Attentional Focus and Performance Anxiety: Effects on Simulated Race-Driving Performance and Heart Rate Variability

Richard Mullen,Andrea Faull,Kieran Kingston,Eleri S Jones

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00426

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that an external focus can enhance motor learning compared to an internal focus. The benefits of adopting an external focus are attributed to the use of less effortful automatic control processes, while an internal focus relies upon more effort-intensive consciously controlled processes. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a distal external focus with an internal focus in the acquisition of a simulated driving task and subsequent performance in a competitive condition designed to increase state anxiety. To provide further evidence for the automatic nature of externally controlled movements, the study included heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of mental effort. Sixteen participants completed eight blocks of four laps in either a distal external or internal focus condition, followed by two blocks of four laps in the competitive condition. During acquisition, the performance of both groups improved; however, the distal external focus group outperformed the internal focus group. The poorer performance of the internal focus group was accompanied by a larger reduction in HRV, indicating a greater investment of mental effort. In the competition condition, state anxiety increased, and for both groups, performance improved as a function of the increased anxiety. Increased heart rate and self-reported mental effort accompanied the performance improvement. The distal external focus group also outperformed the internal focus group across both neutral and competitive conditions and this more effective performance was again associated with lower levels of HRV. Overall, the results offer support for the suggestion that an external focus promotes a more automatic mode of functioning. In the competitive condition, both foci enhanced performance and while the improved performance may have been achieved at the expense of greater compensatory mental effort, this was not reflected in HRV scores.

Highlights

Over the last decade, researchers have demonstrated the beneficial effects of an external focus of attention for the acquisition of motor skills
For both HRVLF and HRVHF, the significant main effect for Focus indicated that the internal focus group recorded larger reductions from baseline compared to the external focus group
Using heart rate variability (HRV), we wanted to determine the pattern of mental effort underpinning the acquisition of a simulated race-driving task under external and internal attentional focus conditions

Summary

Introduction

Researchers have demonstrated the beneficial effects of an external focus of attention for the acquisition of motor skills (see Wulf, 2007 for a review). McNevin et al (2003) used a stabilometer balance task and demonstrated that a distal external focus of attention on balancing platform markers placed 26 cm away from participants’ feet resulted in enhanced learning compared to a proximal external focus that required participants to focus on markers placed immediately in front of their feet, which, in turn, was more effective than an internal focus of attention It appears that an external focus has more beneficial effects on learning when the direction of focus is remote from the action effects that produce the movement.

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