A.C.T., Attention Control Training - How To Get Control of Your Mind Through Total Concentration (PDFDrive)

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The D ay Johnny Carson Learned
About A ttention Control
Photo: University of Rochester

Yes, that’s Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon above. The third
man is Robert M. Nideffer, author of A.C.T. (Attention Control
Training). The photos were taken a few years ago during the
“Tonight Show.” They show Carson thrusting his head through
a one-inch-thick board held by Dr. Nideffer. The board split
clear in half. Carson was incredulous—and unhurt.
Dr. Nideffer had been explaining the concept and simple
methods described in the book you are now holding. Carson
was told that the ability to perform even “impossible” feats
depends on attention control; attention control depends on
total concentration; and with Dr. Nideffer’s Attention Control
Training (A.C.T.), problems that often block a person’s achieve
ments can be eliminated. Including such problems as pain.
The TV experiment was unrehearsed. Carson was given a
quick version of the instructions contained in this book—
that’s all.
He could achieve total concentration. So can you.
Ordering number: 26134
ISBN: 0-88326-153-7
ATTENTION
CONTROL
TRAINING
Dr. Robert M . Nideffer
and Roger C. Sharpe
Think for a moment about your ability
to concentrate, to pay attention, to avoid
being distracted by irrelevant matters. It’s
really the key to success in almost any
situation, isn’t it?
It doesn’t matter whether it’s hitting a
home run to win a game, responding to
your boss, making a decision about how to
react to a child’s question, giving an answer
in a meeting, or trying to organize your day
—your phone calls or paperwork or dinner
preparations—so that things come off on
time and in the most productive order. In
all of these situations, the key is concentra-
tion.
A.C.T. (Attention Control Training)
is your answer.
A.C.T. moves beyond TM, est, biofeed-
back, and the “relaxation response” and
shows you how to focus your complete at
tention on any demanding situation in the
home, office, or school, on the tennis court,
or anywhere else.
(continued on back flap)
(continued from front flap)
With this revolutionary but easily learned

program, developed by Dr. Nideffer in his
psychoeducational laboratory at the Uni
versity of Rochester, you pick out which
type of attention to apply and when; you
shut out all distractions, anxieties, and
“choking”; and you fully control your re
sponse and its timing. It’s the simple, effec
tive way to keep your blood pressure down,
your performance up, and life going your
way.
Robert M. Nideffer, a clinical psycholo

gist, is a former associate professor in the
departments of psychology and psychiatry
at the University of Rochester, Rochester,
N.Y., and former director of the University
of Rochester Biofeedback Laboratory.
He is the author of numerous scientific
articles and the book, The Application
of Psychology to Competitive Ath
letics*
He lives with his wife and two children
in San Diego, California, and is president
of Enhanced Performance Associates.
Cover Design by One Plus One Studio
Wyden Books
Distributed by
Simon and Schuster, Inc.
New York, New York 10020
A.C.T.
ATTENTION CONTROL TRAINING
A.C.T.
ATTENTION
CONTROL
TRAINING
How to Get Control o j Your Mind
Through Total Concentration
Dr. Robert M. Nideffer

and Roger C. Sharpe
Wyden Books
This book is dedicated to my mother and to my father.
R.M.N.
Copyright © 1978 by Robert M. Nideffer and Roger C. Sharpe.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by an electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording means or otherwise, without prior written per
mission of the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
F IR S T E D IT IO N
Trade distribution by Simon and Schuster

A Division of Gulf + Western Corporation
New York, New York 10020
The figures and tables throughout the book are reprinted with permission
of the author, Dr. Robert M. Nideffer.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Nideffer, Robert M
A. C. T., attention control training.
1. Attention. 2. Stress (Psychology) I. Sharpe,
Roger C., joint author. II. Title
BF321.N52 1 5 3 -/3 3 78-15906
ISBN 0-88326-153-7
A cknow ledgm ents
Much of the work from which this book developed oc

curred while I was on the faculty at the University of
Rochester. I would like to thank the administration of the
university and the department of psychology for their
support. I owe a special thanks to the following people
who contributed through their ideas, their research, and
their service:
Thomas Andrews, Ph.D.

James Ashbrook, Ph.D.
William Boomer
Dianne Burgin, Ph.D.
Emory Cowen, Ph.D.
Rue L. Cromwell, Ph.D.
Diane DePalma, Ph.D.
Nancy Hessler
Walter Keller, Ph.D.
Frank P. Macartney
James McPherson
Jeffery Miner
Nora Rifon
Jerry Rubenstein, Ph.D.
Robert Tannenbaum
Alan Turin, Ph.D.
Robert Walker
Esther Widowski
Arthur Wiens, Ph.D.
VI Acknowledgments
Richard Wolfe, Ph.D.
Thomas Yock, Ph.D.
Finally, I would like to thank the student interns who

provided service through the psychoeducational and bio
feedback laboratory, and the clients who asked to be
served.
Contents
1. Why You Need A.C.T. 3

2. The Story Behind A.C.T. 15
3 - Attention Control and
Stress Control Go Hand in Hand 23
4 - Beginning Stages 36
5 - A.C.T. I 58
6. A.C.T. II 82
7 - A.C.T. III 99
8. A.C.T. Applications 115
9 ■ Common Stress-Filled Situations
and What to Do About Them 129
A ppendix 160
A.C.T.
ATTENTION CONTROL TRAINING
I/W h y You NeedA.C.T
Turning on the TV a few weeks ago, I found myself con

fronted by a seventeen-year-old boy standing on a 157-foot
tower, about ready to dive off into a swimming pool. He
was going to set a new world high-diving record. The most
amazing thing was that as he stood there with the tower
shaking in the wind, he paid attention to a voice over a
loudspeaker mounted by his head. Perched on a square
platform about eighteen inches across, preparing to set a
new world record, knowing that divers who had taken
off from a lower height the year before had carried around
injuries for weeks and even months, this diver was sub
jected to such questions as: “Can you hear me?” “What do
you think of just before you’re ready to dive?” “Do you
think of anything on the way down?” The questions and
the answers were not so important. What was important
was that somehow this young man could maintain his
concentration under these extreme conditions.
Such feats of concentration are performed all the time. I
have watched doctors calmly distract mental patients,
changing the subject very smoothly just as a patient is on
4 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
the verge of following through on a threat to kill himself
or to kill the doctor. With their own lives hanging in the
balance, they remain cool, thoughtful, and effective.
For many of us that degree of attention control is
easily within our grasp. I know it may be very hard to
believe we could be capable of controlling our minds and
our bodies to such an extent. You might even be saying
it would be a major victory if you could maintain your
cool in a room full of small children, if you could take
your kids to the store without feeling as if you were
coming unglued and were about to scream. Yes, it would
be nice to concentrate standing on a 157-foot tower, but
how about just being able to remain in complete control
on a job interview, or while you’re taking a test?
To be able to concentrate under the pressures and
frustrations of normal day-to-day living is much more than
most people are currently capable of. To maintain your
involvement and attention when you’re tired or bored. To
avoid having to rush at income tax time because you kept
putting off the awful chore of filling out tax forms. De
veloping your ability to concentrate on what you want to,
when you want to, no matter what—that’s what Attention
Control Training (A.C.T.) is all about.
We have seen great advances in our ability to measure
many kinds of human performance. Science has reached a
point where it is possible to watch what is going on inside
the body as a person prepares to respond physically and
mentally to his or her world. Through these observations
we have reached the stage where we are able to describe
and measure the processes that are so important to achieve
full human potential. We can now combine Eastern
Why You Need A.C.T. 5
thought with Western technology. It is possible to apply
that combined knowledge to improve concentration, to
integrate mind and body as never before. This book will
show you how—with simple steps that I have taught
many people, even high school students. These steps are
readily learned. And they work.
Think for a moment about the ability to concentrate,
to pay attention, to avoid being distracted by irrelevant
matters. It’s really the key to success in almost any situa
tion, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter whether it’s hitting a home
run to win a game, making a decision about how to react to
a child’s question, giving an answer in a meeting, or trying
to organize your day—your phone calls or paperwork or
dinner preparations—so that things come off on time and
in the most productive order. In all of these situations,
the key is concentration.
Life has become more complicated. We have more to
think about than ever. We have more demands placed
upon us. So it’s entirely natural that it’s becoming in
creasingly difficult to concentrate effectively. Too often
we find ourselves trying to pay attention to too many
things at once. Then we start to feel confused, overloaded.
Things are happening too fast. We often become upset,
frustrated, even angry at the constant interruptions and
demands. We can end up jumping from one thing to an
other without any sense of accomplishment.
At other times we become so caught up and overly in
volved that we concentrate only too effectively. We zero
in on one item and ignore a hundred others that are more
important.
Your neighbor comes over for coffee, bringing her

three-year-old son. She starts talking about what is going
on behind the scenes at the local club, and is oblivious to
the fact that her son is opening your drawers, picking
up your priceless china, and dancing on your dining-room
table. Your neighbor is concentrating only too well. You
are having the opposite problem. You are overloaded,
jumping from what she is saying to watching her son,
to anticipating the crash of fine china, to resolving that
your children will never act that way. You are unable to
concentrate effectively. So is she.
As your neighbors son prepares to do the Mexican hat
dance on the centerpiece, a gift from your husband, you
have two choices. You can get up, scream, and beat the
hell out of the “little cutie,” in which case you lose a friend
and lose out on the gossip. Or you can sit quietly and wait
for the crash. As you do, you make up your mind that
you will never let your friend in your house again so
long as her son is on the loose. Because you are waiting for
the inevitable crash, you still lose out on the gossip (can't
concentrate), and you develop a headache and possibly
the beginnings of an ulcer. If you follow through on your
silent threat, you isolate yourself from your friend.
Perhaps the example seems trivial, but such situations

in homes, offices, schools, and other institutions are all
too common and cause very real difficulties for perfectly
smart, capable people. The person who loses his or her cool
and yells often ends up anxious and feeling guilty and
depressed. The person who doesn’t ends up angry—and,
feeling more and more isolated, also becomes depressed.
All such happenings are important. Whatever the example,
you should remember that in order to cope and function
effectively you must be able to control your ability to
concentrate. This mental control is the key to success,
to reducing stress and all the many more or less serious
problems continual pressure can lead to.
But there are two distinctly different kinds of attention
control, and the difference is vital. At times attention con
trol means overcoming the distractions caused by your
environment or your own lack of confidence or your own
concerns. Then you need to throttle down, to shut out the
irrelevant, to lock in on a task, to sort out the best action
to take—and take it. At other times attention control
should enable you to open yourself up wide, to become
more aware of what is going on around you and inside
you, to take a panoramic view. A.C.T. shows you how to
do both, and how to shift back and forth between the
narrow and the wide-angle lenses smoothly and whenever
necessary.
When you learn to develop the ability to shift your
concentration so it fits the demands that the people and
situations around you are placing on you, you begin to
integrate and improve mental and physical functioning.
Occasionally this happens without our consciously know
ing it. We seem to get mind and body working together
spontaneously. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you sometimes
forget all the distractions, annoyances, worries, and irrita
tions that normally interfere with your ability to con
centrate. When this happens, your performance is naturally
greatly enhanced. During these times of ultimate con
centration you reach a “peak experience.” You may attain
results beyond your own expectations. Not only do you
learn to handle the Mexican hat dance, you step out
beyond.
If you’re like me and watched the 1976 Olympics, you

were surely impressed by the almost superhuman efforts
of one of the Japanese gymnasts. This man competed on
the still rings although he knew his leg was broken. He
also knew that his performance in the final event would
solely determine whether his team received medals in the
gymnastics competition. If he failed to compete, or if he
competed at less than his best level, the entire team would
be let down.
During his performance on the rings there was very
little pressure on his leg. However, as the exercise ended
the gymnast had to execute a dismount. His dismount
involved building up momentum by swinging around the
bar in giant circles. Then, at just the right moment, he
had to let go, flying high into the air. He got enough lift to
soar approximately ten feet into the air. Then, somer
saulting and twisting, he dropped to the mats. Upon land
ing he somehow held his position long enough to show
that he had complete control over his body. Only after
this was accomplished did he fall to the ground and re
spond to the pain of his broken leg.
Here you can see a vivid example of pain endings in

nerves screaming for conscious recognition. The very pur
pose of pain sensations is to protect the body from further
injury. What the gymnast did went totally against that
Why You Need A.C.T. g
prime directive. Mentally, the Olympian wanted to com
pete. Somehow he was able to maintain enough control
over his mind and body so he could concentrate on the
exercise. He was not distracted during the performance by
his very real pain or by fear of what would happen to
him as he landed on a broken leg.
Such feats occur often in the world of sports. As specta
tors, we are continually amazed by athletes competing
despite pain, by incredible personal performances that
leave records shattered. Bob Beamons world-record long
jump in the Mexico City Olympics is an example. So is
the Muhammad Ali bout in which Ali fought most of the
contest with a broken jaw.
These feats are not as unusual as we might imagine,
because many of us are, in fact, capable of them. I’ve seen
my own instructors in aikido and karate ignore injury,
knife wounds, and incredible odds, while still maintaining
their ability to perform. IVe watched athletes, business
men, and housewives fight off the effects of illness, alcohol,
fatigue, or tranquilizers because something enabled them
to marshal their total attention. At these times they co
ordinated mental and physical functioning in a way that
allowed them to reach their goal even though physical
realities should have interfered.
Haven’t you experienced times when you could walk
into a crowded room and be aware of an incredible sensi
tivity to people’s feelings and attitudes without ever ex
changing words with them? This, too, is attention control.
People talk about these experiences as “extrasensory
awareness.” Regardless of the label, there are times when
you look up and know someone is talking or thinking
about you. Looking across the room to a small group of
io A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
people, you pick out a person and sense a great deal about
his or her comments, even though you have never met.
Such is the power of concentration.
President John Kennedy wrote a book, entitled Pro

files in Courage, about men of history who somehow
found the strength to make decisions under very difficult
conditions. Another example is a decision Winston
Churchill had to make during World War II. The British
had broken the German code. One of the messages they
intercepted indicated that the Germans were going to
bomb a particular English city. Churchill’s choice: protect
the city and let the Germans know that their code was
broken, or let thousands of people die. He chose to let
thousands die to protect the secret and save more lives by
shortening the war. Churchill was able to make the
decision and live with it.
The same total concentration that creates an altered
state of awareness through drugs is the type of concentra
tion needed to make, and live with, the decisions of a
Churchill—or a surgeon. The critical difference is that
drugs alter awareness whether we want them to or not. To
be truly effective we must be able to develop these states
without the aid of drugs and in response to demands the
world—our boss, teacher, spouse, or any pressure situation
—places on us.
The examples I’ve mentioned are dramatic. They pro
vide an indication of what some other people were capable
of. Yes, it’s often hard to believe you could behave that
way, but you can! Remember the times when you re
sponded beyond your own expectations. If you were in
volved in a physical activity, events seemed to unfold in

something like slow motion. You were in total control,
floating along effortlessly. As in the altered state, if the
situation demanded making a decision, you had clear
thoughts, saw things for what they really were, and knew
exactly what to do. Chances are those integrated experi
ences have occurred so infrequently in your life that they
almost seem like dreams. Believe me, what you could do
then, you can do now.
You can improve both the consistency and the level of
your ability to control yourself and the things going on
around you. If you have found that your feelings and
behavior are highly changeable and inconsistent, you can
learn to reverse these patterns. You can greatly increase
your ability to concentrate under pressure and thereby
gain mastery over your emotional and physical responses.
I’ve seen ordinary people learn to do this all the time
with A.C.T. In fact, you can gain enough control over
attention and concentration so you are consistently suc
cessful and capable of high-level performance and decision
making. You can profit from the simple A.C.T. techniques
so you’ll reduce stress and prevent or delay the develop
ment of chronic problems such as ulcers, heart attacks,
and strokes.
Now you can be the poised public speaker, the woman
who goes through natural childbirth, the parent able to
control himself or herself and the children, and control
the hundreds of other roles each of us must play through
out our lives.
More than anything else, you need to control con
centration to cope with the demands made on you daily.
With this control you can move beyond TM, est, bio-
1
feedback, and the rest of the stress-reduction procedures
to a new understanding of yourself and your world. This
understanding will allow you to take charge, to recognize
what’s needed, to develop the concentration you need to
function at your own top level.
Eastern writers have shown us the importance of several

different types of mental awareness and concentration.
Individuals who seem to always be in the right place at the
right time, to say and do the right thing, who appear
calm, effective, and in control of both mental and physical
functioning, are able to control those different mental
abilities. They can create their own altered states of
consciousness.
Although Eastern practices provide us with insight
into mental control, the training procedures leave a great
deal to be desired. Few of us have the motivation or time
to devote years to learning to meditate or to control our
bodies the way a yogi does. We need answers and abilities
now! It is possible, by combining Western technology
and Eastern thought, for you to learn how to be more
effective and happier in a relatively short time.
So Attention Control Training goes beyond existing
methods to give you a greater understanding of how to be
more effective, personally and interpersonally. A.C.T. can
provide you with the skills you need to control concentra
tion and to enhance your level of performance. It comes
to grips with the true problems in concentrating and shows
you how to get your act together comfortably, step by
step, no matter what you may be doing.
To be a winner, to truly integrate mental and physical
functioning, to shift smoothly from narrow to broad at
tention seems easy at times. But at other times, when we
come under pressure, become frightened, angry, or frus
trated, our attention narrows and we find it difficult to
develop the broad focus that may be needed. We are
distracted by our thoughts and feelings. They interfere
with performance. When we are bored our minds wander.
We lack the discipline to narrow our attention in order
to avoid the distractions.
A.C.T. I will teach you the types of concentration

you need in many different situations. Included is a very
abbreviated version of a test (see chapter 2) to help you
determine your own particular strengths and weaknesses
regarding your ability to concentrate. Some people make
consistent errors, such as the woman who allowed her son
to dance on the table. They never develop that necessary
broad focus of attention. Others are never able to narrow
their attention. I’ll help you become more aware of what is
difficult for you. This will help you anticipate situations
you’re mostly likely to be successful in and those where
you can expect problems.
A.C.T. II will teach you how to control your attention
and concentration. At the same time you’ll learn to control
physical anxiety. You’ll be able to reduce the muscle
tension, rapid heart, dizziness, nausea, and fear that inter
fere with your ability to concentrate and do well. Through
this training you will be able to shift your type of con
centration whenever you need to.
Move to A.C.T. Ill to learn how to create your personal
program. You’ll be able to select from some fairly common
situations that cause people to have difficulty in concentrat
ing and doing: learning to take tests, interacting socially,
giving a speech, even going to the doctor or dentist. I will
help you identify in each situation when and how to shift
your attention. I will also help you see what you should be
concentrating on and how to do it. You will even be able
to develop methods for helping yourself cope with prob
lems that may be highly specific and perhaps unique to
you: dealing with sibling rivalry, the death of a loved
one, being both housewife and career woman, coping
with a sexual problem.
Through A.C.T., then, you’ll learn to be happier and
more effective in your daily life. And by learning to con
trol both your mind and body you’re going to find yourself
less affected by stress and tension, and more satisfied by
the remarkable accomplishments you’re capable of, no
matter what your situation.
2 / The Story Behind A.C. T
Attention Control Training (A.C.T.) began, at least in the

formal sense, at the University of Rochester when I estab
lished a psychoeducational and biofeedback laboratory
to study different approaches to the treatment of stress
and the improvement of human achievement. I was inter
ested (as were others) in developing answers to a series
of questions.
1. Were any of the methods used by psychologists (bio

feedback, hypnosis, meditation, etc.) more effective as
tools for stress reduction and performance improvement
than any others? If they were, under what conditions, with
what problems, and with what kinds of people?
2. What were the change agents? That is, what enabled
Zen meditation, biofeedback, TM, progressive relaxation,
and other methodologies to reduce anxiety and increase
self-control?
3. Were there common underlying factors cutting across
seemingly disparate methods? Many scientists thought
there were.
4. Could scientists learn to predict who would function
well under pressure and who would not?
5. Was it possible to develop more efficient ways to
shorten learning and practice time?
6. Could I develop procedures that would have much
more direct application to specific problems? In other
words, could I take a procedure such as meditation and
alter it so it was useful in treating speech anxiety or
helping a person hit a home run?
My own interest in these questions had begun many

years earlier and stemmed from very personal needs. I
started school at an earlier age than most kids. As a result,
I was socially and emotionally less mature than my class
mates. My father wanted nothing more than for me to be
the athletic hero. Unfortunately, I was a failure. I could
not compete with the other kids. I was too small and too
slow. I spent so much time fantasizing about the hero I
wanted to be that I didn’t accomplish anything.
My level of confidence in interpersonal situations and
my attention control were so low that I failed speech in
high school because I was too frightened to stand up in
front of the class to give the final speech and too distracted
to concentrate on homework. Over the four years of high
school I failed athletically and academically. I ended up
with a D+ average. I couldn’t have gone to college at
that time even if I had been ready, so at seventeen I en
listed in the army.
I was smart enough to search for some way to gain the
The Story Behind A.C.T. 17
confidence and mental control that I felt I needed. I was
fortunate in being given my choice of overseas assign
ments, and I chose to go to Japan so I could study the
martial arts. I figured that if I could learn karate and
aikido I could satisfy myself and my father. I wouldn’t
have to be afraid of anyone.
I spent over two years studying aikido and karate, and
during that time began to develop some self-respect and
a sense of what might be possible if I could ever develop
the integrated mental and physical functioning that I saw
masters of the martial arts display. I came back to the
States still afraid but growing. The training I had been
through in Japan had been long and painful. I felt that
there must be a better way to achieve what it was I was
looking for. I began translating what I had been taught
in Japan into concepts that I was encountering in my psy
chology courses in college. I began applying techniques
like meditation, progressive relaxation, and self-hypnosis
to my own development.
With my confidence growing, I began to accomplish
what I had only dreamed about before. I found my grades
in college were easy to maintain—and I was earning A’s
and B’s. I went out for diving. The first year I failed to
make the team as a regular. During the following summer
I worked out my own training program, and the next year
I became the conference diving champion. I got into
graduate school and earned a Ph.D. Finally, I went on the
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in front of a live audi
ence and more than ten million TV viewers. I controlled
my anxiety, even though you’ll remember that I couldn’t
give a speech in high school. In spite of the past failures,
I managed within a few minutes to give Johnny Carson
enough instructions so that he was able to break an inch-
thick nine-by-twelve-inch board with his head!
It was my experiences in Japan, the overcoming of some
of my own difficulties, and the development of increased
mental control that made me ask the questions at the
beginning of this chapter. I knew what was possible. I
had seen it. I also knew that people would not need several
years of training in the martial arts to accomplish greater
mental and physical integration. I had found ways to
developmental and physical controls that were useful
for me; now I wanted to extend what I was learning
through research to others.
To begin to answer my questions and many others,
several students and I started studying a wide range of
available techniques and people in the laboratory. In the
course of study we often found ourselves seeing people
who needed immediate solutions to problems. They
couldn’t (or didn’t want to ) avoid pressure and challenge.
They weren’t asking just to reduce anxiety and fear they
were experiencing. They were looking for ways to improve
their ability to cope with their own special problems.
We were seeing business executives, police officers,
nurses, physicians, teachers, college students, amateur and
professional athletes and musicians. Most of these people
were not experiencing the chronic problems that psy
chiatrists, physicians, and psychologists are called on to
deal with. They were not depressed, or hypertensive. They
were suffering some anxiety and some performance prob
lems under highly stressful conditions. Often their per
formance was adequate or even very good. But they
wanted to make it better. In short, they were normal,
The Story Behind A.C.T. lg
highly efficient people with one aim in common: they were
all interested in increasing self-control and performance.
They were also interested in preventing the development
of chronic problems resulting from exposure to continued
stress and pressure.
Because of the demand for performance improvement
and stress reduction, we brought people into the laboratory
for study. We went to special lengths to let them know
that they did not have to consider themselves as having
“problems” in order to participate in our research. We
specified that we were interested in assessing and con
trolling the effects of pressure on performance and on
physical and emotional health. We also asked exceptional
people to take part, since our primary goal was to make
effective people even more effective.
With the help of these people we compared such tech
niques as meditation, autogenic training, biofeedback,
hypnosis, and progressive relaxation. We examined their
effects on physical processes like heart rate and blood
pressure. We also compared their effects on mental
processes like feelings of anxiety and how they affect
attention control. With this knowledge, we applied these
methods to the treatment of people’s problems in con
trolling attention and/or anxiety in different performance
situations. We made good policemen better, improved test
taking skills and public-speaking abilities. Finally, we went
on to find people with more severe difficulties (migraine
headaches, chronic muscle pain, drug dependence) and
began treating them, too.
Over several years we studied a very wide range of
people. They ranged in age from eleven to seventy-five.
They differed in intelligence and education. Some had
IQs that would put them in the top 3 percent of the
population; others were down near the bottom. We worked
with Ph.Ds and convicts (not necessarily mutually ex
clusive ).
A major factor leading to the success of our programs
was our screening and counseling instrument, the Test of
Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS). This is a
paper-and-pencil test consisting of 144 questions. The
test only takes about twenty minutes. Among other things,
it lets us measure the ability of people to develop the dif
ferent types of concentration that are so necessary for
success. We used the test to predict in advance who
would be able to concentrate under pressure and who
would not. We found the test helpful in counseling people.
We could use it to identify situations that were likely to
be difficult because attention control seemed to be lack
ing. We could also use it to identify strengths, even if
people had not yet made use of them. All this advance in
formation was helpful in telling us how and where to
apply different Attention Control Training techniques for
different people.
Out of this research, by myself and several graduate and
undergraduate students at the University of Rochester,
the test and the A.C.T. procedures developed. The actual
training techniques represent a distillation of our research
and clinical experience in the lab. They also reflect our
understanding of the contributions of others dealing with
stress and mental control.
In the next chapter I am going to discuss the relationship

between attention control and pressure in more detail.
The Story Behind A.C.T. 21
Prior to that discussion, I would like you to take a brief
test. This is an extremely abbreviated version of three of
the seventeen scales that make up the Test of Attentional
and Interpersonal Style. Information from these will be
very important in helping you understand what we will
be talking about. Your scores will also be useful in helping
you apply the A.C.T. techniques to your own life.
A large section in the Appendix of this book will provide
you with more information about the development and
use of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style. You
may find it helpful to use some of the figures in the
Appendix to further clarify your own attention strengths
and weaknesses.
Here’s the test.
Just answer each question by selecting the word or
phrase that best fits your own abilities:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently
All the time
E xternal
1. I am good at quickly analyzing a

complex situation such as how a
play is developing in football, or
which of four or five children
started a fight.
2. In a room filled with children, or
on a playing field, I know what
everyone is doing.
22 A.C.T.; Attention Control Training
A nalytical
1. All I need is a little information

and I can come up with a large
number of ideas.
2. It is easy for me to bring to
gether ideas from a number of
different areas.
N arrow
1. It is easy for me to keep thoughts

from interfering with something
I am watching or listening to.
2. It is easy for me to keep sights
and sounds from interfering with
my thoughts.
3 / Attention Control and
Stress Control Go Hand
in Hand
Attention control is nothing more than being able to

voluntarily direct your attention; to concentrate in ways
that are consistent with the demands placed on you by
your home, family, and job.
What are those demands? I’ve already mentioned that
one very important part of attention involves how much
you try to concentrate on at any one time. There are oc
casions when you must open up and allow yourself to be
aware of many different factors. You must be able to do
this to safely negotiate a busy intersection. This type of
concentration is often described as “passive.” You open
up and simply reflect, much like a mirror, everything that
is going on around you. You passively take everything
in before deciding what to do. Once you decide to take
action you develop a very narrow type of attention or con
centration. It is this “active,” focused type of attention
that you use to solve a math problem, or to sink a putt
on the golf course.
A second dimension of attention is just as important as
width: the direction of your broad or narrow focus of
attention. Sometimes you direct your thoughts internally
to make plans, to analyze, to think about the past. At
other times you concentrate on what is going on around
you; you direct your attention externally. The external focus
allows you to be sensitive to others, to react to the world.
Figure 1 shows you the four types of attention you must
be able to develop whenever you want to, no matter
what, if you want to function at your best. To analyze and
plan for the future—whether that’s a few minutes ahead
or years—you must be able to broaden attention and
direct it internally. If you’re distracted by noise or other
interference, you cannot be effective. To react to a busy
world, to function in an emergency situation, to control
a classroom full of children or get through an intersection,
you need a broad external focus of attention. If you’re
inside your head on these occasions you’re likely to be hit
by a car or a spitball. To sink a putt, hit a tennis ball, dive
off a 157-foot tower, you need to concentrate in a way
that narrows attention and directs it externally. Finally,
to solve a math problem, to balance your checkbook, to
write a computer program, you need a narrow, internal
type of attention.
It’s the ability to control attention under pressure and
in response to changing demands that separates mental
patients from the average person, and the average person
from the super-performer. Winners somehow manage to
shift from one type of attention to another whenever they
need to; losers do not! At times we’re all losers, no matter
how good we are. But it’s possible to reduce those oc
casions dramatically.
As I mentioned, the Test of Attentional and Interper-
FIG. 1
EXTERNAL
External-Passive External-Active
Being open to and Taking action in
aware of the world response to your
around you. (When is it environment. (Hit a
safe to cross the inter baseball, treat a cut,
section? Who in the cook a meal.)
crowd is going to cause
trouble? Are the chil
dren all right outside?)
1 Exceptional
performers
2 The average
person
□ 3 Psychiatric NARROW
o<
DC
_______ patients
OQ
Internal-Passive Internal-Active
Opening up to informa Taking action to men
tion. (Gathering facts tally solve a problem
you need to make plans once the information is
and answer complicated gathered. (Balance the
questions.) checkbook, write a
letter.)
INTERNAL
sonal Style was designed to allow us to measure people’s
ability to deal with the four types of attention in Figure 1.
When we tested people who differed in their ability to
perform under pressure, to make effective decisions, we
found that they did indeed differ in their ability to marshal
their attention.
The three squares in Figure 1 dramatically illustrate
these differences. The smallest square reflects the ability of
a large group of psychiatric patients to control and shift
their attention. As the area covered by the square il
lustrates, these people have a great deal of difficulty even
under relatively nonstressful conditions. One very interest
ing and important finding was that when we looked at
individual patients we found their problems tended to
occur more in one area than in another. Some of the
patients could develop a broad focus of attention but
were unable to concentrate and to narrow. They were
like the woman trying to be attentive to her neighbor,
watch out for her china, protect her table, etc. Other
patients were very narrowly focused and did not pay
attention to what was going on around them at all. They
were so inside their heads that they would sit quietly if
a building burned down around them.
The second square in Figure 1 illustrates the extent
to which the average person can control attention. As you
can see, there is greater control, and it can be maintained
under a moderate degree of stress. Once again, normal
people tend to possess one or more areas of concentration
that are more highly developed. This means they are going
to function very well in some ways, less well in others.
You will see, too, that as pressure increases they will begin
to function more like psychiatric patients.
Attention Control and Stress Control 27
The largest square reflects the ability of super-effective
people to control their attention. When we tested very
high-level executives, highly selected policemen, out
standing athletes, we found that they could exercise
superior control. As a group, this superior control cut
across all areas. Once again, however, we found individual
differences. Even super-performers had certain attention
abilities that could be strengthened.
I have hinted that control over these attention processes
is intimately related to your ability to control yourself in
stressful situations. Most of us, of course, have greater
control than disturbed psychiatric patients. Were able to
develop different types of attention and shift in response
to different demands. We do move from narrow internal
focus to the broad external. As pressure increases, how
ever, we tend to begin to lose control. If things become
bad enough, we can momentarily become as confused
and disorganized as a mental patient.
A witness to the infamous Canary Islands plane crash
described the reactions of passengers to the disaster. They
looked around and saw people sitting, waxen, completely
dazed and unresponsive. People were dying around them.
They themselves were burning. You know what happens
to your ability to concentrate under pressure. You know
what makes you unable to cope and respond.
A tremendous amount of evidence illustrates that when
pressure increases, attention begins to narrow involuntar
ily. It also becomes more internally focused. You lose your
ability to analyze, to deal with a lot of information, to
make rational decisions, even to be aware of what's going
on around you. This loss can be extreme, as in the case of
the Canary Islands disaster, or it can be very small. The
change may be almost imperceptible, so that it doesn’t
stop you from acting and making decisions; it does prevent
you from doing as good a job as you would have done had
you been in total control. You end up doing your normal
adequate job. It’s OK except for one drawback: inside,
you know you were capable of more.
Effective individuals—masters of the martial arts, for
instance—can retain their cool and attention control even
against incredible odds. The warrior can be surrounded
by attackers, the businessmen can be under fire from
several opposing positions, the mother can have three
children yelling at the same time. Most of us are more
likely to have experiences like the following.
During his first year in college Mark took a required

course in American history. His instructor was an eccentric
guy who refused to assign any particular text. Instead, he
required students to do a lot of reading from a selection
of books which he placed on reserve in the library. The
instructor would come into class each day, literally climb
up on his desk and assume a cross-legged position in the
middle of it. He would then turn to the class and say,
“Where was I the last time we met?” Someone would check
his notes for what the subject matter had been. The in
structor would smile, get a glassy look on his face, and
say, “Oh, yes.” He would then launch into a lecture, pick
ing up where he had left off. He never used notes. He
would simply talk through the entire class period. Grades
for the course depended on performance on two exams, a
midterm and the final. The instructor told the class on the
first day that anyone who could not write should get out of
Attention Control and Stress Control 2Q
his class. He even went so far as to say that 60 percent
of his students either failed or dropped the course. By the
time the final had rolled around, 30 percent of Mark’s
class had dropped the course.
As you can imagine, Mark went in to take the final exam
burdened with a high level of anxiety. Who wouldn’t be?
The test consisted of only one question: “Write a brief
interpretation of American History from 1603 to the pres
ent.” Needless to say, such a question demands the ability
to develop an extremely broad focus of attention indeed—
which becomes extremely difficult under pressure. Given
the anxiety the instructor had generated and the demand
for dealing with a tremendous amount of information,
Mark found no way to do a good job. He survived the
course only because his professor graded on enough of a
curve to pass 40 percent of his class. Mark’s answer was
not good; it was simply less bad than those of the other
60 percent of the students.
I mentioned that, given enough pressure, we will all

experience the attention disturbances usually reserved for
psychiatric patients. This results in the “choking” that
coaches are so fond of talking about.
I still have vivid memories of my falling victim to the
process on my first day at a “real job.” I was just twenty
years old, and was anxious to make a good impression,
especially since I needed the money to go to school. I
had been hired by a large restaurant to be a jack-of-all-
trades. I was expected to keep the food and liquor in
ventory, order and pick up supplies, help out in the
kitchen, and do a hundred other things.
On my first assignment the general manager—he looked
like a very distinguished and proper European—told me
to take a panel truck and pick up some produce. I rushed
out of the restaurant and got on my way. Everything
was fine until the return trip. As I was pulling into the
parking lot I dented in the entire side of the panel truck.
I accomplished this feat by sideswiping the restaurant
owner’s brand-new baby-blue Lincoln Continental.
My stomach was churning, my hands and legs were
shaking, and I was perspiring profusely when I knocked
on the general manager’s door and was told to come in.
Without looking up from his papers, he asked what I
wanted. Somehow I managed to blurt out, “I hit the
owner’s Continental with the panel truck.”
In absolute disbelief, he looked up and over the top of
his glasses: “You whatF’
“I hit the owner’s Continental with the truck.”
“That’s what I thought you said.”
Slowly he stood up, walked to the window, and looked
out to survey the damage. “You certainly did.”
Being a kind, fatherly type, and probably feeling sorry
for this baby-faced person standing before him just about
ready to cry, the manager asked a couple of questions and
then told me to get back to work. “I’ll take care of it,” he
told me. Still shaking, I walked out of the office.
About an hour later, he approached me and I suddenly
felt my legs shaking again. I was sure I was about to be
told that my first day on the job was also going to be my
last. To my surprise, the manager didn’t even mention the
earlier incident. Instead, he asked me to accompany him
to the wine cellar to take an inventory.
Knowing that I had not gotten started on the best foot
ing, distracted by my own shaking, and still thinking about
the earlier accident, I climbed a ladder to count the wine
bottles in the top rack. The rack lined the entire back
wall of the cellar. Because of my preoccupation with the
previous events of the day, I misjudged what I was trying
to hold on to, lost my balance, and grabbed madly for
something to hold on to.
Unfortunately, what I managed to grab hold of was the
wine rack. Suddenly, time seemed to slip into slow motion.
I watched, almost disassociated from the event, as the rack
came tumbling down. Thinking back, I remember hearing
the manager scream. “My God!” as he tried to get out of
the way of the flying bottles.
Shaken and dazed, I picked myself up off the floor, un
hurt, and rushed around in circles, trying to find a broom
so I could start sweeping up. I began to pick up the
broken pieces of glass and started sweeping again, com
pletely unable to concentrate on what I was doing.
The manager, as quietly and gently as possible, stepped
in, took the broom out of my hands, and instructed me
to step outside and “sit down for a few minutes.” He then
proceeded to sweep up the mess. Somehow, after it was
all over, he was able to laugh about it, and I was able to
keep my job. Looking back, I realize how lucky I was.
You might think of many other situations equally
frustrating, threatening, or stressful. Somewhat similar
disasters may even be torturing you daily. If you have
children, you know what I mean. Just think of the four-
year-old son who ran into the living room while his parents
were entertaining. He took one look at the visiting sixty-
eight-year-old man and matter-of-factly stated, “You have
a little head, it looks funny.”
This same, otherwise delightful child placed his mother
under considerable stress when he walked up to the re
tired admiral who lived next door and announced that
he and his dad could go around outside without shirts but
his mother couldn’t. “Her boobs are too big.” He then
turned to her and inquired, “How big are your boobs,
anyway?”
What makes these times so excruciatingly stressful is
that you’re out of control. You really don’t know what is
going to happen next, nor do you know how to respond
to what is already going on. Fortunately, these acutely
miserable moments usually happen only once in a while.
What about pressure situations that happen time and time
again? It’s these you have to learn to deal with: maybe
having to concentrate on paperwork while the phone rings
incessantly, having to take your children to the super
market, going on a trip with them, or trying to keep
people quiet while you’re on the telephone.
To illustrate better what I’ve been talking about, let’s

take a look at going to the store with your two children.
They’re four and six years of age, and you love them
dearly. But this is a stressful situation. As soon as you walk
into the store, the older one starts yelling for candy. The
younger one races off down a far aisle. You find yourself
reacting with physiological changes, the inevitable effects
of frustration and anger. Your blood pressure goes up.
Your heart rate quickens. Your face begins to turn red.
You can feel the muscles tensing in your arms, neck, and
shoulders.
You yell something at the older one and race after the
younger. You catch him by the arm, and have just started
to give him a good shake and threaten to tie him to the
shopping cart when a grandmotherly-looking woman
down the aisle gives you a look that says “child abuser.”
Now your attention begins to narrow and turn inward.
You imagine that the woman can read your mind. You
probably begin to feel guilty. What’s happening to you
would never happen to a parent who was in control. At
least, that’s your fantasy. Suddenly, you switch your
method of discipline. You will not flay the kids alive.
Rather, you’ll try to be sweet and reason with them.
Not being fools, the children recognize your indecision
and weakness and press for an advantage. You become so
concerned about dealing with them and getting out of the
store without a major incident, a nervous breakdown,
or a child-beating offense, that you forget half the items on
your shopping list.
I’m sure you begin to see how your physical and mental
responses to stress are destroying your ability to perform
as a mother who needs to control her children and as a
housewife who needs to do the shopping. Your concerns
are making you forget things, and making you indecisive
and inconsistent in dealing with your children. The physi
cal changes are rapidly leading to fatigue and a very large
headache.
As you leave the store, the problem isn’t over. Anger,
frustration, and guilt remain. You’re angry at the children
for behaving so miserably, and angry at yourself for not
being able to deal with the situation. You feel a little like
a failure as a parent, and this will begin to carry over to
other activities. Next time you go to the store, you’ll
probably be uptight before you even get into the car. You’ll
be anticipating what can happen, and any anxiety will
increase the likelihood of a reoccurrence, especially since
the children now know they can take advantage of you
in public.
As that fallout continues and begins to spread, with
failure leading to more anxiety and more failure, the
results can be devastating. It’s at this point, in fact, that
professionals begin to see the development of the chronic
problems that people talk so much about. Over time, as
your failures wear away at you, they cause depression,
loss of confidence and self-esteem. You might start taking
amphetamines to keep up with all of the demands. Ulti
mately, you can develop high blood pressure, ulcers, and
other chronic problems.
Take another stressful situation and follow it through.

Have you ever given a speech? For many people, having
to speak in public is very stressful. Physically they respond
with symptoms such as butterflies, feelings of nausea, or
stomach cramps. They find their breathing speeded up.
They may even begin to hyperventilate and feel dizzy and
unsteady. Breathing at the wrong time, they can run out of
air in the middle of a sentence and have to stQp and gasp
for breath.
Those are the physical responses to stress. As concentra
tion narrows and people become internally preoccupied,
they lose awareness of the audience and its responses.
They become caught in their own feelings and fears that
they’re “falling apart”: I can’t remember my speech. What
will people think?”
These physical and mental changes are bound to create
performance problems. As muscle tension increases, move
ments can become jerky. You may find yourself dropping
things, unable to handle your notes or a piece of chalk.
When attention narrows, several experiences will beset
you. First, you’ll start to feel rushed. Things seem to be
happening a bit too quickly. You’ll speed up, to try to keep
up. You’ll begin to go too fast, finishing a fifteen-minute
speech in five. The faster you go, the more overloaded
and confused you become, and the more confusing you
sound to the audience.
As your performance falls apart, you resolve to avoid
speaking in the future. When you find you must talk, you’ll
again feel more stress than necessary, and again your
doctor may see the onset of chronic problems.
In the Appendix you’ll find a much more detailed
description of what happens under pressure and how
chronic problems develop, including diagrams to illustrate
the process and information about treatment. If the down
ward spirals I’ve described are only too familiar to you,
you may find this additional detail useful.
4-/Beginning Stages
My first attempts at controlling attention by integrating

mental and physical processes began in Japan when I was
a student of the martial arts. I quickly learned that
practitioners of these arts had been emphasizing the de
velopment of attention control through meditation for
hundreds of years. The problem with the training was
that it was confusing and often very painful.
My instructors would tell me that I must learn to remain
calm and to “make your mind like the water.” That state
ment didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. It was
simple, they said. All I had to do was to concentrate on
the “one point.” The one point was my center of gravity. It
was located just behind and below my navel. If I would let
my mind rest there I could be calm. Once I was calm I
could make my mind like the water.
It all sounded like mystical mumbo-jumbo then, but the
reason my instructors told me to learn to be calm was so
that I could reduce distractions and become capable of
developing a broad focus of attention. They knew about
Beginning Stages 37
the relationship between anxiety and attention. Unless I
could “center” and reduce anxiety, I could not be aware
of everything going on around me. Unless I could be
aware, how could I defend myself? At various stages in
training I was tested to see how well I was following
instructions.
The tests were interesting. In one of them I was sur
rounded by six or more attackers. Presumably, if I relaxed
and focused on the one point, I would be aware of every
thing and be capable of responding to an attack coming
from any of the people surrounding me. But how in the
heck could you center and be calm when you were about
to be attacked by six people? I would become upset. My
attention would narrow. I would become locked into
concentrating on one or two of the attackers. Inevitably
someone would sneak up behind me and clobber me. My
instructor would laugh sadistically and say, “You are not
concentrating on the one point.”
The second way I was tested had to do with making
myself immovable. I was told that if I would concentrate
in just the right way, I could not be lifted off the ground.
People could push me off balance or pick me up only be
cause mentally I would help them by thinking about
being lifted or being pushed off balance.
My instructor would have me kneel down and close
my eyes. He would then sneak up on me and knock me
over. Again he would yell, “You are not concentrating on
the one point!” He was right! I was distracted by my
concerns, by trying to listen for him, by thinking the whole
test was stupid. As I would hear him coming I would
brace myself, and he would knock me on my can. The
frustrating thing was that he could put his money where
his mouth was. I could not sneak up on him in a circle,
I could not pick him off the ground, and I could not knock
him over, even though I was bigger than he was.
My instructor was trying to. teach me to develop a
broad-passive focus of attention even when I was under
pressure. Try as I might, I found that after two years of
his training methods I was only mildly successful. I could
remain calm when surrounded by a group of Cub Scouts.
I knew what I was supposed to do, but I just couldn’t
do it.
We also tried to learn to focus our attention very
narrowly, to literally direct all of the energy in the body
into one move or direction. We were told that with proper
concentration we could focus our “Ki.” If we could do
this we were on our way to learning to break boards and
bricks with our hands, feet, and head. We could overcome
six people at the same time, resist boredom and fatigue.
This focus of attention, in contrast to the broad-passive
focus, is very active and narrow. It is the concentration
you need 157 feet in the air, to sink an eighteen-thousand-
dollar putt, to knock out an opponent in boxing. It is the
same type of attention a salesman uses to close a deal, a
debater uses to make a killing point in a debate. If you
can focus your Ki you can get your taxes in on time.
As before, I was tested by the instructor. He would
begin walking toward me, punching at my face. I would
begin walking backward, blocking each punch with my
arms. My instructor would be punching and shouting,
“Focus your Ki!” I would be blocking, and wincing in
pain as my arms became black-and-blue. I would begin
to tire so much that I couldn’t raise my arms. Then I
Beginning Stages 39
would start to get hit in the head. Again he would yell,
“Focus your Ki!” I would find myself thinking what an
idiot I was for being in this situation. I was in a battle
of Ki’s, his versus mine, and I always lost. Surely there had
to be a better way! Attention control did not have to be
so painful.
When I came back to the United States and began the

study of psychology, I became aware of two things. First,
I started understanding the importance of attention and
began making the connection between Ki (a mind like
water) and various types of concentration. I also saw, from
the study of mental patients, how anxiety interfered with
the abilities to concentrate. All the mystical mumbo-
jumbo began to make sense to my Western mind.
My studies also started exposing me to techniques like
hypnosis, meditation, biofeedback, autogenic training,
progressive relaxation, and other procedures that had been
used to help anxious patients control their anxiety. The
emphasis had been on working with patients and on the
control of anxiety. Little had been done to work directly
with control of attention or to change the ability to per
form.
For the most part, procedures like meditation and bio
feedback were being used to help overcome chronic prob
lems that people had developed only after they had been
under pressure for a long time. Under these circumstances,
training was a long process. Changes in both symptoms
and behavior were often very small.
I wanted to use techniques like hypnosis and medita
tion to speed the learning process. I wanted to help nor
mal individuals learn the mental self-control of my aikido
instructor.
In the laboratory we combined a number of treatments,
including biofeedback. We used the combinations to treat
performance and concentration problems and some of
the physical symptoms that result from excessive tension.
Since the population we were dealing with had not
reached the point of developing chronic problems like de
pression, hypertension, and ulcers, we found we could
dramatically shorten the training used in the past.
As you 11 see, the A.C.T. methods are very short, quick
to implement, easy to learn. To use my aikido instructors
language, they can be used to help you “make your mind
like water,” “center and focus on the one point,” and “focus
your Ki.” You can learn to recognize (and quickly control)
rising anxiety, to concentrate so well that two people
bigger than you cannot lift you off the ground. Using what
we have learned in the laboratory over the past few years,
you can accomplish in a matter of minutes what I failed
to achieve in two years. All this, and you don’t have to
bleed one bit. You wont get even one black-and-blue mark.
The learning process is speedy because the training has
a specific focus. You are learning a technique but you are
immediately applying the technique to a specific situation.
I pointed out earlier that anxiety and pressure can lead to
performance problems and that the resulting failure can
begin to generalize until a downward spiral gets com
pletely out of control. In the same way, you can also set
off a positive spiral! Overcoming anxiety and problems in
a specific situation leads to increasing self-confidence and
to the likelihood of additional success in the future. It
Beginning Stages 41
is possible to go from being an inhibited, uptight individual
to a person who can begin to take risks. The mother whose
children ran wild in the supermarket is a good case in point.
This woman had the type of attention problems that hit
you when attention narrows and you become overloaded.
Her own thoughts and inhibitions added to the noise and
confusion generated by her kids and the people in the store.
All this kept her from being able to concentrate effectively
and act in any consistent way.
Using the A.C.T. procedures, she quickly learned to calm
herself in the supermarket. She was then able to direct her
attention so she could control her children before they got
out of hand. Not only did she accomplish this; a positive
spiral developed. She began to use what she had learned
and apply it to other overload situations: trying to pick
things up around the house, starting dinner, responding
to her husband’s questions and the demands of her kids
and the dog—all at the same time.
As she found she could begin to handle these situations
more effectively, her self-esteem went up. She found a
part-time job outside the home. It supplied her with an
outside involvement, some money of her own, and the
beginnings of a separate identity. Over several months she
became more assertive and set aside additional personal
time for her own growth and development. She did all
this, and without sacrificing her family! ( It did take a while
to reach this point.)
This trainee came into the laboratory after we had set up
our training program. I think you can gather confidence in
the A.C.T. procedures if you follow me through its develop
ment before I designed the shortcuts that became the self-
help program in this book.
4 2 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
If you had approached us when we first opened the

laboratory and offered to treat performance problems and
the symptoms that result from pressure, we would first
have sent you some information about the program. You’d
have gotten an idea of what would happen, and would
have built positive expectations. You would have learned
a little about biofeedback and stress reduction, and that
the program had been helpful to other people with prob
lems similar to yours.
Let’s assume you came to learn how to prevent the
tension headaches that you developed three or four times
a week. As you read the information we sent out, you
saw that treatment would involve ten sessions. You were
told the cost of all ten sessions, and that the sessions
would be spaced so that you would be seen in the labora
tory twice a week for five weeks. Since you were coming
in with a physical complaint, we asked for medical records.
(If the problem had involved improving performance,
test-taking ability, etc., we would not have needed medi
cal records.)
You were asked to keep a record of all your headaches,
when they occurred, how intense the pain was, how long
they lasted, what medication you took to treat them. You
were then asked to bring all this information to the first
session, usually some four to six weeks after you first
contacted us. The delay was for two reasons: First, we had
a long waiting list. Second, we wanted to collect back
ground information on your symptoms so we could
evaluate the effects of treatment.
The first session lasted about two hours. We took a com
Beginning Stages 43
plete history of your problem (in addition to the informa
tion in your medical records). We administered the Test
of Attentional and Interpersonal Style, and got a measure
ment of anxiety. Following the interview and testing, we
taught you a relaxation procedure—perhaps a meditation
technique similar to TM or progressive relaxation. You
were asked to practice twice a day, fifteen minutes at a
time. We also connected you to an electromyograph to
provide biofeedback on the muscle tension in your fore
head.
The feedback came through three electrodes attached
to the area above and between your eyes. These electrodes
were attached with a small adhesive disc similar to a
Band-Aid. As the muscles in your forehead tensed, they
gave off minute amounts of electricity. This electrical
activity was picked up by the electrodes and then accumu
lated and amplified. When enough energy had been ac
cumulated, you heard an audible click. The more tense you
were, the faster the clicks came over the loudspeaker. We
told you that these particular muscles provided a good
indication of your overall level of anxiety.
Over the next nine sessions you used the practice at
home with the relaxation procedures, and the feedback in
the laboratory, to lower the click rate and reduce your
tension levels. If you could do this you could prevent the
onset of your tension headaches.
Between the first and second sessions we scored your
tests. We began session two by using the test information
to help find out where and when your tensions were most
likely to increase. By knowing your attention abilities and
what attention your job and home life demanded, we
1
could spot your problem points. These were the situations
most likely to give you a headache.
The test and your history increased your awareness of
potential problems and turned out to be a very important
part of treatment. Surprisingly, without testing most of us
are not aware of many of the things that make us frus
trated, anxious, or angry. Our natural tendency seems to
be to ignore or deny psychological and physiological
tensions until it is too late to take corrective measures on
our own. Once anxiety reaches a certain point, toe seem to
lose the ability to use self-control procedures like medita
tion, progressive relaxation— yes, and A.C.T., too—to re
gain control of or remove symptoms.
In the remainder of session two through ten we pro
vided biofeedback training to check how your practice
at home was progressing and to see whether we could
find any other potential headache-producing situations.
In this example, the goal was to treat a particular
symptom, but treatment was not appreciably different
when we were working with a performance problem.
Pretend for the moment that you live in Rochester, New

York, and you’re afraid of driving a car when it snows. (If
you don’t like that, say you live in Switzerland and you’re
afraid of driving a car on mountain roads.) You come to us
because you want to overcome your fear. You’re not taking
trips you’d like to take because you get a headache and
neck ache every time you drive; your tension causes you
to scrunch up over the steering wheel. Your anxiety is
narrowing your attention. You’re not as aware of the road
as you should be. You’re developing tunnel vision, and
i
Beginning Stages 45
have had some recent close calls because you were not
paying attention to side streets.
The first session in the laboratory would be almost as
iVe already described, the only difference being in the
content of the history. We would focus on the driving
problem and get you to describe about ten different driv
ing situations and the degrees of anxiety they generate.
We would then arrange these situtions in order, from the
least anxiety-inducing to the most frightening.
In session two we would begin to treat your problem
with a standard desensitization method. Again, we would
use the test information to make you aware of what was
happening to your attention—when and how it affected
your driving and your anxiety level. We would hook you
up to the biofeedback equipment. After fifteen minutes of
feedback, during which you relaxed more and more, we
would ask you to visualize the driving situations. We
would start with the least threatening one. When you
could visualize this without becoming anxious (the bio
feedback equipment would tell us if tension was increas
ing), we would move on to the next scene.
Over the ten sessions you would gradually be able to
move through all the images. In session two you might
visualize a nice day. You’re feeling good. There’s no snow
on the road, and very little traffic. By session ten you are
able to imagine yourself driving in a blizzard. Cars are
sliding on the road. They’re cutting you off. Drivers are
swearing and honking. Still, you’re able to keep your
tension levels under control.
We found that people could apply this training to real-
life situations in general. They could walk out of the
laboratory and conquer their fears.
46 A.C.T.; Attention Control Training
So that’s how we started. The first major modifications

began when we noticed some of the findings from our re
search. For one thing, the number of stressful situations
we asked people to imagine did not seem critical. For a
long time clinicians had insisted on using eight to twelve
imaginary scenes. They proceeded very slowly from least
to most stressful. We found we could get equally good
results with two scenes, and that people could handle both
scenes in the very first session.
We then noticed that with normal healthy people,
most relaxation, measured by biofeedback and by a paper-
and-pencil measure of anxiety, came in the first four train
ing sessions. In fact, after four sessions tension levels
started rising. People began to get bored with the training
as they became frustrated by sitting in the laboratory.
Third, the practice at home was not relevant to labora
tory sessions. Although the techniques were used at home
so people could relax, in the laboratory very few used
them to control tension. They found other methods were
more effective in controlling anxiety. By actively focusing
on thoughts or feelings they associated with relaxation
in the past, trainees could quickly relax in the laboratory.
For most of our people, regular practice of a fifteen-
minute relaxation method such as meditation or progres
sive relaxation seemed necessary only if we couldn’t find
a specific focus for treatment. I remember one case very
well. This woman came because she wanted to reduce
the anxiety that contributed to her excessive use of drugs,
prescription and nonprescription. She was taking six to
eight Darvons a day, several aspirins with codeine, Valium,
and any other pain medication or tension reducer she could
Beginning Stages 47
get hold of. She was unable to specify any situations that
caused her anxiety or even any that produced more tension
than others. This left us without a specific treatment focus.
We were trying to change what she was feeling twenty-
four hours a day. This can be done, but it takes a long
time. For people like her, regular practice of more pro
longed stress-reduction methods can be very important.
This type of problem is not frequent. Better than 90
percent of the people coming to our laboratory could be
helped more quickly and more effectively with shorter
techniques.
Taking all of the factors I’ve mentioned into account,
Richard Wolfe, a graduate student working on his Ph.D.,
designed an abbreviated training program for Eastman
School of Music students.
In the laboratory we had been working with a number
of Eastman students who were exceptional musicians
and were interested in controlling their anxiety and im
proving their performance in a very specific situation.
Each year at the Eastman School students must play a
spring jury. They have to perform a selection of musical
pieces in front of the key faculty in their particular in
strument group (such as strings). Future job recommenda
tions and selection for honors and for participation in
critical musical groups depends on performance in this one
situation. Since music is their life, this places great pres
sure on each student.
Dr. Wolfe designed a program to help Eastman students
perform in the spring jury by modifying our program in
some major ways. First he dropped the standard relaxation
training. Next, he made up only two scenes for students
to visualize, one fairly nonthreatening, the second very
threatening. Third, he reduced the number of sessions
from ten to six. Finally, he divided the students into two
groups.
One group he treated himself, providing direction, posi
tive feedback, and reinforcement, making suggestions,
allaying doubts and anxiety. The other group he taught
to treat themselves. In the first session he told them how
to operate the equipment on their own. They were in
structed to spend the first few minutes relaxing and
listening to biofeedback. They would then operate a tape
recorder that would present the two scenes. Their task
throughout was to learn to keep their anxiety down (as
measured by the click rate) while they listened to the
presentation of the scenes.
Dr. Wolfe found there were no differences between the
two groups. Both relaxed and learned to control muscle
tension, usually by the end of the third session. Both felt so
positive about the treatment that they, and some of the
school’s faculty and administration, requested that it be
offered regularly to all students.
The next modification came because we couldn’t spend
six sessions on a case. We had less than two weeks.
This trainee had been born with severe birth defects

that required surgical correction. Doctors had performed
numerous operations, even though the patient was ter
rified of surgery. For some reason they tolerated his
screaming, attempts to fight with the nurses and to run out
of the hospital. When the boy reached thirteen, however,
they had stopped operating.
By the time we saw him he was in college and had plans
Beginning Stages 49
to enter medical research. Unfortunately, several opera
tions were still needed on his hands before he could use
them effectively. He was trapped between his fear of the
surgery and the desire for an occupation that he could
not have without the operations.
Before coming to see us, he had been set to undergo
surgery three times. Each time he would enter the hospital
the night before. Everything would be fine. The next
morning the nurse would come in with the preoperative
medication. He would begin to experience feelings of
panic. He would have trouble getting his breath. He would
want to get up and run, and would start yelling and
fighting. Each time it was decided not to operate.
When he came in to see us he was scheduled for surgery
for the fourth time. The operation was to be in ten days.
Borrowing from what we had seen in earlier work, we felt
confident we could reduce the six sessions to four. Most of
the learning came within three anyway. We also stuck
with an abbreviated list of items, but made one additional,
important change. We did not just expose the patient to
his fear. We also gave him things to focus his attention on
—things which would help him keep anxiety low enough
so he could go through with the operation.
He was told to visualize himself being prepared for
surgery, but in the middle, as he found himself beginning
to have difficulty breathing and wanted to scream, we
would have him stop and direct attention to something
that wasn't stressful.
We asked him to concentrate on controlling his breath
ing by using a centering procedure similar to the one you
will learn in succeeding chapters. As soon as he altered
his breathing, he was told to direct his attention to a chess
problem. He was an avid chess player; it was easy for him
to visualize past games. This distraction and an active
focus helped him ignore all the stressful cues associated
with the hospital. While attending to the chess problem,
he could ignore the nurse, white uniforms, medications,
masks, and everything else. To ask him simply to be pas
sive and reflective in this situation would have been to
demand more than he could handle. He had to be active,
but the active focus had to help keep anxiety from
spiraling out of control.
With the aid of this abbreviated training, he was able
successfully to go through with the operation. He and the
doctor were overjoyed. He received a great deal of support
from the staff and felt good about himself. He was able
to change his attitude so much that he could talk about
“looking forward” to the next operation.
With the potent impact of cases like this and the increas
ing emphasis on attention control, we began to question
the need for biofeedback. It seemed to serve an im
portant function—it showed patients they were doing the
right thing. Relaxation was taking place. But it didn’t
seem to be a necessary part of learning to relax. We could
measure tension levels without feedback; as people became
used to the laboratory setting they would relax automati
cally.
The biofeedback built motivation and confidence. It
was technical, electronic proof that our simple procedures
were working, self-control was developing. This proof
was important to get people to believe enough in our
training so they would use it under pressure. But all that
Beginning Stages 51
was necessary to control anxiety was to redirect their at
tention.
The next case is the last one before Til teach you the
specifics of Attention Control Training. It illustrates what
finally evolved and points out the keys of A.C.T.
Sam was a thirty-nine-year-old executive in an insurance

company. He contacted us because he wanted to over
come speech anxiety. He mentioned that he had a very
important speech coming up and was already worried
about it, even though it was still several weeks away.
Sam said he had failed in similar situations in the past
and did not want it to happen again. He had heard about
our program through articles in the newspapers and
thought we might be able to help. After listening to him,
we decided to try to eliminate the problem in just four
treatment sessions.
We scheduled all four sessions to fall within the two-
week period preceding the speech. Sam’s last appointment
was on the day prior to the speech. We were convinced
that most relaxation would take place within this time.
We also knew we’d be likely to get the best results since
motivation would be high. There’d be no time for bore
dom.
We found that timing is a very important part of the
treatment. It’s especially useful to have the final session
just before some test of the treatment’s effectiveness—in
this case, Sam’s speech. This provides positive reinforce
ment for the treatment and also an opportunity for final
adjustments of the techniques, if necessary.
In the first session we only talked about the problem—
exploring the history, thoughts, and feelings that de
veloped when Sam had to give a speech. We used test
information to focus on problems, and constructed de
tailed descriptions of two speaking situations. In the first
we asked Sam to think of a time when he had been suc
cessful in giving a talk. In the second we asked him to
think about the most recent time he had failed.
We then compared the two situations in as much detail
as we could. We looked at (1) the audience, (2) the
speech setting, (3) how Sam was introduced, (4) his
feelings before the talks, (5) his thoughts and feelings
during the talks, (6) the importance of the two talks and
their implications for his career and self-esteem.
The analysis of the two speeches helped us to spot
what demanded Sam’s attention. We found what he
was attending to in the failing situation. We were able to
see how his focus would raise his anxiety higher. The
successful speech helped us find what he needed to at
tend to so he could retain control and be successful.
The self-assessment through which we took Sam is the
foundation for A.C.T. I. You go through it to find and
develop your own treatment. Sam described his in the
following way.
When he gave his successful talk he arrived early. He
knew most of the people there and knew they would be
interested in what he had to say. He had lunch with them
before speaking. During lunch he had the opportunity to
try out some of his speech informally. The response was
good, so he was confident about what he had to say. He
knew it would be well received and would generate some
good questions. The person introducing him was a friend,
whose introduction was warm and informal. He found
Beginning Stages 53
himself paying attention to the speaker and forgetting
that he had to talk himself. He became so interested in
the introduction that he relaxed.
As he began to talk he felt comfortable. He looked out at
familiar faces, told a couple of jokes, and saw the audience
was relaxed. As he began to get into his talk he noticed
some enthusiastic nods from people he had been talking
to during lunch. He found he could direct certain points
to specific people to whom they applied. This got the
audience involved. He felt less isolated and alone. Stand
ing in front of them, he found he felt firm and was speak
ing with conviction.
For the second speech Sam arrived late. He had to walk
past the entire audience to be introduced. He was a
stranger to the group, and the introduction was very short.
It also created an expectation (at least in Sam’s mind)
that he was to be the group’s savior. “Here is Mr. ----- .
He is a vice-president from----- and he’s going to show
us all how to make a million dollars.”
As he stood up, Sam noticed he felt a little unsteady.
His voice started to crack. He looked for some water.
There wasn’t any. Immediately he started thinking about
his past difficulties in giving talks. His breathing became
more rapid. He started wondering what these people
would think about a vice-president who couldn’t give a
simple talk. As his thoughts raced, he began to lose his
place. He mumbled, repeated some things and forgot
others. He kept trying to clear his throat. He was sure the
audience could see him shaking. He mostly kept thinking
about how badly he wanted to sit down.
By taking time to reconstruct and analyze these two
situations it was- possible to use psychological methods
such as cognitive behavior modification and discriminative
cue analysis to find the right focus for treatment. (Cogni
tive behavior modification is the name given a treatment
used by Dr. Donald Michenbaum at the University of
Waterloo in Canada. Discriminative cue analysis is a set of
techniques I outlined in an earlier book, The Inner
Athlete [T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1976].)
As Sam recognized what was upsetting him, he learned
to substitute other thoughts and self-instructions for his
destructive preoccupations. That’s the first step. You’re
substituting successfully if you can keep anxiety low
enough so you can maintain attention control and redirect
your attention. This type of control is the basis of A.C.T. II.
The next step in Sam’s treatment, still in the first session,
was to find out details about his upcoming speech. We
had to help him cope with a very real situation. In sub
sequent sessions he would be asked to visualize. The
closer we could make these imaginary scenes resemble the
actual situation, the more likely he would be successful.
As he described the situation, and given his past history,
it was easy to see why Sam was anxious about the up
coming speech. Although he was a vice-president in a
large firm, his specialty was experimental and high-risk.
Given a tightening in the economy and a smaller profit
margin than in other departments, he was going to have
to justify the continued operation of his entire division.
The stakes were high. Other insurance companies had
already dropped similar speculative operations. He was
to talk in front of the president, other senior vice-presi
dents, and the board of directors. The talk, he knew, had
to accomplish three objectives.
First, he had to admit that his department had made
Beginning Stages 55
some mistakes the year before and had accomplished only
50 percent of stated goals. Second, given inflation and the
planning within his division, he had to argue for increased
funds to develop new programs and maintain existing ones.
Third, he knew his job was on the line. He would have to
convince his audience that what he was arguing for was
reasonable, and that he was the right person for the job.
From the material we collected in the first session we
made a fifteen-minute tape for Sam to use to train himself.
In the first few minutes of the tape Sam got instructions
to help him relax within a few seconds in a speech
situation. These steps would give him just enough control
over his anxiety so he could break away from his negative,
self-defeating thoughts (which he was now aware of) and
direct attention to more positive self-instructions and
thoughts, instructions that would facilitate his upcoming
effort.
Following the relaxation and centering (A.C.T. II),
Sam was instructed to visualize the two scenes he had
earlier described. First, he imagined the successful scene,
calling attention to everything that relaxed him and made
him feel confident. Next, he visualized himself falling
apart in the second scene. This rehearsal served to re
mind him of the critical cues that distinguished between
success and failure. As his sensitivity to these cues in
creased, it became easier for him to remind himself when
to exert control and what to pay attention to.
In the scene where he was falling apart, Sam was asked
to notice his shakiness and dry mouth, the disgusted looks
on the faces of the audience, etc. There was a slight modi
fication in this scene: it was described as if this failure
experience were occurring in front of the president and
the board of directors. It was their faces he saw in the
audience. The two scenes took up approximately three to
four minutes on the tape.
When Sam came in for the second session, we gave the
tape to him. He was told about the contents and given
verbal instructions on how to use the material to calm
himself quickly and regain control. He was talked through
the entire procedure. All his questions were answered. He
was instructed to listen to the tape twice a day up until
the time came for his speech. By then he would have
rehearsed the centering and refocusing enough so he
would be able to do it quickly and on his own during the
actual speech.
We used sessions two and three to make sure Sam was
practicing, and to reinforce his confidence in the proce
dures. He was hooked up to biofeedback equipment and
provided with information about the muscle tension levels
in his frontalis muscles. He was able to watch as he re
hearsed the scenes. He could see his tension levels rise and
see how they dropped dramatically when he used the
centering procedures.
With this training, Sam gave his speech successfully.
He retained his job, got his budget, and still finds it help
ful to employ the basic centering and refocusing processes
in other stressful situations, too.
In the next few chapters we will tell you exactly what

to do to construct your own program. The methods have
been used for a broad range of purposes, including coping
with fears and phobias. We have also developed programs
for training groups in two-day workshops. After you find
Beginning Stages 57
out about the procedures, we’ll discuss some common ap
plications in more detail.
These common situations can spark some ideas for your
own, more specialized needs. Whether one of the common
situations fits yours or you develop your own unique pro
gram is up to you.
S/A.C.T. I
Just as for Sam, the first step toward improving your

ability to function under pressure and reduce physical and
emotional consequences of stress is to take a good look at
yourself. To get the most out of A.C.T., to make it more
than just another stress-reduction procedure, you’re going
to have to decide what specific problem to focus on.
As you do this, it’s important to learn what’s going
wrong for you in your situation, physically and mentally.
Then, of course, you have to learn what you should be
doing. The idea is to gain control as early as possible,
unless you want things to get completely out of hand.
If you have children, you know what I mean. Most
parents quickly learn that a little encouragement goes a
long way. Your children do something they shouldn’t (like
making a smart-aleck remark). If you respond by smiling,
they’re off and running. You see the signs with your kids
and keep it from mushrooming, but let your parents visit,
let them say, “Oh, how cute,” and it’s all over. The kids
a.
c.t.i 59
get overexcited and really put on a show. It takes you two
weeks to recover from Grandma and Grandpa’s visit. In a
sense, the same holds true for you. By looking at what
happens early on, you can recognize limits and stop things
before they get out of control.
I keep mentioning the importance of a specific training
focus because the more isolated the goal you set yourself,
the quicker and easier it will be to reach it, and for good
reason. When you’re anxious, your ability to deal with a
large amount of information is reduced. The more specific
your problem, the less you’ll have to deal with at any one
time. If you try to do too much at once, to solve several
problems at the same time, you’ll only confuse the issue.
Most likely you’ll even raise your anxiety or increase your
frustration.
Knowing what you should pay attention to is critical.
When people feel uncertain in a situation, they tend to
try to pay attention to everything. At that very time atten
tion is narrow and you’re least able to succeed. By taking
time for some advance planning, you can stop the tendency
to overload yourself.
Most people who came to our laboratory were surpris

ingly unaware about these things, even if they came with a
specific problem (“my mother gives me a headache”).
They have no idea about what sets off a headache, when
it actually begins, what other symptoms occur, or, more
important, what precedes it. They don’t know exactly
what about their mother (other than that “we don’t get
along”) causes them to feel this way. They have never
6o A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
bothered to contrast what was going on when they were
with her and didn’t have a headache with what was going
on when they did.
The same is true when people come with problems such
as test anxiety or concern about public speaking. When
I ask them to describe what happens, all they say is "I get
anxious.” If I ask, “How do you know you’re anxious?”
they begin to get the idea that I’m looking for specific
cues, but often I still get a very vague response (“I just
feel it”).
This difficulty in assessing your own problems has many
causes. It’s helpful to be aware of them, because nobody
can treat a problem that isn’t identifiable.
A big roadblock to self-awareness is semantic. “Stress”
and “anxiety” mean different things to different people.
Many link such negative connotations to these words that
they would never admit to the experience. They talk
about being “angry,” “frustrated,” “irritated.” They may
become “embarrassed,” “upset,” “worried,” “distracted,”
“confused.” They may say a child “pesters me to death,”
“gives me a pain in the neck” or “a hard time.” They may
even talk about feeling “lonely” and “depressed.” But they
will not admit to being stressed or anxious, even though
this is what they are describing with the other terms.
This semantic difference alone makes it important for
you to identify the specific physical and mental responses
that occur. A red face sometimes indicates anger. It also
indicates physiological arousal. It can also signal an in
crease in blood pressure and problems with concentration.
Another major problem: our defenses against pressure
feelings work only too well. Food, alcohol, drugs, and
a.
c.t.i 61
tobacco can all distract, and prevent us from becoming
aware of the pressure we re under. These self-treatments
(defenses) do keep anxiety from getting out of control.
They also end up causing long-term problems. It's no
secret: we overeat and end up overweight, out of shape,
and probable candidates for high blood pressure and heart
disease. Smoking leads to emphysema and cancer. Drugs
and alcohol are addictive and lead to liver damage and
other internal disorders.
A few years ago I decided to give up smoking. I had
been going through two packs of cigarettes a day for about
fifteen years. My decision to quit was prompted by chest
pains and a challenge from some clinical psychology
graduate students who said they were "worried” about me.
At the time I did not feel that smoking was something I
did to relax or cope with pressure. It was something I
simply enjoyed. And it was a habit.
It took me about one day to realize how wrong I was.
I began to find that cigarettes had been providing me with
an escape whenever I felt threatened. I’d be lecturing in
front of a class and a student would ask a question. If I
didn’t have an immediate answer, I’d reach for a cigarette.
The time I spent looking for the cigarette, lighting it, and
putting away the pack gave me the break I needed. As
soon as that was taken away I found my anxiety sky
rocketing. I’d be asked a question. I had nothing to hide
behind. I’d get upset and become certain that everyone
could see how uncomfortable I was, and that just made
matters worse.
We all have a need for small time-out procedures, such
as my cigarette-lighting interlude. You can’t just take those
defenses away without substituting something else that’s
hopefully less harmful. I substituted the breathing portion
of A.C.T., which I’ll show you in A.C.T. II.
A final problem that keeps many people from getting
assistance: to take steps to improve self-control you must
first admit that some help would be useful. Often, this
causes additional pressure. It’s more comfortable to deny
a problem. The difficulty is that the denial ultimately
catches up with you, as my next case illustrates.
The personnel department of a company within a large

organization invited me to help design programs for
dealing with stress. The parent company was experienc
ing great financial difficulty, which created emotional and
economic problems down the line. The personnel depart
ment in the branch that called on me saw top executives
becoming physically and emotionally ill. Important de
cisions were not being made because executives were too
frightened. Afraid they might make a wrong decision,
they didn’t make any. The inaction only prolonged the
agony.
When the president of the local company heard about
my involvement, he immediately stopped it. He was afraid
of what I represented and concerned about his organiza
tion’s taking any measures, even though they promised to
be corrective. He felt that if the other companies within
the organization saw him admitting stress in his group
they would point a finger at his bailiwick as having prob
lems. He would be made a scapegoat for the larger
organization.
a.c.t. i 63
This type of fear keeps many of us from dealing with

problems, and we end up committing a very slow suicide.
We die economically. We eat or drink ourselves into
oblivion. Until you stop denying, you cannot treat the
problem. Assessment can help open your eyes.
Some type of assessment of you and your strengths and
weaknesses, by formal testing or informally, is the main
tool of a professional. Many mothers, fathers, bartenders,
and taxi drivers give advice that’s just as good. They do
lack the ability to determine whether their suggestions
are right for your particular problem and whether you can
follow the suggestions.
It’s best to assess yourself. Ill help show you what to
look for. But be honest with yourself: probe thoroughly!
If you don’t find yourself saying something like “Hey, I
never noticed that before,” or “What do you know! I didn’t
think . . . 9 it’s been too easy. If everything seems too
obvious, you’re missing something.
P ART I
What is a problem for you?

I want you to become aware of several things. First,
pinpoint situations that often create problems, frustrations,
and anxiety. Next, identify how you respond physically and
mentally. Finally, try to see what kinds of mistakes you
make. You may already have some ideas.
In the Appendix you’ll find three diagrams (Figures
6-8) that illustrate some commonly stressful situations
and the performance problems they can cause. One deals
with athletic situations, one with business, one with the
home. You may want to use these to make yourself more
aware of your own concerns. Look at the diagrams closely.
Try to fill out a similar chart of your own (also in the
Appendix). List symptoms and problems you’re sure of.
Limit yourself to the two or three you feel are most im
portant.
P ART II
Now I want to use the test you took on page 21 to make

you even more aware of situations that might be trouble
some. I not only want you to be able to look back on the
past to see what has been happening, but also to get some
understanding of why. This will let you anticipate where
problems may come from in the future.
I cannot overemphasize how important it is for you to
increase awareness of your own attention strengths and
weaknesses. I have had many cases where assessment
(A.C.T. I) alone was enough to trigger dramatic changes
in behavior and in success.
Insight through testing brought greater self-control for

Ruth, who came in because she had been having problems
with her fifteen-year-old son.
Over the past year their communication had broken
down so badly that Ruth felt she was losing control over
her son and his love, too. He was showing no respect for
her. Two recent explosions were causing her to seek help.
a.
c.t.i 6s
In the first one, Ruths son, John, had gotten up after
dinner and told her he was going out. Being interested in
him, she tried to question him about where he was going.
He refused to answer, and walked out the door.
The second time, John had taken something that be
longed to his older sister, and the two had gotten into a
fight. When Ruth stepped in, taking her daughters side,
John walked out and stayed away all night.
What does all this have to do with attention control?
Plenty!
Testing revealed that Ruth, particularly when it came to
dealing with John, had a tendency to become anxious and
overloaded by her own thoughts and feelings. Their com
munications were breaking down because John was not
being given the opportunity to answer, or respond, to his
mother’s concern. Her guilt over being divorced from
John’s father was adding to her anxiety and making mat
ters worse. We were able to use the test information and
an interview with Ruth and her son to point out dra
matically how her overload contributed to her problem.
As the meeting started, Ruth said she was having diffi
culty communicating with John. She said she loved him,
was concerned, and didn’t know what to do. I asked if she
could give me an example of the kinds of problems she was
having. She turned to John and said, “You remember the
other night when you stood up to leave and I asked where
you were going? Why didn’t you answer me? Didn’t you
think I had a right to know? Don’t you think I really care?
I am your mother, you know. You’re only fifteen. I’m trying
to be helpful. Why don’t you cooperate? Am I that bad a
mother? Answer me! I’m talking to you! I might as well
be talking to a wall. How did this happen?”
After this barrage I interrupted. I asked Ruth if I might
ask John a question. She said yes, so I began, “John, it
must be hard trying to respond to all of those questions at
once. Do you know that your mother cares about you?”
John was able to respond to the single question, and he
did: “Yes, I know she cares about me, but she just won’t
listen.”
The session went on, but the point had been made.
Ruth’s concern for her son and her tendency to get over
loaded kept her so busy asking questions that she didn’t
allow time for answers. She wasn’t paying attention to him.
Because she did love her son and he loved her, it was a
simple matter for the two of them to use this information
to work together. As an issue would come up, John could
say, “Wait a minute, give me time to answer.” They both
cared, so the change came easily.
Another case involved a brilliant young physician. Hal

was thirty-four; he had specialized in family and internal
medicine, and was licensed in both specialties. He had a
reputation for thoroughness and was the doctor other pro
fessionals sought out for consultation when they had
particularly difficult cases. He was very concerned about
the people who came to him, and would leave no stone
unturned when he looked after them. His medical knowl
edge and skill were second to none. Yet Hal was losing
patients, and didn’t know why.
Testing showed clearly that Hal’s greatest strength—his
ability to analyze and deal with a large amount of informa
tion at one time—was also his greatest weakness. He
expected his patients to have the same capability for con
A.C.T. I 67
centration. He didn't accept his own exceptional ability
or recognize that his patients were anxious and nervous
about seeing a doctor in the first place
What was happening? Hal was giving too much infor
mation to some of his patients. He paid no attention to
them. Those who were especially anxious needed and
wanted mostly reassurance and support. Hal descended on
them with all the details of their treatment. By overloading
them, he made them even more anxious than they had
been.
Hal's own intense analytical concentration was keeping
him from focusing externally on the objects of his atten
tion: his patients. He wasn’t aware when they became
confused or scared. So he piled a lot of instructions on
them. Then, when they failed to follow through because
they were too confused to understand, Hal would get mad
at them. He'd become too firm. At that point they would
leave to find another doctor.
Hal’s great weakness proved to be very beneficial when
it came to putting A.C.T. to work. Because he was so
analytical, it was very easy for him to use the test informa
tion to understand his mistakes. As with Ruth, it became
simple for Hal to pay more attention to his patients, to take
time to ask a question or two to make sure his instructions
were being understood, to become aware when he started
overloading his patients.
A mini-version of our assessment steps in the laboratory

can help you spot your own attention strengths and weak
nesses.
The six questions you answered on page 21 show how
you’re likely to score on three of the following test’s
seventeen scales. Your responses on these three scales are
particularly relevant to A.C.T. To score your answers to
the six items, assign the following number of points to
each.
Never = o
Rarely = 1
Sometimes = 2
Frequently = 3
All the time = 4
The first two items indicate your ability to develop a

broad-external focus of attention. Add the scores on those
two items. (Example: if you answered “sometimes” to both
items, the total would be 4.) Then enter the total here:
external = — .
The next two items deal with your ability to concentrate
in an analytical way, to put together a number of different
thoughts and ideas, to be logical and able to organize as
well as able to think in abstract terms, to see relation
ships between thoughts and ideas that others might not
see. Add these scores and enter them here: analytical
The last two items indicate your ability to concentrate

in a narrow way, to discipline yourself, to “focus your Ki.”
This is the type of concentration you need to read a book,
sink a putt, follow through on a boring task. (For a more
complete discussion of the use of the different types of
concentration, turn to the diagrams in the Appendix.)
Add your scores on these last two items and enter them
here: narrow = —^—.
A.c.r.i 69
Next, use the scores you obtained to describe your own
abilities. Take your score on the external scale and circle
the corresponding number in the external square (“Street
sense”) of Figure 2.
Next, circle the number in the analytical square that cor
responds to your score on this scale.
Finally, take the score you obtained on the narrow scale
and circle the corresponding number on both of the
squares labeled “Narrow.” Connect the circles with straight
lines. You should have a figure that roughly resembles
a square.
In Figure 2 on the next page, I have indicated in a gen
eral way what each attention skill is used for. Pay particu
lar attention to the areas of your highest and lowest scores.
The higher the score (the greater the area covered by
your drawing), the greater your relative strength with
that type of attention.
The lower the score, the greater your relative weakness
when it comes to developing that type of concentration.
I say “relative” for a reason. Im not implying you have
a major problem because one area is larger than another.
Im suggesting no one is perfect. We all tend to play to
our strengths and shy away from our weaknesses. This
means that if you make a mistake it is more likely to be
in the smaller area. You’re likely to make the mistake be
cause, instead of developing the right focus (the one illus
trated by the smaller area), you were attending in the way
shown by the larger part.
Let’s use Hal as an example. His greatest strength was
his ability to develop an analytical focus. His relative weak
ness involved developing an external type of concentration.
As the test pointed out—and his practice proved—he made
FIG. 2
EXTERNAL
“Street sense” Physical action

External Narrow
9
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
NARROW
1 1
BROAD
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 <
Analytical Arithmetic-mental
planning concentration
Narrow
INTERNAL
A.C.T. I
his mistakes because he was playing to his strength. He
was overly analytical and wasn't sensitive enough to his
patients.
Figure 2 and the two diagrams in the Appendix (Figures
11 and 12) can help you spot potential problem areas for
now and for the future. Again, an example can help clarify
these points.
George came into the laboratory to learn to relax. He

was referred by his physician because of hypertension.
George was one of those controlling types who would not
admit to any identifiable stress. He was a planner in a
large corporation and his job involved many activities. He
had to be able to analyze and integrate a wide range of
information. He also needed to isolate himself and focus in
on details, making sure he absorbed all the information
and background before making a recommendation or de
cision (for which he needed good narrowing skills). As you
can see from his chart (Figure 3, p. 72), George did have
good analytical abilities. He was relatively weak when it
came to developing a narrow focus. George’s scores were
external 5, analytical 5, narrow 3.
The weakness in his narrow attention meant this area
was most likely to be stressful for George. It’s fairly obvi
ous why. Like most of us, George tended to play to his
strength: in his case, dealing with large amounts of infor
mation. When he was required by his job to narrow,
George became bored. He would much rather play
quarterback, calling the plays, than play center and just
snap the ball. He preferred a busy, active life, which
FIG. 3
EXTERNAL

External Narrow
NARROW
BROAD
Narrow
INTERNAL
A.C.T. I 73
made him susceptible to distractions. He wasn’t motivated
to concentrate on narrowing his attention.
Given his test information, we were able to make George
aware of those aspects of his job that he underrated. We
were also able to get him to see (and admit) conflicts,
doing something when he really wanted to do something
else. He was capable of narrowing if he wanted to, but
the conflicts were sufficient that he allowed himself to be
sidetracked. At times this caused his performance to suffer.
He’d have to rush at the last minute to catch up, then
couldn’t do a thorough job, so his blood pressure began
rising.
The same attention strengths and weaknesses affected
George’s home life. He was very good at analyzing and
arbitrating family arguments, but failed when it came to
following through with the little things around the house.
Sometimes he’d go off with friends and get so busy he’d
forget to come home. Needless to say, these failures
created additional stress.
Look at your own test data. What are your strengths?
Your weaknesses? What are the attention demands of your
home life? Work? School? Hobbies? Social life? How do
those demands fit in with your abilities? Can you now pin
point additional situations that are stressful for you?
In George’s case, he was able to perform effectively in
spite of the pressure. Many successful business executives
and homemakers can do this—at a price. They’re effective
but unhappy at what they’re doing. Because of his high
blood pressure, George needed treatment for stress re
duction as well as Attention Control Training. He was
unable to change his job description so it would make
fewer narrow-attention demands. However, he was able
to move into another job.
Virginia (as you can see in Figure 4) could develop a

narrow focus of attention and be analytical. But she had
difficulty when she had to pay attention to many things
going on around her at any one time. This problem would
become worse under pressure. Then her attention would
become even more narrow and internally focused.
Because of her difficulty, Virginia hated to drive, espe
cially in rush-hour or holiday traffic. She would become
confused. People would start yelling and honking at her.
She felt like a failure as a driver. Usually she would re
spond to all the shouting by freezing at an intersection or
traffic light. When she was finally forced to go, she wouldn’t
first check to see if it was safe, she was so rattled.
Virginia’s performance was all too clearly ruined by her
high level of anxiety and tension. When she came to our
laboratory she wanted to do something about it. In addition
to testing her attention abilities (to gain an understanding
of the problem), we asked her to very carefully describe in
three hundred to six hundred words what happened to her
in busy traffic. We emphasized that we wanted to know
what she was seeing, thinking, and feeling. What was she
saying about herself and the other drivers? We asked her to
write a similar description about a driving experience in
which she felt she handled things well.
Virginia’s two descriptions follow. If a situation in your
life ever caused you to “come a little unglued,” or you
would like to improve your self-control, try the same ex
ercise. Read Virginia’s. Then try to describe your own
FIG. 4
EXTERNAL

External Narrow
NARROW
BROAD
Narrow
INTERNAL
j6 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
problem, emphasizing the differences between success and
failure in your thoughts and feelings, and in the situations
themselves.
In the final chapter of this book I describe common prob
lem situations. You may find that one or more of these
will serve you. If so, fine! But don’t limit yourself to these.
You may be able to construct your own; they should prove
to be more relevant to your personal problems.
Here’s Virginia’s first memory:
About an hour before I was due to leave the house

I started thinking about the fact that I would have to
drive downtown during the busiest part of the day. I
thought back on a couple of near-accidents and found
myself feeling a little shaky, so I got busy washing
dishes to forget about it.
As I got into the car I could feel the muscles in my
neck and shoulders beginning to tighten up. I noticed
it as I grabbed the wheel tightly and looked in the
mirror to back out of the driveway. I really started
feeling tense as I pulled up to the stoplight to make a
left turn onto Main Street. As I had thought, there
was a great deal of traffic and everyone seemed to be
going about twenty miles faster than the speed limit.
At this point I started thinking, “Oh, no, here we
go again.” The cars were going so fast and they
seemed so close together. I looked in my mirror and
I could see that the guy behind me was getting upset
by the fact that I was waiting to make a turn. I started
to move out and then thought better of it and stopped.
He honked and I found my face flushing. I kept
thinking, “Just a minute, just a minute. Why didn’t
A.c.r.i 77
I arrange things better so that I wouldn't have to be
down here? I should have had my son come down."
Now there was a line of cars coming toward me that
were waiting to turn left (in front of me).
I had edged out a little too far and they couldn't
turn. The woman in front was motioning for me to
turn in front of her, and the guy behind was still
honking. I was really shaking and so I just stepped
on the accelerator. I stepped harder than I wanted
and zipped in front of the woman. There was another
car coming up beside her and he had to slam on his
brakes to avoid hitting me. He started yelling and
honking. I was so upset now, I pulled over to the
side and took a taxi home.
Here’s Virginia’s second memory.
You're asking a lot of me to think of a good time

when I was driving. I guess I can remember one time
when things weren't too bad. My daughter, son, and
I were going to go to a local park for a picnic. I had
made some chicken and it was a beautiful day. The
sky was so blue it was difficult not to feel good. I
wasn’t particularly anxious about the drive because
I knew that we would be going on roads that weren't
used very heavily.
The children were very excited about our adventure
and they talked about all of the things we would do
once we reached the park. Now that I think about it,
I was so busy thinking about the things that would
be fun and what we would do, I didn't have time to
worry about the drive.
j8 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
We got into the car and the children started play
ing a game to see who could spot the most out-of-state
license plates. I found myself trying to see if I couldn’t
spot them before they did. For some reason the
traffic and other drivers seemed almost "normal” that
day. I remember smiling and actually saw a driver
smile back. We did run into a little traffic and I was
honked at once at a stop sign. I started to get a little
anxious, but the children were laughing and playing
and quickly got me involved in their game again. I
forgot all about the other driver.
The material you come up with in your own descriptions

becomes (like Sam’s in the last chapter) a base for your
own program. You’ll be asked to use the two scenes to help
you visualize a successful experience, then that "awful
situation” when you didn’t function very well. You’ll be
asked to pick out the critical differences in your attention
between the two situations. The second time you rehearse
the experiences you’ll be asked to interrupt the failure
experience to alter it so that it becomes a success.
A.C.T. II will train you to retain enough control over
attention and anxiety so you can make important atten-
tional changes.
Let’s go back to Virginia for a moment and see how
her failure experience was rewritten.
First, the elements showing she was geting anxious

included: (1) thinking about driving during the busiest
part of the day and remembering past failures; (2) muscle
tension in her hands, neck, and shoulders as she gripped
A.C.T. I 79
the wheel; (3) the feeling that everyone was going too
fast, which occurred because her tension and anxiety
caused attention to narrow (this made it seem as if things
were happening faster than they really were); (4) her face
becoming flushed; (5) people honking, yelling, and gestur
ing.
In the first situation, everything Virginia focused on
involved an analytical type of attention. She was anticipat
ing and predicting her own failure. She was paying atten
tion only to those external cues that would increase her
fears.
In the second situation she was too busy enjoying the
day and the children to get caught up in her head thinking
about failure experiences. Everything she paid attention
to was external and pleasant. The one exception was the
driver who honked his horn, but Virginia was still relaxed
enough, and the children distracted enough, that she could
break away from her internal anxiety and refocus on pleas
ant things.
For Virginia, two things kept her anxiety low enough
in the second situation so her driving wasn’t affected by it.
First, there were demanding external cues. Second, her
route wasn’t as threatening. In the first situation she was
alone and had to drive downtown at rush hour. It was
important to use this information to rewrite the failure
experience (for the second rehearsal) so she could focus
on more positive thoughts.
As I’ve mentioned, about halfway through the failure
scene the second time, we ask people to rewrite the ex
perience. Then they mentally rehearse countering each
negative cue with a positive one.
Virginia’s situation follows. Notice that the description
is written in the present tense. It’s as if Virginia is going
through it right now.
You are about to do the dishes and you find your

self dreading the fact that you will have to drive
downtown at the busiest time of day. You can feel
yourself becoming more anxious and you start to
move more quickly, trying to get busy so you don’t
have to think about what might happen.
As you go out to the car you can feel yourself
getting upset. You climb in and grab the wheel,
finding yourself squeezing so hard you think you
might leave marks in it. Your hands are perspiring,
and you can feel the muscles tensing in your neck and
shoulders as you look in the rearview mirror. You
start to drive down the street and find yourself think
ing ahead to all the traffic you will run into on Main
Street. You are driving slowly, both because you
don’t want to get there and because you are scared.
You pull up to the stoplight at Main Street. You’re
on a four-lane road and in the left lane because you
want to make a left turn. The light changes and it’s
time for you to go. You sit waiting for the traffic
coming in your direction to clear. You look in the
mirror and see the guy behind you getting upset. He
thinks that you have had plenty of time to make your
turn. Looking back, you find that one of the lanes
of oncoming traffic is backing up because they want
to turn in front of you. They seem a little close and
now cars seem to be zipping by. You want to shut
your eyes and are getting upset for not arranging
things differently. You should have had your son run
A.c.r.i 81
this errand. Suddenly, you’re brought back to the
traffic when the guy behind you honks his horn. You
look in your mirror and he is motioning for you to go.
As you look up you can see that the woman in the
car coming toward you is also upset and she is mo
tioning for you to turn. You are really feeling pushed
and you just want to get out of there. Stop! Use the
A.C.T. centering procedure. . . . OK, now.
The lady is waving at you. Well, people are always
in a hurry. You won’t take any chances. Look to make
sure that no traffic is coming up in the other oncom
ing lane. You slowly begin to make your turn, edging
out to see more clearly. The guy behind you still
honks. Oh, well, some people have no patience. You
can see clearly now and make your turn. As you are
driving on down the street the guy behind you drives
up and looks at you as if you shouldn’t be on the
road. You smile, knowing that your way of driving is
not his. You have to do things in your own time. You
look around and see that it really is a nice day, and
there are some interesting changes occurring down
town. You find yourself looking forward to getting
out and walking around. There is a lot going on and
you’re getting more comfortable with driving in
traffic.
Better, right?
6/A.C.T. II
Using the steps of A.C.T. I, you have, I hope, pinpointed

a problem and written out a dialogue. You’re probably
aware by now of what happens to you when things go
wrong. You also have some idea about what you could be
doing to be more effective. So, now how do you do it?
I’ve emphasized that the key to controlling anxiety and
concentration lies in controlling your attention. If your
thoughts become locked onto things that make you anxious,
or are threatening, you’ll find yourself going downhill very
quickly. If you can become so absorbed in thoughts and
feelings tied into what you’re doing, you break that spiral.
You find your body relaxing naturally. The trick is to
identify nonstressful cues strong enough to break any nega
tive attention.
If you were to make a list of thoughts, feelings, and
situations and sort them in order of the demands they
put on your attention, you’d find that physical sensations
rank very high. In fact, these sensations often cue you in
when things go either right or wrong.
A.c.r.ii 83
Remember seeing old movies where the leading man
slaps the hysterical woman (it was always the female who
fell apart) and brings her to her senses? This is not just
dramatics for the movies. A shake or a slap can break up
the internal focus of attention that keeps you from acting
effectively. The exercises done before going into a game,
when the team jumps around and yells, all serve a very
useful purpose. They help get the athlete out of his or her
head.
I have interviewed a great many athletes, businessmen,
policemen, and others, and have found that some fairly
common feelings develop when a person is under pressure.
When someone is standing up, there is a tendency for
muscles to begin to tighten. As this happens, knees lock,
reducing blood flow and ultimately causing dizziness. A
tightness, particularly in the chest, neck, and shoulder
muscles, can develop and lead to rapid, shallow breathing,
known as hyperventilation.
Many athletes, policemen, and musicians are very sensi
tive to how they feel in relationship to the ground. They’re
unusually sensitive to feelings in their bodies, physical
cues. If they sense they’re slightly off balance or unsteady,
they begin to shuffle their feet, trying to find a position
that feels more steady. This can happen when someone is
anxious about giving a speech, meeting a stranger, or
making an important play in a sport. Watch basketball
players shooting a key free throw. If he is anxious he will
shuffle his feet at the free-throw line.
All physical cues associated with pressure draw your
attention and can make you even more anxious. What
my aikido instructor was trying to tell me long ago was
this: if I could learn to center, I could attend to cues that
reminded me of being comfortable and relaxed. There is
always one point, a nonstressful cue, that you can pay
attention to. Learn to direct attention to that spot and
you'll break away from distractions. And when you do,
you'll directly, actively counter the unsteady feelings that
develop when you are anxious.
Several tricks can help you center and develop calmer,
more relaxed feelings. It is a little more difficult than simply
thinking about the spot behind your navel. First, physical
position is very important. You must be in a posture that
makes you aware of that part of your body. We aren’t
usually aware of feelings in the abdomen. Certain body
positions can distribute weight in a way that increases sen
sations in this section. There are two positions I recom
mend. One is a standing position, the other sitting.
You can use either position, but it will be most helpful if
you practice the one that you're most likely to encounter
in the real-life situation in which you want to function more
effectively. If you are giving a speech, chances are you'll
be standing. If you're playing a musical instrument in an
orchestra, you may be sitting.
In the martial arts we were told to assume a standing

position with our legs about shoulders' distance apart, one
foot slightly (six inches) in front of the other. It was
emphasized that from this position, with just a slight bend
in our knees, we could react best. If we were balanced
like this it would be difficult for anyone to push us over,
no matter which direction the force comes from. If you've
traveled on trains, buses, boats, or subways, you've prob
A.c.r. ii 85
ably noticed many people automatically assuming this

position to maintain balance.
The position does more. It distributes your weight in
such a way that it’s easier to notice feelings in your center
of gravity. This is particularly true when you keep your
back straight and that slight bend in your knees. Remem
ber: you want to direct attention to sensations in your
stomach area, especially as you begin to relax the muscles
in the calves of your legs and your thighs.
As you relax those muscles, you’ll feel gravity pulling
you down. That “one point” my instructor referred to will
be pushing down toward the ground, giving you a feeling
of being anchored and steady, instead of shaky. You’ll
feel your center of gravity pushing evenly between your
two legs. If you feel more weight on your front or back
leg, you’re not standing properly.
In the sitting position, it’s important to sit in a very
straight-backed position, your feet flat on the floor. Sitting
this way is necessary because it makes it easier to concen
trate on the one point. If you’re leaning back or slouching
over, it’s going to be much more difficult to feel the
anchoring sensations I am talking about. In the upright
position you’ll feel the weight of your upper body pushing
equally on each buttock. As you relax and exhale, you’ll
feel the weight push down as though you were going to
pass right through the chair.
The fact that you can physically relax, even with an

active mental focus, brings me to my second point. You
can consciously speed relaxation by actively directing your
attention to key muscle groups and physical sensations.
People in our laboratory reported several muscle groups
are important to pay attention to.
As you assume your position, make sure that your calves
and thighs are relaxed and that your knees have a slight
bend. As you exhale, pay special attention to your chest,
neck, and shoulder muscles, consciously relaxing each of
these muscle groups. Relaxation occurs very quickly,
especially if you coordinate it with your breathing.
For musicians, athletes, and people suffering from muscle
pain, conscious attention and relaxation are critical. Ten
sion levels in the muscles in the chest, neck, and shoulders
are intimately related to timing and coordination. Control
of these muscles can improve the consistency and level of
performance dramatically. I’ve known people to drop
their golf handicaps from 18 to 12 within a couple of weeks.
They learned to be aware of the tension in neck and
shoulders. By controlling it, relaxing and centering prior
to each golf shot, they cut their scores, stopped topping
the ball, slicing, and burying their club head in the ground
a foot behind the ball.
After you assume the basic position, notice that as you

breathe in, your muscle tension begins to rise. This is
especially true when pressure causes you to hyperventilate,
to breathe rapidly and shallowly up high in your chest.
When you’re anxious, each breath seems to raise tension
levels just a little, until you feel shaky and unsteady.
You can learn to counteract the nervousness in two or
three breaths. In fact, the entire centering process shouldn’t
A.C.T. II 8?
require more than three. In this time you can easily regain
enough control to get effectively involved in your task.
All it takes is selecting the right type of attention and
concentrating on it.
As you will see, you’re asked to breathe deeply and
slowly through your mouth. As you exhale, try consciously
to relax the muscle groups I’ve talked about. Now, as you
inhale, try to keep muscle tension in your chest, arms, and
shoulders from increasing.
Instead of tension going higher with each breath, it
should get progressively lower. As you relax the muscle
groups and exhale, you’ll begin to feel solid and steady.
The procedure is simple. An important part is to pin
point times in your performance situation when you’ll have
the few seconds necessary to take the required two or three
breaths—between points in tennis, or while you’re looking
at your notes during a speech.
As you learn to center, you can use the technique to
briefly regain attention control. Instead of a slap on the
face, you use breathing to break the internal focus of
attention. You’re able to reduce your anxiety just long
enough to redirect your attention. Once attention is re
directed and you’re involved in performing, you don’t
have time to pay attention to fears. Too much is going on
around you and your body starts to relax. The great thing
is that you can practice breathing and centering when
ever you want to so long as you don’t take more than three
breaths at any time. You’ll find that as your skill develops,
the feeling of relaxation and control begins to come almost
instantaneously, with a single exhale.
As you get better at breaking away from distractions
caused by pressure and learn to redirect your attention,
you’ll find your general level of anxiety will also go down.
You’ll begin to feel more comfortable in other situations
as well, because the increased ability to cope increases
your feeling of being in control. Situations that once gen
erated a great deal of debilitating anxiety for you will still
cause some anxiety, but not nearly enough to hamper your
performance.
Youll find the full sequence below. I suggest you read

this onto a tape (described in the next chapter). As you
listen to the tape a few times and learn the steps, youll
soon lose your need to use the tape recorder. Then you’re
on your own, simply taking your breaths and redirecting
attention whenever you need to.
Do keep in mind that no one can ever eliminate all
anxiety and still be responsive to the environment or
function effectively. The realistic goal is to control anxiety,
to keep it within reasonable limits. My aim is not to remove
anxiety but to get you to feel less anxious so that you can
function more effectively and prevent problems from
troubling you. Some anxiety is actually needed to motivate
you. It would be a mistake to remove it all.
A. C. T. P R O C E D U R E S
Begin by standing with your feet approximately

shoulders’ distance apart. Keeping that separation,
place one foot (the left if you are right-handed; the
right if you are left-handed) slightly in front of the
A.C.T. II
other (six inches or so). Your feet should now be
shoulders’ distance apart with one slightly in front
of the other.
Next, let your arms hang loosely at your side. . . .
They should be relaxed and limp . . . as though they
were filled with sawdust.. . . Bend your knees slightly,
just enough to feel the tension in your calf muscles.. . .
Breath 1
Inhale deeply . . . and slowly . . . through your
mouth. As you do, notice how your body seems to
lift up. The tension in your chest and upper body
causes you to rise up . . . to feel lighter . . . almost as
if you’re going to be lifted off the floor.
Exhale slowly. . . . As you do, relax the muscles in
your arms . . . and shoulders. Notice the feeling of
heaviness and how firm and solid your body feels, as
you exhale, and as gravity pulls you down. . . . As you
breathe out and relax, you begin to center, feeling
your weight pushing down equally between both
legs.
Breath 2
Inhale again slowly. . . . This time as you do keep
the muscles in your shoulders . . . arms . . . and
chest . . . relaxed. Breathe from your abdomen, let
your diaphragm do the work. . . . You will find that
you are able to inhale and yet not have tension levels
rise. You continue to feel solid, firm.
Exhale slowly through your mouth and again notice
the pleasant feeling as you become even more an-
.90 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
chored . . . more firmly relaxed. Your muscles in both
arms . . . both legs . . . and in your shoulders are com
pletely relaxed. Your weight presses down from the
one point between both legs.
Breath 3
Inhale once more, slowly . . . maintaining the re

laxation that you have developed. Breathe from down
deep rather than up in your chest.
Exhale slowly. . . . As you do, let your mind and
thoughts center on the one spot. . . that place in your
abdomen which is just behind your navel. . . . Just
passively attend to the feelings in your abdomen as
you completely relax. That’s fine. . . . You’re now cen
tered. . . . Look around, notice the solid, steady feel
ing . . . of being balanced . . . and ready.
You can test your ability to develop the feeling of being

centered. Get two friends who are at least as big as you are
and have them stand on either side of you. Ask each to
grab one of your wrists with both hands (the person on
your right grabs your right wrist). Now think “up,” think
about the lightness as you inhale, let your chest rise nor
mally, and ask them to lift you. Keep your arms straight.
Don’t let them bend at the elbows. If you are thinking “up,”
they should be able to lift you easily.
Now center yourself, exhale slowly, and think “down.”
You should be able to feel yourself being anchored. Con
centrate on the center of gravity and on the feelings of your
A.C.T. II 9*
body pushing down toward the floor. Ask your friends to
lift you again. If you coordinate your breathing and
thoughts, if you’re centering properly, they won’t be able
to lift you off the ground. Typically, people require a few
practice sessions before they cannot be lifted at all. Almost
everyone, however, becomes much heavier and more diffi
cult to lift the very first time.
It’s true! Girls weighing no more than 100 pounds have
been able to keep two average-sized men (160 pounds
each) from lifting them. Try it! As you get more skilled
you’ll know it. So will your friends. I once had a profes
sional athlete strain so hard to lift me that he ripped the
seat out of his pants—right in front of his teammates!
In A.C.T. I, I emphasized the importance of self-aware

ness and learning to analyze situations you are expected to
perform in. I pointed out that often the increased aware
ness by itself was enough to allow you to gain control over
a problem. In some situations the in-depth analysis and
contrast of success and failure also aren’t necessary; breath
ing alone is enough.
Generally, situations that don’t call for any complex
performance but do require anxiety reduction and an in
crease in motivation can be treated by A.C.T. II alone.
For example, breaking a habit such as smoking, or over
coming a fear, often doesn’t require the analyses of A.C.T.
I. The goal is anxiety reduction and/or an increase in
motivation. It isn’t necessary to find what’s creating the
problem. That’s either obvious or irrelevant. It’s also not
necessary to pinpoint what you should pay attention to so
Q2 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
you’ll perform more effectively. Attention can be internally
focused and very direct if you want to motivate yourself.
Where A.C.T. I is critical, you must direct your attention
to the environment in order to react and perform.
Sybil used the centering procedure to break a habit. At

thirty-six, she had been smoking for over twenty years,
averaging more than two packs a day. She had successfully
stopped three times, always for over a year, but she was
back to smoking.
When she came for help she’d been unable to stop for
the fourth time. Some physical symptoms were increasing
her anxiety and causing her to need a cigarette. More
important, she had been divorced from her husband of
eight years and was now suddenly alone. This, too, was
creating great stress.
She hoped hypnosis alone would help end her smoking,
but Sybil was told that she would have to find the strength
herself, that hypnosis could help but it wouldn’t do it for
her. She was hypnotized and a light trance was used to ask
her to think back on the three previous times she quit
smoking. When she did this she began to laugh. She real
ized how stubborn she was. She had quit on all three
occasions to prove a point, once to her father, once to her
husband, and once to herself.
She was instructed in the breathing procedure and was
told that whenever she became anxious and/or felt the
need for a cigarette she could take the breaths and, after
exhaling, remind herself of her own strength and stubborn
ness. She found that the breathing took the edge off the
tension. This allowed her to recall her past successes and
A.C.T. II 93
remind herself of her desire to quit. That was all she
needed to stop smoking. More important, she began to
feel better about herself physically and emotionally.
Richard’s job required a great deal of air travel. He had

always been mildly uncomfortable flying, but he could
control it by getting involved in reading, talking with some
one, or doing some work on the plane.
Things changed dramatically when one of his flights
missed the runway in a dense fog and crashed. He was
dazed, remembered walking away from the wreckage,
seeing the plane burn and people hurt and frightened. He
received only very minor injuries, but what had been a
mild discomfort began to turn into an almost uncontrol
lable fear. He began trying to drive every place he could
and started avoiding trips even when they were important
for his work. By the time he came to me the problem had
become so serious that he was considering giving up a job
that meant a great deal to him and that he enjoyed im
mensely.
It’s important that Richard’s fear, unlike some others,
had a very rational basis. I did not have to search for un
conscious processes or hidden problems to find the source
of the anxiety. A second important factor: Richard was
not required to perform mentally (make decisions) or
physically in order to fly. If they carried him on board
unconscious, the flight would still take off. These two
factors made the analyses of A.C.T. I unnecessary. All
Richard needed was to relax, to reduce anxiety sufficiently
to distract himself, once again to become involved in work,
conversation, or reading.
With this in mind, I taught him to use the breathing and
centering techniques while he was sitting. I asked him to
assume a straight-backed position, his feet flat on the floor,
his arms on the arms of the chair or in his lap. The breath
ing procedure (beginning with breath 1) was then read
onto a cassette tape. Whenever he needed to fly he'd listen
to the tape through an earphone while waiting for the
takeoff and in preparation for landing. A voice other than
his own directed his attention to feelings inconsistent with
his fear (heaviness, relaxed muscles, etc.), and this re
duced his anxiety so he could once again become involved
in work and conversations.
He was able to keep his job. He also felt good about
himself and his ability to alter his feelings. He could sleep
the night before a trip, and was no longer making un
reasonable demands on his wife to drive a hundred miles
just so he wouldn't have to experience a takeoff and land
ing.
Learning to center within a breath or two is a major

factor in controlling your attention whether your problem
is anxiety or boredom. You’re having difficulty because
you're distracted by irrelevant cues. In anxiety you're dis
tracted by fears, thoughts about failure, your body pro
cesses. In boredom you're distracted by other things that
seem more interesting. In the next chapter you’ll find ways
to increase your arousal level, to get your adrenaline flow
ing and help yourself to narrow.
Often you don’t have to go to those extremes. The case
of Rick illustrates why.
A.c.r.ii 95
Rick, a recent graduate of a law school, was preparing to

take the state license exam. He knew he’d have to set aside
time each day for study. To pass, he’d have to use that time
effectively. He was worried because he had a history of
being unable to discipline himself before tests. He’d al
most been kicked out of school on two occasions because
of borderline performance on tests. He’d survived so far
only because he was so bright that he could learn enough
in the last few hours to achieve a marginal pass. He knew
that wouldn’t get him through the state exam.
Like many of us, Rick had found himself putting off
studying. He had a broad focus of attention and enjoyed
a very busy active world. It was hard for him to shut him
self off to study. It was easy to distract him. He’d let his
mind wander. Friends would ask him to go out for a beer.
It didn’t take much at all to get Rick to drop the books.
He was outgoing, and had always let his environment
control him.
Twice Rick had almost failed tests because they were
important and difficult enough that a last-minute cram
didn’t cut it. Once he was given a make-up. The other time
a professor gave him a pass that Rick knew he hadn’t
earned.
Rick swung from being unable to concentrate (narrow)
to sudden panic. He’d know a test was coming up but
couldn’t get motivated to study. He told himself each day
that he’d start studying that night. He’d even pull out the
books. Inevitably something interfered. Then the night
before the exam he would tumble from feeling no anxiety
at all into absolute panic. He’d try to cram days of work
g6 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
into a couple of hours. His mind raced from page to page.
Now he couldn’t concentrate not because of disinterest but
because he naturally felt overloaded and confused, trying
to shove everything in at the last minute.
Rick was smart enough to know that if he left his prob
lem unattended this time he wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
I taught him to center and told him that each time he
found his mind wandering he was to bring himself back,
take a deep breath, and at the end of the exhale redirect
his attention to the book. His only other need was to set
reasonable limits on study time. He thought he could
isolate himself for three hours every night. I convinced him
that this was asking too much, particularly several weeks
before the test. He agreed to start out studying for only
one and one-half hours. He also agreed to set aside time to
play. (Too much of a good thing is bad, as we all know.
Attention Control Training is no exception. Fatigue can
ruin any performance, and you’re the best judge of when
it’s time to stop concentrating and go for a change of
pace.)
Rick passed his exam and practices law successfully.
Let me tell you about one final case to illustrate how

much change you can effect in your physical feelings just
by learning to center.
Pat came to see me because of her extreme anxiety. She
was taking a lot of medication to control the physical
symptoms she had developed. She would hyperventilate
and begin to feel dizzy. She developed heart palpitations
and thought she might die. She was convinced she had
diabetes, a weak heart, and a number of other problems.
A.C.T. II 97
Pat was a very bright, personable young woman. She
had started to go to beauty college but had to drop out
when her symptoms became too upsetting. She found she
couldn’t work. She’d get too anxious. She was very good at
what she did. People would refer clients to her to repair
mistakes other beauty operators had made. Recently her
symptoms had become so severe that Pat could not do
this. She got so anxious just thinking about an appointment
(in her own home) the day before that her heart started
acting up and she’d get dizzy.
When she came to see me we had a long talk, discussing
the effects of anxiety on attention and on her heart, breath
ing, etc. I showed her how her own fears were getting
out of control. She was locking in on her beating heart,
thinking something was wrong even though her doctor had
told her that her heart was fine. Now her preoccupation
was making her worse. I taught her the centering tech
nique and told her to use it whenever she was working on
a client and she began to feel dizzy or upset. She tried it
and, much to her surprise, found it worked with the very
next customer. At that point she commented to me that
she had forgotten what it was like to feel "normal.” It had
been a couple of years since she had been in control of her
anxiety. Currently she is opening a shop and is very happy.
She has started to build her empire.
From my earlier descriptions you know that centering

is easy to learn. Our electrophysiological measurements of
muscle tension levels, skin conductance, heart rate, and
blood pressure all indicate that most people can develop
the skill in just three to four training sessions. If I were
g8 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
to hook you up to the equipment you’d see your own
tension levels drop dramatically in a few minutes. In the
absence of the electronics you can (and should) test your
self with the lifting exercise.
Now it’s time to put A.C.T. I and A.C.T. II together.

A.C.T. I, used properly, will make you aware of problems
and show you where your attention should be directed so
you can cope with a problem and be more successful.
A.C.T. II gives you the control you need over anxiety and
stress so you can concentrate effectively. Without A.C.T.
II, an increase of pressure will make you lose attention
control. In the next chapter I’ll help you put together
A.C.T. I and A.C.T. II so you can combine your mental
and physical functioning and ultimately work for yourself,
not against yourself!
j f A.C.T. Ill
In Chapter 4 I reported how speedily people learned to

relax in the laboratory. I mentioned that they became so
relaxed with the training that when they had nothing
specific to accomplish they lost interest and their tension
levels rose again. They were bored and needed positive
feedback in the form of an accomplishment. With this in
mind, it should be clear that the way you organize and
practice your own program is very important.
In this chapter 111 tell you how to practice using a
cassette tape. It will be important for you to stick closely
to the instructions. Feel free to practice the centering
exercise (A.C.T. II) as much as you want. I’d also en
courage you to follow the suggestions at the end of Chapter
6 so you can see how effective your concentration is. Re
hearsal and practice of the full sequence of A.C.T. I and
A.C.T. II should be limited to avoid boredom and the
resulting reduction in effectiveness.
In the laboratory we tried several training arrangements.

Three of these work very well. In one, we teach A.C.T. in a
two-day workshop, responding to the needs of large groups
of people: a police department, a corporation, groups of
nurses or mothers. The goals are to improve performance
under pressure, in emergencies, when closing a sale or
disciplining children; also to build self-confidence and
prevent future problems associated with stress.
The workshops are successful because I provide indi
vidual attention through allowing people to work on their
own problems without exposing themselves to everyone
else. I ask everyone to take the Test of Attentional and
Interpersonal Style in advance. On the first day of the
workshop I present much of the background material in
this book. I give people their test scores and tell what the
scores mean in general terms, without referring to any in
dividual test.
The people are then requested to work together to come
up with some common situations that create stress for
them, in their jobs or with others. This makes them aware
of problems and reactions without feeling exposed—a
distinct advantage of group training. When people are
bound together by common problems they supply a great
deal of encouragement and emotional support for one
another. Following the test analysis, everyone is trained
in the A.C.T. II procedure of centering and is tested in
two days. First, I use the lifting exercise. Next, I get them
to role-play some of the stressful situations that have been
singled out.
For example, I ask a group of businessmen to role-play
A.C.T. III 101
a corporate performance review, a job interview, or the
firing of an employee. One person plays the role of having
his performance reviewed. He’s hooked up to a biofeed
back machine that measures the level of muscle tension in
the forehead. We could also hook up the person doing the
review if he or she was having difficulty with this part of
the job.
Tension levels are monitored as the role-playing pro
gresses. When tension reaches a peak, I tell the role-players
to use the centering procedures. This inevitably results in
observable decreases in tension, as measured by the bio
feedback equipment. It provides objective evidence to
everyone that the self-control measures really work. They
clearly see how much self-control they can bring to bear,
and this becomes a great confidence builder.
On the second day of the workshop I meet with indi
vidual people, rather than the group. I help them personal
ize what they learned the previous day. I go over their
test data and bring out specific problems they can work
on. These may be at home, at work, or in social situations.
At that point I also help each participant describe his own
two “go” and “no go” contrasting situations. Then he
puts these on tape.
To show you fully what goes on, let me tell you about
a workshop I conducted for a group of jail guards. These
men were under great pressure for several reasons. They
were involved with their county authorities over a badly
needed wage increase that local government could not
afford. If this weren’t frustrating enough, they were caught
in the middle of demands from several different groups,
including the prisoners, prisoners’ relatives and attorneys,
and their own bosses.
As we began to talk about the effects of pressure on
physical and mental performance and looked at the de
mands placed on the guards, it became obvious why many
of them would get into trouble—beating up prisoners,
developed drinking problems, depression, marital diffi
culties, or ulcers.
One of their jobs was running a central control room.
One wall was taken up with television monitors showing
what was going on in different sections of the jail. Another
wall held a bank of switches to open and close doors to
cells and the cell blocks. The third wall had a small win
dow. There, prisoners who were being released came to
ask for their property—the things taken away from them
when they were jailed. Visitors and attorneys would also
come to this window to gain admittance. Finally, there
were several phones and intercoms for guards throughout
the jail to communicate their needs.
It was not unusual to have phones ringing, prisoners and
lawyers making hostile, impatient demands for admittance
or property, guards needing doors opened to transport
prisoners, and disturbances needing to be broken up—all
at the same time.
As I emphasized, pressure necessarily reduces a person’s
ability to pay attention (and respond) to a multiplicity of
demands. When a guard was a little slow, people would
yell louder and make everything worse. Guards couldn’t
yell back at attorneys or their superiors. Small wonder that
some developed ulcers or drug problems, or let out their
anger and frustrations on prisoners!
A.c.r.hi 103
It was easy in the workshop to get the guards to describe
their problems and the rugged job demands. They were
taught the A.C.T. centering method and then began role-
playing what went on in the control room. We pointed
out when they were losing control and showed them when
and where they could quickly use breathing to regain con
trol and improve concentration and performance.
The guards absorbed the training and worked with one
another on the job to make sure they remembered to take
the required breaths. In a relatively short time violence was
dramatically reduced.
In the individual sessions I used the guards’ test infor
mation and general problem descriptions to help them
apply the training to other, more personal difficulties. One
of the guards began centering at home to avoid yelling at
his children and walking out of the house to the nearest
bar. His tension from work was so high that his tolerance
for any demand or interruption once he got home was
totally gone. His marriage was threatened and he was on
the verge of becoming an alcoholic. Six months later he
reported greater involvement with his family and a pro
motion at work thanks to improved performance.
The group sessions are a useful response to the large

demand for training. They can be very effective when
people are motivated to be involved. Occasionally, motiva
tion becomes an issue, particularly if training is imposed
on a group by a boss without preliminary introduction or
preparation. This doesn’t exist when we teach A.C.T. to
an individual. When we deal with one person,we have two
ways of responding that have proven successful.
The major difference is the extent of professional in
volvement. Sometimes we provide all practice within the
laboratory. For the Eastman School of Music students we
arranged for participants to practice imagery (A.C.T. I)
only in the laboratory, not at home or on their own. Stu
dents are seen twice a week for three weeks. They’re en
couraged to practice centering (A.C.T. II) on their own
and to use it during performances to help themselves
control tension.
The main advantage to involving a professional in this
way is with people who are troubled by a very low self-
concept. They feel better knowing that their training is
being supported and directed by someone else.
I suggest you use a sequence that assigns most of the
responsibility for treatment to you. By now you’ll be aware
of some problem situation(s) and your responses. Through
A.C.T. II you understand how to control tension by cen
tering. You’ve also decided what you should be doing to
perform effectively.
To complete the treatment, you need only make a tape
to use for rehearsal and to set up a regular practice time.
It’s best if you do all your rehearsing within ten days of
a real-life performance situation. Arrange to listen to your
tape twice each day. This means you’ll rehearse about
twenty times prior to the actual experience.
Rehearsing the situation this many times is important.
Boredom is not likely. The impending test keeps you inter
ested. It’s not as if you were practicing for some unspecified
reason or to overcome some problem six months or six
years in the future.
Using the car-driving problem I mentioned in Chapter 5
(remember Virginia?), I can show you the reasons for the
A.C.T. Ill 105
rehearsal. The secret to Virginia’s successful use of A.C.T.
was remembering to center at the critical time: when
everyone was honking at her. That used to make her step
on the accelerator. What she needed to do was control
that automatic response and center at the critical time.
Yes, it’s difficult to remember to center when people are
honking at you. But by rehearsing you remind yourself how
to respond at the critical instant. By mentally practicing
the correct response, you build up a strong enough defense
so that pressure in the real situation won’t distract you
or prevent you from following through.
I have another reason for the mental rehearsal and put
ting A.C.T. sequences on tape. At least initially, it can be
difficult to maintain self-control. If you’ve experienced
failure, too many self-doubts and distractions can keep you
from effectively rehearsing without external help. By put
ting a “script” on tape, even if it’s in your own voice,
you’re building in external reminders and supports. You’ll
find that as you gain more control over your attention and
become more familiar with the techniques, the tape will
become unnecessary. You’ll be able to practice without
it.
Making your tape is simple. First, record the centering
instructions I gave you on page 88. Read these slowly,
with a pause (one to two seconds) wherever words are
separated by commas or periods. Next, record the descrip
tion of a successful experience. Using Virginia as an ex
ample, you’ll recall that we simply recorded her experience
of driving the children to a picnic. When you finish record
ing the successful experience (which you should visualize
as vividly as possible when you listen to the tape later),
leave about a thirty-second pause.
Now read the failure experience onto the tape.
Both scenes should be written in the present tense and
be descriptive enough to help you develop good imagery.
At the end of the failure scene, again give yourself a
thirty-second pause. Then read the centering instructions
onto the tape a second time. Following the centering, tape
the two scenes as before with one exception: when you get
to the middle of the failure scene, instruct yourself to stop
your visualization and quickly center. To do this on the
tape, literally say “Stop! Now center yourself.”
At this point you should read the centering instructions
onto the tape for the third time.
Finally, at the end of the centering, tape the description
as rewritten so the failure experience is a success. Then
concentrate. For Virginia, this material is on page 81.
Here’s a summary of your centering practice:
1. Center yourself and relax.

2. Rehearse scene 1 (success). Pause for 30 seconds.
3. Rehearse scene 2 (failure).
4. Center yourself and relax.
5. Rehearse scene 1 (success). Pause for 30 seconds.
6. Rehearse half of scene 2.
7. Center yourself.
8. Rehearse successful completion of the task.
The final portion of Attention Control Training supplies

you with suggestions about narrowing your concentration.
I mentioned that masters of the martial arts must broaden
and narrow attention. Centering helps you control anxiety
so you can develop a broader focus of attention. Occasion
ally, as IVe said, you may become too relaxed or bored.
A.C.T. Ill 107
Your mind wanders from thought to thought, it drifts in a

dreamy way so you’re not motivated or tense enough to
narrow attention. At these times, there are specific steps
for you to try.
Working to narrow attention isn’t often necessary for
most people. Most problems develop because tension levels
are too high and attention is already too narrow.
Occasionally, some mechanical help in narrowing at
tention is required, either because you’re too tired or
bored or because your situation requires an exceptionally
narrow focus.
Driving on long trips, you’ve at times probably become
so fatigued that you couldn’t concentrate and keep your
mind on the road. You probably found your mind wander
ing, your head beginning to nod, and your eyes closing.
Perhaps roughness of the road’s shoulder or the center-line
bumps caused you to wake with a start.
Many people take stimulants such as amphetamines and
caffeine, turn up the radio, roll down the windows, change
their position while driving—all to help them wake up and
focus their attention. Such measures (particularly the
chemical ones) can narrow your attention too much. You
lose the ability to be a defensive driver and to pay attention
to many things at once. You don’t check your mirrors or
look for cross-traffic. As the driving situation changes and
requires a broader focus, you find yourself unable to adapt.
We’ve all been bored, but it’s an especially difficult prob
lem for people who’re expected to perform at top level all
the time: professional athletes who must get up day after
day for competition, musicians on tour who play the same
concert over and over. In these situations people often
look for little pick-me-ups.
Some play mental games with themselves to alter their
perceptions of the importance of the situation. They try to
generate a little excitement and enthusiasm. You’re in the
backyard shooting baskets but pretending it’s the national
championship and you have a chance to win the game. Or
you’re playing cards with friends but mentally transport
yourself to a much more exciting setting. It’s great to do
this, so long as you aren’t attempting to generate excite
ment at the moment in time when you’re supposed to be
responding. Remember, for many of us, anxiety is already
high enough. When that’s the case, playing these mental
games can create problems rather than solve them. If that
happens to you your partner may be very disturbed when
you bid absentmindedly or inappropriately in the bridge
game.
Athletes, musicians, and actors have all been known to
use stimulants. Often these are ineffective because there
is no guarantee that attention will narrow and focus in on
the right things. It’s just as easy to become caught up in
something totally irrelevant. Drugs can also interfere with
timing and coordination, so performance suffers.
A very special situation arises when you must walk a
thin line between being relaxed and tense or aroused, when
you require a certain level of tension to function at your
best.
Too much will tax your muscles excessively and gum up
your ability to select the right focus of concentration. Too
little will leave you sluggish. As you become more highly
trained, holding your tension level between the two ex
tremes becomes increasingly critical. The margin for error
decreases. You can afford less variability in your concen
tration.
A.c.r. in 109
For example: the difference between winning a hundred
thousand dollars and forty thousand dollars on the pro
golf tour may be only one stroke per round. The pro who
lets up on one more shot in eighteen holes is going to lose
sixty thousand dollars. The pro can let up by becoming
too tense (most often the case) or by letting his mind
wander. He must avoid both types of distraction at all
costs. For those of us with 18 handicaps, letting up on one
shot is not likely to cost us the round, and certainly not
sixty thousand dollars.
What about other fields? No matter how many brain
operations or open heart surgeries a doctor has performed,
he is in serious difficulty if he ever begins to treat any as
routine. Once again, the line between success and failure
is very thin. The same holds true for performance at the
top of almost any field. Remember: the difference between
winning and losing is almost always mental.
My work with International Skeet Shooters illustrates
the control I’m referring to. The contestant is expected to
hit a small clay target that flies across a field in front of him.
The game is set up so the competitor calls for the target to
be released. Standing with his gun at his side, he may
not raise it until the target appears.
In International Skeet the target is set to appear from
one to three seconds after it is called for. So once he calls,
the contestant must maintain a very narrow focus of
attention. He must be mentally tense, concentrating
enough to react quickly to the appearance of the target.
However, he must not be so tense that he develops muscle
tension and becomes jerky or distracted by anxiety.
In the course of a contest these athletes have to shoot
at 100 targets a day. Most shoots involve two successive
no A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
days of competition. It’s not uncommon for the winner to
hit in excess of 196 targets. Obviously, high-level compet
itors cannot afford lapses in concentration or in control
over muscle tension levels.
When extremely fine tuning is involved, it’s possible to
become so anxious that a person cannot employ the cen
tering procedure. As such people breathe, they can drop
down too far and become too relaxed. Then they need
quickly to generate a little extra anxiety. Fortunately,
techniques exist for developing this kind of control.
Research on the relationship between the flow of adrena
line and muscle tension has shown that by bracing and
flexing certain muscles, you can increase your level of
tension and narrow your concentration. Its quite simple.
If you watched the Olympics you saw Dwight Stones,
the American high jumper, do a bracing procedure. Just
before making his approach to the bar, he clenched his fists
and tensed the muscles in his forearms and upper arms. By
squeezing these muscles and tensing them for a few sec
onds, then relaxing them, then tensing them once again,
it was possible for him to increase his level of tension and
focus his attention.
You can demonstrate this for yourself very easily the
next time you’re driving and find yourself falling asleep.
Just tense the muscles in your forearms and upper arms
for about two seconds. Relax them for a second. Tense
them for two. Relax them, tense them and so on for four
repetitions.
Working with an International Skeet shooter, I found he
could use the centering and bracing procedures to main
tain control over tension and concentration levels for the
A.C.T. Ill m
twelve-second periods required. As he stepped onto a
shooting station he had twelve seconds to prepare himself
and call for the target. In that time he could lower his
tension through centering. If it went too low, he could
tense his muscles briefly to bring it back up.
These ups and downs of concentration are mastered by
other athletes as well. Tennis players such as Billie Jean
King tense up and jump up and down between critical
points, especially when they feel they have been too “loose”
or have let their mind wander.
In baseball, concentration can be helped by tensing and
pounding your hand into your glove. Just be sure to time
the tensing exercise so it’s closely associated with the point
when you need maximum readiness. Tensed excitement
can stay high only briefly when you use this method. You
can hardly use it once and expect it to last for an entire
game.
To improve your ability to concentrate and follow

through on a difficult or boring task (filling out income
taxes, studying for an examination, reading technical re
ports), you might try the following steps:
1. Remove any distractions and prepare a place

for yourself to work. You may want a quiet room. You
might be like me and need to start with a clean desk.
Everything you’ll need should be at hand.
2. Sit quietly and use the A.C.T. centering pro
cedure. As you go through the three breaths, close
your eyes.
3. At the end of the third breath, with your eyes
still closed, give yourself a simple positive instruction
about what you are to do. This should be no more
than a sentence or two. Repeat it a couple of times.
For example: ‘Tm going to study hard for the next
hour.” “Ill get a good grade on the exam.”
4. Open your eyes and alternately tense and relax
the muscles in your hands, forearms, and upper arms.
5. Quickly direct your attention to your task. Make
sure you have something specific to focus on. Don’t
try to do a large amount, or to deal with a lot of in
formation right at the start. Keep it simple. Read the
first ten pages in a book, write an opening sentence,
etc. As you get this first step accomplished you’ll find
yourself getting more interested and involved.
6. When you’re distracted, and you’re bound to be,
simply recognize it: Uh-oh, my mind wandered, back
to the job!” Take one deep breath and center. Then
refocus.
7. Do not try to do too much. It’s OK to make a
mistake by asking yourself to do less than you are
capable of rather than more. Success, even if it’s less
than you’re capable of, can be motivating. Failure,
even if you’ve asked too much, is going to be dis
couraging and destroy motivation.
This brings me to the conclusion of the A.C.T. methods.

In the next chapter I’ll summarize some of my applications
of the techniques. In the final chapter I’ll describe several
treatments we’ve found helpful in the laboratory. You can
use these in your own training program.
A.c.r. in 113
By gaining control over your attention and your level

of anxiety and tension, you can accomplish all the goals
I outlined at the beginning of this book. By being sensitive
to your body, to your mind, to what happens under in
creasing pressure, you re in a position to exert positive
control. You’ll find, as many others have, that as you
become more skilled at lowering anxiety and directing your
attention precisely where it’s needed, you’ll increase the
consistency of your performance in any situation—even a
crisis!
You should find stress decreasing once you’ve learned to
gain direct control by centering. Your physical and mental
health will improve from the success that will come to you
as you gain greater self-control. You’ll find yourself making
better decisions, performing with more consistency. Your
self-esteem and confidence will substantially increase. As
this happens, more and more situations will lose their
threat to your peace of mind.
As to chronic problems associated with stress: once
again, the success you experience will reduce overall ten
sion and you’ll feel less anxiety, less frustration, less anger,
and less depression. Result: there’ll be less stress on your
heart and lungs.
Most important of all: winners are people willing and
able to take a calculated risk; they take chances and either
win directly or retain enough composure to turn mistakes
into victories. Losers withdraw and avoid the challenge.
Nobody can pick himself up and turn failure into victory
indefinitely. If all a person experienced was failure, he’d
stop trying. The ability to pick yourself up and try again
ii4 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
comes from the belief that if you do, you’ll succeed. It’s a
feeling that comes only once you’ve had some success. In
the final analysis, winners continue to be winners because
their history gives them permission to take chances.
As you begin to gain greater control over concentration
and tension, you’ll find you’re successful more often than
not. Your success will supply the base of confidence you
need to take chances and to learn from mistakes. No one
is successful 100 percent of the time. We all fail sometimes.
It's unavoidable. But when you do, you’ll recover more
quickly than you ever have. A.C.T. will help you achieve
confidence and trust in your own potential.
8 / A.C.T. Applications
A.C.T. has triggered many changes that demonstrate the

close relationship between mental and physical function
ing. I’ve mentioned (1) prevention and treatment of
physical problems associated with excessive pressure and
stress; (2) improvement of physical performance through
improved concentration; (3) improvement in mental
functioning, controlling impulses, making decisions. At
this point I’d like to deal with each of these.
The ability to center and take the top off anxiety, and
the ability to follow this up with a refocusing of attention,
can yield a major breakthrough for you. It can lower
blood pressure, alleviate depression, reduce pain, and in
crease resistance to illness. Research on what happens to
the body when attention is redirected gives insight into the
impact A.C.T. can have.
Research on biofeedback has shown that as attention is
redirected toward feelings of relaxation, nonstressful
n6 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
thoughts and images, blood pressure decreases and the
flow of blood to peripheral blood vessels increases. Your
hands and feet get warmer. The change in temperature is
also associated with relief from pain, particularly migraine
headaches. When we monitored finger temperature of
patients with migraines, we saw drops of as much as 10 to
20 degrees after stress reduction through techniques such
as progressive relaxation and A.C.T. For many headache
patients these changes were enough to reduce the pain,
sometimes even to prevent or abort headaches.
The physiological control that follows attention redirec
tion is useful with other types of pain, too. Where pain is
due to muscle or tendon problems, muscle tension often
increases in the affected area as fear and pain associated
with the injury aggravate the problem. The body responds
to the pain with a bracing response, the generalized muscle
tension you experience in the dentist’s chair. This tension
increases the likelihood of additional injuries and slows the
healing process. Athletes will tell you that when they’re
tense in a game they’re most likely to get hurt. Muscle
tension is the reason. When muscles are tense your body is
not flexible. It’s more likely to break or tear.
A.C.T. has been used by many athletes and musicians
to reduce pain and to speed healing, particularly with
problems like tendonitis. Redirecting attention and relax
ing muscles can achieve enough reduction in pain so that
some participation or practice can be maintained. A person
does not have to give up playing until the problem clears
up.
In pain from tension headaches A.C.T. helps spot situa
tions that bring on the headaches. After the test helps you
A.C.r. Applications 117
find trouble spots, breathing and centering counter the
tension.
Jim is an example. When he stayed in certain positions

for a long time, he’d get headaches, especially when he
bent over papers at his desk or over the steering wheel of
his car. The test made him aware that in response to
pressure his neck and shoulder muscles began tightening.
His body assumed the same tense position while driving
or working at his desk.
He bought a watch with an alarm and set the timer so
every fifteen minutes a bell would ring and remind him
to take a deep breath and relax the muscles in neck and
shoulders. The result was a dramatic reduction in head
aches. Pain that had been an almost daily experience came
only once a month or so. Usually, those headaches were
related more to drinking the night before than to rising
tension levels.
A.C.T. can help break habits like smoking and eating or

drinking to excess, as well as treating fears, because mental
control is used to interrupt a negative dialogue between
mental and physical functioning.
Suppose you’ve resolved to go on a diet to lose five
pounds. You were not hungry until you made that resolu
tion. Having made it, your attention is directed to what
you don’t have and what you’ll be missing out on. The
thought of passing up chocolate cake starts your stomach
juices flowing and your mouth watering. These physical
n8 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
cues demand your attention. Suddenly, instead of con
centrating on how you’ll reject food and lose weight, you’re
concentrating on how hungry you are! You head for the
kitchen and vow to start the diet tomorrow.
Fears and boredom work the same way. Your mind gets
caught in some place you don’t want to be. You wish you
were fishing (instead of working on your taxes). Or you’re
locked into your fears. Afraid to drive in traffic, you resolve
to overcome it. Immediately the thought of confronting the
fear causes physical symptoms. Panic begins to rise. You
feel some dizziness, nausea, heart palpitations. Almost in
response to your resolution, your body says, “To hell with
you!” You become mentally locked into your symptoms and
feel helpless.
In our laboratory, clients use A.C.T. to break the chain,
to reverse it. Just as certain thoughts, feelings, and observa
tions (seeing a piece of chocolate cake) tell you you’re
hungry, other thoughts, feelings, and observations dull or
reverse those sensations.
John used the A.C.T. method to distract himself from

concerns about food and focus instead on an exercise pro
gram. By becoming aware of his own thoughts about food
and increasing his sensitivity to feelings of being hungry,
he was able to center and redirect attention before the
craving became so strong that he lost control. When he
began to get hungry he quickly relaxed and did a few
exercises. Maybe he’d do ten or twenty sit-ups. With this
rechanneling of thoughts, he had no problem sticking to a
low-calorie diet. He lost fifty pounds in three months. The
exercise not only gave John something else to pay atten
A.C.T. Applications ng
tion to, it also used up a few calories and strengthened
his stomach muscles. This made him more sensitive to
feelings of fullness. When he ate too much there was less
room for his stomach to expand and he felt uncomfortable.
The level and consistency of physical performance also

benefit from A.C.T. Again, the very close relationship be
tween mental and physical processes makes the method so
effective.
Very early in the book I pointed out how an increase of
pressure increases muscle tension and narrows attention.
The result is a feeling that everything moves too quickly.
This negative mind-body relationship has major impact
on performance, particularly as neck and shoulder muscle
tension increases.
Servers in tennis can’t toss the ball up in a consistent way
when muscle tension increases. Often they don’t throw it
high enough and they throw it too far out in front of
themselves. They must try to compensate by swinging
faster. Often they end up hitting the ball into the net.
Basketball players tie up, get muscle cramps, and their
shots at the basket fall short, hitting the rim. Golfers start
to straighten up and top the ball. They may also begin to
bring the club head too far inside because they start to
exaggerate their backswing. Timing is off, and they put
a spin on the ball when they hit it. This cuts their distance
and can cause a slice. The same exaggerated backswing
occurs in baseball and the hitter swings late, failing to
make contact with the ball.
Musicians find themselves developing muscle tension in
hands and fingers. This may make it difficult to reach cer-
tain notes smoothly. As tension increases they lose their
sensitivity or feeling for the instrument, and they have
difficulty applying just the right pressure to keys or strings.
With A.C.T. we have been able to counter all of these
problems. I’ve already mentioned the reductions possible
in golf scores. Free-throw shooters have increased their
in-game percentage by 10 to 15 percent within a week. By
using the centering just before serving, tennis players in
crease the number of first serves that get in and reduce the
number of double-faults.
In these uses, the reduction of tension through centering

and the refocusing of concentration breaks negative rela
tionships and prevents loss of control under pressure. As
tension levels in neck and shoulders come under conscious
control, consistency improves, often dramatically.
One father brought his son to me because of his erratic
performance in diving. The boy clearly had talent, but his
confidence was bruised and his attitude was increasingly
negative. He was growing angry and frustrated, and these
feelings were affecting everything. He was refusing to
listen to his father. He wasn’t getting along with his coach
or the other divers. His grades in school were dropping,
and his family feared he would drop out altogether.
In talking to the boy it became clear that no matter
what he paid attention to, no matter what happened, he
had a tendency to put it in a negative context. If his par
ents showed concern and tried to help they were "inter
fering” and didn’t trust him. If they held back, he thought
they "didn’t care” or had "given up” on him. No matter
what his parents tried to do, he twisted it. They could only
A.C.T. Applications 121
add to his problems. The boy’s responses to his coach and
teammates were similar. Everyone was getting angry. They
felt damned if they did and damned if they didn’t.
Most parents of adolescents face this dilemma often. It’s
the same type of difficulty a therapist runs into when he or
she is attempting to help a couple overcome difficulties in
their sexual relationship. Drawing attention to the problem
makes it worse. Yet avoidance is impossible when the issue
is a critical part of people’s lives. For adolescents, inde
pendence from the family, the ability to solve their own
problems, is such an issue. For married couples sexual re
lationships are equally important. You cannot hide your
head and expect them to go away. When people can’t
openly talk about them, they’re sure others have it on their
mind in a critical way. As tensions rise, performance,
athletic and sexual, becomes more difficult.
I instructed the young diver to pay attention to his own
physical sensations. As he found himself thinking about the
meet he was to compete in, about his own performance, or
about a particular dive, he’d use centering and direct his
attention to the reduction of muscle tension levels. With
this focus his diving consistently improved dramatically.
He took first place in a couple of meets and beat one of
the other divers whom he had always lost to. His confidence
came back, his anger went away, and he started being
civil again.
You’ll recall that I promised help with decision making

and impulse control, avoiding mistakes under pressure. A
major problem in the United States today is the result of
a loss of impulse control. Violence is increasing. Much of
this, particularly child abuse, is involuntary and due to
excessive tension and pressure.
Although many parents who work away from home have
the illusion that life at home is easy, they’re so wrong! Very
few of the men who tell me “anybody can take care of a
home and children” could do it. Two to three hours alone
with young children is often enough to drive them to drink.
Their solution to the chaos and noise is to throw the kids
outside while they watch TV and drink beer, or to threaten
to beat the hell out of them. Small wonder many home
makers feel the same way! Small wonder child abuse is on
the increase.
The demands on parents today, particularly mothers, are
almost intolerable. In fact, in many cases they are intoler
able. Mothers are caught between a tremendous number
of demands. Economically there is pressure on them to go
to work. Consciousness-raising groups are demanding that
they assert their independence. Children demand to be
fed, entertained, taken care of. Husbands make the same
demands, plus the demand for a clean house and meals. If
that’s not enough, a woman makes the demand on herself
that she accomplish all this. She should be Wonder
Woman, all things to all her people. She should place
everyone first on the priority list; that’s what they all de
mand.
Mary was a college-graduate housewife intimately fa

miliar with all of those demands and with the anger, guilt,
and frustration they develop. She received support from
no one. Everybody expected a part of her, no one thanked
her for any of it. She just got yelled at when things weren’t
accomplished. Mary began to lose control over her anger
when her second child was born.
The baby was sick and cried a lot. If she tried to hold
him it didn’t help. Nothing seemed to work. At times she
became so annoyed and upset that she was almost over
come by the urge to beat the child to shut him up. Her
feelings were becoming stronger and frightened her. She
had seen a neighbor beat a child to death under similar
circumstances.
Mary’s husband was a policeman and very little help.
He tended to be demanding of Mary and his children. He
often worked nights and expected Mary to keep the chil
dren quiet and out of his way during much of the day.
Problems began mounting. Then Mary got a faint glimmer
of hope. The police were having a workshop for wives to
help them deal with problems that develop when one is
married to a police officer.
Mary went but found the workshop anything but help
ful. The instructors spent the entire time informing the
women about the difficulties of living with a policeman.
They did this by pointing out the demands and pressures
of the policeman’s job. Mary should know that her husband
was dedicated and that he worked under pressure much of
the time. She should know that he would come home and
need time and space to calm down. She should know he
probably wouldn’t feel like talking about work. She would
find his personality changing. He would become more
controlling and assertive, expecting things to be resolved
quickly. His job didn’t leave a lot of time to deal with
feelings. There would be a tendency for this to be carried
over to the home. He’d be out of the house much of the
time. He’d be associating with criminals, exposed to drugs
and vice.
Mary learned all about the problems, she was sensitized
to the pressure, but she wasn’t told what to do about it. The
closest thing she got was support from the other women
(“We’re with you, honey, in the same boat”). Fortunately
for her and her children, Mary decided to do something
about it.
She was able to use A.C.T. to control her impulses to
avoid beating her child. She found she could lower her
tension and redirect attention to sensible thoughts. For
Mary it was also important to find ways of getting some
support and appreciation from her family for all she was
doing. Without this, her motivation to continue using
A.C.T. would have quickly disappeared. She and her hus
band went to a marriage counselor and found further help.
Just as A.C.T. can help control hostile impulses, it can

ease panic. Poor Karen had failed three driving tests. When
she started to drive her anxiety level would rise so high
that she became oblivious to everything except her own
fears and whatever happened right in front of her. Her
driving failures were due to excessively narrowed atten
tion. She’d tune out the examiner and fail to hear such
important instructions as “change lanes” and “turn right.”
When she did hear an instruction she’d respond without
looking in her mirror or from side to side. The more she
got into the test, the worse her driving became.
Prior to her fourth attempt, Karen learned to center.
She also learned when to use the breathing technique
while driving. With a couple of weeks of practice, she
reached the point of reducing tension with a single breath.
At the end of that breath she reminded herself to redirect
her attention. She practiced and trained herself to do this
every time she came to a stop and every time someone
gave her an instruction. With just two weeks of practice,
she passed her test.
Susan had always wanted to be a nurse. She loved chil

dren. She went through nursing training without problems,
passed her state licensing exam, and went to work in the
newborn nursery of a local hospital. She was capable and
effective and enjoyed her work tremendously. Her problem
developed one day when, through no fault of hers, a baby
choked to death in the nursery. Over the next few days
Susan began to feel her anxiety rising. She started feeling
uncomfortable around the babies. She felt panic as soon
as one would start to spit up. Routine care became stress
ful. She was very seriously considering a transfer when she
came to see me.
Although Susan hadn’t made a mistake or failed, she was
afraid it would happen. She was anticipating the day a
child that she was taking care of would die. She felt it
would be her fault and that such an occurrence was in
evitable. Her concerns about the future were paralyzing
her in the present.
With training, Susan was able to use A.C.T. to prevent
her panic around the babies. She exhaled and then directed
her attention to positive self-statements about her love
and concern for children and the high quality of care that
she provided. As she did this, she found her old confidence
and joy returning. Within a very short time she was back
to her happy self.
Many people are rocked by fears about what might be,

fears like Susan’s. It’s fears like these that keep parents
from letting their children grow up, husbands and wives
from trusting each other.
Just as some people act impulsively under pressure,
some people freeze. This can be especially difficult if your
job demands quick action and assertive behavior. Emer
gency-service personnel, police, firemen, all must react
quickly in a crisis. Their lives may depend on it. But prob
lems need not be life-threatening for us to freeze, to have
indecision interfere with our ability to function. Companies
that employ salespeople spend tremendous amounts of
money to select, screen, and train everybody they hire.
One of the major problems these programs have to over
come is a salesperson’s inability to close a deal, to act
quickly to get a customer to sign on the dotted line. Too
many people wait a little too long. They give the customer
the chance to have second thoughts. Result: lost sales.
Linda is a case in point. She and her husband moved to

San Diego to enjoy a warmer climate. For this luxury her
husband had to take a cut in salary. Linda resolved to go
to work to help support the family. She studied real estate
and got a license. She was attractive and found it easy to
get a job with one of the many real estate agencies in
southern California. The price of housing was skyrocket
ing. The promise of making a great deal of money was
very strong.
Linda was personable and got along with customers
extremely well. She was bright and articulate and knew
how to show a house. But she could not close. When time
came to put pressure on a customer or a homeowner, she
could not do it. Linda spent a great amount of time show
ing homes that other people sold.
In discussing her problem, Linda blamed it on her
parents and on society. She insisted she had been pushed
into a passive-female role. All her life her rewards had
come for being sweet and nonaggressive. She was having
a great deal of trouble changing. She recognized the
“golden moment,” but her anxiety over becoming “pushy”
caused her to let it pass. (Linda’s problem was the same
that many boys have when they want to ask girls for a
date.)
In talking it over, Linda felt if she could just break
through and have some success she’d be able to overcome
her inhibitions. I worked with her to develop a set of in
structions that gave her support for being more assertive.
(“It’s important for your family, and you have every right
to express yourself and your opinion.”) The instructions
were also to pay attention to statements she needed to
make in order to close: “If you don’t move now, someone
is going to buy this house right out from under you.” “Mr.
Smith is ready to accept any offer you make.” “The house
next door increased thirty thousand dollars in value in the
last twelve months.” By putting those instructions on tape
and following the instructions for centering, Linda was
able to develop the needed assertiveness with remarkable
speed.
Linda’s experience is not unique. The same type of train

ing has been used to ask for raises, to fire employees who
are no longer doing their job, to ask a spouse for the respect
a partner deserves. Though it may not sound like a suc
cess, A.C.T. has also helped people to get divorces when
they needed them.
It’s surprising how quickly most of us can turn around
the behaviors and attitudes that impair our happiness, our
ability to function. Often all that’s required is increasing
awareness of the issues and the ability to deal with them.
After that, a few simple steps can bring control over our
lives. You really can A.C.T. now to get your act together.
A closing statement: some of the material so far has

been condensed for easy reading. A great deal of research
stands behind what I have presented to you. You will do
yourself a favor if you take time to examine some of these
issues in more detail in the Appendix.
9/ Common Stress-Filled
Situations and What to
Do About Them
ASSERTING YOURSELF
The inability to say no, ask for a favor, or demand

deserved respect is a common problem. Dave is a quiet, shy
chemistry teacher in a high school. His biggest problem is
an inability to say no, or cut off someone who’s begun
talking.
One could say that Dave is overly sensitive to other
people’s feelings. He was hurt a number of times while
growing up. Now he doesn’t want to do the same thing to
others. Part of the problem is his concern about being re
jected, so he very rarely asks anybody for anything. He’s
never willing to put himself in a position where he might
be turned down. By the same token, he cannot turn any
one else down.
Given his problem, Dave has purchased more Scout
candy and cookies, Little League candy, tickets, and light
bulbs than anyone else around. He is the target of every
junior salesman in town. Even phone salesmen know they
have an easy mark once they get Dave on the line.
The scenes that follow were written to help Dave say
no to door-to-door salespeople. You may find that they
can be used by you, with some minor modifications. Re
member that saying no is only one example of being
assertive. The same type of problem could focus on learn
ing to be assertive enough to ask a friend or stranger for
a favor. Or you could be interested in building up your
courage so you can sell things to people like Dave. In any
event, the methods are very similar to those outlined here.
Just identify both the positive and negative thoughts and
feelings and describe the situations. The following should
be taped.
Scene 1
Close your eyes and try to imagine the following scene
as vividly as possible. You’re at home, just about to leave
with the family to visit some friends. Just as you start to
walk out the door, the phone rings. You answer it and a
voice on the other end asks, “Is this th e----- residence?”
You say that it is. The voice says, “Mr.----- , I work for a
local carpet company and would like to make you aware
of a very special sale we’re having. You don’t mind if I
ask you a few questions, do you? I just know you’ll be
interested in what I have to offer.”
You find yourself getting annoyed because you have to

leave. The family is waiting. You really don’t need carpets,
and you certainly don’t have the time (or money, for that
matter) to listen to a sales pitch now. You don’t want to be
Common Stress-Filled Situations 131
rude, but you do feel you must quickly let the other person
know you’re not interested. You know from past experience
that if you don’t stop things now, the conversation will go
on and on until you feel more and more obligated.
Fortunately, the fact that you don’t need carpets and
that you have another obligation makes it easier for you.
You take a deep breath and find yourself saying, “Thank
you for the call, but we really aren’t interested. We already
have a new carpet.” The caller persists, trying to ask about
the color of the new carpet and asking if you will tell him
where you bought it. You find yourself getting anxious and
annoyed. Again you take a deep breath, and respond by
saying, “I really would rather not say. Thank you again
for the call, but my family is waiting to leave and I must
go. Good-bye.”
Scene 2
All right, just relax for a moment. . . . Now, I want you
to visualize this scene as vividly as you can. Try to make
it very real (a sales situation you recently experienced
would be best).
You’re sitting at home reading the paper. You have just

finished dinner and are enjoying a few quiet, restful mo
ments. The phone rings. No one else is home, so you get up
to answer it. As you start for the phone you find yourself
thinking, “I hope it’s not another salesman.”
“Hello, Mr.----- ?”
“Yes.”
“This is John Smith, I’m representing the Children’s
Home Society.” You find yourself tensing up, thinking:
“Not another one!” “Listen, Mr.----- , do you know about
our society?”
You answer, “No,” and find yourself developing a sinking
feeling as you realize you’re being drawn further and
further in.
“Well, we take care of children who don’t have any
parents. You know, kids who weren’t as lucky as you and
me. Listen, Mr.----- , every year we try to give these kids
a little fun. You know, we try to make them feel like some
body cares. You do care about children, dont you,
Mr.----- ?”
You find yourself getting upset that someone would
question whether or not you care. Of course you care! But
if you say so, you know you’ll be asked to “prove it.” You
can see it all coming, but you don’t know what to do. You
don’t like the salesman’s approach, but how can you let
the kids down?
“Mr.----- , every year we give the kids a special party,
and we’d like to ask you to buy a book of tickets. You see,
we sell the tickets to raise the money for this party. You’d
like to see these kids have a little fun, wouldn’t you? I
mean, all kids are entitled to a little fun as they grow up.
These kids are without any parents, and they should be
able to have a little fun too. What about it, Mr.----- ?”
You don’t have the money. You really should spend it on
your own family. Damn it, why do these people make you
feel so guilty?
“The poor kids! You really should do something for them.
Mr.----- , a book of tickets is only ten dollars. Surely you
have ten dollars that you can spare for these kids. They
only get something like this once a year. Is that too much
to ask, sir? If it is, how about half a book for five dollars?
Everybody has five dollars. Just think about these or
phans.”
You find yourself getting more and more uncomfortable.
You’d thought you might escape by donating a dollar. Now
they want ten dollars. They’ll let you off the hook for
five dollars, but you know that they’ll think you’re a real
cheapskate. What kind of a jerk would turn down those
poor kids, anyway? Sure, you really don’t have the money
to spend, but think about those kids. You begin wondering
how you would feel in their situation, and you find your
self saying, “OK, send me a book of tickets.”
Scene 3
All right, now, relax. Go through your centering process
and just relax.. .. Now we re going to go through the scene
again, but this time I want to change the way you respond.
To avoid feeling obligated and becoming trapped into
doing something you don’t want, you must be able to
accomplish two things. First, you must stop the conversa
tion early. The longer you let it go on, the more obligated
you’ll feel. Second, you must interrupt and take control.
You must talk about your subject, rather than the caller’s.
This means that what the caller has to say is irrelevant.
You’re sitting at home, reading the paper. You have just

finished dinner and are enjoying a quiet, restful moment.
The phone rings. No one else is home, so you get up to
answer it. As you start for the phone you find yourself
thinking, “I hope it’s not another salesman.”
“Hello, Mr.----- ?”
“Yes.”
"This is John Smith. Im representing the Children’s
Home Society.” You find yourself tensing up and think,
"Oh, no, not another one!” "Listen, Mr.----- , do you know
about our society?”
"No, I don’t, but I’m really not—”
"Well, let me tell you. We take care of kids who don’t
have any parents. You know, kids who weren’t as lucky as
you and me.”
You find yourself getting anxious. You tried to tell him
you weren’t interested and he wouldn’t listen. He kept
right on talking. You can see he’s going to try to make you
feel guilty. "Mr. Smith, I really don’t have time to—”
"You don’t have time? You don’t have time for the
children? Mr.----- , these kids weren’t as lucky as you and
I. Every year we try to give them a party. You know, some
thing to make them feel that someone cares.”
Okay, stop! Take a deep breath. Begin to center. Ignore
any distractions. Forget about the fact that your caller is
still talking. Take your three breaths!
As you finish the third breath, remind yourself that what
the caller has to say is irrelevant, since you’re not inter
ested. Remind yourself, too, that you must take control.
"Mr. Smith, I’m not interested in talking any further. I’m
sure—”
"Just ten dollars for a book!”
"I’m sure the children are very lucky to have you work
ing for them. Goodbye.”
"How can you just ignore these poor—”
You hang up. As you do, you find yourself beginning to
feel anxious and a little guilty. Again, go through the
centering process. At the end of the breathing, congratu
late yourself on being able to regain control over a
situation. Remember that giving from the heart is im
portant. Being belittled and pushed into something doesn’t
do you any good. You know next time you’ll be able to
respond freely, to give or not to give, as you choose.
G O I N G TO T HE D E N T I S T
Very few people like going to either the dentist or the

doctor. The tendency is to put off visits as long as possible,
and therein lies the problem. All too often you wait until
there is some minor emergency before you go to the den
tist’s office. The result is that you’re almost assured of
experiencing some pain (you already have a toothache or
cavity), which just reinforces the fear you have. Problems
develop because you don’t take preventive measures.
There’s a second very important factor that adds to the
pain you experience—your own anxiety. As you become
more frightened and aroused, your attention begins to lock
in on the pain. It’s not long before this focus and the ten
sion that follows act to increase the experience of pain
tremendously, and complications that come with a filling or
oral surgery. The dentist’s job becomes much more diffi
cult. Half the soreness in the jaw is from clenched muscles,
not from the dentist’s work.
You can reduce the pain you experience by controlling
your attention. As I mentioned earlier, the secret is to
direct attention to nonstressful subjects. This is difficult in
the dentist’s office because some of the cues (the sound
of the drill, physical sensations as they shove instruments
into your mouth, etc.) remind you of the problem.
To minimize the negative effects, you must try to de
crease attention to these dominant cues or at least change
their meaning. You must also counter some specific re
sponses on your part by relaxing the muscles in your arms,
shoulders, neck, and jaw.
Scene 1
I want you to imagine this scene as vividly as possible.
You are feeling a little anxious today because you know
that in a couple of hours you’ll have to go to the dentist.
You don’t enjoy visits to the dentist and find yourself
wishing there were some way to get out of it. You know
that you’re going for your own protection and remind
yourself that it’s just a routine checkup. Your last visit was
six months ago and at that time everything was fine. You’re
just going to have your teeth cleaned and checked, nothing
more.
You walk into the dentist’s office, and the receptionist
greets you by name, asking you to have a seat. You start
looking through a magazine. You’re just getting into a
story when the dental technician asks you to follow her.
She motions for you to take a seat in the dental chair and
tells you that the dentist will be in momentarily. You sit
there, looking all around the room at the equipment, and
find that as you do so, you become a little more nervous.
You decide it would be best if you just closed your eyes
and relaxed.
The dentist comes in and asks how you’re doing. He
then asks you to open your mouth so he can check your
teeth. You do, and find that you’re fairly relaxed. He pro
ceeds quickly and efficiently, poking here and there, and
telling you that things look fine. He then asks you to remain
seated and says someone will be in to clean your teeth.
You’re relieved and immediately feel the muscles in your
arms, neck, and shoulders relax as you realize that you
don’t have to come back for some drilling. The technician
comes in and begins the cleaning. Because you know that
you don’t have any serious problems, you remain relaxed
and find that you don’t seem to mind the poking and scrap
ing that are going on. There are a couple of times when she
pulls a little too hard, but she quickly moves on and you’re
so glad you don’t have to come for a while that you don’t
care.
Scene 2
All right, just relax for a moment. . . . Now I want you
to visualize this next scene as vividly as you can. Try to
make it very real. Try to create all the sights, sounds, and
feelings you would experience in the dentist’s office.
You’re on your way to the dentist. The last time you

were there, he told you you had a cavity, so now you’re
going to get it fixed. You know he’ll be drilling and that
this is always a very unpleasant experience for you. The
cavity is in the front of your mouth, up on the top. As
you drive to the office you can almost feel the drill as it
hits a nerve.
You walk into the office, and the receptionist asks you to
go right on in back. She motions for you to sit down and
then leaves. As you’re sitting there, you can hear the den
tist working in another room. The patient is a small child
who is crying and screaming (something you would like to
do if you weren’t so “grown up”). You can feel your
anxiety mounting. The dental assistant comes in and begins
to lay out the instruments and materials for the dentist.
She puts a napkin around your neck and adjusts the head
rest.
Suddenly, the dentist walks in and looks first at your
chart and then at your mouth. He seems a little tense,
having just left a screaming child. He doesn’t seem to have
much patience. He grabs a hypodermic needle and begins
to move toward your mouth to give you a shot of novo-
caine. You open your mouth and at the same time find
every other muscle in your body tensing. You’re hanging
on to the chair as if it’s about to be pulled away from you.
There is a little pain as he injects the needle. You find
yourself momentarily relieved as he moves away and heads
back to the other room to give the drug a chance to take
effect. You find yourself hoping he’ll stay away long enough
to let you get good and numb.
You can feel a tingling, but when he returns you’re sure
it’s still too early. He seems to be in a hurry and starts
poking around. You want to say something, but your mouth
is so full of hands and equipment that you can’t. He grabs
for the drill and you hear its high-pitched whine.
He begins to drill, and you can feel the air from the drill
blowing away pieces of your tooth. You can smell some
thing and feel the tooth heating up as he pushes down.
You’re grabbing the chair tighter and tighter as he
pushes, and know that he’s coming closer and closer to the
nerve. Your neck and shoulders tense as you get ready for
the inevitable wave of pain when that drill suddenly comes
in contact with the nerve. You find yourself pulling away
but with no place to go as he just pushes down harder.
Okay, stop! Now take a few seconds to center yourself
and relax. . . . That’s it, just relax.
Common Stress-Filled Situations
Scene 3
Were now going to go through the scene again, only this
time you’re going to use your ability to center. You’ll re
gain control and redirect attention to nonstressful thoughts
and feelings. In the example here, we have the person
attend to a physical cue that many different people have
found helpful. You may try it, or you might use something
else. Some people concentrate on a favorite song, a
thought, a bridge or chess problem. Whatever seems most
appealing and potent for you is what you should use.
All right, now I want you to visualize this scene as

vividly as you can. Close your eyes and imagine everything
that I call your attention to.
You’re on your way to the dentist’s office. You know
he’ll be drilling on your teeth and that has always been a
very unpleasant experience for you. The cavity is in the
front of your mouth, up on top. As you’re driving to the
office you can almost feel the drill as it hits a nerve.
You walk into the office, and the receptionist asks you to
go right on in back. She motions for you to sit down and
then leaves. As you’re sitting, you can hear the dentist
working in another room. The patient is a small child who
begins crying and screaming. You can feel your anxiety
beginning to mount. Stop!
Go through the centering procedure . . . (leave time for
centering). As you finish your third breath, begin to direct
your attention to the index finger of your right hand. Start
rubbing it softly on the arm of the chair in a circular
motion. Pay attention to the feelings in your finger, to
140 A C.T.: Attention Control Training
the texture of the chair and the pressure you’re exerting.
Try to center your thoughts on these feelings.
The dental assistant comes in and begins to lay out the
instruments and materials for the dentist. You continue to
concentrate on the movement of your finger. She puts a
napkin around your neck and adjusts the headrest.
The dentist walks in and looks first at your chart and
then at your mouth. He seems a little tense, having just left
a screaming child. He doesn’t appear to have much pa
tience. He grabs a hypodermic needle and begins to move
toward your mouth to give you a shot of novocaine. You
open your mouth and at the same time find every other
muscle in your body tensing. You’re hanging on to the
chair as if it’s about to be pulled away from you. Stop!
Go through the centering. Then refocus on the feelings in
your index finger.
When you find yourself in the real situation, enact the
centering process as often as necessary. Some people find
that they can maintain a focus on the “one point,” and
this is what they do. Others, as I have suggested, shift
their concentration to feelings in their finger. What’s im
portant is that you actively counter the increasing tension
and redirect your attention. You might have to do this
several times.
TEST ANXI ETY
This is another fairly common situation. The assumption

is that you have adequately prepared for the exam. Your
reason for not being able to answer the questions is that,
under pressure, you simply block. If we were to ask you
the same questions, either before or after the exam, in a
relaxed setting, you'd be able to come up with the answers.
Often several factors combine to increase the likelihood
of panic and blocking. These include: (1) the importance
of the exam. The more important, the more likely you
are to block. That’s why college boards are more likely to
be a problem than a weekly quiz; (2) a feeling of time
pressure. You’re less likely to block when you feel you’ll
be given plenty of time to answer all the questions; (3) a
lack of confidence. This is often reinforced if, when you
look at the exam, you find you’re unable to answer the first
couple of questions.
You can have very good test-taking skills and know
exactly what you should do when you run into time pres
sure or don’t know an answer. You may know strategies
for improving your ability to guess or to answer easy
questions. But under pressure you forget or are unable to
apply these techniques.
The centering process gives you enough control to em
ploy good test-taking skills. If you don’t know how to
guess on questions or use any of the other tips, you should
learn some basic test-taking skills.
Scene 1
as vividly as you can. You’re about to walk into your class
room. You know you’re going to have to take a weekly
quiz and find yourself getting a little nervous. Your palms
begin to perspire as you sit down at your desk and pick
up your pencil.
You take a few moments to run over some facts in your
mind and then calmly remind yourself that you’ll have
plenty of time. You always finish these quizzes before the
time is up. You’ve studied the material and know the
teacher well enough to have a pretty good idea of what’s
going to be asked.
You wait expectantly as the exams are passed out. You
feel a little excited but good. You don’t anticipate any
problems. You’re even looking forward (a little) to testing
yourself.
As you receive your copy of the test, you see that it has
a number of different kinds of questions. There are a few
true-false, several multiple-choice, and a couple of short
essay questions. A quick glance at the essay questions is
enough to reassure you. You could write on them for an
hour. They’ll be a cinch.
You’re feeling comfortable and ready to go. You know
that if you don’t know the answer to a question you’ll
have time to come back to it. You start, and find that you
know the answers to the first two true-or-false questions.
The third one is a little more difficult and you aren’t sure
what the instructor is looking for. You feel a little concern,
but are able to set the apprehension aside and move on.
You decide to come back to that question later.
As you move into the multiple-choice questions you’re
feeling more confident. You look around and see that every
one else is busy with the test. You notice that one of the
other people obviously didn’t study and is having prob
lems. You’re glad you did your homework.
As you look at the first multiple-choice question, you
find that you aren’t sure of the answer. You decide to re
duce the number of possibilities by deciding which of the
five answers don’t apply. Through this process you’re able
to eliminate three of the possible answers. You make a
note of this and move on. You’ll decide between the final
two choices later. You may find that a subsequent question
helps you to reduce your choices further.
Scene 2
Now just relax for a moment. . . . OK, I want you to
visualize this next scene as vividly as you can. You’re about
to take the most important test of your life. (This test
could be any you describe. It could be a performance exam
similar to what a musician or athlete might have; it could
be for a particular course. The exam chosen here is a fairly
common one: the college entrance exam.)
You want to go to college and know that to get in you
must take the college entrance examination. Whether or
not you get into school will depend upon how well you do.
Your parents expect you to do well. They have big plans
for your future.
You’ve tried to study for the test, but you know that this
is very difficult, since the test covers such a broad range of
knowledge. There’s no way for you to anticipate what will
be asked. You can only hope that, over the years, you’ve
been adequately prepared. It makes you very anxious to
think that you may not do well. You find yourself wishing
you had had more time to study. You look at the other
people and are sure they’re better prepared. They all seem
so calm, and here you are shaking.
You’ve spoken to friends, so you know the test is written
in such a way that you cannot possibly answer all the
questions in the specified time limit. Still, you’re sure the
other people will get further along than you.
As the tests are being passed out, you can feel your heart
racing. Your palms are sweating. You start to lick your lips.
Your stomach is tense as you look at the unopened test
booklet. There’s a sample question you are to read. Your
anxiety really begins to mount as you find you don’t know
the answer to it. That was supposed to be easy! What must
the rest of the test be like?
As you open the booklet, you find yourself racing. You
feel a tremendous amount of pressure and quickly try to
read the first question. It doesn’t seem familiar. You ex
perience a start and jump quickly to the next question.
Again you jump, and then remind yourself: this is ridicu
lous. You must slow down and think about the questions at
least long enough to see whether you recognize them. You
go back and find you can narrow the first question down
to a choice between two of the four answers. You decide to
guess.
Suddenly, you notice that others seem to be working
more quickly than you. Did the person next to you turn
the page? You must be behind. You read the next question
and know the answer, but just can’t think of it. Your mind
is a blank. It doesn’t seem to work. All you can think about
is your panic and the fact that others seem to be working
more quickly and efficiently than you. You look at the
clock. Thirty minutes have already gone by. The person
next to you is a full page ahead of where you are. How can
they be so calm? What’s wrong with you? You’ll never get
into school! Why don’t they give you some time? Stop!
Scene 3
Just relax . . . that’s fine. Now I want you to go through
the scene again, only this time we’ll change it. It’ll be im
portant for you to counteract those destructive thoughts
that only make you more anxious. You must center and give
yourself encouragement and positive instructions.

as vividly as you can. You’re about to take the most im
portant test of your life. You want to go to college and you
know that to get in, you must take the college entrance
examination.
You’ve tried to study for the test, but you know that this
is very difficult since the test covers such a broad range of
material. There is no way for you to anticipate what will
be asked. You can only hope that, over the years, you’ve
been adequately prepared. It makes you very anxious to
think that you may not do well, but you know you don’t do
well on timed tests. You find yourself wishing you had had
more time to prepare. All the other people look so calm.
They’re talking to each other and seem relaxed. You’re
doing all you can to keep from running out the door.
You know there’s no way you can answer all the questions
on the test, and that’s worrisome. Somehow you feel you
should be able to get through the entire thing. As the test
is being passed out you can feel your heart racing. Your
hands are perspiring so much the pencil is slipping. You
read the sample question and begin to panic as you find
you can’t answer it. That was supposed to be easy! If that
was easy, what will be inside?
As you open the test booklet you find your thoughts rac
ing. You feel a tremendous amount of pressure and quickly
try to read the first question. It doesn’t seem familiar. You
experience a start and quickly jump to the next question.
Again, you don’t seem able to slow down even enough to
understand what you’re reading. You see the words, read
them, but they don’t register. Stop!
Go through the A.C.T. step of centering. As you finish
your third breath, redirect your attention to the first ques
tion. Try to rephrase it. Ask the same question in another
way. That’s it! Now you’re gaining control. Move along
quickly. You’re doing fine. When you don’t know a ques
tion, make a mark and move on. You can always come back
to it later. At least now you understand what you’re read
ing.
Looking up, you see the person next to you is a full page
ahead. That’s fine. It probably means he hasn’t been able
to answer as many questions as you. Back to your own
test. Take it one question at a time. Others may finish be
fore the time is up. If they do, it’s because they don’t know
the material. You’re doing fine!
A S KI N G F OR A D A T E
Male or female, the problem with trying to get involved

with another person socially is you run the risk of being
rejected. Too often fear of being turned down is so great
that you either fail to introduce yourself or become so
flustered that you step all over the other person and your
self in a blundering attempt to be “cool.”
You don’t put your best foot forward. If anything, you do
the exact opposite. You become so caught up in your
own role (what you want to say), or in your own fears and
thoughts, that you lose awareness of where the other per
son is. You don't adjust your comments to his or her reac
tions because you don't even see how he or she is reacting.
Occasionally you push so far that you are rejected and you
don’t even know why. You didn't see the other person get
ting annoyed or losing interest, didn't recognize when to
back off, slow down, or stop. You were too busy paying
attention to planning your own moves.
It's possible to counteract your anxiety and the conse
quent retreat into your head by centering to relax and
then providing some suggestions to yourself to direct your
attention to the other person and his or her responses.
Scene 1
You’ve known this other person for some time. All of
your involvement, however, has been because of a mutual
friend. The three of you have done things together. As a
function of this involvement you know you share some
common interests. You also know that you enjoy each
other's company.
Both of you enjoy music very much. As it happens, you
have a couple of tickets to a concert. Your mutual friend
is out of town, but you would like to go, and so you decide
to ask----- .
As you think about calling on the phone, you find your
self getting anxious. It’s always been difficult for you to
ask someone out. You remain calm, however, by reminding
yourself that you know and enjoy this person. You trust
him/her enough to know that if he/she can't go, it won’t
be because he/she dislikes you.
You begin to dial the phone and wait for an answer. You
clear your throat and say hello. You talk briefly about the
last time you were together. As you begin to relax you
notice the other person is enjoying the conversation. You
say, “I have two tickets to the concert a t ----- and I was
wondering if you would like to go.”
Scene 2
Relax for a minute. . . . Now try to imagine this scene as
vividly as possible. (Again, an actual experience you may
have had can easily be substituted.)
You walk into a room and notice a person you’ve seen

several times before. Though you’ve never spoken, you find
the person interesting and attractive and would like to
meet him/her. Each time you have seen him/her in the
past, you have found yourself being angry because you’ve
failed to take the opportunity to get acquainted. Before,
he/she has been with other people, but this time it looks as
if he/she is alone. You make up your mind to go over and
introduce yourself.
As you start across the room toward him/her you can feel
yourself becoming progressively more anxious. Your
breathing speeds up, and so does your heart. What if he/
she ignores you? The other person is turning away. Does
that mean he/she isn’t interested? What do you have to
say? Surely someone that attractive doesn’t need you.
He/she probably has a hundred other people to go out
with.
You’re getting close. As you do, you can feel your mouth
drying out. By the time you get there you probably wont
even be able to speak. This is stupid! What are you going to
say anyway? You feel a little shaky as you step up beside
the other—who begins to turn your way. You find yourself
searching for something to say. “Excuse me for bothering
you . . . ah . . . ah.” You’re tongue-tied. The rest of the
words won’t come. You search madly for something to say.
All you can think of is how stupid you are and how you’re
really blowing your chance. “My name i s ----- .”
A quick glance at the other’s face tells you that he/she
thinks you’re pathetic. He/she looks down his/her nose at
you. You can’t bear to look at his/her face. You stare down
at your feet, feeling worse and worse. You can feel your
face getting red. You were a fool to ever think you could
be attractive, anyway. You should have stayed on the
other side of the room. The other waits for you to speak.
You can’t. Slowly he/she turns and walks over to someone
else. You run out of the room feeling terrible.
Scene 3
Relax for a minute. . . . That’s fine. Now let’s examine
what happened. First, you began putting yourself down
before you even got started. In addition, you made the
situation much too complicated. You felt that you had to
come up with some earthshaking line; something extra
special to justify your presence. Third, you were thinking
too far ahead.
You weren’t just going up to start a conversation. In the
back of your mind was the hope that this would develop
into a much deeper and more meaningful relationship. You
made it terribly important before you even said hello.
Under those circumstances, a rejection is like a life sen
tence. No wonder you were so anxious!
Lets go through the scene again. Only this time, let’s
change it a little. Close your eyes and try to imagine the
following.
You walk into a room and notice a person you’ve seen

several times before. Though you’ve never spoken, you find
the person interesting and attractive, and you would like
to meet him/her. Each time you’ve seen him/her in the
past you’ve been anxious. You wanted to approach the
other, but your fear about how he/she would respond kept
you from doing it. This time you resolve to go over and
introduce yourself.
As you begin thinking about speaking to him/her, you
find your anxiety level immediately beginning to rise. Your
breathing quickens. Your palms start to perspire. You know
from past experience that unless you control this, you’re
going to either back out or blow it. Your arousal is going up
too fast. Stop right now!
Take a few moments to center yourself. Remember: all
you’re doing is striking up a conversation, no more! The
other person seems to be alone and would probably enjoy
having someone to talk with. Since you’re only interested
in starting a conversation, there’s no reason to be deceptive.
You can be perfectly honest about your feelings. Before
going over, be sure you have something to say. The follow
ing is only an example. What’s important is that you have
structure; that you’re not searching madly for something.
Center now . . . “Hello, my name i s ----- . I’ve seen you
in here several times, and you always look like you’re hav
ing such a good time, I decided I wanted to meet you.
What’s your name?” As you make this statement you’re
looking at the person and smiling.
This is the end of the rehearsal here. If you want to, you
can go on to rehearse various responses to your approach.
The person could turn away and ignore you (not likely,
but possible). If he/she did respond, more than likely the
answer would probably be something like “Oh, my name
i s ----- .” Then you’re stuck with coming up with the next
line. If you’ve observed something about the other person
that indicates interest in you, you might do well to start
there. Or the other might be wearing a sign of the zodiac
or sipping a certain drink. A little planning in advance
would be helpful.
MA KI N G A KEY P O I N T I N T E N N I S
The problem here is one that most of us have experi

enced. You reach a critical point in any sport (in this case
tennis), and there is enough time before you have to per
form to reflect on the importance of the situation. This
mental reminder tightens you up and—you blow the
shot.
Situations where this is likely to happen include shooting
a free throw in basketball, kicking a field goal or extra
point, bowling the last frame of an important match, mak
ing the eighteen-thousand-dollar putt, giving the right bid
in bridge, being put in as a pinch hitter in baseball, serv
ing or receiving a critical serve in tennis. There are count
less others.
In the situation described here it’s easy to see how both
mental and physical factors can interfere with your ability
to perform. Once again, the key to effective performance is
keeping tension low enough to control attention and being
able to focus on the right move.
Scene 1
Relax and close your eyes. Try to imagine the following
scene as vividly as you can. You’re playing tennis with
someone you’ve played many times before. You enjoy play
ing together, and don’t find yourself getting into a great
deal of competition with each other. Oh, you compete
against yourself, but not so much against the other person.
It’s a warm, beautiful day. It just feels so good to be out
playing. You’re both enjoying the tennis and the chance to
get away from other things. You’ve been playing very well,
feel loose and comfortable. You’ve been so caught up in
the joy of playing just to play that you aren’t really aware
of the game score.
It’s your serve and you feel confident. You look across
the net to see the position of your opponent, and decide
where you want to hit the ball. You toss the ball up and
out in front of you. You feel good as you lean forward and
swing through the ball.
Scene 2
Relax. . . . Now try to create the scene as vividly as you
can. You’re playing doubles with a couple of people who’re
intensely competitive. They’re very serious about their
tennis. Somehow you’ve been trapped into becoming a part
of this group.
You know they’re all better players than you, and you
feel a great responsibility to play your best, to hold up
your part of the game. Somehow you and your partner
have come back after losing the first set. Now you have a
chance to win the second one. You can tell how important
it is to your partner. He keeps trying to give you en
couragement: “You can do it, it’s up to you now!” With
each missed point you’ve seen him wince. You know he
must be thinking some awful things each time you let him
down.
You’ve just played a very long point and are tired. It’s
your serve. The score until the last point has been 40-15.
Now it’s 40-30. You’re feeling that if you don’t get this
point in, it will all be over. You throw up the ball for your
first serve and, because of your fatigue, hit it very poorly.
You can see your partner’s face turn red, and feel the blood
rushing to your own face.
You take a couple of quick, shallow breaths. As you get
ready to throw up the ball, you find yourself thinking,
“Don’t double-fault now! That’s all I need!” You don’t get
the ball up as high as you want. You find yourself chopping
at it to get the racquet around. You watch disgusted as it
hits a full foot below the top of the net. Double-fault. Your
confidence is completely shaken. It’s only two quick points
before the other team wins the game.
Scene 3
What happens in this situation is obvious. Your increased
anxiety brings rising levels of muscle tension to your neck
and shoulders. This tension keeps you from properly throw
ing the ball up. This alone is enough to make you miss.
Combine it with an internal focus of attention and you’re
almost guaranteed to choke. Once again the solution is sim
ple, especially when you’re only trying to control easy
physical movement.
First, you must keep anxiety down by centering. Next,
you must find one thing to concentrate on that will auto
matically lead to the execution of the serve. If your eye
is on the ball and the toss is done properly, the rest will
automatically follow, provided you have controlled the
tension levels in your neck and shoulder.
Relax for a moment.... Now go through the scene again,
trying to imagine vividly all the feelings, thoughts, and
sensations that I call to your attention.
You’re playing doubles with some people who’re better

players than you. They happen to be very serious about
their tennis. You feel it’s very important for you to hold
up your part of the game. Acceptance by these people is
important to you. You’ve played well up to now. Although
you lost the first set, you and your partner have a chance
to win the second. It’s your serve. The score is 40-30. You
thought for a moment that you had it won on the last point,
but after a long rally you lost it. You go back to the service
line still breathing heavily from all the exertion. You know
your partner really wants to win. You don’t want to let
him down.
You serve the first ball and miss-hit it badly. You feel
stupid and begin to notice that you’re getting anxious.
You find yourself thinking about double-faulting. This
reminds you that you should settle down. Stop!
You take a few seconds to center. . . . When you finish
centering you’ve consciously relaxed your neck and shoul
der muscles. You remind yourself to keep your eye on the
ball and also think about where you want the toss to be.
You know that if you toss the ball correctly the serve will
go in. You throw the ball up. It’s in the perfect position!
You swing through easily and watch as it goes in per
fectly.
SPEECH ANXI ETY
Although well be dealing with making a formal pres

entation in front of a group, the same problems can occur
when you try to speak in class or before a small gathering.
Once again, you must break away from the negative focus.
This can be done if you catch it early enough. You must,
however, really know your speech.
You should carefully plan ways to get yourself out of
your head and involved with the audience. You can do this
by directing the speech to certain people, asking them
questions, even joking with them. Many politicians and
businessmen plant someone in the audience to ask a ques
tion in order to get things going. All these things can be
helpful. They relax you and the audience.
Scene 1
Relax. . . . Now close your eyes and try to imagine the
following scene as clearly and as vividly as you can. You’re
at home in your own living room. You’ve been asked to
give a five-minute talk on a subject you’re very familiar
with. The audience is a group of women that you socialize
with every week. You feel comfortable with the group and
know they’re interested in you and what you have to say.
You’ve decided to practice the speech on your family.
They’ve agreed to play the part of an interested audience.
You find yourself feeling a little nervous even though the
group is so familiar. You catch your breath and start to
stumble a little. At about the same time, your youngest
child pretends he’s bored and is falling asleep. When you
see him snoring, you laugh, and so do the rest of the
family. Everyone seems more relaxed. Even you have
calmed down.
You chastise them in a mocking way for being so in
considerate and then with a smile continue with the talk.
You begin to enjoy the speech and find yourself getting
into it. You change the inflection of your voice and turn,
speaking to the different members of your family as though
you had an important personal message for each one. They
seem delighted with the attention, and before you know it
the talk is over.
Scene 2
You’ve just imagined a successful scene. Now relax. . . .
Try to imagine this next scene as vividly as possible.
You’ve just moved into a new part of town and have

been asked to speak to a local group. You feel it’s import
ant to talk because it will be your first exposure to the
community. They’ve asked you to speak to them because
they’ve heard you have some information that may be of
use to them.
You don’t know any of the members of the group, but
your new neighbors have told you that they re a very con
servative and critical bunch. They re quick to inform you
that the group lets someone know when they don’t like
what he has to say.
When the group asked you to talk, they were fairly
vague about the topic. It was something that you were
familiar with, but it was broad enough so you could ap
proach it from many directions. As the time for the speech
approached, you began to wonder whether the direction
you planned was appropriate, whether it would meet the
needs of these “conservative, critical” people.
You have lunch before the talk and find the group formal
and cold. It’s clear from some of the comments that they
expect you to talk about something entirely different from
what you have planned. You begin to have doubts and
madly think of ways you can change the talk.
The chairman begins to introduce you. You find your
self getting very anxious. You’re trying to remember the
critical points of the talk and at the same time reorganize it.
You miss most of the introduction and aren’t ready when
the chairman says, “. . . and now, here’s ----- .”
As you stand up, you’re trembling. You look at your
notes without really focusing on them. The audience seems
half dead as you let your eyes drift outward. It looks as if
they’re already uncomfortable, and you haven’t even
started! You wonder if they can sense your fear. You mum
ble something, and a man in the back says, “I can’t hear
you!
As you start talking, you find yourself gasping for breath
and feel you won’t be able to continue. You begin to forget
some things that you wanted to say, and find yourself
wondering why you ever got into this in the first place.
What can these people be thinking? This is hardly the way
to make an impression on the community!
Scene 3
Okay, relax. This time go through the scene, but use
some of the techniques that worked so well for you when
you were talking to your family. Think of a couple of
questions you can ask the audience when the time comes.
Are there some points in the talk when you can direct
comments to individuals in the audience? Look around
during lunch for a friendly face, someone to speak to if
you get anxious.
You’ve just moved into a new area and have been asked
to speak to a local group. You feel its an important talk
because it will be your first exposure to the community.
If you can impress them, they could be very helpful to you.
You don’t know any of the members of the group, but have
heard they’re influential, conservative, and critical.
They’ve asked you to talk about a subject, but have left
very vague what you are to cover. As you sit there just
before being introduced, it becomes apparent that they
expect a talk that’s very different from what you’ve pre
pared.
The speaker is just about finished with his introduction.
You can feel your anxiety rising. You realize that at this
late moment you can’t totally reorganize your speech, not
without help. You decide you have to do something to
regain control. Just before you stand up, you center your
self.
Once in control, you greet the audience by telling them
about your problem: “Thank you very much for the intro
duction. Im afraid that I have a confession to make. I was
asked to give a talk about----- , which I have prepared.
Unfortunately, what I have focused on may be different
from what you were expecting. I think what I have to say
is important, but Fm certainly open to questions and di
rection from any of you. If you have any questions or
would like to talk about other aspects of the subject, feel
free to interrupt anytime.”
After making that statement or something like it, center
yourself again before you begin your speech as planned.
Pick out one face in the audience and start talking to it.
You’ll find that as you get into the subject and get into
talking to a person, the words will begin to flow by them
selves. Particularly if you’ve prepared well. And you have,
haven’t you?
Appendix
In an effort to speak to as broad an audience as possible,

I have shortened and simplified much in this book so far.
This Appendix has been added so I can more fully cover
two points I feel are of major concern. First, I want to
provide additional information about the development and
prevention of illness and performance problems due to
stress. Second, I want to describe in detail the assessment
process and the importance of using it to select, screen, and
counsel people so that they can improve their ability to
function under pressure.
This last point requires a more detailed look at the
formal use of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal
Style. But before I get to this, I’d like to give you some
background concerning how, and why, this book was
written.
In 1975, NBC News contacted one hundred professional

people around the country and asked for opinions about
what the world would be like in the year 2000.1 was asked
to address the issues surrounding stress. As it turned out,
this rather simple assignment proved to be a major factor
in increasing the emphasis in my research on helping
Appendix 161
effective people become more effective. In fact, this was a
major reason for my leaving the University of Rochester
and establishing my own consultation services.
As I began to look into the future, I became increasingly
concerned for society as a whole and people in particular.
It seemed apparent that the world was becoming far more
complex, the resources of our planet abused and running
lower daily, and that Toffler’s “future shock” was indeed
around the corner. It was equally obvious that the pressures
each of us must cope with were going to be severe and
that many of us wouldn’t survive if something couldn’t
be done to alleviate some of the tension and daily stress.
From my research, I knew that the increased pressure
would not only affect physical and emotional health but
would also interfere with our ability to make decisions.
There would be an increasing tendency either to react to
the pressure in an impulsive way—acting illogically, in
appropriately, irrationally, and even violently—or to
freeze, unable to respond, make decisions, or even protect
ourselves in times of trouble.
Because the issues facing our survival are so pronounced
and need such clear, concise thinking, I knew how im
portant it was going to be to formulate some procedure
that would allow each of us to focus in on personal prob
lems as well as those plaguing the people around us. The
narrowing of attention that was bound to occur if some
thing wasn’t done was a direct result of stress. With this
in mind, I looked around to see what my colleagues were
doing.
Well, medicine, psychology, and psychiatry were all
treating a variety of problems. Unfortunately, they were
treating them after the fact. Preventive efforts and solu
tions were largely ineffective. Although severe symptoms
were being treated, it was too little, too late. In psychology
we were spending our time on therapy and research aimed
at helping severely disturbed people, who were not, and
never would be (more often than not), in a position to help
others, let alone help themselves. True, the work we were
doing was important, but I realized that a change was
necessary if we were to help conditions that were “good” to
become “better.”
Money for poor, weak, and emotionally disturbed mem
bers of society depends on efficient economic programs,
but, more than this, on a deeper understanding of their
plight by those who could provide some assistance. To
conserve resources, while not forgetting the needy mem
bers of society, we must enhance the abilities of the
decision makers. We must help parents, executives, govern
ment officials, health and service personnel make better
decisions and cope with the increasing pressures and de
mands that society has put on them. Knowing this, realiz
ing that many programs and methodologies were cures
that were not utilized until a problem had already sur
faced, I began my research and findings in Attention Con
trol Training. To these ends this book was written.
Development and Treatment of Performance

Problems and Stress
We have been aware of the relationship between pres
sure, stress, and illness for many years. However, it is only
within the past few years that we have systematically tried
to control or prevent the negative effects of pressure. To a
large extent, our efforts have been unsuccessful. There are
two major reasons for this failure.
First, we have spent millions of dollars on what I will
Appendix 163
call “nonspecific education programs.” We recognize that
people take part in certain behaviors such as overeating,
drinking, smoking, and pill-popping, at least in part, to
reduce stress. We also realize that these habits are reason
ably successful a majority of the time and, as a result, a
person does in fact feel more comfortable. For the short
term, people are effective in the tasks they may be en
countering. Over the long haul, they’re being destructive,
as many medical findings have reported.
We go to these people who are feeling good and try to
educate them about the long-term consequences of their
behavior. We tell them that their eating habits will lead
to heart problems, that their smoking will lead to lung
cancer, that their drinking of alcohol will lead to cirrhosis
of the liver. What we wind up doing, by telling them to
stop something they enjoy, is making them anxious about
themselves and their habits. Unfortunately, we don’t offer
any reasonable substitutes for what they have been doing.
We somehow expect them to quit cold turkey, and that
the threat of long-term problems will be enough motiva
tion.
Those who are feeling good aren’t too receptive to the
education programs. In fact, the programs often use scare
tactics that generate anxiety and lead to an increase in the
problem behavior we’re trying to put an end to. For those
who have already developed chronic symptoms from ex
cessive behavior, it’s often too late to put an effective
program into action.
We refer to annual physicals as preventive medicine, but
this is a ridiculous fallacy. By the time the doctor detects
high blood pressure, the person is well on the way to a
coronary or stroke. And the revelation that there is a
problem often serves to raise anxiety even further. How
many patients go into a doctors office and are told, “You’re
in the beginning stages of emphysema and must stop
smoking”? The beginning stages means you’ve already lost
one half to three quarters of your lung capacity; the
damage you’ve already inflicted upon yourself is irrevers
ible and will continue to worsen slowly unless you
immediately change your living habits. Breathing will
become progressively more difficult. All the other negative
statements the doctor throws at you also apply.
Would that make you anxious? You bet! And what have
you used in the past to reduce anxiety such as this?
Cigarettes? Do you want one now? Yes, I bet you do.
A neighbor of mine went into intensive treatment be
cause of an ulcer. The doctor’s statement and advice was
direct and simple: “We aren’t sure what causes ulcers, but
try not to worry.” Unbelievable, isn’t it? The things said
to appease and mollify really only raise the anxiety and
pressure we’re already feeling. And we wonder why things
are getting so difficult! It’s because the answers are be
coming harder and harder to give, and problems are be
coming more difficult to pinpoint.
To improve performance and prevent chronic problems
we must motivate people to change and intervene in this
change before it’s too late to be effective. This doesn’t
mean that fear can get people to react, especially when the
consequences may not occur for five, ten, fifteen, or many
more years down the road. We must show that the be
havior has negative effects now and find substitute defenses
that don’t have the long-term turnoffs. This point is critical,
because no one is perfect and we all need defenses against
anxiety and pressure. The trick is to develop effective ones
that are not self-destructive.
For an example, look at Figure 5 (p. 166) and follow
Appendix 165
along as I describe how those chronic physical and emo
tional problems ultimately develop. The understanding of
this process will lead to effective prevention and treatment.
Down in the corners of Figure 5 you can see the chronic

problems we’ve all been concerned about. On the physical
side, these include hypertension,, ulcers, lowered resistance
to illness and infections, chronic pain, heart attack, and
stroke. The emotional problems include chronic low levels
of self-esteem, addiction to drugs, depression and apathy,
interpersonal conflicts, nervous breakdown, and even sui
cide. Now look at the top of the figure as I begin to trace
the development of the chronic problems.
The start is a situational stressor. This may be a fairly
common situation, such as a performance review or a test.
Both can be stressful for many people, although a situa
tional stressor can be anything that you find troublesome
for you. It may even be something that only you are
bothered by. For example, I once knew a patient who was
stressed in any situation in which he came into contact
with a can of peaches. All a situational stressor is, then,
is a setting with the potential for generating certain
physical and psychological or attentional changes in a
person. We all face such situations. A major goal is to
learn to control them, rather than letting them control us.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 (pp. 168 to 170) show some of the
situations commonly stressful for businessmen, athletes,
and housewives. These are to help you identify some of
your own potential problem areas. For the moment, stay
with Figure 5 and with my description of the processes
that ultimately lead to chronic problems.
The situational stressor, whatever it is, has the potential
to elicit certain responses from you. The physical responses
FIG. 5
Situational Stressor
i
Chronic Physical
Problems Emotional
i
Chronic Cognitive
1. Hypertension 1. Lowered self

2. Ulcers esteem
3. Low resistance to 2. Alcoholism, drug

illness dependence
4. Chronic pain 3. Depression, apathy
5. Heart attack/stroke 4. Interpersonal

conflicts
5. Suicide
Appendix 167
(on the left of the figure) include increased heart rate,
blood pressure, respiration rate, and muscle tension. These
are the physiological processes associated with the “fight
or flight” response and can be interpreted by us as fear,
anger, frustration, excitement, etc.
The second type of response that occurs are the psycho
logical or attentional ones (upper right of Figure 5). As
the situation becomes more stressful there is an increasing
tendency for attention to narrow so that you cannot deal
with as much information as you could under less stressful
conditions. In addition, and in part because of the physical
symptoms (thumping heart, perspiration), attention be
comes more internally focused. You become aware of your
own thoughts and feelings and lose awareness of what is
going on around you.
Both the physical and attentional responses can result
in performance impairment. Changes in heart rate and
muscle tension interfere with coordination and timing.
Movements become jerky, and cramps can develop. On the
attentional side, decision-making abilities get interfered
with. The overload and confusion that develop due to
narrowing (and the distraction and inability to concentrate
due to an internal focus) lead to impulsive behavior and/or
freezing. The end result is often failure or less than optimal
performance.
Follow an example through to see what I am talking

about. You have to take a test (a situation that is stress
ful). Muscle tension develops, and you find yourself
dropping the pencil, getting cramps from writing, and
ending up with a headache. Attentionally you are dis
tracted and overloaded. You look at a question and several
FIG. 6
Performance Problems 2. Decision prob

1. Fjne motor skills lems— unable to
(typing, playing integrate every
instruments, work thing, feelings of
ing with small tools being confused,
in tight spaces) overloaded, rushed.
deteriorate. Move Decisions are
ments become delayed too long, or
clumsy and jerky, you respond in a
dropping and rigid, mechanical
spilling things. Early fashion, or you
fatigue, cramps, respond impulsively
headaches. to stop the confu
sion. You lose your
place in talks; com
munication
becomes confusing
to others and is
disorganized and
incomplete.
FIG. 7
FIG. 8
Appendix lyi
feelings and thoughts jump at you. You can’t put them
together, and you jump from one to another without being
able to organize. You either respond by writing down a
confusing circular answer to the question or you freeze,
unable to decide what to put down. The process begins to
feed on itself as the attentional problems cause concern,
which leads to an increase in physical symptoms. This
increase in physical symptoms leads to an increase in
attentional narrowing (physical symptoms are even more
demanding), and so on.
As the spiral increases, performance becomes more and
more impaired. This is the process that coaches refer to as
“choking.” Once again, we all face some situations in
which choking occurs. In the test example our poor per
formance is reflected by our grade. This failure experience
then reinforces our earlier fear. We were right to have been
concerned. Now we find ourselves getting even more upset
the next time we must take a test. In Figure 5 the arrow
from performance deficits back up to the situational stres
sor emphasizes this point. As time goes on, failures begin
to increase and eat away at us. The changes in attention
and physiology begin to persist, because we start worrying
even when we aren’t confronted by the situation. Instead
of worrying an hour or two before the test, we are worrying
weeks in advance. Ultimately this chipping away and the
increasing number of failure experiences lead to the
chronic problems at the bottom of Figure 5.
To improve immediate performance and prevent chronic
problems from developing, intervention must come before
the spiral gets out of control, not after depression or hyper
tension has occurred. Just as a failure spiral can develop,
so can a success spiral. Performance success feeds back on
itself, reducing the ability of a situational stressor to
ij2 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
generate negative physical and attentional changes. My
success on the Tonight Show reduces my anxiety the next
time I have to appear on television. As this happens, per
sonal control is increased and the chipping away, at least in
that particular situation, is stopped.
A.C.T. was designed to intervene in the spiral and can be
used very effectively with normal healthy people, espe
cially if problems have not become too severe. The A.C.T.
procedures work because they reduce the physical changes
just enough so that they no longer interfere with atten
tional control and concentration. Also the analysis en
compassed in A.C.T. insures that a person will know what
to attend to in order to be effective. Thus, the success cycle
develops.
In spite of its effectiveness in most situations, there are

times when A.C.T. is not enough. As self-confidence de
teriorates and problems become more intense, the need
for greater professional involvement increases.
There are many ways that difficulties can be treated by
professionals. When problems are severe, the form of
treatment chosen becomes very important. All of the
procedures that are effective for reducing stress and the
associated problems work for the same reasons. Ultimately,
they reduce physical arousal enough so that attention can
be redirected to nonarousing, task-relevant cues. In spite
of the similarity of outcome, they differ in focus. Some
techniques are targeted at reducing physical symptoms
first; others focus on mental symptoms and anxiety. For
any of them to work, the patient must have enough confi
dence in them to follow instructions, and must be moti
vated enough to practice or follow through.
Both confidence and motivation will increase as the ap
Appendix 173
parent relevance of a treatment approach increases. Thus,
a patient whose dominant symptom is headaches expects
a treatment with a physical focus. Although other proce
dures could be equally effective (for example, redirect
attention and the tension will be reduced and the pain will
disappear), the patient may not be motivated to use them.
Figure 9 (p. 175) presents some examples of treatment
procedures that can be effective with severe problems. For
more information about the procedures see our book How
to Put Anxiety Behind You (Stein and Day, 1978).
As before, let me talk you through Figure 9. At the top
of the diagram under “stressor modification,” I have listed
techniques that can be used to prevent problems by re
ducing the ability of situational stressors to generate
physical and/or attentional changes. The first of these
involves changing a person’s attitude toward a situation.
This is the goal behind methods like the “power of positive
thinking,” cognitive behavior modification, insight-oriented
psychotherapy, and systematic desensitization. Instead of
entering a situation predicting your own failure, you con
vince yourself that you are confident and will succeed.
The next two methods of modifying stress in a particular
situation do not need to involve the person who is stressed
at all. The first is simple environmental control. If, as your
boss, I know that you cannot deal well with public speak
ing, I may be able to arrange your job so you can avoid
the situation entirely. The other method involves the use of
a selection and screening process to identify people who are
resistant to the stresses of a particular job or situation. This
is part of what I will deal with in the second section of the
Appendix. This is what police departments and various
employee-screening programs attempt to accomplish.
On the left of Figure 9 I have listed some of the treat
ment responses that can be made when the person’s pri
mary concern is physical. That is, the symptoms that are
most apparent to a person have to do with changes in
physical processes like blood pressure, muscle tension, etc.
Under number 1 (left side) I am talking about inter
vention at the time the person is actually experiencing the
symptoms. For example, the headache is occurring right
now. It is not something that happened last week, or that
I believe will occur tomorrow. At these times chemical
intervention is helpful. Painkillers and muscle relaxants
like Valium are often used. It is also possible to get help
by having someone else (a doctor, friend, therapist, etc.)
redirect your attention in order to get you to attend to
relaxed feelings and nonstressful thoughts. Techniques that
can be used to accomplish this are the same you can learn
to use for self-control. These are listed under number 2 on
the left of Figure 9.
I should emphasize the difference between intervention
(while symptoms are present) and prevention. Most of us
can use techniques like hypnosis, biofeedback, autogenics,
A.C.T., and progressive relaxation for prevention and self-
control provided symptoms are not severe at the time we
attempt to implement the procedure. Once we are in pain,
we require outside help to regain control. The same holds
true for treatment (intervention) and prevention of the
attentional and emotional problems resulting from stress
(right side of Figure 9).
When we detect rising anxiety early enough, we can use
the A.C.T. procedures, cognitive behavior modification,
and mental rehearsal to improve concentration and reduce
stress. If we are already panicked, however, we need out
side support. This support could come from pharmacologi
cal interventions. Tranquilizers, antianxiety medications,
FIG. 9 TREATMENT PROCEDURES
Stressor Modification
1. Attitude change (therapy-desensitization)
*2. Environmental control (avoidance)
*3. Selection and screening (prevention)
Physical Response Attentional

Treatments Response Treatments
1. Intervention— stress 1. Intervention— stress
is already present, present, situational
could be situational or general
or general (trait) a. Pharmacological
a. Pharmacological — antianxiety
— muscle relaxant drugs, etc.
*b. External interven *b. External inter
tions— structure, ventions—
support, redirection structure,
support,
2. Prevention— self- attentional
control control
a. Biofeedback
2. Prevention— self-
b. Meditation control
c. Autogenic training a. A.C.T.
d. Hypnosis b. Cognitive behavior
e. Progressive modification
relaxation c. Rehearsal and
f. A.C.T. II discriminant cue
analysis
Performance Deficit
*1. Overlearning (success cycle)
*2. Structure and support
* Indicates the individual need not even be aware of a problem or of

treatment program.
ij6 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
alcohol, mood elevators, and amphetamines have all been
used. Nonmedical treatments include supportive psy
chotherapy and various crisis-intervention techniques to
help the person regain control.
Finally, it is possible to intervene at the level where the
performance deficit is likely to occur. For example, a test
may be stressful and you may react physically and atten-
tionally. If in spite of the reactions you are successful, the
situation will begin to lose its power over you. Your confi
dence in similar situations will increase, and anxiety and
tension will decrease.
The ability to perform in spite of anxiety can be main
tained by overlearning the task. Musicians and public
speakers will often rehearse so much that stress does not
break their concentration. They have so ingrained the
speech or musical piece that, even though they may be
upset, their body performs automatically. When you have
enough time, this overlearning can be very helpful. Finally,
you can improve the likelihood of success by having an
outsider provide structure and support. A few helpful
hints from a rabbi during a bar mitzvah, or from a teacher
during a school play, may get you through the first few
lines. As you get involved you settle down and your abili
ties return.
As you can see, there are many ways to help you gain
greater control and reduce the likelihood of long-term
problems. If the intervention is soon enough, all you need
is A.C.T. If problems are more severe, other techniques
can be added.
In all cases where performance is to be improved, or
where stress is to be reduced, the trick is to be able to
anticipate problems before they develop. Identifying your
strengths and weaknesses is critical in providing the moti
Appendix 177
vation for you to learn greater self-control. This same self-
awareness lets you see what is necessary in order to
improve, to develop even greater skills. Early insight lets
you treat the problems before they get out of hand. This
assessment process is the focus of the second half of this
Appendix.
SELECTION SCREENI NG
AND C O U N S E L I N G
Our survival, yours and mine, depends upon our ability,
individually and collectively, to understand, predict, and
control our behavior. Increasing understanding, prediction,
and control of human behavior is at the very foundation
of the study of psychology. These same goals underlie
the development of the Test of Attentional and Inter
personal Style (TAIS).
The test was developed in 1974. It consists of 144 be-
havorially oriented items that the average person can
respond to in twenty to thirty minutes. The items are
broken down into seventeen conceptually independent
subscales that provide information about the respondent's
ability to control attentional processes, as well as informa
tion about style of interacting in interpersonal situations.
The TAIS was designed with several goals in mind:
1. We wanted an instrument that would predict a
person's performance strengths and weaknesses in a
wide variety of life situations.
2. For selection and screening purposes, we wanted
a test that would discriminate between groups and
individuals according to their ability to control critical
performance-related abilities.
3. For counseling and training purposes, we wanted
a test that would identify and operationalize within
subject strengths and weaknesses. For example, what
can a highly effective business executive do to im
prove already high-level performance?
4. We wanted an instrument that would be especi
ally useful in identifying sources of stress, and proba
ble responses to that pressure. This would allow for
the prediction of who would function well under
pressure, who wouldn’t, under what conditions, and
why.
The major problem in accomplishing our goals was to

pinpoint some abilities that would be critical in being able
to perform effectively. We knew that existing tests
measured attitudes, needs, and traits in the attempt to
predict people’s likes and dislikes, and to identify the
motivations underlying behavior. Unfortunately, these
characteristics did not predict whether a person would
perform, or whether he had the ability. To say a person
was extroverted indicated he was outgoing and enjoyed
being with others. This characteristic alone, however, did
not imply that he was incapable of working alone. Nor did
it mean that person would be successful working with
others in sales, etc.
Problems of predictability also occurred because the
traits that were measured changed as the environmental
situations changed. A person wasn’t honest all the time,
only under certain circumstances. When we were unaware
of changing situations, predictability broke down. Our
measures lost their usefulness.
To overcome the problems of most psychological tests,
we directed our efforts toward the development of test
items that would allow us to measure a person’s ability
Appendix 179
to direct and control attentional processes, to concentrate,
analyze, and process information. A vast amount of re
search and clinical data had shown us that human be
havior, from the extremely disorganized behavior of psy
chotic patients to the super-normal behavior of highly
functioning athletes and decision makers, can be explained
on the basis of attentional control.
Two dimensions of attention seemed critical as pre
dictors of people’s ability to perform in any given situation:
the width of their attention (how much or how little they
attend to at any given time) and the direction of their
attentional focus (external, toward the environment, or
internal, toward their own thoughts and feelings). Per
formance situations can be categorized on the basis of the
attentional demands they make. Some situations require a
broad-internal focus (to analyze and plan); others a nar
row-external focus (to sink an eighteen-thousand-dollar
putt). If an individual is capable of developing the type
of attention required, when it is required, he will function
effectively. Figure 10 (p. 181) shows the four types of
attentional demands performance situations can make.
Figures 11 and 12 (pp. 182, 183) show the four types of
attentional demands found in business and athletic situa
tions.
Our goal in measurement was to develop a test that
would let us see how capable individuals were when it
came to developing the four types of attention shown in
figures 10, 11, and 12. Equally important was measuring
their ability to shift from one type of attention to another.
It is possible to have a very simple job that requires only
one type of attention. Executive and management posi
tions, however, because of their complexity, require that an
individual develop several different types of attention, and
be able to shift rapidly from one to another.
We developed six attentional scales for the TAIS. Three
measure the ability of a person to develop a broad-external
focus (required to respond to a rapidly changing environ
ment), a broad-internal focus (for analysis and long-range
planning), and a narrow focus of attention (to avoid dis
traction, to follow through). The other three attentional
scales provide an indication of a person’s ability to shift
from one focus to another in response to changing situa
tions. People who get stuck in their heads and don’t shift
to attend to the environment score high on OIT (see Table
1). People who get stuck attending to the environment and
don’t become reflective and analytical score high on OET.
Finally, people who have difficulty shifting from a narrow
focus to a broad one score high on RED.
Our research has indicated that the attentional charac
teristics measured by the TAIS are quite stable over time.
People tested and then retested a year later show little
change (without any treatment intervention). In addition,
there is a large amount of information to show that there
are reliable and predictable differences between hetero
geneous groups of subjects.
The issue of differences between groups begins to touch
on the validity and reliability of the TAIS. Several studies
provide evidence of test-retest reliability, and good con
struct and predictive validity. For further information
about the test, its development, validity, reliability, appli
cation, and availability, contact the following:
1. For information about availability and prices for the

instrument, for scoring keys, computer scoring, manuals,
etc.: Behavioral Research Applications Group, 19 Cam
bridge Street, Rochester, New York 14607.
2. For information concerning applications of the TAIS
FIG. 10
BROAD
“Street Sense” Analysis and integra

Awareness of tion. Long-range
planning. Anticipation
environment needed
in order to read and of consequences,
developing complex,
react to changing
flexible programs.
situations (nego
tiation sessions,
sales, etc.).
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
Focused nondistract- Necessary for intel
able attention lectual tasks
necessary to demanding focused
perform a specific concentration (com
task (converse with puter programming,
one person, hit a carrying out
ball, repair watches, mathematical
perform delicate computations, etc.).
surgery).
NARROW
FIG. 11 Attention in Business and Sales
EXTERNAL
Broad-External Narrow-External
Optimal for reading Optimal for one-on-
your environment as a one situations, for
salesman must to staying task-oriented
adjust the sales pitch. when there are a lot
Good for presenting a of people or things
case to a jury or trying to distract you.
reacting effectively at Individuals who must
a board meeting. A perform some physical
politician must be able activity demanding
to develop this type of concentration and skill
attentional focus. High (juggling, shooting,
on BET (broad-external hitting, etc.). High on
attentional focus). NAR (narrow atten
tional focus).
NARROW
BROAD
Broad-Internal Narrow-Internal
Optimal for analysis Optimal for being able
and organization. to work in a disciplined
Long-range planning. way on a problem
Needed for bridging over a long period in
functions to creatively relative isolation. For
bring several areas example, doing library
together. A good research, developing
detective would need computer programs. A
this type of focus, as good person to
would individuals prepare briefs for
responsible for court appearances.
assessing others. High High on NAR (narrow
on BIT (broad-internal attentional focus).
attentional focus).
INTERNAL
FIG. 12 Attention in Athletics
EXTERNAL
Broad-External Narrow-External
Optimal for reacting to Optimal for reacting to
complex, rapidly some external cue,
changing situations. A such as the ball in
linebacker in football, tennis, baseball,
a defensive player on volleyball. Needed for
a fast break, a quarter concentration in golf,
back on an option play shooting, and any one-
all needed to develop on-one competition.
this focus. Needed to High on NAR.
adjust game plan on
the spot. High on BET.
NARROW
BROAD
Broad-Internal Narrow-Internal
Optimal for a coach Optimal for becoming
who needs to plan aware of yourself and
pregame strategy. your own tension
Necessary to analyze levels. Useful in giving
past events to adjust yourself instructions
to new situations or to designed to arouse
different players’ you or relax you, as
needs. Useful for the case may be.
increasing learning Helpful for building
speed and reducing confidence if used in
repetitive errors. High the right way. Neces
on BIT. sary for self-discipline.
High on NAR.
INTERNAL
to program evaluation and program development:
a. Robert M. Nideffer, Ph.D., President, Enhanced Per
formance Associates, 12468 Bodega Way, San Diego, Cali
fornia 92128.
b. Behavioral Research Applications Group, 19 Cam
bridge Street, Rochester, New York 14607.
3. For information concerning the tests development,
validity, and reliability you may contact Behavioral Re
search Applications Group, 19 Cambridge Street, Roch
ester, New York 14607. You might also read the following:
a. The test of attentional and interpersonal style, Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 3, 394-404.
b. Relationships between the test of attentional and in
terpersonal style and psychiatric subclassification, Journal
of Personality Assessment, 1977, 41, 6, 622-31.
c. Test of attentional and interpersonal style: Inter
preters manual. Behavioral Research Applications Group,
19 Cambridge Street, Rochester, New York 14607.
d. The Inner Athlete, T. Y. Crowell Co., 10 East 53
Street, New York, New York 10022. Author: Robert
Nideffer.
In the remainder of this Appendix I want to talk about

intergroup differences. For example, how do business
executives differ from a highly select group of police appli
cants, from college students, from psychiatric patients?
This is one of the obvious goals of any selection and screen
ing process.
I also want to illustrate how the TAIS can be used in
counseling. Take the effective executive or police officer.
They are still human. You have selected them because they
are good, above average. How do you make them even
better? What are their relative strengths and weaknesses?
Appendix 185
Prior to discussing these two points, some brief comments
on the other TAIS scales and on the normative sample
(used to develop the test) are in order.
In addition to the six attentional scales, the TAIS has
two control scales and nine scales designed to measure
factors relating to the style of interpersonal interactions.
For example: is a person outgoing, intellectually ex
pressive? Does he attempt to control interpersonal inter
actions, etc.? These interpersonal variables are not seen
as important to predicting whether a person has the ability
to perform in a given situation. They are useful, however,
in predicting what situations the individual will voluntarily
place himself in, and in predicting how he will interact.
He may be very effective but have an obnoxious inter
personal style, or vice versa. This information is important
in selection, screening, and counseling. Table 1 presents
a description of the seventeen scales measured by the
TAIS.
T able i
The Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style Scales

BET (broad-external attentional focus): High scores
on this scale are obtained by individuals who
describe themselves as being able to effectively
integrate many external stimuli at one time.
OET (overloaded by external stimuli): The higher the
score, the more individuals make mistakes be
cause they become confused and overloaded by
external stimuli.
BIT (broad-internal attentional focus): High scores
indicate individuals see themselves as able to
1

effectively integrate ideas and information from
several different areas. They see themselves as
analytical and philosophical.
OIT (overloaded by internal stimuli): The higher the
score, the more mistakes individuals make be
cause they confuse themselves by thinking about
too many things at once.
NAR (narrow attentional focus): The higher the score,
the more effective individuals see themselves with
respect to being able to narrow their attention
when they need to (e.g., to study or read a book).
RED (reduced attentional focus): A high score on this
scale indicates that the individual makes mistakes
because he narrows his attention too much.
INFP (information processing): High scorers tend to
process a great deal of stimulus information.
Their perceptual-cognitive worlds are busy.
BCON (behavioral control): A high score indicates the
individual tends to be somewhat impulsive. In
addition, he has engaged in behavior that could
be considered antisocial, though not necessarily
harmful.
CON (control scale): A high score indicates the indi
vidual is in control of most of the situations, inter
personal and otherwise, he finds himself in. It
also means he attempts to gain control of situa
tions.
SES (self-esteem): The higher the score, the more
highly the individual thinks of himself.
P/O (physical orientation): A high score indicates the
Appendix i8j
individual participates in and enjoys competitive
athletics.
OBS (obsessive): A high score indicates the person
has a tendency to ruminate and worry about one
particular thing without any real resolution or
movement.
EXTR (extroversion): A high score indicates the indi
vidual is warm, outgoing, needs to be with other
people, is the life of the party.
INTR (introversion): A high score indicates the person
likes to be alone, enjoys quiet thoughtful times,
avoids being the center of attention.
IEX (intellectual expression): A high score indicates
the person expresses his thoughts and ideas to
other people.
NAE (negative affective expression): A high score
indicates the person expresses his anger and nega
tive feelings to others.
PAE (positive affective expression): A high score indi
cates the person expresses his feelings of affection
to others in both physical and verbal ways.
T esting R eport
The test was standardized using a college and graduate

student population.* It was felt that this group, by virtue
of success in academic areas, had evidenced good atten-
* The test profile ( Figures 13 and 14) for the average college and
graduate student would be seen as a straight line at the T-score of 50.
In Figure 13 the average business executive’s test scores are plotted. The
more these scores deviate above and below the T-score of 50, the more
they differ for college undergraduate and graduate students.
tional skills. To be successful in academic work students
are required to be able to develop an analytical focus of
attention (BIT) to avoid becoming overloaded (OET,
OIT, RED). They must be able to discipline themselves
to study and avoid distraction (NAR). Thus, in many
ways college students formed an ideal group against which
other groups could be tested.
To date several groups have been compared to the
normative population. Some of these, like psychiatric
patients, perform much more poorly and indicate more
overload and less control on almost every attentional di
mension. Other groups differ on only one or two critical
scales. As an example, students at the Eastman School of
Music (studying to be professional musicians) tend to have
a much narrower focus of attention, to be more dedicated
and disciplined than the average college student. In a
similar way, police applicants who have an average of
fifteen years of education evidence greater discipline and
also are more attentive to and better able to analyze ex
ternal situations. This is an ability that we would hope
individuals would have who are responsible for riot control
and for functioning in emergency situations.
Groups of high-level business executives have been com
pared to the normative sample on the TAIS. The results
from several different samples across the country are almost
identical. The report that follows describes the average
upper-level executive.
As you will see, the report is divided into two parts. In
the first part a comparison is made with the normative
population (college and graduate students) (see Figure
13). By and large, that is a very flattering comparison for
the executive population. The second part, however, points
out the fact that no matter how effective an individual,
N o rm G ro up P sy ch o lo g y S tu d e n ts S ex M a le
A tte n tio n a l C o n tro l In te rp ers o n a l
T Scores
Z Scores
BET OET BIT OIT NAR RED IN FP BCON CON SES P/O OBS EXT INT IEX NAE PAE
iq o A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
or a group, there is still room for error. The test data can
be used to detect where these relative weaknesses might
occur. This insight can then be used to avoid trouble spots
or to prepare for them in advance.
T est of A ttentional and I nterpersonal S tyle

Report
N am e: Average Executives
D ate: October 18, 1977
S u b je c t : Training workshop for upper-level manage
ment on stress evaluation and performance
improvement.
Results
Attentional
Relative to the normative population, executives of
corporations describe themselves as making fewer
errors due to a loss of attentional control. That is, they
do not allow themselves to become overloaded and
confused by either external information or by their
own thoughts and feelings. They are able to effect a
balance between an internal focus of attention and an
external one. This balance keeps them from reacting
too quickly without considering all the information
and it also keeps them aware of new information,
avoiding the tendency to react in a blind fashion.
Not only are these executives in greater control but
they indicate that they are able to deal with more
input. They are better at developing a broad-internal
focus of attention. This means that their analytical
and long-range planning skills are more highly de
veloped, allowing them to anticipate future events
more accurately.
Appendix lgi
Finally, they describe themselves as better able to
narrow attention in order to concentrate and follow
through on a task. This ability is critical to develop
ing the discipline to be successful at a very high level,
to avoid being seduced by pleasant distractions.
Control
Business executives describe their worlds as busier
and more demanding than the college students’, and in
spite of this they retain more control over their atten-
tional abilities, and over their behavior. They are less
impulsive, and more responsive to conventional norms.
Their energy level is higher than that of college
students.
Interpersonal
Interpersonally, executives from these corporations
describe themselves as both more in control of inter
personal interactions and as attempting to exert more
control. Their level of self-esteem is higher and this
in combination with interpersonal control and effec
tive attentional processes indicates why these people
are in leadership positions.
These executives tend to worry (ruminate without
resolution) less than the normative population. They
are quick to make decisions. They are more extro
verted and outgoing and they tend to express far
more positive affect toward others than college stu
dents do.
Given the information just presented, it’s easy to see why
these individuals have risen to the top of their chosen
occupations. This is not to say that they have no room for
improvement. The same characteristics that take a person
to the top can create problems for him if they tend to
iQ2 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
dominate his life. As a goal is achieved responsibilities
change and new ways of interacting are important. This
can be illustrated below.
Pressure Associated with Being Too Effective

Attentional
Everyone has a tendency to play to their strengths,
especially under pressure. This means that the type
of mistake most likely to occur for people who are
analytical is that they will become caught in their
head and fail to pay attention to important external
inputs. They may blow a sales situation or fail to
adjust a presentation because they are so intent on
what they are doing that they don’t see how others
are reacting.
Individuals scoring high on BIT often have eleva
tions in blood pressure. The reason (one of them) is
that they continue to be actively involved with prob
lems and potential problems. They tune out the en
vironment and don’t give themselves a chance to
unwind.
Interpersonal
When people are effective and when they are quick
to analyze situations and make decisions, and when
they have a high level of self-esteem, several conflicts
can occur.
1) They often fail to give people working with
them a chance to grow, to solve their own prob
lems. They may take over even when it is un
necessary.
a) With people who lack self-confidence or
who have come to depend on them
Appendix 193
(spouse) they may find themselves as
suming more and more responsibility.
Being swallowed up and consulted about
every little thing. They cripple the other
person and are crippled in the process.
b) With people who have similar abilities
they may have power conflicts. High-
need-to-achieve employees begin to resent
what they perceive as a lack of concern
for them and their ideas.
2) As the level of control of interpersonal situations
and self-esteem climbs it becomes easier and
easier to assume that you know all the answers.
Special efforts must be taken to make sure you
listen to others and give them a chance to feel
they have some impact.
3) The quickness with which an analysis takes
place and the rapidity with which decisions are
made can become problematic when:
a) a boss does not react as quickly. Under
these circumstances the executive is frus
trated and stressed by the lack of move
ment.
b) a boss has a different opinion. At these
times the speed with which the executive
reacts can be interpreted as impulsive,
especially if the decision happens to be
a mistake.
4) The effectiveness acts to create an isolation and
loneliness. The individual controls and supports
others and their needs for support can often go
unresponded to. Family and friends don’t be
lieve the person is weak, and they don’t know
1Q4 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
how to respond. If they see evidence of weak
ness it makes them anxious and they try to cover
it up. It makes them anxious because they have
been depending on that person and if the person
is weak then who can they depend on? The
result is that the executive is lonely and isolated
and under pressure may be driven to find sup
port in what become destructive ways. They
turn to alcohol, affairs, etc.
Depending on the executive and the situation, a variety

of goals can be accomplished which will reduce these
potential problems. For some, the job can be redefined so
they don’t have to work in a situation, or for an individual,
where they have to hold back. Others can be paired with
co-workers who have complementary strengths. An indi
vidual who is good at reacting quickly to the environment
might be paired with a person who does analysis and
preparation for important meetings. Finally, it is possible
to use A.C.T. techniques and stress-reduction procedures
to help individuals overcome a major portion of their
difficulty. They can learn to be more tolerant of unavoid
able delays, to recognize potential power conflicts, to listen
more effectively, to give others a chance to work out prob
lems for themselves.
As I talk about the average business executive it’s im
portant to keep several factors in mind. First, this is an
“average person” that we are treating as a real individual.
Many executives will look like this, but some won’t. There
will be executives with complementary strengths, those
who are more attentive to the environment and less ana
lytical. Next, and most important, we are talking about
highly effective individuals. The implication is not that
Appendix 195
they are unable to develop the type of attention required
(for example: to attend to the environment more closely).
Instead, we are saying that when they make mistakes
(which is infrequently) it is because they are not attend
ing to the environment. These mistakes are most likely to
occur when they are under pressure.
An executive’s test profile is looked at and the scores
help provide an indication of areas most likely to be stress
ful. I then sit down with that person and help explore the
job, home, and recreational situations in order to find
areas where problems are most likely to occur. For ex
ample, are there certain co-workers or weekly meetings
that are likely to give rise to power conflicts? As trouble
spots are identified, the A.C.T. measures are modified so
that they help an executive retain control over level of
anxiety and arousal (anger) and attention, within a prob
lem area. Anticipating trouble allows an executive to
prevent or avoid potentially destructive interactions and
decisions.
The TAIS has been used with many different groups in
many different situations. As I mentioned earlier, it
provides the foundation for performance improvement
and stress-reduction workshops for police, nurses, educa
tors, executives, athletes, musicians. Recently a group
called International Marketing Resources, Inc., in Roches
ter, New York, has been using it to develop special pro
grams for women in business. A major advantage of this
instrument is that it lends itself to direct feedback and
can be very useful in providing a training or treatment
focus. The TAIS has therefore been used extensively in
team-building and marital counseling. Individuals who are
motivated to work together and grow use feedback to help
them communicate more effectively, to recognize each
ig6 A.C.T.: Attention Control Training
other’s particular strengths and weaknesses. This sharing
helps (when people want to work together) in several
ways. It allows individuals to see where they can con
tribute to a relationship. It helps people complement each
other. It aids in depersonalizing many issues. It’s not
uncommon for a person to score high on scales indicating
he is extroverted and outgoing and on the scale indicating
that he likes time to be alone. More typically, individuals
fall into an either-or category. If you happen to be involved
with a person who is both introverted and extroverted, it
is easy to become confused and to take it personally when
you’re asked to leave him alone. If you can see, through
the test, that this is not a rejection but simply a part of the
person’s make-up, it becomes easier to deal with.
I am going to give you a brief idea about the team-build
ing process by telling you about some applicants for
police training. In many ways these individuals are similar
to business executives. There are some important differ
ences in attention, however. In the next couple of pages
I’ll compare the average police applicant to the average
executive. Through this process you should see how they
would complement each other and where they would
experience difficulty.
POLI CE APPLI CANTS
We have had the opportunity to test over two hundred

highly select applicants for police training. These were
not typical police applicants. They had been prescreened
from a group of over three thousand. The mean education
level was fifteen years (three years of college). Intel
lectually they were in the top 15 percent of the general
Appendix lgj
population. The average profile for this group is in Figure
14 on the next page.
As shown in Figure 14, the police applicants, like the
business executives, were more in control of attentional
processes than college students. They made fewer mistakes,
as evidenced by lower scores on the scales indicating at
tentional overload and difficulty shifting (OET, OIT,
RED). The police differed from the college students and
the business executives in a very important and potentially
complementary way. They had a broader external focus
of attention. They were more tuned in to their environment
and had what a policeman would call greater “street
sense.”
While the businessman would make mistakes because
he would tune out the environment (something you could
not do in a riot or fight), the policeman would not. The
policeman tended to be less analytical and thoughtful.
They were much more likely to react impulsively (neces
sary at times). When they made a mistake it was because
they acted without thinking sufficiently about the conse
quences. Again I should emphasize that this would not
occur often. They are capable of analytical thought. It is
just that this type of error is more likely than the other,
especially under pressure.
The businessman and the police officer complement each
other in attentional style. One would be good at the plan
ning of a project or raid, the other at its execution. A look
at their interpersonal styles is helpful to indicate where
they will come into conflict.
A comparison of the police applicants with the business
executives indicates they both have a need to control inter
personal situations and both have high levels of self-esteem.
As mentioned earlier, these interpersonal characteristics
N o rm G ro up P sych o lo g y S tu d e n ts S ex M a le
A tte n tio n a l C o n tro l In te rp ers o n a l
T Scores
Z Scores
BET OET BIT OIT NAR RED IN FP BCON CON SES P/O OBS EXT INT IEX NAE PAE
Appendix lgg
can make it difficult for them to work with ( and listen to )
each other. They both want to be chiefs and have different
ways of accomplishing this. The business executive gains
control through analyzing situations and then expressing
himself intellectually. The policemen are more responsive
to the environment and react physically. Both are good at
what they do. Both are winners in their own arenas. They
can, however, be threatened by each other’s style and
skill. Too much talk will be stressful to the policeman.
In discussing the executives and the police I have been
dealing with averages. In both cases there are deviations
or differences. These additional differences make it possi
ble to make other statements that may be very important
in selection, screening, and counseling. For example, as
the scores rise on scales reflecting impulsivity and the ex
pression of negative feelings, it becomes increasingly likely
that an officer will act out his frustrations in a physical
and aggressive way. In contrast, the business executive
with similar scores on negative affect and impulsivity, but
who is intellectually and analytically oriented, will act out
his anger intellectually. He will be critical and perhaps
cruel in his presentation of a cutting analysis of the intel
lectual and personal weaknesses of others.
When respect exists for another human being, and when
we are capable of looking at ourselves and our own
strengths and weaknesses, it becomes possible to work to
gether in harmony. Insight and concern lead to coopera
tion, mutual respect, and individual, organizational, and
social improvement.
It is up to you to take what you have learned in this

book and apply it. Your future depends upon it, as does
mine. Together, we can make the world a more enjoyable
place to live in. And this notion isn’t all “blue sky.” Instead
of allowing our differences to isolate us, instead of being
judgmental, inappropriately criticizing as a business execu
tive might, or attacking as a more physically oriented per
son might, we can learn to appreciate and control human
responses.
We can recognize a time for anger, analysis, action, or
love. We can learn to appreciate abilities and respond
accordingly. Finally, we can control instead of being con
trolled, and, in the process, allow ourselves to be led as
well as leading, as the situation warrants. The time to act
is indeed at hand . . . just let yourself flow with it.

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Photo: University of Rochester

With this revolutionary but easily learned

Robert M. Nideffer, a clinical psycholo­

Cover Design by One Plus One Studio

Dr. Robert M. Nideffer

Copyright © 1978 by Robert M. Nideffer and Roger C. Sharpe.

Trade distribution by Simon and Schuster

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Much of the work from which this book developed oc­

Thomas Andrews, Ph.D.

Finally, I would like to thank the student interns who

1. Why You Need A.C.T. 3

Turning on the TV a few weeks ago, I found myself con­

Your neighbor comes over for coffee, bringing her

Perhaps the example seems trivial, but such situations

If you’re like me and watched the 1976 Olympics, you

Here you can see a vivid example of pain endings in

President John Kennedy wrote a book, entitled Pro­

volved in a physical activity, events seemed to unfold in

Eastern writers have shown us the importance of several

A.C.T. I will teach you the types of concentration

Attention Control Training (A.C.T.) began, at least in the

1. Were any of the methods used by psychologists (bio­

My own interest in these questions had begun many

In the next chapter I am going to discuss the relationship

1. I am good at quickly analyzing a

1. All I need is a little information

1. It is easy for me to keep thoughts

Attention control is nothing more than being able to

During his first year in college Mark took a required

I mentioned that, given enough pressure, we will all

To illustrate better what I’ve been talking about, let’s

Take another stressful situation and follow it through.

My first attempts at controlling attention by integrating

When I came back to the United States and began the

If you had approached us when we first opened the

Pretend for the moment that you live in Rochester, New

So that’s how we started. The first major modifications

This trainee had been born with severe birth defects

Sam was a thirty-nine-year-old executive in an insurance

In the next few chapters we will tell you exactly what

Just as for Sam, the first step toward improving your

Most people who came to our laboratory were surpris­

The personnel department of a company within a large

This type of fear keeps many of us from dealing with

What is a problem for you?

Now I want to use the test you took on page 21 to make

Insight through testing brought greater self-control for

Another case involved a brilliant young physician. Hal

A mini-version of our assessment steps in the laboratory

The first two items indicate your ability to develop a

The last two items indicate your ability to concentrate

“Street sense” Physical action

George came into the laboratory to learn to relax. He

“Street sense” Physical action

Virginia (as you can see in Figure 4) could develop a

“Street sense” Physical action

About an hour before I was due to leave the house

Here’s Virginia’s second memory.

You're asking a lot of me to think of a good time

The material you come up with in your own descriptions

First, the elements showing she was geting anxious

Robert M. Nideffer, a clinical psycholo

Much of the work from which this book developed oc

Turning on the TV a few weeks ago, I found myself con

President John Kennedy wrote a book, entitled Pro

1. Were any of the methods used by psychologists (bio

Most people who came to our laboratory were surpris

You are about to do the dishes and you find your

Inhale once more, slowly . . . maintaining the re

In A.C.T. I, I emphasized the importance of self-aware

Mary was a college-graduate housewife intimately fa

Susan had always wanted to be a nurse. She loved chil

Linda’s experience is not unique. The same type of train

The problem here is one that most of us have experi

Although well be dealing with making a formal pres

1. Hypertension 1. Lowered self

Performance Problems 2. Decision prob