Quantitative and qualitative indicators of developing anticipation skills in wrestling athletes

• Published in: Nat͡s︡ionalʹnyĭ psikhologicheskiĭ zhurnal Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 25 - 32
• Main Authors: Isaev, Alex V., Isaychev, Sergey A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lomonosov Moscow State University 01-06-2015
• Subjects: anticipation; athletes; freestyle wrestling; psychophysiological assessment; sports trainings
• ISSN: 2079-6617; 2309-9828
• DOI: 10.11621/npj.2015.0203

Actual problems of modern psychology are fundamental studies of the phenomenon of anticipation, the search for new methodological approaches to the study of its mechanisms and processes of development are considered. There is a particular interest in the anticipation issue in sport, where the probabilistic forecast of the situation is crucial for winning. The paper presents the results of testing methods for anticipation skills in wrestling. The main objective of the study was to find psycho-physiological and behavioral indicators to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the degree of anticipation. The skills formation procedure was based on the reinforcement of the correct choice of behaviour in simulated situations of decision-making using multiple choices technique. Stimuli were videos of simulated situations in wrestling. Simultaneous recording of oculomotor activity and registration of multi-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) was carried out. The results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method. After completing training the number of errors and the decision taking time span reduced. Expert assessment of the main qualifying factors showed a significant increase of the test group. On the psychophysiological level, there is a reduction of oculomotor activity in selecting the right answers, reducing the number of fixations, the number of fixations and saccades reverse on the text of questions and answers. Analysis of EEG parameters showed a gradual decrease in the index of brain activation when analysing simulated situations and dynamic movement of the peaks of activity in the frontal areas of the temporal and occipital areas during the series of trainings.