science

Six Seconds

Six Seconds is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Six Seconds rather than just read about it. In short: Six Seconds is a California-based international 501(c)3 non-profit organization that researches and teaches emotional intelligence. Founded in 1997 by Karen McCown, Anabel Jensen, Joshua Freedman, and Marsha Rideout, Six Seconds is the first and largest organization dedicated to the development of emotional intelligence, with offices in 10 countries and agents in about 50.

Key takeaways

Six Seconds belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Six Seconds to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Six Seconds from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Six Seconds is a California-based international 501(c)3 non-profit organization that researches and teaches emotional intelligence. Founded in 1997 by Karen McCown, Anabel Jensen, Joshua Freedman, and Marsha Rideout, Six Seconds is the first and largest organization dedicated to the development of emotional intelligence, with offices in 10 countries and agents in about 50. The stated mission is to increase the world’s emotional intelligence, by working in business, education and other areas. The organization publishes EQ tests, and the SEI test, in particular, has been used in a number of peer-reviewed studies on emotional intelligence.

Overview Six Seconds was founded in California in 1997. In his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman wrote about a curriculum called "Self-Science" as a model of how to teach EQ. Six Seconds President Anabel Jensen, Ph.D. had been Executive Director of the Nueva School from 1983 to 1997, where she helped develop the curriculum along with other Nueva School staff.

The organization publishes EQ tests, including the SEI for adults and the SEI-YV for youth, The SEI in particular has been used in a number of peer-reviewed studies on emotional intelligence. Six Seconds also publishes organizational climate assessments called Vital Signs. Their Chief Executive Officer, Joshua Freedman, has had studies on EQ in publications such as Journal of Leadership Studies, where surveys such as the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment were used. Six Seconds is known for the "Six Seconds Model," a process for putting the skills of emotional intelligence into action. The organization has had their work referenced by Redbook, O Magazine, and has been featured on Today. The non-profit supports itself through services in the corporate sector. According to O Magazine, at FedEx many senior managers now use emotional intelligence concepts developed by Six Seconds. Six Seconds has worked with Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, the US Navy and Marine Corps, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pfizer, American Express, Morgan Stanley, Schlumberger, and Xerox PARC. Six Seconds maintains a strong focus on school programs and teacher education, with one study indicating that "the Six Seconds model has the potential to positively impact emotional intelligence development in teacher candidates." Six Seconds also created Synapse School, an independent elementary and middle school in Menlo Park, CA, which blends Six Seconds' emotional programs into the curriculum. The organization participates annually in the United Nations International Day of Tolerance by hosting global 'Talents for Tolerance' workshops geared towards both adults and youth, with the aim of encouraging collaboration on sharing emotional intelligence and calling for a more compassionate, tolerant, and just world. In 2015 the Talents for Tolerance program featured in Nigeria's The Guardian, where the Principal of participating school Editot College, Mrs. Franca Alayo, stated that "if students were sensitized on such programs, it would go a long way in decreasing terrorism, war and unhappy relationships." Another global event, 'Vitality', is a free annual event which invites participants to over 70 free online webinars and seminars by innovative and original thought leaders from around the globe, over the space of five days. In 2015 Six Seconds partnered with InspirED, a collaboration between Facebook and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence which acts as "a portal where educators, community leaders, young people, parents, and government officials can connect to positively impact school climates and the overall well-being of teens in the U.S." Qatar Airways collaborated with Six Seconds in March 2015 to train its Customer Service staff in the benefits of applying emotional intelligence in the workplace. Qatar Airways Senior Vice President, Rossen Dimitrov, said: "Qatar Airways is highly supportive of learning and development and this effective training program will be highly beneficial for our trainers, our staff and ultimately for how we communicate with our customers."

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Six Seconds

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Six Seconds claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Six Seconds before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Six Seconds ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Six Seconds

In research: Six Seconds appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Six Seconds in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Six Seconds is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Emotional intelligence, Non-profit organizations based in California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Six Seconds outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Six Seconds in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Six Seconds means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Six Seconds out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Six Seconds in simple terms?

Why does Six Seconds matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Six Seconds?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Six Seconds.