Exploration and Expertise: A mixed methods research – 2E2MR

The "Exploration and Expertise: A Mixed Methods Research " (2E2MR) project combines computer and data sciences with social and human sciences, in particular experimental psychology and cognitive sciences. This interdisciplinary project focuses on the holistic analysis of exploratory activity in expert performance (i.e. in athletes with a very high level of expertise) using multimodal data: objective data (visual and motor activity obtained using an eye tracker, 3D video tracking of the athlete in relation to 3D mapping of the environment) and subjective data (phenomenological data from self-confrontation interviews). Although studies show that exploration decreases and becomes more effective in expert practice, the value of exploring in top-level athletes has been little studied, even though expert exploration could reflect a great skill for adaptation when facing task uncertainty.
Our project is innovative firstly because it aims to characterise exploration in high-level athletes as a key to expertise, a mark of adaptability in human activity. To do this, exploratory activity will be analysed 1) in national and international climbing competitions, where climbers have the opportunity to preview the route before climbing and thus prepare a plan of action, and 2) in an experimental context, in order to compare exploratory activity before and during climbing, depending on whether or not the climber is allowed to preview the route. Our project is also innovative in that it aims 1) to capture multimodal data (visual, motor and verbal activity, and 3D mapping of the climbing wall) in order 2) to segment and cluster the different modes of exploration in the form of clusters using an holistic mixed methods research.