That was an amazing article. I have read about some of the individual research projects but never anything where they put it all together as well as this author did.
I have spent a fair amount of time around gamblers and I think there is a significant subset of wealthy gamblers that choke on a constant basis. I also believe that the stories they tell in regards to choking sometimes are told with more excitement than when they win.
I also have a very good friend who is an accomplished diver and told me a story very similar to the one in the article. He was on a nitrox dive in about 120 foot of water and he was having a problem with his spare regulator. Apparently it was slowly bubbling air. His brother was with him on the dive and his brother was looking at the regulator when it start free flowing. He starts to freak and his brother tries to get him to calm down. No luck. He ends up freaking out so bad that he pulls the emergency inflate on his BC and shoots straight for the surface like a sub launched missile. Total panic! Luckily for him he didn't have any adverse physical reactions to breaching the surface like a whale.
When I look at my life the only consistent choking I do is on the freaking golf course. I can go out on the front 9 and shoot the lights out, make the turn realize how good I am doing and absolutely stink up the course on the back. Or I can be having a great round and a client will want to start betting, yep the wheels come off. I probably need to get counseling to get over it
I will post some links to related studies later.
Choking versus panicking
Linear Mode
