The Flexible Self
Dr. Louise McHugh
University College Dublin
Where is your ‘self’?
YOU ARE HERE!
Ferrari et al 2008
I was so
stressed
yesterday, I
wasn’t myself!
Then who
were you?
Social animals…
A sense of self?
• Only humans have a sense of self
• Why?
• Humans have language
Symbolic relationships between
things…
• Is what allows us to make sounds that
other people understand rather than
simply pointing and grunting at things
‘HAT’
‘Kelly’
Physical Relationships
Relationships based on cues
=
CONTEXTUAL CUE
=
CONTEXTUAL CUE
Nic
BAD
OK
Nic
IS SAME AS
BAD
GOOD
CONTEXTUAL CUE
Language
Just as we learn to
manipulate the
environment with our
body and hands
We also learn to
manipulate it
through sound and
symbols
Milk
Please!
We can relate in many ways
•
•
•
•
•
Same as (‘Jumjaw is the same as dog’)
Opposite (‘Day is opposite to Night’)
Different (‘Boys are different from Girls’)
Comparison (‘£1 is more than 10p’)
Perspective (‘I am here and you are there’)
Transformation of Functions
If someone has a fear of dogs, and they are told that ‘jumjaw’ is another
word for dog, then fear may be elicited upon hearing ‘ Here comes a
jumjaw!’
Psychological
Function
is a
‘DOG’
is a
‘Jumjaw’
Psychological
Function
• So language is responding to abstract
relations
• So what does that have to do with the
‘self’?
‘I think
No Rene – you learn to
therefore I am’ verbally discriminate your
own behavior from others
behavior - therefore you are
What did YOU have for breakfast?
I had a
banana for
breakfast
No silly I
had a
banana for
breakfast
As a child begins to relate more and more of their own behavior…
I feel happy
I feel sad
…and to compare it with that of others…
II am
than
am happier
not as happy
you!
as
you
I ama adepressed
happy
I am
person!
person!
…they begin to have a concept of self
Understanding others?
‘The key to a happier world is the growth of
compassion’
Dalai Lama
Theory of Mind Module
I Know what you are
thinking! I have a ‘module’
in my brain that tells me!
CBS Approach to PerspectiveTaking
• Perspective relations specify a relation in terms of the
perspective of the speaker
Consider the three relations of:
I versus YOU
HERE versus THERE
NOW versus THEN
CBS Approach to PerspectiveTaking
Each time a child is asked or answers questions such as:
“What are you doing here?”
“What was I doing then?”
“What am I doing now?”
“What were you doing there?”
the physical environment will likely be different…
The only constant across such questions are the relational
properties of:
I versus You
Here versus There
Now versus Then
CBS Approach to PerspectiveTaking
Two important variables:
Relation Type
•
•
•
I / YOU
HERE / THERE
NOW / THEN
Complexity
•
•
•
Simple Relations
Reversed Relations
Double Reversed Relations
McHugh, et al., (2004)
A Simple Relation Task
I have a white brick and you have a red brick
Which brick do you have?
Which brick do I have?
A Reversed Relation Task
I am sitting here on the blue chair and you are sitting
there on the black chair
Here:
There:
If I was YOU
and
YOU were ME
Where would I be sitting?
Where would you be sitting?
A Double Reversed Relation Task
Yesterday I was sitting there on the black chair, today
I am sitting here on the blue chair
There:
Here:
Now:
Then:
If HERE was THERE and THERE was HERE
and
NOW was THEN and THEN was NOW
Where would I be sitting now?
Where would I be sitting then?
3-5 year olds perform worst
If I was YOU
where would
I be sitting?
I don’t know!
McHugh, et al., 2004
Weil et al., (2010)
It can be trained
Simple
Reversed
Double
Reversed
More relating on tasks about others?
Example of Self Belief task
If I put the pencils in the smarties box and you are not
there
I would think the smarties box contains SMARTIES
(F)
Example of Other’s Belief task
If you put the pencils in the smarties box and I am not
there
You would think the smarties box contains PENCILS
(T)
McHugh, et al., (2007)
1.6
Self belief tasks involve less
relating
SIGNIFICANT*
1.4
Trial Type
1.2
R
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
1
0.8
OTHER
T
i 0.6
m
e
s
SELF
0.4
0.2
0
Self TB true
Self TB false
Self FB true
Self FB false
Another TB true
Another TB false
Another FB true
Trial-Type
Response Times
* There were significant differences in response times between Self versus Other tasks (p <.05)*
Another FB false
Autism-related and schizophrenia
spectrum disorders
ASD: Rehfeldt, et al., 2007
• Children with high-functioning autism or asperger
syndrome performed worse on the RFT PT protocol
than their age-matched typically developing
counterparts
Children diagnosed
with ASD do worse
Proportion of participants scoring over 0.67
Villatte, et al. (2009):
Patients with Schizophrenia
1
0,8
Controlled for IQ
0,6
0,4
0,2
Reversed
Simple
Double
Reversed
0
I-You simple Here-There
simple
Now -Then
simple
I-You
reversed
Here-There
reversed
Trial-Type
Patients do worse on
reversed and double
reversed
Now -Then
reversed
I-You/HereHereThere
There/Now double
Then double
reversed
reversed
Controls
Patients
Villatte, et al. (2010):
Patients with Schizophrenia
Proportion of participants scoring over 0.67
1
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
Self/True belief
Self/False belief
Other/True belief
Other/False belief
Controls
Trial type
Patients do worse on
other and false belief
Patients
Villatte, et al. (2010)
Non-clinical pts high social anhedonia
Mean rate of accuracy
1
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
I-You Here-ThereNow -Then I-You Here-ThereNow -ThenI-You/Here- Heresimple
simple
simple reversed reversed reversed
There There/Now double
Then
reversed double
reversed
Trial-Type
Co ntro l
Experimental
SA do worse on
double reversed
Belief attribution
1
Mean rate of accuracy
0,9
0,8
0,7
0,6
0,5
Self
Other
Attribution type
SA do worse on other
belief
Control
Experimental
So how does this link to ACT?
Double Edged Sword
Verbal self-knowledge is a two-edged
sword
It can be important and beneficial to
human beings while it can also be a
cause of pain and suffering
‘I wish I…’
Were as good
at presenting
as Robyn
Were as
smart as
Dermot
Were as
young as I am
in this photo!
Had great hair
like Russ
Comparison is a bitch
Even if you are a mega star…
1969
I am not good enough as I am.
In order to be good enough
I need to look a certain way
1979
1989
2009
3 Selves in ACT
• Self as content  Story
• Self as process  Contacting the present
• Self as context  Flexible Perspective
Taking
SELF AS
CONTENT
I’m not good
enough.
I am too
anxious
SELF AS PROCESS
I HERE NOW notice my
thoughts and feelings and
what I can see, hear,
touch taste and smell
SELF
COMPASSION
I HERE NOW
notice my pain
and respond
with kindness
TRANSCENDENT
SELF
I HERE NOW am
the observer of my
thoughts and
feelings
EMPATHY
I HERE NOW
notice that
you are
feeling sad
Training Flexible Perspective
Taking
Step 1. Basic Perspective Training ‘If I were you, where would I be?’
‘If I were you and here was there,
where would I be?’
Step 2. Empathy Training
‘I feel sad. If you were me, how
would you feel?’
‘I’ve won a prize. If you were me,
how would you feel?’
Step 3. Self-as-Context
‘I watch thoughts and feelings
come and go. Who is it that is
watching them?’
Vilardaga & Hayes, 2009
Informing intervention?
DSM Category
RFT conceptualisation
Intervention
ASD
Reduced or absent
deictic framing
Reversal and double
reversal perspective
training
Schizophrenic
Limited reversal and
double reversal deictics
Reversal and double
reversal perspective
training
Socially anhedonic
Limited reversal and
double reversal deictics
Reversal and double
reversal perspective
training
Sociopath
Reduced or absent ToF of Perspective training in
emotional functions due emotional funcs
to reduction or absence
of emotional functions
Fusion with I-bad
Self as Context training
Depression
No self as context
More on this…
Thank you!