The Perception & Action Podcast

We have all seen it.  A great athlete has a chance to win a championship.  All that is required for them to do something they have done hundreds of times before…sink a 3 foot putt, make a free throw, kick a 20 year field goal. And they miss!  In this episode I explore the fascinating topic of choking under pressure. Why do some athletes excel in these situations while others fail?  What causes choking and want can an athlete do to prevent it? Research confessions: Choking under pressure while talking about choking under pressure    Links to articles discussed: Test anxiety and direction of attention Choking under pressure: self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skillful performance Paradoxical effects of supportive audiences on performance under pressure: The home field disadvantage in sports championships Thoughts and attention of athletes under pressure: skill-focus or performance worries? Attending to the Execution of a Complex Sensorimotor Skill: Expertise Differences, Choking, and Slumps On the fragility of skilled performance: what governs choking under pressure? Knowledge, Knerves and Know-How - the Role of Explicit Versus Implicit Knowledge in the Breakdown of a Complex Motor Skill under Pressure Changes in putting kinematics associated with choking and excelling under pressure The influence of anxiety on visual attentional control in basketball free throw shooting Quiet Eye Training: Effects on Learning and Performance Under Pressure Choking under pressure: the neuropsychological mechanisms of incentive-induced performance decrements   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 Bellevue – Pressure Eric & Magill – Don’t Worr Wyldlife – She’s Making Me Nervous Mouthbreathers - Anxiety John Collins – Watching Over Me Farmertan – Ugly Truth  via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com    

This past Friday one of my personal favorite sporting events kicked off…the Rugby World Cup.  The NFL Football season is also of course now in full swing.  So, which sport has the bigger hits: football or rugby?   Links to articles discussed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7tGY-VDx3o http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-09-11/jarryd-hayne-49ers-nfl-rugby-league-running-back-position-cut-san-francisco-monday-night-football http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/3423412/jarryd-hayne Perceiving and acting upon spaces in a VR rugby task: expertise effects in affordance detection and task achievement.   How to Listen & Subscribe to The Perception Action Podcast: http://perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.com/podcast/how-to-listen-and-subscribe-to-the-perception-action-podcast-0   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 Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy via freemusicarchive.org   

News: Do NBA All Stars run further and faster? Do in-car technologies make drivers complacent?  Articles: Exploring Game Performance in the National Basketball Association Using Player Tracking Data How does a collision warning system shape driver's brake response time? The influence of expectancy and automation complacency on real-life emergency braking Google car accident data   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: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News John Welsey Coleman – Ooh Basketball  via freemusicarchive.org  

Is the claim that visual training can “improve vision” deceptive and worthy of a $150K fine from the FTC?  Can we say that the benefits of visual training will transfer to sports performance?   Links to articles discussed: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/09/ftc-charges-marketers-vision-improvement-app-deceptive-claims Improved Vision and On Field Performance in Baseball through Perceptual Learning   How to Listen & Subscribe to The Perception Action Podcast: http://perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.com/podcast/how-to-listen-and-subscribe-to-the-perception-action-podcast-0   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 Mark Lanegan - Saint Louis Elegy via freemusicarchive.org    

How long do athletes retain the sports skills they learn: 5 years, 10 years, forever?  If they do lose something, what is it?  How easy is it to transfer from one sport to another?  What factors determine whether or not transfer will be successful?  This episode explores the topic of retention and transfer of sports skills. Links to articles discussed: Long-term effects of type of practice on the learning and transfer of a complex motor skill Retention of Quiet Eye in Older Skilled Basketball Players Do pattern recognition skills transfer across sports? A preliminary analysis The cycling physiology of Miguel Indurain 14 years after retirement Transfer of motor and perceptual skills from basketball to darts Virtual realities as optimal learning environments in sport – A transfer study of virtual and real dart throwing   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 The Split Squad – Feel the Same Still the Same – Talley LambertAllister Thompson - Somewhere New Soultravelers – Brand New Life Reigning Sound - Straight Shooter   via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

Did Serena Williams choke under pressure in her historical US Open loss?  Is virtual reality training going to revolutionize quarterback play? It certainly doesn't seem to be working for Auburn's Jeremy Johnson.      Links to Articles Discussed: http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13618884/us-open-numbers-explain-why-serena-williams-queen-clutch http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13632981/us-open-statistically-nerves-factored-serena-williams-loss http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2015/08/vr_troopers_auburn_institutes.html   How to Listen & Subscribe to The Perception Action Podcast: http://perceptionactionpodcast.libsyn.com/podcast/how-to-listen-and-subscribe-to-the-perception-action-podcast-0   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: Shake Some Action by The Flamin' Groovies via freemusicarchive.org

News: Can surfers really detect a perfect wave? Are smart phone notifications distracting us?  Articles: Eddie would(n’t) go! Perceptual-cognitive expertise in surfing The Attentional Cost of Receiving a Cell Phone Notification   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: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News The Pharoas – Mission Bucharest   Pirato Ketchup – Speed Surfer

How do we know how well a new training program or piece of sports equipment is working?  Is looking at how performance changes in practice (by plotting a "learning curve") really the best way to assess skill acquisition. No, no it isn’t.  In this episode I make the case for going off the learning curve in favor of other ways of measuring skill learning in sport. Technically Challenged: Review of motion tracking system http://inertia-technology.com/promove-mini   Links to articles discussed: Contextual interference effects on the acquisition, retention, and transfer of a motor skill Contextual interference: a meta-analytic study Practicing Field Hockey Skills Along the Contextual Interference Continuum: A Comparison of Five Practice Schedules Increased movement accuracy and reduced EMG activity as the result of adopting an external focus of attention    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 Minimal Damage – Learning Curve Jenny O – Learned My Lessons Greg Houwer – Slow Learner Pablo – Learn a Lesson Golden Blondes – Skilled Beans & Bullets - Love Machine    via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com

News: Are coaches using too much sports technology to evaluate players? How do police officers handle the pressure of a high speed chase? Articles: Blaming Bill Gates AGAIN! Misuse, overuse and misunderstanding of performance data in sport Psychophysiological Assessment of Acute Stress Induced by High-Pressure Law-Enforcement Driving: A Pilot Study 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: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Bad News    

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said: “The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated”. Reaching a stage where some skills can be performed “automatically” is thought to be one of the main goals of sports training and one of the defining characteristics of being an expert.  But what exactly does it mean for a sports skill to be “automatic” and how exactly is this desired state achieved through training? In this episode, I introduce the topic of skill acquisition be exploring traditional theories of how an athlete progresses from a novice to an expert. Research confessions: Does research always happen like we say it does in journal articles?   Links to articles discussed: Movement automaticity in sport From attentional control to attentional spillover: a skill-level investigation of attention, movement, and performance outcomes Expertise, attention, and memory in sensorimotor skill execution: impact of novel task constraints on dual-task performance and episodic memory Fitts & Posner   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 Matt Augustine - Learn How to Swim Jonathan DImmel – Learn From Me Sonic Avenues – Automatic Arsonist – Hot Salsa Trip Room One Eleven – Automatic via freemusicarchive.org and jamendo.com