Information Processing: The Basic Model
Information processing describes how a performer collects, interprets and acts on information from their surroundings during a sporting situation. Information processing is the methods by which data from the environment is collected and used by a performer.
The process is broken into three sequential stages:
- Input – information is picked up from the environment via the senses
- Decision making – the performer interprets the relevant information and selects an appropriate response
- Output – the chosen response is carried out as a physical action
Feedback from the outcome of the action loops back into the system, allowing the performer to adjust future decisions.
This is often shown as a simple flow model: Input → Decision Making → Output, with feedback feeding back into earlier stages.
Input and the Senses
At the input stage, the performer picks up information from the display – everything in the sporting environment that could potentially be processed, e.g. the position of the ball, opponents, teammates, officials, the crowd and the playing surface.
Information is gathered through the senses, known collectively as receptor systems. Five key senses are used in sport: sight (vision), hearing (auditory sense), touch, balance and kinesthesis.
Sight and hearing are classed as external senses, since they detect information originating outside the body. Touch, balance and kinesthesis are classed as internal senses, known collectively as proprioceptors, since they provide information about the body's own position, tension and movement.
Kinesthesis gives information about body position and muscular tension, helping a performer stay aware of their posture and movement without needing to look – useful for detecting and correcting technique during a skill.
Decision Making: Selective Attention and Perception
Decision making is the stage where the performer processes the information gathered by the senses and chooses a response – the most demanding stage, as it draws on both attention and memory.
Selective attention is the filtering process that allows a performer to focus on the most important information in the display while ignoring irrelevant stimuli. It can be developed through practice and experience, e.g. training with realistic distractions such as crowd noise, or by building motivation, confidence and focus, all of which help concentration on relevant cues.
Benefits of well-developed selective attention include quicker and more accurate decisions, less time wasted processing unnecessary information, and being less affected by anxiety or other psychological factors that could otherwise disrupt concentration.
Perception is the process of coding and interpreting sensory information. It involves three stages, sometimes remembered using the acronym DCR:
- Detection – noticing that a stimulus is present and important
- Comparison – matching the new stimulus against information already stored in memory
- Recognition – using the outcome of the comparison to identify what response is required
The translatory mechanism converts information from the senses into a form that can be compared with, and matched against, past experiences stored in memory, helping the performer select the correct action. The effector mechanism is the network of nerves that carries impulses from the brain to the muscles, triggering the chosen response (output).
Response Time: Definitions and Factors
Reaction time is the time taken from the presentation of a stimulus to the initiation (onset) of a response – no movement has yet occurred. Movement time is the time taken to physically complete the action once it has begun.
Response time = Reaction time + Movement time
A simple reaction time applies when there is only one possible stimulus and one possible response (e.g. reacting to the starter's gun in a sprint). A choice reaction time applies when there are multiple possible stimuli, each requiring a different response, so the performer must first identify the correct stimulus before selecting the appropriate response – this takes longer than a simple reaction.
Hick's Law states that reaction time increases as the number of possible stimulus-response choices increases, since more time is needed to process and select the correct option. This relationship is not perfectly linear – reaction time tends to increase more slowly once choices become familiar to the performer.
Psychological Refractory Period and Anticipation
The single-channel hypothesis suggests only one stimulus can be processed by the brain at a time; a second stimulus arriving before the first has been dealt with must wait to be processed. This delay, caused by a second stimulus being presented before the first has finished being processed, is called the psychological refractory period (PRP).
The PRP can be used tactically to a performer's advantage – e.g. using a dummy or feint (first stimulus) to delay an opponent's reaction to the real action (second stimulus) that follows shortly after.
Anticipation is the process of pre-judging what is about to happen, based on information a performer has learned to recognise, allowing them to prepare or begin a response before the stimulus has actually occurred.
- Temporal anticipation – predicting when an event/stimulus is going to happen
- Spatial anticipation – predicting where or what is going to happen
Correct anticipation can significantly improve response time, since some decision-making is completed before the stimulus actually happens. Incorrect anticipation, however, can cause a delay, since the performer must first discard the wrong response before processing the real stimulus and reacting correctly.
Improving Response Time
Several strategies can help a performer improve their response time:
- Mental practice – rehearsing the expected response to a stimulus in the mind in advance, particularly useful for predictable/closed skills that follow a set sequence
- Focused practice under realistic conditions – practising with the specific stimulus that will be faced in competition helps the performer prepare a more efficient, specific response
- Improving fitness – training such as interval training and plyometrics can improve the speed and power of the movement itself
- Developing anticipation – using knowledge of an opponent or situation to predict what is about to happen allows a performer to begin their response earlier, although this carries some risk if the anticipation is incorrect