12-step

ACoAs & ASKING QUESTIONS (Part 2)

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, mental health, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth, self-help

defending selfPREVIOUS: ACoAs & Qs #1

 


AS ADULTS (cont.)

NOTE: One of many effects of not having direct guidance, not being taught skills or appropriate socialization is a very deep belief that anything we figured out for ourself was at best wrong, at worst absolutely worthless.

An antidote to this is to have at least one person who is knowledgeable in our area of activity & who we respect – to review what we’ve accomplished or created on our own. They can validate its accuracy, skill level & value.mentoring

If that ‘mentor’ is fair & respectful, they can let us know the positive truth about our action or accomplishment. If the ‘verdict’ is less than stellar, we can look for ways to improve. If positive, the WIC part of us will be satisfied, & we can continue to flourish in whatever medium we’re best at.

BROAD categories of Questions (Qs)
a. Negative: to attack, to challenge, to embarrass, to stir things up
b. Positive: to connect, to encourage, get info, make you think, to teach

2 Inappropriate forms
From Narcissism 
• Questions that are controlling (“Why don’t you do it THIS way?”)
• Qs from the WIC, in the victim position, if you’re asking for info about things we DO know, as a way of feeling taken care of (How do I….?)

• Qs coming from the assumption that others are like us
— PP: “Why would you even consider that?” (that’s not the way Would….) OR
— WIC: “Don’t you think this color is the most?” (If I do, you must too)
symbiotic• Asking (insisting) others go with you or do something that only you like, or even that you know they dislike (so you won’t be alone)

• Qs that are rude &/or insensitive, because we don’t think about other people’s feelings – just impulsively ask whatever comes to mind without considering the consequences. This is a copy of our parents, who never acknowledged our emotions, so we act the same way
EXP: At a church dinner, teenage Jane notices that Sarah (in her 30s) is not wearing her engagement ring. Across the table, in a rather loud voice she asks about it (“Where your ring?”) but Sarah doesn’t answer, so Jane asks again – twice more before giving up. She doesn’t get the hint that her Q is not well received, although it’s obvious to everyone else.
Some others at the table know that Sarah’s engagement has been called off, so the Q is painful. Jane hasn’t gotten the 411 yet, but that’s not the point. Her Q is insensitive & intrusive – especially in such a public way – being in total immature mode, oblivious to another person’s reaction (silence) , especially after the initial rebuff.

With Anger
These are Qs with an attitude, which put people off. Ironically, it’s always because the Abandonment angry QWound got bumped. We feel disconnected, which scares the WIC, making him/her angry. If we lash out we create more distance, which is the opposite of what we want.

Anger Qs can come:
• in the form of accusing, blaming, shaming (“Who took my pen?”)
• as an attack on an authority figure (“Why don’t you do something about this problem?”)
• as challenging someone’s belief system (“How can you believe in that mythology – the Bible”?)
• showing someone up, insulting them  (“You didn’t know that?”)

UNHEALTHY: ASKING Qs from the WIC – in the present
• asking for what you need from the wrong person or venue, specially when you already know they’re not able or willing (like going to an unavailable parent for comfort // trying to get emotional support in a school or business setting…..)
• not using “I” statements, when trying to get info. EXP: “Why can’t you be more attentive?”, instead of: “I’d like you to pay attention when I’m talking. Would you be willing to do that?”
• talking from emotions : “I feel like I can’t trust her”, instead of : “ I know I can’t trust him”. The former implies you have a feeling about  her /him, but don’t trust your perceptions – even tho’ you do actually know that person is not trustworthy – from experience
• talking around an important subject, rather than asking a direct Q
• whining, begging, bugging, not taking ‘no’ for an answer

NEXT: ACoAs & Qs Part 3

ACoAs & ASKING QUESTIONS (Part 1)

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, mental health, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth, self-care, Self-esteem, self-help , , , ,

asking QsIT NEVER DAWNS ON ME
to ask about the other person

PREVIOUS: Reverse Laundry List & Healthy version

PROBLEM
Another indicator of ACoA damage is the fear of asking questions or worse – not even realizing it’s necessary, appropriate, even imperative.
At the core of this issue is the unconscious but ingrained perspective that we should not hold other people responsible for their words & actions. As emotionally immature adults, we are still going on the assumption that everything is our fault (narcissistic S-H), & therefore it’s all up to us to correct misunderstandings & fix whatever is causing us pain (narcissistic grandiosity).

In CHILDHOOD
Most ACoAs stopped asking Qs because of the messages & reactions we got from our dysfunctional family, as well as from outside sources such as school & religious institutions. “Children should be seen & not heard”. They :
• didn’t want their authority questioned
• didn’t want their bad behavior pointed out or abuse objected to
• didn’t want their hypocrisy & neglect uncovered
not allowed to ask• didn’t know the answer…
AND they —
• couldn’t be bothered to listen or explain things
• didn’t have the patience to show us what they did know how to do
• made it sound like we’re dumb for not knowing things they knew
• told us we were disrespectful for questioning their authority
• punished us with a smack or with guilt – for wanting to know what’s going on around us
• made fun of us for exploring & being curious ……

NOTE: Curious & clever children may seem to be ‘challenging’ the adults “WHY … WHY…” But if we got a bad reaction from them (“you’re arrogant, you’re being difficult, you’re disrespectful”) it was almost always because the person did NOT know the information & was ashamed to admit it

No matter what Toxic family Role were fell in to as kids (Hero, Scapegoat, Lost Child, Mascot), ultimately we were on our own, because our wounded parents we unable to connect with us in healthy loving ways. We got the message that we were a burden to them – or worse – hated (“You’ll be the death of me yet!”). We understood that if we were to figure things out it would have to be from other sources, like school & our peers, but mainly by just watching other people & events. Quietly, secretly observing the world around us helped, but it didn’t encourage asking questions.

being muteAs ADULTS
Our early trauma, distorted mirroring & lack of good role models has left holes in our ability to think of what to say. This is because of missing information, rather than stupidity. It literally means not having the vocabulary for legitimate questioning – what words to use, what point of view we need to come from, or what to expect if we do ask.
BUT this can be learned from books such as “The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense”, & from others who already know how.

Many of us believe that any form of Qs is impertinent, boundary invasive, & just plain rude – which is not true when Qs come from our Adult ES. (ego state).
And when someone says or does something unkind, inappropriate, narcissistic or flat-out mean – we justify, over-explain, excuse ourself        (Sorry, Sorry), instead of lobbing the ball back at the other person by saying something like:“What did you mean? // Why did you say it that way? // Is that what you would do / want?… (See “Useful & Clever Responses”).

ACoAs were not allowed to defend, protect or stand up for ourself, didn’t have the right to object to abuse, & never to know what our true needs are. So we continue to live in a quasi-world of not really belonging, not having rights, not being heard, not having access to our personal power, & most of all – never truly feeling safe.
Others of us will bite back when we feel neglected, dismissed or accused, a version of the PP &/or WIC trying to protect ourself, but this is simply ineffective & can serve to escalate a bad situation.

NEXT: ACoAs & Asking Qs – Part 2

REVERSE Laundry List & Healthy Version

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drunk narcissists I HATE KNOWING
how much I’ve copied them!

PREVIOUS:

 Original LL

SITE: ACoAs – Qualities & Traits

REVIEW: “Variation of ACoA Laundry List” post

NOTE: Reprinted from the ACoA World Service Org.

REVERSE Laundry List – acting out the Introject (the PP)
1. To cover our fear of people and our dread of isolation we tragically become the very authority figures who frighten others and cause them to withdraw
2. To avoid becoming enmeshed and entangled with other people and losing ourselves in the process, we become rigidly self-sufficient. We disdain the approval of others
3. We frighten people with our anger and threat of belittling criticism
4. We dominate others and abandon them before they can abandon us or we avoid relationships with dependent people altogether. To avoid being hurt, we isolate and dissociate and thereby abandon ourselves

5. We live life from the standpoint of a victimizer, and are attracted to people we can bad attitudemanipulate and control in our important relationships
6. We are irresponsible and self-centered. Our inflated sense of self-worth and self-importance prevents us from seeing our deficiencies and shortcomings
7. We make others feel guilty when they attempt to assert themselves
8. We inhibit our fear by staying deadened and numb
9. We hate people who “play” the victim and beg to be rescued
10. We deny that we’ve been hurt and are suppressing our emotions by the dramatic expression of “pseudo” feelings

11. To protect ourselves from self punishment for failing to “save” the family we project our self-hate onto others and punish them instead
12. We “manage” the massive amount of deprivation we feel, coming from abandonment within the home, by quickly letting go of relationships that threaten our “independence” (never get too close)
13. We refuse to admit we’ve been affected by family dysfunction or that there was dysfunction in the home or that we have internalized any of the family’s destructive attitudes and behaviors
14. We act as if we are nothing like the dependent people who raised us.

OPPOSITE of Reverse Laundry List
1. We face and resolve our fear of people and our dread of isolation and stop intimidating others with our power and position
2. We realize the sanctuary we have built to protect the frightened and injured child within has become a prison, and we become willing to risk moving out of isolation
3. With our renewed sense of self-worth and self-esteem we realize it is no longer necessary to protect ourselves by intimidating others with contempt, ridicule and anger
4. We accept and comfort the isolated and hurt inner child we have abandoned and disavowed, and thereby end the need to act out our fears of enmeshment and abandonment with other people

5. Because we are whole and complete we no longer try to control others through manipulation and force, and bind them to us with fear in order to avoid feeling isolated and alone
healing heart6. Through our in-depth inventory we discover our true identity as capable, worthwhile people. By asking to have our shortcomings removed we are freed from the burden of inferiority and grandiosity

9. We have compassion for anyone who is trapped in the “drama triangle” and is desperately searching for a way out of insanity.
10. We accept we were traumatized in childhood and lost the ability to feel. Using the 12 Steps as a program of recovery we regain the ability to feel and remember and become whole human beings who are happy, joyous and free.
11. In accepting we were powerless as children to “save” our family we are able to release our self-hate and to stop punishing ourselves and others for not being enough.
12. By accepting and reuniting with the inner child we are no longer threatened by intimacy, by the fear of being engulfed or made invisible.
13. By acknowledging the reality of family dysfunction we no longer have to act as if nothing were wrong or keep denying that we are still unconsciously reacting to childhood harm and injury.
14. We stop denying and do something about our post-traumatic dependency on substances, people, places and things to distort and avoid reality.

NEXT: Asking Questions (#1)

ORIGINAL Laundry List + Healthy Version

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, mental health, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth, self-care, self-help

bad family IT’S GOOD TO HAVE CLARITY
about the source of our damage

PREVIOUS:
 Multiple Learning Styles, #6

SITE:  Psychological Characteristics of ACoAs – article

NOTE: Part 1 & 2 Reprinted from the ACoA World Service Org.
— The Laundry List serves as the basis for ‘The Problem’ statement – the intro read at every ACA meeting

BASIC LAUNDRY LIST – acting out the Wounded Child
1. We became isolated and afraid of people and authority figures
2. We became approval seekers and lost our identity in the process
3. We are frightened by angry people and any personal criticism
4. We either become alcoholics, marry them or both, or find another compulsive personality such as a workaholic to fulfill our sick abandonment needs
5. We live life from the viewpoint of victims and we are attracted by that weakness in our love and friendship relationships

6. We have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and it is easier for us to be concerned with others rather than ourselves. This enables us not to look too closely at our own faults,….broken heart
7. We get guilt feelings when we stand up for ourselves instead of giving in to others
8. We became addicted to excitement
9. We confuse love and pity and tend to “love” people we can “pity” and “rescue”
10. We have “stuffed” our feelings from our traumatic childhoods and have lost the ability to feel or express our feelings because it hurts so much (Denial)

11. We judge ourselves harshly and have a very low sense of self-esteem
12. We are dependent personalities who are terrified of abandonment and will do anything to hold on to a relationship in order not to experience painful abandonment feelings, which we received from living with sick people who were never there emotionally for us
13. Alcoholism is a family disease. We became para-alcoholics and took on the characteristics of that disease even though we did not pick up the drink.
14. Para-alcoholics are reactors rather than actors.
Tony A., 1978

OPPOSITE of the LAUNDRY LIST – healthy version
1. We move out of isolation and are not unrealistically afraid of other people, even authority figures
2. We do not depend on others to tell us who we are
3. We are not automatically frightened by angry people and no longer regard personal criticism as a threat
4. We do not have a compulsive need to recreate abandonment
5. We stop living life from the standpoint of victims and are not attracted by this trait in our important relationships

6. We do not use enabling as a way to avoid looking at our own shortcomings
7. We do not feel guilty when we stand up for ourselvesrepaied heart
8. We avoid emotional intoxication and choose workable relationships instead of constant upset
9. We are able to distinguish love from pity, and do not think “rescuing” people we “pity” is an act of love
10. We come out of denial about our traumatic childhoods and regain the ability to feel and express our emotions
11. We stop judging and condemning ourselves and discover a sense of self-worth
12. We grow in independence and are no longer terrified of abandonment. We have interdependent relationships with healthy people, not dependent relationships with people who are emotionally unavailable
13. The characteristics of alcoholism and para-alcoholism we have internalized are identified, acknowledged, and removed
14.We are actors, not reactors.

NEXT: REVERSE L.L. (Part 2)

OUR SENSES & Learning – Combos (#6)

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PREVIOUS: Other Learning Styles, #5


SITEs: Learning Styles Affects How You Play GOLF

• 3 Reasons to Use Multi-sensory Teaching Techniques

• ‘LEARNING STYLES’ myth // MODALITIES – & theory  // Links to OTHER QUESTIONNAIRES

MULTI-SENSORY Learning
Multi-modal absorption is the ability of the nervous system to combine the input from all our senses, making it easier to detect & identify available information. This happens when multi-modal neurons receive stimuli that overlap the various modalities, & kicks in when no one particular sense responds to an event.

Most people – about 60% – use a combinations of the 3 main types (sight, hearing, body movement). While some may have a strong preference, it’s normal for all the other senses to be used as well. Because it involves more Brain areas, multi-sensing allows more mental connections & associations when learning any new concept. This makes it more efficient & effective, providing redundancy & strengthens reinforcement.

Combining all the senses becomes a powerful tool for encouraging Language Arts learning, in important ways. Key Benefits:
Much more knowledge is transferred, with the possibility of more being absorbed. Student engagement is more likely, which can improve attitudes towards learning, & therefore higher student achievement. (MORE….Research study).

Multi-sensory learning is particularly helpful for kids with learning & attention issues, such as having trouble with visual or auditory processing. They can tap into learning strengths which form memories, & lets them use a wider range of ways to show what they’ve learned& absorbed.
It helps students:
• collect information & make connections between new info & what they already know
• understand & work through problems, using nonverbal problem-solving skills., giving every kid a chance to succeed

Audio-Visual-Kinesthetic: A-V-K students – definitely need a combination of stimuli – handling material, along with seeing & hearing words & numbers.  They grasp & retain info best by doing & experiencing, touching & handling whatever they’re learning – being totally personally involved. Best study tools  Flashcards, highlighters, mind maps, and watching videos.

TECH Learners (visual-haptic-kinesthetic)
technical type• are mechanically oriented
• can read technical manuals without intensive training
• communicate with others via text, e-mail & Internet
• enjoy & use the video camera
• know how to work with and use hardware and software
• like integrated learning activities
• spend excessive time on computer and/or video games
• want to learn everything via the computer
• understand how to integrate various technologies
• understand technology tools without formal instruction

LEARNING STYLES info & Qs
CHART: See which column fits you the best. OR – some of each?

Qs re Learning Tpes

«
INTERESTING:
In terms of MBTI – there’s a wide gap between Sensate & Intuitive Learners.

INTUITIVE (iN) vs. SENSORY (S) Learning
♦︎ Intuitives – 30% of the population, important as TRAIL BLAZERS
INFO: They prefer speed & depth of insight. They learn to trust pattern recognition to help them understand info quickly & see things that aren’t ‘there’. Can extrapolate from large amounts of facts & experiences with only a few data points

TIME: iNs are already comfortable seeing what ‘isn’t there’, theorizing or speculating on what could be in both the here-and-now & in the future. The past is only useful as a reference for future predictions
VALUES: They’re focused more on possibilities, memes, paradigms, perspectives & concepts. Conversation generally revolves around these things, with little interest in small talk.

♦︎ Sensates – 70%, important for “HOLDING DOWN the FORT”
INFO: Sensates need info to be reliable – using the 5 senses to learn things. They have the same intuitive ability as iNs, but don’t trust it, so they ignore it. Instead, they look for anything that can be verified in the Real World, becoming masters of historical facts & fantastic at manipulating objects in real time. If it’s right in front of you, it’s reliable. Speculation is not.

TIME: Sensors can’t count on something that hasn’t happened yet, so the future is not interesting
VALUES: are about things like family, tradition, actions, old friends..… trustworthy because they’re all rooted in the known & knowable.
(MORE…..in POST: S vs N)

NEXT: Laundry list

OUR SENSES & Learning – Others (#5)

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth

PREVIOUS: Taste #4b

INFO : “To get the most out of Passive Tasks” and “To Maximize Studying”

BOOK: “TOUCH – the Science of Hand, Heart & Mind “~ David J. Linden


EYE of HORUS is both a symbol of knowledge, protection, & power, AND a mathematical equation, fractions of a heqat, representing the six senses:
Thought – 1/8 🔹 Hearing – 1/2 🔹 Sight – 1/4 🔹 Smell – 1/16 🔹 Touch – 1/64 🔹 Taste – 1/32. (MORE…..)

HAPTIC Learning
This style refers to the sense of touch or grasp. Such people generally have a great sense of touch, so they prefer to use a hands-on approach, which is essential to them. They need to touch & feel as many things as possible, so they can form a visual image of it, which helps them piece together information in a way they can easily understand.
«

They can often be found tinkering with things, & once they’ve taken the object apart, they now know how it works & can tell you what they learned. (Institute for Learning Styles Research, 2003)

People who prefer haptic learning enjoy art projects, tracing words or pictures, & are often found doodling.
Those who combine haptic & visual styles learn best through a demonstration, followed by hands-on practice.brain & words

LANGUAGE
Auditory: Learn by hearing words spoken. These people may vocalize or move their lips or throat while reading, especially when trying to understand new material. They can absorb & remember certain words or facts they could only have learned by hearing

Visual: Learning is best from images, diagrams & videos, – which help the brain process data fast & hold onto memories longer. Learners absorb info more easily that way as compared to text-only materials. It can stretch ‘human bandwidth’ –  absorbing, comprehending & analyzing new information

NUMERICAL
Auditory: Learning from hearing numbers & oral explanations. Learners can easily remember phone & locker numbers, are good at games, puzzles, ‘hear’ numbers & work problems in their head. They can do just as well without a math book, since written material is not as important.  Often say numbers to themself & move their lips when reading a problem

Visual : Learners need to see numbers – on charts, graphs, number lines …. in order to work with them. Seeing numbers written down turns abstract ideas into clear pictures,  so don’t need as much oral explanation. (MORE….)

🌍    🌎    🌏
LEARNING in various COUNTRIES

Germany: math through moving
Advantages of the multi-sensory approach are being championed at one pioneering school in Hamburg. Teachers combine movement, sights & sounds to help teach math & spelling. The method appears to have the desired effect, & the kids love it  (EuroNews)

India : Be curious
In New Delhi, Sugata Mitra devised experiments in learning, giving children access to the Internet, while providing support & encouraging them to explore & develop their ideas. With the freedom to be curious, the children began self-organizing their education, learning from & teaching each other

Italy : Get social
In the 1940s Loris Malaguzzi encouraged students to express themself through various artistic outlets. And socialization was the most crucial. He believed that social interaction allowed education to flourish. He wrote that children have “a 100 languages, 100 hands, 100 thoughts, 100 ways of thinking.”

Scotland : Play more games
In an experiment, students in 16 schools got a brand new Nintendo DS. Each morning before traditional learning, they played brain training games. The Development Officer for the program said the results were astonishing. Students showed a “significant improvement” in mental math & concentration

Tunisia: Sound makes sense
Cognitive psychologist Dr Slim Masmoudi, believes sound can have a smell,  taste & touch – for young learners. Applying a multi-sensory approach (memory, with perceptual & motor skills) at a kindergarten to awaken musical awareness, he helped children become sensitive to rhythms & sounds. This strategy enhances creative thinking (flexibility, fluency & originality), encouraging positive emotions & a strong motivation to learn

USA: room of relaxation
Children who have to stay in hospital for a long time face many challenges, including disruption to their emotional & educational development. At several locations in the US experts have created special ‘multi-sensory rooms’ where young patients can experience a range of exciting & fun activities. The aim is to put them at ease, since young minds develop better when relaxed. (“Multi-sensory Environments Benefits”)

NEXT: Other learning, #6

OUR SENSES & Learning – Taste (#4b)

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth

PREVIOUS: Taste 4a

BOOK: “What the Nose Knows....” (Review) ~ Avery Gilbert

 

GUSTATORY Learning (Taste, cont.)

Tastes, smells & chemo-sensory irritants are often experienced together in food or beverages – such as a burning sensation when eating spicy foods. In this case, the trigeminal nerve  (responsible for sensation in the face. & motor functions such as biting & chewing) carries info about chemo-sensory irritation detected in the mouth & throat, while other nerves carry info about tastes & odors collected from other parts of the mouth & nose.

All these sensations are combined in the brain to produce what we think of as the ‘taste’ of a particular food, but is actually a blend of inputs.   ARTICLE: “Why does food taste so delicious?” In any learning situation, associating a fact with a fun experience or memory helps retain more information, so the love of food can be used educationally.

At the Institute for Food Research (UK), classes introduce students to the science of the taste sensation.  Subjects including chemistry, biology and food science, covering topics such as healthy eating, anatomy, genetics, the nervous system, molecular biology and organic chemistry.bad tastes
An exercise : Pupils try a set of compounds that represent the five basic tastes in solution – sugar, salt, citric acid, MSG & flat tonic water. Subjects should be able to identify these equally well with or without holding the nose, because these flavors do not depend on smell.

Research also tells us that taste & smell combine with other senses when tasting.  The greater number of senses used with taste, like smell & vision, the more accurate the detection of  flavored stimuli will be.
EXP :  COLOR has a significant effect on our ability to recognize flavors of soda. Experiment participants were less likely to accurately identify fruit-flavored beverages when they were unaware of the color. This shows a correlation between taste & vision.
Since color plays a role in identifying flavors, there must be top-down processing before we actually taste something, which starts with familiar knowledge & only then is experienced by the senses.

NOTE : SENSATION = bringing info in thru the 5 senses
PERCEPTION = how the brain makes sense of that info
Together they form PROCESSING, either Top Down or Bottom Up.

Aside from Food Technology classes, taste can play a large part in the broader curriculum :
• for History & Geography lessons, making dishes from around the world or tasting a famous historical food are fun for students & make for memorable lessons
• learning about Yeast Reactions in Science can be enhanced by actually baking bread with yeast & then tasting it, providing a vivid connection between the two modalities
science & food• food can be used to demonstrate Irreversible Reactions in Chemistry, such as boiling eggs or making jelly.

So, although cooking/baking might not seem relevant to science, engaging multiple senses will in fact increase memory. Also, baking as a classroom group activity can reinforce team spirit & cooperation in students.

LESS: People being treated for cancer are keenly aware of how vital taste is – even when their sense of smell is not impaired. In the short-term, chemotherapy tends to produce many small sores in the mouth, a chemical aftertaste & numbing of the tongue – which significantly cut down on the ability to taste food.
ALSO – Disorders of taste, long-term or permanent:
Ageusia (complete loss) // Hypogeusia (reduced sense) // Dysgeusia (distorted sense) //  Parageusia (persistent abnormal) // Hypergeusia (abnormally heightened sense)

MORE: Super-tasters are people whose sense of taste is significantly more sensitive than average. At least in part, this is due to a greater number of fungiform papillae, structures in the tongue with taste buds on their upper surface.  The ‘average’ person has about 184 super tastersbuds per square centimeter, while super-tasters have around 425 pr cm/2.

Studies have shown that super-tasters require less fat & sugar in their food to get the same satisfying effects. However, contrary to ‘logic’, they actually tend to use more salt than most – because of their heightened ability to taste bitterness, since salt drowns that out.
ALSO: Patients with Addison disease, pituitary insufficiency, or cystic fibrosis sometimes have a hyper-sensitivity to the 5 primary tastes.

NEXT: Others (#5)

OUR SENSES & Learning – Taste (#4a)

dmtorbi 12-step, ACoAs, al-anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, mental health, Psychotherapy, recovery, self growth, self-help , , , , , , ,

taste testPREVIOUS: SMELL (Part 3b)

SITE: Acetylcholine & Olfactory Perceptual Learning

GUSTATORY Learning (Taste)
In some ways understanding taste is more complex than the other senses because even though taste, smell & sight are separate areas of the brain, they overlap significantly in how we experience things in our environment.
All our senses work together, but smell & taste are special partners. When we eat, our tongue gives us the taste & our nose the smell of food. Approximately 80–90% of what we perceive as ‘taste’ is in fact due to our sense of smell, so when the nose is congested, food tends to lose its taste.

Taste & smell are essential for survival, helping to identifying what’s edible & what’s toxic material. Together, these two neural-peripheral systems lets us identify flavors. They’re being used in the development of food, beverages & pharmaceuticals, to enhance or mask their tastes & smells.

tongue tastes• The ancient Greeks believed that the 2 most basic tastes were sweet & bitter, but Aristotle (c. 350 BC) was one of the first to develop a list of others.
• Ayurveda, an ancient Indian healing science, has its own tradition of basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter & astringent
• The Ancient Chinese regarded spiciness as a basic taste
• Now we know the mouth can distinguish sweet, salty, sour, bitter & umami (flavor of certain glutamates, described as savory, meaty or as broth), long known in Asian cooking, & which only recently has been found to have its own taste receptors.

Taste is often experienced as a mixture of both temperature & texture. Its produced when something put into the mouth reacts chemically with receptor cells on taste buds that are mainly on the tongue, but also in the roof of the mouth & near the pharynx. (BUDS)
The number of taste buds can vary greatly from person to person. Average is about 10,000, each one having about 1,000 taste cells, acting as receptors. In general, women have more than men, & as is the case of color blindness, some people are insensitive to some tastes.
smell process

People develop taste preferences based on what they’re fed in early life. Giving children a chance to think about which tastes they do or don’t like encourages them to try new types and/or new combinations of foods.

While our senses of taste & smell may seem less involved in learning, they are our oldest ones, built into the oldest structures of the brain, so are often more deeply ingrained & intact than the other, ‘newer’ senses.

Although most researchers assume that no one is a Gustatory Learner, those who do favor ‘taste’ as a way to express themself tend to use words such as bitter, chocolate, minty, sour, spicy…. (“Variety is the spice of life”)
Article : “I Taste Words.. Bob is like a milk chocolate Easter egg…..”

However, some do acknowledge the importance of this sense. The Forest School in a woodland setting (UK) have incorporate Gustatory & Olfactory education. They believe smells & tastes provide valuable links to learning & remembered experiences. (as in the “Proust Effect”)
Students of all ages & learning levels benefit from activities that require them to use these senses, such as having a drink & snack while key information or explanations are made on forest trips, & cooking on campfires which lend their own special flavor to the food. food choices

DIAGRAM: People use a wide variety of  factors to decide if something is acceptable to eat. These include types of flavor, like how spicy a food is, how it smells, its texture, temperature & whether it’s something they want to eat for personal, cultural or religious reasons.

The Monell Chemical Senses Center (PA) is the world’s only independent, non-profit scientific institute dedicated to basic research & publications on taste & smell. Their scientists come from many disciplines, working to understand the mechanisms & functions of taste & smell, to define the wider importance of these senses in human health & disease. They also conduct studies on chemesthesis – chemically induced skin sensations, such as the burn of capsaicin (in hot peppers) or the tingle of carbonation. Their experts are available to comment on how taste and olfaction relate to any aspect of our daily lives.

NEXT: Overview (#4b)

OUR SENSES & Learning – Smell (#3b)

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chef smelling soup

PREVIOUS: Olfactory Learners (#3a)

SITEs: The World Though our Senses

• Learning Styles Affects How You Play GOLF

 


OLFACTORY Learning
According to Dr. Ira Greene, in “The Nose Knows : A Nasal-Based Curriculum Development Guide”, there are 3 distinct types of nasal learners:, which need to be treated differently : Goal-oriented, Activity-oriented & Learning-oriented.
“…while activity & goal oriented learners may be sufficiently motivated by the prospect of an olfactory reward at the end of a task, the learning-oriented students needs something more to sustain their interest.”

Research shows that smell has a unique relationship to words & images. Scents are normally experienced as purely visceral, subjective experiences, hard to put into words, yet writers often describe them. smell & images

Since 2000, Scholastic Scents in Cambridge, MA. has been working to fill the void in materials geared towards nasal learners, by providing scratch-and-sniff textbooks & variety of educational packets such as the Oregon Trail fragrance set, & “Speak and Smell” language workshops.  (Scented Children’s books)

In “What does purple smell like?” (Child-Ed) L. Stanley describes one of the few studies to examine smell as part of a multi-sensory approach to helping children learn – by investigating & discovering the world around them.happy grapes
EXP: In one – teachers of 2-year-olds matched colors to familiar objects, like purple with the smell & taste of grapes, & then played the blindfold game “Smell the Color.” The children enthusiastically & successfully learned those colors presented, & paid closer attention to other colors in their environment.

In “They Snooze, You Lose : The Educator’s Guide to Successful Presentations “,L. Burmark,  recommends going beyond auditory or visual forms to more engaging lessons to keep students interested. Studies show that multi-media events increase effectiveness in learning by 300%.

Burmark is particularly interested in incorporating smell. A powerful tool for gathering info, it’s strongly related to memory & emotion, with 75% of emotional responses being based on smell. This connection makes it possible to use scents for memory improvement

The bi-annual Summer School on HUMAN OLFACTION is held in Dresden, Germany.  Its aim is to provide participants with up-to-date info on various aspects of human chemical senses, through lectures, experiments carried out by participants & practical demonstrations.
In 2025 – some included ——> acoustic rhino-metry, blood flow, endoscopy of the nasal cavity, rhinomano-metry,  recordings of electro-olfacto-grams & event-related potentials, and clinical aspects of olfactory dysfunction (diagnosis, treatment).

CAR CARE COUNCIL,  Bethesda, Md., May 18, 2020 : “Unusual smells can be a sign of serious, & potentially costly trouble for your vehicle”
6 Vehicle Warning SMELLS 
1. Burning Carpet – cam be a sign of brake trouble, a serious safety hazard, noticeable even under normal driving conditions
2. Burnt rubber – could mean slipping drive belts, or a misplaced loose hose rubbing against rotating accessory drive pulleys.

3. Gasoline – likely a gas leak, possibly from a fuel injector line, or the fuel tank. Check right away, as any gas leakage is a potential fire hazard
4. Hot oil – could mean oil is leaking on to the exhaust system.  Look for oil on the pavement, or smoke from the engine area

5. Rotten eggs – could mean the catalytic converter is not properly converting hydrogen sulfide into sulfur dioxide in the exhaust. Can cause converter to overload & break down
6. Syrup – could be that the car is leaking engine coolant from some component of the cooling system. 

ANOSMIA – is the clinical term for the inability to smell – is a little-known & invisible but serious problem. Olfaction is a vulnerable sense, & smell disorders or total loss are more common than realized.
Few people appreciate the range of info provided by the sense of smell. We do notice it’s loss when we have a cold or allergies, but rarely consider what would happen if it disappeared altogether.  (“A Sense of Hope” – Monell Center. PA)  (SMELLS: Consumer preferences)

The “PROUST EFFECT” – from Marcel Proust’s influential multi-volume novel “In Search of Lost Time” – illustrates literature’s role in shaping our understanding of how smell works. The ‘effect is when sensory cues (taste & smell) trigger sudden, vivid &  highly emotional involuntary memories from the past.

NEXT: SENSES  & Learning (Part 4a)

OUR SENSES & Learning – Smell (#3a)

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 olfactory circuitPREVIOUS:
Kinesthetic Learners (#2c)

SITEs: Learning styles & Memory (scroll down)

• Memory For Different Smells: Synaptic Memory Found In Olfactory Bulb


OLFACTORY Learning (Smell)
Our sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than our sense of taste. In childhood all of us gradually learn which smells are comforting, exciting, scary, yummy… Smell warns us of dangers, like smoke & poisonous gases, as well as helping to appreciate the full flavor of food & drink.
Some smells – from food, air fresheners, perfume & even some essential oils – can interfere with concentration, distracting to the point of inhibiting our brain’s ability to learn something (studying, practicing….).

Olfactory memory plays an important role in many kinds of human behavior, including mother–infant interactions, food-finding & preferences, emotional states, sexual attraction, & mate choice. Subconsciously we associate smells with things that are important to us, such as family members, & happy or dangerous events & places. (MORE….)

Studies tell us that the average person can detect at least one trillion different smells, a far cry from the previous estimate of 10,000. We now know the nose can out-perform eyes & ears which discriminate between several million colors & about half a million tones.
“It’s time to give our sense of smell the recognition it deserves,” said Leslie Vosshall, at Rockefeller U (Her NYC talk on Smell vs vision & hearing)

Neuro-anatomy validates that our olfactory system is especially set up to ‘understand’ smells. Odor molecules picked up by the nose travel from sensory neurons to the olfactory bulb at the base of the forebrain.  They relay the signal to other brain areas for additional processing, but doesn’t shunt its data to the brain via spinal cord or cranial nerves.

Smells transmit impulses to areas directly connected to the limbic system, the part that deals with emotions. The orbito-frontal cortex processes olfaction & the amygdala is the brain area critical for assigning emotional value to stimuli.

Experiences that connect odors with emotions (learned responses) explain how odors come to be liked or disliked, as well as how their later presence can call up emotion, influencing thinking & behavior.
EXP: A ‘lucky’ survivor of a devastating apartment fire reacts with some anxiety whenever she smells wood burning from fireplaces in the buildings near hers, or a match being lit, even after 20 years.

Olfactory stimulation can change our brain waves & mood in powerful ways. Studies examine chemical reactions – to various substances – of the nerve endings in the nose, identifying how that data is conveyed to the cortex & then coded
So there’s good scientific evidence for the validity of aromatherapy.
 (“Women nose ahead in smell tests”). (“Smell & the Brain”) // (Essential Oils = scroll to 11/2014)

perdume creatorWhile these facts apply to everyone, smells have a very special meaning for Olfactory Learners. They grasp info best when incorporating both smell & taste, easily distinguishing substances from one another, often connecting a particular smell with a specific past memory

Such learners can be found in Chemistry, Botany, Biology & other scientific/ technical fields (perfume & wine makers, chefs, sommeliers ……)  PICTURE: Jaques Polge, French perfumer, head of Parfums Chanel

Since these people represent a small percentage of the population, there is relatively little info about the importance of Olfactory Learning, even though this sense is a valuable part of absorbing info, & is especially needed by children with visual impairment or other disabilities.

As smell & taste learning are not usually thought of as scholastically important, most educators have been slow to recognize such students, so their needs are not addressed.
In standard learning settings Olfactory Learners have trouble concentrating, dislike doing homework, often having low grades in math, reading, & science. They are not stupid or ‘slow’ – they just need a different style of education.  (Olfactory perception in children) (SMELL: Learning & Emotion)

Reyna Panos (Brown U.) writes: “In the early years of educational psychology, children were believed to fall into one of two camps – visual or auditory. Eventually, kinesthetic & tactile learning styles were recognized as well, but to this day nasal learning continues to go unacknowledged.” Panos’s studies suggest that 10-20% of all students fall into this category, children indicating nasal needs as early as 1st grade.

SITE: “Effects of diversity in olfactory environment on children’s sense of smell”

NEXT: Smell (Part 3b)