Perceiving and moving in sports and other high-pressure contexts.
From an ecological psychological perspective, the current chapter discusses the influence of anxiety on the perception, selection, and realization of affordances in sports and other high-pressure contexts, particularly police work. Drawing on recent developments in the anxiety-performance literature (i.e., the attentional control theory) the authors' experimental work on the impact of anxiety on perceptual-motor performance is described. Furthermore, several experiments showing positive effects of training with anxiety on performance under pressure are discussed. We argue that through reality-based training with anxiety, processes that underlie performance might be recalibrated to the new task constraints, thereby preventing a degradation of eventual performance in stressful situations.
Oudejans
Raôul R D
RR
Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.oudejans@fbw.vu.nl
Nieuwenhuys
Arne
A
D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*