Reticular Activating System

1. Reticular Activating System Understanding the powerful influence our expectations have on our desired outcomes.

2. Objectives: • Students will be able to describe how their expectations affect what happens in their lives. • Students will be able to illustrate how their expectations of others affect their relationships those people.

3. MY View • Answer the questions on your handout. These are your own beliefs, there is no right or wrong answer.

4. Hidden Picture Activity • Look at the picture and attempt to find as many hidden objects as you can. Circle each object. • You will have 7 minutes to find as many as you can. Then you will have a chance to look at the key.

5. Mammoth - Key

6. Hidden Picture Activity • How hard was it for you to find hidden objects? • Why?

7. Look at the KEY for the next hidden picture activity.You will have 2 minutes to review the key.Now look at the picture and attempt to find as many hidden objects as you can. Circle each object.You will have 5 minutes to find as many as you can. Then you will have a chance to look at the key.Johnny Appleseed

8. Why do you think it was easier the second time despite having less time?

9. Reticular Activating System “Have you ever noticed when you’re out on the road that as soon as someone mentions red cars, you seem to see a lot more red cars than at any other time? There are no more red cars on the road then than at any other time. You are simply more aware of red cars and less aware of the others, so it seems as if there are more red cars. That’s your Reticular Activating System at work. The Reticular Activating System is a part of the brain that acts like an information filter. It screens out certain information and lets other kinds of information through.”

10. Reticular Activating System “How does it know which information to let in and which to keep out? You program it with self-talk and expectations. If your expectations are positive, you program your RAS to admit information about positive behavior and to screen out information about negative behavior. Our RAS sets us up to notice the things that confirm our expectations, which in turn, reinforce our original expectations. The stronger the expectation, the more things the RAS screens out that doesn’t agree with our expectations.

11. How can we change negative expectations to positive expectations? • Choose to get rid of the negative expectation. • Change your vocabulary. Create a positive statement to replace the negative statement. • New vocabulary helps you create a new positive attitude. I CAN ATTITUDE. • Your RAS will start programming your body to more often repeat the positive expectation. • The behavior you expected is the behavior you will begin doing more and more often.

12. Think of some high expectations for now until the end of the school year and write a goal in each of the following areas: Be as specific as you can: • Attendance (what is the most days you will allow yourself to miss?) • Tardies (what is the minimum?) • Grades (what grades for each class this quarter?) • Credits (how many credits are they aiming to get? Can they catch up on any?) • Level System (maintain what level? Do they want to strive for level 4? For how long?)

13. How many human faces can you find in this picture?There are probably more than you first see, so keep trying.How did you do?