Probing expert anticipation with the temporal occlusion paradigm: Experimental investigations of some methodological issues

Copyright @ 2005 Human KineticsTwo experiments were conducted to examine whether the conclusions drawn regarding the timing of anticipatory information pick-up from temporal occlusion studies are influenced by whether (a) the viewing period is of variable or fixed duration and (b) the task is a laboratory-based one with simple responses or a natural one requiring a coupled, interceptive movement response. Skilled and novice tennis players either made pencil-and-paper predictions of service direction (Experiment 1) or attempted to hit return strokes (Experiment 2) to tennis serves while their vision was temporally occluded in either a traditional progressive mode (where more information was revealed in each subsequent occlusion condition) or a moving window mode (where the visual display was only available for a fixed duration with this window shifted to different phases of the service action). Conclusions regarding the timing of information pick-up were generally consistent across display mode and across task setting lending support to the veracity and generalisability of findings regarding perceptual expertise in existing laboratory-based progressive temporal occlusion studies.This study is funded by the Australian Institute of Sport Tennis program

Sensitivity to fine-grained and coarse visual information: The effect of blurring on anticipation skill

Copyright @ 2009 Edizione l PozziWe examined skilled tennis players’ ability to perceive fine and coarse information by assessing their ability to predict serve direction under three levels of visual blur. A temporal occlusion design was used in which skilled players viewed serves struck by two players that were occluded at one of four points relative to ball-racquet impact (-320ms, -160ms, 0ms, +160ms) and shown with one of three levels of blur (no blur, 20% blur, 40% blur). Using a within-task criterion to establish good and poor anticipators, the results revealed a significant interaction between anticipation skill and level of blur. Anticipation skill was significantly disrupted in the ‘20% blur’ condition; however, judgment accuracy of both groups then improved in the ‘40% blur’ condition while confidence in judgments declined. We conclude that there is evidence for processing of coarse configural information but that anticipation skill in this task was primarily driven by perception of fine-grained information.This research was supported by a University of Hong Kong Seed Funding for Basic Research grant awarded to the second author

Cortical fMRI activation to opponents' body kinematics in sport-related anticipation: Expert-novice differences with normal and point-light video

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Neuroscience Letters. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.Badminton players of varying skill levels viewed normal and point-light video clips of opponents striking the shuttle towards the viewer; their task was to predict in which quadrant of the court the shuttle would land. In a whole-brain fMRI analysis we identified bilateral cortical networks sensitive to the anticipation task relative to control stimuli. This network is more extensive and localised than previously reported. Voxel clusters responding more strongly in experts than novices were associated with all task-sensitive areas, whereas voxels responding more strongly in novices were found outside these areas. Task-sensitive areas for normal and point-light video were very similar, whereas early visual areas responded differentially, indicating the primacy of kinematic information for sport-related anticipation.Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Chin

The contribution of structured activity and deliberate play to the development of expert perceptual and decision-making skill

The developmental histories of 32 players in the Australian Football League (AFL), independently classified as either expert or less skilled in their perceptual and decision-making skills, were collected through a structured interview process and their year-on-year involvement in structured and deliberate play activities retrospectively determined. Despite being drawn from the same elite level of competition, the expert decision-makers differed from the less skilled in having accrued, during their developing years, more hours of experience in structured activities of all types, in structured activities in invasion-type sports, in invasion-type deliberate play, and in invasion activities from sports other than Australian football. Accumulated hours invested in invasion-type activities differentiated between the groups, suggesting that it is the amount of invasion-type activity that is experienced and not necessarily intent (skill development or fun) or specificity that facilitates the development of perceptual and decision-making expertise in this team sport. © 2008 Human Kinetics, Inc.published_or_final_versio

A novel training tool for batters to watch the ball

postprintConference of Science, Medicine & Coaching in Cricket 2010, Queensland, Australia, 1-3 June 2010. In Conference Proceedings, 2010, p. 32-3

A Taylor method for numerical solution of generalized pantograph equations with linear functional argument

AbstractThis paper is concerned with a generalization of a functional differential equation known as the pantograph equation which contains a linear functional argument. In this paper, we introduce a numerical method based on the Taylor polynomials for the approximate solution of the pantograph equation with retarded case or advanced case. The method is illustrated by studying the initial value problems. The results obtained are compared by the known results

Validity of MTI (Actigraph) for physical activity measurement in children with cerebral palsy

Theme: Adapted Physical Activity Over Life-SpanINTRODUCTION: Physical activity (PA) measurement among children with cerebral palsy (CP) has not been adequately established. CP involves a wide range of disabilities, and the assessment of PA in this population is of importance to the design and implementation of health, therapy, and physical education programs (Kim, 2009; Pirpiris & Graham, 2004). The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of MTI (Actigraph) as a PA measurement instrument for children with CP. METHODS: Participants included 31 children with CP (17 female and 14 male) aged 6 to14 years (M = 9.71 years, SD = 2.52 years). The participants were classified within Gross Motor Classification System (GMFCS) I to III, and took part in two activity sessions: (1) structured activity protocol with increasing intensities and (2) free play session. MTI was used to measure activity counts, heart rate was measured …postprin

Anticipation and transfer of expert pattern perception

Conference Theme: Meeting New Challenges and Bridging Cultural Gaps in Sport and Exercise PsychologyINTRODUCTION: When an observer views a moving object that is abruptly halted, the human perceptual system continues to extrapolate the object’s movement, predicting it’s likely pathway and misrepresenting the final stopping point as being further along the original trajectory (Freyd & Johnson, 1987). This extrapolation of the temporal features is typically referred to as “representational momentum” (Freyd, 1987; Freyd & Finke, 1984; Intraub, 2002). It has been suggested that this phenomenon occurs because participants anticipate the trajectory of the object and remember that object by integrating its predicted motion with perceptions of its implied acceleration and velocity (Didierjean & Marmèche, 2005; Finke, Freyd, & Shyi, 1986). This anticipatory trace is then stored in memory and can be accessed for subsequent recall and recognition …postprin

Process-oriented evaluation of fundamental movement skills in children with cerebral palsy

Symposium IIIpostprintThe 3rd HKASMSS Student Conference on Sport Medicine, Rehabilitation and Exercise Science, Hong Kong, 19 June 2010. In Conference Proceedings, 2010, p. 30-3