Temporal anticipation under cognitive stress

Abstract

In fast paced sports settings, anticipation is the key to a successful performance. An athlete’s ability to perform under these stressful conditions defines his or her worth to their respective teams. The key in the performance of anticipatory tasks is the ability to focus one’s attention to the cues that will enable one to anticipate accurately (Abernethy, 1996). Anticipatory tasks require performers to process these cues under severe time constraints. The ability to anticipate accurately is dependent upon the information-processing capacity of the performer (Nougier, Stein & Bonnel, 1991). The limited attentional capacity available places a limit on the amount of information that can be processed. Thus, the efficiency of these internal processes is dependent on one’s ability to focus one’s attention to the relevant cues and allocate attentional resources to the relevant cues. Kahneman (1973) proposed that attention capacity fluctuated with arousal. He proposed that the allocation of attention to various stimuli was possible and mediated by factors such as the goal of the performer.