ARTICLE BY: CARLA MCCOY

Cognitive Behavior
Cognitive Abilities
Carla McCoy

2013

INDIVIDUALLY

WE ARE ONE DROP,

TOGETHER

WE ARE AN

OCEAN

Cognitive Behaviors: I wanted to write an article on Cognitive Abilities because every time Ive had a conversation with someone about Cognitive Behavior I always hear the same thing. They need to change their behavior. But I ask why? Why should anyone change their behavior or the way they are for anyone else? If someone doesnt like the way your behavior is then isnt that their problem? I know this all too well because Ive had a problem with other peoples behaviors before so Im well aware of what it feels like to be around someone who is acting horrible. And yes even I myself in the past have acted this way. I write this article because I was diagnosed with having Cognitive Thinking. Do I think its wrong? No I do not. To me, telling someone that its not a proper way to think is like telling someone to rip off their arm and chop it up and change it before putting it back in its place. It seems ridiculous to me to change that aspect of your life. Does Cognitive Thinking cause a person to get in trouble with the Law? Does Cognitive thinking cause people to commit crimes? Some will say it does but I think thats just like saying some video game made you murder someone. Cmon lets get real here.

So you might be asking at this point what Cognitive Behavior is exactly? Well Cognitive Behaviors are related to intellective processes such as memorizing, reasoning, problem solving, analyzing, thinking, and applying. Now if thats a bad thing to have then I must be really losing my mind here. As a matter of a fact Id say every human ever born has Cognitive Behaviors. So when a Therapist, Counselor, or Psychologist tells you that youve been diagnosed with Cognitive Behaviors (such as I was) then dont view it as a bad thing because its certainly not and its only their Perception to begin with and you do not have to agree with anyones diagnosis of you. Cognitive Behavior is actually meant to be a meaningful behavior so it gives me a weird face when people refer to it as a dysfunction that needs to be changed. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is what is used in order to treat such things such as phobias, depression, addiction and anxiety.

My question here though is why should you have to have your phobia of anything treated if you dont want them treated? If we are content in some of the phobia that we have then there isnt any need or point in trying to challenge yourself to change the phobias that you do not want to change. If we all tried to accomplish changing the fact that we have phobias at all then there wouldnt be anything to be scared of and there would be no fear and that would take away an emotion that we were all born with that God gave to use. Why would anyone want to change anything God gave to you? Whether or not you believe in God or not is irrelevant, the fact is that you were born with these things. Thats like telling a homosexual that he can change what he was born with. For me personally, if I ever met someone who said that I needed to face my fears and rid myself of fear altogether I would look at them like they were crazy and tell them No because for me it messes with my Spirituality and I refuse to change something that was God Given to me..

Depression, Addiction and Anxiety. We all have experienced Depression and we all handle our depression in our own ways and thats ok, we are allowed to do that. Addiction to anything is just a way we all cover up our pain and only we can change that when we are ready to do so because once you find your escape in life for whatever reasons you have then it becomes a comfort zone to you. Nobody can change those things until they are ready and thats even if they want to. Yes it is a choice! Anxiety is another thing we all have experienced and we handle it also in our own ways and thats ok we can do that. The thing people dont understand is that nobody can do anything until they themselves are ready to do something about what it is they have a problem with so it al begins with us changing what we seem to need to change and only when we are ready. This is something I have a very deep understanding of when it comes to other people and I included.

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy they will try to get you to see that you need to change your way of thinking in order to change your behavior. If changing the behavior and thinking of another person is something you are doing or have tried to do in the past then theres only three ways it can go. One: either they are ready to change their way of thinking, Two: They arent, or Three: They dont feel the need to. Some people like me dont feel a need to change that part of my life. I am perfectly content with the way I think and the way I act. Have I ever acted out of line? Have I ever learned from those experiences? Yes I most certainly have. I think we all can say that one. Does it mean I wont act that way again? No. I dont know what the future holds and I dont know if Ill ever go through something that will cause me to act that way but I will certainly try to be cautious about it and act accordingly. Does it mean it will happen like that? No. Nothing is promised for the future..

None of us can control every aspect of the world around us but we can control how we deal with the situation. Trust me I know this better than anyone. Does it mean Ill be a sweet little princess? Nope it sure doesnt. I always act accordingly to the situation and I dont regret anything or anyway Ive ever acted. I do believe a person can control physically harming another person though, but then again thats a much deeper topic and one that isnt part of this article because that has to do with control and who knows, I may be wrong about that because perhaps Murderers have an Addiction to Murdering people, I dont know because Im not a Murderer. You will also read sometimes when reading about Cognitive Therapy where they speak about faulty beliefs. If you happen to have low self esteem for example, you're going to experience negative thoughts about various things in your life such as appearance, abilities and so forth. If you arent ready to change those things in your life or dont feel as though they need to be changed then by all means dont change them. Changing them is going to have the biggest effect on you so it has to be your choice. Just remember that its your struggle and its your life and your choices and decisions and if others around you cannot understand that you do not want help with those things then it becomes their problem because the ultimate decision is yours and yours alone. Sometimes people have a problem listening in this area to begin with but you know, nobody is perfect so you cant expect them to just understand or know what it is you are going through. Nobody can tell you what you

need help with but some people can give very good advice. They will either stand by your side or they will not. Another area a person with Cognitive Behavior might experience is Social Situations or Opportunities for work Advancement. I dont think people understand when people go through something like this because they havent walked in your shoes. I have a horrible Social Life and I can honestly say I have nobody in my life that is a friend. I have my Family and I am grateful for that. Having my family is enough for me.

I do not like putting myself in Social Situations because I begin hyperventilating, I begin at times panicking, and sweating, having trouble breathing, and wanting to do nothing more than just leave. If I try to go against that and stay I end up looking like I just jumped out of a swimming pool and end up having to listen to people ask me if Im ok or if somethings wrong. Well Im certainly not going to stand there and say Oh you know I dont like being here. That would be rude and Im not a rude person. Not only that but its very overwhelming for me to be in situations like that as Im sure some of you have experienced because its like Ive been to war or something and need a very relaxing and peaceful environment afterwards in order to gather myself back to a comfortable state again. Ive accepted this part of who I am and I am content with it. The next paragraph is going to discuss faulty beliefs.

What is it to have faulty beliefs? Does that mean everything in the world is neither right nor wrong? That there are no morals? That sin doesnt exist? That what we learn is always a lie? If thats the case then what in the world does Cognitive Behavior matter? Ive often heard others say that everything you ever learn in life is a lie. Well its like I told someone long ago. We can only know our own truth. I believe that too. We are who we are and act how we act because of past experiences that we all have gone through so nobody should be judging other people (although we all do that on a daily basis like it or not) but thats just my perception of it. Functional analysis never interested me in the least. When you begin learning about yourself in life then you will probably or possibly understand that. Now I want to make it clear that behavior is important, however I dont think it should be the focus of anyone but yourself unless youve gone out and committed a crime or done something so horrible that you get the focus and attention of the entire world. There is a huge difference in what Ive just written so pay attention to it and think hard on it. Dont get me wrong here, Im not trying to sit here and bash Therapists, Psychologists, and Counselors, or even Drs by no means, all Im saying is you cant change anything you dont want to change about you or about anything in your own life until you are ready to do so. Until that moment comes it will pretty much stay the same. If you are comfortable in whom you are and how you behave and how you think and dont feel you need to change then thats how it should be because without you wanting to do it to begin with it just isnt going to happen.

It may even be as simple as admitting you need to go through some Coping Skills in order to cope with your anxiety, depression, self esteem, and behavior. Again though if you arent willing and ready and even wanting to go through that then it wont happen. I have been doing a self

analysis on myself ever since I was a small child and let me tell you something I have had to face some really mean monsters inside of me, and not only that I have had to change certain things, beliefs, actions, and behavior in order to achieve a personal view of who I am as a human being. Trust me when I say this, I know myself and I know myself well. As a matter of a fact nobody will ever know you like you do. IF you are able to recognize your thoughts whether they are rational, irrational, unhealthy or healthy then thats a good thing but it doesnt necessarily mean you will stop having any of those thoughts.

You will often hear that you have to come up with strategies in order to stop having various types of thoughts which is basically just someone telling you to do things that make your thoughts better or help make you feel better which is something I do agree with. I think every human being should have a strategy in how they handle thoughts, actions, words, etc..

Cognitive Abilities: This is where Ill talk about how every human being has Cognitive Abilities. Cognitive abilities have to do with how we learn, problem-solve, remember, and pay attention. Heres a good example: A persons perception would involve hearing the doorbell if it rang. Then you have to make a decision whether or not to answer the door or not. If you chose to answer it then you would also be using your motor skill by turning the doorknob and opening the door. Once you open the door you would then use your language skill by speaking to the person who is at your door among having to use your social skill by interacting appropriately with the other human being.. So just by someone ringing your doorbell and you making the decision to answer it and communicate youve already used five abilities. I dont think people really realize just how many skills and abilities they use every day.

I found a chart online that I wanted to share in my article with you so that you could get a better understanding of Cognitive Abilities and Skills. I hope youve enjoyed my Article and that you leave a comment after reading it. I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

Cognitive Ability/Brain Skills involved Function Perception Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli (smell, touch, hearing, etc.) Brain challenges:

Is this a circle? Catch the number

Attention Ability to sustain concentration on a particular object, action, or thought. Ability to manage competing demands in our environment.Brain challenges: Count the letters

 Spot the differences Awareness test

Memory Short-term/ working memory (limited storage). Long-term memory (unlimited storage).Brain challenges: Can you do better than a chimp?

5 games to test your memory

Motor Ability to mobilize our muscles and bodies. Ability to manipulate objects. Brain challenges:

Tap your right hand on the table. At the same time, make a circular movement with your left hand (as if you were cleaning the table)

Switch hands
Language Skills allowing us to translate sounds into words and generate verbal output. Brain challenges:

Words associations What is the word?

Visual and Spatial Processing Ability to process incoming visual stimuli.Ability to understand spatial relationship between objects.Ability to visualize images and scenarios. Brain challenges:

Build the box Which piece is missing?

Executive Functions Abilities that enable goal-oriented behavior, such as the ability to plan, and execute a goal. These include: Flexibility: the capacity for quickly switching to the appropriate mental mode. Theory of mind: insight into other peoples inner world, their plans, their likes and dislikes. Anticipation: prediction based on pattern recognition. Problem-solving: defining the problem in the right way to then generate solutions and pick the right one. Decision making: the ability to make decisions based on problem-solving, on incomplete information and on emotions (ours and others). Working Memory: the capacity to hold and manipulate information on-line in real time. Emotional self-regulation: the ability to identify and manage ones own emotions for good performance. Sequencing: the ability to break down complex actions into manageable units and prioritize them in the right order. Inhibition: the ability to withstand distraction, and internal urges. Brain challenges:

Sunday afternoon quiz Which way is the bus going? Tipping the scales The empty triangle

 The Tower of Hanoi

Carla McCoy