title: Ecological dynamics of continuous and categorical decision-making: the regatta start in sailing.
abstract: Ecological dynamics of decision-making in the sport of sailing exemplifies emergent, conditionally coupled, co-adaptive behaviours. In this study, observation of the coupling dynamics of paired boats during competitive sailing showed that decision-making can be modelled as a self-sustained, co-adapting system of informationally coupled oscillators (boats). Bytracing the spatial-temporal displacements of the boats, time series analyses (autocorrelations, periodograms and running correlations) revealed that trajectories of match racing boats are coupled more than 88% of the time during a pre-start race, via continuous, competing co-adaptions between boats. Results showed that both the continuously selected trajectories of the sailors (12 years of age) and their categorical starting point locations were examples of emergent decisions. In this dynamical conception of decision-making behaviours, strategic positioning (categorical) and continuous displacement of a boat over the course in match-race sailing emerged as a function of interacting task, personal and environmental constraints. Results suggest how key interacting constraints could be manipulated in practice to enhance sailors' perceptual attunement to them in competition.
authors.affiliation: a Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, CIPER , Universidade de Lisboa , Lisbon , Portugal.
authors.forename: Duarte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davids
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: João Coelho
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Gonçalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012767:Ships
keywords: Co-adaptation; cognition; decision-making; dynamical systems; emergence; tactics; time series analyse