Paying attention to every detail

ALEXANDRIA OLTON

I TEND to steer away from this topic as much as I can as I do feel it’s currently an overly saturated subject. But a trend that I have noted with many athletes since the onset of the pandemic is the frequency with which discussions around the inability to block out distractions, sustain focus throughout a game, and stay on task, arises.

Even as I write this, I find myself dipping in and out of focus, distracted by a noise from outside, a notification alert on my phone, or fleeting thoughts of other tasks and projects I have to complete.

In the realm of high-performance, elite athletes are meant to be “switched on,” “dialed-in,” and ready to make the right decision at all times throughout a performance. Athletes are expected to make good decisions, adopt proper technique, read their opponent, listen for coaching cues, block out distractions, adopt a performance mindset and the list goes on.

All these factors are influenced by one common cognitive skill…attention.

Firstly, let’s take a look at what exactly attention is…According to the American Psychological Association (2021) attention is “a state in which cognitive resources are focused on certain aspects of the environment rather than on others and the central nervous system is in a state of readiness to respond to stimuli.”

Plainly put, attention is the ability to tune in to one thing and tune out of others. Psychologist and philosopher William James wrote that attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one, out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought…It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others,” (1890).

The key skill to note here is not just the ability to focus IN but also to block distractions OUT.

Researchers have identified that there are four main types of attention:

· Sustained attention- the ability to focus on one task continuously without distraction.

· Selective attention- the ability to select from many different stimuli and focus on those solely whilst tuning out distraction.

· Alternating attention- the ability to switch back and forth between tasks that require different cognitive demands.

· Divided attention- the ability to process two or more responses or react to two or more different demands simultaneously. Divided attention is also known as multitasking.

At this point I imagine many of you may have briefly reflected on your own ability to multitask. It must be said, however, that recent studies have demonstrated that our attentional resources are limited and thus not designed for multitasking, and it is seldom something we can practice and become, “good,” at.

If anything, multitasking diminishes attentional resources and reduces productivity. Athletes will most commonly find themselves practicing selective and alternating attention.

So, what are some of the external and internal factors that can affect and influence our attention?

· Intensity: the more intense a stimulus is the more likely you are to give attention resources to it.

· Size: the bigger a stimulus is the more attention resources it captures.

· Movement: moving stimuli capture more attention compared to ones that remain static.

· Novelty: newer or unfamiliar stimuli attract more of our attention.

· Change: if a different stimulus appears that breaks the dynamic, our attention will be directed toward the new stimulus.

· Colour: colourful stimuli are more attention grabbing than black and white ones.

· Contrast: stimuli that contrast against a group attract more of our attention.

· Emotional burden: positive just as much as negative stimuli attract our attention more than neutral ones.

· Interests: we concentrate more on stimuli that interests us.

· Emotion: stimuli that provoke stronger emotions attract more attention. However, we must note that while positive moods contribute to focusing attention resources, negative moods make concentration more difficult.

· Effort required by the task: people make a prior evaluation of the effort required to do a task and depending on this, it will attract more or less attention.

· Organic state: the physical state that the person is in. So, states of tiredness, discomfort, fever, etc. will make mobilising attention more difficult.

If you’ve sustained attention for this long you’re doing quite well. The natural flow in thought might then be can we train attention? The simple answer is yes…through practice. Simple brain training exercises such as sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, chess and brain stimulating apps.

Meditation and mindfulness have also been found to improve use of attentional resources. Additionally, the quality of the food we eat, the sleep we get and whether we engage in regular physical activity can bolster or diminish attentional resources.

Finally, taking frequent, short breaks and creating a performance-focused environment with limited distractions can all lend to bettering your attentional resources. Feel free to submit any questions you might have to alexandriaolton@outlook.com.