Submodalities

Submodalities - the presupposition underlying this concept which arose in the field of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), and particularly the work of its co-creator Richard Bandler, is that human beings code internal experiences using aspects of their different senses, or 'representation systems', or 'sensory modalities'. See Bandler's Using Your Brain for a Change (Real People Press, 1985). Submodalities refers to the subdivisions within any one representation system. For example, in visual: brightness, degree of colour (saturation), size, distance, sharpness, focus, and so on; in auditory: loudness, pitch, tonal range, distance, clarity, timbre, and so on. Ordinarily, you would get these by asking, "This image - is it bright, or dim? Coloured or black and white? How much colour? Is it big or small? Is it near or far? In focus, or out of focus? etc" And, "This sound - is it loud or soft? Is it high pitched or low pitched? Does it have a range? Is it near or far? Is it one point source or spread out? Is it clear or muffled? Is it a pure tone or ... " The interesting discovery is that voluntary change of these on the part of the subject alters the concommitant 'feeling' response, paving the way for a number of change techniques based on deliberately changing internal representations. To match these internal distinctions, Eric Robbie made the discovery in 1984 that sub-modalities could be detected through external behaviour - in the case of visual submodalities, combinations of subtle changes in the eye and facial muscles surrounding the eye, and, in the case of auditory, from subtle changes in the muscles surrounding the ears. The interesting question of the last few years is: do these commonly expressed distinctions or sub-modalities map to specific areas of the brain, as delineated by Semir Seki, and others? (See for example, Seki's Inner Vision: an Exploration of Art and Brain, OUP, 2000.)