Attentional processing in athletes and non-athletes

Abstract Background Focused attention is crucial for skilled performance, and athletic participation may influence attentional processing. Purpose This study examined differences in sustained attention and visual search between Division II college student-athletes and non-athlete students. Methods Baseline data from 59 participants (30 athletes, 29 non-athletes) were analyzed. Participants completed computerized tasks assessing sustained attention (go/no-go) and visual search. Between- and mixed-subjects ANCOVAs were conducted, controlling for age. Results Athletes outperformed non-athletes in sustained attention ( F (1, 56) = 8.12, p = .006, Cohen’s d = 0.78) and visual search ( F (1, 56) = 34.43, p < .001, d = 1.58). Open-skilled athletes showed higher detection scores than non-athletes ( p = .004, d = 0.88). No group differences were observed in response bias. On the visual search task, close-skilled athletes demonstrated ( M = 1257 ms, SD = 624 ms) faster response times than open-skilled athletes ( M = 1904 ms, SD = 419 ms) and non-athletes ( M = 2547 ms, SD = 522 ms), p ’s < .001. Conclusion Athletic participation is associated with enhanced attentional performance across multiple cognitive domains, supporting the transfer of cognitive skills developed through sport to fundamental attentional processes.