Concentration and attention

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Biathlon great Magdalena Neuner focussing her attention on the target. Image credit: Ragnar SingsaasActivity

Test your concentration

How do you focus under pressure? Here’s an exercise that tests your skills of concentration by seeing how you quickly you can find numbers on a grid. In sixty seconds click on the numbers on the grid below in order from 00-99. How far can you get before a minute is up?

Instructions

1. Start the stop watch.
2. Click/touch on each number. They will turn green if clicked in the right order.
3. To have another go click on the restart button remembering to reset the stopwatch again.

19	20	22	17	88	66	16	34	83	25
86	38	74	91	79	77	95	45	35	82
06	67	21	51	07	43	55	75	76	63
50	40	26	14	72	44	56	99	48	93
61	53	94	60	62	31	18	10	27	29
97	00	81	49	70	58	23	52	39	05
68	41	89	64	08	30	24	09	69	15
04	65	84	78	03	02	13	47	46	54
87	85	59	90	33	37	92	12	71	32
01	73	42	57	96	28	36	98	11	80

RESTART

How did you do?

It’s not easy is it? Did you find yourself thinking:

• This is really difficult.
• Time went really quickly.
• I’m not doing very well.
• I bet others could do better.
• I can’t see the number, yet I know it’s here somewhere.

Did you lose focus or daydream?

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What is concentration?

Concentration can be described as the fixing of attention on a selected object or activity to the exclusion of everything else. In the activity above, you had to fix your attention on the task of finding the numbers in the right order. Concentration should be thought of as the process of controlling attention so that all thoughts and senses are focussed on the task in hand at the expense of other things that might be competing for your attention.

Good concentration is focussing attention on the right thing at the right time. Meanwhile, losing concentration is when focus is less than total and partially shifted onto other things.

In sport, an important step in mastering the art of concentration is to understand the different dimensions of attention. An important fact to remember is that attention involves selectivity of sensory inputs.

The human brain and nervous system is not capable of processing the enormous quantity of sensory information available at any moment in time, and therefore filters out most of it. The nervous system handles the job of identifying information to be processed, and once our concentration capacity is reached, nothing else will be noticed. Sometimes our internal thoughts can inhibit our sensory processing and we notice almost nothing going on around us.

Fortunately, most people are quite capable of redirecting their attention when required, although having said that, very many simple errors are caused by redirecting attention inappropriately.  Take the example of the cricket batsman.

Image credit: Dee03

Mihandra Singh Dhoni is currently the captain of India’s one day international cricket team and regarded as one of the great batsmen in the limited overs form of the game. When batting, his concentration processes take centre stage and the virtuoso strokes he produces are only possible through effective use of several different sensory systems:

• Vision to perceive the speed position and swing of the ball.
• Hearing the subtle changes of spin.
• A delicate sense of feel, which permits accurate repositioning of bat and body in unison.

When he faces a ball bowled at 150 kph, he must complete the following process in less than half a second:

1. Perceive the sensory input relevant to the ball moving towards him at high speed.
2. Decide on a response based on the characteristics of the ball bowled.
3. Initiate the correct response via neural impulses in the body.
4. Respond by playing a particular stroke or leaving the ball.

If Dhoni wastes valuable concentration capacity attending to the movement of the crowd or thinking about something said to him by an opposing fielder, then he would be less aware of the important details that aid successful batting. Accordingly, the process described above would be less efficient and a dismissal would become more likely.