Alan and his friends were playing a game of pool at the local pub. Jackie, a girl Alan likes, and her friends came over to talk. As Alan is an inexperienced pool player, his pool game suffered from Jackie's presence. Social psychologists would explain his poor performance as ________.

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Social psychologists would explain Alan's poor performance as social disruption, which occurs when the presence of others hinders a person's ability to perform a task. Alan's attraction to Jackie may have distracted him, causing him to play poorly. Social facilitation refers to the phenomenon of performing better when in the presence of others, and prosocial facilitation is a type of social facilitation that specifically occurs when the task involves helping others. Attribution refers to the process of explaining the causes of behavior.

Alan and His Friends Were Playing a Game of Pool