German Sport University, Cologne, Germany.
PLoS One. 2013 May 2;8(5):e62278. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062278. Print 2013.
Three experiments investigated the predictions of the biased competition theory of selective attention in a computer based sport task. According to this theory objects held in the circuitry of working memory (WM) automatically bias attention to objects in a visual scene that match or are related to the WM representation. Specifically, we investigated whether certain players that are activated in the circuitry of WM automatically draw attention and receive a competitive advantage in a computer based sport task. In all three experiments participants had to hold an image of a certain player in WM while engaged in a speeded sport task. In Experiment 1 participants had to identify as quickly as possible which player was in possession of the ball. In Experiment 2 and 3 participants had to decide to which player they would pass to in a cartoon team handball situation and a photo picture basketball situation. The results support the biased competition theory of selective attention and suggest that certain decision options receive a competitive advantage if they are associated with the activated contents in the circuitry of WM and that this effect is more pronounced when more decision options compete for attention. A further extension compared to previous research was that the contents of working memory not only biased attention but also actual decisions that can lead to passing errors in sport. We critically discuss the applied implications of the findings.
三项实验以基于计算机的运动任务检验了选择性注意的偏向竞争理论的预测。根据这一理论，工作记忆（WM）电路中保持的物体自动将注意力偏向与 WM 表示匹配或相关的视觉场景中的物体。具体来说，我们调查了在 WM 电路中被激活的某些运动员是否会自动吸引注意力并在基于计算机的运动任务中获得竞争优势。在所有三项实验中，参与者都必须在 WM 中保持某个运动员的图像，同时参与一项快速运动任务。在实验 1 中，参与者必须尽快识别出哪个球员拥有球。在实验 2 和 3 中，参与者必须决定在卡通团队手球情境和照片篮球情境中将球传给哪个球员。研究结果支持了选择性注意的偏向竞争理论，并表明如果与 WM 电路中激活的内容相关，某些决策选项会获得竞争优势，而且当更多的决策选项竞争注意力时，这种效果更加明显。与之前的研究相比，一个进一步的扩展是，工作记忆的内容不仅会偏向注意力，还会影响到可能导致运动中传球失误的实际决策。我们批判性地讨论了研究结果的应用意义。
