Chapter 17: Concentration Flashcards
Concentration
mental effort placed on sensory or mental events
person’s ability to exert deliberate mental effort on what is most important in a given situation
concentration and attention are often used interchangeably
Attention
concentration of mental effort on sensory or mental events
What are the four components of concentration?
focussing on task relevant cues from the environment
maintaining attentional focus
situation awareness - the ability to understand what is going on around oneself
shifting attentional focus when necessary
How do you focus on relevant environmental cues?
external focus of attention has been found to be beneficial to performance in a variety of tasks
want to pick up right relevant cues in team sports
external focus results in increases in performance outcomes, movement efficiency, and movement kinematics
effectiveness of an external focus generalizes across many situations and skill levels meaning teachers and coaches should teach athletes how to focus externally
What is the importance for maintaining attentional focus?
maintaining attentional focus for the duration of the competition or performance is also part of concentration
maintaining attentional focus is how we understand/explain concentration
What is the importance of maintaining situational awareness?
situation awareness is the ability that allows players to size up game situations, opponents, and competitions to make appropriate decisions based on the situation, often under acute pressure and time demands
How does concentration influence optimal performance?
focus on only the relevant cues in the athletic environment and eliminate distractions (task relevant cues)
the ability to automatically process or execute movements is critical in performance environments
external focus generally used in team sports
internal focus generally used in individual sports
Types of attentional focus
broad attentional focus
narrow attentional focus
external attentional focus
internal attentional focus
What is Nideffer’s theory of attention and interpersonal style?
where different sports fit in the attentional focus spectrum
attention shifts throughout the performance
dynamic nature
What are internal distracters?
thought patterns that lead to lose of concentration
ie. attending to past events, attending to future use, choking under pressure, overanalysis of body mechanics, fatigue, inadequate motivation
What is choking?
attentional process that leads to impaired performance and the inability to retain control over performance without outside assistance
characterized by performers’ exhibiting conscious step-by-step execution of skills and a breakdown of automated movement patterns
loss of concentration that leads to inadequate coping of pressure
stops athletes from being able to perform automatically (overthinking)
Conscious processing hypothesis
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 of the task
well learned skill is forgotten and begin to overthink/question themselves
performance decreases only with increased focus on several task-relevant cues
overemphasis on body mechanics is detrimental to performance
What interventions can help alleviate choking under pressure?
imagery builds athletes’ confidence
preshot/pre-performance routines help keep athletes’ task-focused and relaxed
secondary task focus helps athletes focus on one task-relevant cue
exposure to stressful situations allows athletes to feel more comfortable
Easterbrook’s cue utilization theory
we have an optimal performance zone with concentration and attentional focus
optimal performance region without under-inclusion of task-relevant cues or over-inclusion of task-irrelevant cues
different for everyone and different depending on sport
