Difference between revisions of "Energy and Strokes"

STATE UNIVERSITY GRONINGEN - HEYMANSBULLETIN  HB-91-1029-EX

'''[[#Introduction|Introduction]]'''

'''[[#Chapter 1. The Cognition-Energy-Learning Model|Chapter 1. The Cognition-Energy-Learning Model:]]'''<br/>

 

 

 

[[#2.1. Transactional Emotions and Reversals in Social Interactions from an Evolutionary Point of View|2.1. Transactional Emotions and Reversals in Social Interactions from an Evolutionary Point of View]]<br/>

[[#2.2. Pro-social Behaviour and Conditions for its Occur­rence|2.2. Pro-social Behaviour and Conditions for its Occur­rence]]<br/>

[[#2.3. Two Postulates on the way in which  Social Behaviour is Regulated|2.3. Two Postulates on the way in which  Social Behaviour is Regulated]]<br/>

[[#2.4. Two Metamotivational States, Ruling Social Behaviour|2.4. Two Metamotivational States, Ruling Social Behaviour]]<br/>

[[#2.5. Social Means or "Strokes" as the Currency in Social Transactions|2.5. Social Means or "Strokes" as the Currency in Social Transactions]]<br/>

[[#2.6. Combinations of Telic and Paratelic States with Allocentric and Autocentric States|2.6. Combinations of Telic and Paratelic States with Allocentric and Autocentric States]]<br/>

[[#2.7. Synergetic Effects in Somatic and in Transactional Emotions|2.7. Synergetic Effects in Somatic and in Transactional Emotions]]<br/>

[[#2.8. Conditions for Synergetic Effects|2.8. Conditions for Synergetic Effects]]<br/>

[[#2.9. Social Contacts and Positive or Negative Learning Spirals|2.9. Social Contacts and Positive or Negative Learning Spirals]]<br/>

[[#2.10. Contagiousness of Interpersonal Psychological Skills and Adaptation|2.10. "Contagiousness" of Interpersonal Psychological Skills and Adaptation]]<br/>

[[#2.11. Social Support: Data from Effectivity Research and what is missing up till now|2.11. Social Support: Data from Effectivity Research and what is missing up till now]]<br/>

[[#2.12. Summary and Conclusions|2.12. Summary and Conclusions]]

 

 

=== 1.1. Homeostasis versus Bi-Stability ===

 

One of the most widespread concepts in psychology is "homeostasis" or synonimous words such as equilibrium and stability. The word homeostasis originates from the physiologist Cannon (1932) who used it to describe a range of physical systems whereby body temperature, respiration frequency, or the illumination of the retina (Lakke, 1985) are maintained at a constant level. In psychology, we encounter this concept in a diversity of areas, for example in the work of Pavlov, when he speaks about the equilibrium between the systems of the organism and external conditions (Ban, 1964); in Jung (1954) in his compensation theory of personality; in Lewin (1951) when he speaks of the "quasi-stationary equilibria" in group processes and in Piaget when he describes the cognitive development of the child. In theories on motivation the homeostasis concept is also often utilized. Examples are Freud's "pleasure principle" and "reality principle" which are focussed on excitation or tension reduction and even in Butler (1953, 1954, 1957) who advocated a "curiosity drive", in Montgomery (1953) who proposed an "exploratory drive" and in Myers and Miller (1954) who postulated a "boredom drive". The end product of behaviour, even if an attempt is made to explain explorative behaviour, is in fact still considered to be a reduction of the drive to a lower preferred level. More recently, Buck's motivation theory (1985) has attracted attention. Buck adopts White's non-homeostatic concept and subsequently moulds it back into a homeostatic framework. This is the concept of "effectance motivation" (see Wever, 1989, unpublished, for a survey). Other examples stem from the research on whether or not altruistically motivated behaviour occurs et all. Piliavin and Piliavin (1973) and Piliavin et al. (1981, 1982) consider altruistic behaviour to be pro-social behaviour which is focussed on reducing one's own aversive arousal as a result of having seen somebody else "suffer". Variations on the same theme originate from Hornstein (1976, 1978, 1982), Reykovski (1982) and Lerner (1970). Batson (1987, 1988) ends two of his articles, on whether altruistically motivated behaviour does or does not occur, with:

 

 

 

 

In the CEL two arguments are given to underpin the concept of bistability: an ethological and a phenomelogical argument.

 

The first argument was originally formulated by Van der Molen (1977, 1983, 1985) and revolves around the idea that one of the most recent evolutionary developments is the open-ended learning system. This is a learning system by which a behavioural repertoire is built up which is especially appropriate to the situation or surroundings in which the individual incidently happens to live. The capacity to build up such a behavioural repertoire is only utilized optimally when supplies and shortages in the energy balance are treated in a very specific way. This means that behaviour should be organized in such a way that a surplus of energy is immediately invested in the extension and refining of this repertoire. Adjustments in the repertoire will be especially meaningful when those adjustments offer a higher probability of survival in emergency situations and in situations which are very stressful. This means, however, that one has to practice in situations which engender a high level of arousal, for such situations are exactly the situations in which risks have to be taken. But taking risks which afterwards turn out to be too great can have unpleasant consequences. Also, situations which are (too) stressful for a long period of time, can be harmful to the individual. Thus, apart from the necessity to practice with difficult situations, it is also of the utmost importance that the individual has, with regularity, the possibility to escape from threat and danger and to settle down.

 

 

 

 

 

=== 1.3. Two Metamotivational States and Reversals ===

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Low level of arousal      High level of arousal 

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Table 1.2: Experience of Arousal in Telic and Paratelic State.

 

 

 

 

Tits are small birds which are found often in wooded areas in Europe and North-America. These birds remain in the same area the entire year and they breed there in summer. In winter it is hard to find larvae because they are well hidden and irregularly spread. So the tits must have a special strategy which makes finding food as efficient as possible. It seems to be the case that they use a "giving-up time" decision-rule. This means that they look for food only during a specific period of time at a specific place and if by then they have not found anything yet, they give up and look for another place. Krebs et al. (1974) have shown by means of experiments and calculations that this strategy produces the maximal number of food-units within a specific period of time compared to other strategies, such as, for example, examining a pine-cone during a pre-set period of time, or starting to look elsewhere, having found a fixed number of larvae.

 

This is an example in which a number of strategies for collecting food are compared on the basis of their efficiency, and in which the animal appeared to use the most efficient method; the animal allocated energy as efficiently as possible. The next example is completely different, but corresponds with the former in using energy as efficiently as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This difference in the way in which positive and negative COEX-systems are faced has interesting implications for cognitive development.

 

 

 

Lewicka (1985, 1986, 1987, and 1989) speaks of "standards of goodness" and "standards of badness"; certain standards indicating what kind of behaviour should be pursued and what kind of behaviour should be avoided. Czapinski (1982, 1985, 1986, and 1987) extends this with his research on the judgement of experiences, from which it is evident that, generally speaking, people have a slight "positivity bias". This means that experiences generally acquire a slightly positive emotional value rather than a zero or neutral value (except when they have a specific and very strong emotional value). According to Czapinski one can speak in the cognitive representation of the experiences of a slightly positive background field, against which the negative areas of experience especially stand out. Using these concepts, we can now say more about cognitive development. (see figure 1.4).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is even more interesting, psychologically speaking, when we con­sider human situations in which one person helps the other, even if this does not benefit him or her anything at that moment in terms of survival (or reproductive suc­cess, see Daily and Wilson, 1983). This type of behaviour is called pro-social or altruistic behaviour. This is interesting from a psychological standpoint because especially this kind of behaviour must have been absolutely necessary at the "dawn" of human evolution and because working together, which was necessary to survive, might well have been based on pro-social behaviour.

Kinship selection was introduced by Hamilton (1964) and implies that a person's altruistic act, even if this person more or less sacrifices himself, contributes to the survival of relatives (for instance family), so that this person contributes to the reproductive success of each (altruistic) gene which is shared with this relative. According to Hamilton a condition for this model is that the groups to which human beings must have belonged, must have been small. At any rate, small enough for there to be a reason­able chance that somebody actually helps a rela­tive with an altruistic act.

The third model stems from Trivers (1971) and it is this model which we will investigate in more depth. Recipro­cal altruism is the situation in which one person helps another and the latter in turn later helps the former. These two acts can be seperated in time. Shapi­ro gives the following example of reciprocal altruism:

Trivers mentions a number of conditions which must be fulfilled for the evolution of reciprocal altruism. These are: (a) a large number of situations in which altruistic behaviour can occur, (b) a large number of interactions between members of a relatively small group, and (c) a division of symmetric situations in which the roles of altruist and receiver constantly interchange (for instan­ce through role specialism). In addition Trivers (1971) mentions a number of conditions such as: a relati­vely long life; the ability to recognize the other members of the group; a localized existence and a high degree of mutual dependence (for instance being endangered by the same predators or suffering food-shortage). This then results in small groups with stable numbers and little hierarchical organization in which the members provide mutual in fights with other groups. These conditions appear to be exactly the conditions which existed in the middle of the Pleistocene (ca 600.000 to 200.000 years ago), in the time that co-operative hunting behaviour in "humans" appears to have developed (Mazak, 1980). Before we go deeper into the consequences of Trivers's conditions, two postulates have to be discus­sed that will clear the way for the formulation of a system which can mediate and regulate social behavi­our.

 

=== 2.3. Two Postulates on the way in which Social Behaviour is Regulated ===

The first postulate is that social behaviour is regulated in such a way that social interacti­ons with others proceed optimally. And the second postulate is that such a system must allocate energy resources in the most efficient way. Both postulates can be linked together in one sentence: there must be a system, or rather a capacity, for the regulation of social interac­tions, in an energy efficient way.

A similar regulation by means of emotional processes may also be expected in the case of social behaviour.  

=== 2.4. Two Metamotivational States ruling Social Behaviour ===

 

The reversal theory (e.g. Apter, 1988) does indeed claim that two states of preference can be found. Apter distinguishes two categories of emotions: soma­tic and transactional emotions. Somatic emotions are the emotions which were discussed in chapter 1 (fear, excite­ment, bore­dom, and relaxation). Transactional emotions are emotions whose origins stem and have refe­rence to association with others (Apter, 1988, p. 45). Examples of such emotions which Apter among others, mentions are: guilt, modesty, shame, pride and spite. This concept of transactional emotions seems especially suitable to serve as a further specification of the much after sought system which regu­lates social behaviour.

Just as with somatic emotions, there are the telic and para­telic metamotivational states, with transactional emotions there are the "autocentric" and "allocentric" states. In the autocentric mode of behaviour the (subjective) reward for the person himself is the most important determinant of the hedonic tone (how good or bad a persons feels), whereas in the allocentric state the person iden­tifies himself with the other and then the benefit for the other determines his own hedonic tone. This means that the state - spending part of the sur­plus of social energy or social means - is "activated" because the other is considered to be the most important determinant for the hedonic tone. It also holds the other way around: when the person himself is the most important determinant for the hedonic tone, it is pleasant to reap social means. So the motivation for an allo- or autocentric state receives its direction from how the person is focused, either on the other or on himself. Apter not only describes the metamoti­vational states, he also names the specific emotions which belong to a certain motivational state as well as the result of the interaction.

Table 2.1 shows the somatic and transactional emotions. The arrows indicate the emotional state which is prefered in the relevant metamotivational state.

Table 2.2 provides an example of the types of beha­viour that are felt as pleasant in the allo- or autocentric state respectively. This table presents the naturecharacter of the social means. They can be material as well as imma­terial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=== 2.5. Social Means or "Strokes" as the Currency in Social Transactions ===

 

 

 

 

 

"The stroke optimum continually changes, as a result of different experiences, situations, personal developmental tasks, and it is quite likely to be influenced by biochemical processes which can sometimes cause a comfort or discomfort not easily accounted for by psychological factors alone."

Just as the telic and paratelic experience of arousal differs under the influence of changes in the energy-maintenance so could the allo- or autocentric experience of the result of a trans­action differ under influence of the stroke-maintenance. So when there is a surplus of social means (allo­centric), the individual distributes strokes (allocentric) and when there is a deficit of social exhausted, the individual strives to receive strokes (autocentric). By adding to Reversal Theory the concept of distributing gathering social means (strokes), the key variable of transactional emotion (the subjective experience of the result of a transaction) will acquire more substance. What happens is, that in the allocentric state the person has a surplus of social means to give to another person (wants to distribute strokes). And in the autocentric state the person demands attention from another person (wants to receive strokes). Both states alternate under the influen­ce of either the surplus or the shortage of social means. We can now further elaborate on the (causal) connection between telic and paratelic states on the one hand and allo- and autocentric states on the other.  

=== 2.6. Combinations of Telic and Paratelic States with Allocen­tric and Autocentric States ===

From research by Bowlby (1977) it appeared that regu­lar periods of relaxation are crucial for the readiness and ability to explore new situations. He describes how a child who is exploring  an unknown situation, regularly returns to a familiar person (with Bowlby: the mother). In that way the child can relax and build up energy for the next phase of exploration.  All kinds of behavioural deficiencies, such as chronic fear, can arise when the periodical need for relaxation and reassurance cannot be satisfied. Since the child every now and again returns to mother (receive attention), it can explore again (exert energy). Attaining relaxation which was earlier defined as somatic, is thus facili­tated by the supportive attention of others. The reassurance which results from a supportive social contact, may contribute to another interesting consequence. Namely, it provides the possibility of synergetic effects.

 

=== 2.7. Synergetic Outcomes in Somatic and in Transactional Emotions ===

Murgatroyd (1985) describes how the tension (level of arousal) and with that the hedonic tone - with somatic emotions - can be increased, when a person who is in the paratelic state, applies behaviour and routines from the telic state. For this he uses the term synergy from system theory. Synergy means that two processes interact in such a way that the combined effects exceed the sum of their individual effects (Murga­troyd, 1985, p. 13). Routines from the one state (telic) are then applied within the other state (paratelic) in order to increase the ef­fect. To put it more simply, it comes down to the principle that two and two make five (Postle, 1989).

A feeling of security and safety is obtained by the "context" of the game: the hall, the net, the lines, the player's positions on the court etc., together with a series of strict rules of the game and the referee who enforces the rules. Within this fixed context which is predictable and safe, the badminton-players play the game. The game itself can be called the "content" of the situation which always  differs, always produces unexpected incidents of which the outcome is uncertain as well as the way in which they occur.

Synergy can also be observed in transactional emotions. By using routines from, for instance, the auto­centric state within the allocentric state, the emotional "profit" for both parties can be increased. In other words: by receiving strokes every now and then in an allocentric state in which it is basically pleasant to distribute strokes, part of the positive meaning of receiving stro­kes in the autocen­tric state can "penetrate" into and merge with the pleasant feeling of distributing strokes in the allocen­tric state. Seeing that the allocentric state domi­nates, the autocentric subrou­tines can be regulated and controlled more safely and easily. One can, as it were, choose the meta­motivational state with the mat­ching emotions and emotio­nal value (hedonic tone) and adjust better to the requirements of the moment. The effect of this is that both the gratitude (for benefitting from the interaction) and the feeling of virtue (for doing much for the other) will occur more often. Thus the emotions with a low hedonic-tone (e.g. the feeling of guilt or rancour) will occur less frequently. "Gratitude" and "virtue", occurring next to each other (and mixed with each other), thus strengthen both types of pleasant feelings (= synergy). This synergy in which opposite ways of experiencing social relationships occur together, differs in an important respect from the telic and paratelic synergies as discussed above. There is more than one person involved. Synergy in trans­actional emotions implies the interests of another person. By enlarging the reciprocity of the interaction, the net benefit can become more attractive for both par­ties.

Transactional synergies also occur regularly in interac­tions in which there are two opposite levels of meaning:on the one hand a (social) context which provides security, familiarity and predictability and on the other hand the content of the social contact which provides tension and has the effect of raising arousal. The context must offer a sense of security and familiarity, so that a paratelic state is facilitated. The content of the contact then may induce arousal and excitement and this will be the case with events that are related to negative COEX systems (for instance: talking about your own fears and intimate prob­lems). The exciting areas (in a paratelic state) are namely exactly those areas where there is still a great deal to be learned (negative COEX systems).<br/>

In summary: the simultaneous occurrence of the restful, certain context with the exciting, thrilling content of the social contact a synergic effect is brought about which is experienced as extremely pleasant in the paratelic state. It is important that initially the safety of the context is prominent for otherwise a telic state would be facilitated and the arousal would be experienced as threatening. When the con­text is safe enough, the excitement of the content may be evoked by matters which are related to negative COEX systems.

Synergy which is based on the reciprocity of the social interaction, can influence the relationship in two ways. In the first place, it can increase arousal for the content of the contact at the moment synergies occur. So on the proximal level (at the moment that synergies occur) the contact can be extra exciting. In the second place, having a reciprocal relationship can lead ultima­tely to a feeling of ease, relaxation and rest in combination, and thus lead to a restful context. And this context in itself forms the basis for more synergies.

One implication of the above for clinical practice must now be obvious. A client in a low energy state will often be in an autocentric state and hence be economical with the social attention he or she pays. But it is exactly this economizing that diminishes the benefits of the client's social interactions, seeing as there can be no question of synergies. The responsibility of the therapist must then be to create such a climate that (1) the client is offered the possibility to settle down in the relations­hip with the therapist and (2) the client is encoura­ged to gradually invest a little more social attention, so that a reciprocal interaction will become possible again. In this way the client will be offered the opportunity to accumulate ener­gy.

=== 2.8. Conditions for Synergetic Effects ===

 

Postle (1988, in his publication on: "...the results of enquiries into how synergy, high energy creative col­laboration, can best be promoted...", arrives at a number of interpersonal skills required for syner­getic effects. He distinguishes two types of interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills can be focussed on (1) being able to communicate clearly and make choi­ces, and on (2) regulating emotions and fee­lings. When, in the groups Postle was working with, no attention was paid to the second type of interpersonal skills, behaviours recurred which resulted in pola­rization on the division of the group into parties and also lead to sudden changes in moods and feelings of the members of the group. This occurred especially when the members of the group were enthusiastic and wanted to devote themselves to the purpose of the group (for in­stance, making a T.V. production). Postle then states that when members of the group are very enthusiastic and as a consequence are strongly aroused it is extremely difficult to maintain co-operati­ve behaviour. As soon as self-interest emerged, the result was that co-opera­tion suddenly ended, resulting in conflicts, argu­ments and mutual hostility.  

* able to freely express both positive and negative feelings.

* able to hold on to feelings when appropriate.

* able to tolerate the expression of others.

* aware of the transference and countertransference and diligent in seeking it out and dealing with it (transference means to interpret the present situation in terms of earlier experiences)

* aware of the significant patterns of their state-specific learning and how they are manifest in present time."                       (Postle, 1989, p. 12)

"...promoting the growth and development of the people with whom (one) relates."

                                  (Swensen, 1977, p. 46)

"...cherishing individual differences. He has transcended conflict and reconciled the polarities. He has put it all together."

                                  (Swensen, 1977, p. 46)

The ability to express both negative and positive feelings results in the individual being able to the other for strokes and it becomes more clear how this individual functions.  

In addition the strokes will then often be more effective. Being able to persist in your fee­lings when they are valid and approprate to the situation, means that one provides clarity about oneself while at the same time standing up for one's own feelings, so that the other can, in turn react appropriately. Cherishing individual differen­ces has the effect that the difference between the individuals is not considered to be distur­bing but rather as inspiring towards further contact. The above mentioned conditions render the contact generally more exciting and are thus pleasant when both persons are in a paratelic state.

All in all most conditions seem to influence the experienced safety of the context. This is, in view of regarding the energy dependent basis of development, in our view no surprising result. The context of the contact obviously influences the degree to which and the ease with which a person can settle down (see Bowlby's research, 1977, p. 41). This implies that social contacts influence the learning spirals as described in chapter 1.

=== 2.9. Social Contacts and Positive or Negative Learning Spi­rals ===

The facilitating effect of "good" social relationships on development lies, according to the CEL-model, especially in the security and relaxation the contact offers. When suffi­cient security and safety originate from such a context, the content of the social interaction can be more exciting and envigorating. The security of the context results in a stronger sense of control. Having the sense that one can control the situation well means that (provi­ded that this really is the case) the individual can more often easily relex at the moment he or she is in a telic state. Moreover, the very feeling of having the situation under con­trol is safe and hence diminishes arousal. Being able to settle down more often has the effect that the the individual more often has the opportunity to replenish the energy resources and to process and "digest" the expe­riences. Replenishing the energy supply means that the individual will be in the paratelic state more often and will build up, in an explorative way, an surplus of experience. Such a surplus results "automa­tically" in neces­sity-orientated behavioural strategies (see chapter 1) and hence in a more efficient and economical represen­tation of reality. This means, in turn, that an individual will be better able to organize his social contacts in such a way that they regularly produce security, relaxation, etc.

Such a clear-cut "one-way traffic" in the direction of a good or a bad development will mostly be more ambiguous, as in the meantime other relationships and other situations can also assert their in­fluence. Still, it is good to realize that in a short period of time an individu­al can, in spite of, or better still despite his or her social contacts, end up in a negative learning spiral. This seems to be specifically relevant when a person needs extra time to process a life-event (for in­stance, the loss of the partner).

Rogers mentions in the work quoted above yet another important aspect of relationships, namely that both parties in a relationship start to function less well because of what he calls communicated incongruity. He means that the par­ties in a relationship influence each others psycholo­gical "adaptation".

 

As in the paragraph on the conditions for syner­getic effects, we will first mention a number of examples from the literature and then discuss these from the point of view of the CEL-model. The examples also serve to illustrate the concept of contagiousness of psychologi­cal adaptation, and are not intended as an exhaustive list or as profound analysis.

Considered from the CEL-model, such a connection between laborious relationships and other problems relating to psychological adaptation is obvious. The marriage partners, whose relationship is not sufficiently reciprocal and offers too little relaxation, disturb each other's optimum motivational sequence (Maarsingh and Van der Molen, 1990) and this easily results in a reduced psychological adap­tation in the broad sense and a chronically reduced sense of well-being (for example in depression).

Both examples originate from the realm of psychiatric aid and serve here to illustrate the concept contagiousness of psycho­logical "adaptations". They are clear because they both had a pronounced effect. Nonetheless, in our view, it is suf­ficient to study one's own relationships in order to recognize the contagiousness of moods and emotions in particular. But also the feeling of loosing energy in certain contacts is for most people a not un­familiar phenomenon. Such phenomena occur according to the CEL-model in particular (we repeat) when the contact is characterized by misunderstanding (strokes are not effec­tive) and tension, while both are in a telic state. For example, when one party constantly tries to demand attention and the other constantly has to give. Especially when both persons are in an autocentric state, they will not be able to relate.

The most obvious next step in our view is to check what can be found in the literature in the field of social contacts and the influences thereof on the learning process. In other words, to check whether the predic­tions which can be sifted from the CEL-model can indeed can be traced in the research literature. To that end the research on social support seems most relevant.

=== 2.11. Social Support: Data from Effectivity Research and what has been missing up till now ===

In our view we can conclude from this cumulation of empirical material that both effects do indeed occur. Direct and buffer effects can mediate psychological consequences of stressful circumstances.  

" It is further remarkable that regular reports  of negative connections between (direct effects of) social support and well-being are reported(...). The results in relation to the possible buffer function of social support with stress at work, are even less convincing than those in relation to the direct effects."

So these predictions of the CEL-model in relation to the ef­fects of social support are also valid. For many a support scheme this is not a very en­couraging result, as an explicit attempt is made in such cases to promote social support in such a way that it facilitates development. The main reason why nega­tive effects of social support are also found is that little is known about the mechanism of supportive processes and therefore it remains unclear what precisely has to be done and when.

"We currently lack an understanding of supportive processes."

�"... we know little about what aspects of support are really supportive, and from whom, through what mechanism, and under what conditions support can be beneficial (or harmful)."                 (Thoits, 1985, p. 52)

"Little systematic research has been done  on psychological mechanisms which can explain the direct and buffer function of social support."

=== 2.12. Summary and Conclusions ===

In this chapter, an extension was presented of the Cognition-Energy-Learning model. In order to be able to draw up a number of conditions for the evolution of social processes, we first adopted an ethological viewpoint. This enabled us to design a likely monitoring system of social interactive processes. Subsequently those conditions were integrated into a model which implies a bistable or­ganization of social interactions. These two states in fact correspond to the allocentric and the autocentric state, as described by Apter. In the allocentric state the individual is not so much oriented towards personal social gains, but identifies him/herself with the other. The benefits for the other are then the primary determinant for the hedonic tone. In the autocentric state the reverse is true; the benefits of the interaction are experienced and appreciated as pleasant when the person himself is the receiver.

The interplay between social interactions and the dynamic state of the learning process was further elucidated in the light of transactional and somatic emotions.

By including a social exchange unit (strokes) to Apter's explanation of transactional emotions and discussing the implications thereof, a number of processes were clari­fied which until now had not been explained sufficient­ly. Examples of these are synergetic effects, contagiousness of psychological adaptation and the processes behind social support.

Synergies can facilitate the individual learning pro­cess, but this will only take place when the person involved is in a paratelic state. The influen­ce of a social contact on the learning process proceeds, according to the CEL model, mainly via the certainty, security and relaxation which the contact can or cannot provide. In other words, if a contact influences the alternation between paratelic and telic states, the contact will influence the development. This can be an influence which facilitates psychological adaptation, but it also can be an influence which obstructs this adaptation.

From the research literature on social support it is not clear which processes do what. The CEL modelas developed here allows us to make predictions on the question when social support can be active and when absolutely not, and thus contributes to a useful definition of social support.

In view of the conditions which a contact must fulfill in order to facilitate develop­ment, predictions can be made about the relationship be­tween a therapist and a client. According to the CEL model the security which a contact can offer is the most impor­tant predictor of success and this is also an important con­dition for a therapeutic relationship. It was argued that the content of a contact can be more exciting when the context of that contact offers more security. According to the CEL model, this also has consequences for the success rate in psychiatric relief work. If we may assume that talking about intimate problems contributes to pro­cessing and digesting them, a rela­tionship which offers the space (in terms of energy), needed for an exciting content, will contribute to this processing of experience. This happens more or less automatically because the areas of experience which were represented as exci­ting also are the areas which contribute maximally to development once they are provided with necessity-oriented cognitive representations. In terms of Vygotsky (in Parreren and Carpay, 1980) it can be said that the exciting areas are the potential areas of further development. In these areas one can learn most. Is the context not secure and relaxing enough, the CEL model predicts that the client will prefe­r not to broach the relevant areas of experience in the conversation or at least will find it very difficult.

Another aspect of the CEL model as developed so far, is that predictions can be made about for example the attribution of emotional labels to objects, situations and experiences. In view of Czapinksi`s re­search (see chapter 1) it may be expected that the mass of experiences which are not directly interesting, will "end up" in a diffuse, slightly positive cognitive background field. Only the experiences with a pronounced emotional "colour" are pro­cessed well or represented as problematic areas of ex­perience. The advantage of such a representa­tion system is that, as soon as there is a surplus of energy, one can ex­periment in the areas which are known to be problematic areas of experiences. And these are exactly the areas which can provide the most new and relevant information.

Finally we provide a short recapitulation of all implications of the model. In the first place, the CEL model indicates how the learning process depends on a person's energy state. Moreover, this also explains how the lear­ning process is controlled by emotions. Subsequently, from the detailed description of the learning process, predictions can be infered concerning cognitive processes. The way in which the experiences are represented (in COEX systems) as well as the gradual shifts in those representations are described. It is further clarified how a certain cognitive representation, with concomitant behaviour-procedural characteristics (neces­sity- or suf­ficiency-oriented recipes) leads to specific types of behavi­our. The CEL moreover allows detailed predictions about the possibilities of intervening in the development of a person by redirecting the basis of this development, energy management. With this a model was developed which describes how social interactions are regulated once again via emotions. All in all the CEL modelis an attempt to integrate a number of phenomena which generally belong to distinct and more or less incom­patible areas of research. The reported phenomena range from ethological and biolo­gical influences through motivation and learning processes to cognitive representations and social interactions.

The research which has thus far been discussed in relation to the CEL model was collected more or less ad hoc, seeing as little research has as yet especially been set up for testing hypotheses stemming from this model. This is of course not so surprising since the CEL model is still being developed. From the previous chapter it must however be clear that the CEL model more than adequately allows substantial predictions to be made that can be tested empirically.

   chapter=Reversal theory as a theory of the emotions