Response selection (s1w4)

Question 1

what is response selection?

Answer 1

• Based on interpreted environmental stimuli, a performer must then select the most appropriate response
• Responses are stored in the long term memory (LTM) in the form of motor programmes
• Response selection = decision making

Question 2

brief recap of Donder’s subtractive method

Answer 2

• reaction time increases as a result of increasing the number of stimuli and responses available

Question 3

stimulus-response (S-R) alternatives

Answer 3

• Reaction time (RT) doesn’t increase in a linear fashion when you increase response alternatives
• Creates a curvilinear response - not a huge increase in RT as number of stimuli increase because we’re not having to do substantially more processing

Question 4

Hick’s Law

Answer 4

• as the number of possible S-R alternatives increases, so does choice reaction time

Question 5

Hick’s law - equation of a line

Answer 5

• y = mx + c
• y = reaction time
• m = gradient of the line
• x = log₂ number of S-R alternatives
• c = y-axis intercept

in terms of Hick’s law

• c = simple reaction time
• m = fixed increase in reaction time when the number of S-R alternatives double

Question 6

Exceptions to Hick’s Law

Answer 6

• Familiarity of the task
  
  • If the task is familiar, e.g. through training, then RT will be quicker regardless of S-R alternatives, and won’t follow the expected pattern
• Stimuli and saccade response
  
  • Responses involving rapid movement of the eyes (saccades) to targets are unaffected by the number of stimulus response alternatives
  • Could be because these movements are more ‘natural’ than either manual responses or saccades away from the stimulus

Question 7

Response compatibility

Answer 7

• Compatible presentation always creates a faster RT than incompatible
• Not to do with left and right side responding better to things on left and right - it’s to do with corresponding stimuli
• Practice, experience and task
  
  • E.g. steering in wind surfing - steer right to move left - incompatible
  • Training means this won’t follow the expected reaction time pattern

Question 8

anticipation

Answer 8

• Using info in advance to make a decision in advance
• Can bypass the response selection once stimulus is presented because you’ve already made the decision

Question 9

anticipation and use of advance cues

Answer 9

• “Anticipation provides the means by which judgements can be made in advance, thus avoiding unnecessary lags” (Tyldesley, 1981)
• “Advanced cue utilisation is an athlete’s ability to make accurate predictions based on contextual information available early in the action sequence” (Abernethy, 1987)

Question 10

types of anticipation

spatial anticipation

Answer 10

• Identify sequence of events
• Bypass response selection
• Early cue also bypasses response programming

Question 11

types of anticipation

spatial anticipation - football example

Answer 11

• Takes approx. 600ms for the ball to travel from penalty box to crossing goal line
• Takes goalkeeper 600ms to move from centre of goal to be able to stop the ball
• The goalkeeper has to make the decision before the ball has been struck - needs to look for advanced cues to have an idea of where the player will kick the ball

Question 12

types of anticipation

temporal anticipation

Answer 12

• Predicts when the stimulus will arrive
• Affect of fore period
• Arousal

Question 13

types of anticipation

temporal anticipation - sprint start example

Answer 13

• E.g. trying to predict when the gun will fire
• If you respond faster than 100ms, they conclude you have anticipated the gun

Question 14

other factors affecting decision making

Answer 14

• Arousal
• Attention
• Interference