

The Perception & Action Podcast
Rob Gray
Exploration of how psychological research can be applied to improving performance, accelerating skill acquisition and designing new technologies in sports and other high performance domains. Hosted by Rob Gray, professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University, the podcast will review basic concepts and discuss the latest research in these areas.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 29, 2015 • 11min
17A – New Year’s Resolutions, Do Clutch Athletes Really Exist?
News: My new year’s resolutions for 2016. Is there any evidence of NBA players being clutch under pressure?
Articles:
Do clutch players win the game? Testing the validity of the clutch player's reputation in basketball
More information:
http://www.perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.com/
My Research Gate Page (pdfs of my articles)
My ASU Web page
Podcast Facebook page (videos, pics, etc)
robgray@asu.edu
Twitter: @shakeywaits
Credits:
Roger McGuinn- Aulde Lang Syne
VicRippa – Jordan in the Clutch
via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

Dec 22, 2015 • 26min
17 – Getting Deliberate About Practice & The 10K Hour Rule
How much does an athlete need to practice to become truly elite? What should it involve? Should it be fun? Can everyone become a great athlete if they just practice enough? In this episode, I focus on the most well- known theory in this area called Deliberate Practice, popularized as the 10,000 hour rule.
Technically Challenged: Review of the Gazepoint GP3 Eye tracker and software http://www.gazept.com/product/gazepoint-gp3-eye-tracker/
Links to articles discussed:
The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance
Outliers: The Story of Success
Wrestling with the nature of expertise: a sport specific test of Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Romer's (1993) theory of deliberate practice
The Developmental Activities of Elite Ice Hockey Players
Annual age-grouping and athlete development: a meta-analytical review of relative age effects in sport
Routledge Handbook of Sport Expertise
More information:
http://www.perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.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 – Working Too Hard
Josh Woodward – Effortless
The Willing – Better
The Ettes – Crown of Age
Beans & Bullets - Love Machine
via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

Dec 17, 2015 • 1h 2min
16B –Live Skill Acquisition Discussion with Shawn Myszka
A replay of our live discussion on the topic skill acquisition in which we covered topics including: Early specialization vs diversification? Deliberate play vs deliberate practice? Are athletes born or made? What fundamental movement skills should a young athlete acquire? What advice would we give ourselves as young athletes if we could go back in time?
Articles/Links:
Late specialization: the key to success in centimeters, grams, or seconds (cgs) sport
Genomic predictors of trainability
Fundamental Movement Skills Are More than Run, Throw and Catch: The Role of Stability Skills
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
The Dirtbombs – Get it While You Can
The Greenhornes – Saying Goodbye
via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

Dec 15, 2015 • 13min
16A - Xmas Special: Bad Gifts, Slipping on Ice, The Problem with Fruit Cake
How do people regulate and modify their emotions (e.g., when pretending to like a bad gift)? Is this what is involved in choking under pressure? Why do people slip on ice – is our visual system letting us down, literally? Why does everybody hate fruit cake – a lesson in multisensory perception?
Articles:
Esteem threat, self-regulatory breakdown, and emotional distress as factors in self-defeating behavior
Temporal links to performing under pressure in international soccer penalty shootouts
Reappraising Threat: How to Optimize Performance Under Pressure
There's No Prospective Information About Friction, or, Why I Fell Over on the Ice
A systems perspective of slip and fall accidents on icy and snowy surfaces
Why walkers slip: shine is not a reliable cue for slippery ground
On the psychological impact of food colour
More information:
http://www.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:
Reigning Sound - If Christmas Can’t Bring You Home
Mudhoney – Slipping Away
Rocketship Park – Cakes & Cookies
Rue Royale – Deck the Halls
via freemusicarchive.org

Dec 8, 2015 • 25min
16 – Implicit Learning & Learning By Analogy
How can we learn to shoot a basketball by thinking about a cookie jar and learn to putt a golf ball by thinking about toothpaste?!! Can a novice athlete really become great without being given any verbal instructions about how to actually perform their skill? In the episode, I explore some approaches to learning and coaching sports skills that are radically different to the traditional methods most of us have experienced.
My Research Influences: Barrie Frost, Queens University, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barrie_Frost
Links to articles discussed:
The implicit benefit of learning without errors
Analogy learning and the performance of motor skills under pressure
From novice to no know-how: a longitudinal study of implicit motor learning
Challenges and Solutions When Applying Implicit Motor Learning Theory in a High Performance Sport Environment: Examples from Rugby League
More information:
http://www.perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.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
Golden Blondes – Skilled
The Head and the Heart – Lost in My Mind
Reigning Sound – Everything I Do is Wrong
Alabama Shakes - Hang Loose
My Morning Jacket – One Big Holiday
via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

Dec 7, 2015 • 13min
15D - Sports Science Shorts: Top 5 Sport Psychology Stories of 2015
My list of the top 5 stories in sports psychology/motor learning in 2015:
5.Skill acquisition is better when things look bigger
4.Is sports psychology research reliable
3.Neurodoping! Becoming a better athlete with brain stimulation
2.Yes, Virginia! There is a hot hand!
1.Perceptual-cognitive training in sports: science or snake oil?
Articles/links:
Visual illusions can facilitate sport skill learning
Manipulating target size influences perceptions of success when learning a dart-throwing skill but does not impact retention
Enhanced expectancies facilitate golf putting
Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science
Replication in Psychological Science
Non-invasive Human Brain Stimulation in Cognitive Neuroscience: A Primer
Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Area Promotes Implicit Motor Learning in a Golf Putting Task
Surprised by the Gambler's and Hot Hand Fallacies? A Truth in the Law of Small Numbers
https://thebrainstimulator.net/shop/
https://thebraindriver.com/tdcs-accelerated-performance.html#acceleratedperformance
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
Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy
via freemusicarchive.org

Dec 3, 2015 • 43min
15C – Interview with Josh Miller. Have We Been Wrong About the Hot Hand Effect for 30 Years?
A discussion with Josh Miller, Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences at Bocconni University, about his and Adam Sanjurjo’s recent work which has reversed the findings of 30 years of research on performance streaks in sports. Their work provides pretty convincing evidence that the hot hand is not a fallacy or illusion after all. I try (and fail) to explain the sampling bias they identified in my own words. In addition we discuss performance under pressure, how athletes know a teammate is hot or not, slumps and the future of research in this area.
More information about my guest:
http://didattica.unibocconi.eu/mypage/index.php?IdUte=111643&cognome=MILLER&nome=JOSHUA%20BENJAMIN&urlBackMy=
Articles/links:
Is it a Fallacy to Believe in the Hot Hand in the NBA Three-Point Contest?
Surprised by the Gambler's and Hot Hand Fallacies? A Truth in the Law of Small Numbers
Collection of reactions to Josh and Adam’s papers
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

Dec 1, 2015 • 11min
15B - Are Goalkeepers Gambling in Penalty Shoot Outs, Feeling the Wind in Sailing
News: Do soccer goalkeepers suffer from the gambler’s fallacy in penalty shoot-outs? Are expert sailors better at judging the direction of wind from the feel on their skin?
Articles:
The gambler's fallacy in penalty shootouts
Expertise effects in cutaneous wind perception
More information:
http://www.perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.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 Crevulators – Gambler’s Blues
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News
Beach Baby – Glove Compartment
via freemusicarchive.org

Nov 30, 2015 • 7min
15A - Sports Science Shorts: Perception through the Eyes of the Fan. Is Watching Sports a Skill That Improves with Practice?
How do fans perceive the action going on in sports? Does your ability to watch a sport improve with hours of practice in front of your TV? How does the perception of fans differ from the perception of the athletes themselves? Why was the Fox puck pure evil?
Articles/links:
Action anticipation and motor resonance in elite basketball players
Foul or dive? Motor contributions to judging ambiguous foul situations in football
Psychophysiological Responses of Sport Fans
The Fox Puck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grOttsHuuzE
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
Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy
via freemusicarchive.org

Nov 24, 2015 • 19min
15– Live from the Grand Canyon! Perception in Hiking & Climbing
How do we use vision to control the placement of our feet on rough terrain, to avoid spraining that ankle? How do anxiety, fear and fatigue change the way we perform these activities? What differs between elite and novice climbers? Did I survive a rim to rim hike in the Grand Canyon? Let’s hit the trail….
Articles:
Visual control of foot placement when walking over complex terrain
Anxiety–performance relationships in climbing: a process-oriented approach
Anxiety-induced changes in movement behaviour during the execution of a complex whole-body task.
Changes in the perception of action possibilities while climbing to fatigue on a climbing wall
Practice with anxiety improves performance, but only when anxious: evidence for the specificity of practice hypothesis
Short report: the effect of expertise in hiking on recognition memory for mountain scenes
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
Closely Watched Trains – Hills Climb
The Spectacular Fantastic – Echo Mountain
Arsonist – Hot Salsa Trip\
Johnny Weltraum – Blackout
Karmafish – Dusty Trail
via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com