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Psychology of Sport and Exercise May 2024It is commonly assumed that performance is impaired by pressure and that different types of individual situational factors can produce equivalent pressure. Our aim was...
It is commonly assumed that performance is impaired by pressure and that different types of individual situational factors can produce equivalent pressure. Our aim was to explore the psychophysiological effects of pressure to test this assumption. Eighty-one novices completed a golf putting task under control and eight individual pressure conditions: time, difficulty, video, team, goal, fame, shame, and distraction. Performance was measured by the number of holed putts and ball-hole distance. Psychological, physiological and kinematic measures were collected. Performance was impaired by time and difficulty conditions but improved by team, goal and shame conditions compared to control. Perceived pressure and effort were higher than control in all conditions except distraction. Conscious processing was greater than control in all conditions except distraction and time constraint. Heart rate was faster with time, team, fame and shame. Heart rate variability and muscle activity were largely unaffected. Putter kinematics provided evidence of swing profiles slowing and/or becoming constrained in conditions where conscious processing increased, while the swing became faster in the time-pressure condition where conscious processing was decreased. Taken together, these results reveal heterogenous effects of pressure on performance, with performance impaired, unaffected, and improved by individual pressure situations. Similarly, heterogeneity characterized the effects of pressure on psychological, physiological and kinematic responses associated with task performance. In sum, the evidence challenges the standard tacit assumptions about the pressure-performance relationship in sport.
Topics: Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Sports; Golf; Biomechanical Phenomena
PubMed: 38237794
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102592 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jan 2022In everyday-life scenarios, prior expectations provided by the context in which actions are embedded support action prediction. However, it is still unclear how newly...
In everyday-life scenarios, prior expectations provided by the context in which actions are embedded support action prediction. However, it is still unclear how newly learned action-context associations can drive our perception and motor responses. To fill this gap, we measured behavioral (Experiment 1) and motor responses (Experiment 2) during two tasks requiring the prediction of occluded actions or geometrical shapes. Each task consisted of an implicit probabilistic learning and a test phase. During learning, we exposed participants to videos showing specific associations between a contextual cue and a particular action or shape. During the test phase, videos were earlier occluded to reduce the amount of sensorial information and induce participants to use the implicitly learned action/shape-context associations for disambiguation. Results showed that reliable contextual cues made participants more accurate in identifying the unfolding action or shape. Importantly, motor responses were modulated by contextual probability during action, but not shape prediction. Particularly, in conditions of perceptual uncertainty the motor system coded for the most probable action based on contextual informativeness, regardless of action kinematics. These findings suggest that contextual priors can shape motor responses to action observation beyond mere kinematics mapping.
Topics: Biomechanical Phenomena; Cues; Humans; Learning; Perception; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 34297809
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab241 -
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and... May 2019Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a type of motor learning difficulty that affects five to six percent of school-aged children, which may have a negative...
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a type of motor learning difficulty that affects five to six percent of school-aged children, which may have a negative impact on the life of the sufferers. Timely and objective diagnosis of DCD are important for the success of the intervention. The present evaluation methods of DCD rely heavily on the observational analysis of occupational therapists and physiotherapists, who score the performance when children conduct some designed tasks. However, these methods are expensive, subjective, and are not easy to expand to a larger population. A fine motor evaluation system (FMES) is proposed with two views of cameras to record children's performance, when they carry out three fine motor tasks. Automated algorithms are developed to perform automated scoring of fine motor skill. The automated algorithms include task localization and individual task evaluation. The purpose of task localization is to detect each task and extract segments belonging to each task from the original video that includes multiple segments of different tasks. A convolutional neural network with temporal filtering is used to do frame-wise classification, and a boundary localization algorithm is proposed to localize each task segment. For individual task evaluation, the extracted video segments of task 1 and task 2 are evaluated based on the proposed feature extraction and time positioning algorithm, and the paper drawings of task 3 are evaluated based on image processing. The proposed methods are validated on a diverse population of children with or without DCD by comparing automated scoring with manual scoring from a professional evaluator. The experimental results suggest that the proposed methods can effectively achieve fine motor evaluation for DCD assessment. Besides, our system is a low-cost solution, and the evaluation methods developed are automated, objective, and can be suited for large population evaluation and analysis.
Topics: Algorithms; Child; Female; Humans; Male; Motor Skills; Motor Skills Disorders; Neural Networks, Computer; Psychomotor Performance; Reproducibility of Results; Video Recording
PubMed: 30998471
DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2019.2911303 -
Perceptual and Motor Skills Apr 2015The influence of educational status on perceptual-motor performance has not been investigated. The single- and dual-task performances of 15 Low educated adults (9 men, 6...
The influence of educational status on perceptual-motor performance has not been investigated. The single- and dual-task performances of 15 Low educated adults (9 men, 6 women; M age=24.1 yr.; 6-9 yr. of education) and 15 Higher educated adults (8 men, 7 women; M age=24.7 yr.; 10-13 yr. of education) were compared. The perceptual task consisted of verbally classifying two figures (equal or different). The motor task consisted of alternating steps from the floor to a stool. Tasks were assessed individually and simultaneously. Two analyses of variance (2 groups×4 blocks) compared the errors and steps. The Low education group committed more errors and had less improvement on the perceptual task than the High education group. During and after the perceptual-motor task performance, errors increased only in the Low education group. Education correlated to perceptual and motor performance. The Low education group showed more errors and less step alternations on the perceptual-motor task compared to the High education group. This difference on the number of errors was also observed after the dual-task, when the perceptual task was performed alone.
Topics: Adult; Educational Status; Executive Function; Female; Humans; Male; Psychomotor Performance; Young Adult
PubMed: 25730194
DOI: 10.2466/22.PMS.120v18x8 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jan 2021Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are promising tools for assisting patients with paralysis, but suffer from long training times and variable user proficiency. Mind-body...
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are promising tools for assisting patients with paralysis, but suffer from long training times and variable user proficiency. Mind-body awareness training (MBAT) can improve BCI learning, but how it does so remains unknown. Here, we show that MBAT allows participants to learn to volitionally increase alpha band neural activity during BCI tasks that incorporate intentional rest. We trained individuals in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; a standardized MBAT intervention) and compared performance and brain activity before and after training between randomly assigned trained and untrained control groups. The MBAT group showed reliably faster learning of BCI than the control group throughout training. Alpha-band activity in electroencephalogram signals, recorded in the volitional resting state during task performance, showed a parallel increase over sessions, and predicted final BCI performance. The level of alpha-band activity during the intentional resting state correlated reliably with individuals' mindfulness practice as well as performance on a breath counting task. Collectively, these results show that MBAT modifies a specific neural signal used by BCI. MBAT, by increasing patients' control over their brain activity during rest, may increase the effectiveness of BCI in the large population who could benefit from alternatives to direct motor control.
Topics: Adult; Brain-Computer Interfaces; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Mindfulness; Psychomotor Performance; Rest; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 32965471
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa234 -
Physiological Reviews Jul 2024Humans use their fingers to perform a variety of tasks, from simple grasping to manipulating objects, to typing and playing musical instruments, a variety wider than any... (Review)
Review
Humans use their fingers to perform a variety of tasks, from simple grasping to manipulating objects, to typing and playing musical instruments, a variety wider than any other species. The more sophisticated the task, the more it involves individuated finger movements, those in which one or more selected fingers perform an intended action while the motion of other digits is constrained. Here we review the neurobiology of such individuated finger movements. We consider their evolutionary origins, the extent to which finger movements are in fact individuated, and the evolved features of neuromuscular control that both enable and limit individuation. We go on to discuss other features of motor control that combine with individuation to create dexterity, the impairment of individuation by disease, and the broad extent of capabilities that individuation confers on humans. We comment on the challenges facing the development of a truly dexterous bionic hand. We conclude by identifying topics for future investigation that will advance our understanding of how neural networks interact across multiple regions of the central nervous system to create individuated movements for the skills humans use to express their cognitive activity.
Topics: Humans; Biological Evolution; Biomechanical Phenomena; Fingers; Motor Skills; Movement; Neurobiology; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 38385888
DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00030.2023 -
Progress in Brain Research 2020Success at an Olympic level can come down to the smallest of margins. However little research has been conducted into how the menstrual cycle affects elite athletes'...
Success at an Olympic level can come down to the smallest of margins. However little research has been conducted into how the menstrual cycle affects elite athletes' performance and decision making. This study uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to explore this question. Physiological performance data was collected from eight elite athletes for 7 months and analyzed as a function of menstrual phase. The Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) was used to test decision making and testing occurred twice in one cycle, during the early follicular phase and during the mid-luteal phase. Menstrual cycle phase was determined using menstrual cycle mapping and urine ovulation tests. In the qualitative part of this project, two elite athletes, two Olympic level athletes, and two coaches participated in semi-structured interviews. The study found that physiological performance was significantly better during the menses phase (MP) compared to the proliferative and secretory phases (PSP). There was variation in how elite athletes were individually affected however. Oral contraceptive users showed a greater performance change from MP to PSP suggesting that oral contraceptives may be detrimental to performance in some athletes. The results of the CGT showed that impulsivity is significantly affected by menstrual cycle phase. Risk taking, error rates and response times were not affected. The qualitative interviews revealed that elite athletes and their coaches understand little of the menstrual cycle. Despite this, there are preconceptions that it negatively effects performance during the menses phase. The findings suggest that the menstrual cycle can have a significant effect on an elite athlete's performance and this paper discusses how individuals can possibly improve aspects of physiological and psychological performance by understanding and monitoring their menstrual patterns.
Topics: Adult; Athletes; Athletic Performance; Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal; Decision Making; Female; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Menstrual Cycle; Psychomotor Performance; Qualitative Research; Risk-Taking; Young Adult
PubMed: 32771127
DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.028 -
Journal of Motor Behavior 2018Previous theoretical and empirical work indicates that intentional changes in a bimanual coordination pattern depends on the stability of the bimanual coordination...
Previous theoretical and empirical work indicates that intentional changes in a bimanual coordination pattern depends on the stability of the bimanual coordination pattern (Kelso, Schotz, & Schöner, 1988; Scholz & Kelso, 1990). The present experiments retest this notion when online Lissajous displays are provided. Switching to and from in-phase and antiphase and to and from 90° and 270° were tested in Experiment 1. Participants were able to very effectively produce the 180°, 90°, and 270° coordination patterns although performance of the in-phase coordination task was even more stable. The data indicated that switching to in-phase from antiphase was more rapid than vice versa and that switching times between 90° to 270° were similar. Experiment 2 investigated switching between 1:2 and 2:1 bimanual coordination patterns. The results indicated that switching time was similar between the 2:1 and 1:2 coordination tasks and that increases in stability over practice resulted in additional decreases in switching times. This provides additional evidence that the attractor landscape is fundamentally different dependent on the type of information provided the performer. What remains to be done is to reconcile these results with the various theories/perspectives currently used to describe and explain bimanual coordination.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Psychomotor Performance; Upper Extremity; Young Adult
PubMed: 29016257
DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2017.1375453 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Dec 2017The Dunning-Kruger effect refers to the observation that the incompetent are often ill-suited to recognize their incompetence. Here we investigated potential...
The Dunning-Kruger effect refers to the observation that the incompetent are often ill-suited to recognize their incompetence. Here we investigated potential Dunning-Kruger effects in high-level reasoning and, in particular, focused on the relative effectiveness of metacognitive monitoring among particularly biased reasoners. Participants who made the greatest numbers of errors on the cognitive reflection test (CRT) overestimated their performance on this test by a factor of more than 3. Overestimation decreased as CRT performance increased, and those who scored particularly high underestimated their performance. Evidence for this type of systematic miscalibration was also found on a self-report measure of analytic-thinking disposition. Namely, genuinely nonanalytic participants (on the basis of CRT performance) overreported their "need for cognition" (NC), indicating that they were dispositionally analytic when their objective performance indicated otherwise. Furthermore, estimated CRT performance was just as strong a predictor of NC as was actual CRT performance. Our results provide evidence for Dunning-Kruger effects both in estimated performance on the CRT and in self-reported analytic-thinking disposition. These findings indicate that part of the reason why people are biased is that they are either unaware of or indifferent to their own bias.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Psychological Theory; Psychomotor Performance; Self-Assessment; Thinking
PubMed: 28224482
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1242-7 -
Journal of Motor Behavior 2018A 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... (Review)
Review
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.
Topics: Athletes; Humans; Learning; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance; Stroke; Transfer, Psychology
PubMed: 29240533
DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2017.1408557