Attentional Control and Concentration in Sport

This set of flashcards covers the key vocabulary and concepts of attentional control, concentration, and distractors in sports psychology based on the lecture notes.

Attentional Control

The cognitive ability to manage attentional resources effectively, directing focus towards relevant stimuli while inhibiting distractions.

Distraction

The state when concentration is lost because attention is directed away from relevant tasks; it can be external (visual or auditory) or internal (cognitions).

Internal Distractors

Cognitions that are negative or unrelated to goal-directed behaviour, including thoughts about ranking, feelings like anger or frustration, and bodily sensations such as fatigue or pain.

Concentration

An athlete's deliberate decision to invest mental effort on what is most important in a given situation.

Selective Attention

An athlete's perceptual ability to 'zoom' in on task-relevant information while ignoring irrelevant environmental cues.

Divided Attention

The ability to coordinate two or more actions at the same time, which is possible when skills no longer require conscious control.

Situational Awareness

The ability to understand and react to what is going on around yourself in a sport or exercise setting.

Attentional Flexibility

The ability of an athlete to shift the focus of their attention as conditions change and move between different types of focus.

Broad Attentional Focus

A focus that encompasses a wide array of stimuli, such as a basketball point guard surveying the court and observing the positioning of all teammates and opponents.

Narrow Attentional Focus

A focus that concentrates on specific details, such as a tennis player visually tracking the trajectory, speed, and spin of an incoming ball during a serve.

External Attentional Focus

Attention directed outward toward an object, such as a ball, or towards an opponent's movements.

Internal Attentional Focus

Attention paid to internal thoughts and feelings, such as a gymnast focusing on the feeling of a double somersault to time their landing.

Controlled Distraction

A conscious consideration of external and internal factors followed by a deliberate refocusing on the task and the required technique.

Performance Goals

Task-oriented goals that focus on the performance process rather than the outcome, which helps to reduce anxiety.

Concentration Cues

A list of positive, focused triggers such as self-talk or visual reminders used to quickly shift attention to appropriate points during a performance.

Trigger Words

Specific words used by athletes to refocus, such as Tiger Woods using 'commit' to block out doubts before a shot or 'next shot' to move past a mistake.

Mental Rehearsal

A technique used to prepare for distractions and visualize the performance, including both perfect execution and potential problems, as demonstrated by Michael Phelps.

Attention Narrowing

A process often induced by high arousal where an athlete focuses on a narrow set of cues, potentially reducing the availability of task-relevant information needed for decision-making.

Distal External Focus

Focusing on a target further away from the body, such as the finish line in a kayak race, which has been shown to be more effective for motor learning than a proximal focus.

Nideffer (1976) Model

A model of attentional focus in sport stating that attention can dimensions of internal or external, and broad or narrow.