The Designed Change Process

The Designed Change Process (DCP) is based upon a bimodal theory of information processing in the human, as described by Tom Sargent, Rick Blum and others. The theory states that human beings process information in two different ways, one aware, flexible and creative, the other automatic, fixed and reliable. The aware processing function is of extremely limited capacity, while the automatic function is of great capacity.

Stress and other environmental conditions have differential effects on the two functions. In conditions of moderate stress, individuals narrow the lateral thinking capacity of the aware function in order to concentrate, while low stress conditions permit lateral thinking such as brain storming. High stress conditions restrict the scope of observation, producing such things as tracking, perseveration and tunnel vision.

The progressive effects of increasing stress on the automatic function include changes in the hierarchy of dominance of the many learned responses in memory. In low stress those responses which are most similar to and most accurately seem to be appropriate to the environmental conditions are dominant, while under higher stress the more familiar responses become dominant. Under very high stress those responses which have intensity of emotion connected with them become dominant. It has also been observed that earlier learned responses tend to be more dominant as stress levels continue to rise. Research has not yet been adequate to provide an exact hierarchy of dominance.

The automatic information processing function manages all behavior which is not under the charge of the aware function. The aware function may have a limited executive role in choosing which automatic response will run under some conditions, but most human behavior is controlled by exquisitely perfect past learned responses with no awareness at all. In all examples of automatic response (as driving over a familiar route) the dominant pattern controls the behavior. Under stressful conditions the dominant response may be a response learned in early childhood (as a parental role response) or a behavior learned in the recent past (such as previous training) or an emergency response which was learned incorrectly (hence marked with stress, and therefore dominant) and then cannot be replaced by the correctly learned behavior. The DCP contradicts the popular assumption that human behavior "breaks down" under extremes of stress because, until more sophisticated research proves otherwise, the "erratic" responses are perfect replications of regressed behavior patterns (as pulling back on the controls in a stall in an aircraft, or trying to force a control to function in a way conforming to earlier training for a different system).

Rules of dominance and responses under stress vary from person to person. Research which is designed to describe theories of human behavior in general fails to produce satisfactory predictability because each person responds in a lawful way particular to that individual. Each person learns to deal with these unwanted past learned responses in his or her own way. Stress and other known environmental conditions may alter the dominance of a response at any given time in lawful ways which are also individual.

The Process:

Dominant past responses lurking to replace accurate operation places a specter of danger over every complex facility, medical situation and aerospace unit on the planet. In each situation there is at present no way to predict what may happen, while, through research and training it can be determined exactly which response is likely to be dominant in any given situation.

The DCP offers methods through which incorrect or inappropriate past learned responses can be unlearned. Since all response patterns and information once recorded in the brain are indelibly retained, past learned responses cannot be erased. Unlearning requires the inclusion of new material recorded with the unwanted response in such a way that the response cannot run without the interruption also occurring to stop the process. Unlearning is similar to the rerouting caused by a "patch" in a computer program. Once learned, the whole system again sinks into the unaware (unconscious) to function completely automatically, now without the unwanted response.

In addition to unlearning, and as a parallel safety measure, the DCP provides methods to automatically reduce the stress and return to cognitive flexibility. This is accomplished by learning a behavioral system which imitates aware functioning and which also leads back to aware information processing. It permits aware observation of automatic processing through scanning, even in high stress conditions, and subsequent correction of false responses. References

The DCP was born in 1956, when the Superintendent of Montana State Hospital asked Tom Sargent to develop a way to help the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members who were voluntarily working with alcoholic patients. They needed more effective ways to deal with the emotional and interpersonal problems that the alcoholic patients had.

Tom used his experience with A.A. and Al-Anon because that would be familiar to both the volunteers and to their clients. Two points seemed critical. 1. Emotions distort the thinking of alcoholics. In fact, alcoholics often automatically magnify their feelings (resentment collecting) so that there is nothing they can do except drink. They can interrupt this process by calling it "stinkin thinkin" and laughing. 2. The phrase "for today" showed clearly that humans have two ways of thinking. The (Automatic) distressed and usual patterned reactions. The (Aware) "for today", as in, "Well, for today, I will act this way". These are observed in the context of knowledge about patterned responses: "the person I used to be will drink again". There are two ways humans behave. One is automatic and mindless (with lots of automatic denial and rationalization), and the other "for today", aware and directed by the individual's intent (the Automatic and Aware functions of the DCP).

This simple description worked when the volunteers presented it to their clients to apply to their emotions and interpersonal disruptions, as is the custom in A.A. And Tom had a new conceptual system with which to modify his psychological training and through which to develop new techniques to give to his clients for them to use on themselves.

Twenty five years of use produced material which works rapidly (too rapidly, according to some therapists familiar with its effects) and powerfully. One drawback is that it must be applied by the individual and can't be applied by a "knowledgeable gatekeeper" such as a therapist or a consultant. Professionals do not like this. Then the staff of the Designed Change Institute began to apply the material to business and industry and finally to complex technology. This led to a request in 1981 from the government to have the Designed Change Process and the Bimodal Theory documented by research. A grant for that purpose was mobilized, the search of the literature was done (an estimated quarter or third of the studies are still undiscovered), and the study produced some interesting surprises.

1.) Everything the Process and Theory had been developing and teaching was documented in research.

2.) The impotence and narrowness of the "just for today" (Aware) function versus the power and hugeness of the "person I used to be" (Automatic) function had been studied and documented extensively for a whole century.

3.) The information about what made one mindless automatic behavior dominant over another was new and useful for us. We also learned that the narrow channel of aware processing is not closed down by stress. Finally and most importantly was that glorious "Schlusselreiz" described by Steinbuch. A Schlusselreiz is a "key stimulus". When it hits a responder, it alters his total mental configuration and thereafter a stimulus which produced response "A" will now only produce response "B". The child being rewarded with M&Ms becomes satiated and recalls that the teacher becomes exasperated (Schlusselreiz) when wrong answers are given. The alcoholic denies his alcoholism and then joins A.A., where he announces, "I'm Tom, and I am an alcoholic" (Schlusselreiz).

4.) We were greatly surprised that while the century of neglected psychological studies included concrete and extensive documentation of the duality of human information processing (the Bimodal Theory), those studies failed to observe and report the differential effects of stress on the two functions. These effects were clearly reported in the other studies, beginning in 1916. Two of the bimodal studies, each involving many different studies at different sites, involved aerospace applications, where the effects of stress are profound. The effects of stress were unreported in those studies!

5.) Contrary to conventional wisdom and psychological teaching, we learned that under intense stress the behavior of the individual does NOT break down. What happens is that the automatic responses regress to older responses, which may be the previous aircraft the pilot experienced flying or to childhood responses. The observer sees disruption, but what is really happening is perfect replication of an inappropriate response. How one deals with this phenomenon, which is costly to personal life and to organizations, is crucial, and is based on what you understand is going on.

6.) Tom Sargent was disappointed to discover that his 1970 invention, Special Place, had been used for some years before that to train Russian athletes. However, his "intense" version has not shown up in the literature.

We also noted that behavioristic studies were conducted in ways that would make the already statistically Aware Function of no importance, thus "proving" their position. In contrast, humanistic studies, which enhance the power of the Aware Function and enable it to harness and manage the powerful Automatic Function, were able to "prove" their position.

The century of research also supports the oft repeated A.A. approach, "There are many ways into this illness, and many ways out. You must find your own." Each individual builds his or her own psychology starting from the family of origin and society of origin. There is no authority on my own psychology except me. The gate keepers, psychiatrists and psychologists, the therapists and consultants, do not like this finding. However, little by little, some of them are using the "twelve step programs" derived from A.A. both for their clients and for themselves. The century of neglected studies may yet burst out into full bloom. The DCP is a simple method through which an individual can make change and development in the life of an individual or organization, using a century of neglected research in behavioral science.