title: Looking to Learn: The Effects of Visual Guidance on Observational Learning of the Golf Swing.
abstract: Skilled performers exhibit more efficient gaze patterns than less-skilled counterparts do and they look more frequently at task-relevant regions than at superfluous ones. We examine whether we may guide novices' gaze towards relevant regions during action observation in order to facilitate their learning of a complex motor skill. In a Pre-test-Post-test examination of changes in their execution of the full golf swing, 21 novices viewed one of three videos at intervention: i) a skilled golfer performing 10 swings (Free Viewing, FV); ii) the same video with transient colour cues superimposed to highlight key features of the setup (Visual Guidance; VG); iii) or a History of Golf video (Control). Participants in the visual guidance group spent significantly more time looking at cued areas than did the other two groups, a phenomenon that persisted after the cues had been removed. Moreover, the visual guidance group improved their swing execution at Post-test and on a Retention test one week later. Our results suggest that visual guidance to cued areas during observational learning of complex motor skills may accelerate acquisition of the skill.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Innocenzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Claudia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A Mark
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006055:Golf; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*