Identification

In General Semantics, the behavior we label identification is normally to be avoided, or at least recognized. We talk about it as a misevaluation in that when we identify, we confuse or mistake our impression or reaction to something as the something itself. Put another way, we allow the stimulus to determine our response, without deliberately or conditionally evaluating the stimulus (like Pavlov's dog). Examples of identification include:

Mistaking the word as the thing, or the map as the territory. With a map in hand, some people will presume the map is correct and the land around them "should" be like the map. An extreme example would be someone eating a menu because the pictures of the food look so tasty.
Have you ever been disappointed when you arrived at a hotel by your Deluxe accommodations?
I read a product review recently on Amazon.com recently in which an outraged reader wrote a negative review of a plastic product made by a company called Steelmaster. This, even though the reader acknowledged the product was described as being made of plastic.
Imagine someone who is allergic to something, like a flower. If you gave that person a very real-looking silk flower, and the person had an allergic reaction, that would be identification.
Someone who eats an unfamiliar food, then later has a rather upsetting reaction when informed what the food was, isn't reacting to the food. The person is reacting to the sound of the name of the food. The verbalized name is associated (identified) with a previous or imagined terrible experience and that drives the reaction.

Can you recall or imagine other examples of identification? Feel free to share them in the Ongoing Course Discussion.

Phantom Limb Pain

Following, however, is an example of identification that resulted in a positive and therapeutic result for someone experiencing "phantom limb" pain. This features Dr. V.S. Ramachandran from the 2001 PBS documentary, "Secrets of the Mind."

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The Marshmallow Experiment

Dr. Walter Mischel's famous "Marshmallow Experiment" relates to his study of children's ability to delay gratification. However, one of the secondary findings, according to Mischel, is that this identification mechanism can be manipulated to increase, or decrease, a child's ability to delay gratification.

In this clip from The Charlie Rose Brain Series, Dr. Mischel explains the experiment and its findings. The discussion about the experiment begins at the 2:00 point. The description of identification (he doesn't use Korzybski's term) begins at 7:40 mark.

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