Choking under pressure: Illuminating the role of distraction and self-focus

Abstract

Two dominant explanations of choking under pressure–self-focus and distraction–have been enduringly presented as competing mechanisms of motor skill failure under performance stress. Dual-task experiments designed to simultaneously assess both mechanisms have often favoured self-focus, whereas qualitative research and examinations of gaze behaviour suggest that distraction plays a role. Though both mechanisms remain plausible, several reviews of the choking literature have side-stepped how autonomous motor skill failure would play out under a distraction-based model or a dual-mechanism model. In this discussion, we contend that persistent experimental focus on the brief moments of motor execution, without adequate consideration of diverse preparatory cognitive activities that also characterise sporting expertise, has delayed understanding of distraction’s involvement. With an expanded scope in mind, we critically review the evidence for both mechanisms and describe how distraction alone or distraction in combination with self-focus might derail an expert motor skill under pressure. Different suggestions are made for self-paced and externally paced sports given their different attentional challenges.