J. Lack The Neurophysiology Of Conflict A Mediators Perspective (Cisa, Geneva, 17.12.08)

The Neurophysiology of Conflict:A Mediator’s Perspective

Jeremy LACK

1 © B. Sambeth Glasner & J. Lack 2008. All rights reserved. www.altenburger.ch

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Jeremy LACK

Counsel & Attorney-at-Law, ALTENBURGER (CH)Door Tenant, QUADRANT CHAMBERS (UK)Counsel PCZLAW (US)Commercial Mediator (SCCM, WIPO, CEDR, CMAP, IPOS)

Outline

Part I: Introduction to Conflict Resolution methodologies (mediation)

Part II: An attempt to look at the brain & techniques in mediation



General Caveat

This sort of presentation is particularly dangerous when given by unqualified, non-scientific, dilettante, lawyers!

This presentation will beNon-scientific


• Non-scientific• Non-empirical• Fundamentally flawed• Highly subjective

Some of this will be blindingly obvious (e.g., Mr. Jourdainreciting prose).

“Your brain is divided into twohemispheres. The left hemisphere issequential, textual, and analytical. Theright hemisphere is simultaneous,contextual, and synthetic. Of course,we enlist both halves of our brains foreven the simplest tasks. And therespective traits of the twohemispheres have often been

Metaphores only, using “brain regionalization” concepts


Concept: Michael Leathes and http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_2191000/2191138.stm

hemispheres have often beencaricatured well beyond what thescience actually reveals. But thelegitimate scientific differences betweenthe two hemispheres of the brain doyield a powerful metaphor forinterpreting our present andguiding our future.”

From the Introduction to

A WHOLE NEW MIND, Daniel Pink.

Alternative Conflict Resolution Methods

Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Least EvaluativeLeast StructuredLeast Formal

Consensual Parties in controlNEGOTIATION

MEDIATION

INDEPENDENT EXPERT APPRAISAL

Source: J. Kalowski, JOK Consulting


Most EvaluativeMost StructuredMost Formal

Adversarial Third party in control

APPRAISAL

CONCILIATION

NEUTRAL EVALUATION

ARBITRATION

ADJUDICATION

Source: J. Kalowski, JOK Consulting

AA

Resolution

Arbitration …

Source: Joanna Kalowski


AA

P1P1 P2P2

… Conciliation …

CCPrecedentJustice

ResolutionSource: Joanna Kalowski


P1P1 P2P2

Justice

OBJECTIVE FAIRNESS

Statute

P1P1 P2P2

Resolution

… Mediation

Source: Joanna Kalowski


MM

P1P1 P2P2

SUBJECTIVE FAIRNESS

“The process by which the participants, with theassistance of a neutral person or persons,systematically isolate disputed issues in order todevelop options, consider alternatives and reach aconsensual agreement that will accommodate their

A Definition of Mediation


consensual agreement that will accommodate theirneeds.”

Folberg & TaylorCommercial Mediation, 1984

This can be about issues of substance and issues of process.Mediators are NOT providing therapy or dealing with abnormal behaviour, but only seeking to use short intervention techniques, to facilitate cortical thinking in the brain.

Statistics for mediation (Source: ACB, NL 2006)

Average duration of a mediation 4 x ½ day sessions

No. of disputes resolved in a single mediation 15%

Percentage of cases reaching a settlement 79%


Willingness of the parties to repeat mediation 92%

Average value of thedispute Euro 5 million

Average cost Euro 3,500.00 / party

http://www.mediation-bedrijfsleven.nl/english.shtml

The Evolution of Man


Source: http://www.didntyouhear.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/evolution1.jpg

Conflict: We need to take a new look at ourselves

VS.


Vitruvian ManHow we like to perceive ourselves

Sensory Homunculus ManHow our brains are actually wired

VS.

Typical Approaches to Dispute Resolution

Source: J. Kalowski


The rights-based approach to dispute resolution

THE LEGAL SYLLOGISM (an equation):

Facts (past & present)+

Applicable law(s)


Applicable law(s)=

Outcomes(« conclusions »)

“We have to rely only on objective facts”.“We have a “sacred duty” to find the truth.”

Facts = Perceptions: Unconscious Biases

VS.


http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22535838-5012895,00.html

VS.

“Rational” BiasesOld v. Young Woman

http://nexusnovel.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/old-younglady.jpg

“Irrational” BiasesWhich way does she turn?

Can neutrals “escape” their mental models?


All conflicts resemble a piece of cheese …


Perception = subjective realityNB. We are NOT dealing with abnormal behaviour, nor therapy.

IncoMprehension ?

The source of disputes …


Although the “objective” aspects of the dispute may be apparent …

A dispute is never about what it is about …

The FactsThe Law(s)The Positions

Misunderstandings Perceptions


… the “subjective” aspects remain to be discovered.

PerceptionsEmotionsInterestsConcerns FeelingsBeliefsValuesNeedsFears

The Principles of Getting to Yes

• Separate the people from the problem

• Focus on interests v. positions (subj. needs v. strategies)

• Understand alternatives (BATNA/WATNA/PATNA)

• Brainstorm: invent possibilities without assessing them (in view of needs)


• Seek options for mutual gain (in view of needs)

• Assess options (in view of needs)

• Try to always use objective criteria

Although the parties can often negotiate directly there is a systemic benefit to having athird party present. The presence of and focus on a neutral tranquilizes the amygdala,and allows the other party to listen without having to react. The neutral can also helpcreate “frequency-shifting” activities.

The Diagnosis

Images andcoalitions

Deliberate loss

Actions, not words

Disagreement

The ProblemDebate+polemic

The people

1

2

3

4

5WIN-WIN

Target zone for conflict resolution


Together intothe abyss

Limited destr-uctive blows

Fragmentation of the enemy

Management ofthreat

Deliberate loss of face

5

6

7

8

9

WIN-LOSE

LOSE-LOSE

Inspired by: Tina MonbergSource: F. Glasl’s “Confronting Conflict”

Mediation has a special impact at Step 4

Fundamentals

Options

VALUES NEEDS Constraints

Strategies

ISSUES

OUTCOMES

A Holistic Approach to Conflict Resolution

Focus


Positions

Interests

Alternatives

ISSUES

OUTCOMES

Arbitration or litigation

Mediation + other ADR = “full picture” dispute resolution

The FactsThe Law(s)The Positions

Misunderstandings Perceptions

+


Mediation

=

a more complete dispute resolution

process?

PerceptionsEmotionsInterestsConcerns FeelingsBeliefsValuesNeedsFears

Outline

Part I: Introduction to Conflict Resolution methodologies (mediation)




The Triune Brain: 3 Levels of Evolution

See : Paul D. MacLean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain


Source: http://www.cop.com/info/346edb.gifSource: http://www.solarnavigator.net/biology/biology_ima

ges/brain_animal_comparisons.jpg

Emotions: A gateway for mediators

Source

: http

://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~

psyc2

20/ka

lat/JK

379.fig

12.13.amygdala_con.jp

gPerception is 100% emotional (whatever we would like to believe).

Emotions reflect our needs and interests.


http

://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~

psyc2

20/ka

lat/JK

379.fig

12.13.amygdala_con.jp

gThe amygdala act as a rapid relevance detector:They act as a switch between “reptilian” and “cortical” thinking.

Cognitive Dissonances (Leon Festinger, 1957)

If two cognitions are relevant to one another, they are eitherconsonant or dissonant. Two cognitions are consonant if one followsfrom the other, and they are dissonant if the obverse (opposite) of onecognition follows from the other. The existence of dissonance, beingpsychologically uncomfortable, motivates the person to reduce thedissonance and leads to avoidance of information likely to increase thedissonance. The greater the magnitude of the dissonance, the greateris the pressure to reduce dissonance.

Festinger’s Smoking Example: A habitual smoker who learns thatsmoking is bad for health will experience dissonance, because theknowledge that smoking is bad for health is dissonant with thecognition that he continues to smoke. He can reduce the dissonance


cognition that he continues to smoke. He can reduce the dissonanceby changing his behavior, that is, he could stop smoking, which wouldbe consonant with the cognition that smoking is bad for health.Alternatively, the smoker could reduce dissonance by changing hiscognition about the effect of smoking on health and believe thatsmoking does not have a harmful effect on health (eliminating thedissonant cognition). He might look for positive effects of smoking andbelieve that smoking reduces tension and keeps him from gainingweight (adding consonant cognitions). Or he might believe that therisk to health from smoking is negligible compared with the danger ofautomobile accidents (reducing the importance of the dissonantcognition). In addition, he might consider the enjoyment he gets fromsmoking to be a very important part of his life (increasing theimportance of consonantcognitions).

Source: Cognitive Dissonance: Progress on a Pivotal Theory in Social PsychologyEdited by Eddie Harmon-Jones and Judson Mills

http://ankb.stumbleupon.com/

A number of factors affect Cognitive Dissonances


Source: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/mawhatley/9710/cogdiss.JPG

The Amgydala: A (metaphorical) target for mediators?The amygdala:• A gateway for emotions: they createstress/fearful stimuli before the cortex has hadtime to assess them.

• A storage place for autobiographicalmemory (in ICMs?)

• Can dominate and prevent reasonedcortical thinking once activated

• A relevance detector & switch: processwhether stimuli should be treated as a threatand whether they should be reacted-to sub-cortically (without time for thought) or in


cortically (without time for thought) or inconjunction with the cortex (especially, theorbitofrontal cortex (“OFC”))

• A perception modulator: they can affecthow rapidly we absorb certain information(e.g., if a possible threat is perceived) andeven filter and distort perceptions, based onemotions and previous memories stored in theOFC.

• Basis of the OFC-Amygdala feedback circuit:the amygdala and OFC affect one-another(directly & indirectly via the hypothalamus).

• This combination determines how stimuli canbe received, processed and transmitted forfurther action by a human being.

Source: http://www.astralvoyage.com/projection/images/amygdala2.jpg

In conclusion, our data reveal a pronouncedimpact of oxytocin on amygdala reactivity and

Oxytocin & Mirror Neurons: Impact on Amygdala


impact of oxytocin on amygdala reactivity andbrainstem interactions in humans, extending alarge body of work on neuropeptide regulationof complex behavior to this species byestablishing an effect of oxytocin on a keycomponent of affective and social processing.We hope that this work will contribute to thedevelopment of therapeutic interventions withoxytocin or synthetic agonists in diseases inwhich amygdala dysfunction has beenimplicated, including anxiety disorders,depression, and autism.

Bringing Oxytocin Into the Room

• Using Emotions in Mediation (R. Fisher & D. Shapiro BEYOND REASON) 2006

- APPRECIATION

- AFFILIATION

- AUTONOMY

- STATUS

- ROLE


• Discuss basic values as to process

• Clearly identify and list on a flipchart the needs or interests of each party

• Establish a mutual recognition of the other party’s needs

• Demonstrate willingness to work towards “win-win” outcomes

• Must be genuine / authentic for it to resonate positively with mirror neurons and dampen the amygdala.

K. Cloke: Conflict Revolution “Changing the way we change”“On a purely chemical level, scientists are now aware of dozens of enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and

chemical compounds that have a critical impact on the attitudes and behaviors of people undergoing change or

conflict. There is, for instance, adrenalin that triggers the “fight or flight” response; testosterone that stimulates

aggression; oxytocin that instills trust, increases loyalty, and promotes the “tend and befriend” response; estrogen that

triggers the release of oxytocin; endorphins that reinforce collaborative experiences with pleasure; dopamine that

generates a reward response and fortifies addiction; phenylethylaline that induces excitement and anticipation; and

vasopressin that encourages monogamy among males in a variety of species.

On a somewhat larger scale, there are genes and proteins that direct the manufacture of these chemicals and shape --

not only our physical appearance, personality traits, and predisposition to risk-taking -- but immune responses that

can be detected by means of smell, influencing perceptions of attractiveness and repulsion.


In addition, there are a host of other chemical compounds and prescription drugs that are capable of accentuating or

minimizing, instigating or discouraging collaborative and adversarial behaviors, both in change and conflict. For

example, scientists have traced the development of empathy in primates, including human beings, to “mirror

neurons” that fire in the brain of an observer, replicating the experience the one who is observed. Thus, when we

watch someone suffer or become frightened, similar neurons fire in our brains, reproducing those experiences.

On a more macroscopic scale, the brain is divided into two hemispheres, each of which processes conflict and change

experiences somewhat differently, emphasizing logical reasoning, linear thinking, pattern perception, and emotional

responses. The brain is subdivided into regions that directly influence conflict behaviors. There is, for example, the

ventral tegmental area that reinforces the reward circuit; the nucleus accumbens directly beneath the frontal cortex

that releases oxytocin; the hypothalamus that produces testosterone; and most importantly, the amygdala, an almond

shaped region near the brain stem that regulates our conflict and change responses, especially anger and fear.”

Conflict Revolution: Mediating Evil, War, Injustice and Terrorism, Janis Publications (2008) pp. 337-38

1. Translating between the Cortical and Reptilian Pathways

What happens if we believe our needs are threatened? Can we “shift frequencies” by “translating” reptilian expression/perception into cortical thought/perception?

We responddifferently to stimuli …

SPEA

GIRAFFE WOLF


stimuli …

Dependingon how wehear them …

Source: Marshall Rosenberg: “Nonviolent Communication”

AK

HEAR

Frames, Biases, and Rational Decision-Making in the Human BrainBenedetto De Martino,* Dharshan Kumaran, Ben Seymour, Raymond J. Dolan; Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience (UK)

Human choices are remarkably susceptible to themanner in which options are presented. This so-called "framing effect" represents a strikingviolation of standard economic accounts ofhuman rationality, although its underlyingneurobiology is not understood. We found that

2. Reframing & Creating Choices


neurobiology is not understood. We found thatthe framing effect was specifically associated withamygdala activity, suggesting a key role for anemotional system in mediating decision biases.Moreover, across individuals, orbital and medialprefrontal cortex activity predicted a reducedsusceptibility to the framing effect. This findinghighlights the importance of incorporatingemotional processes within models of humanchoice and suggests how the brain may modulatethe effect of these biasing influences toapproximate rationality.

Science 4 August 2006: Vol. 313. no. 5787, pp. 684 – 687

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows

amygdala activity that represents an emotional signal,

which pushes subjects to keep sure money and gamble

instead of taking a loss in gaming simulations. Activity in

OMPFC best predicted individuals' susceptibility to the

framing effect. De Martino speculates that the OMPFC

integrates emotional signals from the amygdala with

cognitive information, such as the knowledge that both

options are equally good. "People who are more rational

don't perceive emotion less, they just regulate it better."Source http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/08/the_framing_eff.html

3. Looping -- a “frequency-shifting” technique

1. You inquire 2. The other person responds3. You demonstrate your understanding and test it with the other person

4.Did they confirm your understanding?(a) If no, go back to step 1


(a) If no, go back to step 1(b) If yes, ask another question and “loop” again.

Can the disputants loop one-another’s needs? What is the effect on the amygdala/cortical interactions?

Does this induce oxcytocin release?

Based on Robert Mnookin Beyond Winning 2000 1st ed. pp. 63-65, and the teachings of Gary Friedman and Jack Himmelstein

4. Self-Awareness: The 3 Conversations in all Conflicts

1. What happened?

– Perceptions v. facts

– Intentions v. impacts

– Blame v. contributive responsibility

2. How did we feel?


2. How did we feel?

3. Self-identity

– Am I good?

– Am I competent?

– Am I worthy?

Source: D. Stone, B. Patton & S. Heen, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

1. When the … (de-personifies)

2. I feel … (facilitates expression of emotion)

4. Non-Violent Communication Formulations

An “algorithm” for avoiding amygdala activation:


3. Because I … (provides a rational basis)

4. Would you mind … (facilitates a “no” answer)?

Source: Marshall Rosenberg: “Nonviolent Communication” + David Bernstein

5. Using Structured Creativity: e.g., De Bono’s 6 Hats

Group dynamics may stimulate mirror neuron pathways and open new channels for thought


7. Other mediation techniques to stimulate new pathways

• The presence of the mediator in itself (w hoto address: judge but no power?)

• Systemic dynamics (e.g., constellation therapy)

• Using Narrative Theory (archetypes: victim, monster, warrior, magician)

• Letting off steam (the fulcrum model of emotion v. logic)

• Agreeing on points of disagreement (= parties looping one-another’s disagreements)

• Aiming for a “connection of the heart” (= parties loop one-another’s needs)

• Positive energy and humour (or surprise and consensual pressure tactics)

• Practical exercises, use of games, and recreational breaks


• Practical exercises, use of games, and recreational breaks

• Appreciative-based enquiry and possible art work

• Role playing & role reversal

• Brainstorming on options for mutual gain (without evaluating)

• Limiting discussion to personal needs only (strict definition) and how to satisfy them

• Confidence-building measures

• Extreme “out-door” exercises or team events

• Team games and joint construction projects

• NLP & mirroring back non-verbal communication

• Setting procedural steps that will guarantee outcomes (e.g., MEDALOA)

Some reactions to previous speakers‘ presentations

Per Eddie Harmon-Jones

• Focus on values and needs: The use of empathy to create sympathy early on in mediation (e.g., mutual assessment / understanding of needs) may “dampen” subsequent anger reactions. (But literature shows it is ability to showe appreciation of perspectives that matters more than ability to empathize).

• Importance of seating: being upright v. reclined chairs affects management of anger. Reclined decreases LH PFC activation.


Per James Blair

• Pathologies are not the same as “normal” people

• Focus on perceived needs and interests

• But can mediation work with psychopaths (based on a needs-oriented approach)? (According to M. Rosenberg, the answer seems to be “yes”)

• The addition/evolved need to bond: modulation (but not impairment) of mirror neurons and oxytocin affecting motivation?

• Can one aim for a “Connection of the heart” – establishing mutual recognition of needs?

• Must be genuine / authentic for it to resonate with mirror neurons

Fundamentals

Options

VALUES NEEDS Constraints

Strategies

ISSUES

OUTCOMES

A Holistic Approach to Conflict Resolution

Focus


Positions

Interests

Alternatives

ISSUES

OUTCOMES

J. Lack The Neurophysiology Of Conflict A Mediators Perspective (Cisa, Geneva, 17.12.08)

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Transcript of J. Lack The Neurophysiology Of Conflict A Mediators Perspective (Cisa, Geneva, 17.12.08)