The Perception & Action Podcast - Sports Science & Psychology Talk

A look at perceptual-motor development from an information processing, stage-based perspective.  What is the relative importance of genetics and early experience? Are their critical periods in which perceptual and motor skills must develop? What is an efference copy?   Articles/links: What Is Motor Development? The Lessons of History Infancy and Human Growth Effects of visual deprivation on morphology and physiology of cells in the cat's lateral geniculate body Extent of recovery from the effects of visual deprivation in kittens Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behavior Organization of Early Skilled Action The Principle of Reafference: Interactions between the Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Organs Paralysis of the Awake Human: Visual Perceptions   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Barrence Whitf

Thinking aloud about some sports science issues as I prepare for my first 50K ultra.  What is the optimal focus of attention for a runner and how does it change as you switch from road to trail?  How can one best acquire the skill of downhill running?  Does it depend on where you look?   Articles/links: My training log: https://www.strava.com/athletes/17201121 Race I am doing: http://www.aravaiparunning.com/cave-creek-thriller/ Related blog post with figures: http://perceptionaction.com/37d/ “Look around while running!” Attentional focus effects in inexperienced runners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PE0fbapiyQ   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Miss Derrinnger – Better Run Away From Me Trash Ride – Running Around Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy  

A discussion with Kylie Steel Senior Lecturer in the School of Science and Health at Western Sydney University in Australia. In the interview we discuss biological motion: what is it and how can we apply it to sport, how important is it to be able to quickly recognize a teammate on the field or court, do compression garments work and if so how, and how are skilled acquisition professionals viewed by coaches and players.   More information about my guest: http://www.uws.edu.au/staff_profiles/uws_profiles/doctor_kylie_steel https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kylie_Steel https://au.linkedin.com/in/kylie-steel-b62b71123 https://twitter.com/kylie_steel2016   Biological motion demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0kLC-pridI   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc) Twitter: @Shakeywaits Email: robgray@asu.edu   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Lo Fi is Hi Fi - I’m on a Talk Show Mark La

What is stereotype threat and how can it affect sports performance? Is it possible that being challenged by a statement like “girls can’t play sports” could make a female athlete perform better in some situations?   Articles: On the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat: can skills that don't rely heavily on working memory still be threatened? “Girls should cook, rather than kick!” – Female soccer players under stereotype threat Girls can play ball: Stereotype threat reduces variability in a motor skill The effect of stereotype threat on performance of a rhythmic motor skill.   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action June & Jean Millington – Play Like a Girl The Strangers - Stereotypical Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy

A discussion with Joe Baker, Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University in Canada. Topics include: how good are we at identifying talent, early specialization vs diversification, designing effective learning environments, retention and transfer of sports skills, and are sports good for our long term health?   More information about my guest: http://www.yorku.ca/bakerj/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joe_Baker https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-baker-320b9a32 https://twitter.com/bakerjyorku   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc) Twitter: @Shakeywaits Email: robgray@asu.edu   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Lo Fi is Hi Fi - I’m on a Talk Show Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy via freemusicarchive.org

A look at the unique perceptual and cognitive issues associated with uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters. Are fully automated drones a good idea? What are some of the technologies that have been developed to improve performance with these alternative forms of flight? -Knowing when not to act in sports (Time 19:36)   Articles/links: Human Factors Implications of UAVs in the National Airspace Impact of prior flight experience on learning Predator UAV operator skills Good Vibrations: Tactile Feedback in Support of Attention Allocation and Human-Automation Coordination in Event-Driven Domains Target Acquisition With UAVs: Vigilance Displays and Advanced Cuing Interfaces Tactile situation awareness system: proprioceptive prostheses for sensory deficiencies. Knowing when not to swing: EEG evidence that enhanced perception–action coupling underlies baseball batter expertise http://www.decervo.com/ More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page

A discussion with Costas Karageorghis, Reader in Sport Psychology from Brunel University and author of the new book “Applying Music in Exercise and Sport”. We discuss topics including how music can make athletes perform better and for longer, how music effects an athlete’s attentional focus and perceived effort, how to choose the best music for a particular sport or activity, when not to use music and how teams can use music.   More information about my guest: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/costas-karageorghis Applying Music in Exercise and Sport: https://www.amazon.com/Applying-Music-Exercise-Costas-Karageorghis/dp/1492513814/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=perceactiopod-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=63bc3f266671ee616fcafc755e9314d7&creativeASIN=1492513814   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc) Twitter: @Shakeywaits Email: robgray@asu.edu   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Lo

News: What type of feedback do coaches give to boxers between rounds? Does the attentional focus, level of autonomy and valence of the feedback relate to winning and losing? How do the inherent capabilities of a performer (i.e., skill level) interact with their momentary capabilities?   Articles/links: http://sports-biometrics-conference.com/ Coaching cues in amateur boxing: An analysis of ringside feedback provided between rounds of competition Location estimation of approaching objects is modulated by the observer’s inherent and momentary action capabilities   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Suspicious Beasts – Punch Me in the Face JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News Favourite Game – The #1’s via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

A discussion with Amit Katwala, senior writer for Sport Magazine and author of the new book: The Athletic Brain: How Neuroscience is Revolutionizing Sport and Can Help You Perform Better.  we discuss topics including how the brains of elites athletes are different than normal people, some methods teams are using to short cut this process with brain training, ways you can trick yourself into having greater endurance, how to better diagnose concussion, the idea of sporting IQ, and examples of sports psychology at work in the recent Olympic games.   More information about my guest: http://amitkatwala.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amit-katwala-50795115   https://www.amazon.com/Athletic-Brain-Neuroscience-Revolutionising-Perform/dp/1471155900/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=perceactiopod-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=2fa24acccb92a382c18d667dbcb888f0&creativeASIN=1471155900   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (

A look at some of the developments in cockpit technology. Do “glass cockpits” really lead to better flying performance? Can Head-Up Displays and Highways in the Sky reduce pilot workload? Has automation in aviation lived up to its promise? -Why does having a “quiet eye” resulting in better sports performance? (Time 20:45)   Articles/links: Learning to fly glass cockpits requires a new cognitive model. Can a glass cockpit display help (or hinder) performance of novices in simulated flight training? Cognitive Issues in Head-Up Displays Attentional Tunneling and Task Management in Synthetic Vision Displays An Information-Centered Analysis of the Tunnel-in-the-Sky Display Automation surprises Identifying the causal mechanisms of the quiet eye Fixational eye movements (Special Issue) http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/brain-games/videos/brain-games-pay-attention/   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics

Does the advantage of being relatively older (i.e., being born in Jan, Feb or March) hold up when the highest levels of sport are examined?  Why might this effect reverse, giving a clear advantage to the relatively young underdogs?   Articles: Annual age grouping and athlete development: A meta-analytical review of relative age effect in sport No Relative Age Effect in the Birth Dates of Award Winning Athletes in Male Professional Team Sports Selection bias and peer effects in team sports: The effect of age grouping on earnings of German soccer players Start hard, finish better: further evidence for the reversal of the RAE advantage The rise of the underdog? The relative age effect reversal among Canadian-born NHL hockey players: A reply to Nolan and Howell   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Jacob Haller – Relatively Human The Golden Boys – O

News: A look at a couple recent motor learning studies. How can we build on basic concepts such like contextual interference and extrinsic feedback to speed skill acquisition?   Articles: The Effect of Gradual Increase in Contextual Interference on Acquisition, Retention and Transfer of Volleyball Skills More Feedback Is Better than Less: Learning a Novel Upper Limb Joint Coordination Pattern with Augmented Auditory Feedback   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News Superdrag – Everything Will Be Made Right via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

One of the greatest challenges those of us working in sports currently face is how to keep athletes healthy and on the field.  Should we take a conservative approach, giving them more rest days and not pushing them so hard in practice?  Or should we believe what doesn’t kill them will only make the stronger?  Is there a way we can use analytics, biomechanics or movement analyses to predict when an injury is likely to occur?  As parents, should we steering or kids away from sports with a higher likelihood of injury? How should we best manage the physical and psychological challenges associated with injury recovery? A review of the book “The Arm: Inside the Billion Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” which explores these questions in the context of baseball pitching injuries.   Link: The Arm: Inside the Billion Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook

A discussion of the history of flight training with an emphasis on flight simulation. What makes a good simulator? Should it really perfectly re-create the real world? Can we identify effective pilots through screening tests? -Part vs whole training in sport (Time 21:01)   Articles/links: The Link Trainer Naive Realism: Misplaced Faith in Realistic Displays Motion in depth: Adequate and inadequate simulation Relationship between sustained, orientated, divided, and selective attention and simulated aviation performance: Training & pressure effects Effectiveness of part-task training and increasing-difficulty training strategies: a meta-analysis approach   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Nymphea - Fly Jenny O – Learned My Lessons Live Ones – We’ll Take You Higher Dan Alfresco  - Flying High Mr & Mrs Smith – Summer in the Sky The Above

What are conditional probabilities and how can they be used to help you draft and set you weekly lineup for a fantasy football team? More About the Analysis: http://perceptionaction.com/bayesintro   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Lame Drivers –Let Me Get Those Numbers Down White Hillls – Condition of Nothing Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

A few thoughts on the “Seeing the forest and the trees: Theoretical and practical issues in sport expertise” workshop held in conjunction with Annual Meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSA) on June 14, 2016. http://naspspa.com/2016-naspspa-conference-workshops/ More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Seastock – Garage Rock Shuffle Seastock – Upbeat Garage Rock Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

An analysis of some of the most serious plane crashes that were caused by human error with a goal of understanding what happened in terms of perceptual-motor and cognitive processes. What can we learn from these unfortunate incidents so that they never happen again?  -Some famous errors on the sports field (Time 23:48)   Articles/links: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm Human Factors in Aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida_Flight_90 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_214   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Gillicuddy- …Plays Guitar via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

How do pilots use all the information from the outside environment, instruments and air traffic control to make decisions and act?  Does their ability to sample information depend on experience?  What are some of the common decision making errors that can occurs? -Why do performers learn better when they can control when feedback is received? (Time 24:10)   Articles: Priority and organization of information accessed by pilots in various phases of flight Flying under pressure : Effects of anxiety on attention and gaze behavior in aviation Anxiety and Cognitive Performance: Attentional Control Theory Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction Self-Controlled Feedback: Does it Enhance Learning Because Performers Get Feedback When They Need It? Why self-controlled feedback enhances motor learning: Answers from electroencephalography and indices of motivation Self-controlled concurrent feedback and the education of attention towards perceptual invariants    More information: http://perceptionaction.co

How does a pilot know which way is up or whether they are banking left or right? Sounds easy, but maintaining spatial orientation is one of the most difficult challenges in aviation.  What visual and vestibular information can be used to orient oneself and what illusions cause spatial disorientation? -Can showing an athlete their opponent’s strengths lead to ironic errors under pressure? (Time 21:15)   Articles: Aviation Visual Perception: Research, Misperception & Mishaps Human Spatial Orientation   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Paul Collins Beat – Don’t Wait Up For Me Mikal Cronin – Made My Mind Up Zorak – Falling Down Parting Gifts – Bound to Let Me Down Lame Drivers – Throwing Stones Von Hayes – Casual Strikeouts via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com  

What visual information can a pilot use to land a plane? What misperceptions can occur and how can they lead to crashes?  What is the Black Hole Illusion? -What is the best way to train an athlete: start easy or start hard?(Time 22:19)   Articles: Aviation Visual Perception: Research, Misperception & Mishaps Optic flow and visual analysis of the base-to-final turn Visual judgments in motion A psychophysical contribution to air safety: Simulator studies of visual illusions in night visual approaches Active regulation of altitude as a function of optical texture Perception and control of altitude: Splay and depression angles The effects of pictorial detail on the timing of the landing flare: Results of a visual simulation experiment   More information: http://perceptionaction.com/ My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles) My ASU Web page Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)   Credits: The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Persephone’s Bees – Paper Plane Calexico - Fractured Air Obits – No Fly Lis