Thursday, July 13, 2017 @ 3:18PM
Good afternoon. I’m not sure if this is going to work, but we have a lot to talk about in having worked with Dr. Marvin, and our processes trying to understand some passages/quotes we’ve been looking at through Self-regulation and Multiplicity. Pswhoo! It’s time to get to writing!
I’m not sure where to start, but I figure the best part is to go over Dr. Marvin’s and our conversation. Sometimes, we take notes, and that happened today. We had the meeting on the phones. He calls exactly at 11AM and we were quick to answer. We talked about computer stuff – Multiplework site/blog, ALMOST the full hour, but we did it from the comfort of our couch with our feet up. We had made sure the phone was charged. It’s one of those nerve-wracking things for some of us in the system. Just don’t want to miss our time with him.
For those who don’t know, we have a one-hour conversation with Dr. Marvin twice a week, and we’ve just started our 18th year, and we’re STILL finding so much to talk about. The best plan is to meet him at his office in Chicago, which is 60 miles one way. Due to the distance and life in general, we sometimes opt for the phone. Yesterday, we had a spine injection, so we weren’t up to speed. When we got home yesterday from the “surgery,” we slept for an hour until Rich woke us for dinner. Then after dinner, we fell asleep on the couch for the next four hours, and didn’t wake until 10PM. Then we were up five-hours, and it was up and down with sleep, but about 9AM we were getting more serious about work. Again Dr. Marvin’s appointment was 11AM to 12PM and now it is about 3:30PM.
This is about how it went. First thing we had to confess is the sleep schedule just mentioned. And then we discussed process and how the page we put together at the end of this early morning, was going to be just a working document. It is parsed together just on definitions of “self-regulation.” We used four quotes from two books, and it DEFINITELY was a process!
The quotes are listed in our Table of Contents. Beside using the quotes from our self-regulation books, we used liberally the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. I think we’re going to use the medium of this blog entry to piece things back together. Dr. Marvin said what we had done – in the end, was a “deconstruction.” Wow! Didn’t know it had a name! Love it! We both agreed this morning’s results are only in the form of a “worksheet” for us to use, because we were using almost all the thoughts and concepts from other people’s work. The difference was that we did a LOT of work compiling the joint quotes and definitions in a form we could understand.
Here are the four quotes, of course fully resourced. The words we looked up in the dictionary are the ones in the {brackets}.
“…self-regulation refers to the many processes by which the human {psyche} exercises control over its functions, states, and inner processes. Most broadly, it is essential for transforming the inner animal nature into a civilized human being” (Baumeister & Vohs, 2004). [Definitions – COMMENTARY]
Definitions
{psyche} the specialized cognitive, conative, and affective aspects of a psychosomatic unity :mind; specifically : the totality of the id, ego, and superego including both conscious and unconscious components (Merriam-Webster Unabridged, 2017).
Reference
Baumeister, R. F. & Vohs, K. D. (2004). Understanding self-regulation: An introduction. In R. F. Editor & K. D. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research of self-regulation: research, theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guilford Publications, Inc.
Merriam-Webster Unabridged. 11 July 2017. Retrieved from unabridged.merriam-webster.com
- “… exercise of control …”
“… “regulation” carries the meaning of “control” with a hint of regularity. In that sense, self-regulation refers to the exercise of control over oneself, especially about bringing the self into line with preferred (thus, regular) standards. Such processes can be found deep in nature” (Baumeister & Vohs, 2004). […]
Reference
Baumeister, R. F. & Vohs, K. D. (2004). Understanding self-regulation: An introduction. In R. F. Editor & K. D. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research of self-regulation: research, theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guilford Publications, Inc.
- “… domain of regulated responses”
“Thus, one definition of “self-regulation” encompasses any efforts by the human self to alter any of its own inner states as responses. We have previously described self-regulation in terms of people regulating their thoughts, emotions, impulses or appetites, and task performances. Based on this volume, we amend that list to include attentional processes as another domain of regulated responses” (Baumeister & Vohs, 2004. […]
Reference
Baumeister, R. F. & Vohs, K. D. (2004). Understanding self-regulation: An introduction. In R. F. Editor & K. D. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research of self-regulation: research, theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guilford Publications, Inc.
- … continual process of moving toward …”
“… use the term “self-regulation” more broadly. Our use of this term is intended to convey the sense that self-corrective adjustments are taking place as needed to stay on track, whatever one’s current purpose is (whether overriding another impulse or simply reacting to {perturbations} from other sources), and that these corrective adjustments originate from within. These points converge in the view that behavior is a continual process of moving toward (and sometimes away from) goals” (Carver & Scheier, 2016). [Definitions]
Definitions
{Perturbation} the action of perturbing or condition of being perturbed: commotion (Merriam-Webster Unabridged, 2017).
Reference
Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2016). Self-regulation of action and affect. In Vohs, K. D. Editor & Baumeister, R. F. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guildford Publications, Inc.
Merriam-Webster Unabridged. 11 July 2017. Retrieved from unabridged.merriam-webster.com
OK, BACK. Ok, that is what we were working with, and we find often, but as well with this set of quotes, we were having trouble holding all the thoughts together. So, we deconstructed. This is the FIRST level of deconstruction.
That got us only so far. The following is the next format. We started with the ideas more closely related and tried to put it by hand in outline form. That wasn’t sufficient. Next, we did this …
Somewhere soon after this version, we had an “AHA!” moment, in that we figured, this is where our program, “TheBrain” comes in. TheBrain is a Mindmap that we’ve had good success with, though as per the note – you can see it gets expensive … That’s a whole other conversation, and it started with Rich this morning. So, this is the version that came out of our mind map.
Oh man, oh man! I erased the “new mind map” from last night when I loaded it just now! Damn! It’s very frustrating, but, it can all be put back together. Just a pain in the neck. Skipping the version on the mind map, we DID copy the outline, we developed. I’ll put that up next. I guess back-ups are a good idea.
(pretend in real life – that WordPress just didn’t take out all my outline numbers and indentation) Grrrr…
Self-regulation & Dissociation (Multiplicity)
- Self-regulation
- Many processes of the human psyche
- Exercises Control over its
- Inner processes
- States
- Functions
- Mind: Special aspect of psychosomatic unity
- Mind
- Components
- Unconscious
- Conscious
- Affective
- Conative
- Message influencing self
- Message to suggest an action to be performed
- Cognitive
- Totality of
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
- Psychosomatic
- Relating to, involving, or resulting from the interaction between mind or emotions and body
- Resulting from the influence of emotional stress or conflict on physical area, organ, or bodily system
- Evidencing bodily symptoms or bodily and mental symptoms because of emotional conflict
- Any efforts by the human self
- Regulate; Alter any of its own inner states
- Carries the meaning of “control” over self with a hint of regularity
- As responses (that are regulated)
- Impulses
- Drives? To set and keep in motion through application or some amount of force
- Live?
- Reproduce?
- Die?
- Appetites – a natural or inherent desire or propensity for gratification or satisfaction
- Hunger?
- Sex?
- Power?
- Territory?
- Live/Life?
- Attentional processes
- Emotions
- Thoughts
- Task performances
- Control – Defined
- To Reduce the incidence or severity of especially to innocuous levels
- Overpower
- To exercise restraint or direct influence over: Regulate, Curb
- Self-corrected adjustments
- Originate from within
- Exercise control over self
- As needed to stay on track
- With whatever one’s current purpose is
- Whether overriding another impulse
- Reacting to perturbation from other sources (being perturbed, commotion)
- These points converge in the view that behavior
- Continual process
- Moving toward goals
- Sometimes, away from goals
- Brings self into line with (thus, regular)
- Preferred standards
- Processes found deep in nature
- Essential for transforming inner animal nature
- Into a civilized human being
But, even that could take us so far in trying to understand everything. The last thing we did was to put the outline above in sentence/paragraph form, so we could read it all together again – granted we had in the mind map – really switched quite a bit from one thing to another. So, that it followed in a way we could better understand. This is the “sentence/paragraph” form.
Self-regulation and Dissociation (Multiplicity) Worksheet
07-13-17
First, we approach self-regulation. Self-regulation enlists many processes of the human psyche, and because of the psyche, effort is enabled by the human self. Self-regulation, through the psyche, controls the self’s inner processes, states and functions.
The mind, is a special aspect of psychosomatic unity. It has components that are either unconscious or conscious. And it controls affective, conative, and cognitive aspects. The affective part is influenced by feelings and emotions. The conative part sends messages that influence self, or suggests actions to be performed. And, the cognitive part involves conscious intellectual activities (such as thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, or learning). The mind processes knowledge, which can be true or false. The totality of the mind is often referred to as the id, ego and superego.
Psychosomatic relates to the interaction between mind/emotions and body. It results from the influence of emotional stress or conflict on physical areas, organs, or bodily system. Because of the emotional conflict, there is evidence of bodily and mental symptoms.
Any effort by the human self to regulate, or alter any of its own inner states, means to “control” self with a hint of regularity. The regulated responses are our: impulses, appetites, attentional processes, emotions, thoughts, and task performances. Briefly, impulses are tied to drives, or forces we need/desire such as to live, reproduce, or die. And, relatedly, appetites include a natural or inherent desire to be gratified by things such as hunger, sex, power, materialism, or territory.
Control is defined as directly influencing something, or reducing the severity of something, especially to a harmless level. It is synonymous with regulation, curb, overpower, or restrain.
Control or regularity are self-correcting adjustments that originate from within, exercise control over self, and assist us in staying on track with whatever our current purpose is. It assists us by overriding other impulses, or reacting from other perturbations/commotions from other sources. These points converge in the view that behavior is a continual process, moves toward goals, and sometimes moves away from goals. It assists in bringing self “into-line” with (thus regular) preferred standards and processes found deep in nature, and they are essential for transforming our inner animal natures into civilized human beings.
To us … this is readable, but as we stated in the beginning – this “edition” is mostly a collection of all the work that had gone on before by others. I apologize for not keeping together the actual authors, but we do have a Reference that covers ALL the above. You saw the bits and pieces up above. Maybe, I should put together a nice clean list?
References
Baumeister, R. F. & Vohs, K. D. (2004). Understanding self-regulation: An introduction. In R. F. Editor & K. D. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research of self-regulation: research, theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guilford Publications, Inc.
Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2016). Self-regulation of action and affect. In Vohs, K. D. Editor & Baumeister, R. F. Editor (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research theory, and applications. New York, NY: Guildford Publications, Inc.
Merriam-Webster Unabridged. 11 July 2017. Retrieved from unabridged.merriam-webster.com
Pswhoo! That was some work piecing everything together. Thinking most people if they ever DID get this far – skipped things as soon, as we showed you, we were asking that you read the quotes … like three to four times just in different format. I think we should read the last “working copy” again, to see if it made any sense to us.
5:27PM We’re back. We were with Rich and with household stuff for a bit. We had swept out the laundry room, before finishing the laundry, but Rich went back there again with the hose on the vacuum. He was getting the dog food under the wire shelving that can’t be reached with a broom. The last two days, we seem to have an ant problem. Rich is putting down ant traps. Yup, had them from last year. Still should be good. I think we’re on top of this. I only saw three ants today, BUT we DID see three ANTS!
We’ve got about twenty minutes before dinner and we haven’t gotten to the Dr. Marvin part of these thoughts. We did start with all the above with him, though we only read Dr. Marvin the paragraph on the Mind to give him an idea what we were working on without taking up too much time. Maybe we should do that now. I mean in getting back to our Dr. Marvin thoughts. Pretty soon, though we’ll have to break for dinner.
We had again started with our schedule, then we talked about processes we were taking with our writing. Basically, we told him that there had been all these editing changes and then we tried to incorporate in writing, and we were sure where to go next, but knew it would involve writing more from our own hand and toward how we see things albeit as a Multiple. We knew that the above summary is not our work – in that we took obviously from the quotes and dictionary. We knew that we couldn’t present that formally, but that we had to do something with it next. AND, whatever we did, we should condense the time, because although allowed to spend time, in that we’re just exploring, it WAS very time consuming. I’m not sure yet, what we have discovered, if anything. We’re not holding it all in our mind. I HATE our memory!
Dr. Marvin suggested writing an exposition and work to explain the comments. Damn, now we should look-up the word exposition. I think it’s a short-written piece, but we’ll have to make sure. The worksheet, we have created is just brushing VERY loosely the part that this is a very deep subject. We asked Dr. Marvin to be our “truth meter.” We know the words are “loaded.” I can’t read all my writing, of notes scribbled while talking to Dr. Marvin, but he paid us a compliment, something to do with it was good, but then added, or we added something about writing out how our mind works – given this kind of outline. It doesn’t have to be sparkly, we’re just trying to write the first page. HEY WRITERS! It’s ok. No hiding behind our internal pillars.
Exposition – a setting forth of the meaning or purpose (as of a writing of discourse) : an expounding of the sense or intent (as of a law) : an interpretation especially of a parable : exegesis
expound – to set forth : state, present, teach
(under exposition) – discourse or an example of it designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand; especially : a statement embodying an analysis of the subject matter and the use of familiar illustrations or analogies
Merriam-Webster Unabridged. 13, July 2017. Retrieved from: http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/exposition
Dr. Marvin said that we were at a fair place to start and to take time to get a handle on the processes. That’s when he introduced the word “deconstruct” as to what we had done in taking apart the words written by quotes or dictionary. It’s true, we added ourselves to make it make sense to us, but it really is a compost now. We needed to take word by word, and sentence by sentence to get any understanding, and even at that … there’s so much more depth to cover. Some of our parts get this kind of stuff right away, but there are others of us who believe it is as thick as pea soup! BUT, this is the “what,” we have decided (as a group) to work on. We want it to be what we do forever. And, we want to get it to a point, where it is helpful to others thinking about the same sort of stuff.
We told Dr. Marvin about an old psychologist we used to see between 1985-1987. His name was Dr. Cooper, and he was great, but not really qualified to deal with our problems. He did help a lot at the time. We were very stuck on him. We’d imagine his smile for hours! I know … this is where people convey, yes, it is easy to fall in love with your therapist. Back then, hugs were allowed, but then we got to UIC with Dr. Woollcott and Dr. Marvin for the next 25 years, and during all that time, there were NO HUGS. That explanation is for another day, but we can say we’ve got sharp boundaries now 😉
Whoops Rich is calling us to dinner. Oh Lordy, to be helpful to ANYONE, I guess we got to eat dinner. Rich had to call us twice ☹