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MODULE ATTENTION

Introduction

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Important Terms

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  • Implicit/Explicit Learning - This stage is considered the lightest as it’s fairly easy to be disrupted and awoken during this stage. As you close your eyes and prepare to drift off, your body will start to relax and your brain wave activity will slow. This stage normally doesn’t last very long (e.g. as little as 7 minutes) as you transition from being awake to sleep.

 

  • Whole/Part Learning - Your heart rate slows and your body temperature will drop slightly in preparation for the next stage - deep sleep. It is more difficult to be woken from this stage. Your brain waves continue to slow but there are spikes of activity known as sleep spindles and K complexes.

 

  • Blocked/Random/Serial Practice - During this deep sleep stage, your brain activity reduces, breathing slows and muscles relax. The release of the human growth hormone during this phase is believed to play an important role in the revitalisation of the body as it repairs and rebuilds. It is believed to be the most restorative sleep stage, and it's difficult for a person to be awaken during this stage.

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  • Distribution/Massed Practice

Introduction

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Goal Paradox

Holistic V Part Process Goals

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Conscious Processing Hypothesis or Attention Based Explanation - Overload

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Process goals are when you focus your attention on important aspects that are designed to improve your performance but are predominantly under your control. I.e., these goals can be achieved in isolation of any competitor influence and are irrelevant to how you perform against others (e.g., whether you win or lose).

 

Process goals are recommended by sport psychologists over outcome goals because they are shown to reduce anxiety and enhance confidence. However, the perceived benefit of process goals may be influenced by the type of process goal you use, as scientists have made a differentiation between Holistic Process Goals and Part Process Goals.

 

  • A holistic goal refers to when one’s attention is directed towards a single conceptual cue of an entire movement, i.e., where the focus on the movement is as a ‘whole’. E.g., a golfer may focus on swinging the club ‘smoothly’, or with the appropriate ‘rhythm’, ‘tempo’, or ‘relaxed’ – which all relate to controlling the golf swing movement as a ‘whole’ concept.

  • A part process goal refers to when one’s attention is directed towards a single specific element of a movement. E.g., a golfer may focus on folding their elbow in the back-swing, or turning their shoulders, or keeping their right hand more on 'top' in the takeaway.

 

Mullen, Jones, Oliver, and Hardy (2016) conducted a study that showed experienced performers are more likely to benefit from thinking about a holistic process goal compared to a process goal, when under competitive stress. It's believed that focusing on a part goal is more likely to disrupt the automatic execution of the skill, whereas holistic goals may help reduce the effects of performance stress while preserving skill automaticity. Using a holistic goal may promote chunking - chunking is XXXX..

 

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Therefore, if you are going to have a swing thought, then it may be best to use a holistic process goal, especially if you are an experienced performer, but your stage of learning may also influence this viewpoint. However, there are likely to be individual differences.

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Jackson, Ashford, and Norsworthy (2006) found a part process goal impaired performance on soccer dribbling task when under pressure.

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Need to clarify difference between holistic process goal and external focus. 

Learning advantages from adopting an external focus of attention. External - involves directing a learner's attention to the effects of an action, whereas an internal focus of attention involves on body parts or movements that produce an action. Holistic is an internal focus but from a general feeling of the movement as a whole, whereas external involves a focus on an environmental effect produced by a movement.

 

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Autonomous Stage

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References
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