Nonverbal pre-performance expressions of professional darts players distinguish between good and poor performance

The present research attempted to extend prior research that showed that thin-slices of pre-performance nonverbal behavior (NVB) of professional darts players gives valid information to observers about subsequent performance tendencies. Specifically, we investigated what kind of nonverbal cues were associated with success and informed thin-slice ratings. Participants (N = 61) were first asked to estimate the performance of a random sample of videos showing the preparatory NVB of professional darts players (N = 47) either performing well (470 clips) or poorly (470 clips). Preparatory NVB was assessed via preparation times and Active Appearance Modeling using Noldus FaceReader. Results showed that observers could distinguish between good and poor performance based on thin-slices of preparatory NVB (p = 0.001, d = 0.87). Further analyses showed that facial expressions prior to poor performance showed more arousal (p = 0.011, ƞ2p = 0.10), sadness (p = 0.040, ƞ2p = 0.04), and anxiety (p = 0.009, ƞ2p = 0.09) and preparation times were shorter (p = 0.001, ƞ2p = 0.36) prior to poor performance than good performance. Lens model analyses showed preparation times (p = 0.001, rho = 0.18), neutral (p = 0.001, rho = 0.13), sad (rho = 0.12), and facial expressions of arousal (p = 0.001, rho = 0.11) to be correlated with observers’ performance ratings. Hence, preparation times and facial cues associated with a player’s level of arousal, neutrality, and sadness seem to be valid nonverbal cues that observers utilize to infer information about subsequent perceptual-motor performance.

The Expression of Success: Are Thin-Slices of Pre-performance Nonverbal Behavior Prior to Throwing Darts Predictive of Performance in Professional Darts?

The present research attempted to test how skilled people are at predicting perceptual-motor performance of professional darts players based on short observations of pre-performance nonverbal behavior. In four thin-slices experiments (total N = 490) we randomly sampled stimulus material from the 2017 World Championships of Darts showing short video recordings of the players immediately before throwing darts. Participants were asked to estimate the points scored for the respective throws. Results across four experiments, all of which were successfully replicated in direct replication attempts, supported the hypothesis that pre-performance nonverbal behavior of professional darts players gives valid information to observers about subsequent performance tendencies. The present research is the first to show that highly skilled individuals seem to display nonverbal cues that observers can pick up to draw inferences about how these individuals are likely to perform.

Intentional Binding Effects in the Experience of Noticing the Regularity of a Perceptual-Motor Task

Noticing the regularity of the task is necessary to enhance motor performance. The experience of noticing further motivates improvement in motor performance. Motor control is explained by a comparator model that modifies the motor command to reduce discrepancies between sensory predictions and actual outcomes. A similar model could apply to sense of agency (SoA). SoA refers to the sensation of controlling one’s own actions and, through them, the outcomes in the external world. SoA may also be enhanced by the experience of noticing errors. We recently reported gradual enhancement of SoA in participants with high perceptual-motor performance. However, what component of the motor task changed the SoA is unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence over time of the experience of noticing during a motor task on SoA. Participants performed an implicit regularity perceptual-motor task and an intentional binding task (a method that can quantitatively measure SoA) simultaneously. We separated participants into groups after the experiment based on noticing or not noticing the regularity. SoA was gradually enhanced in the noticing group, compared with that of the non-noticing group. The results suggest that the experience of noticing may enhance SoA during perceptual-motor tasks.

Evaluating Effect of Anxiety on Eye Hand Coordination Using Jenga Game in Female Nursing Professionals: An Observational Study

Amongst the general working population, female nurses were observed to have higher levels of anxiety and performed poorly under the influence of anxiety. It is still a dispute as to how it affects perceptual motor performance. Thus, this study evaluated correlation between Eye Hand Coordination and Anxiety in 67 female nursing professionals using Jenga game and Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale (HAMA). A negative correlation was perceived. This study concluded that anxiety affected motor performance. Future scope of this study would involve working on methods to cope with anxiety and improve Eye hand Coordination skills which would help nurses work efficiently.

Perceptual-motor performance in young people with visual impairment is related to visual acuity across different movement skills

Vision is important for development of action and coordination, but the impact of visual impairments on perceptual-motor development is not well understood due to mixed findings and limited research. To compare the performance of young people (aged 5-18) with different levels of visual impairment (VI) at different perceptual-motor (ball) skills, in comparison to sighted young people either using vision or blindfolded. Participants performed different ball skills: interception; bounce and catch; throwing. They were grouped for comparison by visual status: Sighted; Sighted Blindfolded; VI with Negligible Acuity (1/60 or below); VI with Residual Acuity (above 1/60). Task performance and motion capture analysis showed that across the different tasks, the Sighted group and Residual Acuity group produced the highest levels of performance, the Sighted Blindfolded group slightly lower, while the Negligible Acuity group produced the lowest performance and also adopted different movement strategies to the other three groups. Perceptual-motor development appeared to be substantially impacted in participants with severe visual impairments, whereas those with more moderate visual impairments were able to perform within the range of young people with full vision. This implies a complex relationship between visual impairments and perceptual-motor development.

Changes in intentional binding effect during a novel perceptual-motor task

Perceptual-motor learning describes the process of improving the smoothness and accuracy of movements. Intentional binding (IB) is a phenomenon whereby the length of time between performing a voluntary action and the production of a sensory outcome during perceptual-motor control is perceived as being shorter than the reality. How IB may change over the course of perceptual-motor learning, however, has not been explicitly investigated. Here, we developed a set of IB tasks during perceptual-motor learning. Participants were instructed to stop a circular moving object by key press when it reached the center of a target circle on the display screen. The distance between the center of the target circle and the center of the moving object was measured, and the error was used to approximate the perceptual-motor performance index. This task also included an additional exercise that was unrelated to the perceptual-motor task: after pressing the key, a sound was presented after a randomly chosen delay of 200, 500, or 700 ms and the participant had to estimate the delay interval. The difference between the estimated and actual delay was used as the IB value. A cluster analysis was then performed using the error values from the first and last task to group the participants based on their perceptual-motor performance. Participants showing a very small change in error value, and thus demonstrating a small effect of perceptual-motor learning, were classified into cluster 1. Those who exhibited a large decrease in error value from the first to the last set, and thus demonstrated a strong improvement in perceptual-motor performance, were classified into cluster 2. Those who exhibited perceptual-motor learning also showed improvements in the IB value. Our data suggest that IB is elevated when perceptual-motor learning occurs.