Attentional Control

‘Focusing attention onto the relevant environmental cues and maintaining attentional focus until the skill has been completed.’

•Concentration is vital to information processing and decision-making. It is the key to successful execution of all sports.

•Martens – mistakes happen in top-level sport not because technique is suspect, but because of attentional errors.

•Concentration can be determined by external factors e.g. stimulus intensity, but internal processes of cognition and the emotional condition of arousal are also determinants.

Arousal is the level of excitement or activation generated in the central nervous system.

Poor performance occurs when an individual is under- or over-aroused. Skills are best performed when at optimal levels of arousal.

When arousal is low, the perceptual field (attentional focus) widens and an excessive no. of environmental cues enters the info. processing system.

Selective attention is not in operation and concentration on relevant info. is difficult.

This causes information overload to occur and the process of decision-making is seriously impeded causing mistakes in performance.

As arousal increases, the perceptual field adjusts to the ideal width enabling the performer to focus on the most relevant info.

Selective attention is fully operational and the potential to concentrate is maximised.

Cue Utilisation Hypothesis accounts for efficient decision-making and effective performance. It predicts that selection of the most relevant environmental data will occur at the optimal arousal level.

Beyond the optimal threshold, the perceptual focus narrows excessively and the relevant cues may be missed.

The athlete may appear highly agitated and paniced in an effort to succeed:

hyper-vigilance or panic.

Under Arousal:•Perceptual field widens excessively•Selective attention cannot operate •Info overload is result•Concentration is not focused

Optimum Arousal:

•Perceptual field adjusts to the ideal width

•Selective attention can operate

•Cue-utilisation predicts cue selection

Over Arousal:

•Perceptual field narrows excessively

•Selective attention cannot operate

•Hypervigilence

(panic) results

Performance

Inverted U Theory predicts influence of arousal on performance.

Cue-utilisation hypothesis (Eaterbrook) is a theory which predicts the selection of the most relevant environmental data at the optimum arousal level.

•Adjustment of the perceptual field explains how attentional focus is maximised, but does not make clear what happens when the width of attention (no. of environmental cues needing attention) needs to change depending on the sporting situation

•e.g. GA in netball needs narrower width of attention when shooting than the C in open play.

Nideffer (1976) recognised that the width of attention needs to change in response to varying situations within a game.

He identified 4 types of style, arranged on 2 dimensions:

Width (broad/narrow) - focuses on a limited range of cues (narrow) to a wide range of cues (broad)

Direction (internal/external) - thoughts/feelings of own body (internal) to events/objects outside body (external)

External

Narrow

Internal

Broad

Width dimension:

•Represents an info. continuum and refers to the no. of environmental cues that require attention.•The ‘broad’ extreme demands the performer to attend to many sensory cues.•The ‘narrow’ extreme requires focus onto one cue.

BROAD NARROW

Direction dimension:

•External attention relates to focus as being outward and onto an object e.g. ball or movement of opponent.•Internal attention refers to a focus on feelings or thoughts e.g. imagery/mental rehearsal.•The internal/external dimension is not a continuum but a dichotomy – either one or the other, no in-between states.

EXTERNAL

INTERNAL

Nideffer recognised 4 attentional styles:

broad/external external/narrow narrow/internal internal/broad

In activities where the env. changes, all four styles may be used. The shift in attention focus could happen in preparation or execution of a skill.

E.g. Hooker in Rugby – throw ball into lineout using narrow and external, while preparation for the throw would require an internal and narrow style. However, in open play the hooker would need to use broad and external attention.

All performers have a preferred or strongest attentional style

The expert performer needs to be competent in each of the four styles

Use a practical example to illustrate each attentional style: (Use the text book to help you)

1-Broad 2-Narrow 3-Internal 4-External 5-Broad/External 6-Broad/Internal 7-Narrow/External 8-Narrow/Internal

1. By using a practical examples to support your answer, explain the four attentional styles identified by Nideffer (4marks)

2. Using your knowledge of Inverted U Theory, discuss the factors that a coach should consider when preparing an athlete for performance. (4 marks)

3. Explain the cue utilisation hypothesis, its links to arousal and its affects on performance (6 marks)