A person cannot control himself 24 hours a day: some of the reactions and actions have their own triggers and work automatically. Scientists have long given names to the same behavior, language turns, emotional reactions and gestures. These are patterns. The article will discuss the general characteristics of psychological patterns, types and methods of correction in childhood. Knowledge of the mechanism of action pattern behavior will help to better understand themselves and others.
What is a pattern
A pattern is an automatism driven pattern or behavior model that a person uses in everyday life. Patterns can be spoken in any area where behavioral patterns are used: daily teeth cleaning, morning cup of coffee, handshake at a meeting, a way to cut vegetables for soup, or meet a new employee.
Etymologically, the concept comes from the English word pattern - template, sample. In addition to psychology, patterns are found in physics, mathematics, programming, design, music, construction, philosophy. From a physiological point of view, patterns are formed in our brain in the same way as habits. But the psychological model of behavior is a more voluminous and complex concept than a reflex or instinct. This is a whole program in our brain, according to which we live and interact with people around us.
Another interesting feature of the pattern is the activation of the full pattern of behavior when activating any part of it. For example, having felt the aroma of coffee from a coffee house, we buy cookies for the drink. Or plunge into joyful memories at the mention of the word "tree". Thus, part of the pattern is the trigger that triggers it entirely. Experts call this code. But psychological models are not thoughtless sequences of actions, but behavioral reactions filled with meaning. For example, endless washing of hands is a neurosis. But washing hands after a walk is a pattern.
Types of pattern behavior
Pattern behavior is a convenient mechanism that we inherited from our ancestors. It is explained by the principle of rationality - if the reaction has rescued several times, it will help out further. After all, it is much easier to use the finished model than to invent a new one every time.
In fact, we use a lot more patterns than we can imagine. Therefore, behavioral models have a fairly extensive classification:
- Social and Individual. Social patterns are a handshake, a wave of the hand or a bow at a meeting, the habit of holding the door behind or passing the other person. You can call it a culture. Individual templates are personal habits: the manner of eating or driving, the sequence of actions during the morning fees for work.
- Congenital and Acquired. Congenital patterns are our genetics at the level of instincts: shouting as a reaction to pain, rest after activity, a smile at the sight of a loved one. Acquired patterns appear as a result of education, under the influence of parents and the environment.
- Positive and negative. Positive templates help us to harmoniously communicate, develop, monitor our health, overcome obstacles. These are all good habits from brushing your teeth to smiling when you meet. Negatives interfere with living, accumulate painful experience, but are solved after a visit to a psychotherapist.
There are patterns:
- Communicative or social: facial expressions, gestures, voice and intonation that a person uses when meeting, meeting or communicating.
- Thinking: thoughts, conclusions, generalizations, logical conclusions as a result of actions of people around or after events.
- Motor: defensive reactions in case of danger, postures, facial expressions and gestures during communication, movement in space.
- Emotional: a range of reactions to irritation, resentment, humor, compliments, someone else's aggression.
- Linguistic or linguistic: certain phrases, speech forms, dialogues, cues or repetitions that we use in everyday speech.
- Cultural: cultural patterns, values, ideas specific to a particular community or tribe.
Why adjust children's patterns
At birth, the infant receives basic behaviors. As they mature, habits, stereotypes, and upbringing accumulate on the innate patterns. Together they form a person’s character. Children's psyche is very flexible. If parents closely monitor the child’s behavior, they will be able to catch and remove potentially harmful psychological patterns. For a start, you can carry out a "marshmallow test" with the child.
First "marshmallow experiment"or marshmallow test conducted by a professor of social psychology Walter Michel. Children 4-6 years old were placed in front of the table on which there was a plate with one marshmallow. The presenter explained to the kid: if he stays alone with the delicacy for 15 minutes and does not eat, then he will receive two marshmallows. The children stayed in the room. Someone waited until the end of the experiment, but most gave up in the first minute. Scientists have traced the fate of children in the future. It turned out that patient children later achieved in life more than others.
If parents want to raise a child so that he chooses a “treat later,” it’s worth starting from the first years of life: with regular brushing of teeth, cleaning of toys, gifts, or other rewards. The parents' perseverance and patience will help the child create a self-control pattern and not be tempted by today's marshmallow. True, most recently, the purity of this experiment questioned, as it turned out that there is a big dependence between how a child grew up in a rich family and its ability to resist temptations. And it is not surprising that children from rich families in the future had more chances to succeed, since they could get a better education and have more influential connections.
How to use patterns to study other people
Watching the pattern behavior of other people, you can predict their actions. Simple examples from life: if a friend constantly borrows and does not give, then he will not return the money to you. If a friend criticizes everyone, then she speaks badly of you when she is seen by strangers. Our ancestors knew about this particular psyche. No wonder the groom advised to look at the future mother-in-law, to find out what the wife will be.
Another way to use someone else's templates is provocation or manipulation of another person's behavior. Many ways we know from childhood: take the victim "on the weak", flatter or admire, provoke a conflict or scandal, cause feelings of guilt or shame. Knowing the behavioral patterns of a familiar person, you can get the necessary information from him or force him to perform the desired action. Knowing your own patterns will help you recognize the provocateur and develop a stable immunity against them.
The patterns of customer behavior are closely followed by marketers. After all, knowledge of behavioral patterns is like intelligence before a fight, it gives 85% of the result. Knowing how “people buy” helps marketers to influence buyers in the future. This is a display of expensive goods at eye level, checkout stands with toys, quick ordering, delivery of oversized cargo.
Why it is important to track behavioral patterns
Behavioral patterns are the basis of man. Our brain is designed in such a way that repeated actions several times, automatically go into the category of unconscious. On the one hand, behavioral patterns brought to automatism save energy. On the other hand, they prevent us from acting consciously, flexibly switching in different situations, and realizing ourselves as a person. Negative patterns of behavior lead to stress, anxiety, neurosis, and physical illness:
- The habit of flipping social networks at bedtime leads to lack of sleep, and the habit of eating on the go, skipping breakfast and lunch - to jumps in blood sugar levels, tremors, dizziness.
- The habit of summarizing all the events "I was not lucky today, so I am a loser" provokes a bad mood, depression.
- The habit of being rude to your opponent leads to problems at work and in your personal life.
It is difficult to change them, even harder to get rid of. Changing patterns of behavior, you can copy the patterns of successful people and achieve success. But changing the model is not so easy. Some patterns of behavior are a continuation of our personality and ourselves.
Findings:
- Psychological patterns are frozen patterns of action that exist in our life experiences.
- The formation of psychological patterns starts in childhood and can be adjusted at an early age.
- Our behaviors protect and limit at the same time.
- It is difficult to remove negative patterns, it is easier to replace them with positive ones.
