Abstract
Background: Sinnett and Kingstone (2010) found that when novices were asked to predict the terminal location of tennis shots, they made more errors when the shot was accompanied by an auditory stimulus (suggesting that grunting tennis players may have a competitive advantage). However, beneficial predictive cues might be available in situations where the auditory and visual stimuli are compatible (e.g. loud noise paired with a hard shot and vice versa). Conversely, performance would be hindered in incompatible situations (e.g., loud noise/soft shot). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the amplitude (volume) of an auditory stimulus differentially affects the predictability of a tennis shot. Method: 13 participants viewed 480 clips of a player hitting a tennis ball to one of four locations on the court. Each clip was accompanied with a loud (74db), quiet (62db), or no sound stimulus occurring simultaneously with ball contact. Participants were asked to predict the terminal location of the viewed shot (left/right; short/deep) by pushing a number key corresponding to the area of the court to which the ball was being hit. Results: Consistent with our hypotheses, a significant interaction, F (2,24) = 6.149, p<.05, between auditory stimulus and terminal location was revealed for predictive accuracy. Participants were significantly less accurate in predicting the location of the shot when it was incompatible with the auditory stimulus with which it was paired (e.g. short shots paired with “loud” sounds/deep shots with “quiet” sounds). Results are discussed in the context of cross modal S-R compatibility.Acknowledgments: NSERC Dundas Tennis Club