Loading a movement makes it easier to predict: An experimental test of the relationship between display kinematics, anticipation, and expertise

Abstract

A number of empirical studies of perceptual skill in sport have observed a close link between expert anticipation and the kinematics of the action being viewed and predicted. However, few, if any, have tested this relationship directly. In this study we directly manipulated natural movement kinematics and searched for predictable changes in the time course of information pickup from these manipulated displays. Skilled and novice badminton players (15 per group) were required to predict either the direction or force of strokes hit by an intermediate player on the basis of point-light displays showing only the opponent's movement kinematics. Displays were occluded at one of six different times during the hitting action to help determine the time course of predictive information pickup. The biomechanics of the hitting action shown in the point-light displays were manipulated through loading the forearm of the intermediate player with a 1.82-kg mass, and the resultant kinematic changes were recorded and analyzed using a Peak Motus Motion Analysis system. Comparison was drawn between the advance pickup of information by the two skill groups under the loaded and unloaded conditions. It was found that loading the movement increased its predictability for both skill groups and to the extent that novice prediction of the loaded movement equaled the skilled players' prediction of the unloaded movement. The facilitatory effect of loading on the advance prediction of movement will be considered in relation to the common coding theory of perception and action (Prinz, European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 1997) and the constraints-attunement hypothesis of expertise (Vicente & Wang, Psychological Review, 1998). Possible practical implications of the findings with respect to the optimal stimulus speed for perceptual learning will also be discussed.