Computer training that draws attention away from threats reduces an anxious archer's attention to threats

1 study · 18 archers measured

Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

The only study is a Taiwanese pilot from 2015, and on behaviour it runs against the claim. Out of sixty university archers, eighteen of the most anxious in competition are chosen and randomly split: ten do six weeks of a computer task that shifts attention from threatening words to positive ones, eight do the same task without that push, fifty minutes once a week. The index of attention to threat moves from −1 to −17 milliseconds in the trained group and from −15 to −7 in the control group, but the difference between groups is not significant (p = 0.11). Above all, even before the training these anxious archers did not look at threats more than at the positive words they were paired with: there was nothing to remove. What does change is an early brain signal, the P1 component, which in the trained group distinguishes less between positive and threatening words, while the N1 component stays the same. It is a sign that something shifts in processing, not evidence that the archer looks at threats less; and nobody measured anxiety after the training, or the score.

Also phrased as: "attention training for anxiety"; "attention bias modification"; "computer exercises for competition anxiety"; "not getting caught by negative thoughts"

In practice

Anxious athletes are sometimes offered computer or phone exercises that "train attention" not to get caught by negative thoughts before competition.

Evidence

2015
Against Archers Published later

18 pre-elite Taiwanese university archers in the most anxious third on the SCAT, randomly split: 10 do six weeks of computer training that shifts attention away from threatening words, 8 the same task without the push, 50 minutes once a week. The index of attention to threat moves from −1.07 ± 27.83 to −17.15 ± 16.26 ms in the trained group and from −15.42 ± 28.10 to −6.94 ± 18.04 in the control group, with no significant interaction between group and time (F(1, 16) = 2.95, p = 0.11, ηp² = 0.16) and no main effects.

Effects of attentional training on visual attention to emotional stimuli in archers: A preliminary investigation · Lan-Ya Chuang, Chung-Ju Huang, Tsung-Min Hung
2015
Context Archers Published later

After the training the trained group shows a smaller difference in the P1 component between trials where the probe replaces a positive word and trials where it replaces a threatening one (group × time at Fz F(1, 16) = 8.64, p = 0.01; at Cz F = 10.51, p < 0.01; at Pz F = 6.76, p = 0.02; in the trained group before against after, d from 0.70 to 1.17), while the control group does not change. The authors themselves write that this is not the change they expected.

Effects of attentional training on visual attention to emotional stimuli in archers: A preliminary investigation · Lan-Ya Chuang, Chung-Ju Huang, Tsung-Min Hung
2015
Context Archers Published later

The N1 component, a later signal, does not change with the training: there is only an effect of electrode (F(3, 48) = 5.12, p < 0.01), with no interaction with group or time.

Effects of attentional training on visual attention to emotional stimuli in archers: A preliminary investigation · Lan-Ya Chuang, Chung-Ju Huang, Tsung-Min Hung
2015
Context Archers Published later

Before the training the archers chosen as anxious (SCAT 21.61 ± 2.30, higher than those not chosen, t(55) = 2.83, p < 0.01) showed no bias of attention towards threatening words: the index did not differ from zero, with negative means in both groups. The training was meant to remove a bias that was not present in the sample.

Effects of attentional training on visual attention to emotional stimuli in archers: A preliminary investigation · Lan-Ya Chuang, Chung-Ju Huang, Tsung-Min Hung

Status history

1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody has yet tried on archers the computer training that teaches people to turn their attention away from threatening words: the question has not been asked.
2015 Contradicted A Taiwanese pilot study selects eighteen university archers among the most anxious in competition out of sixty and splits them at random: ten do six weeks of training that draws attention away from threats, eight a control task. The index of attention to threat, the behavioural measure, does not change significantly compared with the control (p = 0.11), and even before the training the anxious archers did not look at threats more than at the positive words they were paired with. What does change is an early brain signal, the P1 component, which in the trained group distinguishes less between positive and threatening words, while the N1 component stays the same. The only study runs against the claim on behaviour, and it is small: contradicted.

Research lines

30 studiesThe archer's brain: EEG, evoked potentials, fMRI and fNIRS

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Computer training that draws attention away from threats reduces an anxious archer's attention to threats (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/threat-attention-training

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_allenamentoattenzioneminacceansia,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Computer training that draws attention away from threats reduces an anxious archer's attention to threats},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/threat-attention-training},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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