ANTICIPATION INFLUENCES MOTOR RESPONSE

Schuber, F. (1980). The role of the ability to anticipate for the effectiveness of the regulation of actions of athletes. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Deutschen Hochschule fur Korperkultur Leipzig, 21(1), 53-66.

This study showed that when athletes trained to anticipate other opponents or events, the preparedness which resulted facilitated faster reaction and movement times in real-life situations, if predictions were correct. However, if predictions were incorrect, the response time was much longer. These effects were more striking, the more difficult the task.

Implication. Training for anticipation is helpful when the anticipations are correct. However, the negative consequences of wrong anticipations are also heightened. This effect is more obvious, the more difficult the task. The critical feature for training would be teaching how to recognize and discriminate between correct and incorrect cues to prompt effective responses.

A training program with a wide variety of decisional experiences should contribute to a "general" decision-making strategy that should contribute to improved decision-making.

Return to Table of Contents for this issue.