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While under pressure those most likely to succeed will most likely fail

By John M. Grohol, PsyD
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

While under pressure those most likely to succeed will most likely fail

New research published in the latest issue of Psychological Science finds that individuals higher in working memory capacity (HWM) are more likely to be negatively impacted by performance pressure on math tests than those lower in working memory capacity (LWM). Working memory is a short-term system that holds information relevant to performance and ensures task focus. HWMs have superior attentional allocation capacities– more resources, which they use on a regular basis. “However, if this attention capacity is compromised, e.g. by worries about the situation and its consequences, high working memory individuals’ advantage disappears,” the authors explain. Under low-pressure conditions, HWMs outperform LWMs. However, when the pressure is on, HWMs failed, while LWMs performance did not deviate from their, albeit lower, scores.


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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 8 Feb 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Grohol, J. (2005). While under pressure those most likely to succeed will most likely fail. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 14, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2005/02/08/while-under-pressure-those-most-likely-to-succeed-will-most-likely-fail/

 

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