Ironic processes of concentration and suppression under pressure: A study on rifle shooting in Norwegian elite biathletes

Bartura, Khelifa; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik; Gustafsson, Henrik; Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis; Gorgulu, Recep · 2024 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1111/sms.14647

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Summary

This study investigates the psychological mechanisms behind "ironic errors" in high-pressure sports, specifically examining how athletes manage unwanted thoughts during rifle shooting. Grounded in Wegner’s Ironic Processes of Mental Control Theory, the research addresses the phenomenon where attempts to suppress specific thoughts (e.g., "don't miss") under cognitive load can paradoxically increase the likelihood of those very errors occurring. The study aims to determine whether regulating repetitive priming of attentional or negative cues can mitigate these ironic performance errors and interference effects in elite biathletes. The researchers conducted two experiments using a within-subject quasi-experimental design with semi-elite Norwegian biathletes (Experiment 1, n=10; Experiment 2, n=9). Participants performed a novel dual-task involving standing rifle shooting combined with a reverse-Stroop task. In this task, athletes had to shoot at colored targets while ignoring the meaning of a distracting word presented on screen. The study manipulated cognitive load (low vs. high) and priming cues. Experiment 1 focused on attentional cues (e.g., "Ignore blue"), while Experiment 2 examined negative cues. Performance was measured by hit rates, shooting response times (RTs), and the frequency of ironic errors (shooting the target matching the distracting word). Anxiety, workload, and physiological arousal were also monitored to ensure the cognitive load manipulation was effective. The results from Experiment 1 indicated that regulating repetitive priming of attentional thoughts was effective in reducing the likelihood of ironic performance errors and minimizing interference effects. In Experiment 2, repetitive priming of negative cues resulted in negligible ironic error hit rates but led to slower shooting response times under high-cognitive load conditions. Bayesian analyses provided evidence supporting the null hypotheses, suggesting that the specific type of cue (attentional vs. negative) did not significantly alter the reduction of ironic errors when compared directly. The study concludes that attempting to control repetitive priming of both attentional and negative thoughts reduces ironic performance errors to a similar degree under cognitive load conditions, regardless of interference effects. This suggests that the efficacy of mental control strategies in mitigating ironic errors may not depend heavily on whether the instruction is framed positively or negatively, provided the athlete actively regulates the priming process. The findings contribute to sport psychology by offering empirical evidence on how cognitive load interacts with thought suppression in motor tasks, highlighting the importance of managing attentional resources to prevent counterintentional errors in precision sports.

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