Are Most People Good at Multitasking?

Many people think they are good multitaskers, but are they really?  Actually, no.  Several studies have demonstrated that it is very difficult or impossible for most people to do two or more things at once very well, even if they think they are doing fine.

In a recent study, 200 volunteers were asked to drive in a driving simulator and concentrated on information given to them on a cell phone at the same time.  The majority of the participants did poorly on both tasks.  they were 20% slower to hit the brakes and also performed worse in responding to the information given to them over the phone.

However, the researchers uncovered a surprising discovery:  1 in 40 excelled at performing both tasks at the same time.  That's right, a whopping 2.5% of adults seem to be good at multitasking.  The author of the study, David Strayer, called these folks "supertaskers."  These supertaskers seem to be able to take on two or more things at once and do really well on them.

It's not clear if this is a skill that has only recently developed in human brains, thanks to the demands of our ever-increasing tech-culture, or if it is something that some people's brains just naturally have the ability to do.  Either way, it's still a rare skill.  You might be a supertasker, but it's a safe bet to say that the odds are against you.

8 Ways to Combat Performance Anxiety in Competition

by Nyaka Niilampti, Ph.D.

Regardless of how we feel about it, anxiety is a necessary part of any competition situation. While it’s necessary, as it is often our level of arousal and anxiety that gives us the needed “adrenaline rush” for competition, it does not need to get the best of us. Research suggests that one of the differences between successful athletes and those that may not be as successful is in how they experience the symptoms of anxiety—elite athletes are more likely to interpret the symptoms of anxiety as excitement and the feeling that gets them “pumped”, while for less confident athletes, those same symptoms may create issues such as doubt, tension, and negative thoughts. 

For most individuals, anxiety related to competition is what we call “anticipatory” anxiety—the thoughts and worries that flood us before a situation or event.   Once the event, performance, or competition begins, that anxiety may disappear, or the level may drop.  For others, anxiety can remain throughout the entire event, resulting in increased heart rate, loss of breath, hands shaking, tension, concentration difficulties, not being able to “shake off” mistakes, and ultimately, a decrease in performance.  

There are several ways in which you can work to decrease your anxiety level in a competition situation, rather than allowing your anxiety to control you.  Here are just a few of them:

1.  Differentiate between “playing well” and winning:  Don’t focus on the outcome.  Focusing on winning increases the pressure you place on yourself and puts you in a “future” mindset.  Focus, instead, on those small things that you need to do that will allow you to perform well (“I know I need to focus on bringing my knees up in the last fifty meters”…“I need to make sure that I follow through with my shot”.) Focusing on the small things will contribute to the likelihood of creating the outcome you want:  winning.

2.  Set realistic goals to improve specific skills:  Goals should be measurable, challenging and attainable.  Vague goals such as “play well” do not offer much structure or direction.  Similarly, you don’t want them to be too easy…you want to have to work for them, but you also want them to be within your reach.

3.  Reduce uncertainty by preparing for “worst case scenarios”:  one of the biggest contributors to overwhelming performance anxiety is a lack of confidence, which can happen for a number of reasons—feeling unprepared or fearing repeating a previous mistake, for example.  One of the ways you can reduce uncertainty and increase the feeling of “being prepared” is to practice “worst case scenarios”.  Have a ‘back-up’ warm-up that you can do relatively quickly in the case you are ever short on time, for example…things happen…buses break down, matches run late,  meets run early. 

4.  Use “cue” statements to refocus:  Develop a ‘cue’ statement that you can practice as a means of helping you to regain your focus.  A cue statement should be short, personal, and positive.  It should be a short phrase that creates a visual image of the athlete you want to be, and allows you to return your focus and concentration to the task at hand.     

5.  Cognitive rehearsal and visualization:  Many athletes find that visualizing themselves successfully performing or completing a certain skill contributes to an increase in confidence, and therefore a decrease in anxiety.  Cognitive rehearsal and visualization can both contribute toward feeling more prepared.

6.  Positive self-talk:  You may surprise yourself to realize how often the dialogue in your head becomes negative when you make a mistake. Recognize critical self-talk and the mistakes or actions that trigger negative conversations with yourself, and work to challenge those automatic negative thoughts and make them positive. 

7.  Breathing:  This sounds like such a simple strategy, but it is one most often overlooked.  Taking a deep breath during competition (or before certain moments—at the free throw line, for example, or before the race begins) can often be used as an opportunity to refocus and re-center.  In the middle of stressful situations or when anxiety runs high, there is often the tendency to resort to shallow breathing, which results in even more anxiety.  Taking a deep breath may allow you a moment to use additional strategies (positive self-talk, cue statements, goal reminders) that can also decrease anxiety.

8.  Prepare properly:  A significant contributing factor to performance anxiety may be the fear of being unprepared.  If you feel confident in your preparation—for example, you know that you have taken practice seriously and consistently given your best effort—the result is often a significant level of confidence that you can “trust your training”.  

Some degree of ‘performance anxiety’ is a necessary and helpful component of competition.   However, if you can turn your worry and anxiety into positive action, you increase your chances of success. 

Dr. Nyaka Niilampti is a licensed psychologist at Southeast Psych who specializes in performance enhancement for athletes and other top performers, relationship concerns, diversity issues, and the treatment of anxiety and depression.

Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence in Most Children

by Frank Gaskill, Ph.D.

Parents continue to ask me on a regular basis if playing violent video games will cause their children to be violent.  The answer is usually, "no."  Most kids--millions and millions of them--will have no increases in any meaningful long-term violent behavior because they played Modern Warfare 2 or other violent games.

In a recent Reuters article, one expert noted, "Recent research has shown that as video games have become more popular, children in the United States and Europe are having fewer behavior problems, are less violent and score better on standardized tests."

However, this doesn't mean that it is always a good idea to let your child play violent video games.  You have to take developmental maturity into consideration (i.e., your 7-year-old might not be ready to play Halo Reach when it comes out, but your 14-year-old probably will be), as well as your own child's unique temperament and personality traits.  Parents need to know their child and make specific judgments about whether it is good for him or her to play.  Engage your child, play video games with them--or at least show interest in observing from time to time--and talk non-judgmentally about them. 

Here are some likely risk factors for negative reactions to video games include the following:

1.   Low tolerance for frustration - If your child gets very quickly overheated and can't manage upsetting emotions well, especially when compared to other kids of the same age, then it's probably wise to limit the exposure to certain types of games.

2.  Frequent depressed or dark moods - If your child is prone to dark moods, isolation, or feelings of hopelessness. By the way, if this is true, you will probably want to consider seeking out professional help for them, as well.

3.  Indifferent to the feelings of others - Lack of empathy and lack of remorse are big risk factors that should not be ignored.

4.  Often breaks rules or promises to others - Again, you need to compare this to other children of the same age, but if your child breaks rules more frequently than his or her peers, especially big rules or does things that may negative affect other people (stealing, bullying, etc), then you will want to set some limits on certain types of gaming.

The best analogy I have heard thus far is that of a peanut allergy.  Most people aren't allergic to peanuts, but a few are.  The vast majority of kids who play video games are doing great, but a select few are “allergic.”  If you are allergic, then just don’t play or let your kids play.  At the very least, limit their exposure to too much gaming if your child has any of the risk factors.

Dr. Frank Gaskill is a licensed psychologist at Southeast Psych who works with children and their parents.  One of his specialties is helping parents understand and skillfully navigate the new technologies that are part of their children's daily lives.

Are You Living with "Pregret"?

by Dr. Jonathan Anslow

Some might figure that, as a psychologist, it’s part of my job to validate the whole spectrum of emotional experience for people. I guess in a way I agree with that, but only to a point. While we all struggle with a whole slew of emotional states, both positive and negatively charged, some of them are simply unworthy of validation. In particular, I think regret is an utterly useless emotion – a waste of one’s emotional energy. Such a fixation on woeful events chains us to our past and prevents us from moving on. We need to learn to stop playing the “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” game and start living our lives. We need to seek forgiveness, atone, make reparations, and move on or life will certainly move on without us.

Don’t get me wrong here – I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take stock of where we’ve been. If we do look back from time to time I think that we should only do so with the intent of learning something from our experiences, not for providing evidence of our failures and wrongdoings. To focus exclusively on our missteps and past grievances surely contributes to a pervasive sense of shame and doubt. And why waste time focusing on something that has already happened and cannot be changed? If we expended more energy thinking about potential and possibilities, we may find ourselves feeling enervated, motivated, and hopeful about the future. This brings me to Pregret.

Pregret is a term I like to think I coined, but a Google search from some time ago revealed that it was floating out there on the internet in places. Maybe I can distinguish what I mean by pregret by my unique application of the term. When I say Pregret I’m referring to pre-emptive regret. In other words regret for something that hasn’t happened. Are you following me? No, I’m not making a case for our innate ability to foretell the future or to time travel, although that would be pretty cool. In practice I occasionally get clients to think about the people in their lives that truly matter – all the people with whom they share a connection, people who are kind, who treat them with respect – basically anyone who cares about them in some significant way. I then ask them to imagine if these special people were no longer here. Yeah, it’s a morbid thought, but it’s designed to be a thought exercise because my next question is this:

“Would you have any regrets?”

If the answer to that question is “Yes”, then we’re talking about pregret. Now the wonderful thing about pregret is that it concerns feeling regret about something that hasn’t happened yet, so the wonderful thing is that you have the opportunity to take action and do something about it. For instance, someone might have regrets about not spending as much time with the person in question, or calling them, or telling them certain things. Well then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! What are you waiting for - the time is now! So think about it….do you have any pregrets???

Dr. Jonathan Anslow is a licensed psychologist with Southeast Psych who practices at our Blakeney office.  He works primarily with adolescents and adults.

Asperger's Conference 2010

Southeast Psych, together with Thompson Child and Family Focus and The Epiphany School, announces our first annual Asperger's Conference this Thursday, May 20th, from 9am until 1pm.  The conference will be on the campus of Thompson Child and Family Focus and registration is only $40 per person.  


Dr. Frank Gaskill, who is well-known in the Charlotte area and beyond for his work with children with Asperger's is the keynote speaker, followed by Dr. Craig Pohlman, the director of Mind Matters at Southeast Psych and the author or co-author of three books, including How Can My Kid Succeed in School?  


In the afternoon sessions, you will have a choice of "Marriage and Asperger's" given by Dr. Jonathan Feather and Josh Jensen or "Super Social Skills" given by Mary B. Moore.  


It's a great line-up of excellent presenters with great content.  We already have more than 100 people registered and there is still time to get on board.  If you are interested, please click here to send Patsy your information or call her directly at 704-552-0116.  We hope to see you there.

10 Ways to Protect Yourself From Danger

by Dr. Barrie Morganstein

We know that the world can be a scary place, but we still need to live in it.  With a few smart behaviors, we can increase our personal safety.  Below is a list of ten smart safety tips that everyone should use.

1.    Don’t look vulnerable (e.g., stay off your cell phone, don’t hold your purse loosely, etc.)

2.    Identify potential dangers (e.g., people trying to distract you, ask for directions, ask for help, etc.) 

3.    Avoid dangerous locations (e.g., avoid empty parking garages, isolated locations, etc.)

4.    Be aware of your surroundings (e.g., check out people around you, identify areas that people can hide, look for escape routes, etc.)

5.    Don’t make assumptions that people are safe because they look “nice”

6.    Don’t tempt fate (i.e., why shop and run errands at night when you can do this in daylight?)

7.    Avoid going out alone (there is safety in numbers)

8.    Know the “tricks of the trade” that predators use (e.g., offering to help you so you feel indebted to “help” them, making unsolicited promises – “I’m a good guy”, “I won’t hurt you”, etc.)

9.    If  you carry a protection tool (e.g., pepper spray, a club, taser, etc.) make sure you know how to use it properly (don’t become your own victim)

10.Don’t be afraid of hurting someone’s feelings; if they look “sketchy” or make you feel uncomfortable, roll up your windows, lock your door, or cross to the other side of the street; hurting a stranger’s feelings is a small price to pay for your safety.

Dr. Barrie Morganstein is a psychologist at Southeast Psych who sees clients of all ages.

Ten Great Ways to Manage Stress

by Dr. Barrie Morganstein

Keeping yourself from stressing out in the first place is probably the best tactic. However, if you have already arrived at that stressful place, here is a list of ten techniques that you can use to bring yourself back to nirvana (or at least your living room).

1. Breathing exercises (i.e., slow rhythmic breathing can lower your blood pressure and heart rate)

2. Visualization/Guided imagery (positive thoughts such as acing an interview or relaxing on the beach can make you feel more positive and even help you achieve goals)

3. Meditation (frequently involving deep breathing combined with visualization)

4. Exercise (the endorphins that you create while exercising are natural stress relievers)

5. Progressive muscle relaxation (a combination of visualization and body awareness, this can create physical as well as mental relaxation)

6. Listen to music (music can slow your breathing, pulse, and heart rate as well as bring about a natural calm)

7. Biofeedback (using a simple electronic device, it is possible to use your body to relax your mind and vice versa)

8. Yoga (also known as “moving mediation”, can bring about mental and physical relaxation)

9. Make a To Do list (having a list can not only get your duties out of your head and on to paper, but checking them off as you go feels pretty good)

10. Pets (snuggling with cute warm fuzzies can make anyone feel better instantly)

Dr. Barrie Morganstein is a licensed psychologist at Southeast Psych in Charlotte.  She sees clients of all ages.