Attention Restoration Theory has provided a framework for investigating how experiencing natural scenes can be especially helpful in overcoming attentional fatigue. If the structure of attention were better understood, it might facilitate experimental investigations of this theory and possibly expand its domain. The present paper reviews experiments that demonstrate that sustained focal attention is characterized by 3-8 Hz. oscillations that are interpreted as temporally sampling the environment. A traveling wave model is proposed as a generalization of this finding for distributed attention in which there is sampling of the environment over both time and space. Temporal and spatial sampling frequencies are assumed to be adjustable together from low to high. This model provides a frequency based interpretation of Attention Restoration Theory. Low frequency attention waves can occur in expansive natural environments with slow temporal rhythms and fractal structure and are restorative. In contrast, high frequency attention waves can occur in modern technological environments with high event rates and are fatiguing. This model of distributed attention will be helpful in researching attention restoration in relation to the spatio-temporal frequency content of natural and constructed environments. Attention restoration is discussed in the context of monitoring and vehicular control tasks, attentional aspects of religious practice, and music.

A sequence of visual or auditory events may be perceived as a single continuing sequence or as two or more separate sequences occurring in parallel. The latter percept occurs when the perceived distance between events is large, and the timing is fast, and is referred to as “streaming.” Several researchers have previously argued that streaming indicates a velocity constraint on the movement of attention. To test this hypothesis the present experiment measured tradeoffs between distance and timing for the onset or loss of streaming in a rectangular pattern of displayed lights. Two linear tradeoffs were found, one corresponding to the loss of streaming when the light pattern was slowed down, and one corresponding to the onset of streaming when the light pattern was sped up. The slopes of these linear relations are interpreted as integer multiples of the velocity of spatio-temporal attention waves. A process model postulates that participants adjust the wavelength of their spatio-temporal attentional traveling wave to match the height of the displayed rectangle. Streaming is assumed to occur when peaks in the attentional traveling wave coincide with the onsets of lights at the top and bottom of the displayed rectangle. Additional supporting evidence for temporal and spatial attention waves is reviewed. This model may be useful for understanding some forms of attentional deficits as well as expert attentional skills arising in musical performance, sports, meditation, and other tasks.

CONTEXT:Video feedback is an expeditious method for improving athlete safety when performing activities with an inherent risk of injury. Providing appropriate and validated feedback during tackling training in American football may be a mechanism for athletes to learn safe tackling performance. OBJECTIVE:To determine the effect of video feedback in the instruction of tackling form. DESIGN:Controlled laboratory study. SETTING:Laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:A total of 32 youth football athletes (28 boys, 4 girls; age = 11.8 ± 0.8 years) participated in 1 day of training. Of those, 14 participants completed 2 additional days of training and a 48-hour retention and transfer test. INTERVENTION(S):Video feedback using self as model, expert as model, combined self and expert model, and oral feedback to promote safe tackling performance in a laboratory environment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):Shoulder extension, cervical extension, trunk angle, pelvis height, and step length by training block and over time. RESULTS:For the 1-day training group, main effects for time were observed for shoulder extension (P < .01), cervical extension (P = .01), pelvis height (P < .01), and step length (P < .01), with better performance for pelvis height and step length after combined feedback. For the 3-day training group, main effects of time were identified in pelvis height (P < .01) and step length (P < .01), with combined feedback showing better performance than other methods in shoulder extension and pelvis height. Combined feedback resulted in better performance compared with its component parts and oral feedback alone. In the combined model, participants viewed both their performance and the expert model, enabling them to see the difference between current and required performance. CONCLUSIONS:Combined feedback may be superior to other forms of feedback in improving movement performance. This effect can be generalized across disciplines that provide instruction and feedback in movement.

Participants used a position control system to track the center of a simulated winding roadway with preview that ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 s. Participants’ spatial distributions of attention were measured by perturbing the roadway with different frequency sinusoids at different roadway positions and then measuring the degree to which those frequencies were present in their tracking movements. Consistent with Miller's optimal control theory analysis of tracking with preview, participants exhibited a continuous range of attention, and it lengthened with the amount of displayed preview. When the displayed preview disappeared for 5 s, the time to reach a steady-state level of tracking error based only on feedback control was measured. More displayed preview was strongly correlated with longer times to regress to feedback control. One interpretation of this finding is that when preview is withdrawn, visual sensory memory of the previewed roadway can be used for a fraction of a second to prolong the period of feedforward control. Attention can be shifted to relevant positions of the sensory memory image to anticipate the roadway curvature. However, the quality and usefulness of sensory memory gradually diminishes until the participant can only perform feedback control. When preview was restored, the time to reach steady-state feedforward control was correlated with the range of attention. These findings characterize some of the dynamic aspects of attention when drivers are briefly interrupted from viewing the upcoming roadway. This measurement technique may be useful for characterizing spatially distributed attention in other active control contexts.

Objective The aim of this study is to measure drivers' attention to preview and their velocity and acceleration tracking error to evaluate two- and three-dimensional displays for following a winding roadway. Background Display perturbation techniques and Fourier analysis of steering movements can be used to infer drivers' spatio-temporal distribution of attention to preview. Fourier analysis of tracking error time histories provides measures of position, velocity, and acceleration error. Method Participants tracked a winding roadway with 1 s of preview in low-fidelity driving simulations. Position and rate-aided vehicle dynamics were paired with top-down and windshield displays of the roadway. Results For both vehicle dynamics, tracking was smoother with the windshield display. This display emphasizes nearer preview positions and has a closer correspondence to the control-theoretic optimal attentional distributions for these tasks than the top-down display. This correspondence is interpreted as a form of stimulus-response compatibility. The position error and attentional signal-to-noise ratios did not differ between the two displays with position control, but with more complex rate-aided control much higher position error and much lower attentional signal-to-noise ratios occurred with the top-down display. Conclusion Display-driven influences on the distribution of attention may facilitate tracking with preview when they are similar to optimal attentional distributions derived from control theory. Application Display perturbation techniques can be used to assess spatially distributed attention to evaluate displays and secondary tasks in the context of driving. This methodology can supplement eye movement measurements to determine what information is guiding drivers' actions.

Participants attempted to center a cursor on a video display of a winding roadway with a rate control system. Fourier analysis of their steering movements in response to sinusoidal perturbations of the roadway revealed how much attention they allocated to different roadway preview locations. We compared a full 1.0 s of preview with preview restricted to a narrow slit around 0.3 s or 0.6 s. Participants were able to flexibly shift their attention to either slit. However, they performed better in terms of root-mean-squared error, velocity error, and acceleration error with the fuller view. They concentrated their attention over a range from 0.1 s to 0.3 s of preview in a manner qualitatively consistent with Miller's optimal control model.

The spatiotemporal distribution of drivers' attention to preview was inferred from their steering movements while tracking a winding roadway in a laboratory setting. For most subjects, the average driving attentional distribution over six daily sessions was relatively stable and generalized across different control devices. However, there was considerable day-to-day variability in the attentional distributions. This variability was modeled as a strong interaction between two dynamic processes, the attentional emphasis of selected regions and inhibition of surrounding regions. The model combines a novel application of a reaction-diffusion model of biological pattern formation with an optimal control model of attention to preview. The combined model treats attentional dynamics as an example of the biological spacing of a limited cognitive resource, which is also shaped by the demands of action.

Background Many organizations have introduced frameworks to reduce the incidence of football related concussions through proper equipment fitting, coach education, and alteration of tackling technique. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training in a vertical, head up tackling style on the number of head accelerations experienced while tackling in a controlled laboratory situation. The authors hypothesized that training in a head up tackling technique would reduce the severity of head acceleration experienced by participants. Design Controlled Laboratory Study. Methods Twenty-four participants (11.5 ± 0.6 years old, 60.5 ± 2.2 in, 110 ± 18.4 lbs.) with previous playing experience completed a one-day training session on tackling technique utilizing a tackling dummy. A subgroup of these participants completed an additional two days of training with a 48 hour retention test. Head accelerations were analyzed at baseline and end of training. Feedback consisted of verbal feedback utilizing the Qualitative Youth Tackling Scale (QYTS) and video tackling playback. Results A significant reduction in the number of peak linear head accelerations over 10 g and peak rotational head accelerations over 1885 deg/s2 were found in dummy tackling after training in both the one day and three day training regimens. A significant change in QYTS tackling form score was found between pretest and post-test (p = 0.004). Participants with larger steps had a 2.28, 4.42 and 4.14 increased odds ratio of sustaining head accelerations over 10, 15 and 20 g respectively. Conclusions Training in a vertical, head up tackling style decreased the number of head accelerations over threshold values sustained while tackling; decreased step length may be the driving factor in the effectiveness of this tackling form. Level of Evidence Level 3b.

BackgroundLong term neurologic injury and concussion have been identified as risks from participation in American football. Altering tackling form has been recommended to reduce the risk of neurologic injury caused by head accelerations when tackling. The purpose of this research is to determine the inter-rater agreement and validity of the Qualitative Youth Tackling System (QYTS), a six-item feedback scale to correct tackling form, when utilized by novice and expert raters.HypothesisExperienced raters will have higher levels of agreement with each other and with motion capture when compared to novice raters.MethodsBoth novice and experienced raters viewed video of youth athletes (ages 9-13) tackling a dummy in a laboratory setting along. The raters identified successful performance according to a binary rating scale for each component. Analysis of both the raters' agreement with each other and with an objective motion capture measure were completed.ResultsFliess' Kappa measures between all raters were found to be moderate for head placement (k=.48), fair for cervical extension (k=.38), trunk inclination (k=.37), shoulder extension (k=.27) and step length (k=.29), and there was no agreement for pelvic height (k=.-16). When compared to the dichotomized validation measures of each of the five components provided by the motion capture system the average Cohen's Kappa agreement was substantial for pelvic height (k=.63), fair for step length (k=.34), cervical extension (k=.40), trunk inclination (k=.35), and slight for shoulder extension (k=.16). The experienced raters outperformed the novice raters in all categories.ConclusionThe results of this study indicate that skilled raters are better able to identify the movement patterns included in the QYTS when compared to a validation measure as well have higher rates of inter-rater agreement than novice raters.Level of Evidence3b.