• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of attentional focus and distance of external focus on the performance of balance task of upper extremity. Subjects (N=30) held a stick (2 m) and maintained it horizontally. All of the subjects performed balance task of upper extremity under four different attentional focus conditions: focus on hand (internal focus), marker at 10 cm inside of hand (external focus 1), marker at 10 cm outside of hand (external focus 2), marker at 20 cm outside of hand (external focus 3). The mean velocity of the bar (mm/s) and the muscle activity of biceps brachii (%RVC) were measured. They were decreased when the subjects focused on external focuses compared to internal focus and decreased as distance of attentional focus from body increased (p<.05). There were significant differences between groups (p<.05); internal focus-external focus 1, internal focus-external focus 2, internal focus-external focus 3, external focus 2-external focus 3. These results showed that external focus is more effective than internal focus in enhancing motor performance and focusing on more distant attentional focus results in enhanced motor performance promoting the utilization of more automatic control mechanisms.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.158-161
• /
• 2019

Objective: Attentional focus is one of the critical factors that has consistently been demonstrated to enhance motor performance and motor skill. Focusing attention on the inside of the body while engaging in a particular exercise is called internal focus (IF) and focus on the external environment is called external focus (EF). The purpose of this study was to identify effects of IF and EF of attention on postural balance in healthy school-aged children. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twenty-four healthy school-aged children participated in this study. School-aged children was defined as children ages 8-12 years old. They performed the one-legged standing with EF (focusing on the marker at the level of participants' chest and 150 cm away), IF (focusing the supporting feet), and control (no instruction) respectively. The order of the focus condition was randomly selected. The center of pressure (COP) range, distance, and velocity was measured to compare the effects of applying different attentional focuses in the three conditions. Results: The results of our study show that differences in COP range, distance, and velocity among groups were not significant between the different attentional focuses, although all variables of EF were smaller than IF. It is postulated that the reason for this may be that school school-aged children between 8-12 years old go through a transitional phase from IF to EF in effective motor learning. Conclusions: These findings reveal that the type of attentional focus did not have any effect on postural balance in healthy school-aged children.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to introduce the effect of attentional focus on performance of task. Previous studies has shown that motor learning can be enhanced by directing performers's attention to the effects of their movements(external focus), rather than to the body movement producing the effects(internal focus). Wulf and colleagues have invoked the 'constrained action hypothesis' to explain the comparative benefits of adopting an external rather than an internal focus of attention. This hypothesis proposed that when performers utilize an internal focus of attention, they may actually constrain or interfere with automatic control processes that would normally regulate the movement, whereas an external focus of attention allows the motor system to more naturally self-organize. Electromyography(EMG) was used to determine neuromuscular correlates of external versus internal focus differences. EMG activity was lower with an external relative to an internal focus. This suggest that an external focus of attention enhances movement economy, and presumably reduces 'noise' in the motor system that hampers fine movement control. Focusing on a more remote effect seems to facilitate the discriminability of the effect from the body movements that produced it and to be more beneficial than focusing on a very close effects. There might be an optimal distance of the effect, at which ti wis easily distinguishable from the body movement but at which it is also still possible for the performer to relate this effect to the movement techniques. Future Studies of motor learning of patient need to accommodate these new finding and account for the role of the learner's attentional focus and its influencing on learning.