Emotional Intelligence

1. Emotional Intelligence

3. Nature / Nurture Genetic Heritage determines set-points for Brain Circuitry.  Life lessons impact circuitry and influence the development of emotional habits and. Emotional habits are key to emotionally adeptness or ineptness.

4. Anatomy of the Brain The Brain Stem regulates basic, metabolic life functions like breathing and heart rate.

5. The Limbic System Just above the brain stem, it is responsible for emotional learning and memory.  The Amygdala, is central to the limbic system. Two interconnected structures perched on either side of the brainstem, just below the limbic system, the Amygdala is the storehouse for emotional memory, bringing personal meaning to social order. It is also the mechanism which triggers tears - a response unique to humans.

6. The Thalmus All sensory input goes, first, to the thalmus. It is then dispatched to the Neocortex (pre-frontal lobes) for processing. � Most of the time

7. The Neural Back-Alley In addition to those going through the larger path of neurons to the neocortex, a smaller, shorter pathway leads highly charges emotions directly to the amygdala.

8. The Sentry and The Strategist The workings of the amygdala and its interplay with the neocortex are at the heart of emotional intelligence. 

9. Perfect Partners The Amydala signals danger. The neocortex is the cool strategist.

10. The Neocortex Housed just behind the forehead, these pre-frontal lobes are in charge of Cognition. The right lobe receives sensory input and the left lobe essentially controls the reaction to the feeling. Ie: planning and organizing actions towards a goal. The neocortex has it�s roots in the limbic system. As such, on a day by day basis, emotions have a great degree of influence over the choices we make, the goals we set and the strategies one employs to accomplish those goals.

11. The Strategist Appraises what we take in through the senses. Allows us to think about our feelings in a reflective manner. Humans can have feelings about their feelings. 

12. The Amygdala Receives some direct input from the senses before being fully registered by the neocortex.� Sometimes our emotions have a mind of their own.

13. The Sentry The amygdala is in charge of scanning sensory input, before the Neocortex has a fully processed the information. The amygdala�s job determine� Is this something I hate? Is this something I fear? Is this something that hurts me?

14. Emotional Memories from early childhood are critical in the development of emotional intelligence. The Amygdala is nearly fully formed from birth, while neocortex and hippocampus are not.  While the hippocampus stores the facts of past events, the amygdala stores emotionally charged memories.

15. Schooling The Emotional Mind Emotional memories are often stored without context, without an association to the facts. Thus, some emotional reactions occur without any conscious, cognitive participation at all.� - Goleman

16. Emotional Hijacking  Working in an associative fashion, the amygdala compares current situations with past experiences. Even a vague association to past danger may trigger the body�s fight or flight hormones and prepares the body to respond.

17. Emotionally Driven Responses Sculpted by experience. Usually learned very early in life. Fast, automatic but not necessarily accurate.

18. Can EQ be taught ?

19. When emotionally upset, people cannot remember, attend, learn, or make decisions clearly.

20. Harmonizing Thought and Feeling �School success is not predicted by a child�s fund of facts or precocious ability to read, so much as by emotional and social measures; being self-assured and interested, knowing what kind of behavior is expected and how to rein in the impulse to misbehave; being able to wait, to follow directions and to turn to teachers for help, and expressing needs while getting along with other children.� National center for clinical infant programs

21. Train The Brain Identify Hemispheric Dominance Learn to increase the level of activity in the left pre-frontal lobe. Compensate for an overactive amygdala or highly activated right hemisphere.

22. Reality-Based vs. Fantasy-Oriented Processing  The left side of the brain deals with things the way they are--with reality. When left-brained students are affected by the environment, they usually adjust to it. Left-brained people want to know the rules and follow them. In fact, if there are no rules for situations, they will probably make up rules to follow! Left-brained students know the consequences of not turning in papers on time or of failing a test. Not so with right-brained students; they try to change the environment!, but right-brained students are sometimes not aware that there is anything wrong. So, if you are right-brained, make sure you constantly ask for feedback and reality checks. It's too late the day before finals to ask if you can do extra credit. Keep a careful record of your assignments and tests. Visit with your professor routinely.

23. Verbal and Non-Verbal Processing Left-brained students have little trouble expressing themselves in words.  Right-brained students may know what they mean but often have trouble finding the right words.

24. Left-Brain Learning The left side of the brain processes information in a linear manner, from part to whole. It takes pieces, lines them up, and arranges them in a logical order; then it draws conclusions.

25. Flex that Left Hemi In addition to thinking in a linear manner, the left brain processes in sequence -- in order. This is exemplified by the ability to following directions. Ideas for flexing the left-hemi include; Making lists and a master schedule. Practice completing tasks in order and take pleasure in checking them off when they are accomplished. Work on learning new spelling words Study sequential processing of math.

26. Left = Logic When you process on the left side, you use information piece by piece to solve a math problem or work out a science experiment. When you read and listen, you look for the pieces so that you can draw logical conclusions. Your decisions are made on logic--proof.

27. If it feels good, it�s right. If you process primarily on the right side of the brain, you use intuition. You may know the right answer to a math problem but not be sure how you got it. You may have to start with the answer and work backwards. On a quiz, you get a gut feeling as to which answers are correct. That is, your right brain tells you it "feels" right. Your decisions will be based on feelings In writing, it is the left brain that pays attention to mechanics such as spelling, agreement, and punctuation.

28. Creativity is Right While this fantasy orientation may seem a disadvantage, in some cases it is an advantage. The right-brained student is creative. In order to learn about the digestive system, you may decide to become a piece of food! And since emotion is processed on the right side of the brain, one will probably remember well anything you become emotionally involved in as you are trying to learn.

29. Right-Brain Study Strategies? Right-brained students need to back up everything visually. If it's not written down, they probably won't remember it. And it would be even better for right-brained students to illustrate it. They need to get into the habit of making a mental video of things as they hear or read them. Right-brained students need to know that it may take them longer to write a paper, and the paper may need more revision before it says what they want it to say. This means allowing extra time when a writing assignment is due.

30. The Role of Educator

31. Motivation The words emotion and motivation are linguistically related. In order to be strongly motivated, one has to feel strongly.

32. Teach With Heart Become more comfortable talking about feelings. Many teachers fear that feeling empathy or compassion is a conflict of interest, as they would be unable to make the �hard� decisions regarding the student.

33. Common Barriers to Academic Achievement

34. Ignore feelings altogether. Underestimate seriousness of feelings. Disrespect feelings. Forbid display of emotions.

35. Master the crucial art of feedback? The effectiveness, satisfaction and productivity of students often depends on how they are told about nagging problems. How criticisms are given and received goes a long way in determining how satisfied students are with their work, with their peers and their teachers.

36. Artful Critique

37. Other Barriers  Toxic Thoughts Fleeting, background assumptions about ones self and the people in ones life. Our deepest, negative, emotional attitudes.

38. HOPE �Given roughly the same range of intellectual abilities, emotional aptitudes make the critical difference.� Psychologist C.R. Snyder - University of Kansas Study compared academic achievement of college freshman. Found that �hope� was a better predictor of 1st semester grades than SAT scores.

39. The Role of Student Outline for Success

40. Skills for Receiving Criticism Students must be convinced that � Critique is valuable. They can trust you. critique is not a personal attack. Becoming defensive is counterproductive. Teachers must.. Be specific. Offer solutions. Be present. Be sensitive. Recognize when a student is becoming emotionally charged and offer opp�s for de-escalating.

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42. Pessimism Blaming ones self for failure. Due to a lasting personal characteristic for which they are helpless to change.

43. Optimism �believing you have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals.� - Snyder believing one can succeed the next time around. Sees failure as being due to something that can be changed

44. Where To Begin?

45. Special Populations PTSD Eating Disorders ADHD Clinically Depressed Learning Disorders

46. More Assessments Your learning style. Your multiple intelligences. Your conflict management style. Your personality. Your interests, abilities and values. Go on-line ! www.yourwellbeing.org

47. References Dr, Carolyn Hopper Practicing College Study Skills: Strategies for Success 3rd edition, http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Estudskl/hd/learn.html Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence - why it can matter more than IQ. Stephen Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Successful People - Personal Workbook. - www. franklincovey.com Dianne Schilling - 50 Activities for Teaching Emotional Intelligence.

48. PsychConsulting Inc.www.yourwellbeing.org Eric Rutberg, Licensed Clinical Counselor Counseling - Consulting - Assessments On-site workshops Mind-Body Psychotherapy PO Box 1082 - Wilton, ME 04294 - 207-645-9700 ericrutberg@yahoo.com