Fig 1.
Visualization of the tactical decision-making task.
The task was conducted in two separate blocks, Near-side and Far-side. Each block included a Prediction and a Control condition, the order of which was counterbalanced across participants in both blocks. Each trial consisted of a 2 s Baseline phase for gaze fixation after which the video started. The videos varied in length. The last 3 s of each video is referred to as the Rally phase, which is the time interval in which the main action of the rally happened in the videos. When the video ended, the last frame of the video remained visible for 0.5 s in the Freeze phase. Immediately after that, the response screen appeared, and participants were asked to give their response in the Response phase. The locations of the respective players of interest, namely the setter in the Prediction condition and the service player in the Control condition, are highlighted in red and blue, respectively.
Fig 2.
Schematic representation of the EEG montage.
The electrode positioning was based on the international 10–20 system. The GND electrode was positioned at AFZ. Marked EEG channels indicate the examined regions of interest (dark grey: Frontal midline area; light grey: Parietal area).
Table 1.
Comparative statistics for main questionnaire variables. Questionnaire variable labels are presented in the “Variable” column; in the case of categorical variables with the respective categories in parentheses. Variable names are shown in subscript square brackets (for reference see Table B in S1 Tables). Descriptive statistics are presented in the “Group” column. For categorical variables absolute participant counts are presented for the respective categories. For continuous variables group means are presented, with standard deviations in parentheses. Comparative statistics results (categorical: χ2 tests + Cramer’s V calculations; continuous: between-subjects ANOVAs) are provided in the “Statistics” column. Variables with significant overall test results are indicated with asterisks (**: p < .01; ***: p < .001). For continuous variables, significant group differences, as determined through pairwise t-tests, are indicated with uppercase letters (a-c).
Fig 3.
Performance results for the analysis of accuracy in the tactical decision-making task.
The left and right panels represent the results from the Near-side and Far-side blocks and the Prediction and Control conditions are represented in red and blue, respectively. Jitter dots beside the boxplots represent individual participants of the respective groups Novice, Amateur and Expert. Diamond symbols with error bars represent the mean and standard errors for each condition.
Fig 4.
Performance results for the analysis of response time in the tactical decision-making task.
The left and right panels represent the results from the Near-side and Far-side blocks and the Prediction and Control conditions are represented in red and blue, respectively. Jitter dots beside the boxplots represent individual participants of the respective groups Novice, Amateur and Expert. Diamond symbols with error bars represent the mean and standard errors for each condition.
Table 2.
ANOVA results for task accuracy and response time analyses.
Fig 5.
Results for the analysis of frontal midline theta ERD/S during the tactical decision-making task.
Results for the (A) Rally and (B) Freeze phases of the task are presented, respectively. For each phase the left and right panels represent the results from the Near-side and Far-side blocks and the Prediction and Control conditions are represented in red and blue, respectively. Jitter dots beside the boxplots represent individual participants of the respective groups Novice, Amateur and Expert. Diamond symbols with error bars represent the mean and standard errors for each condition. Note that positive values indicate a theta ERS and negative values a theta ERD.
Table 3.
ANOVA results for frontal midline theta ERD/S analysis.
Fig 6.
Results for the analysis of parietal alpha ERD/S during the tactical decision-making task.
Results for the (A) Rally and (B) Freeze phases of the task are presented, respectively. For each phase the left and right panels represent the results from the Near-side and Far-side blocks and the Prediction and Control conditions are represented in red and blue, respectively. Jitter dots beside the boxplots represent individual participants of the respective groups Novice, Amateur and Expert. Diamond symbols with error bars represent the mean and standard errors for each condition. Note that positive values indicate an alpha ERS and negative values an alpha ERD.
Table 4.
ANOVA results for parietal alpha ERD/S analysis.