Focusing of attention in professional women skiers

Investigated the ability to focus in 5 high-level female skiers (mean age 22.7 yrs) and 10 female control Ss (mean age 23.3 yrs). It was hypothesized that high-level skiers would exert more efficient control on the time course of attentional focusing, become more rapid in producing the best focus size, and maintain focus for a longer time period. Ss were instructed to press a bar at the onset of a stimulus which could appear at different stimulus onset asynchronys inside a small or large cue. By using a precueing procedure, the time necessary for focusing was estimated, excluding the time necessary for orienting. Results show that skiers were more rapid in focusing on the cue and maintained focused attention for a longer time period. In addition, skiers used the warning signal differently to prepare their response.