References Flashcards
(14 cards)
William 2002 - aim and findings
Perceptual cognitive skills
Aim: to investigate how expert athletes develop superior perceptual cognitive skills compared to novices
Findings:
Perceptual abilities: detecting and interpreting critical visual cues enabling quicker and more accurate decision making
Visual search strategies: employ more effective visual search patterns, allowing them to focus on relevant info (and avoiding distractions)
Superior anticipation skills: experts can anticipate (predict) opponents actions and game developments more accurately
Cognitive processing advantages: faster info processing, better memory for sport-specific situations, effective problem-solving
Training to enhance these skills should be sport-specific but also replicate the real demands of the sport (ecological validity)
Broadbent 2015
Perceptual cognitive skills
Aim: to explore how perceptual cognitive skills training enhances sports performance and how these skills are effectively transferred to real-world competition
Effective training involves perception-action coupling, contextual variability (exposing athletes to different environment, scenarios and opponenets) and realistic task design to improve DM and long-term retention
Skill transfer depends on task fidelity, cognitive load and retention
Future research should refine training structure to account for individual differences and could integrate technology like VR and eye tracking)
Goodale and Milner 2006
Visual systems
Visual brain divided into 2 systems:
ventral (what) stream – processes object and identity and passes from V1 to temporal lobe
dorsal (where/how) stream – handles object location and action guidance, passing from V1 to parietal lobe
Subcortical structures such as superior colliculus and pretectum contribute to specific visual behaviours (positioning gaze, avoiding obstacles)
Patients with damage to ventral stream (visual agnosia) may be unable to identify objects, yet still interact with them accurately – suggests unconscious visual processing in dorsal stream
Chablis and Simons 1999
Inattentional blindness
Participants watch a video of people passing basketball and asked to count the number of passes made by people in white t-shits
During task, a gorilla walked through the scene and about half of the participants filed to notice the gorilla
Highlights how selective attention can lead to significant omissions in our perception
While we can focus intensely on specific elements in our visual field, selective attention can cause us to miss other salient information
Inattentional blindness = when we fail to notice something in our visual field because our attention is directed elsewhere
Castrol EDGE
Visual attention
Ronaldo performed a task in complete darkness, relying solely on his anticipation and understanding of the game’s dynamics
He was able to successfully interact without visual input showing his exceptional anticipatory skills and spatial awareness
Suggests through experience and training, he developed an internal model of the games dynamics, allowing him to predict outcomes from minimal info
This skills is crucial when visual info is limited or rapidly changing, emphasizing that as well as enhancing physical attributes, training also enhances cognitive and perceptual abilities
Gonzalez et al 2015
Quiet eye
Aim: explores concept of quiet eye (final visual fixation prior to movement execution) as a key mechanism across sport
Longer QE durations linked with improved performance
QE enhances attention control, motor programming and response selection
QEs effects are task and context dependent but mechanisms are still debated (e.g., inhibition vs attention vs programming)
Future research using neuroimaging is needed to clarify causal relationships
Land and Macleod 2001
Eye movements
Aim: to understand how skilled cricket batsmen utilize eye movements to predict and respond to trajectory of fast approaching ball, despite limited time for processing
Batsman initiate predictive saccades to anticipate bounce point of ball shortly after release allowing them to gather critical info of balls trajectory
After ball bounces, batsmen track trajectory for 100-200ms allowing them to adjust their batting response
Skilled exhibit shorter latencies in initiating first saccade, leading to better anticipation and time contributing to successful batting performance
Brault et al 2012
Deceptive cues in sport
An example is in rugby, where a player may use a side-step to make it seem like they are going in one direction, only to quickly change and go in the other.
Brault et al (2012) studied this in virtual ruby scenarios and found that:
Experts could detect deception by focusing on the center of mass (a more reliable cue) and waited longer to make decisions, which allowed them to gather more information.
Novices, on the other hand, relied on less reliable cues (like the movement of the upper trunk or the placement of the foot), leading to more errors.
This highlights the importance of visual attention and the ability to detect the most relevant cues in a fast-moving environment.
Beilock et al 2008
PreMC
Aim: to investigate how different levels of sport experience influence brains processing of action-related language
Method: ice hockey players, fans and novices listened to sentences focusing on different topics in and fMRI scanner
Found:
Players and fans activated the premotor cortex more when listening to hockey-related sentences
Novices showed more activity in PMC indicating a more basic level of processing
Fans showed bilateral premotor activity suggesting they required more effort (less automaticity) than players
Conclusion: sport experience modifies neural processing of action languge, experts engaged higher level motor areas for understanding sport-specific langauge, reflecting more efficient specialised processing
Overall, PreMC not only involved in movement but also planning, anticipation and comprehension of actions and language
Keightley et al 2014
Concussion
15 concussed youths, 15 age-matched controls
FMRI found:
Concussed had significantly reduced task-related activity in prefrontal cortex, PreMC, SM and left parietal lobe during performance of verbal and non-verbal tasks
Conclusion: supports idea that SMA activity drops in concussed individuals, its also why athletes may struggle with timing and coordination (timing rhythm of movements) post concussion
Parks et al 2009
Cerebellum
Aim: investigate the changes in cerebellum size between novices and skilled basketball players
Used an MRI to the scan the difference in cerebellum sizes
Found:
Although there were no changes in whole cerebellum sizes between groups, there were specific parts of the cerebellum that were larger for players
The larger parts were linked to fine motor skills and spatial awareness
Conclusion: high-level sport training (like basketball with quick spatial demands and fine motor coordination) can lead to physical changes in cerebellar area that support necessary skills
Savelsbergh 2005, dicks 2010 and Vanderkamp 2008
Gaze behaviour in goal keeping
Savelbergh – used video simulation to determine where gol keepers fixate their gaze, found that they fixate on penalty takers leg, also suggests dominant use of ventral stream for detailed info processing
Dicks critqued this, running the same study but added field based condition, found that penalty takers gaze was fixed on ball, also suggested reliance on dorsal system when perorming under real constraints rather that ventral for simulation
Vanderkamp explored combination of both systems suggested both were important, with ventral focusing on identifying objects and dorsal guiding the actions to respond to the identification
Bootsma 1989
PAC in the lab
If athletes are not performing a task in a natural way (task too seperate from context), their ability to percieve and act on that info can be impaired
Conducted a study with 3 conditions and found:
Natural arm: participant used their own arm for task 9most meaningful and natural) - most consistent
Artificial arm: less meaningful and less aligned with body’s natural motor system – in between varied and consistent
Visual coincidence timing: participants had to predict right time to press button (does not mimic real-world actions) - most varied
Conclusion: button-pressing not good model for studying P-A coupling because it disrupts this continuous process – you wouldn’t press a button Iin real life
So, when you sperate perception from the action, it does not reflect how athletes naturally coordinate their actions
Davids 2000
PAC
Aim: investigates how breaking up the volleyball serve into part-practice can impact the natural P-A coupling
Placement only –players practiced only tossing the ball
Placement and serve– players practiced toss as part of entire serve
Found:
Ball placemen was more variable in those in the placement only condition
Suggests breaking up the practice disrupted P-A coupling between perception of watching the ball and the action of serving
P-A coupling is better maintained when athletes practice the task as a whole rather than isolating different parts
