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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Performance Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1497139
This article is part of the Research Topic Towards a Psychophysiological Approach in Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports-Volume III View all 16 articles

Attentional Focus Modulates Physiological Response to Arousal in a Competitive Putting Task

Provisionally accepted
Bobby Rawls Bobby Rawls *Victor Finomore Victor Finomore
  • West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Attentional focus during the execution of perceptual motor tasks has been shown to affect performance outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess the physiological changes prompted by attentional focus in various levels of stress. Thirty-six healthy young males and females were randomized into groups and directed on attentional focus in a staged putting competition scenario intended to elicit competitive anxiety. External focus groups experienced less internal workload at all arousal levels and preserved heart rate variability measures when audiovisual distraction was introduced.

    Keywords: Motor performance, competitive anxiety, external focus, Heart rate variability, Audiovisual distraction

    Received: 16 Sep 2024; Accepted: 18 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rawls and Finomore. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bobby Rawls, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.