The relationship between expertise and visual search strategy in a racquet sport

Cue depth influences badminton players' inhibition of return in 3-D static and dynamic scenarios

The inhibition of return (IOR) is a phenomenon where response times (RTs) to a target appearing at a previously cued location are slower than those for an uncued location. IOR can improve visual search efficiency. This study aimed to investigate IOR in badminton athletes at different cue depths using a cue-target paradigm in three-dimensional (3-D) static and dynamic scenarios. The study involved 28 badminton athletes (M age = 21.29, SD = 2.39, 14 males) and 25 non-athletes (M age = 21.56, SD = 2.38, 11 males). In the static scenario (Experiment 1), no significant difference between IOR in cueing near and far conditions. IOR was showed both in cueing the near and far condition. Badminton athletes had a speed advantage than non-athletes. In the dynamic scenario (Experiment 2), only badminton athletes showed IOR in cueing the far-to-near condition, but not for the near-to-far. The present study showed that depth information influenced the IOR only in far-to-near condition. Badminton athletes showed more sensitivity to depth information than non-athletes. Additionally, the study expands the object-based IOR in 3-D dynamic scenario.

Neurocognitive performance of badminton players at different competitive levels in visuospatial attention tasks

Visuospatial attention (VSA) is a cognitive function that enables athletes, particularly those engaged in open-skill sports, to allocate attentional resources efficiently to the appropriate target and in the appropriate direction. Studies have indicated that expert players exhibit superior cognitive performance to that of novices. However, no study has investigated differences in VSA performance among elite, expert, and intermediate badminton players or the potential neurophysiological mechanisms underlying such differences. Accordingly, the present study explored neuropsychological and neurophysiological parameters during VSA tasks among badminton players of varying competitive levels. The study included 54 participants and divided them into three groups according to their competition records: elite (n = 18), expert (n = 18), and intermediate (n = 18). Their neuropsychological performance and brain event-related potentials (ERPs) during the Posner cueing paradigm were collected. Although the three groups did not differ in their accuracy rates, ERP N2 amplitudes, or N2 or P3 latencies, the elite and expert groups exhibited notably faster reaction times and more pronounced P3 amplitudes than did the intermediate group during the cognitive task. However, we did not observe these between-group differences when we controlled for the covariate training years. Additionally, the elite and expert groups exhibited comparable neurocognitive performance. These findings indicate that badminton players' competitive levels influence their VSA. However, the beneficial effects on neuropsychological and neurophysiological performance could stabilize after a certain level of badminton competence is reached. Year of training could also be a major factor influencing badminton players' neurocognitive performance in VSA tasks.

Understanding the visual search strategies of expert and novice coaches in futsal set pieces

Introduction

This study aimed to describe the fixation location and the time of the longer fixation of expert and novice futsal coaches before the ball was in play in futsal set pieces.

Methods

A total of 10 experts (ages 48 ± 5) and 10 novice coaches (ages 40 ± 7) participated in the study. They observed that 38 video clips were created to mimic the attack and defensive set-piece moments of the game. Data were collected in a standardized video analysis task using the pupil invisible eye tracker and processed through the pupil cloud platform. The Mann-Whitney test was conducted to evaluate differences in gaze duration between game moments (attack and defense set pieces) and groups (expert vs. novice). Gaze duration was also compared for gaze location between groups. For further comparisons, the game moments (attack and defense set pieces) and the gaze location were summarized in two-dimensional graphics using correspondence analysis.

Results and discussion

The results revealed higher values of gaze duration for attack and defense set pieces for the group of experts than for novices. When considering gaze duration, expert coaches had higher values than novices for the attacker 3, defender 3, barrier 1st, and barrier 2nd gaze locations. The correspondence analysis showed different strategies of visual search and, consequently, gaze locations for attack and defense set pieces. In particular, there was different correspondence for free kicks between the level of expertise and gaze location, while corner and sideline kicks revealed some correspondence between the groups and the gaze location. In free kicks, coaches should be particularly concerned about the relationship between attacker and defender three and the barrier 1st and 2nd line positions. In corner and sideline kicks, coaches should be particularly aware of the relationship between attackers' and defenders' positions.

Effects of Acute Physical Fatigue on Gaze Behavior in Expert Badminton Players

Perceptual cognitive skills in real game settings, under conditions of fatigue, such as the ability to gather relevant visual information, are key factors in achieving motor goals in sports. The objectives were to evaluate the effects of acute physical fatigue on gaze behavior during a badminton game (Study 1) and in an unfavorable force ratio situation (Study 2). Six international-level badminton players played two sets and unfavorable force ratio situations while wearing eye-tracking glasses before and after a fatiguing task. During the set, fatiguing physical exercise led to fewer fixations per exchange and more fixations on one area of interest. During unfavorable force ratio situations, fatiguing physical exercise led to shorter fixation durations per exchange, shorter fixation durations on two areas of interest, and longer fixation durations on one area of interest. The results showed that gaze behaviors were adapted in acute physical fatigue conditions to maintain performance.

Cues for predictive eye movements in naturalistic scenes

We previously compared following of the same trajectories with eye movements, but either as an isolated targets or embedded in a naturalistic scene-in this case, the movement of a puck in an ice hockey game. We observed that the oculomotor system was able to leverage the contextual cues available in the naturalistic scene to produce predictive eye movements. In this study, we wanted to assess which factors are critical for achieving this predictive advantage by manipulating four factors: the expertise of the viewers, the amount of available peripheral information, and positional and kinematic cues. The more peripheral information became available (by manipulating the area of the video that was visible), the better the predictions of all observers. However, expert ice hockey fans were consistently better at predicting than novices and used peripheral information more effectively for predictive saccades. Artificial cues about player positions did not lead to a predictive advantage, whereas impairing the causal structure of kinematic cues by playing the video in reverse led to a severe impairment. When videos were flipped vertically to introduce more difficult kinematic cues, predictive behavior was comparable to watching the original videos. Together, these results demonstrate that, when contextual information is available in naturalistic scenes, the oculomotor system is successfully integrating them and is not relying only on low-level information about the target trajectory. Critical factors for successful prediction seem to be the amount of available information, experience with the stimuli, and the availability of intact kinematic cues for player movements.

The Use of Contextual Information for Anticipation of Badminton Shots in Different Expertise Levels

Purpose: The current study investigated the use of contextual information for anticipation in badminton. Method: Participants were groups of elites (n = 26), competitive (n = 15) and novice players (n = 17) whose anticipation accuracy and reaction time were assessed using an ecologically valid badminton specific video-based occlusion test. Two conditions were presented, where either only kinematic information was available (Last Strokes condition, LS), or kinematic and contextual information were both available (Full Rally condition, FR). Results: Participants reacted slower in the FR condition, while no differences in accuracy were observed between the two conditions. Furthermore, all participants were better at side predictions than length, and elites outperformed novices in both side and length predictions. Among the elite group (which was split into adult elites, adult sub-elites & young elites), adult elite athletes showed faster responses for both the LS and FR conditions compared to their other elite counterparts who were much slower in both conditions. Conclusion: These results indicate that even at the highest level, anticipation performance can discriminate between groups of expert performers. In addition, the findings of this study indicate that the role of contextual information might not be as large as hypothesized, and further research is needed to clarify the role of contextual information toward anticipation.

Active visual search in naturalistic environments reflects individual differences in classic visual search performance

Visual search is a ubiquitous activity in real-world environments. Yet, traditionally, visual search is investigated in tightly controlled paradigms, where head-restricted participants locate a minimalistic target in a cluttered array that is presented on a computer screen. Do traditional visual search tasks predict performance in naturalistic settings, where participants actively explore complex, real-world scenes? Here, we leverage advances in virtual reality technology to test the degree to which classic and naturalistic search are limited by a common factor, set size, and the degree to which individual differences in classic search behavior predict naturalistic search behavior in a large sample of individuals (N = 75). In a naturalistic search task, participants looked for an object within their environment via a combination of head-turns and eye-movements using a head-mounted display. Then, in a classic search task, participants searched for a target within a simple array of colored letters using only eye-movements. In each task, we found that participants' search performance was impacted by increases in set size-the number of items in the visual display. Critically, we observed that participants' efficiency in classic search tasks-the degree to which set size slowed performance-indeed predicted efficiency in real-world scenes. These results demonstrate that classic, computer-based visual search tasks are excellent models of active, real-world search behavior.

Attributes of Expert Anticipation Should Inform the Design of Virtual Reality Simulators to Accelerate Learning and Transfer of Skill

Expert sport performers cope with a multitude of visual information to achieve precise skill goals under time stress and pressure. For example, a major league baseball or cricket batter must read opponent variations in actions and ball flight paths to strike the ball in less than a second. Crowded playing schedules and training load restrictions to minimise injury have limited opportunity for field-based practice in sports. As a result, many sports organisations are exploring the use of virtual reality (VR) simulators. Whilst VR synthetic experiences can allow greater control of visual stimuli, immersion to create presence in an environment, and interaction with stimuli, compared to traditional video simulation, the underpinning mechanisms of how experts use visual information for anticipation have not been properly incorporated into its content design. In themes, this opinion article briefly explains the mechanisms underpinning expert visual anticipation, as well as its learning and transfer, with a view that this knowledge can better inform VR simulator content design. In each theme, examples are discussed for improved content design of VR simulators taking into consideration its advantages and limitations relative to video simulation techniques. Whilst sport is used as the exemplar, the points discussed have implications for skill learning in other domains, such as military and law enforcement. It is hoped that our paper will stimulate improved content design of VR simulators for future research and skill enhancement across several domains.

Perceiving the inertial properties of actions in anticipation skill

Inertial properties of throwing or striking actions constrain action outcomes, but their role in anticipation skill has not been investigated yet. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically investigate the effect of inertial constraints on anticipation skill. Fifteen semi-professional and fifteen novice soccer players were tasked with determining the kick direction of penalty kicks occluded at 160 ms, 80 ms before ball-foot contact, at ball-foot contact, or 80 ms after ball-foot contact. The inertial constraints were manipulated by loading the kicking leg with a 2.25 kg weight around the shank of the kicking leg and were compared with unloaded kicks. Anticipation accuracy of kick direction, response time, and decision confidence were recorded. It was found that loaded kick directions were anticipated more accurately, faster, and at earlier occlusion periods than unloaded kicks. The higher accuracy for the loaded kicks was found in the earlier occlusion conditions in experts compared to novices, as were the positive relationships between accuracy and confidence. It was concluded that the perception of the inertial constraints of the kicking action allowed for earlier anticipation of kick direction. It is proposed that accurate perception of the biomechanical property radius of gyrations in the body segments linking proximal to distal towards the kicking foot may provide this information.

"What needs to be seen": An exploration into the visual anticipation behaviour of different skill-level football referees while observing long passes on-field

It is well established that elite football referees possess superior anticipatory skills in specific game scenarios such as when assessing foul situations. Referees might also have better anticipatory skills in other important scenarios such as when observing a long pass. In these often-occurring situations, a referee has to use visual information to anticipate the outcome of the pass, in particular to foresee any potential infringements that might occur when players battle for ball possession. However, little is known about if and how football referees might anticipate outcomes in these scenarios. The aim of the current study was therefore to analyse the visual anticipatory behaviour of football referees when long passes occur during actual football matches. Elite (N = 4) and sub-elite referees (N = 12) officiated an actual football match while wearing a mobile eye-tracker to analyse their gaze behaviour when long passes occurred (N = 196). The results revealed differences in the way that the elite and sub-elite referees tracked the ball and anticipated the outcome of the ball trajectories. The elite referees used a lower search rate (1.3 vs 1.8 fix/s; p < .05) and were more likely to direct their gaze towards the ball during the moment of kick (77 vs 52%; p < .05) and the early flight-phase of the pass (68 vs 45%; p < .05), and subsequently produced earlier anticipatory eye movements to the player(s) receiving the ball (at 50% vs 60% of the ball flight; p < .05). This earlier anticipation may help the elite referees to better pick-up relevant information about the receivers that could be vital in making adjudications about any potential infringement when the ball does arrive. Referee education programs can use the current study to highlight the importance of visual search behaviour and help referees to adapt a strategy that is beneficial for long-pass situations.

The Relationship Between Reaction Time, Eye-Hand Coordination with Visual Field in Elite Tennis Tennis Players

: The current study investigates the relationship between simple reaction time, choice reaction time, and eye-hand coordination with peripheral vision in elite female table tennis players. Ten female table tennis players of the Iranian national team with a mean age of 19.7 ± 5.964, in the 18th Asian Games of 2018, Jakarta, participated via convenience sampling. The visual field was evaluated with the Humphrey automated perimetry. Choice and simple reaction time were assessed using Deary-Liewald reaction time tester software. In order to measure eye-hand coordination, the manual test of alternate-hand wall toss was used. Data were analyzed in statistical package for the social sciences using Pearson’s correlation. The results show that there was no significant relationship between simple and choice reaction time with peripheral vision in the left and right eyes. Also, results show that there was no significant relationship between eye-hand coordination with peripheral vision in the left and right eyes (P ≤ 0.05). The findings of this study show that experts in an activity visually searched their environment and located essential information more effectively and efficiently than novices. Therefore, we know that this visual feature is more a function of expertise than visual acuity.

A Descriptive Case Study of Skilled Football Goalkeepers During 1 v 1 Dyads: A Case for Adaptive Variability in the Quiet Eye

Evidence investigating skilled performers in sport suggests that a prominent component of skilled behavior is, in part, due to the development of more effective and efficient perception-action couplings. Further, the Quiet Eye has emerged as a useful tool in which to investigate how skilled performers regulate action through fixating on visual information within the immediate environment before the onset of a goal directed movement. However, only a few contributions to the literature have attempted to examine the individual variations within these Quiet Eye fixations in skilled participants. In this case study, we first asked how goalkeepers control their actions, via the Quiet Eye in a representative task. Second, we sought to examine whether inter- and intra- individual differences in the Quiet Eye are present in skilled goalkeepers as a functional component of skilled performance. Results were consistent with previous work on football goalkeepers, with QE fixations located at the ball and visual pivot. However, individual analysis reveals different Quiet Eye gaze patterning between (inter) and within (intra) the goalkeepers during saving actions. To conclude, we have provided a descriptive case study in attempt to understand the Quiet Eye behaviors of a skilled sample of professional goalkeepers. In doing so we have suggested how adaptive variability, founded upon an Ecological Dynamics framework, may provide further insight into the function of the Quiet Eye.

Expert visual assessment strategies for equine lameness examinations in a straight line and circle: A mixed methods study using eye tracking

BACKGROUND

A large number of lameness indicators have been suggested for the visual equine lameness assessment. However, it remains unknown which of these are commonly used by experts.

METHODS

Twenty-four expert lameness assessors from 10 leading UK institutions viewed 28 video clips of sound and mildly lame horses (median score 2/10). Horses were shown at trot in a straight line (rear and front view) and circle (side view, left and right rein). Eye tracking data were collected at 60 Hz while participants evaluated each clip. A questionnaire captured contextual information.

RESULTS

During assessment on the straight line, participants consistently looked mostly at the head and pelvis. On the circle, many participants consistently looked at the head, yet the subsequent choice, weighting and order of examined body regions was unsystematic between and within participants, and there was a bias towards prolonged assessment of the horse's front region. Questionnaires revealed different descriptions of lameness indicators for the same body region and different approaches to decision making under uncertainty.

CONCLUSION

In contrast to reasonably high similarity on the straight line, expert veterinarians have not developed a consistent assessment approach when evaluating horses on the circle. The reliability of various lameness indicators on the circle requires a stronger evidence base for a more systematic, repeatable approach.

On Learning to Anticipate in Youth Sport

Elite sport offers a suitable setting to understand the ability to anticipate future events-a phenomenon that is central to animal life. Critically, however, whilst anticipation in sport has been studied for several decades, there have been few attempts to understand its development throughout childhood and adolescence. Additionally, whilst it is widely acknowledged that the need to anticipate emerges from temporal pressure, there has been no effort to understand the nonlinear effect that temporal demands have on the development of anticipatory skill. This is important as its consequences have different implications for sports authorities compared to an individual player. To bridge the gap in our understanding, this article draws attention to the mathematical concepts of concavity and convexity to explain the nonlinear relationship between temporal demands and the development of anticipatory skill. This viewpoint has implications for the design of junior sport, including the modification of rules, which has gained worldwide interest in recent years.

Sources of variation in search and foraging: A theoretical perspective

Search-the problem of exploring a space of alternatives to identify target goals-is a fundamental behaviour for many species. Although its foundation lies in foraging, most studies of human search behaviour have been directed towards understanding the attentional mechanisms that underlie the efficient visual exploration of two-dimensional (2D) scenes. With this review, we aim to characterise how search behaviour can be explained across a wide range of contexts, environments, spatial scales, and populations, both typical and atypical. We first consider the generality of search processes across psychological domains. We then review studies of interspecies differences in search. Finally, we explore in detail the individual and contextual variables that affect visual search and related behaviours in established experimental psychology paradigms. Despite the heterogeneity of the findings discussed, we identify that variations in control processes, along with the ability to regulate behaviour as a function of the structure of search space and the sampling processes adopted, to be central to explanations of variations in search behaviour. We propose a tentative theoretical model aimed at integrating these notions and close by exploring questions that remain unaddressed.

Expert Perceptual Behavior under the Spatiotemporal Visual Constraints in Table Tennis

OBJECTIVES The perceptual ability to detect movement is essential for expert table tennis players. A spatiotemporal occlusion paradigm was employed to examine the critical information that facilitates athletes’ perception.METHODS Thirty-one expert table tennis players, 29 participants and 2 demonstrators, volunteered to participate in the study. Four types of temporal conditions and five types of spatial occlusions were displayed in experimental videos of two opponents playing a table tennis forehand stroke. Period t1–4 represented the four temporal conditions, with 250, 500, 750, and 1000 ms of action being occluded, respectively. The five types of spatial occlusion involved showing the kinematics of only the ball, paddle, arm, trunk, or head. The participants were instructed to judge the landing direction of the ball on the basis of the information in the footage.RESULTS The footage depicted the longest period of play. Furthermore, in separate trials, the spatial information (for the ball, torso, or head) was missing because of occlusion. The absence of such critical spatiotemporal information impaired the ability of players to make an accurate prediction.CONCLUSION Players obtained crucial spatiotemporal information if the timeframe of the video was relatively complete and spatial information on the opponent’s torso and head was available. For peak performance, expert table tennis players perceive and detect the optical flow of the ball’s flight and consider invariant information concerning their opponent’s torso and head.

Comparison of Visual Search Behavior and Decision-making Accuracy in Expert and Novice Fencing Referees

SIGNIFICANCE

Perceptual-cognitive skills are the capacity of athletes to identify task-relevant information in the environment and integrate information with the knowledge available for decision making or controlling motor responses. Gaze behavior is one performance-related perceptual skill and a key factor affecting expertise affecting referee performance.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to compare visual search behavior and decision-making accuracy of expert and novice fencing referees.

METHOD

Twenty-eight referees were divided into expert (n = 14) and novice (n = 14) groups. Participants were fitted with mobile eye trackers and participated in tests that consisted of five blocks of 10 video clips. Videos are provided annually by the World Fencing Federation for referee testing.

RESULTS

The results showed a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the accuracy of decision making, number, duration, and location of fixations. Expert referees had higher decision-making accuracy compared with novice referees. Expert referees had fewer fixations than did novice referees. Fixations of expert referees were longer than those of novice referees, and the locations of fixations of expert and novice referees were different.

CONCLUSIONS

According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the difference in visual search behavior of expert and novice referees was one of the factors contributing to better decision making of expert referees.

The role of mirror mechanism in the recovery, maintenance, and acquisition of motor abilities

While it is well documented that the motor system is more than a mere implementer of motor actions, the possible applications of its cognitive side are still under-exploited, often remaining as poorly organized evidence. Here, we will collect evidence showing the value of action observation treatment (AOT) in the recovery of impaired motor abilities for a vast number of clinical conditions, spanning from traumatological patients to brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. Alongside, we will discuss the use of AOT in the maintenance of appropriate motor behavior in subjects at risk for events with dramatic physical consequences, like fall prevention in elderly people or injury prevention in sports. Finally, we will report that AOT can help to tune existing motor competencies in fields requiring precise motor control. We will connect all these diverse dots into the neurophysiological scenario offered by decades of research on the human mirror mechanism, discussing the potentialities for individualization. Empowered by modern technologies, AOT can impact individuals' safety and quality of life across the whole lifespan.

The development of perceptual-cognitive skills in youth volleyball players

In many sports, elite players outperform novices on tests for perceptual-cognitive skills, such as anticipation, decision-making and pattern recall. However, the developmental trajectory of these perceptual-cognitive skills has received limited attention. Therefore, this study examined the development of anticipation, decision-making and pattern recall in 202 female volleyball players aged between 7 and 26 years old. Participants were categorized into six age groups: U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and Seniors. Using a video-based occlusion protocol, we assessed participants' ability to predict pass direction, decide the most optimal attack zone, or recall the opponents' defence positions. The results demonstrated that U17 and adult players had superior accuracy and shorter response times than younger players on all three tests. Notably, U9 players performed worse than older players on all tests. Binomial distributions showed that decision-making was above chance for U17 players and adults, whereas anticipation was above chance for almost all players. Our findings indicate that age-related improvements of perceptual-cognitive skills are evident at 11 years old. However, decision-making seems to develop considerably later than anticipation and pattern recall, suggesting different developmental trajectories for the different perceptual-cognitive skills. Longitudinal research regarding the development of perceptual-cognitive skills and their underlying mechanisms is warranted, as this could have important implications for talent detection and development.

Visual Search for Circumscribed Interests in Autism Is Similar to That of Neurotypical Individuals

Intense interests are a core symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and can be all-encompassing for affected individuals. This observation raises the hypothesis that intense interests in ASD are related to pervasive changes in visual processing for objects within that category, including visual search. We assayed visual processing with two novel tasks, targeting category search and exemplar search. For each task, three kinds of stimuli were used: faces, houses, and images personalized to each participant’s interest. 25 children and adults with ASD were compared to 25 neurotypical (NT) children and adults. We found no differences in either visual search task between ASD and NT controls for interests. Thus, pervasive alterations in perception are not likely to account for ASD behavioral symptoms.

Decision-Making While Passing and Visual Search Strategy During Ball Receiving in Team Sport Play

In many team sports, in which environmental change is constant, athletes selectively allocate attention between the approaching ball and other players, and constantly consistently making decisions regarding whom to pass the ball to. Few previous studies on decision-making in team sports such as soccer have included the ball reception phase. This study examined players’ visual search strategies during pass decisions. Using five-on-four soccer-specific film simulations from previously recorded real scenes, high-level players (HLPs) and middle-level players (MLPs) reacted to life-sized soccer scenes. We measured their visual search strategies in decision-making tasks involving ball reception and pass execution and collected their verbal reports. We employed a novel system wherein the ball is ejected toward participants according to the video clips in order to maintain perception–action coupling during the task. We found skill-based differences in decision-making accuracy, eye movement data, and verbal reports. HLPs demonstrated better decision-making than MLPs, and, in eye movement data, HLPs allocated more attention to nonmarked attackers ([ M]  =  14.1, [ SD]  =  4.8%, p <  .001, η2 = 0.39), the teammate receiving the pass ( M =  18.4, SD = 4.3%, p <  .05, η2 = 0.15), and opponents ( M =  14.6, SD =  6.3%, p <  .05, η2 = 0.17) than did MLPs. Furthermore, according to verbal reports, HLPs tended to attend to information on opponent players. Thus, visual search strategies during ball reception suggest that the position and situation of teammates and opponents are the most important information sources for accurate and consistent pass decisions.

Fighting Left Handers Promotes Different Visual Perceptual Strategies than Right Handers: The Study of Eye Movements of Foil Fencers in Attack and Defence

Left handers have long held the edge over right handers in one-on-one interactive combat sports. Particularly in fencing, top rankings show a relatively strong overrepresentation of left handers over right handers. Whether this can be attributed to perceptual strategies used by fencers in their bouts remains to be established. This study aims to verify whether right-handed fencers assess their opponents' behaviour based on different perceptual strategies when fencing a left vs. right hander. Twelve top-level (i.e., Olympic fencers, Junior World Team Fencing Champions, and top Polish senior foil fencers) right-handed female foil fencers (aged 16-30 years) took part in the study. They performed a total of 40 actions: 10 repetitions of offensive actions (attack) and 10 repetitions of defensive actions (defence), each type of action performed under 2 conditions (right- vs. left-handed opponent). While the participants were fencing, their eye movements were being recorded with a remote eye-tracker (SMI ETG 2.0). Both in their offensive and defensive actions, the fencers produced more fixations to the armed hand and spent more time observing the armed hand in duels with a left-handed (vs. right-handed) opponent. In defence, it was also the guard that attracted more fixations and gained a longer observation time in bouts with a left hander. In duels with a right-handed opponent, a higher number of fixations in attack and in defence, and longer observation times in defence were found for the upper torso. The results may point to different perceptual strategies employed in bouts with left- vs. right-handed individuals. The findings from this study may help to promote the implementation of specialized perceptual training programmes in foil fencing.

Information Accrual From the Period Preceding Racket-Ball Contact for Tennis Ground Strokes: Inferences From Stochastic Masking

Previous research suggests the existence of an expert anticipatory advantage, whereby skilled sportspeople are able to predict an upcoming action by utilizing cues contained in their opponent’s body kinematics. This ability is often inferred from “occlusion” experiments: information is systematically removed from first-person videos of an opponent, for example, by stopping a tennis video at the point of racket-ball contact, yet performance, such as discrimination of shot direction, remains above chance. In this study, we assessed the expert anticipatory advantage for tennis ground strokes via a modified approach, known as “bubbles,” in which information is randomly removed from videos in each trial. The bubbles profile is then weighted by trial outcome (i.e., a correct vs. incorrect discrimination) and combined across trials into a classification array, revealing the potential cues informing the decision. In two experiments (both with N = 34 skilled tennis players) we utilized either temporal or spatial bubbles, applying them to videos running from 0.8 to 0 s before the point of racket-ball contact (cf. Jalali et al., 2018). Results from the spatial experiment were somewhat suggestive of accrual from the torso region of the body, but were not compelling. Results from the temporal experiment, on the other hand, were clear: information was accrued mainly during the period immediately prior to racket-ball contact. This result is broadly consistent with prior work using nonstochastic approaches to video manipulation, and cannot be an artifact of temporal smear from information accrued after racket-ball contact, because no such information was present.

The impact of physiological load on anticipation skills in badminton: From testing to training

Research remains unclear on the impact of physiological load on perceptual-cognitive skills in sport. Moreover, no study has examined the training of perceptual-cognitive skills under physiological load. The current study comprised two phases. Firstly, we examined the impact of badminton-specific physiological load on anticipatory skills in expert badminton players (n = 13), including key underlying mechanisms, such as gaze behaviour. Under high physiological load, participants displayed less efficient visual search behaviour and showed a reduction in response accuracy. Secondly, we examined the effects of combining perceptual-cognitive simulation training with the high physiological load. Ten of the expert badminton players were assigned to a combined training group, where the simulation training and the physiological load intervention occurred simultaneously or an independent training group, whereby the two components were completed independently. The combined training group showed a positive change in the efficiency of their visual search behaviours compared to the independent training group, but no significant performance improvements were found. Overall, findings demonstrate that high physiological load is detrimental to experts' anticipatory skills. However, combining perceptual-cognitive simulation training with high physiological load can potentially negate these debilitating effects.

Evaluation of strategies to train visual search performance in professional populations

Visual search, the act of finding targets amongst distractors, is central to many professions with life-or-death implications including aviation security, radiology, lifeguarding, military, and more. As such, every effort should be taken to improve visual search performance. One potential path to improvement is to ensure that workforces are optimally trained. Broadly, there are three general components to train: (1) specific use of the machinery and user interface (i.e. 'knobology'), (2) target and distractor identification, and (3) search strategy. The current review considers the cognitive psychology aspects of these three components; each is evaluated in light of short-term and long-term training goals, as well as profession-specific constraints.

Guiding Low Spatial Ability Individuals through Visual Cueing: The Dual Importance of Where and When to Look

Research suggests that spatial ability may predict success in complex disciplines including anatomy, where mastery requires a firm understanding of the intricate relationships occurring along the course of veins, arteries, and nerves, as they traverse through and around bones, muscles, and organs. Debate exists on the malleability of spatial ability, and some suggest that spatial ability can be enhanced through training. It is hypothesized that spatial ability can be trained in low-performing individuals through visual guidance. To address this, training was completed through a visual guidance protocol. This protocol was based on eye-movement patterns of high-performing individuals, collected via eye-tracking as they completed an Electronic Mental Rotations Test (EMRT). The effects of guidance were evaluated using 33 individuals with low mental rotation ability, in a counterbalanced crossover design. Individuals were placed in one of two treatment groups (late or early guidance) and completed both a guided, and an unguided EMRT. A third group (no guidance/control) completed two unguided EMRTs. All groups demonstrated an increase in EMRT scores on their second test (P < 0.001); however, an interaction was observed between treatment and test iteration (P = 0.024). The effect of guidance on scores was contingent on when the guidance was applied. When guidance was applied early, scores were significantly greater than expected (P = 0.028). These findings suggest that by guiding individuals with low mental rotation ability "where" to look early in training, better search approaches may be adopted, yielding improvements in spatial reasoning scores. It is proposed that visual guidance may be applied in spatial fields, such as STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine), surgery, and anatomy to improve student's interpretation of visual content. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.

Surgeons see anatomical structures faster and more accurately compared to novices: Development of a pattern recognition skill assessment platform

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to identify differences in pattern recognition skill among individuals with varying surgical experience.

METHODS

Participants reviewed laparoscopic cholecystectomy videos of various difficulty, and paused them when the cystic duct or artery was identified to outline each structure on the monitor. Time taken to identify each structure, accuracy and work load, which was assessed using the NASA-Task Load Index (TLX), were compared among the three groups.

RESULTS

Ten students, ten residents and eight attendings participated in the study. Attendings identified the cystic duct and artery significantly faster and more accurately than students, and identified the cystic artery faster than residents. The NASA-TLX score of attendings was significantly lower than that of students and residents.

CONCLUSIONS

Attendings identified anatomical structures faster, more accurately, and with less effort than students or residents. This platform may be valuable for the assessment and teaching of pattern recognition skill to novice surgeons.

SHORT SUMMARY

Accurate anatomical recognition is paramount to proceeding safely in surgery. The assessment platform used in this study differentiated recognition skill among individuals with varing surgical experience.

Stepovers and Signal Detection: Response Sensitivity and Bias in the Differentiation of Genuine and Deceptive Football Actions

The ability to differentiate genuine and deceptive actions was examined using a combination of spatial and temporal occlusion to examine sensitivity to lower body, upper body, and full body sources of visual information. High-skilled and low-skilled association football players judged whether a player genuinely intended to take the ball to the participant's left or right or intended to step over the ball then take it in the other direction. Signal detection analysis was used to calculate measures of sensitivity (d') in differentiating genuine and deceptive actions and bias (c) toward judging an action to be genuine or deceptive. Analysis revealed that high-skilled players had higher sensitivity than low-skilled players and this was consistent across all spatial occlusion conditions. Low-skilled players were more biased toward judging actions to be genuine. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves revealed that accuracy on deceptive trials in the lower body and full body conditions most accurately classified participants as high-skilled or low-skilled. The results highlight the value of using signal detection analysis in studies of deceptive actions. They suggest that information from the lower body or upper body was sufficient for differentiating genuine and deceptive actions and that global information concurrently derived from these sources was not necessary to support the expert advantage.

"Experience Isn't Everything": How Emotion Affects the Relationship Between Experience and Cue Utilization

OBJECTIVE

This research examined whether negative and positive arousal emotions modify the relationship between experience level and cue utilization among anesthetists.

BACKGROUND

The capacity of a practitioner to form precise associations between clusters of features (e.g., symptoms) and events (e.g., diagnosis) and then act on them is known as cue utilization. A common assumption is that practice experience allows opportunities for cue acquisition and cue utilization. However, this relationship is often not borne out in research findings. This study investigates the role of emotional state in this relationship.

METHOD

An online tool (EXPERTise 2.0) was used to assess practitioner cue utilization for tasks relevant to anesthesia. The experience of positive and negative arousal emotions in the previous three days was measured, and emotion clusters were generated. Experience was measured as the composite of practice years and hours of practice experience. The moderating role of emotion on the relationship between experience and cue utilization was examined.

RESULTS

Data on 125 anesthetists (36% female) were included in the analysis. The predicted interaction between arousal emotions and the experience level emerged. In particular, post hoc analyses revealed that anxiety-related emotions facilitated the likelihood of high cue utilization in less experienced practitioners.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest a role for emotions in cue use and suggest a functional role for normal range anxiety emotions in a simulated work-relevant task.

APPLICATION

This research illustrates the importance of understanding the potentially functional effects common negative arousal emotions may have on clinical performance, particularly for those with less experience.

Anticipatory judgements associated with vision of an opponent’s end-effector: An approach by motion perturbation and spatial occlusion

This study was aimed at determining how the visual information of an end-effector (racket) and the intermediate extremity (arm) of a tennis server contribute to the receiver’s anticipatory judgement of ball direction. In all, 15 experienced tennis players and 15 novice counterparts viewed a spatially occluded computer graphics animation of a tennis serve (no-occlusion, racket-occlusion, and body-occlusion) and made anticipatory judgements of ball direction on a visual analogue scale (VAS). The patterns of the serve motions were generated by a simulation technique that computationally perturbs the rotation speed of the selected racket-arm joint (forearm pronation and elbow extension) on a captured serve motion. The results suggested that the anticipatory judgements were monotonically attuned with the perturbation rate of the forearm pronation speed excepting under the conditions of the racket-occlusion model. Although such attunements were not observed in the elbow perturbation conditions, the results of correlation analysis indicated that the residual information in the spatially occluded models had a similar effect to the no-occlusion model within the individual experienced participants. The findings support the notion that end-effector (racket) provides deterministic cues for anticipation, as well as imply that players are able to benefit from the relative motion of an intermediate extremity (elbow extension).

Perceptual-cognitive skill and the in situ performance of soccer players

Many studies have shown that experts possess better perceptual-cognitive skills than novices (e.g., in anticipation, decision making, pattern recall), but it remains unclear whether a relationship exists between performance on those tests of perceptual-cognitive skill and actual on-field performance. In this study, we assessed the in situ performance of skilled soccer players and related the outcomes to measures of anticipation, decision making, and pattern recall. In addition, we examined gaze behaviour when performing the perceptual-cognitive tests to better understand whether the underlying processes were related when those perceptual-cognitive tasks were performed. The results revealed that on-field performance could not be predicted on the basis of performance on the perceptual-cognitive tests. Moreover, there were no strong correlations between the level of performance on the different tests. The analysis of gaze behaviour revealed differences in search rate, fixation duration, fixation order, gaze entropy, and percentage viewing time when performing the test of pattern recall, suggesting that it is driven by different processes to those used for anticipation and decision making. Altogether, the results suggest that the perceptual-cognitive tests may not be as strong determinants of actual performance as may have previously been assumed.

Zur Diskussion des CHC-Modells im Kontext des Leistungssports

Zusammenfassung. Das Cattell-Horn-Carroll Modell (CHC-Modell) wird als potentielles Rahmenmodell vorgestellt, um kognitive Basisfähigkeiten im leistungssportlichen Kontext zu betrachten. Mit dem Determinationstest (DT) wird beispielhaft ein Testverfahren aus dem Wiener Testsystem auf seine psychometrischen Eigenschaften geprüft, Aspekte der speed & efficiency als Komponenten des CHC-Modells zu erfassen, die im Sport von hoher Bedeutsamkeit sind. Zur Konstruktvalidierung wird ergänzend der Cognitrone (COG), der u.a. den CHC-Bereich memory & efficiency abbildet, in Teilstichproben eingesetzt. Auf der Datenbasis von österreichischen Leistungssporttreibenden sowie Sportstudierenden werden Kriteriums- und Konstruktvalidität sowie Test-Retest-Stabilität des DT berichtet. Der DT scheint einen Beitrag leisten zu können, zwischen Sportartenbündeln zu differenzieren, die (a) hohe Anforderungen (z.B. Tennis) bzw. (b) geringe Anforderungen (z.B. Skilanglauf) an speed & efficiency stellen. In Spielsportarten, die stark auf speed & efficiency als auch der memory & efficiency rekurrieren, korrelieren die Daten des DT und COG erwartungsgemäß höher als bei den beiden anderen Sportartenbündeln.

The role of contextual information during skilled anticipation

In dynamic, temporally constrained tasks, individuals often need to anticipate what will happen next prior to information becoming available within the environment. In such situations, the availability of contextual information can facilitate anticipation, often in conjunction with postural information. While many researchers have identified the specific sources of postural information facilitating anticipation, few have investigated the specific sources of contextual information employed. In two experiments, we presented skilled and less-skilled tennis players with animations of rallies from real matches that omitted access to postural information from the opponent, constraining participants to anticipate based on contextual information alone. In Experiment 1, participants anticipated the outcome of an opponent's shot under three conditions in which the sequence length (i.e., number of shots in a rally) preceding the same occluded shot was varied. Participants anticipated shot direction more accurately when the preceding shot sequence was presented than not. In Experiment 2, we presented animations that depicted the ball, the players, or both, in either dynamic or still form. Those conditions in which only the ball was depicted yielded the lowest response accuracy scores. It appears that information from the player and ball motion is required to provide the context under which skilled performers can consciously pick up and utilise information to anticipate more accurately than their less-skilled counterparts.

Investigation of Perceptual-Motor Behavior Across the Expert Athlete to Disabled Patient Skill Continuum can Advance Theory and Practical Application

A framework is presented of how theoretical predictions can be tested across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Common-coding theory is used as the exemplar to discuss sensory and motor system contributions to perceptual-motor behavior. Behavioral and neural studies investigating expert athletes and patients recovering from cerebral stroke are reviewed. They provide evidence of bi-directional contributions of visual and motor systems to perceptual-motor behavior. Majority of this research is focused on perceptual-motor performance or learning, with less on transfer. The field is ripe for research designed to test theoretical predictions across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Our view has implications for theory and practice in sports science, physical education, and rehabilitation.

The role of cue utilisation in reducing the workload in a train control task

Skilled performance has been characterised, in part, by the capacity to accurately identify and respond to patterns as cues in the environment. The outcome is a reduction in cognitive load and a greater residual capacity to undertake concurrent tasks. The present study was designed to examine the relationship between cue utilisation and temporal pattern recognition in the context of a simulated, rail control task. Sixty-one university students undertook an assessment of cue utilisation and engaged in a rail control simulation. The appearance and movement of trains followed a consistent but implicit (undisclosed) pattern. Throughout the second half of the rail task, a secondary task was included. The results indicated that participants with relatively higher cue utilisation were more likely to identify the implicit pattern of rail movements, were more accurate and responded more rapidly under increased workload conditions. The results suggest that a propensity to identify patterns as cues may provide an opportunity to reduce cognitive demands, thereby facilitating performance in a novel task. Implications for selection and system design are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This study was designed to explain differences in the way in which people learn, particularly when tasks involve recurring patterns. Using simulated rail control, the results indicated that participants who display behaviour that is indicative of the utilisation of cues also recognise patterns in the movement of simulated trains. This enables them to manage trains more effectively, even while undertaking other tasks.

Where Are You Throwing the Ball? I Better Watch Your Body, Not Just Your Arm!

The ability to intercept or avoid a moving object, whether to catch a ball, snatch one's prey, or avoid the path of a predator, is a skill that has been acquired throughout evolution by many species in the animal kingdom. This requires processing early visual cues in order to program anticipatory motor responses tuned to the forthcoming event. Here, we explore the nature of the early kinematics cues that could inform an observer about the future direction of a ball projected with an unconstrained overarm throw. Our goal was to pinpoint the body segments that, throughout the temporal course of the throwing action, could provide key cues for accurately predicting the side of the outgoing ball. We recorded whole-body kinematics from twenty non-expert participants performing unconstrained overarm throws at four different targets placed on a vertical plane at 6 m distance. In order to characterize the spatiotemporal structure of the information embedded in the kinematics of the throwing action about the outgoing ball direction, we introduced a novel combination of dimensionality reduction and machine learning techniques. The recorded kinematics clearly shows that throwing styles differed considerably across individuals, with corresponding inter-individual differences in the spatio-temporal structure of the thrower predictability. We found that for most participants it is possible to predict the region where the ball hit the target plane, with an accuracy above 80%, as early as 400-500 ms before ball release. Interestingly, the body parts that provided the most informative cues about the action outcome varied with the throwing style and during the time course of the throwing action. Not surprisingly, at the very end of the action, the throwing arm is the most informative body segment. However, cues allowing for predictions to be made earlier than 200 ms before release are typically associated to other body parts, such as the lower limbs and the contralateral arm. These findings are discussed in the context of the sport-science literature on throwing and catching interactive tasks, as well as from the wider perspective of the role of sensorimotor coupling in interpersonal social interactions.

Eye-Tracking Technology and the Dynamics of Natural Gaze Behavior in Sports: A Systematic Review of 40 Years of Research

Reviewing 60 studies on natural gaze behavior in sports, it becomes clear that, over the last 40 years, the use of eye-tracking devices has considerably increased. Specifically, this review reveals the large variance of methods applied, analyses performed, and measures derived within the field. The results of sub-sample analyses suggest that sports-related eye-tracking research strives, on the one hand, for ecologically valid test settings (i.e., viewing conditions and response modes), while on the other, for experimental control along with high measurement accuracy (i.e., controlled test conditions with high-frequency eye-trackers linked to algorithmic analyses). To meet both demands, some promising compromises of methodological solutions have been proposed—in particular, the integration of robust mobile eye-trackers in motion-capture systems. However, as the fundamental trade-off between laboratory and field research cannot be solved by technological means, researchers need to carefully weigh the arguments for one or the other approach by accounting for the respective consequences. Nevertheless, for future research on dynamic gaze behavior in sports, further development of the current mobile eye-tracking methodology seems highly advisable to allow for the acquisition and algorithmic analyses of larger amounts of gaze-data and further, to increase the explanatory power of the derived results.

Increased Complexities in Visual Search Behavior in Skilled Players for a Self-Paced Aiming Task

The badminton serve is an important shot for winning a rally in a match. It combines good technique with the ability to accurately integrate visual information from the shuttle, racket, opponent, and intended landing point. Despite its importance and repercussive nature, to date no study has looked at the visual search behaviors during badminton service in the singles discipline. Unlike anticipatory tasks (e.g., shot returns), the serve presents an opportunity to explore the role of visual search behaviors in movement control for self-paced tasks. Accordingly, this study examined skill-related differences in visual behavior during the badminton singles serve. Skilled (n = 12) and less skilled (n = 12) participants performed 30 serves to a live opponent, while real-time eye movements were captured using a mobile gaze registration system. Frame-by-frame analyses of 662 serves were made and the skilled players took a longer preparatory time before serving. Visual behavior of the skilled players was characterized by significantly greater number of fixations on more areas of interest per trial than the less skilled. In addition, the skilled players spent a significantly longer time fixating on the court and net, whereas the less skilled players found the shuttle to be more informative. Quiet eye (QE) duration (indicative of superior sports performance) however, did not differ significantly between groups which has implications on the perceived importance of QE in the badminton serve. Moreover, while visual behavior differed by skill level, considerable individual differences were also observed especially within the skilled players. This augments the need for not just group-level analyses, but individualized analysis for a more accurate representation of visual behavior. Findings from this study thus provide an insight to the possible visual search strategies as players serve in net-barrier games. Moreover, this study highlighted an important aspect of badminton relating to deception and the implications of interpreting visual behavior of players.

Anticipation in sport

Anticipation has become an increasingly important research area within sport psychology since its infancy in the late 1970s. Early work has increased our fundamental understanding of skilled anticipation in sports and how this skill is developed. With increasing theoretical and practical insights and concurrent technological advancements, researchers are now able to tackle more detailed questions with sophisticated methods. Despite this welcomed progress, some fundamental questions and challenges remain to be addressed, including the (relative) contributions of visual and motor experience to anticipation, intraindividual and interindividual variation in gaze behaviour, and the impact of non-kinematic (contextual or situational) information on performance and its interaction with advanced kinematic cues during the planning and execution of (re)actions in sport. The aim of this opinion paper is to shortly sketch the state of the art, and then to discuss recent work that has started to systematically address open challenges thereby inspiring promising future routes for research on anticipation and its application in practice.

Temporal and spatial occlusion of advanced visual information constrains movement (re)organization in one-handed catching behaviors

Dynamic interceptive actions are performed under severe spatial and temporal constraints. Here, behavioral processes underpinning anticipation in one-handed catching were examined using novel technology to implement a spatial and temporal occlusion design. Video footage of an actor throwing a ball was manipulated to create four temporal and five spatial occlusion conditions. Data from twelve participants' hand kinematics and gaze behaviors were recorded while attempting to catch a projected ball synchronized with the video footage. Catching performance decreased with earlier occlusion of the footage. Movement onset of the catching hand and initiation of visual ball tracking emerged earlier when footage of the thrower was occluded at a later time point in the throwing action. Spatial occlusion did not affect catching success, although movement onset emerged later when increased visual information of the actor was occluded. Later movement onset was countered by greater maximum velocity of the catching hand. Final stages of action (e.g., grasping action of the hand) remained unchanged across both spatial and temporal conditions suggesting that later phases of the action were organized using ball flight information. Findings highlighted the importance of maintaining information-movement coupling during performance of interceptive actions, since movement behaviors were continuously (re)organized using kinematic information from a thrower's actions and ball flight information.

Adaptability of expert visual anticipation in baseball batting

By manipulating stimulus variation in terms of opponent pitcher actions, this study investigated the capability of expert (n = 30) and near-expert (n = 95) professional baseball batters to adapt anticipation skill when using the video simulation temporal occlusion paradigm. Participants watched in-game footage of two pitchers, one after the other, that was temporally occluded at ball release and various points during ball flight. They were required to make a written prediction of pitch types and locations. Per cent accuracy was calculated for pitch type, for pitch location, and for type and location combined. Results indicated that experts and near-experts could adapt their anticipation to predict above guessing level across both pitchers, but adaptation to the left-handed pitcher was poorer than the right-handed pitcher. Small-to-moderate effect sizes were found in terms of superior adaptation by experts over near-experts at the ball release and early ball flight occlusion conditions. The findings of this study extend theoretical and applied knowledge of expertise in striking sports. Practical application of the instruments and findings are discussed in terms of applied researchers, practitioners and high-performance staff in professional sporting organisations.

The relative importance of different perceptual-cognitive skills during anticipation

We examined whether anticipation is underpinned by perceiving structured patterns or postural cues and whether the relative importance of these processes varied as a function of task constraints. Skilled and less-skilled soccer players completed anticipation paradigms in video-film and point light display (PLD) format. Skilled players anticipated more accurately regardless of display condition, indicating that both perception of structured patterns between players and postural cues contribute to anticipation. However, the Skill×Display interaction showed skilled players' advantage was enhanced in the video-film condition, suggesting that they make better use of postural cues when available during anticipation. We also examined anticipation as a function of proximity to the ball. When participants were near the ball, anticipation was more accurate for video-film than PLD clips, whereas when the ball was far away there was no difference between viewing conditions. Perceiving advance postural cues appears more important than structured patterns when the ball is closer to the observer, whereas the reverse is true when the ball is far away. Various perceptual-cognitive skills contribute to anticipation with the relative importance of perceiving structured patterns and advance postural cues being determined by task constraints and the availability of perceptual information.

Does perceptual or motor experience influence the perception of global and joint-specific kinematic changes in complex movement patterns?

The perception and identification of technical errors during skill execution is a critical component in coaching, because it provides the foundation for skill analysis, instruction, and feedback provision. In this study, we examined the influences of perceptual and motor experience on the perception of kinematic change in a technical evaluation task that is common in coaching. A total of 21 expert coaches, stratified by playing ("motor") expertise, as well as ten novice coaches and ten current players, observed video and point-light displays of a service action and recorded written judgments on whether the serve had changed from one video clip to the next. Three kinematic variables were manipulated: maximum knee flexion, maximum trunk rotation, and ball toss position at zenith. Coaching experience provided no additional benefit when perceiving global (holistic) changes in the service action, and limited if any benefit when perceiving specific changes in the observed kinematics. A significant expertise effect showed that expert coaches have increased sensitivity when detecting smaller changes in knee flexion. Changes in trunk rotation appeared difficult to perceive for all groups, whereas changes in lateral ball toss position were easily perceived. Motor experience did not influence the perception of global kinematics and provided no benefit above perceptual experience alone when perceiving specific kinematic changes. Collectively, the findings demonstrate that experienced coaches have the capacity to detect relatively small changes in kinematics; however, the ability to detect changes does not appear to be influenced by the extent of their own expertise in producing the movement pattern being evaluated.

Analysis of anticipation by 3D motion capturing - a new method presented in karate kumite

Anticipation is an important performance factor in karate kumite. A new approach analysing anticipation in realistic combat situations by motion capturing with a high temporal resolution is presented. The advantage of this approach is that both karate athletes interacting sports specific can be recorded synchronously; thus, the presented method has the potential to analyse visual information pickup due to coordination pattern of interaction between real athletes. The aim is to demonstrate the usability of the current method for anticipation research and to investigate if the distance between two athletes and their attacking technique play a role in the reaction of the defending athlete. Furthermore, relevant cues lying within each attacking technique and little individual differences are shown. Four male karate athletes took part in this study. Logistic regression indicated that both factors (distance × attacking technique) play a significant role in reaction. However, a correlation between these factors shows that only the attacking technique is a good predictor for reaction. Results show that the attacking technique jabbing punch (jap. Kizami-Zuki) was easier to anticipate than the attacking techniques reverse punch (jap. Gyaku-Zuki) and the round kick (jap. Mawashi-Geri).

Differential contribution of visual and auditory information to accurately predict the direction and rotational motion of a visual stimulus

Vision and auditory information are critical for perception and to enhance the ability of an individual to respond accurately to a stimulus. However, it is unknown whether visual and auditory information contribute differentially to identify the direction and rotational motion of the stimulus. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of an individual to accurately predict the direction and rotational motion of the stimulus based on visual and auditory information. In this study, we recruited 9 expert table-tennis players and used table-tennis service as our experimental model. Participants watched recorded services with different levels of visual and auditory information. The goal was to anticipate the direction of the service (left or right) and the rotational motion of service (topspin, sidespin, or cut). We recorded their responses and quantified the following outcomes: (i) directional accuracy and (ii) rotational motion accuracy. The response accuracy was the accurate predictions relative to the total number of trials. The ability of the participants to predict the direction of the service accurately increased with additional visual information but not with auditory information. In contrast, the ability of the participants to predict the rotational motion of the service accurately increased with the addition of auditory information to visual information but not with additional visual information alone. In conclusion, this finding demonstrates that visual information enhances the ability of an individual to accurately predict the direction of the stimulus, whereas additional auditory information enhances the ability of an individual to accurately predict the rotational motion of stimulus.