What's this phenomenon called?

[dstebbins]

The phenomenon I'm thinking of is an aspect of human behavior. It's the one where a person doesn't adhere to his expected, practiced rehearsed format when the circumstances behind the event change unexpectedly.

 

Does that make sense? Well, here's an example:

 

In the award-winning book "The Giver," Jonas is expecting to be called to become a legal adult, and subsequently be given his job assignment, immediately after the person with the number "Eleven-Eighteen," since he is "Eleven-Nineteen." He was preparing to walk on-stage in the specific style he had been practicing for months. However, much to his surprise, the person conducting the ceremony skips over him and goes straight to Eleven-Twenty. Only when she finished the ceremony did she finally retrace her steps and head over to Jonas. However, when he walked on-stage, his practiced walking style was totally out the window; because the circumstances had changed in a way he didn't anticipate, his walk was extremely sloppy.

 

I've observed this phenomenon many times before in my own behavior and patterns. When something doesn't go as planned, my exact posture and form take a serious drop in quality, since I was, at that point, quasi-improvising.

 

But, what is this phenomenon called? Does it even have a scientific name?

[dstebbins]

Does nobody know the answer to this?

[fiveworlds]

Hang on ... I'll watch the movie first okay?

 

The phenomenon I'm thinking of is an aspect of human behavior. It's the one where a person doesn't adhere to his expected, practiced rehearsed format when the circumstances behind the event change unexpectedly.

 

 

Conflict Theory of Deviance (Karl Marx 1818-1883)

Edited September 21, 2014 by fiveworlds

[dstebbins]

Conflict Theory of Deviance (Karl Marx 1818-1883)

I googled that concept, and that's ... not even remotely CLOSE to what I described.

 

What I was able to get abut that the "Conflict Theory of Deviance" concerned economic class warfare, not subconscious behavior triggered by unexpected changes in circumstance.

[iNow]

Cognitive shift?

Psychoperceptual expectation misalignment?

Counter anticipatory anxiety?

Surprise?

Confusion?

Unexpected outcome?

 

I'm really just making stuff up...You could call it anything, really. You expected one thing to happen so the practice you performed beforehand was specific to that thing or those specific circumstances. When circumstances changed, you'd not practiced adaptability and so failed to properly cope, therefore your previous practice was insufficient in the dynamic setting and incapable achieving the intended outcome when circumstances changed.

[dstebbins]

Cognitive shift?

Psychoperceptual expectation misalignment?

Counter anticipatory anxiety?

Surprise?

Confusion?

Unexpected outcome?

 

I'm really just making stuff up...You could call it anything, really. You expected one thing to happen so the practice you performed beforehand was specific to that thing or those specific circumstances. When circumstances changed, you'd not practiced adaptability and so failed to properly cope, therefore your previous practice was insufficient in the dynamic setting and incapable achieving the intended outcome when circumstances changed.

 

Surely there has to be an official scientific name for this, though, right? I mean... this is an observable aspect of human behavior. I may have given only a single pop culture example out of a famous book, but that isn't the only time it's happened; it's just the only example I can think of where 99% of people would know the example I'm talking about.

 

Everything has to have a name. That's the "sciencey" way.

[fiveworlds]

What I was able to get abut that the "Conflict Theory of Deviance" concerned economic class warfare, not subconscious behavior triggered by unexpected changes in circumstance.

 

 

Deviance - actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally enacted rules (e.g., crime),^[1] as well as informal violations of social norms

Conflict Theory - The institution's ability to change norms, wealth or status comes into conflict with the individual. The legal rights of poor folks might be ignored, middle class are also accept; they side with the elites rather than the poor, thinking they might rise to the top by supporting the status quo. Conflict theory is based upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces operating within society.

A norm is a group-held belief about how members should behave in a given context.

 

In this case the institution changed the norm which comes into conflict with Jonas. When the ceremony skips over him and goes straight to Eleven-Twenty

 

Conflict theory of Deviance isn't the formal name I just called it that because it was a description by Karl Marx of a particular type of Deviance. Marx himself did not write about deviant behavior but he wrote about alienation amongst the proletariat—as well as between the proletariat and the finished product—which causes conflict, and thus deviant behavior.

 

Wikipedia contributors, "Deviance (sociology)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deviance_(sociology)&oldid=624043841 (accessed September 22, 2014).

Edited September 22, 2014 by fiveworlds

[Phi for All]

This seems similar to when you're talking to someone and anticipate their response incorrectly. For example, I run into a friend on the street, he asks how things are, I tell him I'm flying out on business later that day, we exchange a few more pleasantries, and as we part I anticipate that he's going to say, "Have a great day!" Instead, he says, "Have a great trip!" and I respond with, "You too!", which is completely wrong since he's not going anywhere and now I have to correct myself. Awkward!

 

In part, this is a flexibility issue. If we think too rigidly, we become predictable and have a harder time adapting to change. It seems like a perceptual shift; in the example the OP gives, the character focused on a single instance of public display and over-rehearsed it, rather than honing overall public display skills and adapting them to fit the circumstance. An analogous situation would be in martial arts; I'm sure there are styles that rely on a series of specific moves to achieve a certain outcome, and then there are styles like jiu-jitsu, where it's all about learning the general skills, and then only reacting to what your opponent actually does. The latter style is more flexible, and adapts well to changing circumstances.

[dstebbins]

In part, this is a flexibility issue. If we think too rigidly, we become predictable and have a harder time adapting to change. It seems like a perceptual shift; in the example the OP gives, the character focused on a single instance of public display and over-rehearsed it, rather than honing overall public display skills and adapting them to fit the circumstance. An analogous situation would be in martial arts; I'm sure there are styles that rely on a series of specific moves to achieve a certain outcome, and then there are styles like jiu-jitsu, where it's all about learning the general skills, and then only reacting to what your opponent actually does. The latter style is more flexible, and adapts well to changing circumstances.

Fine! That's all fine and good!

 

But ...

 

WHAT IS IT CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLED?!

[iNow]

Everything has to have a name.

But ...

 

WHAT IS IT CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLED?!

How about, "Susan?"

Maybe, "Herman?"

 

Or, perhaps you could refer to it as Expectation Conflict Induced Performance Inhibition.

[Phi for All]

WHAT IS IT CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLED?!

Or, perhaps you could refer to it as Expectation Conflict Induced Performance Inhibition.

 

I've already started thinking of it as "destebbins" for short. As in, "D'oh, I was SO prepared, but then the boss told MY joke and I was completely destebbinsed!"