scholarly journals Effectiveness of Internal Focus Instructions for Improving Motor Performance in Continuous Training of Untrained Tasks

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Atsuki KANAYAMA ◽  
Mayuka MINAMI ◽  
Izumi ARIHARA ◽  
Yurika TAKESADA ◽  
Maki OMAE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Continuous Training ◽  
Internal Focus

Influence of Attentional Focus Instructions on Motor Performance Among Adolescents With Severe Visual Impairment

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott W. T. McNamara ◽  
Kevin A. Becker ◽  
William Weigel ◽  
Peter Marcy ◽  
Justin Haegele
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Potential Benefit ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Competitive Sports ◽  
External Focus ◽  
Internal Focus ◽  
Discrete Task ◽  
Acuity Score

Substantial research has demonstrated that an external (vs. internal) attentional focus enhances motor performance among various populations. Interest has recently grown in examining the effects of attentional focus among individuals with visual impairments (VI), and, to date, research results have been conflicting with some studies supporting a potential benefit to an external focus among adults with VI, while a study of children with severe VI was inconclusive regarding this benefit. The present investigation compared the effects of an internal versus an external attentional focus on a discrete throwing task among adolescents with severe VI. We recruited 13 participants with a visual acuity score of less than 6/60 and had them throw a Goalball (25 cm ball with bells often used in competitive sports designed for people with VI) as fast as possible for three familiarization trials, three internal focus trials, and three external focus trials. These participants threw the ball with significantly higher velocity when using an external focus than in other conditions, indicating a benefit from an external focus for this population when performing this discrete task.

scholarly journals The Effect of Different Attentional Focus Instructions during Finger Movement Tasks in Healthy Subjects: An Exploratory Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Rossettini ◽  
Marco Testa ◽  
Marco Vicentini ◽  
Paolo Manganotti
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Finger Movement ◽  
External Focus ◽  
Internal Focus ◽  
And Control

External focus of attention (EFA) and internal focus of attention (IFA) represent commonly used strategies to instruct subjects during exercise. Several studies showed EFA to be more effective than IFA to improve motor performance and learning. To date the role of these strategies on motor performance during finger movement was less studied. The objective of the study was to investigate motor performance, patient’s preference induced by IFA and EFA, and the focus during control condition. Ten healthy right-handed participants performed a finger movement task in control, EFA, and IFA conditions (counterbalanced). Errors, patient’s preference, and type of attentional focus spontaneously adopted during the control condition were recorded. EFA determined less error (p<0.01) compared to control and IFA. Participants preferred EFA against IFA and control condition. In the control group 10% of subjects adopted a purely EFA, 70% of subjects adopted a purely IFA, and 20% of subjects adopted a mixture of the two foci. Our results confirm that EFA is more effective than IFA and control in finger movement task. Due its clinical relevance, the interaction between attention and finger movement should be further investigated.

scholarly journals The effects of combining focus of attention and autonomy support on shot accuracy in the penalty kick

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Makaruk ◽  
Jared M. Porter ◽  
Jerzy Sadowski ◽  
Anna Bodasińska ◽  
Janusz Zieliński ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Autonomy Support ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
External Focus ◽  
Following Instructions ◽  
Optimal Theory ◽  
Internal Focus ◽  
And Control ◽  
As If

AbstractThe penalty kick is of great importance in the sport of soccer. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test predictions of the OPTIMAL theory and identify key attentional and motivational factors that impact the accuracy of the penalty kick. The following six groups of skilled participants performed penalty kicks following instructions that directed their focus of attention or impacted their autonomy support: external focus with autonomy support (EF/AS), external focus alone (EF), internal focus with autonomy support (IF/AS), internal focus alone (IF), autonomy support alone (AS) and control (C) groups. The analysis showed that the EF/AS group demonstrated better kicking accuracy relatively to the IF/AS, IF and C groups, but there were no significant differences between the EF/AS and EF or AS groups. Interestingly, the EF/AS group showed higher self-efficacy compared to the EF, IF/AS, IF and C groups. The finding suggest that a combination of attentional and motivational factors may produce benefits in motor performance.

scholarly journals The Effect of Attentional Focus Conditions on Performer’s EMG Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 240-247
Author(s):  
Ayşe Nur Ay ◽  
Yaşar Barış Dolukan ◽  
Mustafa Zahid Yıldız
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Biceps Brachii ◽  
Muscular Activity ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Weight Lifting ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
External Focus ◽  
Internal Focus ◽  
Focus Condition

Many researchers have been investigated the effect of focusing type on motor performance and muscular activity. Studies have showed that focusing on movement effects, i.e., an external focus enhances motor performance whereas, reduces muscular activity compare to focusing on body movements, i.e., an internal focus. The purpose of present study was to determine whether focusing externally had any effect on reduction of Electromyographic activity of performers. In this study, 16 participants were asked to perform weight lifting under control (no instructions are given), external (focusing on dumbbell) and internal (focusing on biceps brachii muscle) conditions. The EMG data were acquired via DELSYS EMG System and monitored on LabVIEW. RMSE values were calculated to compare the EMG activities under each conditions. The results showed that the EMG activity was significantly reduced under external focus condition.

How external and internal focus are used in the field: A review

2021 ◽  
pp. 174795412110689
Author(s):  
Masahiro Yamada ◽  
Lauren Q. Higgins ◽  
Louisa Raisbeck
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
External Focus ◽  
Internal Focus

The external focus and internal focus effects on motor performance and skill acquisition have been extensively examined and reviewed in laboratory research. However, the use of attentional focus in the field has not been summarized. Therefore, the present study conducted a systematic review of literature regarding the use of external/internal focus by practitioners (therapists and coaches) and recipients (patients and athletes). From 1999 to 2020, twelve studies examined how external/internal focus were used in the field. Results showed both therapists and coaches predominantly used internal focus; athletes tended to use more internal focus but varied by sports; and attentional focus varied between practice and competition. Additionally, the present review also consistently found that external/internal focus accounted for a small proportion relative to other foci outside the external/internal focus paradigm. Importantly, the differences in results were largely dependent upon the type of assessment ( e.g. closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires). Future research needs to investigate the relative importance of external/internal focus as opposed to other foci, as well as that affect a shift of attentional focus from one type to another.

Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. MacPherson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Movement Duration ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

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