Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The Effect of Attentional Instruction on Table Tennis Players' Performance under Pressure

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Authors

Mohammad Reza Ghasemian Moghadam 1
Hamidreza Taheri 2

1 PHD Student of Motor Behavior, Physical Education Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Motor Behavior, Physical Education Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jmlm.2015.52813
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of pressure and
attentional instruction on table tennis players' performance. For this purpose, 16
table tennis players were tested in 4 conditions with different attentional
instructions and pressure conditions. The test included a table tennis task: the ball
color signified the target where the ball had to be hit and the player had to perform
topspin drive against backspin balls that were thrown by the machine. Attentional
instructions were different in task-irrelevant and task-relevant cues. Pressure
conditions were manipulated through a competitive ranking and money prize.
Participants' performances were assessed through accuracy in hitting definite
targets and verbal reaction time to attentional instructions. Data were analyzed by
two-factorial ANOVA with repeated measures for each variable. The results
showed no significant difference in performance in different phases of the test
(P>0.5). The only significant difference was related to the main effect of pressure
on verbal reaction time, that is to say verbal reaction time increased under higher
pressure (P<0.5). In total, the results indicated that under pressure, regardless of
the type of attentional instruction, performance efficiency decreased.

Keywords

Attentional Instruction
Choking
Motor Performance
Pressure Condition
Relevant Cues
  1. Baumeister, R. F. (1984). "Choking under pressure: Self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skilful performance". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 610–620.
  2. Berry, D. C., Broadbent, D. E. (1988). "Interactive tasks and the implicit explicit distinction". British Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 79, 251–272.
  3. Cheraghi.F, Moradi.A,  Farahani.M. (2008). "The effect of trait anxiety and stressful conditions on the processing efficiency and working memory performance". Journal of Behavorial Sciences, 2(1), 25-32.
  4. Endler, NS, Kocovski,NL. (2001). "State and trait anxiety revisited1". Journal of anxiety Disorder, 15, 231-245.
  5. Eysenck, M. W., Calvo .M.G. (1992). "Anxiety and performance: The processing efficiency Theory".Journal of Cognition and Emotion, 6, 409-434.
  6. Gray (2004). "Attending to the execution of a complex sensorimotor skill: Expertise differences, choking, and slumps". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 10 (1), 42–54
  7. Gucciardi. DF, Dimmock. JA. (2008). "Choking under pressure in sensorimotor skills:Conscious processing or depleted attentional resources". Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise 9, 45–59.
  8. Hadwin.J.A, Brogan. J, Stevenson. J.( 2005). "State Anxiety and working memoryin children: A test of processing efficiency theory". Journal of Education Psychology, 25(4), 379-393.
  9. Hardy, L., Mullen, R., Jones, G. (1996). "Knowledge and conscious control of motor actions under stress". British Journal of Psychology, 87, 621–636.
  10. Hardy, L., Mullen, R., Martin, N. (2001). "Effect of task-relevant cues and state anxiety on motor performance". Journal of Perceptual and Motor Skills, 92, 943–946.
  11. Jackson, R. C., Wilson, R. (1999). "Using swing thoughts to prevent paradoxical performance effects in golf putting". World scientific congress of golf 166–173.
  12. Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. L. (1989). "Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude–treatment interaction to skill acquisition". Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 657–690.
  13. Masters R.S.W, Poolton. J.M, Maxwell. J.P (2008). "Implicit motor learning and complex decision making in time constrained environments". Journal of Motor Behavior, 40(1), 71–79.
  14. Masters, R. S. (1992). "Knowledge, knerves and know-how: The role of explicit versus implicit knowledge in the breakdown of a complex motor skill under pressure". British Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 83, 343–358.
  15. Movahedi, A., Sheikh, M., Bagherzadeh, F., Hemayattalab, R., & Ashayeri , H. (2007). "A Practice-Specificity-Based model of arousal for achieving peak performance". Journal of Motor Behavior. 39, 457–462
  16. Mullen, R., Hardy, L. (2000). "Anxiety and motor performance: Testing the conscious processing hypothesis". Journal of Sports Sciences, 18, 785–799.
  17. Mullen, R., Hardy, L., Tattersall, A. (2005). "The effects of anxiety on motor performance: A test of the conscious processing hypothesis". Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 27, 212–225.
  18. Murray.N.P, Janelle.C.M . (2007). "Event-related potential evidence for the processing efficiency theory". Journal of Sports Sciences, 2(5),171-161.
  19. Mead, R(2000). "The design of experiments: Statistical principles for practical applications". Cambridge University Press. 177.
  20. Williams, A. M., Vickers, J.,Rodrigues, S. (2002). "The effects of anxiety on visual search, movement kinematics, and performance in table tennis: A test of Eysenck and Calvo's processing efficiency theory". Journal of Sport & ExercisePsychology 24(4), 438-455.
Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Volume 6, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
Winter 2015
Pages 475-491

  • Receive Date 03 December 2012
  • Revise Date 17 February 2015
  • Accept Date 22 October 2013

Home

Publication Ethics

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us