In the paper ‘Response Process Validation Protocol Using Neurophenomenological Gamma Asymmetry’, the research team explains the process TTI SI uses to observe the brain’s reaction to reading and answering questions during an assessment.
In this report, we integrate the principles described in Part 1 and describe an operational model for emotional decision-making that incorporates brain activation data along with subjective experience correlates. This model takes the form of a state machine that carries out transitions between a finite set of 16 possible states of emotional and decision-making response. By considering a 4×4 grid of possible states based upon left and right activation, in primary (sensation) and secondary (perception/comprehension) response, the range of responses is completely specified. The transition probabilities within this repertoire of possible response states can be used to characterize an individual (or any system) in terms of its likelihood to respond in a particular fashion. The possible value of this model in psychiatry, psychology, and counseling is introduced and discussed.
In Part 1 of this paper, we describe an approach and methodology that bridges two worlds: the internal, subjective experience of emotions and thoughts, and the external world of brain electrical activity. Using a novel event-related brain activation imaging method, we demonstrate that within single trials, short-term mental processes, on the order of 100 msec, can be clearly related to observed brain activation in controlled experiments. We use an ipsative assessment validation process that combines self-report with real-time EEG recordings to provide a combined picture of both the mental and the brain activity, during short-term reactions, emotions, and decisions regarding controlled information. Part 2 provides a detailed description of the emerging emotional decision-making model.
Target Training International, in cooperation with BrainMaster and their Avatar software, have for the first time turned the soft science of personal assessment into a hard science by showing not just what people say is their self reported ipsative response, but validating their answers with corresponding brain activity. This unique approach exposes both qualitative and quantitative asymmetry of the prefrontal cortex activity, thus exposing the underlying approach-withdrawal motivational system of decision-making.
While peer-reviewed articles demonstrate academic rigor, no publication is more rigorous than the process of obtaining a patent. For those interested, here are copies of both our USA and Canadian published patents for our “Validation Process for Ipsative Assessments. At the time of this update, we still have a European patent review in process.