Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

RONALD S. THOMPSON is an estate, business, and tax planning attorney; financial planner; and real estate consultant. He currently holds the following degrees, licenses, and certifications: Bachelor of General Studies, University of Michigan; Master of Business Administration, Boston University; Juris Doctor, University of Detroit School of Law; licensed attorney in Michigan and Ohio; licensed residential builder, licensed real estate broker, series 7, 63, and 65 securities registered investment advisor; licensed health, life, property, and casualty insurance producer, emergency medical technician/paramedic; Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM); Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU); Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC); and Certified Financial Planner (CFP). In achieving the foregoing degrees, licenses, and certifications, Ron has taken, "mastered," and passed more than one thousand multiple-choice exams. He has also taken dozens of professional test preparation courses. Ron's background also includes service as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps and as Assistant Dean at the University of Detroit School of Law. Ron uses the sum total of all of the knowledge and experience he has gained through both formal education and life experience to teach both innovative and commonsense approaches to taking and "mastering' multiplechoice exams.

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Attacking the Standardized Exam

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Step One: Building the Biological Foundation

A. Preparation is key.

As a Boy Scout, the most important lesson I learned was based on the Boy Scout motto "be prepared." Clearly, the success of facing any challenge is based 99 percent on preparedness (I will give 1 percent to luck and no more). After twelve years as a Marine Corps officer, I realized nothing could be truer than that concept. However, being prepared usually means much more than merely studying the challenge or studying for the challenge. If you want to meet the challenge, you must ready yourself for the challenge, not only intellectually but emotionally and physically. By being ready for the challenge on all three levels—physical, emotional, and intellectual—you will not only meet the challenge, but you will master it. Nothing could be truer when preparing for a multiple-choice exam. So let's begin by looking at developing physical and emotional toughness.

B. Mental toughness starts with physical toughness, and physical toughness starts with fitness.

As previously stated, maximizing your performance on a multiple-choice exam requires preparedness. There are three aspects of being prepared: physical preparation, emotional preparation, and intellectual preparation. In order to be truly intellectually prepared, you need to have the right attitude, which requires emotional preparation. In order to be emotionally prepared, you must have the right physical preparation. While all three aspects are covered in detail in this book, we will start with physical preparation as it is the foundation for the other two.

The Marine Corps teaches you mental toughness. Early on in boot camp, young US Marines are trained to understand (not believe but understand) that nothing is impossible. If you set out to accomplish the mission and are ready to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission, then the mission can be accomplish—period! That aspect of psychology, as it applies to test taking, will be dealt with in some detail later in the book.

However, the Marine Corps also trains you to be prepared for the task, and that requires not only intellectual readiness but also physical readiness. That is why the Marine Corps, far more than any other military service organization, prides itself on developing and maintaining the physical fitness of its members across the board. When you are in good physical shape, you are in better mental shape. You can study longer, absorb more information, and stay focused for greater periods of time. You are also less prone to stress and less affected by it. In addition, physical exercise can reduce and/or relieve stress.

Going back to paramedic training, productive brain activity has a great deal to do with flow of oxygen to the brain. Oxygen is carried to the brain and other organs through hemoglobin contained in the blood. Interestingly, an overweight person will typically have less blood volume that a person of normal weight who is the same height. Likewise, an athlete will typically have greater blood volume than a nonathlete of the same height and weight. So the better physical condition you are in, the better your blood capacity and the greater opportunity for oxygen flow to the brain. So the first step toward preparation for taking and mastering a multiple-choice test is to get into shape.

Of course, I am not suggesting that you need to train for and run a marathon. However, the point here is to begin a regular regiment of exercise and good diet. While later in the book I discuss specific foods you should and should not eat immediately prior to and during a multiple-choice examination, here I am simply talking about the concept of eating right. Regarding exercise, specifics of that are also very individual and beyond the scope of this chapter or book.

However, there is another important point to be made here. When studying for a very important multiple-choice examination (ACT, LSAT, MEDCAT, bar examination, CFP, etc.), it is not uncommon for people to work out less or stop working out completely in order to focus more time on studying. Nothing could be worse that that. In fact, regular exercise promotes better sleeping habits and rest, which ultimately allows you to sleep sounder for fewer hours and focus better while awake. So make sure you get in shape and stay in shape. Once you are in good physical shape, you are ready to begin the second and third aspects of good test preparation, which are emotional preparation and intellectual preparation.

C. The physiology of test taking: avoid triggering the sympathetic nervous system.

As a paramedic, you learn a great deal about human anatomy and physiology. While heart, lungs, and kidneys serve critical functions, it is the central nervous system that ultimately controls the body.

Of course, the major component of the central nervous system is the brain. Most people believe that it is the brain that is the sole determiner of whether you pass or fail a test, but the truth is that's only one aspect. The other aspects, which are very critical, are two subsystems of the autonomic nervous system known as the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The best way to describe these two systems is to refer to them as they are commonly known. The sympathetic nervous system is known as the fight or flight system, or the accelerator. The parasympathetic nervous system is known as the feed and breed system, or the brakes.

When a person is placed in a stressful situation, the sympathetic nervous system kicks in. Noradrenalin is secreted, and the body reacts. Pupils dilate, and heart rate and blood pressure increase. Blood flow begins diverting to the muscles and lungs in anticipation of fight (self-defense through physical force) or flight (running away from danger). When this reaction is prolonged, adrenalin is secreted, increasing the reaction. Sweating and vomiting typically occur. After this event, the body is exhausted, resulting in a crash similar to that described in many energy drink commercials.

For the foregoing reasons, constant triggering of the sympathetic nervous system through needless worrying over time creates physical and mental exhaustion. Of course, none of this is good for a person preparing for a test. A good test taker wants to maintain a parasympathetic system. Here, blood flows to the stomach, encouraging good digestion and nutrient absorption. Better yet, all of the stress-producing aspects of the sympathetic nervous system are absent. So the first goal in developing physical toughness is eliminating worry and stress.

Obviously, thorough intellectual preparation for a test will build confidence and, therefore, reduce stress, which we will get to later. However, let's begin by looking at reducing worry and stress through physical strength.

D. The physiology of test taking: foods that help you pass tests and foods that cause you to fail.

It is no secret that nutrition plays a critical role in learning. Hence, top performance in test taking requires more than just eating right in general. More specifically, it requires you to consume the right foods prior to and, when applicable, during the test.

As stated...