Chapter 17 - Concentration

Attention

the concentration of mental effort on sensory or mental events

Concentration

the mental effort placed on sensory or mental events

the person’s ability to exert deliberate mental effort on what is most important in a given situation

the same as attention

Four Components of Concentration

1. Focusing on relevant environmental cues

2. Maintaining attentional focus

3. Situation awareness

4. Shifting attentional focus when necessary

Situation awareness

Four Components of Concentration;

the ability to understand what is going on around oneself

Focusing on relevant environmental cues

Four Components of Concentration;

selective attention built through learning and practice

results in increase in performance outcomes, movement efficiency, and movement kinematics

external focus

Maintaining Attentional Focus

can be difficult as it needs to be done for the duration of the competition/performance

Maintaining Situational Awareness

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

Attentional flexibility

the ability to alter the scope and focus of attention as demanded by the situation

Expert vs Novices in Attentional Processing

• expert players attend more to advance information than novices

• expert players attend more to movement patterns of their opponents than novices

• expert players search more systematically for cues than do novices

Association-Dissociation

Associative Attentional Strategy

Dissociative Attentional Strategy

Associative Attentional Strategy

Association-Dissociation;

monitoring bodily functions and feelings, such as heart rate, breathing, etc.

Dissociative Attentional Strategy

Association-Dissociation;

not monitoring bodily functions

distraction and tuning out

Three Processes to Explain Attentional Focus

Attentional selectivity

Attentional capacity

Attentional alertness

Attentional selectivity

Three Processes to Explain Attentional Focus;

• letting some information into the processing system while other information is screened or ignored

• common selectivity errors include:

  • being too broad in one’s focus

  • being distracted from relevant information by irrelevant information

  • inability to shift rapidly enough among all relevant cues

Attentional capacity

Three Processes to Explain Attentional Focus;

• attention is limited in the amount of information that can be processed at one time

• Controlled and Automatic

Controlled Processing

Attentional capacity;

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

Automatic Processing

Attentional capacity;

mental processing without conscious attention

less restrictive than controlled processing

Attentional alertness

Three Processes to Explain Attentional Focus;

• increases in emotional arousal narrows the attention

• example of arousal attentional narrowing:

  • losing sensitivity to cues in the peripheral visual field with increased emotional arousal

Concentration and Optimal Performance

• focus on only the relevant cues in the athletic environment and eliminate distractions

• ability to automatically process or execute movements is critical in performance environments

• athletes need to focus on only the relevant cues in the athletic environment and to eliminate distractions

Choking

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

Help alleviate choking

• imagery to build confidence

• pre-shot routines to 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

Self-Talk

any statement or thought about self

helps keep one’s mind from wandering

Types of Self-Talk

• Positive (motivational)

• Instructional

• Negative

• Spontaneous

• Goal-directed