The influence of joint position on the dynamics of perception-action coupling

Six right-handed subjects performed rhythmic flexion and extension movements of the index finger in time with an auditory metronome. On each block of trials, the wrist of the response hand was placed in a extended, neutral or flexed position. In the flex-on-the-beat condition, subjects were instructed to coordinate maximum excursion in the direction of finger flexion with each beat of the metronome. In the extend-on-the-beat condition, subjects were instructed to coordinate maximum excursion in the direction of finger extension with each beat of the metronome. The frequency of the metronome was increased from 2.00 Hz to 3.75 Hz in 8 steps (8 s epochs) of 0.25 Hz. During trials prepared in the extend-on-the-beat pattern, all subjects exhibited transitions to either a flex-on-the-beat pattern or to phase wandering as the frequency of pacing was increased. The time at which these transitions occurred was reliably influenced by the position of the wrist. Four subjects exhibited qualitative departures from the flex-on-the-beat pattern at pacing frequencies that were greater than those at which the extend-on-the-beat pattern could be maintained. The lime at which these departures occurred was not influenced by the position of the wrist. These results are discussed with reference to the constraints imposed on the coordination dynamics by the intrinsic properties of the neuromuscular-skeletal system.

Perception-action coupling in infants with down syndrome: Effects of experience and practice

This study examined the effects of experience and practice on the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants with Down syndrome (DS). Five experienced and five novice sitters were exposed to a moving room, which was oscillated at 0.2 and 0.5 Hz. Infants remained in a sitting position and data were collected on the first, fourth, and seventh days. On the first day, experienced sitters were more influenced by room oscillation than were novices. On the following days, however, the influence of room oscillation decreased for experienced but increased for novice sitters. These results suggest that the relationship between sensory information and motor action in infants with DS can be changed with experience and practice.

Do expertise and the degree of perception-action coupling affect natural anticipatory performance?

Two experiments using a temporal occlusion paradigm (the first with expert and novice participants and the second with participants of intermediate skill) were conducted to examine the capability of tennis players to predict the direction of an opponent's service in situ. In both experiments two different response conditions, reflecting differing degrees of perception-action coupling, were employed. In a coupled condition players were required to make a movement-based response identical to that which they would use to hit a return of service in a game situation, whereas in an uncoupled condition a verbal prediction of service direction was required. Experiment 1 provided clear evidence of superior prediction accuracy under the coupled response condition when ball flight was available, plus some limited evidence to suggest that superior prediction accuracy under uncoupled response conditions might hold true if only advance (pre-contact) information was available. Experiment 2 showed the former finding to be a robust one, but was unable to reveal any support for the latter. Experiment 1 also revealed that expert superiority is more apparent for predictions made under natural (coupled) than uncoupled response-mode conditions. Collectively, these findings suggest that different perceptual processes may be in operation in anticipatory tasks which depend on skill level, the type of information presented, and degree of perception-action coupling inherent in the task requirements.

Effects of team Knowledge and ecological constraints on decisional processes in customized football game scenarios

Several theories assume that successful team coordination is partly based on knowledge that helps anticipating individual contributions necessary in a situational task. It has been argued that a more ecological perspective needs to be considered in contexts evolving dynamically and unpredictably. In football, defensive plays are usually coordinated according to strategic concepts spanning all members and large areas of the playfield. On the other hand, fewer people are involved in offensive plays as these are less projectable and strongly constrained by ecological characteristics. The aim of this study is to test the effects of ecological constraints and player knowledge on decision making in offensive game scenarios. It is hypothesized that both knowledge about team members and situational constraints will influence decisional processes. Effects of situational constraints are expected to be of higher magnitude. Two teams playing in the fourth league of the Swiss Football Federation participate in the study. Forty customized game scenarios were developed based on the coaches’ information about player positions and game strategies. Each player was shown in ball possession four times. Participants were asked to take the perspective of the player on the ball and to choose a passing destination and a recipient. Participants then rated domain specific strengths (e.g., technical skills, game intelligence) of each of their teammates. Multilevel models for categorical dependent variables (team members) will be specified. Player knowledge (rated skills) and ecological constraints (operationalized as each players’ proximity and availability for ball reception) are included as predictor variables. Data are currently being collected. Results will yield effects of parameters that are stable across situations as well as of variable parameters that are bound to situational context. These will enable insight into the degree to which ecological constraints and more enduring team knowledge are involved in decisional processes aimed at coordinating interpersonal action.

The challenge of representative design in psychology and economics

The demands of representative design, as formulated by Egon Brunswik (1956), set a high methodological standard. Both experimental participants and the situations with which they are faced should be representative of the populations to which researchers claim to generalize results. Failure to observe the latter has led to notable experimental failures in psychology from which economics could learn. It also raises questions about the meaning of testing economic theories in abstract environments. Logically, abstract tests can only be generalized to abstract realities and these may or may not have anything to do with the empirical realities experienced by economic actors.

Zonal playfield attributes – A stochastic approach to subjective passing affordances in football

Introduction: According to the ecological view, coordination establishes byvirtueof social context. Affordances thought of as situational opportunities to interact are assumed to represent the guiding principles underlying decisions involved in interpersonal coordination. It’s generally agreed that affordances are not an objective part of the (social) environment but that they depend on the constructive perception of involved subjects. Theory and empirical data hold that cognitive operations enabling domain-specific efficacy beliefs are involved in the perception of affordances. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of these cognitive concepts in the subjective construction of local affordances and their influence on decision making in football. Methods: 71 football players (M = 24.3 years, SD = 3.3, 21 % women) from different divisions participated in the study. Participants were presented scenarios of offensive game situations. They were asked to take the perspective of the person on the ball and to indicate where they would pass the ball from within each situation. The participants stated their decisions in two conditions with different game score (1:0 vs. 0:1). The playing fields of all scenarios were then divided into ten zones. For each zone, participants were asked to rate their confidence in being able to pass the ball there (self-efficacy), the likelihood of the group staying in ball possession if the ball were passed into the zone (group-efficacy I), the likelihood of the ball being covered safely by a team member (pass control / group-efficacy II), and whether a pass would establish a better initial position to attack the opponents’ goal (offensive convenience). Answers were reported on visual analog scales ranging from 1 to 10. Data were analyzed specifying general linear models for binomially distributed data (Mplus). Maximum likelihood with non-normality robust standard errors was chosen to estimate parameters. Results: Analyses showed that zone- and domain-specific efficacy beliefs significantly affected passing decisions. Because of collinearity with self-efficacy and group-efficacy I, group-efficacy II was excluded from the models to ease interpretation of the results. Generally, zones with high values in the subjective ratings had a higher probability to be chosen as passing destination (βself-efficacy = 0.133, p < .001, OR = 1.142; βgroup-efficacy I = 0.128, p < .001, OR = 1.137; βoffensive convenience = 0.057, p < .01, OR = 1.059). There were, however, characteristic differences in the two score conditions. While group-efficacy I was the only significant predictor in condition 1 (βgroup-efficacy I = 0.379, p < .001), only self-efficacy and offensive convenience contributed to passing decisions in condition 2 (βself-efficacy = 0.135, p < .01; βoffensive convenience = 0.120, p < .001). Discussion: The results indicate that subjectively distinct attributes projected to playfield zones affect passing decisions. The study proposes a probabilistic alternative to Lewin’s (1951) hodological and deterministic field theory and enables insight into how dimensions of the psychological landscape afford passing behavior. Being part of a team, this psychological landscape is not only constituted by probabilities that refer to the potential and consequences of individual behavior, but also to that of the group system of which individuals are part of. Hence, in regulating action decisions in group settings, informers are extended to aspects referring to the group-level. References: Lewin, K. (1951). In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Field theory in social sciences: Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Inclusion and empowerment in public art and urban design

To involve citizens in developing the processes of city making is an objective that occupies part of the agenda of political parties in the context of the necessary renewal in representative democracy. This paper aims to provide some answers to the following questions: Is it possible to overcome the participatory processes based exclusively on the consultation? Is it possible to"train" residents to take an active role in decision-making? How can we manage, proactively, the relationship between public actors, technicians and politicians, in a participatory process? We analyse the process development for creating the Wall of Remembrance in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Baró de Viver, a work of public art, created and produced by its neighbours, in the context of a long participatory process focused on changing the image of the neighbourhood and the improvement of public space. This result and this process have been possible in a given context of cooperation among neighbours, local government and the research team (CR-Polis, Art, City, Society at the University of Barcelona). The development of a creative process of citizen participation between 2004 and 2011 made possible the direct management of decision making by the residents on the field of the design of public space in the neighbourhood. However, the material results of the process does not overshadow the great achievement of the project: the inclusion of a neighbourhood in taking informed decisions because of their empowerment in public space design and management of their remembrances.

The school environment as a teacher. The role of space and place in enhancing ecological literacy and social competence development in children and young people

Can space and place foster child development, and in particular social competence and ecological literacy? If yes, how can space and place do that? This study shows that the answer to the first question is positive and then tries to explain the way space and place can make a difference. The thesis begins with the review of literature from different disciplines – child development and child psychology, education, environmental psychology, architecture and landscape architecture. Some bridges among such disciplines are created and in some cases the ideas from the different areas of research merge: thus, this is an interdisciplinary study. The interdisciplinary knowledge from these disciplines is translated into a range of design suggestions that can foster the development of social competence and ecological literacy. Using scientific knowledge from different disciplines is a way of introducing forms of evidence into the development of design criteria. However, the definition of design criteria also has to pass through the study of a series of school buildings and un-built projects: case studies can give a positive contribution to the criteria because examples and good practices can help “translating” the theoretical knowledge into design ideas and illustrations. To do that, the different case studies have to be assessed in relation to the various themes that emerged in the literature review. Finally, research by design can be used to help define the illustrated design criteria: based on all the background knowledge that has been built, the role of the architect is to provide a series of different design solutions that can give answers to the different “questions” emerged in the literature review.

More volunteers in football clubs. An evaluation of a method to increase the number of volunteers

An increasing number of clubs experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of volunteers to manage and staff their clubs (Lamprecht, Fischer, & Stamm, 2012). In order to facilitate volunteer recruitment, sport clubs need a specific strategy to recruit and retain volunteers for both formal positions and ad hoc tasks. Therefore, the intervention “More Volunteers in Football Clubs” was designed and its impact was evaluated in detail. The question this evaluation research wants to address is: Can football clubs recruit and retain volunteers successfully by implementing the intervention “More Volunteers in Football Clubs”? The designed intervention is based on the different expectations and needs of volunteers, as well as non-profit human resource management and organisational development management, with a strong emphasis on club-specific counseling and support. Task forces of the twelve participating football clubs attended four workshops in which they received tailor made counseling to reach the desired number of volunteers. The intervention has been implemented and its effectiveness tested in cooperation with the Swiss Football Federation with twelve Swiss football clubs following a pretest, intervention, posttest design Data have been gathered and analysed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Outcome measurements are: volunteer rate, number of recruited volunteers, number of filled volunteer positions and volunteer satisfaction. Four months after the intervention all clubs that completed the proposed intervention were successful in recruiting the desired number of volunteers. Further, all participating clubs found the intervention helpful and would recommend other clubs to participate as well. With the development of this practical intervention a solution for football clubs is provided to overcome the difficulties in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of volunteers. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H.-P. (2012). Sportvereine in der Schweiz. Strukturen, Leistungen, Herausforderungen. Zürich, Switzerland: Seismo.