The role of action anticipation in specific sport performance: A three-level meta-analysis and systematic review in temporal occlusion paradigm

Action anticipation is crucial for athletes, enabling them to make the most accurate decisions possible under time constraints and significantly impacting sports performance. This study systematically consolidates key findings from research on action anticipation in sports using the temporal occlusion paradigm to achieve the following five objectives: (1) quantifying the magnitude of the advantage of sports experts in action anticipation; (2) examining whether this expert advantage transfers to familiar and unfamiliar sports and, if so, quantifying its magnitude; (3) testing whether methodological manipulations significantly affect the quantification of action anticipation abilities; (4) reviewing whether temporal occlusion training can improve action anticipation abilities; and (5) inferring the relationship between action anticipation scores in the laboratory and actual movement performance in sports. We identified 111 original articles from databases including Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, PubMed, and Cochrane Library for qualitative analysis. Of these, 127 effect sizes contributed by 100 studies were analyzed using a three-level meta-analysis to achieve objectives (1) to (3), and 12 studies were included in a systematic review to achieve objectives (4) to (5). Corresponding to five objectives, our data indicate that: (1) The magnitude of the advantage of sports experts in action anticipation is strong (Hedges' g = 1.15, 95 % CI [0.97, 1.33], p < 0.001). (2) This expert advantage neither transfers to familiar sports nor unfamiliar sports. (3) Commonly used manipulations, such as stimulus size, response mode, participant selection, and sport category, in the temporal occlusion paradigm consistently yield substantial effects. (4) Temporal occlusion training can improve action anticipation abilities. (5) A small to moderate correlation exists between action anticipation scores in the laboratory and actual movement performance in sports. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the crucial role of action anticipation in specific sports performance.