![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Remain Calm.
Mar. 27th, 2007 12:42 pmAs a teacher, I devote an inordinate amount of time to pondering alternate ways of saying the same thing. I do this for the sake of my students; I would never expect all of my students to derive the same benefits from single phrasings of information.
Today I am thinking about the difference between saying, "Remain calm" and saying "Do not panic." This is a great example of a case where it's extremely beneficial (perhaps in some cases even crucial) to use the positive phrase instead of the negative phrase. When we hear negative phrases, we focus in on the most salient piece of information. In the above example, attention is drawn to "panic," and it's easy to let that piece of information override the negative that precedes it so that the injunction to not panic turns into an invitation to panic. If one is in a potentially panic-inducing situation, the invitation to panic could make the situation much worse.
I often consider the same concept when I'm rowing, because often when people give instructions they slip into the habit of using negative phrasing, which again is generally less effective than positive phrasing. This morning during practice our rower-turned-coxswain did a fantastic job of providing positive feedback when we rowed well, which was incredibly helpful and rewarding to hear.
Today I am thinking about the difference between saying, "Remain calm" and saying "Do not panic." This is a great example of a case where it's extremely beneficial (perhaps in some cases even crucial) to use the positive phrase instead of the negative phrase. When we hear negative phrases, we focus in on the most salient piece of information. In the above example, attention is drawn to "panic," and it's easy to let that piece of information override the negative that precedes it so that the injunction to not panic turns into an invitation to panic. If one is in a potentially panic-inducing situation, the invitation to panic could make the situation much worse.
I often consider the same concept when I'm rowing, because often when people give instructions they slip into the habit of using negative phrasing, which again is generally less effective than positive phrasing. This morning during practice our rower-turned-coxswain did a fantastic job of providing positive feedback when we rowed well, which was incredibly helpful and rewarding to hear.
