I Knew it Was Wrong and Still Couldn’t Stop Myself
Poor decision making is a cornerstone concept of the youth treatment industry. But is choice really what we think it is? This edition of Know Your Sheet focuses on research by S.G. Gandevia and Daniel Ammon. Find out why their research demonstrates that we should stop asking youth in treatment WHY did you do it and What were you thinking.
The Article: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Can Influence the Selection of Motor Programs
Authors: K. Ammon and S.C. Gandevia
Publishing Journal: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
Research Agency/University: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, The Price Henry Hospital and School of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Funding Source: National Health and Medical Research Council
In a Nutshell:
Researchers used a nonintrusive electrical current to demonstrate what they call “forced-choice”. The study revealed that electromagnetic current could override subject’s use of their dominant hand in performing a task. Even when researchers revealed the manipulation was causing the change in preferred hand, the subjects expressed that the change in preferred hand was a result of their freewill and choice. In this study, the electrical current mimics physiological body-states triggering neurocircuitry independent of cognitive decision or choice.
Why this Article Matters to you:
When a youth verbalizes a reason for their behavior, they don’t actually know why. Neurocircuitry directs behaviors before the cognitive brain is aware that the behavior has occurred. Asking youth Why they did a behavior is nonsensical.
Youth can know a Cognitive Behavior Modification program so well they can teach it. When they get out into the community their limbic system enlists, often the exact same, behaviors that get them back into a program that they know so well they can teach. A judge asks this youth Why they did the behavior. The biggest thinking error in the courtroom is the belief that the youth knows why they did a behavior.
Opportunities for Immediate Application:
Stop asking youth to reason why they performed a behavior
Invite judges to become informed on the neurobiological origin of behaviors
Train staff to recognize behavioral context cues to effectively guide therapeutic treatment