Influence of attentional focus on skilled motor performance: Performance decrement under unfamiliar focus conditions

doi:10.1016/j.humov.2013.02.001

Human Movement Science

Volume 32, Issue 4, August 2013, Pages 730-740

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2013.02.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that the direction of attentional focus exerts a substantial influence on motor performance. We argue that in well-learned skills, this variable might be confounded with athletes’ familiarity with focus conditions. We studied the effect of familiarity and the direction of attentional focus on performance in two experiments using 2 (familiarity) × 2 (direction) within-subject designs. A significant main effect of familiarity—that is, better performance under familiar compared with unfamiliar focus conditions—confirmed the influence of familiarity on motor performance. Results are consistent with existing concepts, but lead to different consequences when applied to sport and exercise.

Highlights

► Skilled motor performance decreases when using unfamiliar attentional foci. ► The effect is independent of the direction of attentional focus. ► The effect was found in different tasks and skill levels. ► Results highlight a new aspect in studying the deautomatization-of-skills hypothesis.

Section snippets

Experiment 1

A 2 (direction: skill-internal vs. environmental-external) × 2 (familiarity: low vs. high) within-subject design was applied. Because we expected that highly practiced performers have acquired very specific individual attentional strategies (see, Gray, 2004), participants were asked to complete a questionnaire. This determined individually familiar and unfamiliar attentional foci by asking each player to specify which internal and external movement aspects they attend to often and which aspects

Experiment 2

Experiment 2 was designed to replicate the results of Experiment 1 and to overcome possible methodological limitations resulting from studying familiarity effects in highly practiced athletes. In Experiment 2, familiarity with attentional focus conditions was generated in novices by learning a new motor task (golf putting) using standardized attentional foci. A 2 (familiarity) × 2 (direction) within-subject design was applied, but familiarity with attentional focus conditions was generated. The

Discussion

The main interest in the present experiments was to gain more detailed insights into the mechanisms of attentional processes that influence skilled motor performance. The deautomatization-of-skills hypothesis suggests that directing attention toward the execution of highly practiced skills can cause a deautomatization of proceduralized skill components and thereby disrupt performance (Beilock et al., 2002, Ford et al., 2005, Gray, 2004). We argue that the variables direction and familiarity of

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by grants from the German National Institute for Sport Sciences under reference number 07/10/68/04 and 07/10/04/05.

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Research on novices suggests that an external focus improves performance over an internal focus. For experienced performers the results on attentional focus have been mixed. Recently Becker, Georges, and Aiken (2019) suggested that a holistic focus may be a useful substitute when an external focus is not appropriate. The purpose of this study was to investigate attentional focus within track and field athletes performing an underhand shot throw. 18 female athletes performed an underhand shot throw (4 kg) under three focus conditions: internal, external, and holistic. Participants also rated their adherence to each attentional focus manipulation. Repeated-measures ANOVAs with Sidak post-hoc were used to analyze both underhand shot throw distance and focus adherence. A significant main effect for condition was observed for distance (F = 6.14, p = .005). A holistic threw farther than an internal focus (p < .001) with no difference between internal and external (p = .380), or holistic and external foci (p = .312). For adherence, a significant main effect for condition was observed (F = 4.56, p = .018) with holistic focus adhering to the cue significantly more than internal focus (p < .019). The results of this study are in line with research that found a benefit for a holistic focus with novice performers (Becker et al., 2019). Mullen and Hardy (2010) also found a benefit for the golf putt, basketball shot, and long jump with skilled performers adopting a focus on the global or holistic aspect of the skill.
The effects of attentional focus on visuomotor control during observational learning in children with autism spectrum disorder
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Research has shown that adopting an external focus of attention facilitates both performance and learning. Recent research observed a benefit of adopting an external focus while viewing a modeled behavior. The current study investigated motor performance in children with autism following attentional focus cues while viewing demonstrations of an overhand throw. Eye tracking was used to investigate visual search strategies and attentional adherence.
24 children with autism, aged 7–10, were randomly placed in internal or external modeling groups. 10-trial pre-test was performed to measure throwing accuracy and quiet-eye duration (QED). Children then observed a model performing the overhand throw while eye movements were recorded, followed by a 10-trial post-test.
Groups improved accuracy (p < .001) and increased QED (p < .001) from pre- to post-test. The external modeling group had greater accuracy (p < .01) and longer QED (p < .001) than the internal modeling group during post-testing.
Not only did children with autism significantly improve performance with the attentional focus manipulation, but the adoption of an external focus led to longer quiet eye durations which potentially explains the pattern of performance findings. These results with practical applications are discussed in the paper.
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The vast majority of motor learning studies investigating focus of attention have found that an external focus of attention (focusing on the effect of a movement) results in enhanced performance and learning, compared to an internal focus of attention (focusing on the body movement itself). The present study attempts to determine if the high incidence of internal focus of attention instruction that has been reported in the realm of athletics is replicated in voice training.
Two hundred and seventy-eight singers, who were at least 18 years old and taking voice lessons, were recruited to participate in an anonymous research survey entitled “Instructions given to singers in voice lessons.” The main six questions asked singers to report phrases or instructions that their studio voice teachers gave them in regard to posture, breathing and/or support, tone clarity and/or onset of tone, space and/or resonance, articulation, and reducing tension.
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The results of this study indicate that voice teachers use both external and internal attentional focus directives in the voice studio. Given the robust body of literature supporting the use of external focus, it is noteworthy that the current study found that external focus is used more often than internal focus in voice training.
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Citation Excerpt :
Some disparate results, however, have emerged in examinations involving expert performers. Experts have not shown as clear a pattern of responses to focus instructions, at times excelling under control (no instruction) conditions (e.g., Couvillion & Fairbrother, 2018; Wulf, 2008) or under conditions in which they are asked to focus on a familiar cue (e.g., Maurer & Munzert, 2013). Presumably, the assignment of a specific focus instruction might degrade performance in experts by disrupting their well-established and individually optimized focus strategies.
Instructions that direct attention externally have been shown to enhance motor performance. However, research on skilled performers and on learning effects has produced some distinct findings. Further, many studies have presented an overly simplistic view of attention and learning, such that all-internal focus protocols are contrasted with all-external focus protocols. Contrary to this approach, skilled performers have reported adopting combined focus strategies, revealing the need to test more realistic instructional protocols. The current study provided an experimental test of focus instructions that were modeled after the strategies of elite jump rope athletes. Four groups of skilled jump rope athletes practiced novel skills under various focus instructions. The internal focus (IF) and external focus (EF) groups were given traditional internal and external focus instructions, respectively. The expert modeled (EM) group was given a set of instructions that were based on experts' reported focus strategies. The expert modeled-autonomous (EM-A) group was allowed to choose how they used each of the expert-modeled instructions. All groups completed a baseline assessment, four practice sessions, and a learning assessment. Results of a chi-square test of independence revealed no relationship between group assignment and performance during baseline or practice. There was a significant relationship between group assignment and performance during the learning assessment (p < .05). Specifically, the IF group performed below expected values while the EM group performed better than expected. Findings support previous research showing learning detriments associated with internal focus instructions and also provide new insight into the advantages of using instructional approaches that are modeled after experts' strategies. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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We also included a control condition in which the kayakers were free to adopt their own attentional focus. If the familiarity of the attentional focus plays a significant role (Maurer & Munzert, 2013), foci that skilled performers typically adopt might yield more effective outcomes than other, instructed foci. However, any effects of familiarity typically seem to be outweighed by (instructed) external foci (e.g., Mornell & Wulf, 2018; Wulf & Su, 2007).
Studies have demonstrated a benefit to performance and learning of a distal relative to a proximal external focus of attention. That is, focusing on a movement effect that occurs at a greater distance from the body has been found to be more effective than concentrating on a movement effect closer to the body. The present study examined the distance effect in skilled kayakers performing an open, continuous skill. Participants (n = 27) performed a wild water racing sprint of 100 m on Class 2 water. Using a within-participants design, a distal external focus (“Focus on the finish”) was compared to a proximal external focus (“Focus on the paddle”) as well as to a control condition. The distal focus condition (30.63 s, SD = 3.21) resulted in significantly shorter sprint times than did the proximal (32.07 s, SD = 3.27) and the control (31.96 s, SD = 3.58) conditions (ps < 0.001). The effect size was large (η_p² = 0.53). There was no significant difference between the proximal and control condition (p = 1.00). The findings demonstrate the importance of adopting a distal, rather than proximal, external focus for skilled athletes performing open, continuous skills under time pressure.
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Influence of attentional focus on skilled motor performance: Performance decrement under unfamiliar focus conditions

Abstract

Highlights

Section snippets

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Discussion

Acknowledgement

Acta Psychologica

Brain Research Bulletin

Rules of mind

On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure?

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

When paying attention becomes counterproductive: Impact of divided versus skill-focused attention on novice and experienced performance of sensorimotor skills

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

Haste does not always make waste: Expertise, direction of attention, and speed versus accuracy in performing sensorimotor skills

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

The co-ordination and regulation of movements

Nonparametric analysis of longitudinal data in factorial experiments

Nonparametric methods in factorial designs

Statistical Papers

Effects of focus of attention on baseball batting performance in players of differing skill levels

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology

Interaction between preference and instructions for a focus of attention

Perceptual and Motor Skills

Development of elite performance and deliberate practice

Human performance

An evaluation of end-point trajectory planning during skilled kicking

Motor Control

Online attentional-focus manipulations in a soccer-dribbling task: Implications for the proceduralization of motor skills

Journal of Motor Behavior

Attending to the execution of a complex sensorimotor skill: Expertise differences, choking, and slumps

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

Time-referenced effects of an internal vs. external focus of attention on muscular activity and compensatory variability

Frontiers in Psychology