Interestingly, they claim that choking is due to poor use of working memory:
Talented people often have the most working memory, but when worries creep up, the working memory they normally use to succeed becomes overburdened. People lose the brain power necessary to excel.
That is an interesting idea. But there are motor programs that don’t use verbal working memory. Making conscious adjustments (different from how the program was practiced) could interfere, though.
I think physiological panic/fear has to be a large part of most choke experiences, distinct from any thoughts interfering w/ working memory.
I’ve also heard of people choking especially because they’re worried that their social status may be threatened if they’re too good or too bad at something. I don’t know if that acts through a different mechanism; I’m just saying that such concerns seem especially distorting on performance.
Interestingly, they claim that choking is due to poor use of working memory:
That is an interesting idea. But there are motor programs that don’t use verbal working memory. Making conscious adjustments (different from how the program was practiced) could interfere, though.
I think physiological panic/fear has to be a large part of most choke experiences, distinct from any thoughts interfering w/ working memory.
I’ve also heard of people choking especially because they’re worried that their social status may be threatened if they’re too good or too bad at something. I don’t know if that acts through a different mechanism; I’m just saying that such concerns seem especially distorting on performance.