On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure?

“Why does the execution of a well-learned skill fail under pressure? Research investigating skill and expertise has produced a number of important findings regarding the variables that mediate optimal skill performance (Allard & Starkes, 1991; Anderson, 1982, 1987; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Romer, 1993; Keele, 1986; Lo…”

“To others, however, a problem will come immediately to mind: There is well-known evidence suggesting that expertise serves to enhance episodic recollection, not degrade it. For example, in their classic chess study, Chase and Simon (1973) found that chess masters were better able to recall briefly presented chess posi…”

“Degree of representational integration is important for automatic self-regulation, as it has been shown to facilitate information processing and reduce the need for attentional focus to elicit beliefs and actions (Beilock & Carr, 2001; Smith, 1998).”

“[15] In contrast, according to the execution focus model, negative effects of anxiety on performance cannot be explained with limited attention resources.[16] Malathi and Parulkar reported that ART was decreased before examinations.”

“These investigations have given rise to several theories, with the most prominent explanations centered on the anxiety–attention relationship: the distraction (e.g., Mullen, Hardy, & Tattersall, 2005) and the self-focus (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001) models of choking.”

“, [1, 4, 5]), the execution of their action (see [6] for a review of choking theories).”

“not limited to failure of memory recall [2], loss of motor dexterity [3–6], atypical attentional control [7], aberrant elevation in heart rate [8–10], and muscular stiffness [5].”

“Sian Beilock and her colleagues (Beilock et al., 2004; Beilock & Carr, 2001; Beilock, Carr, MacMahon, & Starkes, 2002) found sharp differences in the performance of novices compared with experts when put under time pressure.”

“…appears to lead to optimal performance (Wulf, 2007; Wulf, Hoess, & Prinz, 1998; Wulf, Lauterbach, & Toole, 1999; Wulf, Shea, & Park, 2001) and that too much attention on one’s body mechanics and techniques can be detrimental (Beilock, Bertenthal, McCoy, & Carr, 2004; Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“This is quite apart from the volume of literature which supports the importance of cognition and understanding in sports performance (e.g. [56–61]).”

“…accounts, including the conscious processing hypothesis (Masters, 1992), self-focus model (Baumeister, 1984), and explicit monitoring theory (Beilock and Carr, 2001), assert that choking under pressure may occur when automaticity of actions is broken in a high-pressure situation (e.g.,…”

“The explicit monitoring hypothesis claims that pressure causes experts to allocate attentional resources to the execution of one’s actions in such a way that it is detrimental to performance (Beilock and Carr 2001).”

“…athletes should have an external, an internal, or an alternating focus of attention when developing and performing skills has led to animated scientific debate (see for example, Toner & Moran, 2015; Collins, Carson & Toner, 2016; Mattes, 2016; Wulf, 2016). moving body (Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“For instance, expert golfers were more likely to miss a putt than novices when they were induced to think about the stakes of the putt (Beilock and Carr 2001).”

“Beilock and Carr (2001); Oudejans et al. (2011).”

“Context-related variables include: presence of an audience (Baumeister & Steinhilber, 1984), task properties (Beilock & Carr, 2001), opponents (Hill & Shaw, 2013), team cohesion (Adegbesan, 2007; Baker, Côté, & Hawes, 2000), motivational climate (Barić, 2011), expectations (Gucciardi et al., 2010),…”

“or by habituating participants to explicit scrutiny of their own performance in motor tasks (Beilock and Carr, 2001).”

“There is strong support for the role of attentional disruptions in leading to both increased self-monitoring and control (Baumeister, 1984; Beilock & Carr, 2001; Masters & Maxwell, 2008) and/or increased © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group CONTACT Mark R. Wilson…”

“Much has been published on the phenomena of action slips (performance of a routine behaviour in an inappropriate context, such as planning to go to the supermarket but driving to work)(22,23) and choking under pressure (substantial performance decrement relative to typical level of performance).(24) The insights gaine…”

“Explicit monitoring theories suggest that pressure leads to an internal focus of attention to movement execution, which in turn leads to performance decrements (Beilock & Carr, 2001; Gray, 2004; Beilock & Gray, 2007).”

“According to the dominant view in sports psychology, self-awareness cannot be involved in expert bodily action (Baumeister (1984); Baumeister and Showers (1986); Beilock and Carr (2001); Masters 1992; Masters and Maxwell 2008).”

“Several self-focus theories have received support, including Masters’ 7 (1992) conscious processing hypothesis (CPH) and Beilock and Carr’s (2001) explicit 8 monitoring hypothesis.”

“However, it has been suggested that smaller attentional demands in implicit learning should benefit dual-task learning and performance (see Berry and Dienes, 1993, for an overview; Beilock and Carr, 2001; Maxwell et al., 2003; Franklin et al., 2016).”

“In contrast, many previous cross-24 sectional studies have directly compared experts with novices (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“1 3 This feature was designed to disrupt the autonomous control of gait and thereby induce a more conscious form of movement control (Beilock and Carr 2001).”

“Too much stress, however, can lead to decrements in performance, or “ choking under pressure ” (Beilock & Carr, 2000).”

“, 2019, 2021) as well as the known impact of anxiety on attention and performance (Beilock and Carr, 2001; Gray, 2004; Aarts and Pourtois, 2012; Nieuwenhuys and Oudejans, 2012), the present findings contribute to a better understanding of the precursors to anxiety and the feedback loops that may maintain anxious state…”

“A prominent theory of choking in sports suggests that when the pressure is on, in an effort to control performance and ensure success, athletes try to access explicit skill knowledge that disrupts the fluid execution of proceduralized skill routines (Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“Indeed, a large part of the phenomenon of ‘‘choking under pressure’’ results from scrutiny of well-learned behavior that is best left to unfold automatically [25].”

“…and transactional theories of stress and performance have emerged (Matthews, 2001), contemporary theorists have attempted to identify the cognitive mechanisms underpinning performance degradation under stress and, specifically, the cognitive cause of choking under pressure (Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“A substantial body of research has explored the effects of state anxiety on motor performance (Hanin, 2000; Hill, Hanton, Matthews, & Fleming, 2010), showing that higher levels of state anxiety are related to impaired sports performance (Beilock & Carr, 2001; Wilson, Vine, & Wood, 2009).”

“Motor learning literature has 86 studied this phenomenon through dual-task methodology (Beilock, Bertenthal, McCoy, & Carr, 87 5 2004; Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“This dysfunctional way of using attention disrupts performance on tasks that rely on well-learned movements (Baumeister, 1984 ; Beilock & Carr, 2001 ).”

“…intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. reported feelings of pressure in a variety of cognitive tasks (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001, 2005; Beilock & DeCaro, 2007; Gray, 2004; Markman, Maddox, & Worthy, 2006; Worthy, Markman, & Maddox, 2009).”

“The use of a video camera has been previously used and successfully induced psychological pressure (Beilock & Carr, 2001; Jackson et al., 2006; Liao & Masters, 2002; Otten, 2009).”

“…& Tice, 1985; Baumeister & Showers, 1986; Baumeister & Steinhilber, 1984) asserted that in the specific context of deciding games in a championship series, a home disadvantage may exist—an assertion that has since been thoroughly investigated (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001; Lewis & Linder, 1997).”

“For example, in sports people can overthink and overregulate proceduralized motor skills, such as shooting a free throw in a basketball game, which interferes with wellpracticed motor patterns (i.e., choking, Beilock & Carr, 2001 ) .”

“There is evidence that performance in a trained motor skill can be negatively affected by focusing attention on components of the action (see Beilock & Carr, 2001, and the references therein); it is thought that the conscious attention overrides the more efficiently organised automatic processes…”

“This is not surprising as experts usually rely on automatic processes during performance of well-learned skills, using procedural knowledge that does not require attention or monitoring (Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“60 × 10−5) nor a main effect of condition (F(1, 10)= 3.”

“Ironically, the generation and influence of procedural knowledge is disrupted when observers turn their explicit attention to this knowledge (Baumeister, 1984; Beilock & Carr, 2001; Green & Flowers, 1991; Reber, 1976; Wulf & Weigelt, 1997; see also, Wulf & Prinz, 2001).”

“In fact, if on the one hand the performances of novices—think for example of a beginner dancer (Beilock & Carr, 2001)—are based on an explicit knowledge of knowledge, which is conscious and not integrated, those of a professional dancer are performed at an implicit, fast, and automatic level…”

“A number of researchers (e.g., Beilock and Carr, 2001; Jackson et al., 2006; Masters, 1992) have supported a self-focus model where choking is explained by increased self-awareness and selfconsciousness about performing correctly (Baumeister, 1984).”

“Brown and Lloyd-Jones (2003) showed that it was not the description of the face that was important; providing any verbal description, even one of a car, led to the poorer face-recognition performance.”

“Self-focus theories (conscious processing hypothesis (CPH); Masters, 1992, explicit monitoring; Beilock & Carr, 2001) state that anxiety leads to attention being directed toward the performers’ own movements, which may revert performance to an early-declarative stage of development (see Fitts &…”

“IFOA is typically associated with cognitively breaking down the motor task into its components (Beilock et al. 2002; Beilock and Carr 2001) to provide relevant kinesthetic and perceptual cues (Guss-West and Wulf 2016; Beilock et al.”

“The classical view has been widespread; for influential examples in psychology see Masters (1992) and Beilock & Carr (2001).”

“Distraction theories or ‘ turning away ’ theories explain the drop in performance by a shift of attention to completely irrelevant information such as the audience or internal physiological changes such as heart rate (Beilock & Carr, 2001).”

“That is, well-trained participants seem to revert back to relying on controlled task processing after being instructed to emphasize accuracy (e.g., Beilock, Bertenthal, McCoy, & Carr, 2004; Beilock & Carr, 2001, 2005; Beilock, Kulp, Holt & Carr, 2004; Strayer & Kramer, 1994).”

“Nervousness – Psychological factors can influence performance (Beilock and Carr 2001; Beilock et al. 2004).”

“, the existence of an audience) impairs the automaticity of fully learned movements and gives rise to performance deterioration even among expert athletes (see also Wine, 1971; Baumeister, 1984; Eysenck and Calvo, 1992 for different perspectives on choking mechanisms; Masters, 1992; Beilock and Carr, 2001).”

“…achievement test items and psychological tasks should not be trivialized because it is well known that many students have relatively strong emotional reactions to standardized tests (Beilock & Carr, 2001; Beilock, Kulp, Holt, & Carr, 2004; Ericsson, 2006; Lewis & Linder, 1997; Ryan & Ryan, 2005).”

“…that involves skill, focused attention on one’s performance of the task would disrupt the proper execution of it, a phenomenon known as “choking” (Beilock and Carr 2001; Beilock et al. 2002; Cappuccio 2015).8 This is true in sports as well as in, say, playing an instrument, or even in…”

“Our use of a golf putting task follows a long history of psychological research using motor tasks (Beilock and Carr, 2001; Rees and Freeman, 2009; Rees et al., 2013) and/or athletic samples (Jones and Jetten, 2011) to examine (social)”

“However, such expert abilities typically result from accumulated experience and are usually excluded from direct instruction because it is difficult to verbalise the tacit expertise that can be found in their attentional behaviours [2].”

“…is a key component in performance anxiety, anxiety experienced prior to or during performance in a number of domains, including public speaking, sexual performance, sports, the performance arts, and test taking (Baumeister, 1984; Beilock & Carr, 2001; Hardy, Mullen, & Jones, 1996; Kenny, 2005).”