Choke: what the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to

Why do smartest students often do poorly on standardized tests?Why did you tank that interview or miss that golf swing when you should have had it in bag?Why do you mess up when it matters most--and how can you perform your best instead?It happens to all of us. You've prepared for days, weeks, even years for big day when you will finally show your stuff--in academics, in your career, in sports--but when big moment arrives, nothing seems to work. You hit wrong note, drop ball, get stumped by a simple question. In other words, you choke. It's not fun to think about, but now there's good news: This doesn't have to happen.Dr. Sian Beilock, an expert on performance and brain science, reveals in Choke the astonishing new science of why we all too often blunder when stakes are high. What happens in our brain and body when we experience dreaded performance anxiety? And what are we doing differently when everything magically clicks into place and perfect golf swing, tricky test problem, or high-pressure business pitch becomes easy? In an energetic tour of latest brain science, with surprising insights on every page, Beilock explains inescapable links between body and mind; reveals surprising similarities among ways performers, students, athletes, and business people choke; and shows how to succeed brilliantly when it matters most. In lively prose and accessibly rendered science, Beilock examines how attention and working memory guide human performance, how experience and practice and brain development interact to create our abilities, and how stress affects all these factors. She sheds new light on counter-intuitive realities, like why highest performing people are most susceptible to choking under pressure, why we may learn foreign languages best when we're not paying attention, why early childhood athletic training can backfire, and how our emotions can make us both smarter and dumber. All these fascinating findings about academic, athletic, and creative intelligence come together in Beilock's new ideas about performance under pressure--and her secrets to never choking again. Whether you're at Olympics, in boardroom, or taking SAT, Beilock's clear, prescriptive guidance shows how to remain cool under pressure--the key to performing well when everything's on line.