A piano student mastered a difficult piece of music after many hours of practice at home. At his next lesson, he played the piece for his piano teacher. He then performed it in front of an enthusiastic audience, and finally, in front of a critical panel of judges. According to the theory of social facilitation, which of these was likely to be his worst performance?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the theory of social facilitation, the presence of an audience or evaluative others can improve performance on simple or well-learned tasks, but can impair performance on difficult or novel tasks. Since the difficult piece is likely still relatively new and challenging for the student, performing in front of the critical panel of judges is more likely to lead to performance impairment, as opposed to the other options where the presence of others may have provided some level of facilitation.

A Piano Student Mastered a Difficult Piece of Music After