Lecture 6: Performing under pressure 2: Contemporary approaches

Question 1

Under anxiety

Answer 1

• Skill focus -> too much attention on movement execution
• Distraction -> too little attention on task-relevant info
• For experts, attending to movement execution is not task-relevant
• For experts, skill focus = distraction

Question 2

Is attention really everything? no - other changes when person anxious

Answer 2

• Pressure -> anxiety -> attention, ?…
• Assumption 1: Multilevel effect = majority of literature explains effects of anxiety at attentional level
  = attention -> interpretation -> physical response e.g. muscle tension
• Assumption 2: performance is a process
  = 99% of anxiety-performance lit. based on closed-skill execution
  = many actions possible in a sport situation (anxiety may reduce options we can see)
  = perception -> selection -> action
  = don’t look at action phase of movement

Question 3

Level 1: (Visual) attention

Answer 3

• Under-anxiety = increased attention for threat-related info (source of threat, response to threat)
• Visual attention but also thoughts
• Experiments = subjects watch screen
  = given threat and then have to re-direct their gaze to cross
  = subjects either high or low anxious
  = anxious individuals -> quicker to detect threat cue (inhibition function)
  -> slower to disengage from threat que (shifting function)

Question 4

Wilson et al. study (2009) = attention

Answer 4

• Under-anxiety = bias towards threat-related interpretation
• Threat-related interpretation bias = what we listen to/look at is not always what we hear/see
  = Calvo & Castillo (2001) -> anxious vs. non-anxious subjects
  -> hear words and spell them out e.g. die vs. dye
  -> anxious people spell threatening words

Question 5

Studies on interpretation

Answer 5

• Stefannuci et al. (2008) = anxious people perceive slope as steeper
• Changes in interpretation affect action selection
• Rock-climbing study (Net et al. 2008) = eyetracking: more fixations when anxious but same holds scanned
  = perceived capability: reduce in perceived reachability under high threat
  = Anxious people may use more holds to get to location & grasp holds that are closer as handholds appear further away

Question 6

Level 3: Physical Responses

Answer 6

• Under-anxiety = neurophysiological changes to facilitate quick avoidance responses
• Increased corticospinal excitability (to facilitate quick response)
• Avoidance motivation (to facilitate response direction)
• Increases muscle tension affects movement fluency
• When people look at more threatning pics, increased muscle response to allow quick physical response
• People on climbing with anxiety = increased use of force, less fluent movements

Question 7

Avoidance motivation in soccer (Jordet & Hartman, 2008)

Answer 7

• Study analysed penalty shootout
  Negative valence shots (losing)
  = Preparation time decreases in higher pressure shot
  = avoid looking at GK
  = decreases % goals
• Anxiety increases importance of doing well -> extra effort