The speed of perception: the effects of over-speed video training on pitch recognition in collegiate softball players.

During interceptive motor tasks, experts demonstrate distinct visual search behavior (from novices) that is reflective of information extraction from optimal environmental cues, which subsequently aids anticipatory movements. While some forms of visual training have been employed in sport, over-speed video training is rarely applied to perceptual-cognitive sport contexts. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether over-speed video training can enhance visual information processing and augment visual behavior for a pitch-recognition task. Twelve collegiate softball players were recruited for the study. A between-subjects, repeated measures design was implemented to assess changes in participants' pitch recognition on a video-based occlusion task after one of two training interventions: (A) over-speed video training (n = 6) or (B) regular video training (n = 6). Both training interventions required individuals to view 400 videos of different pitches over the span of 10 days. The over-speed group viewed the videos at gradually increasing video speeds (+ 0.05 × each day). Performance (i.e., identifying pitch type and location), quiet-eye duration (i.e., total QE, QE-early and QE-late) and cortical activation (i.e., alpha wave activity/asymmetry; F3/F4 and P7/P8) were measured during the pitch-recognition tasks. Results showed significant performance improvements across groups, but no differences between groups. Both interventions were associated with a reduction in alpha wave activity for P8, an increase in alpha activity for F3, and a significant increase in QE-late. An increase in QE-late was associated with a decrease in P7/P8 alpha asymmetry and improvements in pitch-type recognition. Consistent with the extant literature, our results support the importance of a later QE offset for successful performance on perceptual tasks, potentially extending to perceputal-motor tasks. Although participants in the over-speed condition did not experience significantly larger improvements in performance than controls, this study highlights the association between QE and brain activity reflective of expertise.

Quiet eye and the Bereitschaftspotential: visuomotor mechanisms of expert motor performance.

Concurrent exploration of the Bereitschaftspotential (BP) and quiet eye period (QE) was implemented to assess potential mechanisms underlying psychomotor skills that differentiate expert and near-expert performers. Twenty golfers were classified by their USGA handicap rating as either a high handicap (HH; near-expert) or low handicap (LH; expert) to permit skill-based inferences. Participants completed 90 trials during which QE duration, BP activity, and putting performance were recorded. The application of single-subject analyses illustrated that LH golfers were more accurate and less variable in their performance than the HH group. Systematic differences in QE duration and BP were also observed, with experts exhibiting a prolonged quiet eye period and greater cortical activation in the right-central region compared with non-experts. A significant association between cortical activation and QE duration was also noted. The results of this investigation lend support to the motor programming/preparation function of the QE period. Practical and theoretical implications are presented and suggestions for future empirical work provided.

The effect of biofeedback training on affective regulation and simulated car-racing performance: a multiple case study analysis.

The foundation of this study was based on an idiosyncratic concept, which uses probabilistic determinations (Kamata, Tenenbaum, & Hanin, 2002) to verify the utility and effectiveness of a biofeedback intervention by manipulating affective performance states in a race-car simulator. Nine males completed five separate time-trials of a simulated racing task and were then randomly assigned to one of three arousal regulation treatment conditions: (1) optimal, (2) poor, and (3) attention control. Following the biofeedback intervention, participants underwent another series of race trials to determine the effectiveness of the arousal regulation intervention. The results indicated that there were relative similarities in the strength and direction of the perceived and physiological states between the participants; however, the subtle details of the participants' unique performance zones and the probability of achieving each zone were revealed to be unique among the participants. The results also indicated that: (a) the biofeedback manipulation resulted in the expected changes for each participant, and (b) there were some large individual differences among the participants, necessitating the idiosyncratic approach. Limitations and future directions are also addressed.

Perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport: a meta-analysis.

Research focusing on perceptual-cognitive skill in sport is abundant. However, the existing qualitative syntheses of this research lack the quantitative detail necessary to determine the magnitude of differences between groups of varying levels of skills, thereby limiting the theoretical and practical contribution of this body of literature. We present a meta-analytic review focusing on perceptual-cognitive skill in sport (N = 42 studies, 388 effect sizes) with the primary aim of quantifying expertise differences. Effects were calculated for a variety of dependent measures (i.e., response accuracy, response time, number of visual fixations, visual fixation duration, and quiet eye period) using point-biserial correlation. Results indicated that experts are better than nonexperts in picking up perceptual cues, as revealed by measures of response accuracy and response time. Systematic differences in visual search behaviors were also observed, with experts using fewer fixations of longer duration, including prolonged quiet eye periods, compared with non-experts. Several factors (e.g., sport type, research paradigm employed, and stimulus presentation modality) significantly moderated the relationship between level of expertise and perceptual-cognitive skill. Practical and theoretical implications are presented and suggestions for empirical work are provided.