Visual Anticipation Research Articles

Individual Differences in Short-Term Anticipation Training for High-Speed Interceptive Skill

Training studies in a variety of domains focus on between-group comparisons. This study investigated individual differences in learning based upon visual anticipation training using field hockey goalkeeping as the exemplar motor skill. In a within-subject design, four state-league level field hockey goalkeepers were tested before and after visual anticipatory training in an in-situ test that required them to save goals from a drag flick. Response initiation time and response accuracy were measured. Participants were tested at baseline, completed a control phase of sport-specific practice, were retested, then given an intervention phase of temporal occlusion training plus sport-specific practice, and retested. Results indicated that two goalkeepers’ response initiation times were earlier after the intervention. Effect sizes indicated that the two goalkeepers improved response accuracy after the intervention. Another goalkeeper’s response initiation time was later after the intervention, but this did not impede response accuracy of goals saved. The mechanism of individual learning appeared to be modulation of response timing to save goals. Anticipation training can improve in-situ visual-perceptual motor skill performance in an individualized and nonlinear fashion. Further research is needed to better understand how each individual learns the visual-perceptual motor skills of high time-stress tasks in the sport domain.

The Utilization of Different Cues in Visual Anticipation in Skilled Table Tennis Players

The Utilization of Different Cues in Visual Anticipation in Skilled Table Tennis Players

Visual anticipation time differences between athletes in open and closed skills sports

The ability to anticipation accurately and consistently plays a vital role to excel in sports performance. The present study was designed to determine the differences of visual anticipation time between dynamic and static sports. A total of 95 junior athletes, aged 13 to 16 years old (=14.84±1.04 years) from Bukit Jalil Sports School participated in the study. Participants were distributed to dynamic (n=47) and static (n=48) sports according to their sports participation. Visual anticipation time was tested using Bassin Anticipation Timer in response to stimuli at the speed of 5, 10, and 15 mph, measuring absolute and variable error. Absolute error measured the accuracy of responses while variable error focused on the consistency of responses. The results of this investigation showed that in general dynamic sport are not superior over anticipation ability in relations to accuracy and consistency as compared to static sports across all speeds (p < 0.05). The evidence from this study suggested more emphasis on training related to eye and hand coordination would be imperative for dynamic sports athletes to enhance in on-field sports performance. This study could serve as a base for future studies focusing on visual and hand coordination related to speed as anticipation has been proven to be the key leading to superior performance and for talent identification purposes. Future research concentrating on elite athletes as well as focused sports group would provide further insights on anticipation ability of athletes.

Visual Anticipation Time Differences between Athletes in Open and Closed Skills Sports

Visual Anticipation Time Differences between Athletes in Open and Closed Skills Sports

Effects of visual anticipation and focus of attention on the anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments of the lumbar postural muscle and upper limb focal muscle

Effects of visual anticipation and focus of attention on the anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments of the lumbar postural muscle and upper limb focal muscle

Adaptability of expert visual anticipation in baseball batting

ABSTRACTBy manipulating stimulus variation in terms of opponent pitcher actions, this study investigated the capability of expert (n = 30) and near-expert (n = 95) professional baseball batters to adapt anticipation skill when using the video simulation temporal occlusion paradigm. Participants watched in-game footage of two pitchers, one after the other, that was temporally occluded at ball release and various points during ball flight. They were required to make a written prediction of pitch types and locations. Per cent accuracy was calculated for pitch type, for pitch location, and for type and location combined. Results indicated that experts and near-experts could adapt their anticipation to predict above guessing level across both pitchers, but adaptation to the left-handed pitcher was poorer than the right-handed pitcher. Small-to-moderate effect sizes were found in terms of superior adaptation by experts over near-experts at the ball release and early ball flight occlusion conditions. The findings of this study extend theoretical and applied knowledge of expertise in striking sports. Practical application of the instruments and findings are discussed in terms of applied researchers, practitioners and high-performance staff in professional sporting organisations.

On-court position and handedness in visual anticipation of stroke direction in tennis

ObjectivesIn racket sports, players integrate information picked up from their opponent's kinematics and contextual cues like on-court position into shot outcome anticipation. In view of suggested difficulties with anticipating left-handed opponents' action intentions, here we examined whether an opponent's handedness interacts with position-dependency in visual anticipation. Design and methodFollowing a 2 (Group) x 2 (Handedness) x 2 (Position) x 3 (Temporal Occlusion) factorial design, 20 tennis players and 20 non-players predicted directional outcome of temporally manipulated point-light animations of identical left- and right-handed forehand groundstrokes performed near vs. far from the court's midline. ResultsTennis players' response selection was mostly affected by an opponent's on-court position, particularly at an early stage of a hitting movement. Opponents' handedness affected response selection similarly in both groups (i.e., bias towards down-the-line predictions against left-handed strokes occluded at racket-ball-contact), but it did not interact with on-court position. ConclusionsFindings highlight that on-court position, and opponents' handedness to some extent as well, appears relevant for skilled visual anticipation in tennis.

Preschoolers, adolescents, and adults visually anticipate an agent's efficient action; but only after having observed it frequently.

The present study examined the contribution of efficiency reasoning and statistical learning on visual action anticipation in preschool children, adolescents, and adults. To this end, Experiment 1 assessed proactive eye movements of 5-year-old children, 15-year-old adolescents, and adults, who observed an agent stating the intent to reach a goal as quickly as possible. Subsequently the agent could four times either take a short, hence efficient, or long, hence inefficient, path to get to the goal. The results showed that in the first trial participants in none of the age groups predicted above chance level that the agent would produce the efficient action. Instead, we observed an age-dependent increase in action predictions in the subsequent repeated presentation of the same action. Experiment 2 ruled out that participants' nonconsideration of the efficient path was due to a lack of understanding of the agent's action goal. Moreover, it demonstrated that 5-year-old children do predict that the agent will act efficiently when verbally reasoning about his future action. Overall, the study supports the view that rapid learning from frequency information guides visual action anticipations.

Discrimination of Visual Anticipation in Skilled Cricket Batsmen

This article outlines a study that sought to discriminate visual anticipation skill between highly skilled (n = 13), elite club (n = 17), and elite youth (n = 9) cricket batsmen. Participants watched a video-based temporal occlusion test of a bowler and anticipated with a motor response. Results indicated that overall highly skilled and club batsmen were significantly superior to youth batsmen. Highly skilled batsmen anticipated above chance at ball release occlusion, whereas club and youth batsmen were above chance at no occlusion. Findings indicate that video-based temporal occlusion with a motor response is sensitive to discriminate anticipation in skilled players.

Accuracy of Outcome Anticipation, But Not Gaze Behavior, Differs Against Left- and Right-Handed Penalties in Team-Handball Goalkeeping.

Low perceptual familiarity with relatively rarer left-handed as opposed to more common right-handed individuals may result in athletes' poorer ability to anticipate the former's action intentions. Part of such left-right asymmetry in visual anticipation could be due to an inefficient gaze strategy during confrontation with left-handed individuals. To exemplify, observers may not mirror their gaze when viewing left- vs. right-handed actions but preferentially fixate on an opponent's right body side, irrespective of an opponent's handedness, owing to the predominant exposure to right-handed actions. So far empirical verification of such assumption, however, is lacking. Here we report on an experiment where team-handball goalkeepers' and non-goalkeepers' gaze behavior was recorded while they predicted throw direction of left- and right-handed 7-m penalties shown as videos on a computer monitor. As expected, goalkeepers were considerably more accurate than non-goalkeepers and prediction was better against right- than left-handed penalties. However, there was no indication of differences in gaze measures (i.e., number of fixations, overall and final fixation duration, time-course of horizontal or vertical fixation deviation) as a function of skill group or the penalty-takers' handedness. Findings suggest that inferior anticipation of left-handed compared to right-handed individuals' action intentions may not be associated with misalignment in gaze behavior. Rather, albeit looking similarly, accuracy differences could be due to observers' differential ability of picking up and interpreting the visual information provided by left- vs. right-handed movements.

Pattern-induced expectation bias in visual anticipation of action outcomes

When anticipating an opponent's action intention, athletes may rely on both kinematic and contextual cues. Here we show that patterns of previous action outcomes (i.e., a contextual cue) bias visual anticipation of action outcome in subsequent trials. In two video-based experiments, skilled players and novices were presented with volleyball attacks stopping 360ms (Exp. 1) or 280ms (Exp. 2) before an attacker's hand-ball-contact and they were asked to predict the type of attack (smash or lob). Attacks were presented block-wise with six attacks per block. The fifth trial served as target trial where we presented identical attacks to control kinematic cues. We varied the outcomes of the preceding four attacks under three conditions: lobs only, smashes only or an alternating pattern of attack outcomes. In Exp. 1, skilled players but not novices were less accurate and responded later in target trials that were incongruent vs. congruent with preceding patterns. In Exp. 2, where the task was easier, another group of novices demonstrated a similar congruence effect for accuracy but not response time. Collectively, findings indicate that participants tended to preferentially expect the continuation of an attack pattern, while possibly attaching less importance to kinematic cues. Thus, overreliance on pattern continuation may be detrimental to anticipation in situations an action's outcome does not correspond to the pattern. From a methodological viewpoint, comparison of novices' performance in Exp. 1 and 2 suggests that task difficulty may be critical as to whether contextual cue effects can be identified in novices.

The Relationship Between Visual Anticipation and Baseball Batting Game Statistics

Visual anticipation of pitch type in single-A minor league baseball batters (N = 34) was measured using video-based temporal occlusion and correlated with real-world batting statistics. Anticipation of overall pitch type at front-foot impact was significantly correlated with base-on-balls percentage (r =.35), whereas anticipation of fastball/change-up combination at ball release was significantly correlated with base-on-balls percentage (r =.37) and on-base percentage (r =.37). Findings indicate that anticipation is likely one component of baseball batting performance. This helps consolidate a recent expert anticipation model of striking sports. Application of occlusion methodology to player develop programs is discussed.

Representational momentum reveals visual anticipation differences in the upper and lower visual fields.

Recent empirical research has revealed differences in functional capacity between the upper and lower visual fields (VFs), with the lower VF exhibiting superiority in visual perception skills. Similarly, functional differences between the left and right hemispheres elicit a predominance for visuospatial processing in the left visual field (left VF). Both anatomical as well as evolutionary arguments have been adopted in accounting for these variations in function. Preceding upper and lower VF research has typically investigated either static stimulus perception or the visual processing of upper limb action. The aim of the current research was to investigate whether the lower VF benefits associated with limb control transcend to visual anticipation (the perception of motion). Methods were based on Khan and Lawrence (Exp Brain Res 164:395-398, 2005), who investigated upper/lower VF differences in visuomotor control, but utilising a representational momentum paradigm to isolate perceptual processes. Thirty-two participants were randomised into either a left or right VF group and completed a perceptual computer-based task in the upper and lower VF, where they were required to judge the final position of a moving object before it disappeared. Two aspects of the distributions of same responses were then analysed; the central tendency (weighted means) and the variability. Results revealed that in the left VF, weighted means for the lower VF were significantly greater than for the upper VF [t(14)=2.242, p=0.042]. In both left and right VFs, variability was greater in the upper compared to lower VF. This provides new findings regarding visual processes in the different visual fields. While visual search and large scene perception has been found to be superior in the upper VF, here we find that visual anticipation, like target-directed visuomotor skill, is superior in the lower VF.

Visual anticipation biases conscious decision making but not bottom-up visual processing.

Prediction plays a key role in control of attention but it is not clear which aspects of prediction are most prominent in conscious experience. An evolving view on the brain is that it can be seen as a prediction machine that optimizes its ability to predict states of the world and the self through the top-down propagation of predictions and the bottom-up presentation of prediction errors. There are competing views though on whether prediction or prediction errors dominate the formation of conscious experience. Yet, the dynamic effects of prediction on perception, decision making and consciousness have been difficult to assess and to model. We propose a novel mathematical framework and a psychophysical paradigm that allows us to assess both the hierarchical structuring of perceptual consciousness, its content and the impact of predictions and/or errors on conscious experience, attention and decision-making. Using a displacement detection task combined with reverse correlation, we reveal signatures of the usage of prediction at three different levels of perceptual processing: bottom-up fast saccades, top-down driven slow saccades and consciousnes decisions. Our results suggest that the brain employs multiple parallel mechanism at different levels of perceptual processing in order to shape effective sensory consciousness within a predicted perceptual scene. We further observe that bottom-up sensory and top-down predictive processes can be dissociated through cognitive load. We propose a probabilistic data association model from dynamical systems theory to model the predictive multi-scale bias in perceptual processing that we observe and its role in the formation of conscious experience. We propose that these results support the hypothesis that consciousness provides a time-delayed description of a task that is used to prospectively optimize real time control structures, rather than being engaged in the real-time control of behavior itself.

Skill differences in visual anticipation of type of throw in team-handball penalties

ObjectivesVisual identification and anticipation of an opponent's action intentions is crucial for successful performance in interactive situations such as team-handball penalties. We conducted two experiments to examine experienced and novice team-handball goalkeepers' ability to predict the type of throw in handball penalties and to identify the observers' reliance on local versus globally distributed spatial cues. Design and methodsIn Experiment 1, following a 2 (Skill)×5 (Temporal Occlusion Condition) factorial design participants were provided with videos of team-handball penalties where the amount of viewing time was varied. In Experiment 2, another sample of experienced and novice goalkeepers watched videos of spatially manipulated penalties where specific parts of the thrower's body or the ball were either removed or presented in isolation (2 [Skill]×9 [Display Condition] factorial design). ResultsIn Experiment 1, experienced goalkeepers outperformed novices and both groups similarly improved their performances with later occlusion conditions. In Experiment 2, experienced goalkeepers were again superior to novices, and local cues (e.g., ball and hand) were sufficient for better than chance predictions in both groups. Moreover, experienced in contrast to novice goalkeepers (i) suffered from the removal of and (ii) benefited from the addition of distal (i.e., throwing arm and ball) as well as proximal (i.e., upper body) kinematic features. ConclusionsOur research is in line with previous findings on perceptual-cognitive expertise in sports and suggests that experienced team-handball goalkeepers rely on multiple, globally distributed cues when making anticipatory judgments.

Transfer of Expert Visual Anticipation to a Similar Domain

The experiment reported in this paper examined the capability of expert and near-expert baseball batters and novices to transfer anticipatory skill to a cricket batting prediction task. A video-simulation temporal occlusion paradigm was used to first assess the anticipatory skill of expertise groups in a baseball batting prediction task (learning sport) and, second, to assess the capability of expertise groups to transfer anticipation skill to a cricket batting prediction task (transfer sport). Results showed that expert and near-expert baseball batters were superior to novices at anticipating pitch type based upon pre-ball-flight advance information. Only expert baseball batters were capable of transferring their anticipatory skill to predict delivery type based upon advance information in the bowler's action, whilst near-experts and novices relied upon ball-flight information. The findings extend understanding of transfer of learning in the motor domain and some theoretical/empirical concepts of transfer.

Timing of in Situ Visual Information Pick-Up that Differentiates Expert and Near-Expert Anticipation in a Complex Motor Skill

The timing of visual information pick-up for visual anticipation was examined by comparing the capability of multiple skill groups, expert and near-expert karate athletes and novices, to block attacks using an in situ temporal occlusion paradigm. Participants stood facing a karate opponent and then attempted to block attacks (kicks and punches), whilst their vision of attacks was occluded: (a) prior to onset of opponent motion (O1), (b) after preparatory head movement (O2), and (c) after initiation of the attacking motion (O3). A no occlusion control condition provided complete vision of attacks (O4). Results revealed that expert anticipation was not significantly different to that of near-experts at O1, but was significantly different to the other group across O2-O4. Expert anticipation, however, was significantly above chance across all occlusion conditions, but near-experts performed above chance at O3 and O4, whilst novices were better than chance at O4. Unexpectedly, unique evidence was found that expert anticipation could be differentiated from near-expert anticipation in the earliest occlusion condition, where it was found that only experts were capable of using visual information from a static opponent to anticipate and block attacks above chance. The findings further understanding of expert visual anticipation to guide motor skills beyond existing expert-novice comparisons.

Elderly adults delay proprioceptive reweighting during the anticipation of collision avoidance when standing

The ability to reweight visual and proprioceptive information is critical for maintaining postural stability in a dynamic environment. In this study, we examined whether visual anticipation of collision avoidance (AV) while standing could facilitate the down-weighting of altered proprioception in young and elderly adults. Twelve young (24.91±6.44years) and 12 elderly (74.8±6.42years) participants stood upright for 180s under two task conditions: (a) quiet stance (QS) and (b) standing while anticipating virtual objects to be avoided. In order to disrupt the accuracy of proprioceptive input participants were exposed to bilateral Achilles tendon vibration during the middle 60s of standing in both tasks. Visual field dependence was assessed using the Rod and Frame Test (RFT). Elderly demonstrated significantly higher visual field dependence compared to the young participants. Analysis of the normalized Root Mean Square (RMS) of the Center of Pressure velocity (dCoP) revealed that young participants immediately reduced the sway velocity variability induced by tendon vibration during the anticipation of collision AV compared to the QS task. In the elderly, however, the modulating influence of visual anticipation was delayed and became significant only in the last two time intervals of the vibration phase. These results suggest that volitionally shifting reliance on vision when anticipating a collision AV event facilitates the down-weighting of altered proprioception. Elderly adults seem to be unable to dynamically exploit visual anticipation in order to down weight the altered proprioception possibly as a result of their more permanent up-weighting of the visual modality. Sensory reweighting seems to be a more time consuming process in aging which may have important clinical implications for falling.

Anticipatory speed control model applied to intersection left turns

This paper presents a new speed control model applicable to real-world driving. It is developed for intersection left turns and is based on anticipated acceleration reference (AAR) inputs. This addresses combined visual anticipation of lateral and longitudinal accelerations for the approach to an intersection where both stopping and turning outcomes are possible. The relationship between the AAR and the resulting vehicle accelerations are studied for both stopping and turning events using naturalistic driving data. A closed-loop model is developed, including braking to rest when the left turn is not attempted and for the turn and exit stages when it is. Parameter ranges are estimated, and as a demonstration of model applicability, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to generate representative left turns using a full simulation model. Extension of the AAR model to other speed control problems, for example, driving on curved roads, is also discussed.

On the advantage of being left-handed in volleyball: further evidence of the specificity of skilled visual perception

High ball speeds and close distances between competitors require athletes in interactive sports to correctly anticipate an opponent's intentions in order to render appropriate reactions. Although it is considered crucial for successful performance, such skill appears impaired when athletes are confronted with a left-handed opponent, possibly because of athletes' reduced perceptual familiarity with rarely encountered left-handed actions. To test this negative perceptual frequency effect hypothesis, we invited 18 skilled and 18 novice volleyball players to predict shot directions of left- and right-handed attacks in a video-based visual anticipation task. In accordance with our predictions, and with recent reports on laterality differences in visual perception, the outcome of left-handed actions was significantly less accurately predicted than the outcome of right-handed attacks. In addition, this left-right bias was most distinct when predictions had to be based on preimpact (i.e., before hand-ball contact) kinematic cues, and skilled players were generally more affected by the opponents' handedness than were novices. The study's findings corroborate the assumption that skilled visual perception is attuned to more frequently encountered actions.