KIN 340

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KIN 340

• Attentional Focus or Concentration

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What is attention?

• Everyone knows what attention is. It is taking
  possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form,
  of one out of what seems several simultaneously
  possible objects or trains of thought.
  Focalization, concentration of consciousness, are
  its essence. It implies withdrawal from some
  things in order to deal effectively with others.
  (James, W. (1890), The Principles of Psychology)

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Modern Definition of Attention

• Engagement in the perceptual, cognitive and motor
  activities associated with performing skills
• Motor activities can be performed consciously or
  non-consciously

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Selective Attention

• Definition
• Selecting certain information for processing and
  ignoring other information
• Describe the cocktail party phenomenon
• Ability to attend to one message in the midst of
  many other competing messages
• Ability to attend to one message and then
  suddenly be distracted by another message to
  which we were not specifically attending.

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Selective Attention (cont.)

• What do we tend to focus on?
• Unexpected stimuli
• Visual stimuli
• Most meaningful when we have a choice
• Allocate attention to sources we have been
  instructed to, which we might not have otherwise
  (e.g., BB plays, Pitch, Soccer feet or person?)

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Selective Attention (cont.)

• As we learn skills, we select the most relevant
  features for successful performance of the skill

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Instruction and Attention

• Attending to relevant cues in midst of many
  competing cues
• Learn to ignore non-relevant cues
• Best to direct attention to relevant cues
• Attend to skill success
• Learner will attend to cues most meaningful or
  pertinent to him/her
• Learn which cues are not important
• Necessary to rehabilitation when person used to
  do task without conscious attention

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Instruction and Attention (cont.)

• Distractions can and do occur but can be overcome
• Distractions occur when they are meaningful
• Reinforce meaningful cues of task to overcome
  this
• Be confident you are attending to the pertinent
  cues

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Nideffers Dimensions of Attentional Styles

• Directions of Attention (1st Dimension)
• Internal
• Attending to his/her own thoughts and feelings,
  physiological cues
• External
• Attending to things going on in environment
• Occurs at a more reflexive level

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Nideffers Dimensions of Attentional Styles

• Width of Attention (2nd Dimension)
• Broad
• Attending to several different cues
• Narrow
• Attending to one or two cues

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Nideffers Attentional Styles (cont.)

• Shift from one attentional focus to another
• Narrow to broad
• Broad to narrow
• Internal to external
• External to internal
• Attention and concentration in sport must be
  adjustable, like a zoom lens on a camera

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Nideffers Attentional Styles (cont.)

• Four basic types of attention
• Broad - external
• Broad - internal
• Narrow - external
• Narrow - internal

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Nideffers Attentional Styles (cont.)

• As a general rule, the more complex and rapidly
  changing the situation, the more externally
  focused your attention must be.
• Also, the more need there is for analysis and
  planning, the more internally focused your
  attention must be.

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Nideffers Attentional Styles (cont.)
External
Blocks out distractions, crowd noises or internal
thoughts (bowlers and golfers)
Aware of everything going on around
them (quarterback scanning the field during a
play)
Broad
Narrow
Able to focus on a single thing ( weightlifting,
distance running)
Analytical athlete, flexible and
adjusting (coaches)
Internal
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Nideffer Attentional ErrorsTypes of Athletes
and the Errors Committed
External
- Forgets to think - Too involved with audience -
Overinvolved with info
- Errors of underinclusion - Cant adjust to
changing situation
Broad
Narrow
- Overanalyzes - In their headsfocus on the
past - Thinks about too many things at once

• - Chokers
• Focuses on self-defeating thoughts
• Become too focused on own feelings

Internal
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Attentional Problems

• Internal Distractors
• attending to past and future events
• overanalyzing body mechanics
• fatigue
• External Distractors
• visual and auditory distractors (crowd noise,
  lighting, parents)
• gamesmanship (trash talking, stalling)

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Effect of Arousal and Stresson Attention

• Inability to shift from one type of attention to
  another.
• Attention narrows and performer eliminates
  important cues
• Attention becomes more internally focused on
  self-defeating thoughts. This is commonly known
  as choking.