We have seen that part of the new thinking about thinking emphasizes our susceptibility to bias. We search for information that can support our hunches (confirmation bias), and we cling to our beliefs even when confronted with mixed evidence or discrediting information (belief perseverance). By reason­ing with the tools of logic, can we escape the effects of our beliefs on our reasoning? Let us see.

In deductive reasoning, we work "top down"—from the general to the specific. We begin with assumptions that we know or believe to be true and then use them to arrive at particular conclusions. An example: We know as a general truth that all cats meow. We are therefore justi­fied in concluding that Cinder, a cat we do not know, will meow. If the assumptions we begin with are indeed true and if our reasoning is valid, then our conclusions must be true. Mathematics, philosophy, some forms of theology, and law often involve deductive reasoning.

In inductive reasoning, we work from the specific to the general. We arrive at a conclusion based on our observations. Inductive reason­ing works "bottom up," by generalizing from specific instances. For exam­ple, if every cat we have ever seen meows, then we can reasonably conclude that Cinder, our friend's new cat, will meow, too. Another instance: The professional football scout sees the quarterback throw six incomplete passes in a row and infers (inductively generalizes) "he's not much of a passer."

Although the deductive/inductive distinction is a tricky one for many students, it really is simple: deduction is reasoning downward from the general premise to the specific conclusion; induction is reason­ing upward from specific instances to the general conclusion. Many thinking tasks involve both types of reasoning. The skills involved in playing chess include a well-practiced ability to reason deductively (from the rules of the game) and inductively (generalizing from past experiences).

NEUROLAW

Neurolaw is an emerging field of interdisciplinary study that explores the effects of discoveries in neuroscience on legal rules and standards. Drawing from neuroscience, philosophy, social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and criminology, neurolaw practitioners seek to address not only the descriptive and predictive issues of how neuroscience is and will be used in the legal system, but also the normative issues of how neuroscience should and should not be used.

The most prominent questions that have emerged from this exploration are as follows: To what extent can a tumor or brain injury alleviate criminal punishment? Can sentencing or rehabilitation regulations be influenced by neuroscience? Who is permitted access to images of a person's brain? Neuroscience is beginning to address these questions in its effort to understand human behavior, and will potentially shape future aspects of legal processes.

 New insights into the psychology and cognition of the brain have been made available by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These new technologies were a break from the conventional and primitive views of the brain that have been prevalent in the legal system for centuries. Brain imaging has provided a much deeper insight into thought processes, and will have an effect on the law because it contests customary beliefs about mental development. Because the science is still developing and because there is substantial opportunity for misuse, the legal realm recognizes the need to proceed cautiously.

Neurolaw proponents are quickly finding means to apply neuroscience to a variety of different contexts. For example, intellectual property could be better evaluated through neuroscience. Major areas of current research include applications in the courtroom, how neuroscience can and should be used legally, and how the law is created and applied.

THE MILTON MODEL IN NLP

The Milton model in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a form of hypnotherapy based on the language patterns for hypnotic communication of Milton Erickson, a noted hypnotherapist. It has been described as "a way of using language to induce and maintain trance in order to contact the hidden resources of our personality." The Milton model has three primary aspects: Firstly, to assist in building and maintaining rapport with the client. Secondly, to overload and distract the conscious mind so that unconscious communication can be cultivated. Thirdly, to allow for interpretation in the words offered to the client.

1. Rapport

The first aspect, building rapport, or empathy, is done to achieve better communication and responsiveness. NLP teaches 'mirroring' or matching body language, posture, breathing, predicates and voice tonality. Rapport is an aspect of 'pacing' or tuning into the client or learners world. Once pacing is established, the practitioner can 'lead' by changing their behavior or perception so the other follows. O'Connor & Seymour in "Introducing NLP" describe rapport as a 'harmonious dance', an extension of natural skills, but warn against mimicry. Singer gives examples of the pantomime effect of mere mimicry by some practitioners which does not create rapport.

2. Overloading conscious attention

The second aspect of the milton model is that it uses ambiguity in language and non-verbal communication. This might also be combined with vagueness, which arises when the boundaries of meaning are indistinct. The use of ambiguity and vagueness distracts the conscious mind as it tries to work out what is meant which gives the unconscious mindthe opportunity to prosper.

3. Indirect communication

The third aspect of the Milton model is that it is purposely vague and metaphoric for the purpose of accessing the unconscious mind. It is used to soften the meta model and make indirect suggestions. A direct suggestion merely states what is wanted, for example, "when you are in front of the audience you will not feel nervous". In contrast an indirect suggestion is less authoritative and leaves an opportunity for interpretation, for example, "When you are in front of the audience, you might find yourself feeling ever more confident". This example follows the indirect method leaving both the specific time and level of self-confidence unspecified. It might be made even more indirect by saying, "when you come to a decision to speak in public, you may find it appealing how your feelings have changed." The choice of speaking in front of the audience, the exact time and the likely responses to the whole process are framed but the imprecise language gives the client the opportunity to fill in the finer details.

META-PROGRAMS IN NLP

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) uses the term 'meta-programs' specifically to indicate general, pervasive and usually habitual patterns used by an individual across a wide range of situations. Examples of NLP meta-programs include the preference for overview or detail, the preference for where to place one's attention during conversation, habitual linguistic patterns and body language, and so on.

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles.

In NLP, the term programs is used as a synonym for strategy, which are specific sequences of mental steps, mostly indicated by their representational activity (using VAKOG), leading to a behavioral outcome. In the entry for the term strategy in their Encyclopedia, Robert Dilts and Judith Delozier explicitly refer to the mind as computer metaphor: "A strategy is like a program in a computer. It tells you what to do with the information you are getting, and like a computer program, you can use the same strategy to process a lot of different kinds of information." In their encyclopedia, Dilts and Delozier then define metaprograms as: "programs which guide and direct other thought processes. Specifically they define common or typical patterns in the strategies or thinking styles of a particular individual, group or culture."

The book 'Words that Change Minds' by Shelle Rose Charvet documents 13 distinct meta-programs categories effecting work-place motivation and performance, commonly known as the Language and Behaviour Profile or 'LAB Profile'. It is based on the work of Rodger Bailey and Ross Steward who wanted to make meta-programs usable to people without NLP training.

MOODS AND MEMORIES

Words, events, and contexts are not the only retrieval cues, Events in the past may have aroused a specific emotion, which can later prime us to recall its associated events. Cognitive psy­chologist Gordon Bower (1983) explains: "A specific emotional state is like a specific room in a library into which the subject places memory records, and he can most easily retrieve those records by returning to that same room or emotional state." The things we learn in one state-be it joyful or sad, drunk or sober—are therefore most easily recalled when we are again in the same state, a phenomenon called state-Dependent memory. What is learned when drunk, high, or depressed is not recalled well—because drugs and depression inter­fere with encoding—but it's recalled better when again drunk, high, or depressed.

Some examples: If people are put in a buoyant mood—whether under hypnosis or just by the day's events (a World Cup soccer victory for the West German subjects of one recent study)—they commonly recall the world through rose-colored glasses; thus they judge them­selves to be competent and effective, other people to be benevolent, life in general to be wonderful. Put in a bad mood, the very same people suddenly see everything more negatively.

The mood-memory link seems strongest with autobiographical rec­ollections of everyday events (called episodic memory), because in every­day situations people attribute their emotions to events associated with the emotions. Thus currently depressed people recall their parents as having been rejecting, punitive, and guilt-promoting, whereas formerly depressed people describe their parents no differently than do those who have never suffered from severe depression. Being depressed sours memories. You and I may nod our heads knowingly. Yet, curiously, when in a good or bad mood, we persist—and will continue to do so even after learning about state-dependent memory—in attributing our changing judgments and memories to reality rather than to our temporary mood. We perceive the world out there in different ways, depending on our mood.

Moods color both our retrieval of past experiences and our encod­ing of new experiences. Bad moods predispose us to notice and interpret other people's behavior in negative ways. When in a good mood the same actions create a more positive impression.

The effect of mood on encoding and retrieval helps explain why our moods persist. When happy, we recall happy events, which helps prolong the good mood. When depressed, we recall depressing events, which in turn feeds depressing interpretations of current events.