Rita F. de Oliveira

An adaptive toolbox approach to the route to expertise in sport.

Expertise is characterized by fast decision-making which is highly adaptive to new situations. Here we propose that athletes use a toolbox of heuristics which they develop on their route to expertise. The development of heuristics occurs within the context of the athletes’ natural abilities, past experiences, developed skills, and situational context, but does not pertain to any of these factors separately. This is a novel approach because it integrates separate factors into a comprehensive heuristic description. The novelty of this approach lies within the integration of separate factors determining expertise into a comprehensive heuristic description. It is our contention that talent identification methods and talent development models should therefore be geared toward the assessment and development of specific heuristics. Specifically, in addition to identifying and developing separate natural abilities and skills as per usual, heuristics should be identified and developed. The application of heuristics to talent and expertise models can bring the field one step away from dichotomized models of nature and nurture toward a comprehensive approach to the route to expertise.

Multitasking as a choice: a perspective

Performance decrements in multitasking have been explained by limitations in cognitive capacity, either modelled as static structural bottlenecks or as the scarcity of overall cognitive resources that prevent humans, or at least restrict them, from processing two tasks at the same time. However, recent research has shown that individual differences, flexible resource allocation, and prioritization of tasks cannot be fully explained by these accounts. We argue that understanding human multitasking as a choice and examining multitasking performance from the perspective of judgment and decision-making (JDM), may complement current dual-task theories. We outline two prominent theories from the area of JDM, namely Simple Heuristics and the Decision Field Theory, and adapt these theories to multitasking research. Here, we explain how computational modelling techniques and decision-making parameters used in JDM may provide a benefit to understanding multitasking costs and argue that these techniques and parameters have the potential to predict multitasking behavior in general, and also individual differences in behavior. Finally, we present the one-reason choice metaphor to explain a flexible use of limited capacity as well as changes in serial and parallel task processing. Based on this newly combined approach, we outline a concrete interdisciplinary future research program that we think will help to further develop multitasking research.

Adaptation of motor control strategies to environmental cues in a pursuit-tracking task

Visually guided tracking paradigms can provide insight into the adaptability of motor control strategies. We argue that the question of whether a sensorimotor process, or its absence, is beneficial or detrimental for performance is one that needs to be answered relative to the sensory cues available in the environment and the given task constraints. In this paper, we describe how and when environmental cues have task-dependent benefits. We used a new pursuit-tracking paradigm and added, removed, or replaced cues within the same tracking task in either predictable or unpredictable environments to investigate the use and adaptability of different control strategies. Participants were invited to perform a tracking task over six blocks in six different conditions. Compared to a condition where both target and control cursor (cues) were visible, performance was maintained when a cue was added and decreased when a cue was removed. Our results show that participants only learned to use new cues if the old one was removed and the replacement was valid. This means that the sensorimotor system adapts only if forced to do so instead of constantly exploiting optimization strategies.

Implicit and Explicit Knowledge Both Improve Dual Task Performance in a Continuous Pursuit Tracking Task

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of predictability on dual-task performance in a continuous tracking task. Participants practiced either informed (explicit group) or uninformed (implicit group) about a repeated segment in the curves they had to track. In Experiment 1 participants practices the tracking task only, dual-task performance was assessed after by combining the tracking task with an auditory reaction time task. Results showed both groups learned equally well and tracking performance on a predictable segment in the dual-task condition was better than on random segments. However, reaction times did not benefit from a predictable tracking segment. To investigate the effect of learning under dual-task situation participants in Experiment 2 practiced the tracking task while simultaneously performing the auditory reaction time task. No learning of the repeated segment could be demonstrated for either group during the training blocks, in contrast to the test-block and retention test, where participants performed better on the repeated segment in both dual-task and single-task conditions. Only the explicit group improved from test-block to retention test. As in Experiment 1, reaction times while tracking a predictable segment were no better than reaction times while tracking a random segment. We concluded that predictability has a positive effect only on the predictable task itself possibly because of a task-shielding mechanism. For dual-task training there seems to be an initial negative effect of explicit instructions, possibly because of fatigue, but the advantage of explicit instructions was demonstrated in a retention test. This might be due to the explicit memory system informing or aiding the implicit memory system.

Body Ownership of Virtual Avatars: An Affordance Approach of Telepresence

Virtual environments are an increasing trend in today’s society. In this scope, the avatar is the representation of the user in the virtual world. However, that relationship lacks empirical studies regarding the nature of the interaction between avatars and human beings. For that purpose it was studied how the avatar’s modeled morphology and dynamics affect its control by the user. An experiment was conducted to measure telepresence and ownership on participants who used a Kinect Natural User Interface (NUI). The body ownership of different avatars was assessed through a behavioral parameter, based on the concept of affordances, and a questionnaire of presence. The results show that the feelings of telepresence and ownership seem to be greater when the kinematics and the avatar’s proportions are closer to those of the user.

The Organization of Working Memory Networks is Shaped by Early Sensory Experience

Abstract Early deafness results in crossmodal reorganization of the superior temporal cortex (STC). Here, we investigated the effect of deafness on cognitive processing. Specifically, we studied the reorganization, due to deafness and sign language (SL) knowledge, of linguistic and nonlinguistic visual working memory (WM). We conducted an fMRI experiment in groups that differed in their hearing status and SL knowledge: deaf native signers, and hearing native signers, hearing nonsigners. Participants performed a 2‐back WM task and a control task. Stimuli were signs from British Sign Language (BSL) or moving nonsense objects in the form of point‐light displays. We found characteristic WM activations in fronto‐parietal regions in all groups. However, deaf participants also recruited bilateral posterior STC during the WM task, independently of the linguistic content of the stimuli, and showed less activation in fronto‐parietal regions. Resting‐state connectivity analysis showed increased connectivity between frontal regions and STC in deaf compared to hearing individuals. WM for signs did not elicit differential activations, suggesting that SL WM does not rely on modality‐specific linguistic processing. These findings suggest that WM networks are reorganized due to early deafness, and that the organization of cognitive networks is shaped by the nature of the sensory inputs available during development.

Task Integration Facilitates Multitasking

The aim of this study was to investigate multi-task integration in a continuous tracking task. We were particularly interested in how manipulating task structure in a dual-task situation affects learning of a constant segment embedded in a pursuit-tracking task. Importantly, we examined if dual-task effects could be attributed to task integration by varying the structural similarity and difficulty of the primary and secondary tasks. In Experiment 1 participants performed a pursuit tracking task while counting high-pitched tones and ignoring low-pitched tones. The tones were either presented randomly or structurally 250 ms before each tracking turn. Experiment 2 increased the motor load of the secondary tasks by asking participants to tap their feet to the tones. Experiment 3 further increased motor load of the primary task by increasing its speed and having participants tracking with their non-dominant hand. The results show that dual-task interference can be moderated by secondary task conditions that match the structure of the primary task. Therefore our results support proposals of task integration in continuous tracking paradigms. We conclude that multi-tasking is not always detrimental for motor learning but can be facilitated through task-integration.

Recalibration in functional perceptual-motor tasks: A systematic review

Skilled actions are the result of a perceptual-motor system being well-calibrated to the appropriate information variables. Changes to the perceptual or motor system initiates recalibration, which is the rescaling of the perceptual-motor system to informational variables. For example, a professional baseball player may need to rescale their throws due to fatigue. The aim of this systematic review is to analyse how recalibration can and has been measured and also to evaluate the literature on recalibration. Five databases were systematically screened to identify literature that reported experiments where a disturbance was applied to the perceptual-motor system in functional perceptual-motor tasks. Each of the 91 experiments reported the immediate effects of a disturbance and/or the effects of removing that disturbance after recalibration. The results showed that experiments applied disturbances to either perception or action, and used either direct or indirect measures of recalibration. In contrast with previous conclusions, active exploration was only sufficient for fast recalibration when the relevant information source was available. Further research into recalibration mechanisms should include the study of information sources as well as skill expertise.

Perception, Action, and Cognition of Football Referees in Extreme Temperatures: Impact on Decision Performance

Different professional domains require high levels of physical performance alongside fast and accurate decision-making. Construction workers, police officers, firefighters, elite sports men and women, the military and emergency medical professionals are often exposed to hostile environments with limited options for behavioral coping strategies. In this (mini) review we use football refereeing as an example to discuss the combined effect of intense physical activity and extreme temperatures on decision-making and suggest an explicative model. In professional football competitions can be played in temperatures ranging from -5°C in Norway to 30°C in Spain for example. Despite these conditions, the referee’s responsibility is to consistently apply the laws fairly and uniformly, and to ensure the rules are followed without waning or adversely influencing the competitiveness of the play. However, strenuous exercise in extreme environments imposes increased physiological and psychological stress that can affect decision-making. Therefore, the physical exertion required to follow the game and the thermal strain from the extreme temperatures may hinder the ability of referees to make fast and accurate decisions. Here, we review literature on the physical and cognitive requirements of football refereeing and how extreme temperatures may affect referees’ decisions. Research suggests that both hot and cold environments have a negative impact on decision-making but data specific to decision-making is still lacking. A theoretical model of decision-making under the constraint of intense physical activity and thermal stress is suggested. Future naturalistic studies are needed to validate this model and provide clear recommendations for mitigating strategies.

Visual Perception in Expert Action

In this chapter, I will argue that “You must see the basket before your shoot” is bad advice. As with most action-packed sports, this sentence includes a spatial component and a temporal component, and in this chapter, I try to give an honest representation of what is currently known about these components—not very much. Compare the most advanced robot with any human, and it becomes clear that we know very little about the reciprocal bidirectional interaction between perception and action used by animals but not used in robots. The chapter includes details of research on the visual perception of basketball shooting and extends methodological principles and research ideas to other fields of perception–action.