Task performance is inversely related to spatial external focus target removal

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Sean M. Cochran (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Louisa Raisbeck

Abstract: External focus (EF) of attention (focusing on the effects of movement on the environment and/or on an external target) has shown to enhance performance in motor tasks. These findings are consistent in the literature, however, there is limited literature for attentional focus in the virtual environment (VE). Target characteristics and target occlusion are known to change in VE, positively effecting performance. This study examined the effects that EF and target characteristic changes have on jump performance in a controlled virtual environment. Sixty participants performed a series of single leg jumps with or without EF instructions, in and out of a VE. Significant differences both RW and VE for performance were observed for baseline Significant differences between groups for the training conditions of the target removal were not dependent on time between removal and movement execution. Lastly, both groups had better performance at retention than at baseline. This study showed that an EF target supplements the stimulus-response link by adding to environmental characteristics affecting event-file retrieval, and performance.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2019
Keywords
Attentional Focus, Encoding, Jump Performance, Motor Learning, Motor Performance, Target Occlusion
Subjects
Motor learning
Virtual reality
Attention
Jumping

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