Concentration, Attention, and Arousal in Sport

Vocabulary flashcards covering information processing, nervous system arousal regulation, memory stores, attention capacity, and performance under pressure in sports psychology.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The system consisting of the brain and spinal cord that processes information and coordinates responses.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The nervous system division that connects the CNS to the rest of the body.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

The component of the nervous system that controls involuntary physiological responses involved in arousal.

Cerebral Cortex

A key brain structure involved in arousal that is responsible for conscious thought.

Hypothalamus

A key brain structure involved in arousal that governs unconscious bodily functions.

Ascending Reticular Activating System

A key neurological structure responsible for arousal and alertness.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Known as 'The Accelerator'; increases physiological arousal, activates the fight-or-flight/stress response, and stimulates the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Known as 'The Brake'; decreases physiological arousal and helps the body return toward homeostasis.

Stimulus (Information Processing)

The initial step of information processing where information enters the system.

Mental Operations

The stage of information processing where the athlete interprets and processes incoming information.

Response (Information Processing)

The final stage of information processing where a decision or action is produced.

Sensory Information Store

A memory system that holds a large amount of incoming information for a very brief period.

Short-Term Memory

A memory store where information is temporarily available for processing and can be transferred to long-term memory via rehearsal.

Long-Term Memory

The memory system responsible for the relatively permanent storage of information.

Chunking

Grouping pieces of information together to increase the amount that can be managed in short-term memory.

BITs

The units used to measure information; processing demand increases as the number of possible options an athlete must consider rises.

Selective Attention

The ability to attend to one stimulus while excluding competing stimuli.

Limited Information-Processing Capacity

The principle that the amount of information humans can actively process is finite; when two tasks require substantial processing capacity, they interfere with one another.

Automaticity

The stage where a skill becomes 'second nature' through repeated practice, requiring less conscious processing and freeing attention for other information.

Cue Utilization Theory

A theory stating that increasing arousal progressively narrows the range of cues available for attention.

Task-Relevant Cues

Environmental or situational information that directly aids performance (e.g., a defender being out of position).

Task-Irrelevant Cues

Information that does not assist in executing the task (e.g., colors or movement in the crowd).

Distractibility

A condition in which attention shifts in a way that prevents the athlete from recognizing necessary cues.

Attentional Flexibility

The ability to quickly and effectively shift attention from one location or cue to another.

"In the Zone"

A state of peak performance where preparation allows well-learned skills to operate automatically with little conscious regulation, without brain activity shutting off.

Choking

A performance breakdown caused by excessive conscious control, occurring when attention shifts from automatic execution back toward controlled processing.

Panicking

A performance failure characterized by a loss of logical processing, where an athlete reverts to instinct rather than thinking logically through the situation.

Attentional Control Training

A structured approach training athletes to identify relevant information, gate out irrelevant information, regulate arousal and emotions, and shift attention as demands change.