Kahneman, Fredrickson and Prochaska's ideas about human
thought
- Daniel Kahneman: He divided human thought into
fast and slow. As fast thinking is based on human
memory and is intuitive, it may lead to committing more mistakes.
On the other hand, slow thinking is deliberate and
effortful and can help humans in avoiding mistakes while taking
decisions. For example, a boy will think fast when
he’s asked how much 4x5 is. If he hasn’t memorized the table well,
he may make a mistake while answering. However, slow thinking can
save him from making an error, as he will evaluate and analyze his
options well before deciding.
- Barbara Fredrickson: She suggested that
positive emotions like joy, happiness, love and
pride broaden the cognition and thought-action
repertoire of individuals. Due to positive affect, their
thought patterns become more integrative, efficient, creative, and
open to information.
- James Prochaska: Prochaska’s transtheoretical
model of behavior change focuses on the temporal dimension of
change. It suggests that behavioral change occurs over time
through these stages – pre-contemplation, contemplation,
preparation, action, and maintenance. If an individual assesses
his/her thoughts about them and their problem behavior, they can
move from pre-contemplation and contemplation stages to taking
action and changing their behavior.
My thoughts and conclusion of each ideology
- I agree with Kahneman’s theory, as slow thinking gives
the brain more time to analyze, check and verify
the final decision. Sometimes, humans learn and memorize
incorrectly. At such times, an instant recall based on memory can
make them commit mistakes, which could have been avoided had they
had the right information stored in memory. Slow thinking can give
them the new resources and information to correct them and improve
their decisions. However, this ideology may work differently in
varied situations, as thinking is multidimensional.
Categorizing thoughts into two aspects seems to be a limited
approach to behavioral modification.
- Frederickson’s theory rightly talks about the effects of
positive emotions on broadening the thought-action repertoire. When
individuals are happier and positive in thoughts, their brain
releases dopamine and their bodily changes during negative emotions
can be easily controlled. Positive emotions thus play the
role of an antidote to negative emotions that block
creative thoughts. If individuals try to maintain positive
thinking, they can move to grow well.
- Prochaska’s ideology is a stage-based model that works
well in cases of behavioral change. However, a non-stage
approach could be a more effective alternative when it comes to
changing personal thoughts and getting ready to take action to
change oneself. There are several environmental factors
that may impact the change in behavior, in addition to
being mentally prepared to change.