Why We Get the Yips

In the July 3 issue of Science, researchers report they may know why we sometimes blurt out the very thing we were trying to keep to ourselves or stumble at the time we most desperately want to be suave. In this Review, Daniel Wegner reviews recent psychological research on "ironic processes," which suggests that the monitoring centers of the brain that usually ensure correct behavior can be distracted or exhausted, allowing the taboo idea to "escape." This can occur with taboo thoughts, socially awkward comments, physical movements and painful emotions. According to this theory, we suppress unwanted information with two mental processes. The first is a conscious, effortful process, aimed at creating the desired mental state, such as not thinking about sex, or keeping certain information secret during a conversation. The second is an unconscious monitoring process, in which the mind searches for the very mental state that is unwanted. When distractions, stressors or other mental loads interfere with conscious attempt at self-distraction, they leave this ironic monitor unchecked, sensitizing us to the return of an unwanted thought or other errors. Wegner concludes that under certain conditions we may be able to avoid doing the worst by not trying so hard to avoid it. Or, if that doesn't work, the next option is to try to minimize stress and distractions when mental control is needed. Therapies devised for improving mental control or helping people to relax it remain largely untested, however.

Article #6: "How to Think, Say, or Do Precisely the Worst Thing for Any Occasion," by D.M. Wegner at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA