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Tbe purpose of tbe present study was to explore the influence of emotional state on perceptual anticipation of tennis players in stalemate stage. Fifty tennis players were recruited in tbis study, participants completed an experiment wbicb complied by E-prime to measure their reaction times and prediction accuracy. Tbe experiment included 180 batting tasks lubicb were divided into four blocks, and a positive, neutral or negative emotion-inducing, video would be played for about 4 minutes before eacb block. Results indicated tbat positive and neutral emotions produced better outcomes for reaction times (RTs) and prediction accuracy compared to negative emotions. And negative emotions reduced tbe accuracy of straight line and oblique line predictions compared to neutral emotions. Additionally, there was a triple interaction in tbe RTs betioeen emotional ualence, skill group and batting task. In conclusion, emotional valence bad a significant influence on tennis players' perceptual anticipation. Therefore, tennis players should train harder, improve tbeir tecbnical and tactical skills, and consciously control their emotions during tbe competition, thereby improving perceptual anticipation ability and achieving excellent athletic performance in tbe competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to reconcile inconsistency of neural engagement underlying action anticipation between experts and nonexperts, as well as between correct and incorrect anticipations. Therefore, we asked novice, intermediate, and skilled baseball batters (N, IB, and SB) to anticipate their swing decisions in response to pitching videos of a strike or ball, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioral results confirmed the effect of expertise that is generally shown in a linear fashion. Imaging results instead revealed a nonlinear relationship between expertise level and the evoked response amplitude of nodes within the action observation network. The relationship was best captured by an inverted U‐shaped quadratic response profile across the three groups such that IB exhibited higher activation than did both SB and N. These empirical findings extend the framework of predictive coding as well as of neural efficiency in anticipating the action of others, and they might be associated with the underlying process to interpret the goal of the observed action and prepare one's own response. Furthermore, the right anterior cerebellum showed different levels of activation for correct and incorrect anticipations in all groups, adding novel evidence of its subtle involvement in anticipation processes irrespective of expertise status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the differences in cognitive processing of perceptual anticipation of tennis players at different levels before batting by the event-related potential (ERP) technique, we used the skilled-expert paradigm. We compared the cognitive and neural mechanisms of professional tennis athletes and second-grade athletes relating to their perceptual anticipation of the batting line at different time points [the time point of the ball landing (T0), and the 80 ms before batting time point (T1)]. The results showed that, regardless of the T0 or T1 time point, professional tennis athletes had shorter anticipation times and higher correct batting line rates than second-grade athletes. The ERP results demonstrated that compared with second-grade athletes, professional tennis athletes induced smaller N1 amplitudes and larger P2 amplitudes in early perceptual anticipation, and induced smaller N2 and larger P3 amplitudes in late perceptual anticipation. These studies suggest that, regardless of whether they are in an early or late stage, tennis professional athletes are faster and more accurate in respect of their perceptual anticipation of tennis lines than second-grade athletes are. This is possible since the relevant neural network of the former is more easily activated and faster. The prefrontal cortex may be a critical area of the brain for perceptual anticipation in tennis.

To investigate the differences in cognitive processing of perceptual anticipation of tennis players at different levels before batting by the event-related potential (ERP) technique, we used the skilled-expert paradigm. We compared the cognitive and neural mechanisms of professional tennis athletes and second-grade athletes relating to their perceptual anticipation of the batting line at different time points [the time point of the ball landing (T0), and the 80 ms before batting time point (T1)]. The results showed that, regardless of the T0 or T1 time point, professional tennis athletes had shorter anticipation times and higher correct batting line rates than second-grade athletes. The ERP results demonstrated that compared with second-grade athletes, professional tennis athletes induced smaller N1 amplitudes and larger P2 amplitudes in early perceptual anticipation, and induced smaller N2 and larger P3 amplitudes in late perceptual anticipation. These studies suggest that, regardless of whether they are in an early or late stage, tennis professional athletes are faster and more accurate in respect of their perceptual anticipation of tennis lines than second-grade athletes are. This is possible since the relevant neural network of the former is more easily activated and faster. The prefrontal cortex may be a critical area of the brain for perceptual anticipation in tennis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ResumenEn el presente artículo se presenta un estudio llevado a cabo con varios grupos de jugadores y jugadoras de 13 años de edad, con objeto de conocer cuáles son los niveles de desempeño en su capacidad de "hardware y software visual", así como las posibles relaciones entre las diferentes variables estudiadas tratando de establecer un patrón perceptivo en el reconocimiento de señales en avance en su ámbito deportivo. Se ha sometido a los sujetos participantes a tres pruebas utilizando los programas Discrimina y Reflex y el sistema Capturex, todos diseñados y desarrollados por los autores de este trabajo, midiendo el número de aciertos y errores en dichas tareas y el tiempo de respuesta en milisegundos. Los resultados muestran que los sujetos con mejores niveles de desempeño y mayor experiencia (tiempo de práctica) presentan los mejores resultados en las variables de estudio. Asimismo, el análisis de los resultados encontrados confirma la inexistencia de un patrón comportamental visual, manifestando la existencia de requisitos o parámetros diferentes puestos en juego en cada una de las pruebas realizadas, no habiendo interrelación entre los desempeños mostrados por los participantes en cada una de ellas.AbstractThis article presents the results of a study carried out with basketball players of 13 years of age. The objective was to know the level of competence of in their hardware and software visual abilities and the relationships between the different variables studied, trying to establish a what kind of advance perceptual signals they use in their sport situations. It was applied three tests using the programs Discrimina and Reflex, and the Capturex system: All of them were designed and developed by the authors of this work, with the objective of measuring the number of successes and errors in the responses to different situations, and the response time in milliseconds.Results showed that participants with better levels of competence, and greater experience (time of practice) presented the best results in the variables under study. It was confirmed that there were not a visual behavioral pattern, and how these patter were adapted to the different demands of the test- situations. There were no interrelations between the performances showed by the subjects in each of these test situations.

We investigated whether top-down expectations about an actor's intentions affect action perception in a representational momentum (RM) paradigm. Participants heard an actor declare an intention to either take or leave an object and then saw him either reach for or withdraw from it, such that action and intention were either congruent or incongruent. Observers generally misperceived the hand's disappearance point further along the trajectory than it actually was, in line with the idea that action perception incorporates predictions of the action's future course. Importantly, this RM effect was larger for actions congruent with the actor's goals than for incongruent actions. These results demonstrate that action prediction integrates both current motion and top-down knowledge about the actor's intention. They support recent theories that emphasise the role of prior expectancies and prediction errors in social (and non-social) cognitive processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this experiment was to extend theoretical understanding of transfer of learning by investigating whether expert perceptual anticipation skill transfers to a dissimilar domain. The capability of expert and near-expert rugby players as well as novices to anticipate skill type within rugby (learning sport) was first examined using a temporal occlusion paradigm. Participants watched video footage of an opponent performing rugby skill types that were temporally occluded at different points in the opponent's action and then made a written prediction. Thereafter, the capability of participants to transfer their anticipation skill to predict pitch type in baseball (transfer sport) was examined. Participants watched video footage of a pitcher throwing different pitch types that were temporally occluded and made a written prediction. Results indicated that expert and near-expert rugby players anticipated significantly better than novices across all occlusion conditions. However, none of the skill groups were able to transfer anticipation skill to predict pitch type in baseball. The findings of this paper, along with existing literature, support the theoretical prediction that transfer of perceptual anticipation is expertise dependent and restricted to similar domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticipation of teammates and opponents is a critical factor in many sports played in interactive environments. Deceptive actions are used in sports such as basketball to counteract anticipation of an opponent. In this study, we investigated the effects of shot deception on the players' anticipation behaviour in basketball. Thirty one basketball players (15 expert, 16 novice) watched life-sized videos of basketball players performing real shots or shot fakes aimed at the basket. Four different shot outcomes were presented in the video stimuli: a head fake, a ball fake, a high shot fake, and a genuine shot. The videos were temporally occluded at three different time points (-160 ms, -80 ms, 0 ms to ball release) during a shooting motion. The participants had to perform a basketball-related response action to either shots or shot fakes. Response accuracy, response time, and decision confidence were recorded along with gaze behaviour. Anticipation accuracy was reduced at later occlusion points for fake shooting actions. For expert athletes, this effect occurred at later occlusion points compared to novices. The gaze analysis of successful and unsuccessful shot anticipations revealed more gaze fixations towards the hip and legs in successful anticipations, whereas more fixations towards the ball and the head were found in shots unsuccessfully anticipated. It is proposed that hip and leg regions may contain causal information concerning the vertical trajectory of the shooter and identifying this information may be important for perceiving genuine and deceptive shots in basketball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Development of the prediction of future events during implicit statistical learning. [•] Study is conducted using a neuroimaging technique with high temporal resolution: MEG. [•] The spatiotemporal distribution of ERD/ERS is identified. [•] Anticipatory behavior involves motor and perceptual anticipation at different time points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents sports psychology research on the penalty kick in soccer. Soccer goalkeepers were examined to determine their use of situational information and body information offered by the kicker in decision making. It was found that goalkeeper performance in defending penalty kicks improved significantly if they had situational information that there was a high probability the kick would go to either the right or left, while body information had less impact.

The article reports on research which was conducted in an attempt to evaluate the effects of adding computer simulation training regimen to the training of basketball players. Researchers found that players who were involved in a training regimen that included computer simulation performed significantly better than those who were not.

The paper presents a study based on a sample of thirteen-year-old boys and girls from the Spanish Basketball Federation's team of talented young players. The aim was to try and evaluate the influence of gender in reactions to visual software tests, measured in response times and an awareness of anticipatory action in one-to-one situations in basketball. The participants took part in two tests, using the Reflex programme and Pantallex system, which had been designed and developed by the authors of this study. The number of correct answers and mistakes were measured, together with the response time in milliseconds. The results show that the female players got a higher number of correct answers when their capacity for perceptual anticipation and awareness of anticipatory action was tested with the Reflex programme. Likewise, their response time was better in both tests, with significant differences between both groups in the number of correct answers with the Reflex programme and in the three perceptual anticipation indexes (one for each test and a third mean index of both the latter). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, goalkeeping in the soccer penalty kick has been studied using video-based technology, in which goalkeepers watched video footage of penalty kicks and indicated perceived ball direction. By omitting the requirement to actually dive or jump to the ball, these studies overlooked how action capabilities constrain goalkeepers' actions. By contrast, we examined whether goalkeeping in the penalty kick is consistent with affordance-based control, that is, whether goalkeepers guide their dive by taking into account their action capabilities (i.e., the time they need to intercept the ball). To this end, high- and moderate-skilled goalkeepers faced in-situ penalty kicks. Time constraints were manipulated by varying the kicking distance and the kicker's run-up speed. The results showed that goalkeepers of both skills level scaled the lateral dive onset to their action capabilities, but high-skilled goalkeepers acted closer to their maximum action boundary. In doing so, goalkeepers did not take the varying time constraints into account. Instead, high-skilled goalkeepers acted consistent with a strategy in which they coordinated the onset of the dive with the landing of kicker's non-kicking leg next to the ball. Consequently, we only find partial support for affordance-based control. We propose that this is explained by reliable information becoming available (too) late within the spatiotemporal constraints of the penalty kick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]