Concentration and attention - L9

What is attention?

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

What are the 4 key characteristics of attention?

• Selective attention

• Maintaining alertness/attention

• Situational awareness

• Shifting attention

What is selective attention?

An athlete selects where to put their attention, focussing on the relevant cues and disregarding the irrelevant cues

What are internal cues?

Cues that come from the mind, such as thoughts and feelings

What are external cues?

Cues that come from the environment, such as teammate calls

What is alertness?

Maintaining attention for a long period of time and being able to switch attention on and off

What is situational awareness?

Awareness of what is going on around you in your environment

What is shifting attention?

Shifting the scope and focus of attention

What are the 4 types of attention?

• Broad

• Narrow

• Internal

• External

What does the information processing approach say about attention?

Human thinking is like a series of steps, like how computers process information. It used to believe that there was a single “channel” for attention but now understands that there are multiple, so attention can be split between multiple things at once

What are the 3 processes of attention?

• Attentional selectivity

• Attentional capacity

• Attentional alertness

What is attentional selectivity?

A spotlight that is used to focus on whatever is most important

What are 3 disadvantages of attentional selectivity for performance?

• Failure to pinpoint the most important cue can lead to missing something important, like looking at the wrong player

• Distractions can make it hard to concentrate on one thing

• You can’t divide your attention to focus on multiple important cues

Describe the 2 types of attentional processing used to mitigate the limited capacity of attention?

• Controlled attention - conscious attention on something

• Automatic attention - don’t need conscious attention to be able to do something, like a highly practised skill

How does automatic attention increase attentional capacity?

It allows for conscious attention on other things at the same time

What is attentional alertness connected to?

The level of emotional arousal

What is a negative consequence on attention due to too much emotion?

Too much emotion leads to a narrow field of attention, leading to cues in other areas being missed

What does attentional control theory state?

Anxiety impairs the goal-directed attentional system, so in threatening situations, the stimulus-driven system is more influential

What are top down and bottom up processing?

Top down processing is goal-directed processing and bottom up processing is stimulus-driven processing

What research supports attentional control theory?

Experienced footballers were asked to take penalties under high and low conditions of anxiety. In the high-anxiety condition, footballers would fixate faster, more often, and for longer on the goalkeeper (the threat), leading to decreased performance and more shots going within reach of the goalkeeper

What is attentional focus?

How athletes only focus on relevant cues and stimuli

What are the 2 dimensions of attentional focus?

• Width - broad/narrow

• Direction - internal/external

What is broad focus of attention?

Being aware of multiple stimuli at once

What is narrow focus of direction?

Excluding irrelevant information

What is an external direction of attention?

Focus is on a stimulus external to the individual

What is internal direction of attention?

Focus is on internal factors

When would broad, external attention be used?

To rapidly assess a situation or perceive several situations at the same time

When would broad, internal attention be used?

To analyse and plan

When would narrow, external attention be used?

To direct attention outward to one or two external cues

When would narrow, internal attention be used?

To mentally rehearse upcoming performances or control an emotional state

What can internal distractions cause?

Choking under pressure

Draw the choking process

Conditions leading to choking —> physical changes + attentional changes —> performance impairment

What are possible conditions leading to choking?

• Importance of the competition

• Critical plays in competition

• Evaluation by others

What physical changes are there?

• Increased muscle tension

• Increased breathing rate

• Increased heart rate

What attentional changes are there?

• Internal focus

• Narrow focus

• Reduced flexibility of thinking

What performance impairments are there?

• Timing/coordination breakdown

• Muscle tightness/fatigue

• Rushing

• Inability to attend to relevant cues

How and through what techniques can sport psychology improve attention?

• Self-talk - reduces negative distractions

• Mindfulness - acceptance and awareness of thoughts

• Pre-performance routines - get into the right state or mindset to compete