Gareth Paterson */**, John Van Der Kamp **/***, Elizabeth Bressan * and Geert Savelsbergh **/****
(*) Centre for Human Performance Science, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, South-Africa
(**) Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(***) Institute of Human Performance, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
(****) Research Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Citation
Paterson, G., Van Der Kamp, J., Bressan, E., Savelsbergh, G. (2013). The effects of perception-action coupling on perceptual decision-making in a self-paced far aiming task. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 44(3), 179-196. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2013.44.179
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of perception-action coupling on perceptual decision-making in a self-paced far-aiming task. To this end, 10 skilled soccer players were required to make decisions regarding ball placement (i.e., target selection) for free-kicks on goal. In a counterbalanced procedure, participants viewed 9 defensive setups varying in goalkeeper and wall position in two differing conditions. In the in-situ condition, players viewed the setups on a full size field and made target selection decisions with the intention of performing the freekick movement (i.e. coupled perception-action) at a full size goal. In the lab-based condition, participants viewed the setups on a computer screen in a laboratory and made target selection decisions without the intention to perform the free-kick (i.e. uncoupled perception-action). Results showed that the participants decision-making profiles differered across the two conditions. The variation in the decision-making profiles of participants across conditions highlights that perception-action coupling is an important factor to consider when studying decision-making in self-paced, far-aiming tasks. It is argued that this is most likely due to perceptual decisions being grounded in action, that is, intrinsically constrained by the action capabilities of the perceiver. The implications with respect to experimental design are discussed as well as future research directions.
Keywords: Far aiming, Free-kick, Representative design, Perception-action, Decision-making