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How not to choke under Pressure |
By Carl ToersBijns, former deputy warden, ASPC Eyman, Florence AZ |
Published: 08/26/2013 |
Although sometimes embarrassing to admit, we have all choked under pressure at one time or another in our lives or career. It has happened to all of us and even if it is not a matter of life and death but nevertheless, an important moment for you. From time to time it happens when we are doing something we have done a hundred times before making it a routine you hardly have to think about. But sometimes we choke because we do think about it and it may be actually needless and do it at the wrong time. Regardless we have all done it. Actors have forgotten their lines after many rehearsals, football players have forgotten plays when it really counted and correctional officers have done it when under pressure although they have been through it many times in the training room or even real experience of things of the past. Reluctantly we have to admit that to choke is a human condition and something that happens when we think too much about how to do it. Thus at the one time we need to be able to think, we freeze; the one time we have others depend on us we hesitate and the one time we need to pull something important off, we choke. One must ask the question why? Why do we choke and how can we prevent it from happening. The answer might not be as complicated as we think for a study has revealed that the answer may be very simple. When a person thinks too much at the wrong time it is natural for the brain to” kick in”. It tries to take over and dominate your thoughts making it difficult when you really don’t need any help with the problem. Simply put this is a form of “overthinking.” Overthinking is when you have learned how to do something but because your brain takes over we may do something that is actually counterproductive of what we need to do. We make it more complicated that it really is. According to a neuroscientist named Taraz Lee of the University of California, Santa Barbara he states that "the part of the brain [responsible for planning, executive function and working memory] may be telling parts of the brain to do something they are not supposed to be doing.” In other words when you have become skilled at doing something you already know how to do it wrestles control away from the ‘automatic plan” and overrides the step by step process you have already learned. Because your brain is in conflict with itself, it has too much data and messes it up for you. Having said that it comes down to too much thinking at the wrong time or the same time can cause you to “freeze” or “hesitate” because of too much information to your brain. Researchers generally concentrate on two different explanations for why experts choke. They express two theories by stating “either the person worries so much even a well- practiced talent can fail” or he or she concentrates so much on the task at hand that the brain overrides the well- trained elements of a condition already learned. These events stimulates the part of the prefrontal cortex that performs executive functions -- the "take charge" part of the brain and it was gleaned that if they "turned up" activity in the executive region, then activity in the muscle memory area decreased. If they turned down the activity in the executive area, the alternate memory region another more active. That suggests to the researchers that thinking too much may indeed have a bad impact on our ability to repeat a task that we've mastered over the years, whether it be giving a speech or making a critical decision. The take- charge part of the brain "is exerting its control when it's not really necessary," Lee said. It is suggested that in order to avoid such a condition to exist or appear you have to figure out a way to distract yourself and instead of thinking about the problem so hard, you need to find something else to distract you. Source: Corrections.com author, Carl ToersBijns, (retired), has worked in corrections for over 25 yrs He held positions of a Correctional Officer I, II, III [Captain] Chief of Security Mental Health Treatment Center – Program Director – Associate Warden - Deputy Warden of Administration & Operations. Car’s prison philosophy is all about the safety of the public, staff and inmates, "I believe my strongest quality is that I create strategies that are practical, functional and cost effective." Other articles by ToersBijns: |
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