Knowledge, knerves and know‐how: The role of explicit versus implicit knowledge in the breakdown of a complex motor skill under pressure

TLDR

Expert motor skill failure is common when performers are highly motivated, because an inward focus on explicit knowledge disrupts automaticity. The experiment trained golfers to putt either with explicit rule knowledge or without, then tested them under stress induced by evaluation apprehension and financial incentives. Results showed that golfers with limited explicit knowledge were less likely to fail under pressure than those with extensive explicit knowledge.

Abstract

Failure of expert motor skill is common in cases where performers are highly motivated to succeed. One cause of this can be an inward focus of attention in which an attempt is made to perform the skill by consciously processing explicit knowledge of how it works. The resulting disruption of the automaticity of the skill leads to its failure. It follows from this that disruption of automatic processing will be avoided if performers have little or no explicit knowledge of their skill. Subjects in the reported experiment were required to acquire a golf‐putting skill, either explicitly (with knowledge of rules) or implicitly (without knowledge of rules) and were then tested under conditions of stress, induced by a combination of evaluation apprehension and financial inducement. Evidence was found to support the hypothesis that the skill of performers with a small pool of explicit knowledge is less likely to fail under pressure than that of performers with a large pool of explicit knowledge.