Perceptual learning in complex motor behavior

An important area of perception-action research is perceptual optimization in sports performance (e.g., Abernethy et al., 2012), often with the goal of aligning the gaze behavior of less-skilled athletes with that of experts (Williams & Erricson, 2005). In addition to studies examining the effect of the "spotting" gaze strategy in learning pirouettes in dance (e.g., Klostermann et al., 2022), we conducted experiments to identify the gaze paths of elite beach volleyball players (e.g.,Hossner et al., 2022). When the gaze patterns of elite volleyball players were presented via "color cues" (see video), an intervention group of novices could pick up the respective gaze pattern. However, this did not lead to any learning advantages in decision-making behavior compared to a control group without "color cues" (Klostermann et al., 2015). Even when controlling for multiple alternative explanations for the lack of improvement, such gaze training did not enhance performance (Klostermann & Hossner, 2022). Therefore, the findings from our research would recommend against explicit eye movement training in sports practice, and rather encourage the pursuit of implicit training approaches.

Selected Publications:

Hossner, E.-J., Klostermann, A., Kredel, R., Schläppi-Lienhard, O., Vater, C. & Zahno, S. (2022, in Vorb.). Gaze behaviour in beach-volleyball defence: On decision delays, task specificity, gaze anchoring, and the curious absence of expertise effects.

Klostermann, A. & Hossner, E.-J. (2022, in Vorb.). Perceptual training in beach-volleyball defence: No beneficial effects of colour-cue interventions.

Klostermann, A., Vater, C, Kredel, R. & Hossner, E.-J. (2015). Perceptual training in beach volleyball defence: Different effects of gaze-path cueing on gaze and decision-making. Frontiers in Psychology, 6: 1834. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01834

Klostermann, A., Schärli, A., Kunz, S., Weber, M. & Hossner, E.-J. (2022). Learn to turn: Does spotting foster skill acquisition in pirouettes? Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 93(1), 153–161. 10.1080/02701367.2020.1813239

Literature:

Abernethy, B., Schorer, J., Jackson, R. C. & Hagemann, N. (2012). Perceptual training methods compared: The relative efficacy of different approaches to enhancing sport-specific anticipation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(2), 143–153. 10.1037/a0028452

Williams, A. M., & Ericsson, K. A. (2005). Perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport. Some considerations when applying the expert performance approach. Human Movement Science, 24(3), 283–307. 10.1016/j.humov.2005.06.002

Contact:

André Klostermann

Ernst-Joachim Hossner