The latest in skill acquisition and performance research from perceptonaction.com

-What happens when we use virtual reality to give you an abnormally large hand or foot? In a really interesting new chapter, Stefanucci and colleagues consider the topic of embodiment in virtual environments. Among the work they discuss, are studies that have given participants altered body dimensions. Interestingly, people seem to use their virtual hand as a sort of perceptual ruler through which they scale the size of other objects in the environment. So, for example, when your virtual hand is larger then normal object’s look smaller and vice versa. It also changes perception of action capability. Participant with big virtual feet perceive they can step over larger visual gaps, with longer arms they can grasp objects further away, etc. These findings are all consistent the idea of embodied perception – that is we don’t perceive things in physical terms but rather in terms of the actions they afford. In terms of training, I think this would be an interesting way to alter a performer’s individual constraints to encourage them to explore movement solutions. Big (virtual) hands – you know you’re the one!

-How does stress and pressure effect musicians? While studying the effects of pressure on sports as a long history, including work by yours truly, the effects in other performance domains like music have been relatively less explored. In an article now available as preprint, Furuya and colleagues examined the effect of pressure created by having an expert evaluating performance on various aspects of music skill. Interestingly, no effect on perception (perceiving the time interval between tones), motor skill (striking keys with each finger as fast possible) were found but there was a significant effect on the tempo and rhythm of playing. The authors proposed that this was due to an abnormal increase in the sensory feedback gain under pressure. Training while learning to ignore delayed auditory feedback actually served to alleviate the effect pressure it was added later, suggesting that this may be an intervention for dealing with pressure.

-Finally today, for fans of the constraints led approach to coaching or CLA, there is a new book coming on soon on the topic. Specifically, looking at using this method in golf. The book authored by Ian Renshaw and colleagues will be available in mid-September. From the description: traditional coaching, with its primary focus on developing the perfect swing is not leading to a reduction in handicaps and the time is ripe for a new approach. This book aims to fill this void and is a landmark text for golf coaches and players in relation to applying a constraints-led approach (CLA) to golf coaching. It includes examples of how constraints can be manipulated in practice to improve both technical and tactical aspects of golf performance.

-That’s the latest from the world of skill acquisition. Find links to the articles I mentioned today on my blog page and learn much more by subscribing to the Perception & Action Podcast at perceptionaction.com. Have a great day and keep ‘em coupled.

To enable the news briefing on your echo:
Go here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CZ8Y2T2
OR
-From the Alexa app on your phone go to settings by pressing the three little lines in the top left
-Go to Skills & Games
-Search (magnifying glass in top right) for “Skill Acquisition News”
-Click Enable to Use
-Say: “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?” (Note, this will play any other news items you added too).