The Perception & Action Podcast

Can you improve an athlete's ability to anticipate the actions of an opponent by guiding their gaze to particular locations using sound?     Articles: The effect of eye movement sonification on visual search patterns and anticipation in novices   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Su...

Does training with lighter or heavier than regulation balls improve performance? What adaptations to coordination patterns do they encourage? Do they increase the chance of injury?   Articles: Weighted-Ball Velocity Enhancement Programs for Baseball Pitchers Effect of a 6-Week Weighted Baseball Throwing Program on Pitch Velocity, Pitching Arm Biomechanics, Passive Range of Motion, and Injury Rates...

What are the invariant and variant properties in accurate throwing actions? How do skilled performers exploit redundancy in ball release and body level degrees of freedom?   Articles: Utilizing hierarchical redundancy for accurate throwing movement   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)...

What effect does blurring your vision have on sports performance? Can blur actually be used as a training tool to help learners educate their attention to better information sources?   Articles: Using Blur for Perceptual Investigation and Training in Sport? A Clear Picture of the Evidence and Implications for Future Research   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (p...

To celebrate the 400th episode of the podcast, I was joined by a few friends to discuss something I am very passionate about: the role of skill acquisition theory in coaching. Is it just "psychobabble that confuses coaches"? Is it effective (or even possible) to pick and choose and theory for different situations?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my a...

I am joined by Rajiv Ranganthan to discuss his recent paper looking at individual differences in motor learning. How effectively can we predict differences in the ability of individuals to learn a new motor skill? What are the best predictor variables?   Articles: Predicting individual differences in motor learning: a critical review   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gat...

A little post game analysis of my discussion/debate with Mike Ashford about ecological vs information processing-based approaches to decision making in sports.   Links: Rugby Coach Weekly Podcast More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   S...

How do golfers reorganize the action of putting in response to changes in the task constraints? How does this depend on their own individual constraints?   Articles: The re-organization of action in golf putting under different task constraints   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Su...

My interview with Otto Lappi and Alan Dove, authors of the new book The Science of the Racer's Brain. What makes a skilled racing driver?     Links: http://racersbrain.org/   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support the podcast an...

What are the key principles of the ecological approach to skill and how do they relate to each other?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support the podcast and receive bonus content   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies – Shake\Some Ac...

A review of "Always Pay Attention to the Which Model of Motor Learning You Are Using?" How can we classify different models of motor learning? Can we ever truly replicate findings in this area?     Articles: Always Pay Attention to Which Model of Motor Learning You Are Using   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Faceboo...

How can we reconcile the findings from the large body of research on focus of attention instructions (which has shown a clear benefit for an external focus over an internal one) and the findings from Differential Learning studies (which frequently employ internal instructions)?   Articles: External Focus or Differential Learning: Is There an Additive Effect on Learning a Futsal Goal Kick? Superior...

I was joined by Andrew Wilson from Leeds Beckett to discuss a question we both get a lot: what role does memory play in the ecological approach? Is it really the case that skillful action involves no memory?   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anr...

Is the advance information we get from an opponent's kinematics, their body language, used to predict/anticipate what is going to happen next as traditionally proposed? Or is it used as information to continuous control preparatory movements?   Articles: Hitting movement patterns organized by different pitching movement speeds as advanced kinematic information   More information: http://perception...

My interview with Phil Kearney and Alan Dunton from MSAI discussing their 2022 Webinar series: Applying skill acquisition in different domains.   Links: https://twitter.com/MSAIreland     More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Subscribe in iOS/Apple Subscribe in Anroid/Google   Support t...

My interview with Todd Hargrove from Better Movement. How can playing with and exploring movement be beneficial? Why should we be thinking options not corrections in movement training and physical therapy? What is the Feldenkrais Method?   Links: https://www.bettermovement.org/ https://www.amazon.com/Todd-R-Hargrove/e/B00LLLMEEM?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1643804037&sr=1-1   More information: http:...

A look at the extended challenge point hypothesis. How can we get the level difficulty right to challenge a performer? What are 3 different goals coaches should consider when designing a practice? Articles: An extended challenge-based framework for practice design in sports coaching A critical systematic review of the Neurotracker perceptual-cognitive training tool The effectiveness of 3D multiple...

How do the components of our motor system flexibly reorganize in response to task demands? How do we use information about performance errors (knowledge of results) to search for new organizations? Do these processes involve the use of hard-wired motor programs or softly assembled devices specific to the constraints associated with the individual and task?   Articles: Task specific devices and the...

A look at the recent systematic review of decision making in sports. Is decision making best explained as being emergent, mental model driven or both? Is this an example of integrating direct and indirect theories of perception?     Articles/Links: Understanding a Player's Decision-Making Process in Team Sports: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence Continuous hitting movements modeled from th...

A look Michaels and Palatinus' 10 commandments for ecological psychology and their implications for skill acquisition research and coaching. Why are the principles of the ecological approach a package deal?   Articles/Links: A Ten Commandments for Ecological Psychology   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page...

How does pain shape learning and re-learning to move? How does it change the field of affordances available to an athlete? What is the best way to treat it?   Articles/Links: Pain and the field of affordances: an enactive approach to acute and chronic pain   https://youtu.be/Xn05zbO4Y-w     More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page P...

Why did I make the switch in my career from thinking about skill as an indirect, predictive process involving internal models to direct perception, ecological dynamics?  Why do I think the latter is a better approach to understanding and developing skill?     Articles: "Markov at the Bat": A Model of Cognitive Processing in Baseball Batters A model of motor inhibition for a complex skill: Baseball...

What is the difference between using online vs offline information to our control our actions on the one hand and the dichotomy between direct vs indirect perception, on the other? How have these been used incorrectly in many attempts to integrate skill acquisition approaches? An attempt at some clarification.   Articles/Links: Expert Anticipatory Skill in Striking Sports The use of contextual pri...

How can we apply an ecological approach to coaching volleyball? Are the ideas of "repetition without repetition" and motor synergies supported by research on this sport? What has research shown about the benefits of using the CLA and differential learning in volleyball? https://youtu.be/c_yWNTxzaVE https://youtu.be/oULzGe8Lnf4   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page...

Can athletes learn to use the auditory information available in a sports environment to improve their performance? Can we see all around us with sound? For those that aren't familiar with his story, Brian Bushway started to go blind when he was 14 and now has no response to light at all. But amazingly he can still see! Brian has learned to echolocate. That is, he uses the auditory information that...