Eye accessing cues

This page contains information drawn from NLP. NLP was created and developed by two highly innovative Americans, Dr. Richard Bandler & Dr. John Grinder (shown on the right) at the University of California in the early 70's. We experience the world outside our bodies through our senses (VAKOG): vision, sound (auditory), touch (kinesthetic), taste (gustatory) and smell (olfactory). We also have the capacity to recreate 'models' of our sensory information, that is, we can think in pictures and words and mentally recreate our experience of, or get a sense of an imagined, physical sensation. In addition to this, we feel emotions. Click here or scroll to the bottom of this page for more information about VAKOG (Representational Systems)..

Take a moment to consider the following questions

What was the colour of a favourite toy, or item of clothing, from your childhood. Remembering a distinctive sound from your past, perhaps a whistle or a school bell. How clear is it? What do you think of first when you remember a particularly happy event or emotion that you have experienced? How does feel to relax in a warm bath or shower? What would your name look like in coloured neon lights above your front door? How would your telephone sound if it were ringing underwater?

Eye movements

Each of the questions above causes you to access a memory or to mentally construct an experience. As you relax and run through the questions again. What do you notice, if anything, about the movement of your eyes? Ask a friend the same questions, making sure that you are looking at his/her eyes as you are asking. What do you notice specifically about your friend's eye movements? The effect that you might be noticing is referred to in neurological literature as 'lateral eye-movement'. NLP uses the phenomenon to help recognise patterns of thinking and primary processing systems (whether people use vision, sound or kinesthetic to trigger their thinking - Rep systems). This information can be useful in gaining rapport and achieving more effective communication The diagram overleaf shows the usual meanings attached to lateral eye movements. There are some myths about eye-accessing cues. For example, you cannot tell whether someone is lying or what they are thinking about by watching their eyes, however, you can tell which 'sensory systems' they are accessing. In other words they are a guide to the thought process but not the content of a person's thoughts. It's also worth bearing in mind that there will be some exceptions to the patterns shown below. Bandler and Grinder said: You will find people who are organized in odd ways. But even somebody who is organized in a totally different way will be systematic; their eye movements will be systematic for them. (Frogs into Princes, 1978/1979. page 27)

What you can notice

These are the usual meanings of lateral eye movement - the illustrations assume that you are facing the other person (so that their left is your right). Up and to the left usually means that a person is remembering something visually - get the picture?

Up and to the right usually means that a person is imagining (constructing) something visually. Can you just imagine that!

Left side (horizontal) usually means a remembered sound - does that ring a bell?

Right side (horizontal) usually means an imagined (constructed) sound (I imagine that message should start become loud and clear to you now).

Down right (which is down right obvious!) usually means that a person is accessing a bodily feeling or emotion - are you getting to grips with this idea now?

Down left usually means that a person is accessing internal dialogue. This is often a repeated phrase such as "I should know better!" , "Yes! Done it again", "Told you so", etc., that comes up time-and-time again in; typically at times of stress or elation.

As mentioned above, although the patterns above are those most commonly found, there are exceptions. Some people have the patterns reversed (typical in, but not exclusive to, many left-handed people), others have a 'mixture'. There are also some cultures where this pattern is not the norm. Bearing in mind the NLP presupposition that 'Everyone lives in their own unique model of the world', you might encounter different patterns. Learning to read eye-accessing cues will not make you a mind reader but will give you a clue to the way the other person is thinking. A skilled NLP practitioner will notice the sequencing of eye patterns. For example, before answering a question someone might always follow the pattern 'up left, across right, down right'. This suggests that they are remembering a picture, putting together some sound or words, and checking that the idea feels OK. By communicating ideas in the same sequence you will probably gain strong rapport with this person.

Representational systems

As human beings we experience the world through our physical

senses: Vision, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell. In NLP the senses are split into three groups and referred to as Representational Systems (rep systems); this term relates to the fact the brain uses the senses to build our internal representation, or model of the world around us. The rep-system groups are:

Visual - the things we see Auditory - the things we hear Kinaesthetic - the things we feel (touch/emotion), taste or smell

You can start finding out about the way that you are using your senses by taking a trip down memory lane... Simply remember something pleasant; perhaps you are on holiday, taking a trip to the countryside or enjoying a romantic evening. What's the your first though or sensation in the instant that the memory comes to mind? Whatever your first thought is, it will fit in to one of the VAK categories (above). For example, when remembering a beach holiday, some people's first recollection will be seeing the blue sky and bright sunlight (V - visual); others might remember hearing the sound of the sea or noise of children playing (A - auditory); some will remember the feel of the warm sunshine, the smell of hot-dogs or the taste of ice-cream (K - kinaesthetic). Whatever your first thought is, it will offer a clue to your preferred (or leading) rep system. By exploring your memory further, you will discover that your inner experiences are made up of Images, sounds and feelings. To prove this to yourself simply take your pleasant memory and try the following experiment. Bring the memory back to mind now, in as much detail as you can, and then: 1. 2. 3. Take away any pictures that are associated with it so that all you are left with are sounds and feelings (as if the light has been switched off). Next, turn the sound down until your memory is silent. Finally, let the feelings melt away.

After steps above, you should be left with a blank memory! If there is anything left it will identifiable as a sight, sound or feeling that you have not 'switched off'. It's perhaps now becoming obvious that we construct our internal 'model of the world' using our senses; what might not be so obvious is that each individual uses the senses differently, and so has a different internal model. Generally, 'visual' people prefer thought pictures, 'auditory' people tend to listen to inner voices and those with a 'kinaesthetic' model mainly construct their inner world with touch and feelings.