Schedule of Events | Symposia

Focus and Flight: How focus of attention impacts muscle recruitment and performance in a skills learning task

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 3:00 – 5:00 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Evan Rufer¹ (erufer@edgewood.edu), Ferrinne Spector¹; ¹Edgewood College

Focus of attention is a component of cognition that has implications for physical performance (Hitchcock & Sherwood, 2018). The purpose of this study is to understand how focus of attention (FOA) influences rate of learning and muscle recruitment during a skills learning task. Using a within groups design, we measured muscle recruitment using continuous Electromyography (EMG) on the flexor carpi ulnaris (wrist) during a dart throwing task across two counterbalanced conditions: internal FOA and external FOA. Each condition included 20 throws towards a target, participants rated each throw on a visual analog scale that was based on dart flight (external FOA) or elbow angle at release (internal FOA). We predicted that accuracy across trials will be higher with an external FOA compared to an internal FOA and that muscle recruitment would be different across the conditions. Accuracy was significantly higher in the external FOA condition (p <.05, η2p= .163) and it improved across learning phase (beginning, middle end), regardless of condition (p<.01, η2p= .180). Additionally, although the baseline throws resulted in the highest EMG frequency and amplitude, the external FOA resulted in significantly higher frequency (p<01, η2p = .031) and amplitude (p<.001, η2p= .060) than that of the internal FOA condition. These results underscore the idea that an external focus is a more efficient strategy for an external target. Additionally, this external advantage coincides with differential muscle recruitment. These findings have implications for optimizing performance by utilizing cognitive and attentional factors along with physical components during skills training.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Other