Cognitive Distortions Study Guide (Flash Cards) Create flash cards to help you study for the cognitive distortions quiz in Topic 3 by filling in a definition and an example on each fallacy card below. You can find the definitions to each distortion within Chapter 3 of our eBook. Afterward, you can print it out, cut out each distortion card, and fold them in half to study with. This study guide is not worth any credit. If completed this would be for your own study purposes. Always Being Right {Fold Here} Global Labeling {Fold Here} Always Being Right Definition: In this cognitive distortion, being wrong is regarded as impossible and individuals will go to any length to prove their correctness. Example: Someone who is fixated on always being right is not concerned with how badly an argument makes the opposing party feel, or how leaky his or her argument is in the first place, because the only thing that matters is winning Global Labeling Definition: With global labeling, individuals tend to generalize one or two isolated attributes to a negative universal finding. Example: When someone thinks of himself as a complete loser because he was unsuccessful in completing a particular task, even though he may have successfully completed a dozen other tasks on the same day. Emotional Reasoning Shoulds {Fold Here} {Fold Here} Emotional Reasoning Definition: Emotional reasoning is the belief that what is felt must automatically be true. Example: Are you really a loser, or do you just feel like one in that moment? Shoulds Definition: This cognitive distortion involves having a fixed set of notions about how everyone should behave. Example: All of these can also be self-directed; for example, because we believe we should exercise, we experience feelings of guilt when we do not. Blaming Personalization {Fold Here} {Fold Here} Blaming Definition: Blaming can work two ways: when an individual holds others accountable for his or her pain, or when an individual blames himself or herself for every problem that occurs. Example: An example of the former is when an individual blames others because he or she is feeling bad about himself or herself. Personalization Definition: People compare themselves to others to determine who is better looking, smarter, or more likeable. Wherein an individual believes that everything someone else does or says is some type of personal or direct reaction. Example: A person blames herself for being late to a social event when she was in fact caught in heavy traffic Catastrophizing Overgeneralization {Fold Here} Catastrophizing Definition: is when we immediately jump to the worst conclusions about a particular event Example: if you fail to win a scholarship you applied for, this is taken to mean that you will probably not be able to complete college and will end up an unemployed, homeless alcoholic Overgeneralization Definition: a general opinion is formed based on a single piece of evidence or a solitary incident Example: an individual may perceive a solitary troublesome event as the latest setback in a never-ending series of unfortunate events Polarized Thinking Filtering {Fold Here} {Fold Here} Polarized Thinking Definition: situations are either one way or the other; there is no middle ground or compromise Example: individuals feel as though they have to be perfect, or they are a failure; there is no in-between. Filtering Definition: when you take the undesirable details of a particular situation and expand upon them while excluding or ignoring any positive details Example: this happens when we single out one undesirable element and dwell on it obsessively so that our perception becomes, for us, the truth.