The power of simplicity – Simplified information processing during actions to protect performance under pressure

• Applicant: Dr. Laura Voigt
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 548915840

Many situations that arise in high-pressure performance settings, such as sports, police, and emergency medicine, require individuals to select appropriate movements and execute them proficiently to be successful. However, when stakes are high, individuals sometimes tend to perform below their standards – a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘choking under pressure’. As performance failures can have negative consequences in high-pressure situations (i.e., medals, physical safety, or patient health may be on the line), understanding the mechanisms that explain why performance deteriorates is critical to develop effective evidence-based interventions to safeguard performance under pressure. As movement selection and execution usually occur in parallel in many everyday activities, overcoming the separation between movement selection and execution will provide a breakthrough in understanding of adaptive human actions under performance pressure. In a previous DFG project, we integrated two concepts – motor heuristics and movement analogies – into a single Theory of Simplified Information Processing in Action. Motor heuristics simplify information processing during movement selection by rank ordering information according to specific cognitive shortcuts that reduce the number of cues used. Movement analogies simplify information processing during movement execution by chunking information into larger units and thus reducing the amount of knowledge that must be processed. The central proposition of the Theory of Simplified Information Processing in Action is that motor heuristics and movement analogies can be regarded as functionally equivalent rules that promote simplified information processing during the entire action process by reducing cognitive demands. As a result, both motor heuristics and movement analogies allow actions to be performed with less cognitive effort and can help to maintain performance under pressure. In contrast, complex rules constitute elaborate algorithms that include all relevant information and may overload cognitive resources, especially when they are already depleted due to performance pressure. The main objective of the current project is to empirically test the predictions made by the integrated Theory of Simplified Information Processing in Action to explain human actions in high-pressure contexts. In eight experiments, we will examine whether, how, and when simple rules for action (i.e., motor heuristics and movement analogies) prevent performance decrements under pressure. By employing tasks requiring naturalistic actions (i.e., selection and execution of complex movement in parallel), the project tests mechanistic explanations of how the constant stream of information during action is processed and thus contributes to an enhanced understanding of adaptive human actions in situations in which the cognitive demands of the task are overwhelming.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: New Zealand
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Markus Raab
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Rich Masters; Dr. Arne Nieuwenhuys