Attention and Concentration Flashcards
Attention
A broad term used to describe our focus
What are the 3 dimensions of attention
- Divided attention
- Concentration/selective attention
- Selective perception
Concentration
A person’s deliberate decision to invest mental effort on what is most important in any given situation
Theories of attention (6)
- Central resource capacity
- Multiple resource capacity
- Divided attention
- Selective attention
- Spotlight metaphor
- 4 types of attention
What are the 2 limited attentional capacity theories
- Central resource capacity theory (Kahneman)
- Multiple resource theories (Wickens)
Central resource capacity theory
Activities can be carried out at the same time, provided that their total effort does not exceed the available capacity
What are 3 assumptions of the central resource capacity theory
- We have a single resource pool from which all attention activities must be funded
- Several activities can be carried out at the same time, provided that their total effort does not exceed the available capacity
- As we master skills, they require less attention
Multiple resource theory
Argued that people possess multiple resource pool
What are the 3 pools of resources that are used for different tasks
- Memory (LTM + STM)
- Response output (E.g. speech and movement)
- Sensory input (E.g. Hearing and Vision)
Divided attention theory
Divided attention theory suggests that tasks can be performed well together if they are dissimilar, highly practiced and simple
Broadbents Filter theory (Early selection)
Broadbent, posits that stimuli are filtered, or selected to be attended to, at an early stage during processing.
Late selection theory (Deutsch & Deutsch)
All stimuli are fully analysed, and selection only takes place for the purpose of the response
Selective attention
Selective attention resembles a mental beam that illuminates a part of the visual field and information lying outside the illuminated region is ignored
What is selective attention also known as
Spotlight theory
What are the 4 types of attentional focus according to Nideffer
- Internal
- External
- Broad
- Narrow
Internal attentional focus
Mental rehearse plans and emotional state
External attentional focus
Focus on external cues
Broad attentional focus
Used to rapidly assess a situation
Narrow attentional focus
Used to focus exclusively on one or two cues
What are the 2 types of distractions
- Internal
- External
Internal distractions
- Living in the past
- Living in the future
- Concentration on technique
- Self-talk
- Fatigue
External distractions
- Visual distracters
- Attending to the wrong crowds
- Auditory distracters
- Gamesmanship
- Breaks in play
Techniques to enhance concentration
- Practice
- Cue words/Self-talk
- Pre-performance routines
- Stimulation training
- Thought stopping
Visual field
Area that the eye can see
Foveal vision accounts for what degrees of visual field?
5%
Optic nerve
The information provided by the eyes to the CNS is meaningless without the visual cortex
Visual cortex
The role is to interpret information derived from the eyes
What are the 3 types of eye movements
- Fixation
- Saccade
- Smooth pursuit
Fixation
200 - 300 ms duration
Saccade
30 - 80 ms duration
Smooth pursuit
Muscles of the eye
- 6 extraocular muscles that move the eyes gaze
- Training can improve speed, co-ordination, and endurance of these extraocular muscles
Ciliary muscle
This controls focus between near and far
The sphincter and dilator muscles
Muscles in the iris open and close the pupil to allow light into the eye. These are involuntary muscles and therefore cannot be trained
Peripheral vision
Your brain uses peripheral vision to help track your own movement and the movement of items around you
2 types of visual search
- Pursuit tracking
- Fixation and saccadic eye movement
Pursuit tracking
Following an object through space
Fixation and saccadic eye movement
Quick jump of the eyes from one-point to another
Why do elite athletes have better visual search
- Have more consistent and trained visual search strategies
- Spend less time fixating on the unimportant cues
Quiet Eye
The quiet eye is defined as the final fixation or tracking gaze at a task-relevant location prior to the initiation of the final phase of movement
What are the 2 types of visual acuity
- SVA
- DVA
Static visual acuity
The ability to pick out detail in a stationary object
Dynamic visual acuity
The measure of visual acuity, factoring in time and motion
Signal detection theory
The probability of detecting any given stimulus or signal depends on the intensity of the signal compared with the intensity of the background noise
What does signal detection depend on
- Target intensity
- Background intensity
- Sensory acuity
- Familiarity with the signal
- Arousal
Visual training
A collection of techniques employed for the purpose of developing visual functions of athletes
Sport vision training examples (8)
- Increasing peripheral vision
- Improving contrast sensitivity
- Improve dynamic acuity
- Depth perception training
- Visual reaction time training
- Smooth pursuit and visual tracking training
- Visuo-motor integration
- Utilising eye dominance information
