Attention

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Attention Motor Performance
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A Game to Remember

• Its March 2003. The game was tied. David Hehn
  travels down court. He receives the pass he
  stops he shoots. The crowd is silent as the
  ball travels through the air. All eyes
  are on the ball. The ball goes
  in! UVM wins! UVM is
  the America East
  Champions!

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Attention

• What factors influenced this basketball players
  attention?
• What was he focused on?
• How can attentional capacity and focus be
  enhanced?

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Attention

• Capacity to engage in perceptual, cognitive and
  motor activities
• Attentional capacity limited

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Attentional Capacity

• Limited availability of attentional resources
• One Central Resource Pool

Flexible capacity limits
Task A
Task B
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Attention

• 1. Arousal Performance

good
Performance
poor
L
Arousal
H
How is this related to attention ?
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Attentional Capacity

• 2. Task Requirements
• Complexity number

(pat head, pat head rub stomach, etc.)
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Attentional Capacity

• 3. Rules
• At least 1 task completed
• Novel/new or highly
  familiar/meaningful
• Specific intention or
  direction

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Attentional Capacity

• Multiple Resource Pool

Input-output
Info processing
HOP- HOP- JUMP
codes
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Attentional Focus

• Process used to selectively attend or direct
  attention to specific environmental info

internal
Breadth
broad
narrow
external
Direction
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Example
narrow
broad
Feeling in the left knee
Feel of the full golf swing
internal
Center of the catchers glove
Movements of opposing players
external
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Examples

• Hitting a baseball
• Throwing a football pass
• Throwing a shot put
• Catching a frisbee
• Others?

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Arousal Focus
Task-relevent stimuli
Irrelevent stimuli
Irrelevent stimuli
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Choking

• Decrease in performance at critical times
• What happens physically?
• What detriments to performance
  result?
• WHY??

15
Attentional Focus

• Attentional Switching
• Real-world settings require us
  to switch focus of attention
• Need to do it quickly at
  appropriate time

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Attentious Consciousness

• Attention demanding activities do not always
  involve conscious awareness
• Automaticity implies skills
  can be performed without attentional
  demands

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Attention Consciousness
Automaticity developed through practice
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Visual Search

• Process of directing visual attention to locate
  appropriate cues
• Distinctiveness of relevant features
  important in visual selection

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Visual Search

• What makes environmental features more distinct?

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Visual Search

• Visual search of critical cues impacts
• Action selection
• Constraining of selected action
• Timing of initiation of action

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Practical Examples Implications

• Optimal Arousal
• Attentional Capacity
• Attentional Focus
• Teaching to Anticipate
• Visual Search