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Discovering Distorted Thinking

Step One: Detailed Situation

When the Psychology teacher finally gave us the group assignment, I was sure that we would produce quality work especially considering that I was working with my closest friends. I expected my friends to make the necessary follow up and get clarifications from the teacher regarding the assignment. Unfortunately, I would not attend class on that particular day because I had other emergency issue to attend to.

I presumed that my friends understood the implications of not making inquiries regarding the assignment on that particular day. On coming back, I requested my friends to meet after classes so that we would start working on the assignment. During the meeting, I suggested that each person picks one question since they were three interrelated questions. My friends objected to this and instead suggested we hand each question together. This according to them would enable us have a better understanding of the entire question. We argued for a while but finally, we settled on the later suggestion. I was sad because I felt that they did not appreciate the importance of my suggestions. Nonetheless, we agreed on meeting the following day to start working on the assignment.

When I reviewed the questions later on, I found that there were some inconsistencies but believed that my friends had made clarifications with the teacher. However, this was not so the next day and I felt bitter because of the irresponsibility that had been portrayed by my friends in this regard. This from my point of view was an obvious mistake that they should have identified and clarified in a timely manner. I believed my friends were less concerned about academics and did not accord it the seriousness it deserves. I was very upset by this and postponed the meeting to a later date, after clarifications had been made accordingly. My efforts to contact the teacher were fruitless and we were forced to handle the question with uncertainty. We were awarded a lower grade because of this. I felt depressed and found it pointless to work towards getting an A in this paper.

Step Three and Four: Identification and Alteration of Distortions

Undoubtedly, the preceding scenario has various thought distortions that need to be altered in order to eliminate fallacious thoughts. The distortion in the first underlined sentence pertains to mind reading or making assumptions. In this regard, I assumed that my friends knew what is expected of them and did not make any efforts to find out what they were thinking or if this was the case. Fisher indicates that basing decisions on assumptions can be disastrous in the long run (73). The sentence should instead read as, ‘I called my friends and confirmed that they understood the implications of not making inquiries regarding the assignment on that particular day’. The second underlined sentence has an emotional reasoning distortion. In this regard, I believed the bitterness I was feeling had been caused by my friends’ irresponsibility. According to Paul and elder, one needs to refrain from placing undue emphasis on the feelings because they are misguiding (53). The correct sentence should read ‘however, this was not so the next day and I felt upset for having not having done this myself’.

The third sentence that has been underlined was limited by the limitation of should. In this respect, I perceived the problem from the point of view of inflexible rules (Damer 41). The correct sentence needs to be ‘This from my point of view was an obvious mistake that they could have identified and clarified in a timely manner’. The fourth underlined sentence is limited by the overgeneralization distortion. The current scenario made me believe that my friends were less concerned with their academics in general. The correct sentence should read ‘I believed my friends were less concerned about this psychology paper and did not accord it the seriousness it deserved.’ The last sentence has an emotional reasoning distortion. In this respect, I felt depressed and even decided to stop working hard in psychology altogether. Pirie argues that the inherent skepticism of this distortion makes one to act on emotions as opposed to facing issues objectively (33). The correct sentence should be ‘although I felt depressed, I decided to work hard in other areas in order to boost my performance’.

Step Five: Rewriting the Situation

When the Psychology teacher finally gave us the group assignment, I was sure that we would produce quality work especially considering that I was working with my closest friends. I expected my friends to make the necessary follow up and get clarifications from the teacher regarding the assignment. Unfortunately, I would not attend class on that particular day because I had other emergency issue to attend to.

I called my friends and confirmed that they understood the implications of not making inquiries regarding the assignment on that particular day. On coming back, I requested my friends to meet after classes so that we would start working on the assignment. During the meeting, I suggested that each person picks one question since they were three interrelated questions. My friends objected to this and instead suggested we hand each question together. This according to them would enable us have a better understanding of the entire question. We argued for a while but finally, we settled on the later suggestion. I was sad because I felt that they did not appreciate the importance of my suggestions. Nonetheless, we agreed on meeting the following day to start working on the assignment.

When I reviewed the questions later on, I found that there were some inconsistencies but believed that my friends had made clarifications with the teacher. However, this was not so the next day and I felt upset for not having done this myself. This from my point of view was an obvious mistake that they could have identified and clarified in a timely manner. I believed my friends were less concerned about this psychology paper and did not accord it the seriousness it deserved. I was very upset by this and postponed the meeting to a later date, after clarifications had been made accordingly. My efforts to contact the teacher were fruitless and we were forced to handle the question with uncertainty. We were awarded a lower grade because of this. Although I felt depressed, I decided to work hard in other areas in order to boost my performance.

Step Six: description of My Feelings

At this point, it can not be disputed that distorted thinking impacts negatively on our decision making. Discovering distortions in my thought processes was insightful and it enabled me to understand why my decisions in some instances never bear desirable results. In underscoring the distortions was liberating and had a positive impact on my perceptions or view points. In general, the process was not only informative but also inspiring.

Works Cited

Damer Edward. Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments. New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2008. Print.

Fisher, Alec. Critical Thinking. Cambridge: University Press, 2001. Print.

Paul Ruchard and Elder Linda. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of your Professional and Personal Life. USA: FT Press, 2002. Print.

Pirie, Madsen. How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic. USA: Continuum, 2007. Print.