JOINT METHOD OF AGREEMENT AND DIFFER

o o •

DESIRED RESULT absent absent absent present

3. JOINT METHOD OF AGREEMENT AND DIFFER­

ENCE (CONTRAST) - Observe which features are al­

ways present when the desired result is achieved and always absent when the result is not achieved (e.g. , the

"0" in the following example).

e.g.

4. CONCOMITANT VARIATION -Observe features which vary in direct (or inverse) relationship with the of success which the desired result has been achieved.

e.g. particular feature of a complex phenomenon is observed in association with a particular part of the desired result, then we can assume that the remaining parts of the result will be associated with the remaining features of the

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Modeling with Mill's Methods

Mill's Methods constitute the basic pattern finding pro­

cesses in NLP modeling procedures, and is the conceptual framework behind NLP strategies and techniques such as Submodality Utilization, Mapping Across, and State Man­

agement. To get a sense for how Mill's Methods are applied to modeling, try out the following simple examples of pattern finding using the various Mill's Methods. (Some possible answers are provided at the end of the exercise.)

1. Agreement: A person is asked to make a decision regarding four different financial investments. The drawings below show the posture taken by the indi­

vidual as he or she makes each decision. What is the

same about each posture?

Decision 1 Decision 2 _Decision 3 Decision 4

Mill's Method of Agreement Involves Identifying What is Similar About a Number of Examples

2. Difference: A person is asked to recall a particular detail from a complicated visual pattern. The person tries several times to remember, but struggles and is unsuccessful. Finally, on the fourth attempt, the person is able to successfully recall the detail. The following drawings depict the posture of the person during each attempt. What is different about the posture during the fourth attempt?

Attempt 1:

Unable to Recall

Attempt 2:

Unable to Recall

Attempt 3:

Unable to Recall

Attempt 4:

Able to Recall

Mill's Method of Difference Involves Identifying What is Different About a Successful Example

3. Joint Method of Agreement and Difference: A person is asked to recall and reexperience various in­

stances in which the person was either "stuck" or

"creative." The following drawings illustrate the pos­

ture of the person as he or she was reexperiencing each

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instance. What is the same about the creative states?

How is the physiology associated with the stuck state different from the creative state?

Stuck Creative Stuck Creative Creative Stuck

Mill's Joint Method of Agreement and Difference Involves Identifying What is the Same and Different

About Examples Associated with Different Results

4. Concomitant Variation: A person is asked to concen­

trate on a verbal recall task. The person is given various groups of words to remember, which the person must then repeat. Some sets are made up of easy words that rhyme with one another; other sets have more complicated words;

and some sets are made up of words from a language that the person is unfamiliar with. The person reports that it requires more concentration to recall and repeat the words from the unfamiliar language, and less concentration to remember the simple word sets. It is observed that the person's posture shifts slightly as he or she is listening to the various word sets, as shown in the following drawings.

What feature of the person's posture varies with his or her degree of concentration?

More

Concentrated Normal Concentration

Less Concentrated

Mill's Method of Concomitant Variation Involves Identifying What Features Change as the Result

Varies

5. Residues: A person enters a "Dreamer" state, and displays the physical position shown in the drawing below. The person describes the state as being relaxed, balanced and involving visual imagination." Through questioning and observation it is determined that the person's head and eye position (looking up) are associ­

ated with his or her visualizing ability. What other aspects of the state might be associated with the re­

maining physical features; such as, the person's body posture (leaning back), and the position of the person's arms and legs (symmetrical)?

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Position Visualization

Posture ----�� ?

__ Position of ___.. ? Arms & Legs

"Dreamer" State:

Relaxed, Balanced, Use of Visualization

According to Mill's Method of Residues, Different Aspects of a Complex Result Come From Different

Patterns in the System that Produced the Result

Some possible answers to the exercise questions are:

1. Agreement: The position of the person's legs and pelvis are the same in each example (i.e., symmetrical and stable); and the upper part of the person's body (the torso) is tilted to the person's right.

2. Difference: The person's head is tilted up and to his or her left; and the posture appears to be slightly more erect.

3. Joint Method of Agreement and Difference: In all of the

"creative" states, the person's head is tilted up and to his or her right; and the person's weight appears to be placed slightly more on the left leg. The physiology of the "stuck"

states differ from the "creative" state physiology in that the head is always in a different position; and the weight of the body appears to be shifted onto the right leg.

4. Concomitant Variation: The position of the person's upper body (torso) varies with the degree of concentra­

tion; i.e., the person leans more forward when concen­

trating more intently, and leans backward when requiring less concentration.

5. Residues: The person's body posture (leaning back) is possibly related to the feeling of "being relaxed;" and the symmetry of the person's arms and legs may be associ­

ated with the sense of "balance." To test this hypothesis, the person could be asked to cross one of his or her legs or arms over the other (producing a physical asymme­

try) while maintaining an elevated head position and continuing to lean back (as in the following drawing).

The person could then be asked what has shifted with respect to the state. If the person reports feeling less

"balanced," with one arm crossed over the other, for instance, then it can be assumed that there is a relation between the symmetry of the person's arm position and the person's sense of "balance."

Shifting One Feature, While Holding the Others Constant, Helps to Determine What Impact That

Feature Has On the Results

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Possible Fallacies in the Mill's Methods

When modeling, it is important to always keep in mind

The Mill's method of Difference, if applied exclusively, can produce the type of thinking that creates superstitions. For instance, let's say a person has purchased many lottery difference that accompanied the result of winning the lottery, wearing them is not necessarily causally related. The fear of bad luck resulting from breaking a mirror, a black cat crossing one's path, walking under a ladder, or Friday the 13th, etc., are other examples of superstitions that can get started as a result of using Mill's Method of Difference without any other form of testing or verification.

Similarly, the fact that a Contrastive Analysis (the Joint Method of Agreement and Difference) can demonstrate that the main works of genius in the past several centuries can be definitely associated with Caucasian males of European

descent does not mean that women or non-Europeans are incapable of genius. Other factors such as cultural support, gender roles, and even definitions of "genius" (what Aristotle would call "formal causes"), may create biases and filters that influence who is recognized as a genius, and who is given the necessary opportunities and encouragement.

Other fallacies can occur in relation to Concomitant Varia­

tion. Statisticians, for example, report a correlation between the amount of ice cream people eat and the incidence of drowning. To assume a causal relationship between the two, however, may be jumping to conclusions. Both the amount of

ice cream that is eaten and the number of people that go swimming increase during the Summer because the weather is warmer, not necessarily because there is any direct connec­

tion between eating ice cream and drowning per se.

The method of Residues (Process of Elimination) is also subject to fallacies. Consider the doctor who says to his or her patient, "Well, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is, nine out of ten patients die from the treatment I am going to recommend. The good news is, my last nine patients died from my treatment, so you must be the lucky tenth person who will survive."

Pattern verification procedures, such as seeking counter examples, and perceiving causal relationships from a more systemic perspective, are necessary to prevent the types of fallacies described above.

Mill's Methods all presuppose the observation of several examples or instances of the phenomenon or performance being examined. In fact, a minimum number of examples is important in order to be able to definitely identify a pattern.

From an NLP perspective, that minimum number is three. A feature that appears in one example of a successful perfor­

mance forms the basis, along with many other possibilities, of a potential pattern. A feature that reoccurs in two examples of successful performances suggests that a particu­

lar pattern may, in fact, be present. A feature that is present

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in three examples begins to become convincing evidence that a pattern does indeed exist.

The ultimate criterion for identifying patterns in model­

ing, however, is that, when you apply the feature, you are able to achieve the result. A "pattern" cannot truly be tested or evaluated until it is put to use.