From: Hermit (virus@hermit.net)
Date: Fri Sep 19 2003 - 12:45:50 MDT
[Hermit] Jonathan Davis, I read the "Crash Course" article. It described the same NLP as I remembered - full of assertion, generality and platitudes - and when apparently concrete assertions are made, they are wrong. For example, how many instruments can you hear at once during a symphony? If only "7 +/- 2 bits" why do we have 100+ players in a full orchestra?
What a pity you did not bother to read those criticism I provided originally. Or perhaps it is too late and you are already a "true believer"? After all:
I have generally found that people who practise NLP are not receptive or even prepared to countenance critical reviews of this field of study. Indeed, I have come to recognise that 'Hell hath no fury like an NLP practitioner scorned' as a result of daring to question some of the practises framed by NLP.
Gary Platt, "NLP: Neuro Linguistic Programming or No Longer Plausible?", 2001-05 (http://www.trainingjournal.co.uk/abstract/2001/010501.htm)
As far as the claims made here and referenced in the above paper (and notice that these are simple quantified tests, not waffly descriptions):
Predicates
Some 32 research studies looked at the validity of predicates; 21 of these studies (66 per cent) found that the use of predicates had little to no influence in building or enhancing rapport.
Representational systems
Some 36 research studies looked at the concept of representational systems; 29 of these studies (81%) found no bona fide evidence to support the use of representational systems and concluded that they did not appear to play any significant role in communication.
Eye-accessing cues
Linked to representational systems is the NLP concept of eye-accessing cues. Here it is conjectured that the movement of the eyes can indicate any number of things. It is stated that these eye-accessing movements do not always follow this pattern and that NLP practioners have to calibrate each individual they work with to be sure of their conclusions. Some 35 research groups have investigated this theory and when the findings are analysed the following results emerge.
Only eight of these studies (23%) supported the use and legitimacy of eye accessing cues.
The rest 27 (77 per cent) stated that eye-accessing cues appeared to have no significant positive or negative impact when utilised in personal interactions.
Phobia cures
Phobia cures, often using NLP 'patterns', to change and alter an individual's personal construct concerning the obsession or fear produce better results, though not overwhelming support. A pattern is a sequence of interactions between one person and another, which can allow them to perceive or reframe a situation with greater understanding or in a more positive and constructive way. Some nine research studies that have been undertaken on this issue are detailed and 56 per cent found positive evidence to support NLP's effectiveness.
A second article, referenced in the above, Dylan Morgan, "A SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT OF NLP" (http://www.hypno1.co.uk/art_nlp.htm) notes (continuous excerpt):
A few years ago Dr. Heap, Principal Clinical Psychologist for Sheffield Health Authority and lecturer at Sheffield University, did a very careful and thorough study of all the research that has been done into certain claims of NLP, citing 70 papers in all.
Specifically he was looking into the idea of the Primary Representational System (PRS), which is supposed by NLP to be a very important concept. It is claimed that people tend to think in a specific mode: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory or gustatory, of which the first three are the most common. NLP claims that it is possible to determine the PRS of a person by noticing certain words that she or he uses which will reveal the mode. It is also claimed that the direction of eye movement is an indicator of the PRS.
The reason why it is said to be important for the therapist to determine the PRS of a client is that it is supposed greatly to enhance rapport if one then matches the clients PRS.
These three assertions are capable of being put to controlled tests to determine how far they are true. Dr. Heap, who is also Secretary of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, ploughed through the literature to summarise the results of many workers and found the following.
Although the results have been mixed, the hypothesis that a person has a PRS which is observed in the choice of words has been found not to hold by the great majority of researchers.
The hypothesis that a person has a PRS which can be determined by the direction of eye movements found even less support.
The third hypothesis which was looked at is the practical one of whether or not we can improve our relationship with a client by matching the presumed PRS. Again the answer is a resounding NO. There is no evidence that focusing on the presumed modality adds anything to the widely recognised finding that matching general characteristics of verbal and nonverbal communication may facilitate rapport. It is interesting that one researcher, Cody, found that therapists matching their clients' language were rated as less trustworthy and less effective!
Dr. Heap comes to the following conclusion:[list]
[*] 'The present author is satisfied that the assertions of NLP writers concerning the representational systems have been objectively and fairly investigated and found to be lacking. These assertions are stated in unequivocal terms by the originators of NLP and it is clear from their writings that phenomena such as representational systems, predicate preferences and eye-movement patterns are claimed to be potent psychological processes, easily and convincingly demonstrable on training courses by tutors and trainees following simple instructions, and, indeed, in interactions in everyday life. Therefore, in view of the absence of any objective evidence provided by the original proponents of the PRS hypothesis, and the failure of subsequent empirical investigations to adequately support it, it may well be appropriate now to conclude that there is not, and never has been, any substance to the conjecture that people represent their world internally in a preferred mode which may be inferred from their choice of pr
edicates and from their eye movements.
[*] 'These conclusions, and the failure of investigators to convincingly demonstrate the alleged benefits of predicate matching, seriously question the role of such a procedure in counselling."[list]
NLP practioners defending their art from these charges immediately retreat into anecdote, discussion of the unconscious and claims that the analysis is biased as it is evaluating specific effects rather than the "holistic field" - which is itself, as we see in the "Crash Course" defined in such vague, imprecise and unmeasurable terms as to largely defy analysis. Most "Cold Readers" could do a much better job. Usually, as the many web forums, and even supposedly rigorous papers demonstrate, with classic "New-Agian" hysterical "positive feedback" smeared over the top. An example of such a putative defense may be found at [url=http://www.trainingjournal.co.uk/abstract/2001/020601.htm]Sue Knight, "NLP: Neuro Linguisting Programming or Never the Less Popular?", 2001-06].
The trouble is the answer you did not give to my previous question. How do you measure claims such as those made in the "Crash Course" - or above defense? Comparison of the approach, data obtained from experiment and supported by analysis, seems more compelling to me than anecdote and positive assertion.
By the way, it would be easy to devatate the "Crash Course", but as it has been done by others who were paid for their efforts, I seriously doubt the utility of doing so. The true believers won't bother reading it, and the more sensible don't need it.
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