PHI105

Cognitive Distortions Worksheet

Name: Geno Dela Cruz

1) Read Chapter 3 in the course textbook.
2) Complete the table below using the information from the textbook.
3) Choose a total of 5 cognitive distortions.
4) GCU style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
5) An example is provided below in red.

Selected Cognitive Distortion
Definition of Cognitive Distortion
Please respond to the prompts below (a,b,c,d) for each cognitive distortion you choose. Each response should be 150-200 words.
a) Provide an example of a cognitive distortion from your personal life.
b) How did the cognitive distortion affect your critical thinking?
c) How could you manage the emotions associated with this cognitive distortion in the future?
d) How will you avoid using this cognitive distortion in the persuasive essay you are writing for this class?
Always Being Right
It is impossible to be wrong.
a) My favorite baseball team is the best of all time, and no one could tell me otherwise. I did not do any research to support this claim, but I just know my favorite baseball team is the best.
b) I am so caught up in being right that I am unable to comprehend the actual statistics about other baseball teams. If someone tries to argue with me and provide information that could prove me wrong, I will dismiss it because I want to be right.
c) I should consider factual baseball statistics, and try to understand that my favorite team may not be the best simply because it is my favorite and I want to be right.
d) I will make sure to consider multiple points of view and factual information in addition to what I think I know and/or what I want to be the outcome. I will support my claims with relevant scholarly research from the GCU library showing that I have considered the possibility of other arguments.
Should

A fixed set of notions about how everyone should behave.

a) I shouldn’t use that source for my research project.
b) I was so caught in thinking that instead of being positive I chose to be angry and frustrated at myself for the things I have done
c) I would manage my emotions by not using this phrase and instead to think in a positive way as to not make myself feel guilty or be frustrated at my own failings.
d) I will avoid this statement in my persuasive essay as it makes the audience feel like you are not understanding your own essay and possibly would make the audience less interested as it makes you seem like you are not knowledgeable at your subject.
Personalization

A cognitive distortion wherein an individual believes that everything someone else does or says is some type of personal or direct reaction.

a) This shows what kind of mother I am.
b) This way of thinking can bring a person down and may think less of him/her. However I am not that kind of person to be put down that easily. It change my way of thinking that instead of comparing myself to others I should be focused more on me. There is no point in comparing yourself to others.
c) I would manage this more easily in the future by stopping to compare myself with others and instead work on a solution to better myself. For example if I do not like my own body I would not compare myself to another person and actually do something about like going to the gym.
d) Personalization means that you are responsible for forces outside your control. However personalization has nothing to do with my essay and it will be easily avoided.
Catastrophizing

Catastrophizing is when we immediately jump to the worst conclusions about a particular event.

a) I failed my class and now I will not be able to graduate and get my degree.
b) By focusing immediately on the worst case scenario I have failed myself. You cannot think of the worst case scenario. Even if the worst came you need to stand back up and shrug it off and try again.
c) I should consider instead the positive outcome of things instead of the worst. Even if the worst came to pass you only need to try again.
d) I will be more assertive and more positive for this essay. If I think to myself that I cannot do this essay then I would most definitely fail.
Polarized Thinking

Situations are either one way or the other

a) I either graduate from high school or I don’t at all.
b) This way of thinking is dangerous. Thinking like this can damage a person. If I were to say that I will get the love of my life or I don’t at all erases the possibility of ever being with the person you love. You think to yourself because I don’t have her I will be alone the rest of my life.
c) Instead of thinking that there is only one way to do things I should thing instead that there are multiple way’s that it could be done.
d) I can avoid using this in my essay by thinking of different ways to do things not just one. There can’t be just one way because of doing things because if that were the case I would be able to do anything at all. Filtering

Filtering occurs when you take the undesirable details of a particular situation and expand upon them while excluding or ignoring any positive details.
a) “Because I got one low rating on my evaluation (which also contained several high ratings), it means I’m doing a lousy job.”
b) It will affect my thought pattern as I will only be concentrating on that one bad rating instead of the many praises. It would affect because it would probably be on my mind for days.
c) Only seeing the downside of a situation can be a crippling cognitive distortion for people. I would fix this by instead of focusing on that one bad I will focused on all the good I have done. You cannot be expect to be good all the time but I can use that one bad rating as an example to do better.
d) I will avoid this in my essay by not focusing on the bad side of my subject but instead show all the positive things that will come when I have persuaded you and even if that’s not enough I will show the good things that could happen in that one bad area.