- |
-
Investigating Action-specific Perception in Distal and Proximal External Focus Attention Condition
Poster Presentation
Paper ID : 1791-11THCONF
Authors
1Urmia University
2Associate Professor at Urmia University
Abstract
Introduction: Previous studies have shown that there is a relationship between the perception and performance. People perceive the environment in terms of their ability to act. Perception of the environment is not exclusively determined by optical information, but is also influenced by performer’s ability in Efficient performance. This is referred to as action-specific effects on perception. For example, softballs look bigger to players who are hitting better than others. Despite the growing body of research demonstrating action-specific effects on perception, the underlying processes that mediate the emergence of action-specific effects on perception are still largely unknown. However, research has shown that visual attention towards the action target may be a prerequisite for the emergence of action-specific effects on perception. Recent findings indicate that external focus of attention may lead to the emergence of action-specific effects on perception and on the other hand, comparison of the researches showed that the advantage of the external focus increase with increasing the distance of the external focus from the body. Therefore, the aim of present study was to examine action-specific perception in distal and proximal external focus attention condition.
Methodology: A total of 40 female physical education students from Urmia University were selected randomly (M=22.35 years) who had no experienced in dart throwing skill. We used a dart throwing task. In distal external attention group, participants were instructed to direct their attention on the target and in proximal external attention group, participants were instructed to focus on the flight of the dart. The participants performed 20 trials. Perceived target size was measured using the Microsoft PowerPoint software and the Video Projector. The total number of darts that hit the target was taken as the main measure of performance. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that in both condition of external focus ( Distal and Proximal ) there is a positive and significant relationship between performance and perceived target size. This finding suggests that distal and proximal external focus lead to the emergence of the phenomenon of action-specific effects on perception.
Discussion: According to the "constrained action" and "explicit processing" Hypotheses, the adoption of external focus leads to a reduction in the demands of attention, and Performers process only the external information which seems lead to directed visual attention towards the action target and perceptual accentuation.
Methodology: A total of 40 female physical education students from Urmia University were selected randomly (M=22.35 years) who had no experienced in dart throwing skill. We used a dart throwing task. In distal external attention group, participants were instructed to direct their attention on the target and in proximal external attention group, participants were instructed to focus on the flight of the dart. The participants performed 20 trials. Perceived target size was measured using the Microsoft PowerPoint software and the Video Projector. The total number of darts that hit the target was taken as the main measure of performance. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that in both condition of external focus ( Distal and Proximal ) there is a positive and significant relationship between performance and perceived target size. This finding suggests that distal and proximal external focus lead to the emergence of the phenomenon of action-specific effects on perception.
Discussion: According to the "constrained action" and "explicit processing" Hypotheses, the adoption of external focus leads to a reduction in the demands of attention, and Performers process only the external information which seems lead to directed visual attention towards the action target and perceptual accentuation.
Keywords
Subjects