Abstract
In sports science, the link between the experimental protocol and the subject's behaviour in real condition is a key issue. Virtual reality enables to examine this topic because of the reproducibility of situations and the total control of animated humanoids in situations similar to the real world. This study aimed to analyze the influence of the degree of perception-action coupling on the performance of handball goalkeepers in a virtual environment. 8 national handball goalkeepers were asked to react to the actions of a virtual handball thrower in two conditions: a perception-action uncoupled condition (defined as a judgment task) and a perception-action coupled condition (defined as a motor task). In the judgment condition, goalkeepers were asked to make a perceptual judgment with their hand in their own time after the virtual throw; in the motor task condition, goalkeepers had to react in real-time to the virtual throwing motion. Results showed that percentage of successful response was higher in the motor task condition and radial error (distance between the ball and the closest limb when trial was unsuccessful) was lower for the same condition. Implications of our findings are discussed, as well as suggestions for further research..
Highlights
In exercise and sport science research, the link between the experimental protocol and the subject’s behaviour in real conditions is an important area of research
In the experiment reported in this paper we analyzed the visuomotor performance of handball goalkeepers under two different response modes reflecting differing perception-action coupling conditions
To findings from Farrow and Abernethy [9], the results of this study showed that participants were more accurate in performing responses in the motor task condition than they were in the judgment response mode
Summary
In exercise and sport science research, the link between the experimental protocol and the subject’s behaviour in real conditions is an important area of research. Ecological studies consist in carrying-out experiments in real situations without interfering with the natural behaviour of the subjects. It generally leads to uncontrolled situations that make it difficult to identify clear relationships between causes and effects. In other words, isolating variables is almost impossible as the situations are not enough standardized. Understanding the perception-action coupling is essential in the performance of any visuomotor task. By using our perceptual systems to pick up relevant information from the environment we can use this information to guide our actions (e.g. catch a ball). Perception informs movements and movement informs perception (Gibson, 1979). The predominant influence of an information processing approach has often created rigorous and tight
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