Every story has two sides: evaluating information processing and ecological dynamics perspectives of focus of attention in skill acquisition.

Directing our focus of attention appropriately during task execution can benefit outcome performance, cognitive efficiency, and physiological efficiency. For instance, individuals may benefit from adopting an external focus of attention (i.e., by focusing attention on the effects of one's movements on the environment) over an internal focus of attention (e.g., focusing on one's body movements). However, accounts concerning the theoretical functioning of such effects have primarily relied on hierarchical information processing perspectives; far less consideration has been given to potentially alternative explanations based on ecological dynamics, instances where an internal focus may be desirable over an external focus, and the associated applied implications. Within the present review, we: (a) outline the most recent developments in attentional focus research; (b) evaluate similarities and differences between information processing and ecological dynamics explanations of the focus of attention effect; (c) provide practical recommendations; and (d) discuss future research avenues. In doing so, a case is made for an "Ecological Dynamics Account of Attentional Focus" to act as an alternative to information processing-based hypotheses.

Testing anxiety's effect on movement planning and correction: Online upper-limb corrections are not completely automatic.

Via three experiments, we investigated heightened anxiety's effect on the offline planning and online correction of upper-limb target-directed aiming movements. In Experiment 1, the majority of task trials allowed for the voluntary distribution of offline planning and online correction to achieve task success, while a subset of cursor jump trials necessitated the use of online correction to achieve task success. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated and elaborated Experiment 1 by assessing movement-specific reinvestment propensity and manipulating the self-control resources of participants. This allowed more detailed inference of cognitive resource utilisation to tease apart the effects of conscious processing and distraction-based anxiety mechanisms. For the first time, we demonstrate that: anxiety-induced online-to-offline motor control shifts can be overridden when the need for online correction is necessitated (i.e., in jump trials); anxiety-induced online-to-offline shifts seem to be positively predicted by conscious processing propensity; and optimal spatial efficacy of limb information-based online correction seems to require cognitive resources. We conclude that long-standing definitions of limb information-based online correction require revision, and that both conscious processing and distraction theories appear to play a role in determining the control strategies of anxiety induced upper limb target directed aiming movements.

Capturing the holistic profile of high performance Olympic weightlifting development.

Recent expertise development studies have used retrospective recall methods to explore developmental biographies and/or practice histories of current or past athletes. This methodological approach limits the generalizability and trustworthiness of findings. As such, a gap exists for research exploring key multidisciplinary features in athlete development using prospective longitudinal research designs. The present research aimed to holistically model the development of talent in Olympic Weightlifting using such a design. We observed the holistic profiles of 29 junior weightlifting athletes longitudinally over a 10-month period, and subsequently classified six of the 23 athletes as high performing based on their performances in competitions up to 12 months following the study. This holistic profile was based on a framework of expertise development themes: (1) demographics and family sport participation, (2) anthropometrics and physiological factors, (3) psychosocial profiling, (4) sport participation history, and (5) weightlifting specific practice activities. A summary model was produced which selected a critical set of nine features that classified group membership with 91% average accuracy. Odds ratio calculations uncovered discriminating features in the holistic profiles of performance groups, from which empirically derived logical statements could inform the description of high-performance attainment.

Relative age effect? No "flipping" way! Apparatus dependent inverse relative age effects in elite, women's artistic gymnastics.

In contrast to research on team-sports, delayed maturation has been observed in higher-skilled gymnasts, leading to atypical distributions of the relative age effect. Recent studies have reported intra-sport differences in the relative age effect and given the task demands across gymnastics apparatus, we expected to find evidence for the influence of apparatus specialism. We examined the presence of a relative age effects within a sample of elite, international, women's artistic gymnasts (N = 806, Ncountries = 87), and further sampled our data from vault, bars, beam, and floor major competition finalists. Poisson regression analysis indicated no relative age effect in the full sample (p = .55; R2 adj. = .01) but an effect that manifested when analysing apparatus independently. The Index of Discrimination (ID) analysis provided evidence of an inverse relative age effect identified for beam (p = .01; ID = 1.27; R2 adj. = .12), a finding that was corroborated by a marginal effect in our vault finalists (p = .08; ID = 1.21; R2 adj. = .06). These novel findings can be attributed to the integrated influence of self-fulfilling prophecy upon coach and gymnast expectations, as well as the technical mechanisms underpinning skill development involved in the underdog hypothesis.

Lets go surfing now, everybody's learning how; attentional strategies on expert and novice surfing performance under both practice and competition conditions.

Research suggests an external focus of attention (EFOA) promotes effective performance and learning compared to an internal focus of attention (IFOA), with explanations proposed by the constrained action hypothesis (CAH) and OPTIMAL theory of motor learning. Specifically, it is proposed that adopting an EFOA prevents the constraining of normally automatic control processes and subsequent performance decrements (typically observed when individuals adopt an IFOA) by simultaneously reducing self-focus strategies and enhancing goal-action coupling. The present study attempted to fill this research lacuna by examining the CAH and OPTIMAL theory in a complex, ecologically valid, motor task under both low and high-pressured conditions. In two separate experiments, novice (n = 23) and advanced (n = 21) surfers completed a surfing task in an artificial Wavegarden under either EFOA or IFOA instructions. Experimental phases included a pre-test, acquisition and competition transfer. Results revealed that advanced and novice surfing performance benefited from adopting an EFOA in both normal and competitive situations. These findings are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications for the CAH and OPTIMAL theory, in addition to the anxiety literature. Reference to applied implications when instructing and performing within ecologically valid surfing settings are also presented.

Representational Momentum in the Expertise Context: Support for the Theory of Event Coding as an Explanation for Action Anticipation.

This study aimed to extend the notion of the theory of event coding as an explanation of action anticipation in expert sport performers. This was achieved by investigating the degree with which automatic anticipation depends on the ecological congruency between the perceived action and its distal effect. In a novel approach, the representational momentum paradigm was adopted to address this notion. Expert (N = 16) and novice (N = 20) rugby players observed a dynamic video of a short pass that was displayed as either toward or away from a receiver. Following an occlusion interval, participants were required to judge whether the video resumed at the same place, further forward or further backward than its original stopping place. Experts demonstrated stronger anticipatory tendencies when the action was directed toward the receiver. This relationship was modulated by a leftward directional bias that is discussed in the context of a bias in viewing behavior that is underpinned by attention. Novice anticipatory tendencies were independent of context. These findings show support for the extension of the theory of event coding.

Representational momentum reveals visual anticipation differences in the upper and lower visual fields.

Recent empirical research has revealed differences in functional capacity between the upper and lower visual fields (VFs), with the lower VF exhibiting superiority in visual perception skills. Similarly, functional differences between the left and right hemispheres elicit a predominance for visuospatial processing in the left visual field (left VF). Both anatomical as well as evolutionary arguments have been adopted in accounting for these variations in function. Preceding upper and lower VF research has typically investigated either static stimulus perception or the visual processing of upper limb action. The aim of the current research was to investigate whether the lower VF benefits associated with limb control transcend to visual anticipation (the perception of motion). Methods were based on Khan and Lawrence (Exp Brain Res 164:395-398, 2005), who investigated upper/lower VF differences in visuomotor control, but utilising a representational momentum paradigm to isolate perceptual processes. Thirty-two participants were randomised into either a left or right VF group and completed a perceptual computer-based task in the upper and lower VF, where they were required to judge the final position of a moving object before it disappeared. Two aspects of the distributions of same responses were then analysed; the central tendency (weighted means) and the variability. Results revealed that in the left VF, weighted means for the lower VF were significantly greater than for the upper VF [t(14) = 2.242, p = 0.042]. In both left and right VFs, variability was greater in the upper compared to lower VF. This provides new findings regarding visual processes in the different visual fields. While visual search and large scene perception has been found to be superior in the upper VF, here we find that visual anticipation, like target-directed visuomotor skill, is superior in the lower VF.

The Movement Kinematics and Learning Strategies Associated with Adopting Different Foci of Attention during Both Acquisition and Anxious Performance.

Research suggests that implicit strategies adopted during learning help prevent breakdown of automatic processes and subsequent performance decrements associated with the presence of pressure. According to the Constrained Action Hypothesis, automaticity of movement is promoted when adopting an external focus of attention. The purpose of the current experiment was to investigate if learning with an external focus of attention can enhance performance under subsequent pressure situations through promoting implicit learning and automaticity. Since previous research has generally used outcome measures of performance, the current study adopted measures of movement production. Specifically, we calculated within-subject variability in trajectory velocity and distance traveled every 10% of movement time. This detailed kinematic analysis allowed investigation into some of the previously unexplored mechanisms responsible for the benefits of adopting an external focus of attention. Novice participants performed a 2.5 m golf putt. Following a pre-test, participants were randomly assigned to one of three focus groups (internal, external, control). Participants then completed 400 acquisition trials over two consecutive days before being subjected to both a low anxiety and high anxiety (HA) transfer test. Dependent variables included variability, number of successful putts and mean radial error. Results revealed that variability was greater in the internal compared to the external and control groups. Putting performance revealed that all groups increased performance following acquisition. However, only the control group demonstrated a decrement in performance in the HA transfer test. These findings suggest that adopting an appropriate focus of attention during learning can prevent choking; with an external focus inhibiting the breakdown of automatic processes and an internal focus acting as a self-focus learning strategy and thus desensitizing individuals to anxiety effects.

Different cues of personality and health from the face and gait of women.

Redundant cues for attractiveness in humans have been identified, but the idea of multiple systems displaying different socially-relevant traits has yet to be extensively examined. We compared the accuracy with which observers could identify socially-relevant information of female targets, both from static images of their faces, and from point-light displays of their gait. Perception of extraversion was at chance. However, agreeableness and sociosexuality were more accurately perceived from the face than gait, while physical health showed the opposite pattern. This double dissociation suggests different information can be carried in different modalities. In addition, partial correlation analyses suggested that even when both modalities allowed accurate trait identification, the information content was different. Our results demonstrate that cues of different socially-relevant traits are communicated more effectively through different modalities, and these modality-specific cues contain distinctive information, supporting a "multiple messages" hypothesis.