Choking Under Pressure as a Behavioural Adaptation Disorder on the Dimension of Cognitive Flexibility

This dataset contains data from a two-stage empirical study titled “Choking Under Pressure as a Behavioural Adaptation Disorder on the Dimension of Cognitive Flexibility.” The research investigated how performance deterioration under pressure (“choking”) may result from maladaptive functioning of cognitive flexibility — an executive function responsible for adapting to changing circumstances.
The dataset includes two files:
File 1 – pilot_study.xlsx:
Data from a pilot study (N = 60) conducted to test the sensitivity of the computer-based procedure to pressure. The file contains quantitative data from the Spatial Working Memory Task (SWMT) and the Choking Under Pressure Scale (CUPS). The variables include performance indicators from SWMT under both pressure and no-pressure conditions, as well as self-reported choking scores. Demographic variables (age, gender, education) are also included.
File 2 – main_study.xlsx:
Data from the main study (N = 127) examining cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying choking under pressure. This dataset includes performance indices from three computerised cognitive tasks — the Spatial Working Memory Task (SWMT), the Go/No-Go Task, and the Voluntary Switch Task (VST) — as well as results from three self-report questionnaires: the Choking Under Pressure Scale (CUPS), the State Anxiety Scale (STAI-X1), and the Social Approval Questionnaire (KAS). The file also includes demographic variables.
Both datasets are fully quantitative. They can be used to explore relationships between executive control, anxiety, and susceptibility to performance decline under pressure. The materials may serve as a resource for replication studies, methodological validation, and further analyses of cognitive-behavioural mechanisms of choking under pressure.
Codebooks for each dataset (pilot_study and main_study) are provided as supplementary documentation.
They include detailed descriptions of all variables, instruments, coding schemes, and measurement scales used in the study, to facilitate proper interpretation and secondary data analysis.