Submitted by: Submitted by PaperCamp
Views: 816
Words: 683
Pages: 3
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 05/29/2008 02:12 PM
Toni Christiano
Psycho-Cybernetics
Psycho-Cybernetics is a classic personal development book. Maxwell Maltz was a cosmetic surgeon. He was amazed when, after he had performed some impressive reconstruction procedures, patients would complain they couldn't see the difference! "I still feel ugly." Maltz recognized that, in addition to the reconstruction work on the outside, the patient needed to have reconstruction work on the "inside," on the patient's self-image.
Self-image is a mental picture that each person has of himself or herself. It includes our beliefs about our abilities and deficiencies, whether we are popular or not, and so forth. Until those beliefs are changed, our behavior will continue to be defined by those beliefs. For example, I have a hard time presenting in front of a group of peers; getting over this obstacle will make me a more confident business orientated student and employee. Until that self-image is changed, that person will continue to be limited by that belief. Maltz saw human behavior as a negative feedback (cybernetic) system. This is the type of system used in a guided missile. When the missile is fired, it will correct its course to reach its goal. People also have the ability to correct their behavior to reach their goals, including behaving according to their self-image.
One of Maltz's key concepts was the Theater of the Mind, or synthetic experience. This is a concept that any thriving athletic team should use. There are three teams of basketball players. One team practices making free throws. The second team doesn't practice. The third team sits on a bench and mentally practices making free throws. When the three teams are tested, the team that practiced out-scores the team that didn't practice. However, the team that mentally practiced performs nearly as well as the team that actually practiced. He discusses a case study where a group of basketball players was told to practice shooting free throws by imagining that...