Abstract

In this paper expert-novice differences in selective attention in fast ball sports are considered in terms of the integration of current information obtained directly from the environment with information obtained from past experience. These two sources of information are mediated respectively through the processes of sensory analysis and through the performers expectational and contextual knowledge (after Norman 1968). In the first section sensory analyses of incoming environmental information by performers of different skill levels are examined by independently considering the physical (or hardware) characteristics of the ocular system, acting in information reception, and the specific information-processing strategies (or software) active during perception. It is revealed, from a review of the available literature, that systematic differences exist in the software used by experts and novices to extract ball-flight and pre-flight information from the display and to recognise and encode display structure, although no systematic parallel differences in visual hardware are apparent. In the second section available studies examining proficiency-related differences in the awareness of, and use of, expectational and contextual knowledge are reviewed, although it is noted, to date, that progress in this area has been substantially limited by the absence of a suitable, ecologically-valid research paradigm. Perceived weaknesses in the current knowledge base on skilled sport perception are outlined and some directions for future study are advanced. Verf.-Referat