Automating the process of identifying the preferred representational system in Neuro Linguistic Programming using Natural Language Processing

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a methodology used for recognition of human behavioural patterns and modification of the behaviour. A significant part of this process is influenced by the theory of representational systems which equates to the five main senses. The preferred representational system of an individual can explain a large part of exhibited behaviours and characteristics. There are different methods to recognise the representational systems, one of which is to investigate the sensory based words in the used language during the conversation. However, there are difficulties during this process since there is not a single reference method used for identification of representational systems and existing ones are subject to human interpretations. Some human errors like lack of experience, personal judgment, different levels of skill and personal mistakes may also affect the accuracy and reliability of the existing methods. This research aims to apply a new approach that is to automate the identification process in order to remove human errors thereby increasing the accuracy and precision. Natural Language Processing has been used for automating this process and an intelligent software has been developed able to identify the preferred representational system with increased accuracy and reliability. This software has been tested and compared to human identification of representational systems. The results of the software are similar to a NLP practitioner and the software responds more accurately than a human practitioner in various parts of the process. This novel methodology will assist the NLP practitioners to obtain an improved understanding of their clients’ behavioural patterns and the associated cognitive and emotional processes.