How to stay calm under pressure - Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: congmei Han

Your favorite athlete closes in for a victorious win.

你最喜歡的運動員 就快要得到勝利了。

The crowd holds its breath,

觀眾屏息凝神，

and, at the crucial moment, she misses the shot.

在關鍵的一刻，她失誤了。

That competitor just experienced the phenomenon known as "choking,"

那位競賽者所遇到的現象 就是所謂的「失常」，

where despite months, even years, of practice,

儘管有數個月，甚至數年的練習，

a person fails right when it matters most.

卻會在最重要的時刻失敗。

Choking is common in sports,

失常在運動中常會發生，

where performance often occurs under intense pressure

在運動中選手常常得要在 巨大的壓力下做出表現，

and depends on key moments.

關鍵時刻的表現也特別重要。

And yet, performance anxiety also haunts public speakers,

再者，表現焦慮也會困擾 其他人，比如公開演說者、

contestants in spelling bees,

拼字比賽的參賽者，

and even world-famous musicians.

甚至世界知名的音樂家。

Most people intuitively blame it on their nerves,

大部分人都很直覺地 把這個狀況怪罪於神經緊張，

but why does being nervous undermine expert performance?

但為什麼緊張就會 破壞專家的表現呢？

There are two sets of theories,

有兩組理論，

which both say that primarily, choking under pressure boils down to focus.

兩組都認為，在壓力下會失常， 主要的原因可歸結為「焦點」。

First, there are the distraction theories.

第一組理論是分心理論。

These suggest that performance suffers when the mind is preoccupied

這些理論認為， 表現之所以會受影響，

是因為心思都被憂慮、 懷疑或恐懼占據，

with worries, doubts, or fears,

instead of focusing its attention on performing the task at hand.

而不是把注意力放在 進行手邊的工作任務上。

When relevant and irrelevant thoughts compete for the same attention,

當相關的想法和不相關的想法 相互競爭，搶奪注意力時，

something has to give.

總有一方要低頭。

The brain can only process so much information at once.

大腦一次能處理的資訊 就只有這麼多。

Tasks that challenge working memory,

有些任務會需要工作記憶體，

the mental “scratch pad” we use

也就是我們用來暫時儲存

to temporarily store phone numbers and grocery lists,

電話號碼和購物清單的 心理「暫存記憶體」，

are especially vulnerable to pressure.

這類任務特別容易 受到壓力的不良影響。

In a 2004 study, a group of university students

在一份 2004 年的研究中，

一組大學生被要求解決數學問題，

were asked to perform math problems,

some easy, others more complex and memory-intensive.

有些問題很簡單， 有些比較複雜且需要大量記憶。

Half the students completed both problem types with nothing at stake,

一半的學生在解這兩類問題時， 都不會受到任何風險，

while the others completed them when calm and under pressure.

另一半學生要在冷靜時 和在壓力下解這些問題。

While everyone did well on the easy problems,

雖然簡單的問題大家都做得很好，

those who were stressed performed worse

但受到壓力的學生，在解較困難

on the more difficult, memory-intensive tasks.

且較需要記憶力的問題時， 表現就比較差。

Explicit monitoring theories make up the second group of explanations

對於壓力下的失常現象， 第二組解釋則是

for choking under pressure.

詳盡監控理論。

They’re concerned with how pressure

它們的重點在於

can cause people to overanalyze the task at hand.

壓力如何讓人過度分析 手邊的工作任務。

Here, the logic goes that once a skill becomes automatic,

這裡的邏輯是：一旦 一項技能變成自動化的，

thinking about its precise mechanics interferes with your ability to do it.

去思考它精準度背後的機制， 會干預你用這項技能的能力。

Tasks we do unconsciously seem to be most vulnerable to this kind of choking.

我們下意識在做的工作任務， 似乎最容易發生這種失常現象。

A study on competitive golfers compared their performance

有篇關於高爾夫比賽的研究， 比較了兩個情況下球手的表現：

when instructed to simply focus on putting as accurately as possible,

被指示只要把焦點放在 盡可能做到精確的輕擊球，

versus when they were primed to be acutely aware

和被指示敏銳察覺

of the mechanics of their putting stroke.

輕擊球背後的機制。

Golfers usually perform this action subconsciously,

高爾夫球手通常是潛意識 在做這個擊球動作，

so those who suddenly tuned in to the precise details of their own moves

所以當球手突然得要去想 自己動作精準度的細節時，

also became worse at making accurate shots.

他們就比較難做到精確擊球。

Choking may not be inevitable for everyone though.

但並非人人都無法避免失常。

Research suggests that some are more susceptible than others,

研究指出，有些人比較容易受影響，

especially those who are self-conscious,

特別是有自我意識的人、

anxious,

焦慮的人，

and afraid of being judged negatively by others.

以及害怕被他人 做出負面評斷的人。

So, how can we avoid choking when it really counts?

在事關重大時， 我們要如何避免失常？

First, it helps to practice under stressful conditions.

第一，在有壓力的情況下 做練習，是會有幫助的。

In a study on expert dart players,

在一篇關於飛鏢 專業玩家的研究中，

researchers found that those who hadn’t practiced under stress

研究者發現，沒有 在壓力下做練習的人，

performed worse when anxious,

在焦慮時的表現比較差，

compared to those who had become accustomed to pressure.

不如那些已經習慣了壓力的人。

Secondly, many performers extol the virtues of a pre-performance routine,

第二，許多要進行表現的人， 都很推崇養成表現前慣例的美德，

whether it’s taking a few deep breaths,

不論是做幾個深呼吸、

repeating a cue word,

重覆一個暗示字詞，

or doing a rhythmic sequence of movements.

或是做一連串有節奏的動作。

Studies on golfing, bowling, and water polo

關於高爾夫、保齡球， 以及水球的研究

find that short rituals can lead to more consistent

都發現簡短的儀式可以導致在壓力下

and accurate performance under pressure.

有更一致且更精確的表現。

And thirdly, researchers have shown

第三，研究者已經證明，

that having an external focus on the ultimate goal

若有對於終極目標的外在專注，

works better than an internal focus,

會比內在專注更有效，

where someone is tuned into the mechanics of what they’re doing.

內在專注指的是去注意到 所做所為背後的機制。

A study of experienced golfers revealed that those who hit chip shots

一份關於有經驗的高爾夫球手的研究 指出，在使用輕擊短切打法的時候，

while focused on the flight of the ball

專注在球如何飛行的人，

performed significantly better than those who focused on the motion of their arms.

表現會顯著優於 專注在手臂動作的人。

So, perhaps we can modify that age-old saying:

所以，也許我們可以 改一下這句古老的諺語：

practice,

在壓力下練習，

under pressure,

with focus,

保持專注，

and with that glorious end goal in sight,

眼中只有美好的最終目標，

makes perfect.

才能造就完美。