Attention, anxiety, and performance Flashcards
What is attention?
The cognitive process of selectively concentrating on certain aspects of the environment while ignoring others
Why does attention have a limited capacity?
Have a limited pool of resources for info processing, often determine by genetics; multiple sources of attention can be processed at the same time
When is attention compromised?
When required resources > available resources
How do attentional resources and skills relate?
For novices, attentional demands of a skill are high (conscious control of movement); for experts, attentional demands of a skill are low (autonomous execution of skill)
What are the attentional stages of the learning continuum?
Cognitive to autonomous (novice to expert)
What are the identifying features of cognitive control?
Increased attentional demand; cannot use selective attention to great effect; jerky and inefficient movements; skill controlled by a sequence of separate units
What are the identifying features of autonomous control?
Decreased attentional deman; skill execution comprises of fast, efficient control procedures; skill is controlled by one integrated unit; able to selective attend to appropriate stimuli
Why do attentional demands decrease as we learn?
Are able to learn what stimuli to focus on and which to ignore
What can performance be impaired by?
Over-thinking and devoting too much attention to the task
What is reinvestment theory?
Under pressure, people reinvest explicit (declarative) knowledge
Why is reinvestment bad?
Creates the deautomisation process, meaning performance suffers as we reinvest due to revert to a more novice stage
How can reinvestment theory be tested?
Have elite vs novice; high pressure vs low pressure; measure somatic and cognitive anxiety; measure movement kinematics
How does skill-focused tasks impact athletes?
Improves performance of novice as helped selective attention on movement; harms performance of elite athletes as too much attention disrupted automaticity
How does distraction impact athletes?
Harms performance of novice as unable to selective focus on appropriate task due to dual task; improves performance of elite athletes as external consumes attention and enhances automaticity
How can attention theory be applied in practice?
When learning a new skill, focus on relevant cues and process, not outcomes; to develop expertise, practice with distractions, establish routines and don’t over-analyse
