Conscious Processing and the Process Goal Paradox

Abstract

The three experiments reported here examined the process goal paradox, which has emerged from the literature on goal setting and conscious processing. We predicted that skilled but anxious performers who adopted a global movement focus using holistic process goals would outperform those who used part-oriented process goals. In line with the conscious processing hypothesis, we also predicted that performers using part process goals would experience performance impairment in test compared with baseline conditions. In all three experiments, participants performed motor tasks in baseline and test conditions. Cognitive state anxiety increased in all of the test conditions. The results confirmed our first prediction; however, we failed to find unequivocal evidence to support our second prediction. The consistent pattern of the results lends support to the suggestion that, for skilled athletes who perform under competitive pressure, using a holistic process goal that focuses attention on global aspects of a motor skill is a more effective attentional focus strategy than using a part process goal.

Anxiety and Ironic Errors of Performance: Task Instruction Matters

“…Further, holistic process goals have been found to reduce anxiety (Kingston & Hardy, 1997), which should reduce the likelihood of the monitoring process coming to the fore (Woodman et al, 2015). Moreover, when used by a sample of experienced athletes, holistic process goals such as "reach" and "drive" were associated with superior performance (e.g., less errors) during high-anxiety conditions (Mullen & Hardy, 2010). Thus, we recommend that performers are issued with a clear and simple positive instruction (e.g., holistic process goals), to limit their susceptibility to ironic errors in sport.…”

Implementing the Five-A Model of Technical Refinement: Key Roles of the Sport Psychologist

“…To help stimulate an effective holistic focus, mood words (e.g., thump, bang, flush, clip, swish) can also provide the athlete with a beneficial "aide memoire" of the whole movement (Rushall, 1979), so long as it accurately corresponds with important movement capacities such as the required strength, speed, power, agility, balance, or endurance (Mullen & Hardy, 2010). As such, the generation, experimentation, and selection of these words may be suitably guided during discussion and video review of successful executions with the sport psychologist.…”

In praise of conscious awareness: a new framework for the investigation of “continuous improvement” in expert athletes

“…Interestingly, evidence suggests that many skilled performers remain “somaesthetically” aware (i.e., focusing on the proprioceptive “feel”, Shusterman, 2008) of their movement during on-line skill execution (in the performance context; see Nyberg, in press) and can use global or holistic cue words to improve performance proficiency under pressurized conditions (see Mullen and Hardy, 2010). Therefore, instead of relying wholly on unthinking spontaneity to guide their performance, elite athletes appear to alternate between different modes of cognitive processing, and also between types of bodily self-awareness (i.e., reflective and pre-reflective) in practice and performance contexts.…”