Abstract
BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate whether performance in a multiple object tracking (MOT) task could be improved incrementally with sports expertise, and whether differences between experienced and less experienced athletes, or non-athletes, were modulated by load.MethodsWe asked 22 elite and 20 intermediate basketball players, and 23 non-athletes, to perform an MOT task under three attentional load conditions (two, three, and four targets). Accuracies were analyzed to examine whether different levels of sports expertise influence MOT task performance.ResultsThe elite athletes displayed better tracking performance compared with the intermediate or non-athletes when tracking three or four targets. However, no significant difference was found between the intermediate athletes and the non-athletes. Further, no differences were observed among the three groups when tracking two targets.DiscussionThe results suggest that the effects of expertise in team ball sports could transfer to a non-sports-specific attention task. These transfer effects to general cognitive functions occur only in elite athletes with extensive training under higher attentional load.
Highlights
Elite athletes display superior visual attention performance compared to novices/non-athletes (Alves et al, 2013; Heppe et al, 2016; Verburgh et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2015)
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between levels of team ball sports expertise and multiple object tracking (MOT) task performance
Our results showed that elite athletes displayed improved tracking performance compared with intermediate athletes or non-athletes under a high task difficulty condition
Summary
Elite athletes display superior visual attention performance compared to novices/non-athletes (Alves et al, 2013; Heppe et al, 2016; Verburgh et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2015). When playing basketball, players are required to track the ball while simultaneously monitoring the movements and positions of their teammates and opponents on the court To explore this dynamic, spatiotemporal attention in the laboratory, researchers have employed the multiple object tracking (MOT) task (Pylyshyn & Storm, 1988). Romeas, Guldner & Faubert (2016) found that the laboratory training using a 3-D MOT task led to improvements in passing decision-making in a live game situation It remains unclear whether performance in an MOT task could be improved incrementally with sports expertise, and whether differences between experienced athletes, and less experienced athletes or non-athletes were modulated by load. These transfer effects to general cognitive functions occur only in elite athletes with extensive training under higher attentional load
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