Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper investigates how individuals performances of a cognitive task in a high-pressure competition are affected by their peers performances. To do so, I use novel data from the National Spelling Bee, in which students attempt to spell words correctly in a tournament setting. Across OLS and instrumental variables approaches, I find that when the immediate predecessor is correct, a speller has a 13 to 64 percent greater probability of making a mistake, relative to the predecessor being incorrect. There is no evidence that the effect differs by gender and marginal evidence that it differs by experience.