Exploring Visual Patterns and Judgments Predicated on Role Specificity: Case Studies of Expertise in Gymnastics

摘要

This study assessed the influence of sensorimotor experiences, predicated on role specificity, on visual search patterns and performance judgments in three experts in gymnastics (i.e., gymnast, coach and judge). They observed video recordings of six trials demonstrating three different gymnastic skills, while their visual behaviors were recorded with the ASL SE5000 system. Participants judged the quality of the gymnastic skill, identifying execution errors after each trial based on the Code of Points employed by the International Gymnastics Federation (2014). Results showed that the gymnast participant developed a different perceptual pattern compared to the other participants, but no differences were observed between the judge and coach. Additionally, the judge reported higher judgement accuracy (53.47%), followed by the coach (40.33%) and gymnast (37.58%). These data suggested that the participants fixated on different information sources when making judgements on performance scores, based on their different previous visual and motor experiences to evaluate gymnastic skills.