Welcome to Sports Psychology: Basic Information Processing
Ever wondered how a professional tennis player can react to a 100mph serve in a split second? It’s not just magic—it’s information processing! In this chapter, we are going to look at how our brain acts like a powerful computer to take in information, make a choice, and perform a skill. Don't worry if this seems a bit "sciencey" at first; we will break it down into simple steps that happen every time you move in PE.
The Information Processing Model
To understand how we perform skills, psychologists use a simple four-stage model. Think of it as a loop that never stops while you are playing. The four stages are:
1. Input
2. Decision Making
3. Output
4. Feedback
Stage 1: Input
This is the first step where you gather information from the display (everything happening around you). You use your senses to do this, mainly sight, sound, and touch.
However, there is too much going on at once! You can't focus on everything. This is where selective attention comes in. This is your brain’s "filter." It helps you focus on the important cues (like the ball) and ignore the irrelevant stimuli (like the crowd shouting or a bird flying past).
Example: A basketball player focuses on the rim of the hoop (important) while ignoring the defender’s trash talk (irrelevant).
Stage 2: Decision Making
Now that you have the information, you have to decide what to do with it. Your brain looks into its "filing cabinet" (your memory) to find the right response.
• Short-Term Memory (STM): This is your "working memory." It holds the information you just took in for a few seconds.
• Long-Term Memory (LTM): This is where you store all your practiced skills and past experiences. If you have practiced a pass 1,000 times, the "program" for that pass is stored here.
In this stage, you compare what is happening now (in your STM) with what you have learned before (in your LTM) to pick the best move.
Stage 3: Output
Once the decision is made, your brain sends a message to your muscles. This is the output—the actual physical movement or performance of the skill.
Example: Your brain sends a signal to your arm muscles to swing the racket and hit the tennis ball.
Stage 4: Feedback
After you have moved, you need to know if it worked. This is feedback. There are two main ways you get this:
• Intrinsic Feedback: This comes from self. It’s the "feeling" of the movement. You know if a shot felt "right" the moment it left your hand.
• Extrinsic Feedback: This comes from others. This could be your coach shouting instructions, the crowd cheering, or simply seeing the ball go into the net.
Quick Review: The I-D-O-F Loop
Use this mnemonic to remember the order: I Don't Often Fail.
Input -> Decision Making -> Output -> Feedback.
Key Takeaway: Information processing is a continuous loop. The feedback you get from one move becomes the input for your next move!
Applying the Model to a Sporting Skill
Let's look at a penalty kick in football to see how this works step-by-step:
1. Input: The player sees the goalkeeper's position and the corners of the goal. Using selective attention, they ignore the fans behind the goal.
2. Decision Making: The player remembers from Long-Term Memory that the keeper usually dives left. They decide to aim for the bottom right corner.
3. Output: The brain sends signals to the leg muscles to run up and strike the ball with the side of the foot.
4. Feedback: The player feels the ball hit the "sweet spot" of the boot (intrinsic) and sees the ball hit the back of the net (extrinsic).
Common Mistake to Avoid
Students often confuse Selective Attention with Decision Making. Remember: Selective attention is just the filter (picking what to look at). Decision making is choosing the action based on what you saw.
Visualizing the Model
In your exam, you might be asked to draw or explain the model in a "box format." It looks like this:
[ INPUT ] ----> [ DECISION MAKING ] ----> [ OUTPUT ]
^ |
| ___________________ [ FEEDBACK ] < ____________________|
(Note: The arrows show that feedback goes back into the start of the system to help with the next input!)
Did you know?
Elite athletes are much better at selective attention than beginners. A pro cricketer can ignore the thousands of people in the stadium and focus entirely on the seam of the ball as it leaves the bowler's hand. This is why they seem to have "more time" to react!
Summary Checklist
• Can you name the four stages of the model? (Input, Decision Making, Output, Feedback)
• Do you know that Input comes from the display via the senses?
• Can you explain Selective Attention? (Filtering out junk info).
• Do you know the difference between Short-Term and Long-Term Memory?
• Can you define Intrinsic and Extrinsic feedback?
• Can you apply these stages to a specific sport like netball, rugby, or tennis?
Key Takeaway: Mastering the information processing model is the "secret sauce" to understanding how we learn and improve any sporting skill!