Exploring Visual Discrimination and Performance Adaptation in First-League Futsal Players via LUMMICS.

Abstract

Background/objectives: Perceptual-cognitive abilities such as visual discrimination, reaction time, and attentional control are important for performance in dynamic sports. However, evidence remains limited regarding how simplified visual tasks capture performance variability and dynamics under repeated exposure. This study examined session-to-session performance changes and individual trajectories in a programmable visual discrimination task of increasing complexity in elite futsal players.

Methods: An exploratory repeated-measures study was conducted with ten first-league futsal players. Participants completed between six and ten sessions of a color-cue visual discrimination task ("Follow the Color") under one- and two-stimulus conditions. Outcomes included correct responses, errors, and reaction time per session. A total of 465 observations were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models to assess changes across sessions and the influence of task complexity. Individual analyses were also performed to explore player-specific trajectories.

Results: Mean session accuracy was 63.8 ± 9.8 correct responses, with a mean error rate of 3.6 ± 6.1 and a mean reaction time of 0.63 ± 0.15 s. Error rates declined significantly across sessions (β = -0.008, p < 0.001), while reaction time improved modestly (β = -0.00011, p = 0.025). Correct responses showed a small negative trend over time. Increased task complexity was associated with fewer correct responses, higher error rates, and slower reaction times (all p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This programmable visual discrimination task captured variability in visuomotor responses under controlled conditions and may support monitoring of performance dynamics in sports vision research.