Attention, workload, and performance: A dual-task simulated shooting study

During skill execution, performers have been shown to attend to different aspects of movement, the external effects of one’s action, or to other environmental information. A variety of psychological mechanisms have been proposed to account for the differential outcomes when adopting each attentional strategy. However, there is limited information about the extent to which different attentional foci change the workload demands of task performance. To examine this, the current study administered the NASA-Task Load Index following a simulated shooting dual-task. Participants performed the primary shooting task alone (control), and also with a secondary task that directed attention toward an aspect of skill execution (skill-focused) and an unrelated environmental stimulus (extraneous focus). Primary and secondary task performances were significantly greater in the extraneous focus compared to the skill-focused dual-task. Also, workload was significantly lower during the extraneous focus compared to the skill-focused dual-task condition. Further analyses revealed that workload significantly mediated the effects of skill level on performance during the skill-focused and extraneous focus dual-tasks and various subscales of workload (i.e., temporal demand) contributed unique amounts of variance to this relationship. A discussion of the relationship between attention, workload and its subcomponents, skill level, and performance is presented

Evaluation of Head Impact Exposure Between One Season of Youth Versus High School Football

In Volume 4, Issue 1 of the JSMAHS you will find Professional research abstracts, as well as Under Graduate student research abstracts, case reports, and critically appraised topics. Thank you for viewing this 4th Annual OATA Special Edition

Real‐time biofeedback integrated into neuromuscular training reduces high‐risk knee biomechanics and increases functional brain connectivity: A preliminary longitudinal investigation

Prospective evidence indicates that functional biomechanics and brain connectivity may predispose an athlete to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, revealing novel neural linkages for targeted neuromuscular training interventions. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a real‐time biofeedback system for altering knee biomechanics and brain functional connectivity. Seventeen healthy, young, physically active female athletes completed 6 weeks of augmented neuromuscular training (aNMT) utilizing real‐time, interactive visual biofeedback and 13 served as untrained controls. A drop vertical jump and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging were separately completed at pre‐ and posttest time points to assess sensorimotor adaptation. The aNMT group had a significant reduction in peak knee abduction moment (pKAM) compared to controls (p = .03, d = 0.71). The aNMT group also exhibited a significant increase in functional connectivity between the right supplementary motor area and the left thalamus (p = .0473 after false discovery rate correction). Greater percent change in pKAM was also related to increased connectivity between the right cerebellum and right thalamus for the aNMT group (p = .0292 after false discovery rate correction, r2 = .62). No significant changes were observed for the controls (ps > .05). Our data provide preliminary evidence of potential neural mechanisms for aNMT‐induced motor adaptations that reduce injury risk. Future research is warranted to understand the role of neuromuscular training alone and how each component of aNMT influences biomechanics and functional connectivity.Emergent evidence indicates that the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is, in part, due to central nervous system alterations that could be targeted using neural mechanistic sensorimotor‐based treatments. Young female athletes completed 6 weeks of neuromuscular training while interacting with a real‐time, visual biofeedback stimulus. Our training was designed to reduce the risk of by (a) promoting injury‐resistant movement and (b) strengthening brain functional connectivity. Our data not only indicated that athletes’ biomechanics and brain connectivity were improved following training, but the observed biomechanical improvements were related to distinct, strengthened connectivity within regions important for sensorimotor control. This study supports the use of real‐time biofeedback systems to reduce the risk of ACL injury by leveraging neuroplasticity.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154933/1/psyp13545_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154933/2/psyp13545.pd

Influence of practice schedules and attention on skill development and retention

Focus of attention during dual-tasks and practice schedules are important components of motor skill performance and learning; often studied in isolation. The current study required participants to complete a simple key-pressing task under a blocked or random practice schedule. To manipulate attention, participants reported their finger position (i.e., skill-focused attention) or the pitch of an auditory tone (i.e., extraneous attention) while performing two variations of a dual-task key-pressing task. Analyses were conducted at baseline, 10 min and 24 h after acquisition. The results revealed that participants in a blocked schedule, extraneous focus condition had significantly faster movement times during retention compared to a blocked schedule, skill focus condition. Furthermore, greatest improvements from baseline to immediate and delayed retention were evident for an extraneous attention compared to the skill-focused attention, regardless of practice schedule. A discussion of the unique benefits an extraneous focus of attention may have on the learning process during dual-task conditions is presented

The Dumb jock: how stereotype threats impact student-athletes' standards of academic competence

A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science - Psychology Cognitive and Affective ScienceCollege student-athletes are susceptible to a unique stereotype threat known as the "dumb jock" stereotype, according to which student-athletes are supposedly less engaged in academics and less competent academically. Previous research has shown that people do harbor the "dumb jock" stereotype, which negatively affects student-athletes' perceived academic self-regard and academic performance. In the present research, I test whether a shifting in standards of academic competence may be the mechanism underlying the negative effect of stereotype threat on student-athletes' perceived academic self-regard and academic performance. A standard of academic competence is defined as the criterion people set on an academic task in order for them to call themselves academically competent. Stereotype threat was manipulated and participants'standards of academic competency, perceived academic self-regard, and academic performance were measured. It was predicted that student-athletes who take a math test that they perceive as being diagnostic of typical academic performance would perform worse academically and have lower perceived academic self-regard than student-athletes who perceive the test as non-diagnostic of typical academic performance and non-athlete students who perceive the test as diagnostic of academic performance. Also, it was predicted that student-athletes who perceive the test as diagnostic of typical academic performance would shift their standards of academic competence downwards (i.e., require less evidence of competence for themselves) to reduce the likelihood of confirming the "dumb jock" stereotype, which would lead to poorer academic performance and to lower perceived academic self-regard. However, contrary to the predictions, the participants in the test diagnostic/student-athlete condition had significantly higher math test accuracy scores than the test diagnostic/non-athlete student condition. These results suggest that the "dumb jock" stereotype threat may be less threatening than previous research has suggested. Possible explanations for the enhanced performance and perceived academic self-regard are discussed. One potential explanation is stereotype reactance - the motivated tendency to behave in a manner inconsistent with an imposed stereotype about the group to which the person belongs. This interpretation is described in detail and new avenues of research on the "dumb jock" stereotype threat are discussed

The Effects of Attentional Focus on Brain Function During A Gross Motor Task

© 2020 Human Kinetics, Inc. Context: Although the beneficial effects of using an external focus of attention are well documented in attainment and performance of movement execution, neural mechanisms underlying external focus\u27 benefits are mostly unknown. Objective: To assess brain function during a lower-extremity gross motor movement while manipulating an internal and external focus of attention. Design: Cross-over study. Setting: Neuroimaging center Participants: A total of 10 healthy subjects (5 males and 5 females) Intervention: Participants completed external and internal focus of attention unilateral left 45° knee extension/flexion movements at a rate of 1.2 Hz laying supine in amagnetic resonance imaging scanner for 4 blocks of 30 seconds interspersed with 30-second rest blocks. During the internal condition, participants were instructed to squeeze their quadriceps. During the external condition, participants were instructed to focus on a target positioned above their tibia. Main Outcome Measures: T1 brain structural imaging was performed for registration of the functional data. For each condition, 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygenation level dependent data representing 90 whole-brain volumes were acquired. Results: During the external relative to internal condition, increased activation was detected in the right occipital pole, cuneal cortex, anterior portion of the lingual gyrus, and intracalcarine cortex (Zmax = 4.5-6.2, P \u3c .001). During the internal relative to external condition, increased activation was detected in the left primary motor cortex, left supplementary motor cortex, and cerebellum (Zmax = 3.4-3.5, P \u3c .001). Conclusions: Current results suggest that an external focus directed toward a visual target produces more brain activity in regions associated with vision and ventral streaming pathways, whereas an internal focus manipulated through instruction increases activation in brain regions that are responsible for motor control. Results from this study serve as baseline information for future prevention and rehabilitation investigations of how manipulating focus of attention can constructively affect neuroplasticity during training and rehabilitation

Is cognitive control of perception and action via attentional focus moderated by motor imagery?

Abstract Motor imagery (MI) has emerged as an individual factor that may modulate the effects of attentional focus on motor skill performance. In this study, we investigated whether global MI, as well as its components (i.e., kinesthetic MI, internal visual MI, and external visual MI) moderate the effect of attentional focus on performance in a group of ninety-two young adult novice air-pistol shooters (age: M = 21.87, SD = 2.54). After completing the movement imagery questionnaire-3 (MIQ-3), participants were asked to complete a pistol shooting experiment in three different attentional focus conditions: (1) No focus instruction condition (control condition with no verbal instruction) (2) an internal focus instruction condition, and (3) an external focus condition. Shot accuracy, performance time, and aiming trace speed (i.e., stability of hold or weapon stability) were measured as the performance variables. Results revealed that shot accuracy was significantly poorer during internal relative to control focus condition. In addition, performance time was significantly higher during external relative to both control and internal condition. However, neither global MI, nor its subscales, moderated the effects of attentional focus on performance. This study supports the importance of attentional focus for perceptual and motor performance, yet global MI and its modalities/perspectives did not moderate pistol shooting performance. This study suggests that perception and action are cognitively controlled by attentional mechanisms, but not motor imagery. Future research with complementary assessment modalities is warranted to extend the present findings

Graphical interface for automated management of motion artifact within fMRI acquisitions: INFOBAR

Independent Component Analysis-based Automatic Removal of Motion Artifacts (ICA-AROMA; Pruim et al., 2015) is a robust approach to remove brain activity related to head motion within functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets. However, ICA-AROMA requires command line implementation and customized code to batch process large datasets. We developed a cross-platform, open-source graphical user Interface for Batch processing fMRI datasets using ICA-AROMA (INFOBAR). INFOBAR allows a user to search directories, identify appropriate datasets, and batch execute ICA-AROMA. INFOBAR also has additional data processing options and visualization features to support all researchers interested in mitigating head motion artifact in post-processing using ICA-AROMA