Dr David Harris

Anchoring gaze to a target assists planning and control of visually-guided actions. In far aiming tasks, the quiet eye, an instance of peri-movement gaze anchoring, has been extensively studied as a key performance variable. However, theories of quiet eye are yet to establish the exact functional role of the location and duration of the fixation. The present work used immersive virtual reality to manipulate key parameters of the quiet eye – location (experiment 1) and duration (experiment 2) – to test competing theoretical predictions about their importance. Across two pre-registered experiments, participants (n=127) completed a series of golf putts while their eye movements, putting accuracy, and putting kinematics were recorded. In experiment 1, participants’ pre-movement fixation was cued to locations on the ball, near the ball, and far from the ball. In experiment 2, long and short quiet eye durations were induced using auditory tones as cues to movement phases. Linear mixed effects models indicated that manipulations of location and duration had little effect on performance or movement kinematics. The findings suggest that the spatial and temporal parameters of the final fixation may not be critical for movement pre-programming and may instead reflect attentional control or movement inhibition functions.

Background: Flow is a peak experiential state, during which athletes report focused concentration, effortless performance and enhanced enjoyment. Flow, or ‘the zone’, has received particular interest within sporting circles because flow experiences appear to be associated with peak athletic performances. Yet, the nature of the flow-performance relationship is not straightforward and is yet to be critically reviewed. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the empirical evidence for a flow-performance relationship, examine potential mechanisms, and assess the quality of current evidence. Methods: a PRISMA guided systematic review was conducted in May 2020. Peer-reviewed articles, published in English language journals, which examined the relationship between flow and performance were searched for, using five online databases. The results of the studies were collated into a narrative synthesis as well as a meta-analysis. Results: Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria, featuring 22 studies that were appropriate for meta-analysis. The pooled effect size (r = 0.31, 95% CI [0.24; 0.38]) indicated that across a range of sporting and gaming tasks there was a consistent medium-sized relationship between flow experience and task performance. A number of mechanisms were proposed to explain this relationship, but none were supported by convincing empirical evidence. Conclusions: Performance enhancing effects appear highly likely given the functional mental state that arises during flow. Yet, current evidence is unable to determine the exact nature of the flow-performance relationship, or the mechanisms which mediate this effect. A number of conceptual and methodological challenges

In light of recent advances in technology there has been growing interest in virtual reality (VR) simulations for training purposes in a range of high performance environments, from sport to nuclear decommissioning. For a VR simulation to elicit effective transfer of training to the real-world, it must provide a sufficient level of validity, that is, it must be representative of the real-world skill. In order to develop the most effective simulations, assessments of validity should be carried out prior to implementing simulations in training. The aim of this work was to test the physical fidelity, psychological fidelity and construct validity of a VR golf putting simulation. Self-report measures of task load and presence in the simulation were taken following real and simulated golf putting to assess psychological and physical fidelity. The performance of novice and expert golfers was also compared to establish construct validity. Overall, the results demonstrated that the simulation was able to distinguish novices from experts, and provided task demands comparable to real putting.

Virtual reality (VR) has clear potential for improving simulation training in many industries. Yet, methods for testing the fidelity, validity and training efficacy of VR environments is, in general, lagging behind their adoption. In this study we examined the effectiveness of VR for training Police room searching procedures, and assessed the corresponding development of perceptual-cognitive expertise through eye-tracking indices of search efficiency. Participants (n=54) were assigned to a VR rule-learning and search training game, a search only training game or a no-practice control group. The VR search training group developed more efficient search behaviours (indexed by saccade size, search rate and gaze entropy) and performed better than controls on a novel transfer test. Efficient gaze behaviours learned during training were not, however, evident during the transfer test. These findings demonstrate how VR can be used to develop perceptual-cognitive skills, but also highlight the challenges of achieving transfer of training.

Virtual reality (VR) systems hold significant potential for both training and experimentation purposes as they provide precise control over the environment and the possibility to untether tasks from their normal physical constraints. However, the artificial creation of depth in stereoscopic displays, and reduced availability of haptic information, may affect how visually-guided motor tasks are performed in the virtual world. If so, tasks learned in VR may be unrepresentative of real skills, and therefore unlikely to elicit positive transfer to the real-world. In Experiment 1 we tested whether learning a visually-guided motor skill (golf putting) in virtual reality could transfer to real-world improvements. Despite the perceptual limitations imposed by the virtual environment, training novice golfers in VR led to improvements in real putting that were comparable to real-world practice. Experiment 2 explored these effects in more skilled golfers, and examined changes in gaze behaviour (quiet eye) that resulted from the more immediate use of VR (i.e. as a tool for ‘warming up’). VR use was found to cause impairments to gaze control (quiet eye) and putting accuracy, when used immediately prior to real world putting. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential for VR training, but also highlight that fundamental questions remain about how the altered perceptual environment of VR affects visually-guided skills.

Achieving a state of flow is associated with positive experiences and improved sporting performance (Jackson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999). Focused attention is a fundamental component of the flow experience, but to date there has been little investigation of whether attention plays a causal role in creating flow, or is a product of it. Consequently, this study aimed to test the effect of an attentional focus manipulation on flow and performance in a simulated driving task. It was predicted that an external focus would lead to improved visuomotor control, greater flow experience and improved performance. Thirty-three participants from a student population completed the driving task under both internal and external focus instructions. Eye movements and steering wheel movements were recorded during each race. Participants reported greater flow experience (p  0.28). These findings suggest that adopting an external focus of attention may contribute to positive performance states such as flow.

© 2019 Objectives: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of neurostimulation that can modulate neural activity in targeted brain regions through electrical current applied directly to the scalp. Previous findings have shown cognitive enhancement and improved motor learning following tDCS. Consequently, there has been growing interest in direct brain stimulation for enhancing sporting skills. We aimed to assess the effect of tDCS on golf putting performance and control of visual attention. Design: Using a mixed factorial design, the effect of stimulation (between-participants) was assessed at baseline, following stimulation and in a pressure test (within-participants). Methods: 73 novice golfers were randomly assigned to transcranial direct current stimulation of frontal, motor or visual cortex, or sham stimulation. Participants first performed a series of golf putts at baseline, then while receiving tDCS and finally under pressurised conditions. Putting performance (distance from the hole) and control of visual attention (quiet eye duration) was assessed. Results: There was no effect of real tDCS stimulation compared to sham stimulation on either performance or visual attention (quiet eye durations), for any stimulation site. Conclusions: While beneficial effects of tDCS have been found in computerised cognitive tests and simple motor tasks, there is currently little evidence that this will transfer to real-world sporting performance.

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor. &. Francis Group. Compared to sports performers, relatively little is known about how sports officials make decisions at a perceptual-cognitive level. Thus, this study examined the decision-making accuracy and gaze behaviour of rugby union referees of varying skill levels while reviewing scrum scenarios. Elite (n = 9) and trainee (n = 9) referees, as well as experienced players (n = 9), made decisions while watching ten projected scrum clips and wearing a mobile eye-tracker. Decision-making accuracy and gaze behaviour were recorded for each scrum. The elite and trainee referees made more accurate decisions than the players, and differences in gaze behavior were observed. The elite and trainee referees displayed lower search rates, spent more time fixating central-pack (i.e. front rows, binds, and contact point) and less time fixating outer-pack (e.g. second rows) and non-pack (e.g. other) locations, and exhibited lower entropy than the players. While search rate failed to predict decision-making accuracy, the time spent fixating central-, outer-, and non-pack locations, as well as entropy, were significant predictors. The findings have implications for training perceptual-cognitive skill among sports officials.

Virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool for expanding the possibilities of psychological experimentation and implementing immersive training applications. Despite a recent surge in interest, there remains an inadequate understanding of how VR impacts basic cognitive processes. Due to the artificial presentation of egocentric distance cues in virtual environments, a number of cues to depth in the optic array are impaired or placed in conflict with each other. Moreover, realistic haptic information is all but absent from current VR systems. The resulting conflicts could impact not only the execution of motor skills in VR but also raise deeper concerns about basic visual processing, and the extent to which virtual objects elicit neural and behavioural responses representative of real objects. In this brief review, we outline how the novel perceptual environment of VR may affect vision for action, by shifting users away from a dorsal mode of control. Fewer binocular cues to depth, conflicting depth information and limited haptic feedback may all impair the specialised, efficient, online control of action characteristic of the dorsal stream. A shift from dorsal to ventral control of action may create a fundamental disparity between virtual and real-world skills that has important consequences for how we understand perception and action in the virtual world.

BACKGROUND: Advances in 3D technology mean that both robotic surgical devices and surgical simulators can now incorporate stereoscopic viewing capabilities. While depth information may benefit robotic surgical performance, it is unclear whether 3D viewing also aids skill acquisition when learning from observing others. As observational learning plays a major role in surgical skills training, this study aimed to evaluate whether 3D viewing provides learning benefits in a robotically assisted surgical task. METHODS: 90 medical students were assigned to either (1) 2D or (2) 3D observation of a consultant surgeon performing a training task on the daVinci S robotic system, or (3) a no observation control, in a randomised parallel design. Subsequent performance and instrument movement metrics were assessed immediately following observation and at one-week retention. RESULTS: Both 2D and 3D groups outperformed no observation controls following the observation intervention (ps 

© 2018 Harris, Wilson and Vine. Background: Cognitive training (CT) aims to develop a range of skills, like attention and decision-making, through targeted training of core cognitive functions. While CT can target context specific skills, like movement anticipation, much CT is domain general, focusing on core abilities (e.g. selective attention) for transfer to a range of real-world tasks, such as spotting opponents. Commercial CT (CCT) devices are highly appealing for athletes and coaches due to their ease of use and eye-catching marketing claims. The extent to which this training transfers to performance in the sporting arena is, however, unclear. Therefore, this paper sought to provide a systematic review of evidence for beneficial training effects of CCT devices and evaluate their application to sport. Methods: an extensive search of electronic databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, GoogleScholar, and SportDiscus) was conducted to identify peer-reviewed evidence of training interventions with commercially available CT devices. Forty-three studies met the inclusion criteria and were retained for quality assessment and synthesis of results. Seventeen studies assessed transfer effects beyond laboratory cognitive tests, but only 1 directly assessed transfer to a sporting task. Results: the review of evidence showed limited support for far transfer benefits from CCT devices to sporting tasks, mainly because studies did not target the sporting environment. Additionally, a number of methodological issues with the CCT literature were identified, including small sample sizes, lack of retention tests, and limited replication of findings by researchers independent of the commercial product. Therefore, evidence for sporting benefits is currently limited by the paucity of representative transfer tests and a focus on populations with health conditions. Conclusions: Currently there is little direct evidence that the use of CCT devices can transfer to benefits for sporting performance. This conclusion, however, stems more from a lack of experimental studies in the sporting field and a lack of experimental rigor, rather than convincing null effects. Subsequently, there is an opportunity for researchers to develop more reliable findings in this area through systematic assessment in athletic populations and major methodological improvements.

© 2018 BJS Society Ltd Published by John Wiley. &. Sons Ltd Background: Acquiring new motor skills to learn complex movements and master the use of a diverse range of instruments is fundamental for developing expertise in surgery. Although aspects of skill development occur through trial and error, watching the performance of another individual (action observation) is an increasingly important adjunct for the acquisition of these complex skills before performing a procedure. The aim of this review was to examine the evidence in support of the use of action observation in surgery. Methods: a narrative review of observational learning for surgical motor skills was undertaken. Searches of PubMed and PsycINFO databases were performed using the terms ‘observational learning’ OR ‘action observation’ AND ‘motor learning’ OR ‘skill learning’. Results: Factors such as the structure of physical practice, the skill level of the demonstrator and the use of feedback were all found to be important moderators of the effectiveness of observational learning. In particular, observation of both expert and novice performance, cueing attention to key features of the task, and watching the eye movements of expert surgeons were all found to enhance the effectiveness of observation. It was unclear, however, whether repeated observations were beneficial for skill learning. The evidence suggests that these methods can be employed to enhance surgical training curricula. Conclusion: Observational learning is an effective method for learning surgical skills. An improved understanding of observational learning may further inform the refinement and use of these methods in contemporary surgical training curricula.

This report was designed to investigate the role of effective attention control in flow states, by developing an experimental approach to the study of flow. A challenge-skill balance manipulation was applied to self-paced netball and basketball shooting tasks, with point of gaze recorded through mobile eye tracking. Quiet eye was used to index optimal control of visual attention. While the experimental manipulation was found to have no effect, quiet eye was associated with the experience of flow. Furthermore, mediation revealed an indirect effect of quiet eye on performance through flow experience. This study provides initial evidence that flow may be preceded by changes in visual attention, suggesting that further investigation of visual attention may elucidate the cognitive mechanisms behind flow experience.

© 2016 American Psychological Association. The predominant characterization of flow in sport has emphasized athletes' reports of reduced conscious attention and effort; however, this is difficult to reconcile with other reports of superior focus and lack of distraction. The aim of this study was to explore this tension by testing novel, theoretically driven predictions for subjective and objective mental effort and by assessing visual attention control using an experimental research design. Specifically, we predicted that perceived and actual effortful attention might dissociate across 3 conditions of a simulated car-racing task designed to manipulate the level of flow: too easy, matched to skill (flow), and too difficult. Task absorption, objective mental effort, and focused gaze were all highest in the matched condition. However, objective performance, reported fluency, and mental effort demonstrated a linear relationship across conditions (participants performed worse and reported more effort and less fluency as difficulty increased). These results suggest a dichotomy between objective and reported effort and suggest that flow is underpinned by efficient attentional control.

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. While the experience of flow is often described in attentional terms—focused concentration or task absorption—specific cognitive mechanisms have received limited interest. We propose that an attentional explanation provides the best way to advance theoretical models and produce practical applications, as well as providing potential solutions to core issues such as how an objectively difficult task can be subjectively effortless. Recent research has begun to utilize brain-imaging techniques to investigate neurocognitive changes during flow, which enables attentional mechanisms to be understood in greater detail. Some tensions within flow research are discussed; including the dissociation between psychophysiological and experiential measures, and the equivocal neuroimaging findings supporting prominent accounts of hypofrontality. While flow has received only preliminary investigation from a neuroscientific perspective, findings already provide important insights into the crucial role played by higher-order attentional networks, and clear indications of reduced activity in brain regions linked to self-referential processing. The manner in which these processes may benefit sporting performance are discussed.

BACKGROUND: Observational learning plays an important role in surgical skills training, following the traditional model of learning from expertise. Recent findings have, however, highlighted the benefit of observing not only expert performance but also error-strewn performance. The aim of this study was to determine which model (novice vs. expert) would lead to the greatest benefits when learning robotically assisted surgical skills. METHODS: 120 medical students with no prior experience of robotically-assisted surgery completed a ring-carrying training task on three occasions; baseline, post-intervention and at one-week follow-up. The observation intervention consisted of a video model performing the ring-carrying task, with participants randomly assigned to view an expert model, a novice model, a mixed expert/novice model or no observation (control group). Participants were assessed for task performance and surgical instrument control. RESULTS: There were significant group differences post-intervention, with expert and novice observation groups outperforming the control group, but there were no clear group differences at a retention test one week later. There was no difference in performance between the expert-observing and error-observing groups. CONCLUSIONS: Similar benefits were found when observing the traditional expert model or the error-strewn model, suggesting that viewing poor performance may be as beneficial as viewing expertise in the early acquisition of robotic surgical skills. Further work is required to understand, then inform, the optimal curriculum design when utilising observational learning in surgical training.