Consciousness and Skill

The conscious mind is sometimes seen as getting in the way of doing things well. But are there good reasons to think that consciousness is generally detrimental to skilled performance? My aim in this chapter is to critically analyze what I see as the three central reasons wielded in support of the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Skill And Expertise Vol. 1; pp. 181 - 193
Main Author Montero, Barbara Gail
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 2021
Edition1
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Summary:The conscious mind is sometimes seen as getting in the way of doing things well. But are there good reasons to think that consciousness is generally detrimental to skilled performance? My aim in this chapter is to critically analyze what I see as the three central reasons wielded in support of the idea that conscious attention impedes skilled performance: experimental data indicates that conscious attention to skill precipitates choking under pressure, certain actions proceed too quickly for conscious thought, and experts are frequently unable to recall what they do in their domain of skill. I conclude by offering some reasons to accept that online conscious thought about what you are doing is compatible with expertise.
ISBN:9781138744776
0367533375
1138744778
9780367533373
DOI:10.4324/9781315180809-19