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flow

 
Dictionary: flow   (flō) pronunciation
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v., flowed, flow·ing, flows.

v.intr.
    1. To move or run smoothly with unbroken continuity, as in the manner characteristic of a fluid.
    2. To issue in a stream; pour forth: Sap flowed from the gash in the tree.
  2. To circulate, as the blood in the body.
  3. To move with a continual shifting of the component particles: wheat flowing into the bin; traffic flowing through the tunnel.
  4. To proceed steadily and easily: The preparations flowed smoothly.
  5. To exhibit a smooth or graceful continuity: The poem's cadence flowed gracefully.
  6. To hang loosely and gracefully: The cape flowed from his shoulders.
  7. To rise. Used of the tide.
  8. To arise; derive: Many conclusions flow from this hypothesis.
    1. To abound or teem: coffers flowing with treasure.
    2. To stream copiously; flood: Contributions flowed in from all parts of the country.
  10. To menstruate.
  11. To undergo plastic deformation without cracking or breaking. Used of rocks, metals, or minerals.
v.tr.
  1. To release as a flow: trees flowing thin sap.
  2. To cause to flow: "One of the real keys to success is developing a system where you can flow traffic to yourselves" (Marc Klee).
n.
    1. The act of flowing.
    2. The smooth motion characteristic of fluids.
    1. A stream or current.
    2. A flood or overflow.
    3. A residual mass that has stopped flowing: a hardened lava flow.
    1. A continuous output or outpouring: a flow of ideas; produced a steady flow of stories.
    2. A continuous movement or circulation: the flow of traffic; a flow of paperwork across his desk.
  4. The amount that flows in a given period of time.
  5. The rising of the tide.
  6. Continuity and smoothness of appearance.
  7. A general movement or tendency: a dissenter who went against the flow of opinion.
  8. The sequence in which operations are performed.
  9. An apparent ease or effortlessness of performance: "An athlete must learn to (Frederick Turner).
  10. Menstrual discharge.

[Middle English flouen, from Old English flōwan.]

flowingly flow'ing·ly adv.

SYNONYMS   flow, current, flood, flux, rush, stream, tide. These nouns denote something suggestive of running water: a flow of thought; the current of history; a flood of ideas; a flux of words; a rush of sympathy; a stream of complaints; a tide of immigration. See also synonyms at stem1.


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Marketing Dictionary: flow
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Degree to which ink will spread over the surface of printing rollers; also called viscosity, body. Thick inks are best for letterpress and for lithography. Thin inks are best for package printing and rotogravure printing.

Food and Fitness: flow
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A psychological state of extreme well being sometimes felt when exercising. A person experiencing flow has feelings of great pleasure, satisfaction, and enjoyment. To many competitive sports people, this subjective experience is often more important than the actual outcome of the activity. Flow tends to occur when there is a perfect match between the challenge of an exercise and the capability of a performer to complete it successfully. Some sport psychologists believe that flow may be related to the secretion of endorphins in the brain, although others think that this is unlikely.

Thesaurus: flow
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verb

  1. To move freely as a liquid: circulate, course, run, stream. See move/halt.
  2. To pass or pour out: discharge, empty, issue. See enter/exit.
  3. To come forth or emit in abundance: gush, pour, run, rush, stream, surge, well1. See move/halt.
  4. To proceed with ease, especially of expression: glide, roll, sail. See move/halt.
  5. To have as a source: arise, come, derive, emanate, issue, originate, proceed, rise, spring, stem, upspring. See start/end.
  6. To be abundantly filled or richly supplied: abound, bristle, crawl, overflow, pullulate, swarm, teem. See big/small/amount, rich/poor.

noun

    Something suggestive of running water: current, drift, flood, flux, rush, spate, stream, surge, tide. See move/halt.

Antonyms: flow
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n

Definition: issue, abundance
Antonyms: drought, trickle

v

Definition: issue, surge, run out
Antonyms: trickle

Dental Dictionary: flow
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n

To move in a manner similar to a liquid stream.

Geography Dictionary: flow
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1. The mass movement of material held in suspension by water. Flows are classified by the size of the particles: debris flow refers to coarse material; earth flow to soil; and mud flow to clay. Flows may be the result of very high water pressure in the debris and can occur in clay if the particles have absorbed a great deal of water before they are entrained.

2. The movement of goods, people, services, and information along a network.

Architecture: flow
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1. See cold flow.
2. A measure of the consistency of freshly mixed concrete, mortar, or cement paste in terms of the increase in diameter of a molded truncated-cone specimen after jigging a specified number of times.
3. That characteristic of a paint which enables it to form a uniform, smooth surface without showing brush marks or other evidence of the method of application.

Sports Science and Medicine: flow
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A psychological state of extreme well-being which is sometimes experienced during the performance of an activity. A person experiencing flow has a feeling of great pleasure and satisfaction with his or her actual performance. The subjective experience of doing the performance is the primary reward rather than the outcome. Flow is similar to peak performance, but tends to be more voluntary in nature. Flow is thought to occur when there is a perfect balance between the demands of a task and the skill an athlete possesses.

Word Tutor: flow
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: The motion characteristic of fluids.

pronunciation I am made from the dust of the stars and the oceans flow in my veins. — Rush.

Tutor's tip: Does water flow (to move freely or to circulate) below the ice floe (a mass of glacial ice) in the spring?

Wikipedia: Flow (psychology)
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Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.[1]

According to Csíkszentmihályi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. It is the same mindfulness as ecstatic lovemaking, the merging of two into a fluidly harmonious one. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task.[2]

Colloquial terms for this or similar mental states include: to be on the ball, in the zone, in the groove, or keeping your head in the game.

Contents

Components of flow

Anxiety Arousal Flow Control Relaxation Boredom Apathy Worry Enlarge image
Flow in terms of challenge level and skill level. Clickable.[3]

Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow:[4][5]

  1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.[3]
  2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
  3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
  4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.
  5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
  6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
  7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
  8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
  9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.

Etymology

Flow is so named because during Csíkszentmihályi's 1975 interviews several people described their 'flow' experiences using the metaphor of a water current carrying them along.[5] The psychological concept of flow as becoming absorbed in an activity is thus unrelated to the older phrase "go with the flow".

Group flow

Csíkszentmihályi suggests several ways in which a group could work together so that each individual member could achieve flow. The characteristics of such a group include:

  • Creative spatial arrangements: Chairs, pin walls, charts, but no tables; thus work primarily standing and moving.
  • Playground design: Charts for information inputs, flow graphs, project summary, craziness (here also craziness has a place), safe place (here all may say what is otherwise only thought), result wall, open topics
  • Parallel, organized working
  • Target group focus
  • Advancement of existing one (prototyping)
  • Increase in efficiency through visualization
  • Existence of differences among participants represents an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.

Applications

Applications suggested by Csíkszentmihályi versus other practitioners

Only Csíkszentmihályi seems to have published suggestions for extrinsic applications of the Flow concept, such as design methods for playgrounds to elicit the Flow experience. Other practitioners of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept focus on intrinsic applications, such as spirituality, performance improvement or self-help. Reinterpretations of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow process exist to improve performance in areas as diverse as business, piano improvisation, sport psychology, computer programming and standup comedy.

Education

Young boy, painting a model

In education, there is the concept of overlearning which seems to be an important factor in this technique, in that Csíkszentmihályi[6] states that overlearning enables the mind to concentrate on visualizing the desired performance as a singular, integrated action instead of a set of actions. Challenging assignments that (slightly) stretch one's skills lead to flow.[7]

Around 2000, it came to the attention of Csíkszentmihályi that the principles and practices of the Montessori Method of education seemed to purposefully set up continuous flow opportunities and experiences for students. Csíkszentmihályi and psychologist Kevin Rathunde embarked on a multi-year study of student experiences in Montessori settings and traditional educational settings. The research supported observations that students achieved flow experiences more frequently in Montessori settings.[8][9][10]

Music

Musicians, especially improvisational soloists may experience a similar state of mind while playing their instrument. Hip-hop culture sees flow as the ability to come at a track lyrically with nothing written beforehand.[11] Groups of drummers experience a state of Flow when they sense a collective energy that drives the beat, something they refer to as 'getting into the groove'. Bass guitarists often describe a state of Flow when properly playing between the percussion and melody as being 'in the pocket'.

Sports

The concept of "being in the zone" during an athletic performance fits within Csíkszentmihályi's description of the Flow experience, and theories and applications of "being in the zone" and its relationship with athletic competitive advantage are topics studied in the field of sport psychology.[12]

Timothy Gallwey's influential works on the inner game of sports such as golf and tennis described the mental coaching and attitudes which were required to get into the zone and so fully internalise mastery of the sport.[13]

Roy Palmer suggests that "being in the zone" may also influence movement patterns as better integration of the conscious and subconscious reflex functions improves coordination. Many athletes describe the effortless nature of their performance whilst achieving personal bests - see references.

The Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, who during qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix explained: "I was already on pole, [...] and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel."

When challenges and skills are simultaneously above average, a broadly positive experience emerges.[14] Also vital to the flow state is a sense of control, which nevertheless seems simultaneously effortless and masterful. Control and concentration manifest with a transcendence of normal awareness; one aspect of this transcendence is the loss of self-consciousness.[15]

Religion and spirituality

Csíkszentmihályi may have been the first to describe this concept in Western psychology, but as he himself readily acknowledges[citation needed] he was most certainly not the first to quantify the concept of Flow or develop applications based on the concept.

For millennia, practitioners of Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism have honed the discipline of overcoming the duality of self and object as a central feature of spiritual development. Eastern spiritual practitioners have developed a very thorough and holistic set of theories around overcoming duality of self and object, tested and refined through spiritual practice instead of the systematic rigor and controls of modern science.

The phrase "being at one with things" is a metaphor of Csíkszentmihályi's Flow concept.[citation needed] Practitioners of the varied schools of Zen Buddhism apply concepts similar to Flow to aid their mastery of art forms, including, in the case of Japanese Zen Buddhism, Aikido, Kendo and Ikebana. In yogic traditions such as Raja Yoga reference is made to a state of "flow"[16] in the practice of Samyama, a psychological absorption in the object of meditation.[17]

Gaming

Game designers, particularly video and computer games, benefit from integration of flow principles into gameplay design.[18]

Professions and work

Developers of computer software reference getting into a flow state, sometimes referred to as the "Zone" or "Hackmode" [19], when developing in an undistracted state. Stock market operators often use the term "in the pipe" to describe the psychological state of flow when trading during high volume days and market corrections.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Citations of Csíkszentmihályi's 1990 book about flow on Google Scholar
  2. ^ Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, p.91 ISBN 055380491X
  3. ^ a b Csikszentmihalyi, M., Finding Flow, 1997
  4. ^ Csikszentmihalyi, M. & K. Rathunde. (1993). The measurement of flow in everyday life: Towards a theory of emergent motivation. In J. E. Jacobs (Ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation, Vol. 40: Developmental perspectives on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 60. ISBN 0803292104
  5. ^ a b Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1975). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0875892612. 
  6. ^ Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row. ISBN 0-06-092043-2. 
  7. ^ Snyder, C.R.; Lopez, Shane J. (2007), "11", Positive Psychology, Sage Publications, Inc., ISBN 076192633X 
  8. ^ Rathunde, K., & Csikszetnmihalyi, M. (2005). Middle school students' motivation and quality of experience: A comparison of Montessori and traditional school environments. American Journal of Education, 111(3), 341-71.
  9. ^ Rathunde, K., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005). The social context of middle school: Teachers, friends, and activities in Montessori and traditional school environments. Elementary School Journal, 106(1), 59-79.
  10. ^ Rathunde, K., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2006). The developing person: An experiential perspective. In R.M. Lerner (Ed.), W. Damon (Series Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol.1. Theoretical models of human development (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.
  11. ^ Parncutt, Richard & McPherson, Gary E. (2002) The Science & Psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Book, Oxford University Press US, p. 119. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
  12. ^ Janet A Young, Michelle D Pain. "The Zone: Evidence of a Universal Phenomenon for Athletes Across Sports". Athletic Insight. http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-08. 
  13. ^ Timothy Galwey (1976). Inner Tennis - Playing the Game. 
  14. ^ Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1988) Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. 323.
  15. ^ Hunter, Jeremy, and Csikszentmihalyi (2000)”The Phenomenology of Body-Mind: The Contrasting Cases of Flow in Sports and Contemplation. Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 11 No. 3-4 p. 15.
  16. ^ Yoga Sutras 3.9-3.16: Witnessing Subtle Transitions with Samyama -- http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-30916.htm
  17. ^ Sansonese, J. Nigro (1994). The Body of Myth: Mythology, Shamanic Trance, and the Sacred Geography of the Body. Inner Traditions. ISBN 9780892814091. Source: [1] (accessed: Friday March 6, 2009), p.26.
  18. ^ Chen, J. (2008) Flow in Games Retrieved on 2008/05/16.
  19. ^ http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hack-mode.html "Hackmode", Jargon File

Notations

External links


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Translations: Flow
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Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - strømme, stige, bølge
v. tr. - få til at strømme, oversvømme
n. - strømmen, strøm, strømningshastighed

idioms:

  • flow chart    diagram
  • flow diagram    rutediagram
  • go with the flow    følge med strømmen
  • in full flow    i fuldt sving

Nederlands (Dutch)
vloeien, (doen) (voort) stromen, circuleren, overvloedig zijn, wapperen, van vorm veranderen, menstrueren, stroom, vloed, overstroming, menstruatie

Français (French)
v. intr. - couler, s'écouler, se déverser, circuler, dériver, (fig) découler de, (Géog) monter (la marée), couler (une conversation), flotter (des cheveux), couler à flots, affluer, s'écouler de (littér)
v. tr. - couler à flots, monter, faire couler, faire circuler
n. - courant, flot, affluence, écoulement

idioms:

  • flow chart    (Comput) organigramme, (Admin, Ind) graphique d'évolution
  • flow diagram    (Comput) organigramme, (Admin, Ind) diagramme des opérations successives
  • go with the flow    aller avec le courant
  • in full flow    en plein discours

Deutsch (German)
v. - fließen, strömen
n. - Fluß, Fließen, Flut

idioms:

  • flow chart    Flußdiagramm
  • flow diagram    Flußdiagramm
  • go with the flow    gelassen sein und sich den Ereignissen nicht widersetzen
  • in full flow    in vollem Fluß

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ρέω, κυλώ, (για ποταμούς κ.λπ.) εκβάλλω, χύνομαι, κυκλοφορώ, κινούμαι ή ρέω ομαλά, (για ρούχα κ.λπ.) κρέμομαι ή πέφτω χαλαρά, χύνομαι
n. - ροή, ρεύμα, ρυάκι, ρους, χείμαρρος, άνοδος (παλίρροιας), κύλισμα, (ενδυμ.) χυτές γραμμές, πέσιμο, ευφράδεια

idioms:

  • flow chart    διάγραμμα ροής
  • flow diagram    διάγραμμα ροής
  • go with the flow    συμβαδίζω με το πνεύμα της εποχής
  • in full flow    σε ακατάπαυστη ροή, που έχει λογοδιάρροια, πλήρης ενθουσιασμού

Italiano (Italian)
fluire, scorrere, corrente, torrente, flusso, afflusso, circolazione

idioms:

  • flow chart/diagram    diagramma di flusso, (elab.) organigramma
  • go with the flow    andare con la corrente
  • in full flow    a pieno corso

Português (Portuguese)
v. - fluir
n. - fluxo (m), subida (f) da maré

idioms:

  • flow chart/diagram    fluxograma (m)
  • go with the flow    seguir uma tendência
  • in full flow    falando fluentemente

Русский (Russian)
течение, поток, наплыв, изобилие, плавность линии, течь, протекать, ниспадать, лить

idioms:

  • flow chart/diagram    схема информационных потоков, блок-схема
  • go with the flow    двигаться по течению
  • in full flow    в разгаре, вовсю

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - fluir, circular, menstruar
v. tr. - inundar, derramar
n. - flujo, corriente, caudal, torrente, chorro, raudal, afluencia, circulación

idioms:

  • flow chart    organigrama
  • flow diagram    organigrama
  • go with the flow    seguir la corriente, dejarse llevar/arrastrar por la corriente
  • in full flow    en pleno discurso, en plena actividad, con bríos

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - flyta, härröra (bildl.), bölja (om hår o dyl.), stiga
n. - rinnande, flödes-, hårsvall, översvämning, tidvattnets flod, strömhastighet (fys.), flödighet (färger o dyl.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
流动, 涨, 泛滥, 川流不息, 涌出, 溢过, 淹没, 流程, 涨潮

idioms:

  • flow chart    流程图, 作业图
  • flow diagram    流程图
  • go with the flow    顺应潮流, 随波逐流
  • in full flow    正在全力进行中

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 流動, 漲, 泛濫, 川流不息, 湧出
v. tr. - 溢過, 淹沒
n. - 流程, 漲潮, 流動

idioms:

  • flow chart    流程圖, 作業圖
  • flow diagram    流程圖
  • go with the flow    順應潮流, 隨波逐流
  • in full flow    正在全力進行中

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 흐르다, 순환하다, 솟아나다 , 거침 없이 나오다, 넘치다
v. tr. - ~을 흘리다, ~넘치게 하다, ~을 붓다
n. - 흐름, 흐르는 것, 유출 , 밀물

idioms:

  • go with the flow    ~일이 일어나게 하다
  • in full flow    거침없이 유창하게 말하는

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 流れる, 流れるように動く, 生じる, 垂れ下がる, なびく, 上がる
n. - 流れ, 流出, 上げ潮, 満ち潮

idioms:

  • flow chart/diagram    フローチャート
  • go with the flow    流れに乗る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يجري , يتدفق , يفيض (الاسم) تدفق , جريان‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮זרם, גלש, תלה ברפיון, גאה‬
v. tr. - ‮איפשר או גרם לזרום, הציף‬
n. - ‮זרם, גיאות, זרימה‬

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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