Interpersonal Pattern Dynamics and Adaptive Behavior in Multiagent Neurobiological Systems: Conceptual Model and Data

ABSTRACT

Ecological dynamics characterizes adaptive behavior as an emergent, self-organizing property of interpersonal interactions in complex social systems. The authors conceptualize and investigate constraints on dynamics of decisions and actions in the multiagent system of team sports. They studied coadaptive interpersonal dynamics in rugby union to model potential control parameter and collective variable relations in attacker–defender dyads. A videogrammetry analysis revealed how some agents generated fluctuations by adapting displacement velocity to create phase transitions and destabilize dyadic subsystems near the try line. Agent interpersonal dynamics exhibited characteristics of chaotic attractors and informational constraints of rugby union boxed dyadic systems into a low dimensional attractor. Data suggests that decisions and actions of agents in sports teams may be characterized as emergent, self-organizing properties, governed by laws of dynamical systems at the ecological scale. Further research needs to generalize this conceptual model of adaptive behavior in performance to other multiagent populations.     

Territorial gain dynamics regulates success in attacking sub-phases of team sports

Background and objective

Field invasion games, such as rugby union, can be conceptualised as dynamic social systems in which the agents continuously interact to contest ball possession and territorial gain. Accordingly, this study aimed to identify the collective system dynamics of rugby union phases-of-play near the try line by investigating whether ball displacement trajectory on the playing field provides insights on successful team performance.

Methods

Five rugby union matches were videotaped involving teams at a national league performance level. From these matches, 22 second phases-of-play were selected and digitized for analysis. The variable “distance gained” was investigated as a potential coordination variable describing functional coordination between players and teams. This variable concerned the distance between ball initial position and ball current position over time and was used to define the degree of territory gained by an attacking team.

Results

Analysis of distance gained dynamics in attacking sub-phases demonstrated the intermittent character of rugby union performers displacement trajectories on the playing field. Amplitude of ball movements was revealed as a distinguishing feature related to attacking effectiveness. Successful attacking phases displayed lower distances of positional retreat, with the maximum retreat distance achieved sooner in successful compared to unsuccessful phases-of-play. Autocorrelation and ApEn analyses suggested low system variability within time series data concerning both performance outcomes. However, evidence of less regularity and more complexity was found in unsuccessful phases-of-play.

Conclusion

Results suggested that distance gained dynamics manifests a characteristic collective behaviour pattern that captures the macroscopic functional order of multi-player attack–defence systems in team sports like rugby union.     

Interpersonal distance regulates functional grouping tendencies of agents in team sports

The authors examined whether, similar to collective agent behaviors in complex, biological systems (e.g., schools of fish and colonies of ants), performers in team sports displayed functional coordination tendencies, based on local interaction rules during performance. To investigate this issue, they used videogrammetry and digitizing procedures to observe interpersonal interactions in common 4 versus 2 + 2 subphases of the team sport of rugby union, involving 16 participants aged between 16 and 17 years of age. They observed pattern-forming dynamics in attacking subunits (n = 4 players) attempting to penetrate 2 defensive lines (n = 2 players in each). Data showed that within each attacking subunit, the 4 players displayed emergent functional grouping tendencies that differed between the 2 defensive lines. Results confirmed that grouping tendencies in attacking subunits of team games are sensitive to different task constraints, such as relative positioning to nearest defenders. It was concluded that running correlations were particularly useful for measuring the level of interpersonal coordination in functional grouping tendencies within attacking subunits.     

Comparison of the home advantage in nine different professional team sports in Spain

Home advantage is a well-established phenomenon in many sports. The present study is unique in that it includes different sports analysed in the same country, at the same level of competition, and over the same time period. Nine team sports from Spain were included: baseball, basketball, handball, indoor soccer, roller hockey, rugby, soccer, volleyball, and water polo. Data for five seasons (2005-2006 to 2009-2010) were obtained, totaling 9,472 games. The results confirmed the existence of home advantage in all nine sports. There was a statistically significant difference between the sports; home advantage was highest in rugby (67.0%), and lowest in volleyball (55.7%), water polo (56.2%), and roller hockey (58.3%). The design of the study controlled for some of the likely causes of home advantage, and the results suggested that the high home advantage for rugby was likely a reflection of the continuous, aggressive, and intense nature of the sport.     

Perceptual alternations in stereokinesis

When a flat ellipse is slowly rotated in the frontoparallel plane, two different 3-D percepts can be obtained: (i) a rigid circular disc tilting back and forth in 3-D space, and (ii) an elongated egg, slanted into 3-D space, whose end parts seem to be located at different distances from the observer and describe a circular trajectory with respect to the frontal plane. Under prolonged observation, the two 3-D percepts alternate in time, separated by brief intervals in which either the rotation of a rigid flat ellipse in the frontal plane or an amoeba-like distortion of a 2-D shape can be perceived. An experiment is reported in which the sequence of perceptual alternations was investigated. Results show that the 3-D disc is mostly preceded by impressions of elastic amoeba-like deformations, whereas the 3-D egg is mostly preceded by the percept of a rotating flat ellipse. Direct transitions from egg to disc are not as frequent as transitions from disc to egg. Results are discussed in relation to Braunstein and Andersen's hypothesis that phenomena of this sort might result from the stimulation of automatic mechanisms for perceiving size change (changing-size neutral channels).     

Visual measurement of relative distances between three collinear dots rotating in a slanted plane

Displays consisted of orthographic and perspective projections of three collinear dots rotating rigidly around a fixed centre in a plane slanted 45 degrees in depth. Observers were asked to decide whether the middle of the three dots was exactly centred in 3-D space between the other two dots. The visible rotation segments were 120 degrees, 160 degrees, or 200 degrees and the displacements were 2%, 4%, or 6%. Our untrained observers performed more poorly overall than well-practised observers tested earlier by Lappin and Fuqua (1983 Science 221 480-482). Results of additional manipulations suggested that 2-D image properties played a more important role than acknowledged by Lappin and Fuqua. First, displacement size and the position of the rotation centre produced nonlinear effects. Second, the direction of displacement affected performance. Third, projection type and display type (static snapshots versus elliptic traces) were involved in complex interactions. Clearly, performance was affected by 2-D image properties that should be irrelevant to the calculation of 3-D projective invariants.     

Intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety as interpreted by rugby players and rifle shooters

This study reports the findings of part of an ongoing research program examining sports performers' interpretations of competitive anxiety prior to competition. The notion of 'directional perceptions' has questioned the limited utility of examining only the intensity of competitive anxiety responses as has Jones. The purpose of this study was to examine intensity and direction, i.e., interpretation of intensity as facilitative or debilitative, of anxiety symptoms as a function of two types of sport. The types of sport were explosive (rugby league) versus fine motor skills (target rifle shooting). The sample comprised 50 male rugby league participants and 50 target rifle shooters who completed a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 prior to competition. Contingency analysis yielded a significant difference in the number of rugby players who reported somatic anxiety as facilitative and the number of rifle shooters who reported somatic states as debilitative. No such differences were evident for cognitive anxiety. Analysis of variance indicated no differences between the two groups on the intensity of cognitive and somatic anxiety, but the performers competing in rugby league interpreted both states as being more facilitative to performance; the rugby league players also had higher scores on self-confidence than the shooters. These findings provide continuing support for the measurement of directional perceptions of competitive anxiety and highlight the importance of examining individual sports.     

Applications of neural networks in training science

Training science views itself as an integrated and applied science, developing practical measures founded on scientific method. Therefore, it demands consideration of a wide spectrum of approaches and methods. Especially in the field of competitive sports, research questions are usually located in complex environments, so that mainly field studies are drawn upon to obtain broad external validity. Here, the interrelations between different variables or variable sets are mostly of a nonlinear character. In these cases, methods like neural networks, e.g., the pattern recognizing methods of Self-Organizing Kohonen Feature Maps or similar instruments to identify interactions might be successfully applied to analyze data. Following on from a classification of data analysis methods in training-science research, the aim of the contribution is to give examples of varied sports in which network approaches can be effectually used in training science. First, two examples are given in which neural networks are employed for pattern recognition. While one investigation deals with the detection of sporting talent in swimming, the other is located in game sports research, identifying tactical patterns in team handball. The third and last example shows how an artificial neural network can be used to predict competitive performance in swimming.     

Further Operationalization of Intra‐Team Communication in Sports: An Updated Version of the Scale of Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS‐2)

Sullivan & Feltz (2003 ) offered a preliminary multidimensional measure of communication in team sports, the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS). The current research attempted to further the development and support for the psychometric properties and validity of the measure. In one study, 350 athletes completed an updated version of the SECTS. Confirmatory factor analyses showed good support for the 4‐factor structure. Correlations to team cohesion offer construct validity for the scale. A second study, with an independent sample (N = 79), revealed that team performance was negatively related to the communication of Distinctiveness at the team level. This updated version of the SECTS represents a parsimonious, valid, and reliable operational definition of sports‐specific effective team communication.     

Concerning a Moral Duty to Cheat in Games

Stimulated by Hugh Upton's recent article in this journal, in which he argues that there can be a moral duty to cheat in games, I attempt to examine his claims. Much of what he writes revolves around examples from two sports, cricket and rugby, and with differing connections to those games' rules. While the example from cricket is said to involve a breach of the spirit of that game, it is contravention of the written rules of rugby on which the latter part of Upton's case focuses. Given limited space I concentrate on the cricketing example, but several of the points I make about that apply also to when rule-breaking itself is involved. My conclusions express doubts about whether a case for a moral duty to cheat in games has been established.     

Motor skills transfer from gymnastics to swimming

99 adult specialists in combat sports (n = 21), team sports (n = 37), gymnastics (n = 22), and swimming (n = 19) (M age = 20 yr., SD = 2; 64 young men, 35 young women) performed three 25-m swimming tasks whilst "blindfolded" by opaque goggles: front crawl in a straight line, dolphin-kicking on the back, and dolphin-kicking on the front. Even though the gymnasts (like the swimmers) were at ease in all 3 situations, the motor skills of the "motor interaction" specialists (team sports, combat sports) put the latter at a disadvantage. The similarities between the gymnasts' and swimmers' behavior (confirmed using factorial correspondence analysis with the TRIDEUX program) are undoubtedly related to the fact that these sportspersons essentially live in the same sensory space in their respective practices: exteroceptive information is subordinated by proprioceptive information. In contrast, the 99 subjects' timed freestyle swimming performances over 75 m depended so much on their physical and anthropometric qualities that the results were independent of the sporting specialties for the novice swimmers. Hence, the mere fact that the 22 gymnasts, who tended to be shorter, with a higher proportion of women, were more at ease in the water did not turn them into great performers.     

3-d interpolation in object perception: evidence from an objective performance paradigm

Object perception requires interpolation processes that connect visible regions despite spatial gaps. Some research has suggested that interpolation may be a 3-D process, but objective performance data and evidence about the conditions leading to interpolation are needed. The authors developed an objective performance paradigm for testing 3-D interpolation and tested a new theory of 3-D contour interpolation, termed 3-D relatability. The theory indicates for a given edge which orientations and positions of other edges in space may be connected to it by interpolation. Results of 5 experiments showed that processing of orientation relations in 3-D relatable displays was superior to processing in 3-D nonrelatable displays and that these effects depended on object formation. 3-D interpolation and 3-D relatabilty are discussed in terms of their implications for computational and neural models of object perception, which have typically been based on 2-D-orientation-sensitive units.     

Multiple 3-D interpretations in a classic stereokinetic effect

It is known that a flat ellipse rotating in the frontoparallel plane sooner or later appears as a rigid circular disc tilting in 3-D space. An experiment is reported in which prolonged exposure to the same flat pattern produces a second previously unnoticed 3-D percept: an elongated egg slanted in 3-D space, which points towards the observer and the end parts of which describe a circular trajectory in the frontal plane. It is shown that the achievement of this alternative percept is not affected by the particular shape of the ellipse, although the time needed to reach it increases with an ellipse with a 2:3 axis ratio.     

Neuropsychological impairment as a consequence of football (soccer) play and football heading: A preliminary analysis and report on school students (13–16 years)

Footballers run the risk of incurring mild head injury from a variety of sources, including the intentional use of the head to play the ball, known as heading. This paper presents a preliminary exploratory analysis of data collected to examine whether cumulative incidence of mild head injury, or cumulative heading frequency, are related to neuropsychological functioning in male adolescent footballers. In a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design, neuropsychological test scores of school team footballers were compared with those of similarly aged rugby players and noncontact sport players. Cumulative mild head injury incidence was estimated using self-reports, and cumulative heading was estimated using a combination of observation and self-reports. No participants had sustained a head injury within 3 months of testing. There was no relationship between head injury and neuropsychological performance, and there were no decrements in either the footballers or the rugby players in comparison with the noncontact sport players. Within the footballers, cumulative heading did not predict any of the neuropsychological test scores. These findings indicate the absence of neuropsychological impairment arising due to cumulative mild head injury incidence, or cumulative heading. Although these null findings may be reassuring to players, parents, and football organizers, we stress that they are preliminary. Further data is being collected from the same populations to provide more reliable effect estimates.     

Neuropsychological impairment as a consequence of football (soccer) play and football heading: a preliminary analysis and report on school students (13-16 years).

Footballers run the risk of incurring mild head injury from a variety of sources, including the intentional use of the head to play the ball, known as heading. This paper presents a preliminary exploratory analysis of data collected to examine whether cumulative incidence of mild head injury, or cumulative heading frequency, are related to neuropsychological functioning in male adolescent footballers. In a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design, neuropsychological test scores of school team footballers were compared with those of similarly aged rugby players and noncontact sport players. Cumulative mild head injury incidence was estimated using self-reports, and cumulative heading was estimated using a combination of observation and self-reports. No participants had sustained a head injury within 3 months of testing. There was no relationship between head injury and neuropsychological performance, and there were no decrements in either the footballers or the rugby players in comparison with the noncontact sport players. Within the footballers, cumulative heading did not predict any of the neuropsychological test scores. These findings indicate the absence of neuropsychological impairment arising due to cumulative mild head injury incidence, or cumulative heading. Although these null findings may be reassuring to players, parents, and football organizers, we stress that they are preliminary. Further data is being collected from the same populations to provide more reliable effect estimates.     

A cognitive-behavioural analysis of mental toughness in national rugby league football teams

This study examined the relations between demographic characteristics of rugby players and selected aspects of psychological performance in rugby league football. Mental toughness was assessed using Psychological Performance Inventory and Hardiness on the Personal Views Survey III-R. Participants (N=70) were international rugby league footballers representing four teams (Wales, France, Ireland, England) in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Participants completed the questionnaires in training camp. Welsh-nationality players had a significantly higher mean score on two of the hardiness subscales. Hardiness measures displayed the greatest and most frequently statistically significant differences. The findings concur with previous work indicating superior hardiness is related to improved performance in sports.     

Interactions of team mental models and monitoring behaviors predict team performance in simulated anesthesia inductions

In the present study, we investigated how two team mental model properties (similarity vs. accuracy) and two forms of monitoring behavior (team vs. systems) interacted to predict team performance in anesthesia. In particular, we were interested in whether the relationship between monitoring behavior and team performance was moderated by team mental model properties. Thirty-one two-person teams consisting of anesthesia resident and anesthesia nurse were videotaped during a simulated anesthesia induction of general anesthesia. Team mental models were assessed with a newly developed measurement tool based on the concept-mapping technique. Monitoring behavior was coded by two organizational psychologists using a structured observation system. Team performance was rated by two expert anesthetists using a performance-checklist. Moderated multiple regression analysis revealed that team mental model similarity moderated the relationship between team monitoring and performance; a higher level of team monitoring in the absence of a similar team mental model had a negative effect on performance. Furthermore, team mental model similarity and accuracy interacted to predict team performance. Our findings provide new insights on factors influencing the relationship between team processes and team performance in health care. When investigating the effectiveness of a specific team coordination behavior, team cognition has to be taken into account. This represents a necessary and compelling extension of the popular process-outcome relationship on which previous teamwork research in health care has focused. Moreover, the current study adds further external validity to the concept of team mental models by highlighting its usefulness in health care.     

Segregation by color and stereoscopic depth in three-dimensional visual space

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how color and stereoscopic depth information are used to segregate objects for visual search in three-dimensional (3-D) visual space. Eight observers were asked to indicate the alphanumeric category (letter or digit) of the target which had its unique color and unique depth plane. In Experiment 1, distractors sharing a common depth plane or a common color appeared in spatial contiguity in thexy plane. The results suggest that visual search for the target involves examination of kernels formed by homogeneous items sharing the same color and depth. In Experiment 2, thexy contiguity of distractors sharing a common color or a common depth plane was varied. The results showed that when target-distractor distinction becomes more difficult on one dimension, the other dimension becomes more important in performing visual search, as indicated by a larger effect on search time. This suggests that observers can make optimal use of the information available. Finally, color had a larger effect on search time than did stereoscopic depth. Overall, the results support models of visual processing which maintain that perceptual segregation and selective attention are determined by similarity among objects in 3-D visual space on both spatial and nonspatial stimulus dimensions.     

How do Motor Systems Deal with the Problems of Controlling Three-Dimensional Rotations?

Rotations are fundamental to motor control, not only for orienting to stimuli but also in the joint articulations that underlie translational movements. Studying three-dimensional (3-D) rotations of the simplest joint system, the eye, has provided general insights into the neural control of movement. First, in selecting one 3-D eye orientation for each two-dimensional (2-D) gaze direction, the oculomotor system generates a behavior called Listing's law that constrains eye position to a 2-D plane, Listing's plane. This selection is made internally by an inverse kinematic transformation called the Listing's law operator. Second, the oculomotor system incorporates the inherent multiplicative relationship between rotational velocity and position to generate the 3-D movement and position commands required by Listing's law. Finally, the coordinate systems for these commands appear to align with Listing's plane rather than with anatomic structures. Recent investigations have revealed similar behavioral constraints in the orientations of the head and arm, suggesting that the neural mechanisms for Listing's law may have analogues in many motor systems.     

Quantifying synergies in two-versus-one situations in team sports: An example from Rugby Union

Collective behaviors in team sports result in players forming interpersonal synergies that contribute to performance goals. Because of the huge amount of variables that continuously constrain players’ behavior during a game, the way that these synergies are formed remain unclear. Our aim was to quantify interpersonal synergies in the team sport of Rugby Union. For that purpose we used the Uncontrolled Manifold Hypothesis (UCM) to identify interpersonal synergies that are formed between ball carrier and support player in two-versus-one situations in Rugby Union. The inter-player angle close to the moment of the pass was used as a performance variable and players running lines velocities as task-relevant elements. Interpersonal synergies (UCM values above 1) were found in 19 out of 55 trials under analysis, which means that on 34% of the trials, the players’ running line velocities contribute to stabilizing the inter-player angle close the moment of the pass. The strength of the synergy fluctuates over time indicating the existence of a location effect during attack phases in Rugby Union. UCM analysis shows considerable promise as a performance analysis tool in team sports to discriminate between skilled sub-groups of players.