Does the Simon Effect Interfere with the Synergy Between Perception and Action?

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110229
Author(s):  
André Klostermann
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Perception And Action ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Alternative Response ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Quiet Eye ◽  
Stimulus Effect

Research suggests that – particularly – the execution of precision-demanding far-aiming tasks necessitates an optimal coupling between perception and action. In this regard, the duration of the last fixation before initiating movement – i.e., the Quiet Eye (QE) – has been functionally related to subsequent motor performance. In the current study, we investigated potential mechanisms of QE by applying the Simon paradigm – i.e., cognitive interferences evoked by stimulus-effect incompatibilities over response selection. To this end, we had participants throw balls as precisely as possible, either with their left or right hand (hands condition, HC) or at left or right targets (targets condition, TC), respectively. Via monaural auditory stimuli, participants received information about the hand side and the target side, respectively, either with compatible (i.e., congruent stimulus-effect side) or incompatible (i.e., incongruent stimulus-effect side) stimulus-effect mappings. Results showed that participants reacted slower and showed later first fixation onsets at the target in incompatible vs. compatible trials, thus, replicating and extending the classical Simon effect. Crucially, in the HC, there were earlier QE onsets and longer QE durations in incompatible (vs. compatible) trials, suggesting an inhibition of cognitive interferences over response selection to preserve motor performance. These findings are in line with attentional explanations of QE, suggesting optimized attentional control with efficient management of limited cognitive resources (optimal-attentional-control explanation) or with the inhibition of alternative response parametrization (inhibition explanation).

scholarly journals Context Affects Quiet Eye Duration and Motor Performance Independent of Cognitive Effort

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Oliver R. Runswick ◽  
Matthew Jewiss ◽  
Ben T. Sharpe ◽  
Jamie S. North
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Context Condition ◽  
Additional Load ◽  
Quiet Eye ◽  
And Performance

Extensive literature has shown the effect of “quiet eye” (QE) on motor performance. However, little attention has been paid to the context in which tasks are executed (independent of anxiety) and the mechanisms that underpin the phenomenon. Here, the authors aimed to investigate the effects of context (independent of anxiety) on QE and performance while examining if the mechanisms underpinning QE are rooted in cognitive effort. In this study, 21 novice participants completed golf putts while pupil dilation, QE duration, and putting accuracy were measured. Results showed that putting to win was more accurate compared with the control (no context) condition, and QE duration was longer when putting to win or tie a hole compared with control. There was no effect of context on pupil dilation. Results suggest that, while the task was challenging, performance scenarios can enhance representativeness of practice without adding additional load to cognitive resources, even for novice performers.

Anxiety, attentional control, and performance : quiet eye training in Division I baseball

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Meaghan C. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Muscle Tension ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Division I ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Quiet Eye ◽  
Interceptive Timing ◽  
Performance Under Pressure

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The quiet eye (QE) represents the time needed to cognitively process information being fixated or tracked and to focus attention on the demands of the task (Vickers, 2009). Research indicates that an optimal combination of QE, attentional control, and gaze behavior is linked with superior skill execution (Harle and Vickers, 2001), and that the successful integration of these attentional behaviors may also combat the negative effects that anxiety can have on performance (e.g., Vine and Wilson, 2011). To advance the research on QE training in pressurized interceptive timing tasks (Vickers, 2016), this mixed-method study explored how QE training impacted the hitting performances of Division I baseball players during a pressure situation. The results showed that, despite experiencing more overall anxiety, the QE group maintained performance under pressure. A main effect for group also approached significance, with the QE group nearly outperforming the control group. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Regardless, analyses of the participants' written feedback indicated that the QE group reported greater task-focus, less distractibility, improved pitch perception, and reduced muscle tension. Taken together, these findings provide strong support for implementing QE training in interceptive timing tasks, particularly as it relates to preserving performance under pressure.

scholarly journals Behavioral and Cognitive Electrophysiological Differences in the Executive Functions of Taiwanese Basketball Players as a Function of Playing Position

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Kang Chiu ◽  
Chien-Yu Pan ◽  
Fu-Chen Chen ◽  
Yu-Ting Tseng ◽  
Chia-Liang Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Behavioral Inhibition ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Basketball Players ◽  
Electrophysiological Measurements ◽  
Accuracy Rates ◽  
Selection Of

The effect of the predominant playing position of elite basketball players on executive functions using both behavioral and electrophysiological measurements was investigated in the present study. Forty-six elite basketball players, including 27 guards and 19 forwards, were recruited. Event-related potential (ERP) signals were simultaneously recorded when the athletes performed the visual Go/NoGo task. Analyses of the results revealed that the guards and forwards groups exhibited comparable behavioral (i.e., reaction time (RTs) and accuracy rates (ARs)) performance. With regards to the electrophysiological indices, the guards relative to the forwards exhibited a shorter N2 latency in the Go condition, a longer N2 latency in the NoGo condition, and a smaller P3 amplitude across the two conditions. These results suggested that although the guards and forwards exhibited similar abilities in terms of behavioral inhibition, different neural processing efficiencies still exist in the basketball playing positions, with guards showing divergent efficiencies in the target evaluation and response selection of the target and non-target stimuli and fewer cognitive resources during premotor preparation and decision-making as compared to the forwards.

The “quiet eye” and motor performance: Task demands matter!

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1270-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Klostermann ◽  
Ralf Kredel ◽  
Ernst-Joachim Hossner
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Performance Task ◽  
Quiet Eye

The ‘Quiet Eye’ and Motor Performance: A Systematic Review Based on Newell’s Constraints-Led Model

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Rienhoff ◽  
Judith Tirp ◽  
Bernd Strauß ◽  
Joseph Baker ◽  
Jörg Schorer
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Quiet Eye

scholarly journals Champ or Chump?: Challenge and Threat States During Pressurized Competition

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 551-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Moore ◽  
Mark R. Wilson ◽  
Samuel J. Vine ◽  
Adam H. Coussens ◽  
Paul Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Coping Resources ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Competitive Pressure ◽  
Golf Putting ◽  
Quiet Eye ◽  
Challenge And Threat ◽  
Conscious Processing ◽  
Challenge Group

The present research examined the immediate impact of challenge and threat states on golf performance in both real competition and a laboratory-based task. In Study 1, 199 experienced golfers reported their evaluations of competition demands and personal coping resources before a golf competition. Evaluating the competition as a challenge (i.e., sufficient resources to cope with demands) was associated with superior performance. In Study 2, 60 experienced golfers randomly received challenge or threat manipulation instructions and then performed a competitive golf-putting task. Challenge and threat states were successfully manipulated and the challenge group outperformed the threat group. Furthermore, the challenge group reported less anxiety, more facilitative interpretations of anxiety, less conscious processing, and displayed longer quiet eye durations. However, these variables failed to mediate the group–performance relationship. These studies demonstrate the importance of considering preperformance psychophysiological states when examining the influence of competitive pressure on motor performance.

scholarly journals Distinct Contributions of Working Memory and Attentional Control to Sentence Comprehension in Noise in Persons With Stroke

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Megan C. Fitzhugh ◽  
Arianna N. LaCroix ◽  
Corianne Rogalsky
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Broadband Noise ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Informational Masking ◽  
Left Hemisphere Stroke

Purpose Sentence comprehension deficits are common following a left hemisphere stroke and have primarily been investigated under optimal listening conditions. However, ample work in neurotypical controls indicates that background noise affects sentence comprehension and the cognitive resources it engages. The purpose of this study was to examine how background noise affects sentence comprehension poststroke using both energetic and informational maskers. We further sought to identify whether sentence comprehension in noise abilities are related to poststroke cognitive abilities, specifically working memory and/or attentional control. Method Twenty persons with chronic left hemisphere stroke completed a sentence–picture matching task where they listened to sentences presented in three types of maskers: multispeakers, broadband noise, and silence (control condition). Working memory, attentional control, and hearing thresholds were also assessed. Results A repeated-measures analysis of variance identified participants to have the greatest difficulty with the multispeakers condition, followed by broadband noise and then silence. Regression analyses, after controlling for age and hearing ability, identified working memory as a significant predictor of listening engagement (i.e., mean reaction time) in broadband noise and multispeakers and attentional control as a significant predictor of informational masking effects (computed as a reaction time difference score where broadband noise is subtracted from multispeakers). Conclusions The results from this study indicate that background noise impacts sentence comprehension abilities poststroke and that these difficulties may arise due to deficits in the cognitive resources supporting sentence comprehension and not other factors such as age or hearing. These findings also highlight a relationship between working memory abilities and sentence comprehension in background noise. We further suggest that attentional control abilities contribute to sentence comprehension by supporting the additional demands associated with informational masking. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14984511

Response Selection and Attention Orienting

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 274-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Spironelli ◽  
Mariaelena Tagliabue ◽  
Carlo Umiltà
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Connectionist Model ◽  
Selection Mechanism ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Attention Orienting ◽  
Attention System ◽  
Side Bias

Recently, there has been a redirection of research efforts toward the exploration of the role of hemispheric lateralization in determining Simon effect asymmetries. The present study aimed at implementing a connectionist model that simulates the cognitive mechanisms implied by such asymmetries, focusing on the underlying neural structure. A left-lateralized response-selection mechanism was implemented alone (Experiment 1) or along with a right-lateralized automatic attention-orienting mechanism (Experiment 2). It was found that both models yielded Simon effect asymmetries. However, whereas the first model showed a reversed pattern of asymmetry compared with human, real data, the second model’s performance strongly resembled human Simon effect asymmetries, with a significantly greater right than left Simon effect. Thus, a left-side bias in the response-selection mechanism produced a left-side biased Simon effect, whereas a right-side bias in the attention system produced a right-side biased Simon effect. In conclusion, results showed that the bias of the attention system had a larger impact than the bias of the response-selection mechanism in producing Simon effect asymmetries.

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