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Exploring Visual Patterns and Judgments Predicated on Role Specificity: Case Studies of Expertise in Gymnastics

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Abstract

This study assessed the influence of sensorimotor experiences, predicated on role specificity, on visual search patterns and performance judgments in three experts in gymnastics (i.e., gymnast, coach and judge). They observed video recordings of six trials demonstrating three different gymnastic skills, while their visual behaviors were recorded with the ASL SE5000 system. Participants judged the quality of the gymnastic skill, identifying execution errors after each trial based on the Code of Points employed by the International Gymnastics Federation (2014). Results showed that the gymnast participant developed a different perceptual pattern compared to the other participants, but no differences were observed between the judge and coach. Additionally, the judge reported higher judgement accuracy (53.47%), followed by the coach (40.33%) and gymnast (37.58%). These data suggested that the participants fixated on different information sources when making judgements on performance scores, based on their different previous visual and motor experiences to evaluate gymnastic skills.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Regional Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure of the Board of Extremadura for its contribution to this study through the European Regional Development Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Motor Control and Learning, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad, s/n, 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Vicente Luis del Campo & Irene Espada Gracia

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  1. Vicente Luis del Campo
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  2. Irene Espada Gracia
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Correspondence to Vicente Luis del Campo.

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This study was not funded by any Institution or Company.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Luis del Campo, V., Espada Gracia, I. Exploring Visual Patterns and Judgments Predicated on Role Specificity: Case Studies of Expertise in Gymnastics. Curr Psychol 37, 934–941 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9572-1

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