The aims of the current research programme were, first, to examine expertise effects with regard to anticipation skill and the perception of deceptive movement, and, second, to examine how knowledge of the probability of behavioural events influences anticipation performance and visual search behaviour. In addition, this thesis sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in examining how anxiety affects the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation skill and visual search behaviour. In Chapter 3, skill-based differences in anticipation and decision making were examined using judgement accuracy and confidence ratings. High-skilled soccer players demonstrated superior anticipatory performance and were less susceptible to deception compared with low-skilled players. In Chapters 4 and 5 Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm was adapted to examine the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation skill and visual search behaviour. High-skilled participants were found to be more accurate and demonstrate more efficient visual search behaviour compared to low-skilled participants. However, findings demonstrated that both groups benefited from the provision of probability information, and performance was moderated by the degree of certainty conveyed through the probability information. In Chapter 6, the same anticipation task and process tracing measures were used to examine the effects of heightened anxiety on the processing of probability and visual information. The findings supported the predictions of ACT, as the influence of top-down information was suppressed during high-pressure conditions, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system. The series of studies in this thesis are the first to explore the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation performance and the perception of deception. Study 4 is also the first to test the predictions of ACT regarding the processing of (top-down) explicit knowledge and (bottom-up) visual information under pressure during a simulated soccer anticipation task. The use of probability information through performance analysis feedback plays a prominent role across a number of sports, and the present findings highlight the importance of understanding the costs and benefits associated with such information. It is concluded that future perceptual training interventions should incorporate context-specific information that mimics the real-life demands of competitive sport, and should be directed towards enhancing players' ability to detect deception rather than training players to become attuned to non-deceptive movement.

Emotional Stroop task results have been shown to be inconsistent throughout the literature due to a multitude of factors including both stimulus and population factors. There are also several theories to explain the emotional Stroop effects, including the attentional control theory (Eysenck et al., 2007). This theory states that anxiety consumes attentional and memory resources, resulting in impairment in executive functions, and thus cognitive performance is lowered. Recently, Owens et al. (2014) reported that the effects of anxiety on cognitive performance might be moderated by working memory capacity (WMC). The present study explored whether Owens et al.'s (2014) paradigm fit the Stroop data. It also explored the role that WMC had in recognition memory for emotional and neutral words. Processing efficiency during the Stroop task and anxiety was expected to show a positive relationship for High WMC and a negative relationship for Low WMC. Furthermore, memory for emotional words were expected to be better for Low WMC due to longer processing times for emotional words. The results showed that WMC did not improve the model for both the emotional Stroop and the surprise recognition memory task, thereby contradicting Owens et al.'s (2014) proposed paradigm. Furthermore, an increase of anxiety scores showed a decrease in memory for emotional words but only for Low WMC.

It is suggested that neuroticism impairs cognitive performance mostly in difficult tasks i.e. WM tasks, but not so much in easier tasks. However, behavioural, and functional neuroanatomical correlates of detrimental effect of neuroticism in relation to central executive system (CES) during cognitive tasks particularly in multitasking still unknown. I aim at investigating behavioural and functional neuroanatomical correlates of single- and dual-task performance in high and low neurotics. The general hypothesis is that high neurotics will show a poorer performance on processing of cognitive tasks as compared to low neurotics. From a screened population, I select low neurotics (below 6) and high neurotics (over 16) on 24 item Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) neuroticism scale. First empirical study was consisted of three standard WM tests. The result of this study showed that high neurotics had lower performance when the task heavily requires CES such as switching and inhibition. Next empirical studies were consisted of dual tasks based on PRP paradigm. In dual task studies, in addition to SOA manipulation SOA (0 and1000ms), task demand manipulated either by presentation of task order or task set maintenance. The results show that high neurotics considerably slower when SOA is short. Further, it has been observed dual task cost differences between high and low neurotics increase as the demand increase either by random tasks or task set maintenance as evident by lower processing efficiency in high neurotics. Also, high neurotics perceived higher stress level as the task demand increase. In the final study, I assessed brain activity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in low and high neurotics while they were performing a demanding dual-task and the less demanding component tasks as single-tasks. Imaging data showed that high neurotics showed less dual-task specific activation in lateral and medial prefrontal cortices. In conclusion, I conclude that high levels of neuroticism impair behavioural performance in demanding tasks with higher perceived stress level, and that this impairment is accompanied by reduced activation of the task-associated brain areas. Key words: Neuroticism, Personality, Multitasking, dual-task performance, prefrontal cortex attentional control theory, working memory.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the past research that has been conducted to date on pre-shot routines in golf via a thorough review of the literature. A historical review is presented in a chronological order of research studies that have been conducted pertaining to pre-shot routines in golf over the last 40 years. From this review, the STOP S.L.O.W. GO Pre-Shot Routine Model for Golf was developed and assessed amongst college golf coaches in the United States. A total of 36 college golf coaches working at the NCAA Division I level participated in a two-round Delphi study to validate the usefulness and future utility of the STOP S.L.O.W. GO Pre-Shot Routine Model for Golf. The usefulness of the STOP S.L.O.W. GO Pre-Shot Routine Model for Golf was validated by achieving a 72.73% consensus agreement level amongst study participants. The researchers were unable to reach adequate levels of expert consensus amongst college golf coaches working at the NCAA Division I level pertaining to the future utility of the STOP S.L.O.W. GO Pre-Shot Routine Model for Golf in their golf instruction. However, it was found that future utilization rates of the model may increase if the designer of the model were to provide educational sessions to college golf coaches and members of their college golf team. Practitioners and researchers are encouraged to further examine the efficacy and future adoption rates of the STOP S.L.O.W. GO Pre-Shot Routine Model for Golf amongst golfers of all ability levels. In addition, a study examining the real adoption and utilization rates of college golf coaches working at the Division I level is encouraged upon the completion of face-to-face educational sessions by a researcher who has expertise in the area of pre-shot routines in golf.

Emotion can influence important user behaviors, including purchasing decisions, technology use, and customer loyalty. The ability to easily assess users' emotion during live system use therefore has practical significance for the design and improvement of information systems. In this paper, we discuss using human-computer interaction input devices to infer emotion. Specifically, we utilize attentional control theory to explain how movement captured via a computer mouse (i.e., mouse cursor movements) can be a real-time indicator of negative emotion. We report three studies. In Study 1, an experiment with 65 participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we randomly manipulated negative emotion and then monitored participants' mouse cursor movements as they completed a number-ordering task. We found that negative emotion increases the distance and reduces the speed of mouse cursor movements during the task. In Study 2, an experiment with 126 participants from a U.S. university, we randomly manipulated negative emotion and then monitored participants' mouse cursor movements while they interacted with a mock e-commerce site. We found that mouse cursor distance and speed can be used to infer the presence of negative emotion with an overall accuracy rate of 81.7 percent. In Study 3, an observational study with 80 participants from universities in Germany and Hong Kong, we monitored mouse cursor movements while participants interacted with an online product configurator. Participants reported their level of emotion after each step in the configuration process. We found that mouse cursor distance and speed can be used to infer the level of negative emotion with an out-of-sample R-2 of 0.17. The results enable researchers to assess negative emotional reactions during live system use, examine emotional reactions with more temporal precision, conduct multimethod emotion research, and create more unobtrusive affective and adaptive systems.

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