1 Arizona State University.
2 Bangor University.
J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2017 Feb;39(1):3-12. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2016-0035. Epub 2017 Jun 2.
Are pressure-induced performance errors in experts associated with novice-like skill execution (as predicted by reinvestment/conscious processing theories) or expert execution toward a result that the performer typically intends to avoid (as predicted by ironic processes theory)? The present study directly compared these predictions using a baseball pitching task with two groups of experienced pitchers. One group was shown only their target, while the other group was shown the target and an ironic (avoid) zone. Both groups demonstrated significantly fewer target hits under pressure. For the target-only group, this was accompanied by significant changes in expertise-related kinematic variables. In the ironic group, the number of pitches thrown in the ironic zone was significantly higher under pressure, and there were no significant changes in kinematics. These results suggest that information about an opponent can influence the mechanisms underlying pressure-induced performance errors.
在压力下表现不佳的专家是表现得像新手（如再投资/意识加工理论所预测），还是表现得像专家在朝着他们通常试图避免的结果努力（如讽刺过程理论所预测）？本研究使用棒球投球任务直接比较了这两种预测，该任务涉及两组有经验的投手。一组只展示目标，另一组则展示目标和一个讽刺性（回避）区域。两组在压力下的目标命中次数都显著减少。对于只展示目标的那组，与专业技能相关的运动学变量也发生了显著变化。在讽刺性区域组，压力下投到讽刺性区域的球数明显增多，而运动学则没有明显变化。这些结果表明，关于对手的信息会影响导致压力下表现不佳的机制。
