The human brain is not capable of solving two problems at the same time. New technologies glorify multitasking, but research provides clear evidence that this approach reduces productivity and increases errors. Why it's better to do one thing, why we don't remember details well, and why emotional arousal is useful - T&P publishes a chapter from the book by molecular biologist John Medina, “Brain Rules. What you and your children should know about the brain,” which was published by Mann, Ivanov and Ferber.
As you read this paragraph, millions of sensory neurons in your brain light up simultaneously, trying to get your attention.
Only some of them succeed in transmitting the message to consciousness, the rest are partially or completely ignored. It's amazing how easily this balance can be maintained, effortlessly giving airtime to one of the many messages that were previously ignored. (As you read this sentence, are you aware of where your elbows are?) Attention-grabbing messages are associated with memory, interest, and consciousness. What we pay attention to often depends on memory. In everyday life, we use previous experiences to determine what to pay attention to. Different environments come with different expectations, a fact demonstrated by physical scientist Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs and Steel. He described a journey through the jungles of New Guinea. Compared to Westerners who have been schooled since childhood, New Guineans demonstrate very modest academic abilities. But they are by no means stupid. They are able to detect subtle changes in the jungle, which helps in tracking down a predator or finding the way home. They know which insects it is better not to touch and where to find food; they can easily build and destroy a dwelling. Diamond had never been to such places before, so he did not have the ability to pay attention to such things. The result of its testing on such tasks would be very low.
“Novel cues—unusual, unpredictable, or different—are a great way to trigger a chain reaction of attention, that is, interest.”
Culture matters, even if the physical component is not much different. For example, urban residents in Asia pay particular attention to the image of their surroundings and the relationship between objects in the foreground and background. But urban Americans do not. They pay attention to the central objects and then to the background; their sensory perception is much weaker. Such differences affect whether a business presentation or school lecture will capture the audience's attention.
Fortunately, regardless of the type of culture, all people have something in common. For example, it has long been known that interest or importance of information is inextricably linked with attention. Scientists sometimes call this connection activation. How exactly this happens still remains a mystery. Does the attention generate interest? It is common knowledge that the brain constantly scans sensory perception for potentially interesting or important events. Very important events are given special attention. But is the reverse process possible? Can attention create interest?
Marketers believe this is possible. They are well aware that new signals—unusual, unpredictable, or different—are a great way to trigger a chain reaction of attention, that is, interest. A striking example of this is the print advertisement for Sauza Conmemorativo tequila. The poster depicts an unkempt, bearded old man wearing a wide-brimmed hat, smiling to show off his only tooth. Next to it is the following inscription: “This man has only one flaw,” and below it is written in large letters: “Life is harsh. Tequila shouldn't be like this." Defying most marketing strategies aimed at a group of twenty-somethings dancing at a party, the ad was highly effective and generated public interest.
Of course, for something to attract our attention, we must understand what it is about. Can you imagine how difficult it is to study such a short-term phenomenon as attention? Scientists do not know exactly in which part of the brain the alchemical process of perception occurs. (Some evidence suggests that this process is controlled by multiple brain systems.) We have a long way to go to understand its mechanism.
The famous British neurologist and brilliant inventor, Dr. Oliver Sacks, studied perception. In the book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” which became a bestseller, he described an intriguing case from his practice. One of the doctor's patients, a sweet elderly woman, intelligent, well-spoken and with a great sense of humor, suffered from a lesion in the back of her brain, which caused an unusual disorder: she could not focus her attention on things to her left. She recognized all objects in her field of vision on the right side and could apply lipstick correctly on the right side. She only ate from the right side of her plate, so she complained to the hospital staff that her portions were too small. Only after the plate was unwrapped and the food came into view to the right could she see it and continue eating.
Such cases are of great value to doctors and scientists. When a certain part of the brain is damaged, it becomes clear that behavioral deviations are associated precisely with its functioning. Studying a patient population as large as Dr. Sachs's provides an overview of which areas are involved in attentional engagement. The brain is divided into two hemispheres that perform different functions, and patients experience different disorders depending on which part is affected. Marcel Mesulam from Northwestern University discovered that there are separate centers of visual attention in the hemisphere. A small center in the left hemisphere is responsible for visual perception of objects in the visual field on the right. The global visual center is located in the right hemisphere. According to Mesulam, lesions of the left hemisphere are less critical for health, since in general it is the right hemisphere that provides visual perception.
Of course, vision is only one of the human senses. Smells and sounds are also analyzed by the brain. However, we are also aware of the internal psychological state created by various events and feelings without the specific influence of external sensory stimuli. What happens in our brain when we pay attention to something?
Thirty years ago, scientist Michael Posner developed a theory of attention that is still relevant today. Posner began his research career as a physicist at Boeing shortly after graduating from college. He made his first contribution to science by exploring the possibility of reducing the noise level of an aircraft engine to ensure passenger comfort. You can thank Posner for this, as his research now offers relative peace of mind during flight, even if the roaring turbine is just a few meters away from the passenger. Apparently, his first job aroused his interest in how the brain processes various information. He defended his doctoral dissertation based on this important problem. Posner proposed that a person pays attention to something thanks to three separate but closely interconnected brain systems, which he jokingly called the Trinity.
One fine Saturday morning, my wife and I were sitting on the terrace of our house and watching a blackbird drinking water from a special bird trough; suddenly something whistled overhead. Looking up, we saw a red-tailed owl, which flew like an arrow from a nearby tree to attack a helpless blackbird. Grabbing his prey by the throat, he began to rise upward, and drops of blackbird blood fell on our table. This end to a serene pastime was a reminder of the cruelty of the real world. We were dumbfounded.
In Posner's model, the first brain system functions like a security guard in a museum, performing two types of duties: observation and warning. The scientist calls it an alarm and activation system. It monitors the sensory aspect of normal activities. This is the overall level of attention our brain pays to the world; this state is called immanent activation. My wife and I used this system while drinking coffee and watching blackbirds. If the system detects something unusual, such as a red-tailed owl flying, it sends an alarm to the entire brain. Then the process of phase activation, that is, special attention, starts.
After the alarm, we focus on the stimulus that activated the second system. We can turn our heads towards the signal, listen, perhaps move closer or further away. That's why my wife and I stopped looking at the blackbird and turned our attention to the shadow cast by the owl. The goal of this process is to obtain more information about the stimulus so that the brain can decide how to act next. Posner calls this an orientation system.
The third system, or execution system, controls subsequent behavior. It involves prioritizing, improvising, controlling impulses, weighing the consequences of actions, or increasing attention. In my wife and I’s case, it was stunned.
Thus, we are able to recognize new signals, rush towards them and make decisions about further actions depending on the nature of the stimuli. Based on the model of brain functioning and attention proposed by Posner, a number of significant discoveries in the field of neuroscience were made, and hundreds of behavioral reactions were identified. Four of them have particular practical value: emotions, determination of meaning, multitasking and time orientation.
Events that evoke emotions are remembered better than neutral, ordinary events. This may seem obvious, but this opinion underestimates the scientific aspect, since experts are still debating what emotions are. In our opinion, it is very important to find out what impact emotions have on the learning process. An emotionally charged event (usually called an emotionally competent stimulus) is processed by the brain better than all other external stimuli. An emotionally charged event remains in the memory longer, and memories of it are clearer than ordinary incidents.
This human characteristic is effectively used in television advertising, which, of course, causes a lot of discussion. Let's look at an advertisement for the Volkswagen Passat. The video begins with two men sitting in a car, having a lively conversation about the fact that one of them constantly uses the parasitic word “as if” in his speech. The viewer then sees from the passenger window as another car suddenly appears directly in front of them. They crash into it. Screams and the sound of breaking glass are heard. The camera then shows the men being thrown around in the car and the car being crumpled. In the last frame we see men standing near a crumpled car. The paraphrased expression “Safety exists” appears on the screen. The video ends with a picture of the Passat receiving five stars in side impact crash tests. This commercial is memorable, even moving, even though it lasts only 30 seconds, because it is based on an appeal to emotions.
“Having excellent matching abilities, we are constantly looking for similarities in our environment and trying to remember what we believe we have seen before.”
But why does this work? This process involves the prefrontal cortex, the only area of the human brain that controls executive functions such as problem solving, focusing, and suppressing emotional impulses. If you imagine that the prefrontal cortex is the chairman of the board of directors, then the cingulate gyrus is her personal assistant. The assistant performs a certain filtering function and helps maintain communication with other parts of the brain - especially with the amygdala, with the help of which emotions are created and stored. The amygdala is filled with the neurotransmitter dopamine and uses it like a secretary uses sticky notes. When the brain recognizes an emotionally charged stimulus, dopamine is released, which is involved in the process of remembering and processing information, as if posting notes “Remember this!” Having received such a chemical note regarding certain information, the brain processes it more carefully. This is what every teacher, parent or advertiser strives for.
Emotionally charged stimuli can be divided into two categories: events that have individual meaning for a person, and events that are perceived equally by all people.
When my grandmother got angry (which was rarely), she would go into the kitchen and loudly wash all the dishes in the sink. If there were pots and pans among these dishes, she would deliberately knock them together as she stacked them. With this noise, she demonstrated to the entire apartment (if not the entire residential building) her frustration or dissatisfaction. To this day, at the sound of loud clanking pots and pans, I again get an emotional signal - a fleeting feeling that I am in danger. My wife, whose mother never expressed her feelings in this way, does not associate the noise of dishes with emotions. This is an example of John Medina's unique emotional stimulus.
Universal stimuli come from our evolutionary heritage and therefore have powerful potential for learning and work. It is not surprising that they closely follow Darwin's theory of the struggle for existence. Be that as it may, the brain will definitely analyze the following questions:
-Can I eat this? Could it eat me?
-Can I be friends with this? Will it be friends with me?
-Have I seen this before?
Those of our ancestors who did not remember their experiences of encountering danger or foraging for food did not live long enough to pass on their genes. The human brain has many finely tuned systems for reproduction and danger recognition. (The robbery story must have caught your attention, which is why I started this chapter with it.) With our superb matching abilities, we are constantly looking for similarities in our environment and trying to remember what we think we have seen before.
One of the best television ads used all three principles. In 1984, Steven Hayden created an advertisement for the Apple computer. The ad won all sorts of awards and set the standard for Super Bowl advertising. At the beginning of the video, we see a blue hall filled with many identically dressed people who look like robots. Flash forward to 1956 and we imagine these people watching a movie about 1984. The face of a man is shown on the full screen, from whose lips the phrases fly out: “Information cleansing!” and “Unification of thought!” The people in the room absorb these messages like zombies. The camera then pans to a girl in sportswear, holding a sledgehammer, running across the hall. She's wearing red shorts - the only splash of color in the entire video. Running down the center aisle, she throws a sledgehammer at the Big Brother screen. The screen explodes and a blinding light floods the hall. Then we see the inscription: “Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh on January 24th - and you will understand why 1984 will not be like “1984.”
All of the above aspects are involved here. There is nothing more terrible than the totalitarian society described by George Orwell in the novel 1984. Gym shorts add a little sex appeal; however, there is another implication. It turns out Mac is a girl. So, so, so... And IBM, therefore, is a guy. In the 1980s, women gained new rights and the war of the sexes came into focus. Advertising is replete with different semantic messages. Many people have read the book “1984” or watched the movie. Moreover, computer-savvy people immediately recognized the allusion to IBM, since the company was often called the Blue Giant due to its huge sales volumes.
In advertising, it is the emotional appeal that is remembered better than other details. And there are reasons for this. The brain remembers the emotional components of an experience better than other aspects of it. It's possible to forget the small details of a minor accident, but it's easy to remember the fear you felt when trying to pull over to avoid a collision.
According to research, the emotional response focuses attention on the “gist” of the experience, discarding the details. Many scientists believe that memory tends to retain the most important things we encounter, rather than the details. Over time, the details can be restored in memory if you remember the essence. Consequently, a person’s head tends to be filled with a generalized representation of concepts or events, rather than with insignificant details that fade into oblivion. I'm sure that America's favorite game, Jeopardy! exists because we admire people who can do the reverse operation.
Of course, at work and at school, detailed knowledge is very important for success. Interestingly, you can learn to remember details based on meaning. We know this well thanks to the chance encounters between a brain scientist and a waiter in the 1980s.
Watching JC take orders is like watching Ken Jennings play Jeopardy! JC never writes anything down, but he's never made a mistake with an order. The menu offers guests over five hundred different dishes (hot appetizers, side dishes, salads, etc.), which in itself is quite impressive. The waiter takes orders from twenty people and is not mistaken even by a fraction of a percent. JC worked at a restaurant frequented by University of Colorado brain researcher Anders Ericsson. Noticing JC's unusual abilities, Ericsson asked for permission to study him. The secret of the waiter's success lay in a well-developed organization system: he always divided the customer's order into various categories, such as appetizers, temperature, side dish. And then he coded the specific order using a letter system. Blue cheese salads were designated by the letter "G", the Thousand Islands dish was designated by the letter "T", and so on. He used the same code for other dishes, and then assigned letter codes to a specific visitor and remembered them that way. The semantic hierarchy allowed him to remember details with ease.
“Whether you are a waiter or a brain scientist, if you strive for precision in detail, do not start remembering details. Focus on the key idea and build details around the main concepts."
JC's strategy is based on a principle well known to the scientific community: memory is reinforced by associations between concepts. The experiment was carried out hundreds of times, and the result was always the same: logically grouped words were remembered better than randomly presented ones, on average by 40 percent. This question fascinates scientists to this day. Including associations in data representation increases the number of objects remembered. More intellectual baggage should make learning more difficult, but research suggests the opposite. We are able to reduce the meaning of several words to one - this makes it easier for the brain to remember details. Therefore, the meaning is above the details.
John Bransford, a talented researcher and author of the best-selling book How People Learn, once wondered: What separates the novice from the expert in a particular subject? Bransford identified six characteristics, one of which relates to our question: “Knowledge (of specialists) is not simply a list of facts and formulas on a particular topic; on the contrary, they are organized around a central concept, or concept, which leads their thought to a specific area.”
Whether you're a waiter or a brain scientist, if you strive for precision in detail, don't start memorizing the details. Focus on the key idea and build details around the main concepts.
Multitasking is a myth. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time. At first glance, this is an incorrect statement: after all, some things can be done at the same time, for example, walking and talking. Or let's say the brain controls your heart rate when you read a book. Pianists play simultaneously with their right and left hands. Of course, all this applies to multitasking. But I'm talking about the brain's ability to pay attention to something. You are trying to forcefully use this resource while listening to a boring lecture at school. The same thing interferes with the flight of thought during an uninteresting presentation at work. Attention cannot be paid to different things at the same time.
I recently agreed to help a friend of my high school son's homework with homework, an experience I will never forget. Eric had been working on his laptop for about half an hour when I entered the room. He had an iPod hanging around his neck, and the voices of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Green Day could be heard from his headphones; With his left hand he tapped out a rhythm. At least eleven windows were open on the screen, in two of them there was active correspondence with friends from the MySpace network. In another window, an image from Google was loading. In the background of the window was an image that Eric was redoing for a friend on MySpace, and in another, a paused tennis video game.
Somewhere in the midst of all these tasks, a word processing program was launched containing a document for which my assistance was needed. “Music helps me concentrate,” Eric said while talking on his cell phone. “I’m doing fine at school, I’m just stuck.” Thank you for coming". He's really stuck. Eric read a sentence or two, then started typing a message into MySpace, then checked to see if the download was finished, and then went back to work. Of course, he was not focused on the task. Does he remind you of someone you know?
Research has put an end to this debate by proving that humans are not capable of multitasking. The brain is not designed to process multiple attention-demanding signals simultaneously. Eric, like the rest of us, simply jumped from one thing to another. To understand this, we need to study the third component of Posner's Trinity - the execution system. Let's look at how it works for Eric when he is trying to work on a task and this process is interrupted by the message “You have received an email!” from his girlfriend Emily.
Main causes of the disorder
Nothing happens in this life without a reason. Everything can be justified and explained somehow. Everything can be found for a reason. The same applies to increased emotional excitability. It's easy enough to notice. The main reasons for this condition may be:
- Frequent stressful situations. It's no secret that constant worrying will not benefit your health. Rather, on the contrary, they will lead to sad consequences.
And better than fighting them, protect yourself from worries! Many people face situations where they are simply unable to control themselves and their emotions. You need to learn how to get out of them without damaging your psychological, and then physical health.
- Malfunctions of the hormonal system. Emotional excitability can also be due to hormonal imbalance. This is especially true for women who are approaching menopause. Younger girls notice this before their menstrual cycle.
- Diseases. No person will put up with the fact that he is sick. Very often today you can meet a person who complains about certain health problems. There are very few absolutely healthy people today. People who get used to a healthy lifestyle, go in for sports, have a hard time with even the slightest health problems. Therefore, they often encounter emotional excitability at a similar period in their lives. At this time, it is necessary to provide care and attention to the person. It is also necessary to understand and support him in every possible way, which will contribute to a speedy recovery.
Causes of increased emotional excitability
Emotional excitability is, first and foremost, a readiness to respond to stimuli. In the process of forming this readiness, the hormone adrenaline is released, whose release provokes outbursts of aggression, tears, laughter or other emotions. It is important to note that everything depends on the specific situation and the specific person, because different people react differently to the same stimuli. So what is the reason for increased emotional excitability?
The problem of increased excitability occurs in every fifth person. There are many reasons for this, from improper upbringing in childhood and poor nutrition to a busy work schedule and lack of rest. Unfortunately, the problem of increased emotional excitability is typical not only for adults, but also for children. The nervous system of children, in particular teenagers, is too unstable to sharp stimuli and heavy loads. Most often, a state of stress and, as a result, increased nervous excitability of a child arises due to a tense atmosphere at home and on the street, a large amount of information at school and too frequent use of gadgets.
The danger of increased excitability also lies in the fact that it can develop against the background of hereditary predispositions, infections or hormonal changes.
Symptoms of high emotional excitability
The symptoms of this condition may vary from person to person, but there are some common signs. They will help you diagnose the disorder yourself. The main features of human excitability at the emotional level include irritability and nervousness.
Those close to you mistakenly draw conclusions about a person’s corrupted character. In fact, the problem may be much deeper. Perhaps it is emotional excitability. Balance has nothing to do with it, and the situation may worsen if everything is left to chance.
Symptoms of hyperexcitability syndrome
As previously mentioned, the syndrome of increased nervous excitability is inherent in both adults and children, regardless of gender. But more often than others, adolescents and male children suffer from nervous excitability. Let's look at the symptoms:
- Insomnia. Sleep disturbance is one of the most important symptoms of increased emotional excitability. Sudden awakenings in the middle of the night, nightmares, inability to sleep - all these are signs of increased excitability of the nervous system.
- Headaches and problems with orientation in space and time.
- Sudden changes in weight and frequent uncontrolled mood swings.
- External signs, such as asymmetry of facial features and impaired movement of the eyeballs, are also the main ones in determining increased nervous excitability.
Treatment for emotional illness
Treatment for emotional excitability should be started immediately. Moreover, it does not include supernatural procedures that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So, first of all, you need to establish contact with the “patient” so that he can completely trust you.
A person facing this problem must also be prescribed the correct diet. It is necessary to exclude products that contain caffeine. You cannot watch films and TV shows with elements of violence and cruelty. This may make the situation worse. It is necessary to provide the most comfortable place to sleep and constantly ventilate the room in which a person with emotional excitability is located. The scale of this problem can be so high that it is better not to leave him alone. It is unknown when the next attack will occur.
It’s rare, but there are cases when a doctor prescribes sleeping pills so that a person can relax and get a good night’s sleep.
Is hospitalization necessary?
It is necessary to hospitalize a person who suffers from emotional excitability only after the doctor has taken all possible measures to treat him and has not noticed a single result. Then hospitalization in the psychiatry department is necessary.
Patients who pose a threat to both their lives and the lives of others require special attention. And people whose relatives received a message that their loved one needs hospitalization.
It is assumed that the emergence of an emotional process is, in principle, equivalent to the appearance of a state of excitation. This arousal is associated with an increase in the level of activation (arousal) of the central nervous system. According to Lindsley, who has conducted electrophysiological research for several decades, emotional processes can be described using a continuum of activation; at one pole there will be a state of coma or deep sleep, in which reflexes disappear and which cannot be disturbed even by very strong stimuli, at the other - a state of extreme excitement, as in cases, for example, of an attack of rage, panic, rage, ecstasy. Between these two poles there is a number of intermediate states, such as sleep, apathy, drowsiness, indifference, interest, vigor, excitement, and strong arousal (Lindsley, 1957).
Lindsley's continuum of activation covers three types of changes: changes in the electrical activity of the brain, in the state of consciousness, and in the quality of activity.
The given continuum differentiates states of low activation level in more detail; this is understandable, since in laboratory conditions it is difficult to distinguish between states of strong and very strong emotional arousal. However, based on observational data on human behavior, it would be necessary to distinguish, at the top of the continuum, between a state of strong emotional arousal - affect (fear, anger, joy), in which orientation and control are still preserved, and a state of extreme arousal, described by words such as “ panic”, “horror”, “frenzy”, “ecstasy”, “complete despair”, when orientation and control are almost impossible.
Increased emotional arousal can lead to motor activity, an increase in the speed and strength of motor reactions, but may not cause these effects; Outwardly, a person may even appear indifferent, motionless, while the increase in arousal will be expressed in the form of a significant increase in associative activity - in what is usually described as a “flood of thoughts,” a continuous stream of fantasies and dreams, “chaos in the head,” a feeling of intense restlessness, an irresistible desire to do something, etc.
The fact that an increase in emotional arousal can lead not only to an increase in the intensity of external reactions, but also to an increase in internal activity has been known for a long time. In this regard, a distinction was made between sthenic emotions (leading to an increase in activity - to action) and asthenic emotions (not prompting action).
In some cases, a factor that disrupts balance can lead to a decrease in excitation, that is, a decrease in activation. An emotional process, which is characterized by a decrease in arousal, occurs when the current situation excludes any possibility of adaptation (at least from the point of view of the subject); such a decrease in activation may also be a consequence of a violent emotional outburst or a prolonged stay in a state of arousal.
Emotional arousal can also take a specific form, usually called “emotional stress.” What is “emotional stress”?
Clinical observations suggest that this is a condition characterized by an increased level of activation and corresponding emotional arousal, which are blocked in the expressive-executive phase. In other words, emotional stress arises, as a rule, in situations that cause fear, but exclude escape, cause anger, but make it impossible to express it, excite desires, but prevent their implementation, cause joy, but require maintaining seriousness, etc. It is also characteristic of a state of conflict. In all such cases, there is a strong tendency towards certain actions, but this tendency is blocked - it is then that a state arises that can be called emotional tension. Its characteristic feature is involuntary expressive movements. It is possible, however, that emotional stress also arises under other circumstances.
Thus, it is a necessary mediating link for the development of certain emotions. This means that some emotions do not develop smoothly, but spasmodically: the cumulation of excitation in one system leads to the sudden activation of another system. Thus, it is possible that emotional tension can arise in the phase of accumulation of excitation in some mechanism and that the corresponding act of behavior is possible only after such accumulation. This would explain the explosive nature of some emotions and the typical sequence of their development: tension - explosion - resolution. This is how anger, despair, resentment and a number of other emotions flow.
The cumulative development of emotions is described in detail by T. Tomashevsky, who, using the example of the emotion of anger, identified four phases of its development: the cumulation phase, explosion, reduction of tension and extinction (Tomashevsky, 1946). According to these ideas, emotional stress should be explained not by a delay in external activity, but by the accumulation of excitation, which, in order to cause certain reactions, must reach the required level.
However, in reality, emotional stress most likely manifests itself in both forms: inhibition of external activity and accumulation of excitation.
Characteristics of the emotional process – Previous|Next – Sign of emotion
Experimental psychology of emotions. Content
Description of emotional disturbance
The main characteristics of such a disease are negative emotions that accompany a person everywhere, regardless of the situation. He is insecure, closed, hostile and suicidal. For these reasons, such a person cannot be left alone.
A person suffering from such emotional disorders is not aware of the risk and danger, and therefore can harm himself and the people around him. Diagnosis of the disorder is possible only at a conscious age. Since a child’s behavior can be justified by misunderstanding and immaturity. Adults mistakenly mistake a disorder in a child’s psyche for the norm, believing that this is a trait of a developing character.
Often, a person with such a disorder loses orientation in space. The symmetry of his face may be disturbed, his eyes are difficult to hold at one point, and muscle twitching in the eye area may be periodically noticeable.
Causes of emotional and motor excitability in preschool children.
Anastasia Pyryeva
Causes of emotional and motor excitability in preschool children.
A kindergarten teacher often encounters children who exhibit increased motor activity and emotional excitability. Such a child not only experiences difficulties in mastering new knowledge and skills in the classroom, but also makes it much more difficult to work with other children.
Excessive emotional excitability and distractibility negatively affect the child’s cognitive sphere: due to the inability to concentrate, it is difficult for the child to master the knowledge and skills acquired in kindergarten. The communication sphere also suffers: it is difficult for him to make friends with peers, follow the rules of games, and interact productively with adults.
First of all, it is necessary to understand the difference between the norm (characterological characteristics, temperament) and the violation. Of course, only a doctor has the right to make a diagnosis of “hyperactivity” and “ADHD”, but the teacher and educational psychologist need to understand in what cases it is possible to help the child, building pedagogical communication taking into account his individual characteristics, when correctional work of the educational psychologist is required, and in which case parents should be advised to consult a doctor.
Individual psychological characteristics include character
and
temperament
. You, of course, know that four types of temperament - choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic - are characterized by different mobility of mental activity, the ratio of the processes of inhibition and excitation.
Cholerics are the most active and dynamic
. Manifestations of this type of temperament are completely normal and do not need correction. But it is necessary to build pedagogical communication with a choleric child, taking into account his individual characteristics. Choleric children are active, mobile, show bright emotions (they don’t just laugh, but laugh, they prefer outdoor games. They are characterized by difficulty in consolidating a new skill, but a learned skill is also difficult to change. The speech of choleric children is fast and confused. Due to increased mobility and the impulsiveness of such children, problems with discipline often appear. In this regard, it is necessary to place emphasis on the development of volition and self-regulation, and provide the opportunity to productively express their activity.
A child who may be hyperactive
, looks like a choleric person. However, it has differences. A choleric child who is busy with an interesting task will persistently strive to bring it to the end. Moreover, a persistent desire to achieve a set goal is a distinctive feature of this type of temperament. A hyperactive child cannot maintain attention even in an activity that interests him, gets distracted and switches to something else, and does not finish anything he starts. Choleric is a classic why. He wants to know “How?”, “Why?”, “What is it made of?” Having asked a question, he will willingly listen to the answer. A hyperactive child does not show curiosity. If he asks the question “Why?” and “Why?”, then he is immediately distracted by numerous other stimuli. He is not interested in the answer. Falling asleep in a hyperactive child causes problems both for himself and for adults, and is accompanied by whims. Such children sleep lightly - extraneous sounds can easily wake up the baby. It will be difficult for him to fall asleep again. The choleric person, although distinguished by mobility and energy, sleeps soundly.
Once again I would like to warn you against making a diagnosis yourself! We, teachers, can only make an assumption about the presence of disturbances in the functioning of the child’s nervous system and recommend that parents consult with a specialist.
Another reason for a child’s motor and emotional excitability may be stress.
, associated with an unfavorable psychological climate in the family, traumatic events or events that disrupt the child’s usual rhythm of life (illness in loved ones, parental divorce, change of place of residence). If signs of hyperactivity or manifestations of temperament are, one way or another, noticeable at an early age, then disturbances appear when the child finds himself in unfavorable conditions. The caregiver may notice a sudden change in behavior. A usually docile and responsive child suddenly becomes capricious, fidgety, and refuses to fulfill the teacher’s requests and follow the rules of the games.
Successful assistance to such a child is possible provided that parents are willing to cooperate with kindergarten teachers and create a more favorable psychological climate in the child’s environment. To clarify the characteristics and causes of emotional and behavioral disorders, it is useful to conduct a diagnosis of the emotional sphere: family drawing, Luscher test for children. The task of the teacher-psychologist in this case is to help the child master the skills of relaxation and respond to negative experiences.
Thus, excessive excitability can be caused by various reasons. Before taking any disciplinary or corrective measures against a child, it is necessary to carefully study the reasons for the violations and provide him with adequate assistance.
Prevention
In order to prevent emotional excitability, you should carefully monitor your lifestyle. This applies not only to those who once suffered this illness, but even to those who are sure that they will not encounter such a problem. You need to exercise, eat right, and sleep at least 7-8 hours a day. These hours are enough for proper sleep and rest. You should also go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This will help create a schedule and a certain rhythm of life.
Experts often prescribe valerian-based medications as a preventive measure. They can reduce excitability, normalize sleep and state of mind, and bring you into harmony with the outside world. Motherwort and hawthorn also have the same properties. However, you should not self-medicate; you must trust the hands of qualified doctors.
