The Perception & Action Podcast

A discussion with Keith Lohse, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Rehabilitation Informatics Lab at Auburn University. We discuss topics including internal vs external focus of attention, the role of engagement in learning, physical therapy and problems with data analysis in skill acquisition research. More information about my guest: https://sites.google.com/site/appliedmotor/...

How do drivers decide whether or not it is safe to make a turn in front of an oncoming car or overtake and pass a more slowly moving vehicle? Why are these situations so dangerous? Do athletes have a higher tolerance for pain than non-athletes? ( Time: 20:57 )   Motion aftereffect demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP_jYmbke14   Links to articles discussed: Processes and countermeasures in over...

What does the $2 million ruling against Lumosity mean for the future of brain training?  Should we give up on generalized perceptual-cognitive training for sport, or do we just need more evidence? Articles/Links: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/01/lumosity-pay-2-million-settle-ftc-deceptive-advertising-charges http://ww2.kqed.org/futureofyou/2016/01/21/lumosity-ceo-admits-brain...

A discussion with Cathy Craig, Professor of Perception & Action Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast. We discuss topics including understanding and improvement movement in areas including pre-mature infants, soccer and Parkinson’s disease; how rugby players deceive their opponent; developing VR systems for training and research; and how we can learn a lot about perception from studying the rar...

News: How is coordination achieved in team sports?  Does drawing plays on a white board really transfer to on field performance? Is telling a tennis player to “throw their racquet at the ball” a good way to teach serving?   Articles: Cognitive Representations and Cognitive Processing of Team-Specific Tactics in Soccer A kinematic comparison of the overhand throw and tennis serve in tennis players:...

A look at some cycling science from a perceptual-motor control perspective. Where does a cyclist look when going around a curve?  What control strategies do young cyclists use? Does seat height effect steering ability? Articles: Cycling around a Curve: The Effect of Cycling Speed on Steering and Gaze Behavior Visual guidance during bicycle steering through narrow lanes: a study in children Bicycle...

A discussion with Nancy Cooke, Professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University. We discuss topics including how individual and team cognition differ, Nancy’s theory of Interactive Team Cognition, how teamwork is acquired, and how team performance changes under pressure. More information about my guest: http://poly.engineering.asu.edu/directory/nancy-cooke/ https://www.researchga...

How does a driver know when to start braking and whether they are braking hard enough to avoid a collision? Where do we look when we steer around a curve?  Do race car drivers look somewhere different? Why is it so hard to hit (and throw!) a knuckleball? ( Time: 18:36)   Links to articles discussed: A theory of visual control of braking based on information about time-to-collision Time-to-contact...

Does ball color effect performance in sports? Do cricket batsman have the right to complain about pink balls and baseball batters about the brief experiment with orange ones?   Articles/links: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/oct/27/to-see-or-not-to-see-australian-cricket-divided-over-pink-ball-test Effect of ball color on hitting performance by college softball players Effect of softbal...

A discussion with Noel Rousseau, PGA golf professional, coach and developer of the Everyday Golf Coach app. We discuss automaticity, how coaching needs to be tailored to individual players, handling pressure, and how sports psychology is viewed in golf. More information about my guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-noel-rousseau-13796a15 http://www.everydaygolfcoach.com/about-everyday-golf-coach....

News: Does training using the 3D multiple object tracking (Neurotracker) system transfer to on-field performance in soccer?  How good are baggage screeners at detecting threatening object? How does their performance depend on passenger volume and shift length?   Articles/links: 3D-Multiple Object Tracking training task improves passing decision-making accuracy in soccer players When and Why Threat...

A look at some infamous movie training scenes from a skill acquisition and motor learning perspective. Awards for best use of contextual inference, best constraints led-approach, best use of key performance indicators and more! We’re gonna need a montage, montage!   Training Montages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVY8SbQGW-Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUzcDUERLo https://www.youtube.com/wa...

A discussion with Amy Whitehead, Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching and Physical Education, at Liverpool John Moores University. We discuss her new study looking at the effect of pressure on the thought processes of golfers, using the Think Aloud protocol to investigate and improve sports performance, and what it’s like to work as an applied sports psychologist.   More information about my guest:...

How do drivers use visual cues to judge distance, speed and heading?  How does our vision change during night driving? What simple rules can athletes, referees and umpires use to make quick decisions? ( Time: 19:45)   Links to articles discussed: The attentional demand of automobile driving Scaling apparent distance in natural indoor settings . The influence of visual pattern on perceived speed ....

Should we be correcting the form of an athlete with an unusual movement pattern? Or could this actually give them an advantage?  What do the different skill acquisition theories have to say about it?   Articles/links: NAPSPA pre-conference event: Seeing the forest and the trees: Theoretical and practical issues in sport expertise Faubert - Neurotracker Why didn’t everybody copy Bradman? Uncovering...

A discussion with Stuart Armstrong Rugby Football Union. We discuss topics including talent development and talent identification, the problems with competition, encouraging creativity through practice design and sports analytics.   More information about my guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartarmstrong http://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/stu_arm   More information: http:/...

What are the key ideas of the ecological approach to perception-action first proposed by James Gibson?  How do they differ from the traditional approach?  What are affordances? Are representations and internal models evil?  Does perception work like Sherlock Holmes?   Book: Direct Perception   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web pag...

Is there any validity to the long-held belief by many athletes and coaches that having sex the night before a big competition will impair sports performance? Should you be abstaining this Valentine’s Day if you have to play the next day?   Articles: Abstention from sex and other pre-game rituals used by college male varsity athletes Effects of sexual intercourse on maximal aerobic power, oxygen pu...

A discussion with Barbara Barclay, President of Right Eye, a company developing products to measure, analyze and transform visual performance. We discuss topics including the present and future of eye tracking for sport, how visual problems might underlie what seem to be complex performance problems, the FTC rulings against perceptual-cognitive training and plasticity in the visual-motor system.  ...

Exploration of ways in which an athlete can develop and enhance their sports skills without actually performing them:  by using imagery and observational learning.  Does mentally rehearsing or imaging yourself performing an action really make you a better athlete? Can it sometimes be a bad thing to do? What is going on in our brain when we do it? How can we improve our imagery ability? Can watchin...

A little football science to get you ready for the big game on Sunday!  How does a QB lead a receiver, how does the receiver using visual information to run to the ball and how good are officials at judging pass interference calls?   Articles/links: BBSRC funded study on cricket catching To see or not to see: Effects of visual feedback on performance and intuitions of quarterbacks in American foot...

A discussion with Michael Grey, Reader in Motor Neuroscience and Director of the Neuroplasticity & Neurorehabilitation Lab at the University of Birmingham. We discuss topics including neuroplasticity, applying brain stimulation to sports, the similarities between neurorehabilitation and skill acquisition, and share our thoughts on the recent Will Smith movie Concussion.   More information about my...

News: Does using our dorsal visual stream during the control of action make us color blind?  When we improve after visual perception training is it really perception that is improved?   Articles: Color perception is impaired in baseball batters while performing an interceptive action Behavioral training to improve collision detection   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gat...

My review of the book “This is Your Brain on Sports: Beating Blocks, Slumps & Performance Anxiety”. How are past injuries and performance failures related to an athlete’s current struggles. Is Brain Spotting the key to preventing choking, the yips and freezing behavior in athletes?   Link: http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Sports-Performance/dp/1608448649   More information: http://perceptiona...

A discussion with Jennifer Cumming, University of Birmingham. We discuss topics including imagery use and observational learning in athletes, mental skills training, tools for assessing the psychological abilities of athletes, and using sports psychology to help homeless kids.   More information about my guest: http://jennifercumming.com/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer_Cumming http:...