Figure 1 - uploaded by Robin Owen
Content may be subject to copyright.
An ecological account of focus of attention (Gottwald et al., 2023).
Context in source publication
Context 1
... existing theoretical approaches lacking in the flexibility required to fit complex practical environments, and ecological dynamics approaches gaining prominence in the literature, a more recent Ecological Dynamics Account of Attentional Focus ( Gottwald et al., 2023) is timely. The authors propose a more flexible approach to explain the varying functions of attentional focus (see Figure 1). In this manner, directing attentional resources towards task relevant information in the environment can support a participant or athlete to identify more opportunities for action, improving decision making, and allowing the self-organisation of more accurate/efficient movement. ...
Citations
... 11 Typically, this is supported by guiding a performer's attention towards task-specific factors, thereby prioritising perceptual information which is also contextually relevant. 12,13 In this way, performance and learning in, for example, aiming tasks (e.g., golf or darts) can benefit from external focus cues (i.e., a focus towards the target or movement effects). 14,15 Where external foci are challenging to identify (e.g., in non-implement tasks), holistic focus cues, which conceptualise the feeling of the movement overall (e.g., 'a smooth rotation', 'explosive on the breakout') have been shown to confer similar learning benefits. ...
In response to calls for examples from sports settings that highlight successful collaborations between skill acquisition specialists and coaches, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a skill acquisition coach education intervention. After an analysis of practice by a skill acquisition specialist, which provided context to impact learning design, two senior coaches from British Para Swimming with no prior knowledge of skill acquisition principles were observed and interviewed. The intervention harnessed coach experiential knowledge by emphasising development in understanding of theory underpinning three key principles of skill acquisition (i) implicit learning, (ii), focus of attention, and (iii) contextual interference, and encouraging informal and experiential learning between sessions. Following the intervention, coaches had adapted their approach to practice design to incorporate theory-informed techniques. Coach observations and interviews highlighted a range of novel findings in skill acquisition. First, outcomes indicated the use of implicit learning techniques in the form of analogy or metaphor cues can facilitate learning for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Second, coaches reported the learning benefits of utilising external and holistic focus cues in the elite athlete setting. Finally, through an increased understanding of the learning-performance distinction, coaches described the benefits of incorporating contextual interference, which emphasised temporal spacing between learning events. The coaches’ interpretation and implementation of skill acquisition theory are discussed with reference to potential avenues of exploration in future research.
