concetration

Question 1

what is the defnition of concentration?

Answer 1

Concentration is the ability to maintain focus on relevant environmental cues. When the environment changes rapidly, attentional focus must also change rapidly. Thinking of the past or the future raises irrelevant cues that often lead to performance errors.

Question 2

what is situational awareness?

Answer 2

an athlete’s ability to understand what is going on around them and allows the player to size up game situations, opponents, and competitions to make appropriate decisions based on the situation under stress.

Question 3

what is shifting attentional focus?

Answer 3

attentional flexibility is known as the ability to alter the scope and focus of attention as demanded by the situation

Question 4

what are the 3 processes of attentional focus?

Answer 4

1. Attentional selectivity
2. Attentional capacity
3. Attentional alertness

Question 5

what is attentional selectivity?

Answer 5

letting some information into the information-processing system while screening out or ignoring other information.

Question 6

What did perry (2005) propose about attentional selectivity?

Answer 6

Selective attention is a metaphor for a “spotlight”- attention resembles amental bean that illuminates a circumscribed part of the visual field and anything outside of it is ignored.

Question 7

What are the 3 common errors made when searchlight is focused incorrectly?

Answer 7

1. Failure to focus all the attention on the essential or relevant elements of the task
2. Being distracted from relevant information by irrelevant information
3. Inability to divide attention among all the relevant cues that need to be processed concurrently.

Question 8

what is attentional capacity?

Answer 8

the fact that attention is limited in that one can process only so much information at one time. But athletes seem to be able to pay attention to many things when performing (change from controlled processing to automatic processing as they become more proficient).

Question 9

what is controlled processing?

Answer 9

mental processing that involves conscious attention and awareness of what an athlete is doing when he performs a sport skill.

Question 10

what is automatic processing?

Answer 10

is mental processing without conscious attention.

Question 11

what is attentional alertness?

Answer 11

related to the notion that increases in emotional arousal narrow the attentional field because of a systematic reduction in the range of cues that a performer considers in executing a skill. Thus, it appears that arousal can bring about sensitivity loss to cues that are in the peripheral visual field.

Question 12

How is concentration connected to optimal performance?

Answer 12

that attentional control is an important discriminating factor. In general, the studies reveal that successful athletes are less likely to become distracted by irrelevant stimuli; they maintain a more task-oriented attentional focus rather than worrying or focusing on the outcome.
Jackson and Csikszentmihalyi (1999) investigated the components of exceptional performance and found eight physical and mental capacities that elite athletes associate with peak performance. Three of these eight are associated with high levels of concentration. athletes describe themselves as (1) being absorbed in the present and having no thoughts about the past or future, (2) being mentally relaxed and having a high degree of concentration and control, and (3) being in a state of extraordinary awareness of both their own bodies and the external environment.

Question 13

what is broad attentional focus?

Answer 13

allows a person to perceive several occurrences simultaneously.

Question 14

what is narrow attentional focus?

Answer 14

when you respond to only one or two cues, as when a baseball batter prepares to swing at a pitch or a golfer lines up a putt.

Question 15

what is ecternal attentional focus?

Answer 15

directs attention outward to an object or to an opponent’s movements.

Question 16

what is internal attentional focus?

Answer 16

directed inward to thoughts and feelings,

Question 17

what are internal distractors that present attentional probelms?

Answer 17

1. Attending to past events: focusing on mistakes that have already happened which prevents an individual from looking forwards.
2. Attending to future events: worrying, or thinking, about the outcome of an event rather than what they need to do in the moment to be successful.
3. Choking under pressure: it is a process that leads to impaired performance. Emotional factors such as the pressure of competition often play a critical role in creating internal sources of distraction, and is when an athlete has a poor performance in a pressured situation.
4. Overanalysing body mechanics: focusing too much on body mechanisms and movements.
5. Fatigue: results in impaired decision making and lack of focus, leading to ineffective treatments.
6. Inadequate motivation: makes it difficult to maintain concentration.

Question 18

What did Hill et al (2010) find are antecedents, mechanisms and consequences of choking?

Answer 18

• Antecedents: Event importance, High expectations, Evaluation apprehension, Unfamiliarity, Overload
• Mechanisms: distraction, anxiety, perceived control. Inadequate coping, self-focus
• Consequences: significant decrease in performance, being highly self-critical, lowered self-confidence.

Question 19

According to Roberts et al (2019) what are the 2 different types of attentional disturbances?

Answer 19

1. Self-focus theory holds that pressure leads the athlete to consciously process the motor skill execution, undermining automaticity and thus expert execution. In essence, the proposed reason for failure is too much attention on the skill.
2. Distraction theory hypothesizes that pressure causes the choking athlete to expend attentional resources worrying about the performance outcome and its consequences, resulting in a shortage of on-task attention for successful motor skill execution. Therefore, the proposed reason for failure is too little attention on the skill in question.

Question 20

what are the external distractors that present attentional problems?

Answer 20

1. Visual distracters: something in the environment that diverts your full attention.
2. Auditory distractors: includes crowd noise, loud conversations, public announcements, music etc

Question 21

what is midfulness?

Answer 21

“the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145).
people practicing mindfulness consciously attend to specific thoughts and feelings that arise in awareness and observe them nonjudgmentally

Question 22

What are the 7 components of mindfulness acceptance communication (MAC) discussed by Josefsson et al (2020)?

Answer 22

1. Prepare the athlete with information. The theoretical and practical aspects of the MAC intervention are discussed as well as an overview of the content.
2. Introduce mindfulness and cognitive diffusion. This is the ability to view thoughts simply as thoughts that do not have to be a true reflection of either the self or reality.
3. Introduce values-driven behaviour. These are similar to process goals (see chapter 16) in that the focus is on the behaviours that follow an athlete’s values. For example, a value might be to help teammates get involved early in basketball, which would mean passing the ball more to teammates in a position to score.
4. Introduce acceptance. Athletes understand the consequences of avoiding thoughts and the benefits of acceptance when striving for performance excellence.
5. Enhance commitment. The difference between commitment and motivation is explained including their relationship to performance-related values and behaviours.
6. Skill consolidation and poise. The benefits of combining mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment are explained.
7. Maintaining and enhancing mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment summary and evaluation. Players complete a written, anonymous evaluation form) and then discuss the usefulness and applicability of the MAC content.

Question 23

What are the core components of mindfulness?

Answer 23

The core components of mindfulness are awareness and acceptance, encouraging individuals to embrace their thoughts and feelings nonjudgmentally as they occur, rather than ignoring them altogether.

Question 24

how is self-talk used to enhance concentration?

Answer 24

self-talk functions as a mediator between an event and a response.
1. Positive (motivational) self-talk typically focuses on increasing energy, effort, and positive attitude but does not carry a specific task-related cue
2. Instructional self-talk usually helps the individual focus on the technical or task-related aspects of the performance in order to improve execution
 Negative self-talk is critical and self-demeaning, gets in the way of a person reaching his goals, and is counterproductive and anxiety producing.

Question 25

what is organic self talk?

Answer 25

could further be broken down into spontaneous and goal-directed categories.

Question 26

what is spontaneous self-talk?

Answer 26

includes unintended, non-instrumental statements that come to mind at the moment, spontaneous self-talk emerges alongside other emotions, beliefs, and thoughts unintentionally.

Question 27

What is goal-directed self-talk?

Answer 27

the rational response to spontaneous processes, including emotions, thoughts, and self-talk. Goal-directed self-talk is directed at self-regulation and performance enhancement.

Question 28

What is strategic self-talk?

Answer 28

involves the use of predetermined self-talk plans that can be used to trigger responses serving instructional and motivational functions.

Question 29

What are the 8 factors for assessing self-talk, found by Zourbanos et al (2009)?

Answer 29

Positive: Psych-up, Confidence, Instruction, Anxiety control
Negative: Worry, Disengagement, Somatic fatigue
Neutral: Irrelevant thoughts,

Question 30

how does self-talk enhance performance?

Answer 30

(Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2004; Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2008) have found both instructional and motivational self-talk effective for tasks varying in strength, accuracy, endurance, and fine motor coordination. This works by reducing the frequency of interfering thoughts while increasing the frequency of task-related thoughts
supportive coaching behaviours were related to more positive self-talk and less negative self-talk in athletes.
enhancing task performance, and empirical research has corroborated this assumption. In addition, although the focus here is on performance enhancement, some research has shown self-talk to be effective in enhancing exercise adherence

Question 31

what are the techniques for imporving self-talk?

Answer 31

Mikes (1987) suggested six rules for creating self-talk for performance execution:
1. Keep your phrases short and specific.
2. Use the first person and present tense.
3. Construct positive phrases.
4. Say your phrases with meaning and attention.
5. Speak kindly to yourself.
6. Repeat phrases often.

Question 32

what is thought stopping?

Answer 32

involves concentrating on the undesired thought briefly and then using a cue or trigger to stop the thought and clear your mind.

Question 33

How do you change negative self-talk to positive self-talk?

Answer 33

first, list all the types of self-talk that hurt your performance or that produce other undesirable behaviours. The goal here is to recognize what situations produce negative thoughts and why. Then try to substitute a positive statement for the negative one. When you’ve done this, create a chart with negative self-talk in one column and your corresponding positive self-talk in another

Question 34

What is rational emotive behaviour therapy?

Answer 34

proposes that it is individuals’ beliefs (i.e., self-talk) about adversity that determine whether their emotional and behavioural reactions are adaptive or maladaptive. Irrational beliefs lead to dysfunctional emotions (e.g., unhealthy anxiety of depression) and maladaptive behaviours (e.g., avoidance), whereas rational beliefs lead to functional emotions (e.g., optimism) and adaptive behaviours (e.g., approach). By applying the rational and logical notion that there are far worse things that can happen than failing in sport, athletes can reduce or eliminate dysfunctional emotions. In essence, in REBT, events themselves are not seen as inherently good or bad. Rather, they are viewed as neutral; it is argued that it is our self-talk that provides either a positive or negative assessment, which often produces negative emotional reactions.

Question 34

What are the 5 themes that encompassed factors integral in athletes’ shift towards self-comparison, identified by Frentz et al (2020)?

Answer 34

1. The role of the coach: giving athletes the best opportunity to deal with setbacks. Creating a strong coach–athlete relationship, maintaining open communication, and clearly articulating expectancies were key coaching factors that supported athlete self-compassion.
2. The influence of other athletes: encouraging but also your competition. Teammates and other athletes provided social support and encouraged a more self-compassionate approach by offering encouragement, affirmation, and objective perspectives.
3. The impact of important others: defend or derail. Other individuals such as parents, friends, mentors, fans, and health professionals provided social support.
4. Developing balanced self-awareness: a clearer mind is the essence of sport and performance. Being self-aware and keeping expectations and emotions in balance were seen as essential in fostering self-compassion. Avoiding overidentification with emotions and being able to regulate them through breathing and mindfulness helped athletes become more self-compassionate.
5. Maintaining an acceptance mind-set: Acquire and assert your mental toolbox. To become more self-compassionate, athletes used various strategies such as being process focused, adopting a growth mind-set, controlling the controllables, being optimistic, adopting big-picture thinking, journaling, and extending self-acceptance. In addition, building confidence by focusing on successful coping experiences was seen as critical to becoming more self-accepting and self-compassionate.

Question 35

What are the differences between effective and ineffective attentional styles?

Answer 35

Effective attenders can concentrate on several stimuli without getting overloaded and can narrow attentional focus without leaving out important information. Ineffective attenders are easily confused by multiple stimuli.

Question 36

what are cue words?

Answer 36

are used to trigger a particular response and are really a form of self-talk and should be instructional or motivational to help focus on the task at hand.

Question 37

how can routines be used to help confidence?

Answer 37

Reduce anxiety, eliminate distractions, and focus attention before and during an event.

Question 38

Give examples of ways athletes can enhance confidence:

Answer 38

Use simulations in practice: replicate competitions
Use cue words: helps increase focus on a task
Use non-judgemental thinking
Establish routines: increase the level of preparedness
Develop competitions plans
Overlearn skills: dominant response is always correct
Multiple object tracking: focus on more stimuli while still performing successfully.
Thinking aloud

Question 39

Define concentration and explain how is related to performance:

Answer 39

Concentration in sport and exercise settings usually involves focusing on the relevant cues in the environment, maintaining that focus over time, being aware of the changing situation, and shifting focus as necessary. Athletes who describe their best performances inevitably mention that they are completely absorbed in the present, focused on the task at hand, and acutely aware of their own bodies and the external environment. Research, too, has shown that a key component of optimal performance is the performer’s ability to focus attention and become fully absorbed in the game. Expert performers use various attentional cues, picking up these cues more quickly than do novices, to help themselves perform their skills more quickly and more effectively.

Question 40

Explain the main theories of concentration effects:

Answer 40

The three main approaches to studying attentional processes are single-channel (fixed capacity) theories, variable (flexible)-allocation theories, and multiple resource pools theories. The current thinking endorses the multiple resource pools approach, which views attention as a series of resource pools or multiprocessors, each with its own unique capabilities and resource–performer relationships.

Question 41

Identify different types types of attentional focus:

Answer 41

Nideffer identified four types of attentional focus: broad–external, narrow–external, broad–internal, and narrow–internal. Different sports or tasks within sports require these different types of attention for effective performance.

Question 42

Describe some attentional problems:

Answer 42

Attentional problems can be categorized as coming from internal or external distracters. Internal distracters include attending to past events, attending to future events, choking under pressure, feeling fatigue, feeling a lack of motivation, and overanalysing body mechanics. External distracters include visual factors, such as the audience, and auditory ones, such as crowd noise, as well as the opponent’s gamesmanship.

Question 43

Explain how self-talk works:

Answer 43

Self-talk takes many forms, but it can be categorized simply as motivational, instructional, and negative. Motivational self-talk and instructional self-talk are typically assets that can enhance self-esteem, motivation, and attentional focus. These types of self-talk have been shown to enhance performance, although the type of self-talk needs to be matched to the type of task for maximum benefits. Negative self-talk is critical and self-demeaning, and it tends to produce anxiety, which undermines concentration.

Question 44

Explain how to assess attentional ability:

Answer 44

Attentional style can be measured by the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style, and strengths and weaknesses can then be assessed for developing programs to improve an individual’s focus. Attentional processes can also be measured by brain wave activity and heart rat

Question 45

Discuss how to improve attentional focus:

Answer 45

Practicing simple techniques and exercises both on and off the court or field will help improve concentration skills. These techniques include such activities as using simulations, using cue words, using non-judgmental thinking, self-monitoring, developing competitive plans, and establishing routines.

Question 46

Discuss the concept of mindfulness:

Answer 46

Mindfulness is a technique that focuses on the present moment in a non-judgmental way. The core concepts of mindfulness are awareness and acceptance, encouraging individuals to embrace their thoughts and feelings nonjudgmentally as they occur rather than ignoring them altogether (as some other concentration and relaxation techniques tend to do). The ability to self-regulate attention through mindfulness is developed by practicing attending to one object for long periods of time, shifting attention between objects, and inhibiting task-irrelevant thoughts and feelings.