KINE 406 Ch.3

Characteristics associated with consciousness, awareness, and cognitive effort as they relate to the performance of skills

Attention

Factors influencing attentional demands?

• Environmental complexity

• Task complexity

• Performer’s skill level

• Number of cues

A critical factor that influences an individual’s available attentional resources at any given time

Arousal

A “general physiological and psychological activation of the organism that varies on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement”

Arousal

An individual’s propensity to perceive situations as threatening or nonthreatening

Trait anxiety

What level of arousal exists for peak performance?

Optium level

As a task ___ in complexity, ___ levels of arousal are optimal

Increases, lower

The natural arousal level for one individual may be significantly ____ than that of another

Higher

Changes in attentional focus occur according to arousal levels

Cue utilization hypothesis

Attentional focus ___ as arousal approaches optimal levels

Narrows

The narrowing of attentional focus with increasing levels of arousal

Perceptual narrowing

The range of arousal levels that lead to optimal performance

Zone of optimal functioning

How to increase arousal:

• Increase rhythm/rate of breathing

• Listen to upbeat music

• Increase physical activity

• Stay motivated

How to decrease arousal:

• Encourage slow/controlled breathing

• Contract and relax various muscles

• Replace negative thoughts with constructive ones

• Visualize a positive outcome

• Focus on performance rather than outcome

Ability to attend to meaningful information

Selective attention

Ability to attend to or focus on one specific item in the midst of countless stimuli

Cocktail party phenomenon

The process of selectively attending to or concentrating on specific environmental information

Attentional focus

Used to assess the external environment/situation ex. a bicycle courier maneuvering in traffic

Broad external

Used to analyze and plan strategy or the impending motor response ex. billiards player taking a shot

Broad internal

Used to focus exclusively on one or two external cues to perform the motor response ex. a volleyball player executing a set

Narrow external

Used to monitor internal cues and mentally rehearse an upcoming performance ex. high jumper visualizing her performance prior to performance

Narrow internal

The action to be avoided is actually carried out

Ironic effects

What should learners focus on?

• Their own body’s movements (internal attentional focus)

• The effects of their movements (external focus)

An external focus of attention ____ learning and performance

Enhances

The final fixation located on a specific target or object before the initiation of movement

Quiet eye

Stable and predictable targets in position (basketball)

Fixed targets

Target is fixed but aiming location is more difficult to detect (golf)

Abstract target

Target location is anticipated (fencing, boxing, martial arts)

Moving target

Require the performer to track a moving stimulus, decide when and/or where the stimulus will arrive, and determine and execute the appropriate limb movement to intercept it (catching, striking, avoiding a collision) 

Interceptive skills

What variable is time to contact determined by?

Tau

How is tau measured?

Taking size of retina image at any position of an object's approach and dividing it by the rate of change 

Skills that require quick and accurate situational decision making, selective attention to relevant environmental cues, and pattern recognition 

Tactical skills

What components should be considered when designing training activities?

Functionality and action fidelity

The constraints must be the same as the real context

Functionality

The task must elicit the same response in the performance environment

Action fidelity

How do you develop effective visual?

Search strategies, pattern recognition, anticipation, and decision-making skills

Relationship stating that an optimal level of arousal exists for peak performance

Inverted-U principle