Deck 6: Attention and Concentration in Sport and Exercise

Question 1

Which of the following is not a model of selective attention?

A)Broadbent model.
B)Norman's pertinence model.
C)Treisman's model.
D)Capacity model.

Answer 1

Capacity model.

Question 2

How many bits of information is conveyed by a 16 array light problem (4 rows,4 columns)in which the occurrence of each event is equally likely?

A)One.
B)Two.
C)Three.
D)Four.

Answer 2

Four.

Question 3

Combining several separate pieces of information into larger ones

A)Chunking.
B)Attenuating.
C)Atomizing
D)Forming.

Answer 3

Chunking.

Question 4

Technique skilled athletes use to see and anticipate action that is not in their primary field of vision.

A)Anticipatory skill.
B)Perceptual cognitive skill.
C)Inattentional blindness.
D)Peripheral scanning.

Question 5

An information processing model of human behavior is consistent with

A)B.F.Skinner's stimulus response theory.
B)Behavioralism.
C)Cognitive psychology.
D)The absence of mental operations.

Question 6

According to cue utilization theory,the effect of arousal upon attention will be to cause it to

A)Become broader.
B)Narrow.
C)Become internalized.
D)Disappear.

Question 7

An athlete's ability to quickly and effectively shift their attention from one location to another.

A)Peripheral scanning.
B)Distractibility.
C)Attentional flexibility.
D)None of the above.

Question 8

Any random thought or event that would tend to break an athlete's concentration.

A)Distractibility.
B)Cognitive interference.
C)Attentional flexibility.
D)Peripheral scanning.

Question 9

An athletes' attention shifts randomly from stimulus to stimulus.

A)Distractibility.
B)Cue utilization.
C)Attentional narrowing.
D)All of the above.

Question 10

Which model of attention best explains why a beginning basketball player can't dribble with out watching the ball,while the skilled athlete does not seem to attend to the ball at all?

A)Broadbent model.
B)Norman's pertinence model.
C)Treisman's model.
D)Capacity model.

Question 11

Which of the following does not accurately reflect activity in short term memory?

A)Rehearsal loop.
B)Information retrieved from long term memory is rehearsed in STM.
C)Information received directly from the sensory store is rehearsed in STM.
D)Information can be permanently stored in short term memory if it is coded correctly.

Question 12

How can an attacking (offense)player increase the difficulty or effectiveness of her attack (consider this question from the perspective of the defensive team/player who must try to counter the offensive attack)?

A)Increase the number of possible offensive moves.
B)Make each move equally likely.
C)Master each move.
D)All of the above.

Question 13

Skilled athletes exhibit a longer "quiet eye period," defined as

A)Period of time that the athlete's eyes are focused on a non-moving object.
B)Time lapse between the last eye fixation and the initiation of a motor response.
C)When athlete is sleeping.
D)Period of time right after a highly arousing event.

Question 14

Our ability to selectively attend to stimuli is based on the correct distribution of ____________ in the ___________.

A)Norepinephrine,adrenal medullae.
B)Brain cells,brain.
C)Neurochemicals,brain.
D)None of the above.

Question 15

As information conveyed or transmitted increases,the difficulty of the information processing problem

A)Increases.
B)Decreases.
C)Stays the same.
D)Fluctuates.

Question 16

Which of the following terms is synonymous to the term "working memory?"

A)Sensory store.
B)Short term memory.
C)Middle memory.
D)Long term memory.

Question 17

Which of the following memory systems is the center of activity in the human information processing system?

A)Sensory store.
B)Short term memory.
C)Middle memory.
D)Long term memory.

Question 18

Primary task consumes most of an athletes' concentration causing him to fail to see an important cue directly in front of his field of play.

A)Anticipatory skill.
B)Perceptual cognitive skill.
C)Inattentional blindness.
D)Peripheral scanning.

Question 19

A "bit" of information is defined as

A)The weight of the unit being measured.
B)The number of decimal places.
C)The number of questions that would have to be systematically asked to solve the problem.
D)The number of events that are displayeD.

Question 20

The capacity model of attention takes into consideration

A)Information processing requirement of a task may be modified by learning.
B)Individual differences.
C)Available information processing space.
D)All of the above.

Question 21

Which of the following is not a synonym for external attentional focus?

A)Implicit learning.
B)Automatic processing.
C)Procedural knowledge.
D)Explicit learning.

Question 22

Which of the following is not a synonym for self-focused or internal attentional focus?

A)Conscious control.
B)Automatic processing.
C)Explicit learning.
D)Declarative knowledge.

Question 23

The primary component of ____________________ is the process of narrowing or widening attention through arousal management strategies.

A)Information processing training.
B)Thought stopping and centering
C)Cognitive restructuring.
D)Attentional control training.

Question 24

Conscious attempts to control movement interfere with automatic control processes.

A)Explicit processing hypothesis.
B)Information processing.
C)Constrained action hypothesis.
D)Motor sequence hypothesis.

Question 25

Which of the following is not a method used by sport psychologists to measure attention?

A)Rorschach test
B)Behavioral assessment.
C)Physiological indicators.
D)Self-report methods.

Question 26

The psychological skill of "thought stopping" is that

A)For a brief instant time stands still.
B)The athlete replaces a negative thought with a positive thought.
C)The athlete stops thinking for a brief second.
D)Through transcendental meditation,the athlete generates only positive thoughts.

Question 27

A psychological or physiological explanation as to why manipulating an independent variable causes a change in a dependent variable.

A)Theory.
B)Hypothesis.
C)Science.
D)Mechanism.

Question 28

An example of an external focus of attention:

A)Focus on keeping the lead elbow straight in executing a golf swing.
B)Focus on keeping the wrist firm and elbow down in executing tennis backhand.
C)Focus on keeping elbow down and extend wrist in basketball free throw.
D)Focus on keeping your eye on the back of the rim in executing a basketball free throw.

Question 29

_________________ is a theory that posits that reduced performance due to mental pressure is caused by heightened self-consciousness,which causes the athlete to attempt to consciously control previously automated skills.

A)Motor schema theory.
B)Processing efficacy theory.
C)Attentional control theory.
D)Conscious processing theory

Question 30

Which of the following is not a theory (hypothesis)that describes mechanisms that explain why psychological pressure causes a decrement in performance?

A)Motor schema theory.
B)Processing efficacy theory.
C)Attentional control theory.
D)Conscious processing theory

Question 31

__________________ is a theory that posits that mental pressure and stress reduces the processing and storage capacity of the information processing system.

A)Motor schema theory.
B)Processing efficacy theory.
C)Attentional control theory.
D)Conscious processing theory

Question 32

What is the name of the test that was designed to measure a person's attentional style?

A)Test of cue utilization structure.
B)Test of arousal and attentional focus.
C)Test of athletic focusing.
D)Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style.

Question 33

Focusing internally on the execution of a movement elevates the level of conscious control and demands on processing space.

A)Explicit processing hypothesis.
B)Information processing.
C)Constrained action hypothesis.
D)Motor sequence hypothesis.

Question 34

The attentional threshold model

A)Is a combination of the self-focus and distraction models.
B)A model supported by the research.
C)A model in which a threshold of attentional capacity is exceeded.
D)All of the above.

Question 35

When the athlete reverts to instinct and quits thinking logically.

A)Choking.
B)Panicking.
C)Playing in the "zone."
D)None of the above.

Question 36

According to Robert Nideffer,an athlete's attentional focus varies as a function of

A)Width and intensity.
B)Direction and intensity.
C)Width and direction.
D)None of the above.

Question 37

The "centering procedure" is a psychological skill used by successful athletes to

A)Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
B)Place them self physically in the center of the action.
C)Decrease physiological arousal.
D)Direct thoughts internally while making conscious adjustments in attention and arousal.

Question 38

Playing in the "Zone" implies

A)Separation of mind from body.
B)Close monitoring of body movements.
C)Controlled processing of information.
D)Automatic processing of information.

Question 39

When the athlete starts to think too much about executing a highly practiced skill.

A)Choking.
B)Panicking.
C)Playing in the "zone."
D)None of the above.

Question 40

The _______________ is that people,when under mental load and stress tend to do the very thing that they are attempting not to do.

A)Planned effect.
B)Ironic effect.
C)Unexpected effect.
D)Unwanted effect.

Question 41

Which statement is false in relation to attentional style?

A)Marathon runners use both associative and dissociative styles of attention.
B)During competition the vast majority of running time is linked to the associative style.
C)Increased exertion and running intensity are linked to the dissociative attention style.
D)Runners prefer the associative style for competition and the dissociative style for practice runs.

Question 42

In the two-dimensional model of attentional strategy,what are the two levels of task relevance?

A)Internal,External.
B)Distraction,Associative.
C)Dissociative,Associative.
D)Associative,External.

Question 43

The _________________ posits that there is a tight relationship between effort and attentional style.As effort increases,the athletes' attentional style shifts from being dissociative to being more associative.

A)Information processing model.
B)Effort-related model.
C)Attributional model.
D)Capacity model.

Question 44

Which of the following is not an example in sport that leads to choking?

A)Thinking about mechanics of throwing a strike across the plate prior to delivery.
B)Guiding the football pass into the receiver's open hands.
C)Shooting a jump shot in basketball with complete confidence that the shot will go in the basket.
D)In an attempt to avoid a mistake in fielding a ground ball,the shortstop attempts to guide the bouncing ball into her baseball glove.

Question 45

Research suggests that the associative strategy for running is linked to a greater incidence of injuries than the dissociative or distraction strategy.The explanation for this finding is that

A)Athletes engaging in a dissociative style of attentional focusing are running with less intensity.
B)Athletes engaging in an associative style of attentional focusing are running with greater intensity.
C)The athlete engaging in a dissociative style is running in a more relaxed mode.
D)All of the above.

Question 46

Which type of athlete internalizes the direction dimension of attention and focuses upon the body's sensory feedback signals?

A)Associator.
B)Dissociator.
C)Inhibitor.
D)Focuser.