Michael is exceptionally good at Ping-Pong. According to research on social facilitation, when good players such as Michael know they are being watched while they play, they perform ...

They perform better than those who do not know.

Explanation:

According to social facilitation theory, a person will perform better when in the presence of others. This is especially consistent for well-rehearsed or very familiar tasks. A much more difficult or unfamilar task could actually result in inferior performance.

The phenomenon was first observed by psychologist Norman Triplett, when he noticed that cyclists did faster times when in the presence of other equally skilled cyclists.