Auditory Information Reduces Response Time for Ball Rotation Perception, Increasing Counterattack Performance in Table Tennis

AbstractIdentifying the trajectory and spin of the ball with speed and accuracy is critical for good performance in table tennis. The aim of this study was to analyze the ability of table tennis players presenting different levels of training/experience to identify the magnitude of the ball spin from the sound produced when the racket hit the ball. Four types of “forehand” contact sounds were collected in the laboratory, defined as: Fast Spin (spinning ball forward at 140 r/s); Medium Spin (105 r/s); Slow Spin (84 r/s); and Flat Hit (less than 60 r/s). Thirty-four table tennis players of both sexes (24 men and 10 women) aged 18-40 years listened to the sounds and tried to identify the magnitude of the ball spin. The results revealed that in 50.9% of the cases the table tennis players were able to identify the ball spin and the observed number of correct answers (10.2) was significantly higher (χ2 = 270.4, p <0.05) than the number of correct answers that could occur by chance. On the other hand, the results did not show any relationship between the level of training/experience and auditory perception of the ball spin. This indicates that auditory information contributes to identification of the magnitude of the ball spin, however, it also reveals that, in table tennis, the level of training does not interfere with the auditory perception of the ball spin.

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Differential contribution of visual and auditory information to accurately predict the direction and rotational motion of a visual stimulus

Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1139/apnm-2015-0390 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 244-248 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Seoung Hoon Park ◽

Seonjin Kim ◽

MinHyuk Kwon ◽

Evangelos A. Christou

Keyword(s):

Visual Stimulus ◽

Rotational Motion ◽

Visual Information ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Response Accuracy ◽

Table Tennis ◽

Tennis Players ◽

Directional Accuracy ◽

Differential Contribution ◽

Different Levels

Vision and auditory information are critical for perception and to enhance the ability of an individual to respond accurately to a stimulus. However, it is unknown whether visual and auditory information contribute differentially to identify the direction and rotational motion of the stimulus. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of an individual to accurately predict the direction and rotational motion of the stimulus based on visual and auditory information. In this study, we recruited 9 expert table-tennis players and used table-tennis service as our experimental model. Participants watched recorded services with different levels of visual and auditory information. The goal was to anticipate the direction of the service (left or right) and the rotational motion of service (topspin, sidespin, or cut). We recorded their responses and quantified the following outcomes: (i) directional accuracy and (ii) rotational motion accuracy. The response accuracy was the accurate predictions relative to the total number of trials. The ability of the participants to predict the direction of the service accurately increased with additional visual information but not with auditory information. In contrast, the ability of the participants to predict the rotational motion of the service accurately increased with the addition of auditory information to visual information but not with additional visual information alone. In conclusion, this finding demonstrates that visual information enhances the ability of an individual to accurately predict the direction of the stimulus, whereas additional auditory information enhances the ability of an individual to accurately predict the rotational motion of stimulus.

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The influence of auditory information on performance in table tennis

European Journal of Human Movement ◽

10.21134/eurjhm.2020.45.7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 62-76

Author(s):

Katharina Petri ◽

Timon Schmidt ◽

Kerstin Witte

Keyword(s):

Visual Information ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Target Area ◽

Table Tennis ◽

Environmental Sounds ◽

Auditory Cues ◽

In Situ Studies ◽

Noise Cancelling ◽

Almost All

It is well-known that visual information is essential for anticipation in table tennis but it not clarified whether auditory cues are also used. Therefore, we performed two in-situ studies, in which novices (study A) and advanced players (study B) responded to strokes of a real opponent or a ball machine by returning with forehand counters (study A) and forehand top spins (study B) to a given target area on the table. We assessed the parameters “hit quality” and “subjective effort”. In study A, we provided four conditions: normal, a noise-cancelling headphone and earplugs to dampen auditory information, other noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs to remove almost all environmental sounds, and the same head-phones with additional bright noise to remove all sounds. In study B, we performed three tests (irregular play and regular play with an opponent and response to regular balls of a ball machine) under two conditions: normal and noise-cancelling headphones with the additional bright noise. In both studies, no significant differences between all conditions for “hit quality” and “subjective effort” (all p>0.05) were found. We conclude that auditory information, as well as their volume, have no influence on the hit quality in table tennis for novices and advanced players.

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Vision dominates audition in adults but not children: A meta-analysis of the Colavita effect

10.31234/osf.io/m42n3 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Hirst ◽

Lucy Cragg ◽

Harriet A Allen

Keyword(s):

Response Time ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Response Time Data ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Time Data ◽

Colavita Effect ◽

Quantitative Synthesis ◽

General Slowing ◽

Visual Element ◽

Visual Dominance Effect

The Colavita effect occurs when participants respond only to the visual element of an audio-visual stimulus. This visual dominance effect is proposed to arise from asymmetric facilitation and inhibition between modalities. It has also been proposed that, unlike adults, children appear predisposed to auditory information. We provide the first quantitative synthesis of studies exploring the Colavita effect, converging data from 70 experiments across 14 studies. A mixed-meta-regression model was applied to assess whether the Colavita effect is influenced by methodological factors and age group tested. Studies reporting response time data were used to test for the presence of asymmetrical facilitation between modalities. Studies exploring the Colavita effect in adults yielded a medium, approaching large, effect size. Studies exploring the Colavita effect in children yielded a small, reverse, Colavita effect. Across adult and child studies, no methodological factors influenced the effect. Contrary to asymmetrical facilitation, response time data suggested a general slowing under bimodal conditions. These findings suggest that whilst vision dominates in adults, this effect is absent in childhood.

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Stereopsis and Response Times between Collegiate Table Tennis Athletes and Non-Athletes

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126287 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 6287

Author(s):

Jiahn-Shing Lee ◽

Shih-Tsung Chang ◽

Li-Chuan Shieh ◽

Ai-Yin Lim ◽

Wei-Sheng Peng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Time ◽

Response Times ◽

Table Tennis ◽

Choice Tasks ◽

Hand Response

Table tennis athletes and non-athletes potentially differ in stereopsis and eye–hand response times (RT), but whether stereopsis correlates with response time has scarcely been discussed. We aimed to compare stereopsis and RT between collegiate table tennis athletes and non-athletes and to examine the correlation between stereopsis and RT. From December 2016 to October 2019, table tennis athletes (n = 80) and non-athletes (n = 56) were recruited. Stereopsis was measured in four modes (A25, A50, R25, R50: approaching and receding directions at 25 mm/s or 50 mm/s). RT was measured with simple and choice tasks at zero, shoulder, and random distance. For stereopsis, the judged deviations were smaller during the approaching phases. Men had smaller A25 than women (p =0.012), whereas table tennis athletes showed smaller R25 and A50 than non-athletes (p = 0.03, 0.01, respectively). RT increased from simple to choice conditions and from zero to random, followed by shoulder distance. Men were significantly faster than women in choice tasks (p < 0.01). Table tennis athletes performed better in RT than the non-athletes (p < 0.05). No correlation was observed between stereopsis and RT (r = −0.01 to 0.12). In conclusion, athletes from table tennis sports showed better stereopsis and RT than non-athletes. Men had better stereopsis and RT than women. There was no correlation between stereopsis and RT.

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Temporal Prediction Errors Affect Short-Term Memory Scanning Response Time

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000339 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (6) ◽

pp. 333-342

Author(s):

Roberto Limongi ◽

Angélica M. Silva

Keyword(s):

Response Time ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Estimation Error ◽

Predictive Coding ◽

Time Estimation ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Memory Scanning ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Temporal Prediction

Abstract. The Sternberg short-term memory scanning task has been used to unveil cognitive operations involved in time perception. Participants produce time intervals during the task, and the researcher explores how task performance affects interval production – where time estimation error is the dependent variable of interest. The perspective of predictive behavior regards time estimation error as a temporal prediction error (PE), an independent variable that controls cognition, behavior, and learning. Based on this perspective, we investigated whether temporal PEs affect short-term memory scanning. Participants performed temporal predictions while they maintained information in memory. Model inference revealed that PEs affected memory scanning response time independently of the memory-set size effect. We discuss the results within the context of formal and mechanistic models of short-term memory scanning and predictive coding, a Bayes-based theory of brain function. We state the hypothesis that our finding could be associated with weak frontostriatal connections and weak striatal activity.

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