Depleted Attentional Resources and Performance Improvement under Pressure in a Sensori-motor Task

The aim of the present investigation was to determine the attentional mechanisms and performance of a sensori-motor task (darts) under pressure in novice performers. A total of twenty undergraduate students (20. 5 ± 1. 12 years old) voluntarily participated in this investigation. Following an instructional session of darts، the participants were tested in three conditions including baseline، dual task trails under low pressure and dual- task trails under high pressure. In the dual-task paradigm، we asked the participants to perform darts as a primary task and simultaneously respond to an auditory stimulus with two distinguishable frequencies as a secondary task. Following baseline measurements، the participants were told that they would be given additional trials with the auditory stimulus and that they would have the chance to win reward if they met 150% of their baseline scores in high pressured trials. Participants’ heart rate was measured before، during، and after doing dual-task trails. Results revealed that in high pressure trails، the heart rate increased significantly. In response to the secondary task، the results showed a significant increase of reaction time in high pressure condition. Furthermore، rate of response accuracy to the secondary task decreased significantly in high pressure condition. These results suggest that pressure depletes attentional resources and induces inefficient information processing as well. However، there was an unexpected choking effect on performance in the trials under high pressure. The novice performers scored better under high pressure condition than that of baseline trials. We concluded that novitiate performance is enhanced by high pressure conditions by which explicit monitoring of skill execution is allowed.