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Published on: September 16, 2015
Choking under experimenter's presence: Impact on proactive control and practical consequences for psychological
Clément Belletier1, Alice Normand2, Valérie Camos3
1Université Clermont-Auvergne, CNRS, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (LAPSCO), F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France; Université de Fribourg, Laboratoire de Développement cognitif, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Evidence accumulated for more than a century on audience effects shows that being watched by others typically impairs performance on difficult tasks. However, recent research under the label of « choking under pressure » suggests that this performance impairment is, ironically, specific to the individuals who are the most qualified to succeed-those with a high working memory capacity (WMC). Here, we predicted and found that being watched by evaluative others such as the experimenter undermines proactive control on which the high-WMC individuals rely the more. These results refine our understanding of both audience and choking effects, and lead to innovative, practical recommendations for psychological science.
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