Choke Quotes

“merely changing how a math problem is presented on a page can change how your brain goes about solving it,”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Interestingly, when stereotyped in this way, people don’t perform badly because of some inherent inferior ability, but because they are aware of how they should perform.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Admittedly, not everyone has access to the types of sophisticated training regimens that Michael Posner and Torkel Klingberg use to help folks strengthen their cognitive horsepower. The good news is that you can flex your working-memory in several different ways. Playing action video games, for example, can improve your brainpower. That’s right, spending several hours a week playing games like Grand Theft Auto, Half-Life, or Halo improves core cognitive abilities that extend well beyond the computer screen.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“One of the main reasons that people choke under pressure is that they are not using their working-memory in the right way: they are either paying too much attention to what they are doing or not devoting enough brainpower to the task at hand.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Simulating low levels of stress helps prevent cracking under increased pressure, because people who practice this way learn to stay calm, cool, and collected in the face of whatever comes their way.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Even practicing under mild levels of stress can prevent you from choking when high levels of stress come around.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Pausing to assess the situation before starting to solve a difficult problem is one way to ensure success, especially if your first inclination is to look for the quickest and easiest way out.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Choking can occur when people think too much about activities that are usually automatic. This is called “paralysis by analysis.” By contrast, people also choke when they are not devoting enough attention to what they are doing and rely on simple or incorrect routines.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Schemas help us interpret new activities or situations in a meaningful way, but this only occurs if we are given the schema before (not after) we encounter the novel information.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Our ability to make sense of movie plots, to navigate novel situations, or even to form first impressions of the people we meet is greatly aided by what we psychologists call schemas. Packets of knowledge that provide expectations about the activities we do, schemas help us comprehend new situations with familiar details.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

“Writing about your worries before a test or presentation prevents choking.”
― Sian Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To