title: The Influence of Attentional Focus Instructions and Vision on Jump Height Performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies have suggested that the use of visual information may underlie the benefit associated with an external focus of attention. Recent studies exploring this connection have primarily relied on motor tasks that involve manipulation of an object (object projection). The present study examined whether vision influences the effect of attentional focus on the performance of body movements through space (body projection).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N = 24, Mage= 25.0 ± 3.3 years) performed a maximum vertical jump in a room with a 4-m ceiling under full-vision and no-vision conditions. Additionally, participants performed 3 trials under each of 3 attentional conditions, presented in a counterbalanced order: external focus (ExF; "concentrate on the ceiling and try to touch it"), internal focus (InF; "concentrate on your fingers and try to bring them up as high as possible"), and control (Con; no-focus instruction).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that regardless of visual condition, a statistically significant difference was observed such that participants in the ExF condition (30.93 ± 8.37 cm) jumped significantly higher than participants in both the InF (30.09 ± 8.66 cm, p = .004, d = 0.68) and Con (30.23 ± 8.73 cm, p = .002, d = 0.57) conditions. Furthermore, jump height was overall significantly higher in the full-vision condition compared with the no-vision condition (p = .004, d = 0.47). Importantly, there was no interaction between ExF and vision.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings demonstrate the benefit of an ExF on a body projection task and further provide evidence of the independence of ExF and visual information.
authors.affiliation: a Palacky University Olomouc.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abdollahipour
authors.affiliation: a Palacky University Olomouc.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Psotta
authors.affiliation: b University of Texas at San Antonio.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Land
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D059385:Plyometric Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular
keywords: Body projection; external focus; internal focus; vision