The Influence of Visual Information on the Motor Control of Table Tennis Strokes

Theories of social interaction (i.e., common coding theory) suggest that visual information about the interaction partner is critical for successful interpersonal action coordination. Seeing the interaction partner allows an observer to understand and predict the interaction partner's behavior. However, it is unknown which of the many sources of visual information about an interaction partner (e.g., body, end effectors, and/or interaction objects) are used for action understanding and thus for the control of movements in response to observed actions. We used a novel immersive virtual environment to investigate this further. Specifically, we asked participants to perform table tennis strokes in response to table tennis balls stroked by a virtual table tennis player. We tested the effect of the visibility of the ball, the paddle, and the body of the virtual player on task performance and movement kinematics. Task performance was measured as the minimum distance between the center of the paddle and the center of the ball (radial error). Movement kinematics was measured as variability in the paddle speed of repeatedly executed table tennis strokes (stroke speed variability). We found that radial error was reduced when the ball was visible compared to invisible. However, seeing the body and/or the racket of the virtual players only reduced radial error when the ball was invisible. There was no influence of seeing the ball on stroke speed variability. However, we found that stroke speed variability was reduced when either the body or the paddle of the virtual player was visible. Importantly, the differences in stroke speed variability were largest in the moment when the virtual player hit the ball. This suggests that seeing the virtual player's body or paddle was important for preparing the stroke response. These results demonstrate for the first time that the online control of arm movements is coupled with visual body information about an opponent.

[1]  J. Kelso,et al.  Binding of movement, sound and touch: multimodal coordination dynamics , 2006, Experimental Brain Research.

[2]  M. Turvey,et al.  Phase transitions and critical fluctuations in the visual coordination of rhythmic movements between people. , 1990 .

[3]  K. Shockley,et al.  Mutual interpersonal postural constraints are involved in cooperative conversation. , 2003, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[4]  William H. McNeill,et al.  Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. , 1995 .

[5]  B. Abernethy,et al.  Action specificity increases anticipatory performance and the expert advantage in natural interceptive tasks. , 2010, Acta psychologica.

[6]  Michael J. Richardson,et al.  Rocking together: dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination. , 2007, Human movement science.

[7]  U. Castiello,et al.  Different action patterns for cooperative and competitive behaviour , 2007, Cognition.

[8]  Guillaume Rao,et al.  Judging where a ball will go: the case of curved free kicks in football , 2006, Naturwissenschaften.

[9]  Franck Multon,et al.  Using virtual reality to analyze links between handball thrower kinematics and goalkeeper's reactions , 2004, Neuroscience Letters.

[10]  R. Passingham,et al.  Action observation and acquired motor skills: an FMRI study with expert dancers. , 2005, Cerebral cortex.

[11]  S. Runeson,et al.  Kinematic specification of dynamics as an informational basis for person and action perception: Expe , 1983 .

[12]  A. Williams,et al.  Please Scroll down for Article Journal of Sports Sciences Visual Search, Anticipation and Expertise in Soccer Goalkeepers Visual Search, Anticipation and Expertise in Soccer Goalkeepers , 2022 .

[13]  Michael J. Richardson,et al.  Effects of visual and verbal interaction on unintentional interpersonal coordination. , 2005, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[14]  Lawrence E M Grierson,et al.  Kinematic analysis of early online control of goal-directed reaches: a novel movement perturbation study. , 2009, Motor control.

[15]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Action recognition in the premotor cortex. , 1996, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[16]  H. Bekkering,et al.  Joint action: bodies and minds moving together , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[17]  Konrad Paul Kording,et al.  A Neuroeconomics Approach to Inferring Utility Functions in Sensorimotor Control , 2004, PLoS biology.

[18]  W. H. Warren.  The dynamics of perception and action. , 2006, Psychological review.

[19]  B. Abernethy.  Expertise, Visual Search, and Information Pick-up in Squash , 1990, Perception.

[20]  Fabrice R Sarlegna,et al.  Visual guidance of arm reaching: online adjustments of movement direction are impaired by amplitude control. , 2010, Journal of vision.

[21]  B. Repp,et al.  Pianists duet better when they play with themselves: On the possible role of action simulation in synchronization , 2007, Consciousness and Cognition.

[22]  R. Bootsma,et al.  Timing an attacking forehand drive in table tennis. , 1990 .

[23]  Jürgen Kurths,et al.  Synchronization - A Universal Concept in Nonlinear Sciences , 2001, Cambridge Nonlinear Science Series.

[24]  P. Todd,et al.  Accurate judgments of intention from motion cues alone: A cross-cultural study , 2005 .

[25]  W. Prinz,et al.  Common mechanisms in perception and action: Introductory remarks , 2002 .

[26]  J. Kelso,et al.  Social coordination dynamics: Measuring human bonding , 2008, Social neuroscience.

[27]  A. Winfree.  On Emerging Coherence , 2002, Science.

[28]  A. Winfree.  Oscillating systems. On emerging coherence. , 2002, Science.

[29]  Albert-László Barabási,et al.  The sound of many hands clapping: Tumultuous applause can transform itself into waves of synchronized clapping. , 2000 .

[30]  M. Giese,et al.  Nonvisual Motor Training Influences Biological Motion Perception , 2006, Current Biology.

[31]  Franck Multon,et al.  Influence of the Graphical Levels of Detail of a Virtual Thrower on the Perception of the Movement , 2010, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[32]  M. Turvey,et al.  Phase transitions and critical fluctuations in the visual coordination of rhythmic movements between people. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[33]  F. Huddle.  Coordination , 1966, Open Knowledge Institutions.

[34]  William H Warren,et al.  Catching fly balls in virtual reality: a critical test of the outfielder problem. , 2009, Journal of vision.

[35]  P. McLeod,et al.  Running to catch the ball , 1993, Nature.

[36]  A. Williams,et al.  Global Information Pickup Underpins Anticipation of Tennis Shot Direction , 2009, Journal of motor behavior.

[37]  J. Kelso.  Phase transitions and critical behavior in human bimanual coordination. , 1984, The American journal of physiology.

[38]  Wolfgang Prinz,et al.  Modes of Linkage Between Perception and Action , 1984 .

[39]  R. E Passingham,et al.  Inferring false beliefs from the actions of oneself and others: an fMRI study , 2004, NeuroImage.

[40]  M K Kaiser,et al.  How baseball outfielders determine where to run to catch fly balls. , 1995, Science.

[41]  Heinrich H. Bülthoff,et al.  The effect of social context on the use of visual information , 2011, Experimental Brain Research.

[42]  C. Urgesi,et al.  Action anticipation and motor resonance in elite basketball players , 2008, Nature Neuroscience.

[43]  Heinrich H Bülthoff,et al.  Seeing the hand while reaching speeds up on‐line responses to a sudden change in target position , 2009, The Journal of physiology.

[44]  M. Shiffrar,et al.  Detecting deception in a bluffing body: The role of expertise , 2009, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[45]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Cortical mechanisms of human imitation. , 1999, Science.