Perceptual and Motor Skills

Background: A balanced integration score (BIS) has been suggested as a more efficient combination of speed and accuracy compared with other measures of the speed – accuracy trade-off (SAT). Purpose: Nonetheless, little is known about the BIS when associated with age and skill, two central factors involved in the SAT. This study evaluated the BIS in a chess memory task (n = 229), because chess is an intellectually taxing domain where SAT is quite likely to occur and age and skill are important determinants of performance. Methods: A chess paradigm considering the combination of size (small and large) and type of chess positions (random, typical, and infrequent) was used to evaluate the BIS associated with age and skill. Results: As expected, age and skill related with the BIS in large infrequent chess positions compared with other size × type combinations. Conclusion: The BIS is useful to evaluate the combination of speed and accuracy as it relates in the expected directions with age and skill.

Children’s self-evaluations are typically overly positive until around 8 years of age. An overestimation of aquatic skills may increase behavioral risk-taking and then elevate the likelihood of drowning. However, little is known about how perceived and actual water competence are related in children, as well as whether children overestimate their ability in aquatic skills. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived and actual water competence in Brazilian children aged 4 to 10 years. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 162 participants (51.8% girls), categorized into three age groups: 4–6 years (≤72 months, n = 33), 6–8 years (73–96 months, n = 83), and 8–10 years (≥97 months, n = 46). Perceived and actual water competence were assessed using aligned instruments: Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC) and Actual Aquatic Skill Test (AAST), respectively. Actual and perceived water competence were positively and strongly associated across age groups (r_s = .788 to .940). No significant differences by sex were found in either actual or perceived water competence. Comparisons between actual and perceived water competence revealed no significant differences in all age groups. This study showed that perceived and actual water competence are strongly and positively associated in Brazilian children aged 4 to 10 years. Moreover, children did not overestimate their aquatic skills, even in the younger age groups. Therefore, children can make accurate self-evaluations in water competence when the aquatic skills being assessed are basic and concrete. We recommend assessing perceived water competence as part of a comprehensive screening strategy integrated into broader water safety actions that may help prevent drowning in children.

Background: When an individual perceives their mind is racing or overcrowded with thoughts, they are experiencing increased thought speed. Thought speed can be increased when watching fast moving images or text and has been linked to greater risk-taking behaviour. Purpose: Embodied cognition provides a perspective linking movements and cognition, and abstract concepts such as risk. The purpose of this study was to use this perspective to assess whether perceived speed of thought can be changed using self controlled body movements rather than observing movements, and if these manipulations have effects on risk taking behaviour as measured by the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Research Design: In two experiments, participants performed a Fitts’ tapping task (Experiment 1) or a reciprocal foot stepping task (Experiment 2) using either fast or slow movements. Participants then completed the BART, in which they received money for more virtual pumps of a computerised balloon, however each pump risked bursting the balloon and losing any money already earned. This task generates several measures such as the number of pumps, time between pumps, and number of explosions. In both experiments, the fast movements induced significantly faster perceived thought speeds than the slower movements. Sample: The study tested 30 participants in Experiment 1 (18 males, 12 females) and 36 in Experiment 2 (17 males, 19 females). Analysis: One-way ANOVAs were used to compare fast and slow movement conditions. Results: Despite the significant differences in thought speed in both experiments, neither found a pattern of greater risk-taking behaviour on any of the BART measures for the faster movement groups. Conclusions: These findings contrast with previous work and provide an updated perspective from embodied cognition on how movements affect thought speed. This opens avenues for future work, including interventions that may influence the risk level of tactical game play in sport.

Both innate superiority and negative frequency-dependent advantage (NFDA) hypotheses have been proposed to explain the left-hander advantage in interactive sports such as fencing. However, empirical evidence on the specific technical and tactical patterns potentially underlying this advantage remains limited. Therefore, this study analyzed match performance of elite female épéeists at the 2017–2019 World Championships using notational analysis. We examined the prevalence and winning rates of left- and right-handed fencers across tournament stages, as well as the distributions of performed and scored actions in terms of technique, target area, and piste zone. Results revealed that left-handers were consistently overrepresented relative to population prevalence, and their winning rates increased up to the semifinals (80%) but matched right-handers in the finals (50%). Technique use was highly consistent across all handedness matchups, with attacks being the most frequent action. While the inner upper body remained the primary target overall, asymmetrical matchups (left-vs.-right and right-vs.-left) were associated with a shift toward the outer upper body and lower body; this pattern was attenuated in left-handers facing left-handers. Crucially, left-handers consistently demonstrated a more invasive spatial strategy across all matchups, showing a greater tendency to operate and score in the opponent’s middle zone. Taken together, the left-hander’s advantage in elite female épée appears to be underpinned by an interplay between context-dependent target adaptation, aligning with the NFDA account, and a generalized proactive spatial exploitation, as proposed by the innate superiority account.

Running is a functional movement skill in team sports that requires timing, coordination and symmetry in swing, stance and flight phases, continuously shaped by constraints of specific performance contexts (e.g., running with and without a ball). The aim of this study was to examine how interlimb coordination, symmetry and temporal variability in running patterns are regulated by changes in task design and player’s experience level. Participants in this study were novice (N = 12; 2 months practice experience) and trained/intermediate (N = 12; 12 months practice experience) basketball players who ran at their typically preferred pace around a basketball court in two conditions: running only and running whilst dribbling a basketball. Running gait was assessed by recording mean temporal measures of stance, swing and flight phases, along with measures of temporal variability, bilateral symmetry and phase coordination index in the two conditions. Findings of this study revealed that changes in task constraints, from running without the ball to dribbling, resulted in less functional interlimb coordination, increased asymmetry and variability, regardless of player’s experience level. In conclusion, these findings suggest that interlimb coordination, symmetry and variability are temporal running gait parameters that become attuned to required adaptations to specific task constraints (e.g., when dribbling a ball), regardless of experience level. These findings have important implications for the design of training tasks for development of running speed while coordinating actions in team sports.

Background: Efficient visual information processing and cognitive control of saccadic eye movements are critical for reading acquisition in early school. Identifying children at risk of reading difficulties requires reliable assessment tools that can be implemented on a large scale. The Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test provides an indirect measure of the efficiency of visuo-attentional processes related to eye movements in a simulated reading task. Purpose, Research Design, and Study Sample: To support its use as a screening tool, we conducted a normative validation of the DEM-test in a large, unselected cohort of 1,059 French school-aged children (6–11 years old). Data Collection and Analysis: Age- and grade-specific norms (means and percentile ranks) were established for vertical time, adjusted horizontal time, and error rates. Additionally, we examined its sensitivity to reading difficulties in 46 poor readers and 56 dyslexic children. Results: The results showed a significant developmental progression for all DEM-test indices across age groups, a correlation between DEM-test scores and reading performance (measured by the Alouette test), and significant differences between French, American, and Italian normative data, confirming the influence of language on DEM-test performance. Our findings also revealed a high prevalence of visuo-attentional deficits in poor readers and children with dyslexia. Moreover, the DEM test demonstrated high sensitivity in identifying children at risk of reading difficulties, whether due to a specific reading disorder or a general reading delay. Conclusions: This study provides French-specific normative data for the DEM-test and highlights its potential for large-scale implementation in educational settings. Our findings support using the DEM-test as a quick, non-invasive, and early screening tool to detect reading problems at their onset. By facilitating early identification, this proactive approach could help reduce educational inequalities and guide public health and education policies.

This study examined the effects of internal and external focus training on balance, vertical jump performance, hand–eye coordination, and flexibility in junior and adolescent female volleyball players. Thirty-four participants (seventeen juniors and seventeen adolescents), aged 7–11 years and 12–14 years, respectively, and actively participating in girls’ volleyball teams, were included. Sociodemographic data were collected using a structured personal information form. Athletic performance was assessed using the Vertical Jump Test (VJT), Flamingo Balance Test (FBT), Y-Balance Test (YBT), Standard Sit and Reach Test (SRT), and Wall Catch Coordination Test (WCCT) to evaluate jump performance, static balance, dynamic balance, flexibility, and hand–eye coordination, respectively. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two training groups. The internal focus group performed exercises using internally focused instructions, whereas the external focus group trained with externally focused cues throughout the intervention. Statistically significant differences were observed between the internal and external focus groups in pre- and post-test outcomes of the VJT, FBT, YBT, and SRT (p < 0.05). No significant between-group difference was identified for the WCCT (p > 0.05). External focus training was more effective in improving jump performance, dynamic balance, and flexibility. In contrast, neither training approach demonstrated clear superiority in enhancing static balance or hand–eye coordination.

Background: Self-paced tasks, like putting in golf, are executed under interacting task, environmental, and individual constraints. Purpose: However, contextual constraints such as previous performance and score are often absent in research investigating these tasks. Study sample/research design: Thirteen tour professional golfers were interviewed about their experiences of adapting to constraints when putting in competitive golf. Data analysis: We adopted a deductive theory driven reflexive thematic analysis based on previous work on contextual constraints in self-paced sporting tasks. Results: We generated 18 sub-themes, which were categorised into four themes of task (e.g., pace control and proximity to hole), individual (e.g., pressure and self-expectations), environmental (e.g., green difficulty and weather conditions), and contextual constraints (e.g., consequences and performance). Conclusions: Findings give practitioners a unique insight into what professional golfers experience in competition, and we offer practical suggestions on how to best support golfers in performance environments.

We explored how systematic manipulation of the physical characteristics of the Kanizsa and Ebbinghaus illusions influences perceptual outcomes in the general population. Additionally, we investigated whether these effects on illusion processing are influenced by individual differences in autistic traits. Eighty-five adults aged 18 to 35 years completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and participated in two illusion tasks in which the size, spacing, and direction of inducing elements were systematically manipulated. In addition to accuracy analysis, performance was assessed using the Balanced Integration Score (BIS), a metric that integrates accuracy and reaction time.

Our results showed that, in the Kanizsa illusion, both the orientation of the illusory shape and the ratio of inducer size to spacing (i.e., support ratio) influenced perception. Similarly, in the Ebbinghaus illusion, both the size ratio of the two central circles (i.e., center ratio) and the relative size of the surrounding versus central circles (i.e., outer ratio) affected illusion strength. Autistic traits did not show consistent or robust modulation of the effects of physical stimulus characteristics across tasks. These findings suggest that illusion processing strength in the general population is primarily determined by stimulus geometry. Our findings suggest that predicted differences between within-object and between-object illusions with respect to autistic traits may not be evident in non-clinical samples.

Accurate quantification of punch force is essential for performance assessment and training optimization in combat sports. This study introduces a Custom-Built Punch Force Dynamometer using two S-type load cells and evaluates its reliability, sensitivity, and partial ecological validity under sport-specific conditions. The device was mounted vertically on a wall and tested under both controlled and sport-specific conditions. Mechanical trials were assessed using a standardized drop-weight protocol with repeated trials. Partial ecological validity involved 11 experienced athletes from striking-based combat sports performing standardized straight punches across two lab visits. Reliability metrics included intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest worthwhile change (SWC). The dynamometer demonstrated excellent reliability during mechanical trials (ICC > 0.90) and good to excellent reliability during partial ecological validity (ICC = 0.75–0.90). SEM values were consistently lower than SWC, indicating strong measurement sensitivity. These findings support the reliability and practical utility of this device for assessing punch force in both laboratory-based research and sport-specific applications.