5: Attention and Concentration

Question 1

concentration

Answer 1

“a person’s ability to exert deliberate mental effort on what is most important in any given situation”
concentration = attention
ability to maintain focus on relevant cues

Question 2

four components of concentration

Answer 2

focusing on relevant environmental cues (selective attention) - essential for leaning and practicing new skills
maintaining attentional focus - over period of time
maintaining situational awareness - understanding what is happening around them
shifting attentional focus - alter the scope and focus of attention

Question 3

types of focus (golf example)

Answer 3

broad external focus = assess the external environment (direction of wind, water hazard, trees)
broad internal focus = recall previous experiences, determine best technique (recall similar shots, note current conditions, determine how to hit ball)
narrow internal focus = monitor tension, image perfect play, deep breaths (imagine perfect shot, deep breaths)
narrow external focus = carry out a skill, focus on play (address the ball to take shot)

Question 4

expert vs novice performers in attentional processing

Answer 4

experts make faster decisions and better anticipate future events by using advance visual information
they attend more to movement patterns
experts search more systematically for critical information cues
they selectively attend to the structure of an offensive and defensive pattern
more successful in predicting flight pattern of a ball

Question 5

expert vs novice squash players

Answer 5

16 experts, 20 novice players
have to predict both direction and force of opponents strike at different time intervals, different parts of body able to se
experts performed better across different times of occlusion
experts pick up information from the early part of the opponents actions

Question 6

handball and cricket studies

Answer 6

handball: had to predict type of throw, experts responded more accurately, better able to pick up advance information cues
cricket: expert batsman could utilise critical information during the early part of ball flight information

Question 7

information processing approach

Answer 7

early approaches favoured:
single channel approach (fixed capacity) = information processed through a single channel
or variable approach (flexible) = can choose where to focus their attention allocating it to more than one task at a time
now favour:
multiple pools theory approach = views attention like multiprocessors, with each processor having its own unique relationship with the performer, attention capacity is not seen as centralised but distributed through the nervous system

Question 8

3 processes

Answer 8

3 processes have received most focus in trying to explain the attention-performance relationship
1. attentional selectivity
2. attentional capacity
3. attentional alertness

Question 9

attentional selectivity

Answer 9

selective attention
letting some information into the information-processing system whereas other information is screen or ignored
spotlight approach - focus only on importance
when learning new skill attention is needed for all aspects to perform the skill, when becoming more proficient attention can move to others at it comes under autonomic control

Question 10

attentional capacity

Answer 10

limited in the amount of information that can be processed at one time
can change to controlled processing (mental processing including conscious attention and awareness) to automatic processing (mental processing without conscious attention) when more proficient

Question 11

attentional alertness

Answer 11

increases in emotional arousal narrows the attentional field because of systematic reduction in the range of cues a performer considers when executing a skill
in stressful situations, performance on a central visual task decreases the ability to respond to peripheral stimuli
thus, arousal brings about sensitivity loss to cues that are in peripheral field

Question 12

attentional control theory

Answer 12

worry anxiety increase the allocation of attentional resources to the detection or with threat related stimuli in highly anxious conditions
top down processing = goal-directed
bottom up processing = stimulus driven
anxiety impairs goal-directed attentional system, so influenced more by stimulus-driven system
threatening stimuli can be a crowd or opponent
anxiety, attentional control and performance penalty kick study
- low threat with no instructions and high threat with money and evaluation
- lower accuracy when higher threat, more fixations on goalie during high threat

Question 13

reinvestment theory

Answer 13

“an inward focus of attention to consciously control the mechanics of movement by processing explicit knowledge of how the movement is performed”
underlying assumption is that when under pressure performers consciously focus attention on the process of the task, disrupting the normal automatic processing
reinvestment scale - high reinvestment = performance decrease when under pressure

Question 14

attentional control for optimal performance

Answer 14

successful players less likely to become distracted by irrelevant stimuli
have exceptional concentration abilities
optimal performance - the ability to focus, a special state of involvement and awareness of the task at hand
focus on only relevant cues in the environment by eliminating distractions is important for high performance
different eye movement patterns - expert players have a different focus of attention compared to novices

Question 15

types of attentional foucus

Answer 15

broad = allows person to perceive several occurrences simultaneously
narrow = responding to only one or two cues
external = directs attention outward to an object
internal = inward to thoughts and feelings

Question 16

recognising internal distractors

Answer 16

usually problems concentrating are caused by inappropriate attentional focus
become distracted by thoughts, other events and emotions

Question 17

internal distracters

Answer 17

some distraction come from within ourselves e.g.
- attending to past events (thinking about mistakes)
- attending future events (worrying about outcome)
- choking
- overanalysing body mechanics
- fatigue (reduces amount of processing resources)
- inadequate motivation (lack of motivation = little concentration)

Question 18

choking under pressure

Answer 18

an attentional process that leads to impaired performance
inability to retain control over performance without outside assistance
conditions leading to choking: important competition, critical plays, evaluation by others
physical changes: increased muscle tension, increased breathing rate, racing heart rate
attentional changes: internal focus, narrow focus, reduced flexibility
performance impairment: timing and coordination breakdown, fatigue, rushing, inability to attend to task-relevant cues

Question 19

study: influence of anxiety on the quiet eye period and accuracy of basketball free throws

Answer 19

quiet eye period = the time of the final fixation on the target before the initiation of the movement, is an objective measure of attentional control
longer quiet eye period = minimises distractions and allows focusing on relevant cues
a control and a high threat situation: high threat resulted in shorter quiet eye period and decreased success rate of free-throws

Question 20

study: soccer players more likely to choke in penalty shoot out

Answer 20

video analysis
avoidance behaviour = looking away from goal keeper or preparing shot quickly
more avoidance behaviour in negative shots (meant they lose game if they miss)
more successful for positive shots (meant they needed a goal to win)

Question 21

overanalysing body mechanics

Answer 21

focusing too much on body mechanics and movement
when learning a new skill - internal focus
once skill is learned, internal narrow focus causes problems as the skill should be automatic
when putting attention on the task, it is important for learners but makes skilled performers decrease their performance

Question 22

study: skill-focused attention can disrupt skilled movements

Answer 22

one situation where they had to monitor which parts of the foot they used to dribble through cones (skill-focused)
another situation where they had to auditory monitor for a target word and repeat it back whilst dribbling through cones
novice players performed better when skill-focused, experts when under dual-task condition

Question 23

external distractors

Answer 23

are stimuli from environment
divert peoples attention from the cues
visual distractors: spectators, leader board, scoreboard
auditory distractors: crowd noise, phones, announcements

Question 24

assessing attentional skills

Answer 24

test of attentional skills and interpersonal style (TAIS) measures a person’s attentional style
external vs internal, broad vs narrow
effective attenders: concentrate on several stimuli without getting overloaded
ineffective attenders: easily get confused by multiple stimuli
is a trait measure, does not measure situational factors

Question 25

psychological and neurological measures

Answer 25

psychological assessments
brain waves (EEG = electroencephalography)
psychological measures mostly used in closed skills e.g. golf, pistol shooting, archery (self paced and unchanging environment)
accuracy of shooting - associated with alpha frequencies which are related to relaxation
heart rate measure: deceleration in heart rate in shooting caused by directing attention outward
study: expert golfers showed greater reduction in HR and increased alpha power activity

Question 26

on site techniques to improve concetnration

Answer 26

simulations in practice - training environment not same as competition
cue words - trigger particular response, form of self-task
non-judgemental thinking - evaluate performance
establish routines - mental preparation for upcoming performance
develop competition plans - prepare what they would do in different situations
overlearn skills - make automatic to free up attention

Question 27

exercising to improve concentration

Answer 27

learning to shift concentration - shifting focus across external-internal and broad-narrow dimensions
learning to maintain focus - focusing on objects such as hockey pucks or soccer ball
searching for relevant cues - focus attention and scan environment for relevant cues