Attention and Concentration

Question 1

Define concentration

Answer 1

The mental effort placed on sensory or mental events.

Question 2

Define attention

Answer 2

The cognitive process allowing you to focus/concentrate.

Question 3

What are 4 components of concentration

Answer 3

1. Focusing on relevant environment cues.
2. Maintaining attentional focus
3. Situation awareness
4. Shifting attentional focus when necessary

Question 4

What are the 4 attentional processes

Answer 4

1. Breadth of attention
2. Scanning behaviours
3. Distractibility
4. Selective attention bias

Question 5

Give 3 comparisons of elite vs non elite athletes (concentration)

Answer 5

– make faster decisions and better anticipate future events
– attend more to movement patterns
– search more systematically for cues
– selectively attend to the structure inherent in sport
– are more skilful in predicting ball flight patterns

Question 6

Define attentional selectivity

Answer 6

Letting some information into the processing system while other information is screened or ignored,

Question 7

What are some common attentional selectivity errors

Answer 7

• Being too broad in one’s focus
• Being distracted from relevant information by irrelevant information
• Inability to shift focus rapidly enough among all relevant cues

Question 8

Describe the idea of attentional capacity

Answer 8

Attention is limited in the amount of information that can be processed at one time. A bucket.

Question 9

Describe controlled processing

Answer 9

mental processing that involves conscious attention and awareness of what you are doing when you perform a sport skill.

Question 10

Describe automatic processing

Answer 10

mental processing without conscious attention.

Question 11

Are athletes considered more or less proficient if they can switch change from controlled processing to automatic processing

Answer 11

More proficient

Question 12

Describe the idea of attentional alertness

Answer 12

Increases in emotional arousal narrow the attentional field. When you’re nervous or anxious, your attention is narrowed.

Question 13

Which psychologist came up with the idea of attentional styles

Answer 13

Nideffer

Question 14

What are the 4 continuum of attentional styles

Answer 14

Broad
Narrow
Internal
External

Question 15

Describe ‘broad’ as an attentional style

Answer 15

Attending to a wide range of cues

Question 16

Describe ‘narrow’ as an attentional style

Answer 16

Focusing on specific cues

Question 17

Describe ‘Internal’ as an attentional style

Answer 17

Focusing on internal feelings/your body

Question 18

Describe ‘External’ as an attentional style

Answer 18

Focusing on cues in the environment

Question 19

A lacrosse player passing of the ball is an example of a combination which attentional styles?

Answer 19

Broad External

Question 20

A tennis serve is an example of a combination which attentional styles?

Answer 20

Narrow External

Question 21

Developing a race strategy is an example of a combination which attentional styles?

Answer 21

Broad Internal

Question 22

Taking a breath to relax is an example of a combination which attentional styles?

Answer 22

Narrow Internal

Question 23

Describe the association strategy

Answer 23

Monitoring bodily functions and feelings, such as heart rate, breathing, and muscle tension

Question 24

Describe the dissociation strategy

Answer 24

Not monitoring bodily functions; distraction and tuning out.

Question 25

Should the associative or dissociative strategy be used to increase adherence to exercise?

Answer 25

Dissociation

Question 26

Give 3 internal distractions associated with attentional problems

Answer 26

o	Attending to past events (what was?)
o	Attending to future events (what if?)
o	Choking under pressure 
o	Overanalysis of body mechanics
o	Fatigue
o	Inadequate motivation

Question 27

Give 2 internal distractions associated with attentional problems

Answer 27

o Visual distractions

o Auditory distractions

Question 28

Describe choking (attention)

Answer 28

An attentional process that leads to impaired performance and the inability to retain control over performance without outside assistance.

Question 29

What characterises choking (attention)

Answer 29

Performers’ exhibiting conscious step-by-step execution of skills and a breakdown of automated movement patterns.

Question 30

List 3 attentional changes caused as a result of anxiety, which could lead to choking

Answer 30

Having an internal focus
Having a narrow focus
Reduced flexibility

Question 31

Describe concious processing hypothesis

Answer 31

Choking occurs when skilled performers focus too much of their conscious attention to the task, much as they would do if they were a novice at the task. Performance decreases only with increased focus on several task-relevant cues.

Question 32

Give 2 ways to assess attentional skills

Answer 32

Test of Attention and Interpersonal Style (TAIS)

Psychophysiological and neurological measures:

Question 33

Describe an effective attender

Answer 33

They can attend to several stimuli without getting overloaded and can narrow attentional focus without leaving out important information

Question 34

Describe an ineffective attender

Answer 34

They are easily confused with multiple stimuli.

Question 35

Give one method to measure attention itself

Answer 35

Gaze behaviour (eye tracking)

Question 36

Give the three subheadings of fixation metrics

Answer 36

Number of fixations
Fixation duration
Scan Path

Question 37

Describe the results of number of fixations

Answer 37

a concentration of a large number of fixations in a certain area may be related to a user’s interest in the object or detail presented in that area when viewing a scene

Question 38

What are 2 components of exceptional performance

Answer 38

• Being absorbed in the present
• Being mentally relaxed
• Complete awareness of the body/environment