Why does my screen stop responding?

[AC Question]

I have a Galaxy Tab 4 7" SM-T23ONU Wi-Fi that I use mainly for PlayStation 1 emulating. Whenever in-game I'm holding, say, a directional button, it will randomly stop working even when my thumb is still on the screen. For example, I could be playing Crash and holding the forward button which makes the character run forward, but sometimes the screen will stop responding while my finger is still on it. I can press and hold the button again to keep going but it will stop again. It does it rhythmically. It's very frustrating and I hope someone can tell me how to fix it.