who?] views it as potentially of great importance for the same person, to discover that some auditory sounds presented almost out of consciousness along with the memory, may be how the brain presents to consciousness, and how consciousness knows, whether this is a heart-warming pleasant memory, or a fearsome phobic one.[citation needed]
Representational systems are also relevant since some tasks are better performed within one representational system than by another. For example, within education, spelling is better learned by children who have unconsciously used a strategy of visualization, than an unconscious strategy of phonetically "sounding out". When taught to visualize, previously poor spellers can indeed be taught to improve.[14][unreliable fringe source?] NLP proponents also found that pacing and leading the various cues tended to build rapport, and allowed people to communicate more effectively. Certain studies suggest that using similar representational systems to another person can help build rapport[15] whilst other studies have found that merely mimicking or doing so in isolation is perceived negatively.[citation needed]
Skinner and Stephens (2003) explored the use of the model of representational systems in television marketing and communications.[16][relevant?]
Some exercises in NLP training involve learning how to observe and respond to the various cues in real time.[17][unreliable fringe source?]
The preferred representational system (PRS)
Originally NLP taught that people preferred one representational system over another. People could be stuck by thinking about a problem in their "preferred representational system" (PRS). Some took this idea further and categorised people as auditory, kinesthetic, and visual thinkers (see also: learning styles). It was claimed that swifter and more effective results could be achieved by matching this preferred system. Although there is some research that supports the notion that eye movement can indicate visual and auditory (but not kinesthetic) components of thought in that moment,[18][improper synthesis?] the existence of a preferred representational system ascertainable from external cues (an important part of original NLP theory) was discounted by research in the 1980s.[19][20][21] Some still believe the PRS model to be important for enhancing rapport and influence.[22] Others have de-emphasized its relevance and instead emphasize that people constantly use all representational systems. In particular, new code emphasizes individual calibration and sensory acuity, precluding such a rigidly specified model as the one described above.[23] Responding directly to sensory experience requires an immediacy which respects the importance of context. John Grinder has stated that a representational system diagnosis lasts about 30 seconds.[23]
In a review of research findings, Sharpley (1987)[24] found little support for individuals to have a "preferred" representational system (PRS), whether in the choice of words or direction of eye movement, and the concept of a preferred representation system (PRS). Similarly, The National Research Committee found little support for the influence of PRS as presented in early descriptions of NLP, Frogs into Princes (1979) and Structure of Magic (1975). However, "at a meeting with Richard Bandler in Santa Cruz, California, on July 9, 1986, the [National Research Committee] influence subcommittee... was informed that PRS was no longer considered an important component of NLP. He said that NLP had been revised." (p.140)[8] The NLP developers, Robert Dilts et al. (1980) [12] proposed that eye movement (and sometimes bodily gesture) correspond to accessing cues for representations systems, and connected it to specific sides in the brain.
Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or chemical stimulation of the sensory system. Vision involves light striking the retina of the eye; smell is mediated by odor molecules; and hearing involves pressure waves.
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combination of two conscious states of brain wakefulness and REM sleep. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming, which does not involve wakefulness; pseudohallucination, which does not mimic real perception, and is accurately perceived as unreal; illusion, which involves distorted or misinterpreted real perception; and mental imagery, which does not mimic real perception, and is under voluntary control. Hallucinations also differ from "delusional perceptions", in which a correctly sensed and interpreted stimulus is given some additional significance.
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a pseudoscientific approach to communication, personal development and psychotherapy, that first appeared in Richard Bandler and John Grinder's 1975 book The Structure of Magic I. NLP asserts that there is a connection between neurological processes, language and acquired behavioral patterns, and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life. According to Bandler and Grinder, NLP can treat problems such as phobias, depression, tic disorders, psychosomatic illnesses, near-sightedness, allergy, the common cold, and learning disorders, often in a single session. They also claim that NLP can "model" the skills of exceptional people, allowing anyone to acquire them.
VAK or Vak may refer to:
John Thomas Grinder Jr. is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with co-creating neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) with Richard Bandler. He is co-director of Quantum Leap Inc., a management consulting firm founded by his partner Carmen Bostic St. Clair in 1987. Grinder and Bostic St. Clair also run workshops and seminars on NLP internationally.
Richard Wayne Bandler is an American consultant in the field of self-help. With John Grinder, he founded the neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) approach to psychotherapy in the 1970s.
In the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and cognitive science, a mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of "perceiving" some object, event, or scene but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are sometimes episodes, particularly on falling asleep and waking up, when the mental imagery may be dynamic, phantasmagoric, and involuntary in character, repeatedly presenting identifiable objects or actions, spilling over from waking events, or defying perception, presenting a kaleidoscopic field, in which no distinct object can be discerned. Mental imagery can sometimes produce the same effects as would be produced by the behavior or experience imagined.
In the philosophy of perception and philosophy of mind, direct or naïve realism, as opposed to indirect or representational realism, are differing models that describe the nature of conscious experiences; out of the metaphysical question of whether the world we see around us is the real world itself or merely an internal perceptual copy of that world generated by our conscious experience.
Reality tunnel is a theory that, with a subconscious set of mental filters formed from beliefs and experiences, every individual interprets the same world differently, hence "Truth is in the eye of the beholder". It is similar to the idea of representative realism, and was coined by Timothy Leary (1920–1996). It was further expanded on by Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), who wrote about the idea extensively in his 1983 book Prometheus Rising.
Kinesthetic learning, kinaesthetic learning, or tactile learning is learning that involves physical activity. As cited by Favre (2009), Dunn and Dunn define kinesthetic learners as students who prefer whole-body movement to process new and difficult information. However, scientific studies do not support the claim that using kinesthetic modality improves learning in students identified as kinesthetic learning as their preferred learning style.
Sensory substitution is a change of the characteristics of one sensory modality into stimuli of another sensory modality.
Sensory processing is the process that organizes and distinguishes sensation from one's own body and the environment, thus making it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. Specifically, it deals with how the brain processes multiple sensory modality inputs, such as proprioception, vision, auditory system, tactile, olfactory, vestibular system, interoception, and taste into usable functional outputs.
Steve Andreas was an American psychotherapist and author specializing in Neuro-linguistic programming.
The methods of neuro-linguistic programming are the specific techniques used to perform and teach neuro-linguistic programming, which teaches that people are only able to directly perceive a small part of the world using their conscious awareness, and that this view of the world is filtered by experience, beliefs, values, assumptions, and biological sensory systems. NLP argues that people act and feel based on their perception of the world and how they feel about that world they subjectively experience.
Connirae Andreas is an American author and psychotherapist who is known for her work within the field of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
Extinction is a neurological disorder that impairs the ability to perceive multiple stimuli of the same type simultaneously. Extinction is usually caused by damage resulting in lesions on one side of the brain. Those who are affected by extinction have a lack of awareness in the contralesional side of space and a loss of exploratory search and other actions normally directed toward that side.
The Modular Online Growth and Use of Language (MOGUL) project is the cover term name for any research on language carried out using the Modular Cognition Framework (MCF).
In psychology, visual capture is the dominance of vision over other sense modalities in creating a percept. In this process, the visual senses influence the other parts of the somatosensory system, to result in a perceived environment that is not congruent with the actual stimuli. Through this phenomenon, the visual system is able to disregard what other information a different sensory system is conveying, and provide a logical explanation for whatever output the environment provides. Visual capture allows one to interpret the location of sound as well as the sensation of touch without actually relying on those stimuli but rather creating an output that allows the individual to perceive a coherent environment.
The Colavita visual dominance effect refers to the phenomenon in which study participants respond more often to the visual component of an audiovisual stimulus, when presented with bimodal stimuli.
↑ Bandler, Richard (1975). The structure of magic: a book about language and therapy. Grinder, John. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and Behavior Books. ISBN0831400447. OCLC2005375.
1 2 Druckman (1988), Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques
↑ Grinder, John & Carmen Bostic St Clair (2001). Whispering in the Wind. CA: J & C Enterprises. pp.127, 171, 222, ch3, Appendix.
↑ Heuer Jr., Richards (1999). Psychology of Intelligence Analysis. Center for the Study of Intelligence. p.1. ISBN978-1929667000. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. A basic finding of cognitive psychology is that people have no conscious experience of most of what happens in the human mind. Many functions associated with perception, memory, and information processing are conducted prior to and independently of any conscious direction. What appears spontaneously in consciousness is the result of thinking, not the process of thinking.
1 2 Dilts, Robert B, Grinder, John, Bandler, Richard & DeLozier, Judith A. (1980). Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Volume I – The Study of the Structure of Subjective Experience. Meta Publications. pp.3–4, 6, 14, 17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Skinner, H. & Stephens, P. (2003). "Speaking the Same Language: Exploring the relevance of Neuro-Linguistic Programming to Marketing Communications". Journal of Marketing Communications. 9 (3 / September): 177–192. doi:10.1080/1352726032000129926. S2CID167478623.
↑ Buckner; Meara; Reese; Reese (1987). "Eye movement as an indicator of sensory components in thought". Journal of Counseling Psychology. 34 (3): 283–287. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.34.3.283.
↑ Sharpley, C. F. (1984). "Predicate matching in NLP: A review of research on the preferred representational system". Journal of Counseling Psychology. 31 (2): 238–248. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.31.2.238.
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