Pistol shooting performance under pressure: Longitudinal changes in gaze behavior of male and female Army cadets.

We found evidence that Army cadets improved their gaze behavior and performance across time under high and low pressure in a shooting task. The purpose of the study was to determine if male and female cadets developed an optimal quiet eye (QE) onset, a longer QE duration, and decreased pupil diameter variability (PDV) over time under low (LP) and high pressure (HP) conditions. The study was carried out over four sessions, with intervals of 4.5 months. During each session, 16 men and 12 women, first-year cadets of The Brazilian Army Academy, performed ten pistol shots under counterbalanced LP and HP conditions. The cadets shot in the upright position and wore an eye-tracker. Shooting accuracy improved and did not differ for men and women in the LP condition, however during HP the women performed more poorly than the men in session 1 but improved to a level similar to the men in session 4. QE duration Pre (aiming) did not differ during LP, while during HP QE Post (execution) increased across the session for men and women. QE onset 2 (execution) occurred earlier for the men than women during LP, while during HP the women improved to a level similar to the men in sessions 3 and 4. PDV declined across sessions for men and women with the lowest values in sessions 3 and 4. The findings are discussed within social facilitation theory, which states the context of training affects the rate at which improvements in motor skills occur. The results show that women cadets can improve their shooting performance, quiet eye duration, quiet eye onset and pupil diameter variability to a level similar to men if three to four LP and HP training sessions are scheduled across approximately 12-18 months.

The Role of Quiet Eye Timing and Location in the Basketball Three-Point Shot: A New Research Paradigm.

We investigated three areas of uncertainty about the role of vision in basketball shooting, the timing of fixations (early, late), the location of fixations (hoop centre, non-centre) and the effect of the defender on performance. We also sought to overcome a limitation of past quiet eye studies that reported only one quiet eye (QE) period prior to a phase of the action. Elite basketball players received the pass and took three-point shots in undefended and defended conditions. Five sequential QE periods were analyzed that were initiated prior to each phase of the shooting action: QE catch, QE arm preparation, QE arm flexion, QE arm extension, and QE ball release. We used a novel design in which the number of hits and misses were held constant by condition, thus leaving the timing and location of QE fixations free to vary across the phases during an equal number of successful and unsuccessful trials. The number of QE fixations accounted for 87% of total fixations. The greatest percent occurred during QE catch (43.6%), followed by QE arm flexion (34.1%), QE arm extension (17.5%) and QE ball release (4.8%). No fixations were found prior to QE arm preparation, due to a saccade made immediately to the target after QE catch. Fixation frequency averaged 2.20 per trial, and 1.25 during the final shooting action, meaning that most participants had time for only one fixation as the shot was taken. Accuracy was enhanced when: (1) an early QE offset occurred prior to the catch, (2) an early saccade was made to the target, (3) a longer QE duration occurred during arm flexion, and (4) QE arm flexion was located on the centre of the hoop, rather than on non-centre locations. Overall, the results provide evidence that vision of the hoop was severely limited during the last phase of the shooting action (QE ball release). The significance of the results is explored in the discussion, along with a QE training program designed to improve three-point shooting. Overall, the results greatly expand the role of the QE in explaining optimal motor performance.

Quiet eye training improves accuracy in basketball field goal shooting.

University students (N = 240) were randomly assigned to a quiet eye training (QET) or technical training (TT) group, and their shooting accuracy (%) determined during a pre-, post-, and transfer test in basketball field shooting. Both groups first received lectures on visuomotor processing and the quiet eye (QE), followed by a laboratory in which participants in the QET group were taught how to adopt the QE characteristics of elite free-throw shooters, which stresses optimal gaze control and focus relative to a single target location, while the TT participants were taught elite biomechanics which stresses optimal control of the shooting stance, arms, and hands. Overall, the QET group's accuracy was significantly higher than the TT group, but differences were found due to skill level and defensive pressure. From pre to post, the accuracy of the QET novices increased significantly compared to the TT novices, but declined during transfer. Both the QET and TT intermediates had relatively high accuracy scores during the pre- and posttests, which then declined, as expected, during the transfer test against defensive pressure. However, during transfer the QET group's accuracy remained higher than the TT group and was surprisingly similar to that found in elite competition. It is recommended that novice and intermediate basketball players be taught how to adopt the QE of elite players, rather than learning only the technical/mechanical aspects of shooting. Theoretically, the study is placed within the context of top-down "cognitive control," as proposed by Cavanagh and Frank (2014), and QET studies which show that when learners are taught how to adopt the QE of elite performers, this appears to contribute to a more optimal organization of the neural networks underlying control of the task which, in turn, leads to improved shooting performance.

A randomized controlled trial of a group-based gaze training intervention for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

The aim of this study was to integrate a gaze training intervention (i.e., quiet eye training; QET) that has been shown to improve the throwing and catching skill of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), within an approach (i.e., group therapy) that might alleviate the negative psychosocial impact of these motor skill deficits. Twenty-one children with DCD were split into either QET (8 male 3 female, mean age of 8.6 years (SD = 1.04) or technical training (TT) groups (7 male 3 female, mean age of 8.6 years (SD = 1.84). The TT group were given movement-related instructions via video, relating to the throw and catch phases, while the QET group were also taught to fixate a target location on the wall prior to the throw (QE1) and to track the ball prior to the catch (QE2). Each group partook in a 4-week, group therapy intervention and measurements of QE duration and catching performance were taken before and after training, and at a 6-week delayed retention test. Parental feedback on psychosocial and motor skill outcomes was provided at delayed retention. Children improved their gaze control and catching coordination following QET, compared to TT. Mediation analysis showed that a longer QE aiming duration (QE1) predicted an earlier onset of tracking the ball prior to catching (QE2) which predicted catching success. Parents reported enhanced perceptions of their child's catching ability and general coordination in the QET group compared to the TT group. All parents reported improvements in their child's confidence, social skills and predilection for physical activity following the trial. The findings offer initial support for an intervention that practitioners could apply to address deficits in the motor and psychosocial skills of children with DCD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02904980.

Quiet eye predicts goaltender success in deflected ice hockey shots.

In interceptive timing tasks, long quiet eye (QE) durations at the release point, along with early tracking on the object, allow performers to couple their actions to the kinematics of their opponent and regulate their movements based on emergent information from the object's trajectory. We used a mobile eye tracker to record the QE of eight university-level ice hockey goaltenders of an equivalent skill level as they responded to shots that deflected off a board placed to their left or right, resulting in a trajectory with low predictability. QE behaviour was assessed using logistic regression and magnitude-based inference. We found that when QE onset occurred later in the shot (950 ± 580 ms, mean ± SD) there was an increase in the proportion of goals allowed (41% vs. 22%) compared to when QE onset occurred earlier. A shorter QE duration (1260 ± 630 ms) predicted a large increase in the proportion of goals scored (38% vs. 14%). More saves occurred when QE duration (2074 ± 47 ms) was longer. An earlier QE offset (2004 ± 66 ms) also resulted in a large increase in the number of goals allowed (37% vs. 11%) compared to a later offset (2132 ± 41 ms). Since an early, sustained QE duration contributed to a higher percentage of saves, it is important that coaches develop practice activities that challenge the goaltender's ability to fixate the puck early, as well as sustain a long QE fixation on the puck until after it is released from the stick.

Effect of the look-up line on the gaze and head orientation of elite ice hockey players.

A "look-up line" (LUL) has been proposed for ice hockey, which is an orange 1 m (40') warning line (WL) painted on the ice at the base of the boards. The LUL purports to provide an early warning to players to keep their head up prior to and as they are being checked. We determined if players looked up more on a rink with the LUL compared to a traditional Control rink. Elite offensive (O) and defensive (D) players competed 1 vs. 1, while wearing an eye tracker that recorded their quiet eye (QE) and fixation and tracking (F-T) and an electrogoniometer that measured head angle. External cameras recorded skate duration during four skate phases: P1 preparation, P2 decision-making, P3 cut to boards, P4 contact. The QE was the final fixation prior to contact between O and D as they skated towards and across the WL during P3 and P4. Skate phase durations (%) did not differ by rink or rink by position. More QE and F-T occurred on the WL on the LUL rink than on the Control. The expected increase in head angle on the LUL rink did not occur during P3 or P4. Post-hoc results also showed O and D skated further from the boards on the LUL rink, suggesting the players preferred to control the puck on white ice, rather than the orange colour of the LUL rink. More research is needed to determine if these results apply to the competitive setting.

Performing under pressure: quiet eye training improves surgical knot-tying performance.

BACKGROUND: We examined the effectiveness of traditional technical training (TT) and quiet eye training (QET) on the performance of 1-handed square knot tying among first-year surgery residents under normal and high-anxiety conditions. METHODS: Twenty surgery residents were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 groups and completed pretest, training, and simple and complex retention tests under conditions of high and low anxiety. The TT group received traditional instruction on improving hand movements; the QET group received feedback on their gaze behaviors. Participants wore an eye tracker that recorded simultaneously their gaze and hand movements. Dependent variables were knot tying performance (%), quiet eye duration (%), number of fixations, and total movement time (s). RESULTS: Both groups improved their knot tying performance (P < .05) from pretest to the low anxiety conditions (mean difference: QET, 28%; TT, 17%); however, only the QET group maintained their knot tying performance under the high-anxiety conditions (mean difference: QET, 18%; P < .05), with the TT group decreasing their performance close to pretest levels (P > .05). The QET group also demonstrated more efficient gaze and hand movements post training. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate the effectiveness of training gaze behaviors, not only to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of performance, but also to mediate negative effects of anxiety on performance. These findings may have important implications for medical educators and practitioners, as well as surgeons who may be (re)training or learning new procedures.

Quiet eye training improves surgical knot tying more than traditional technical training: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: We examined the effectiveness of technical training (TT) and quiet eye training (QE) on the performance of one-handed square knot tying in surgical residents. METHODS: Twenty surgical residents were randomly assigned to the 2 groups and completed pretest, training, retention, and transfer tests. Participants wore a mobile eye tracker that simultaneously recorded their gaze and hand movements. Dependent variables were knot tying performance (%), QE duration (%), number of fixations, total movement time (s), and hand movement phase time (s). RESULTS: The QE training group had significantly higher performance scores, a longer QE duration, fewer fixations, faster total knot tying times, and faster movement phase times compared with the TT group. The QE group maintained performance in the transfer test, whereas the TT group significantly decreased performance from retention to transfer. CONCLUSIONS: QE training significantly improved learning, retention, and transfer of surgical knot tying compared with a traditional technical approach. Both performance effectiveness (performance outcome) and movement efficiency (hand movement times) were improved using QE modeling, instruction, and feedback.

Expert surgeon's quiet eye and slowing down: expertise differences in performance and quiet eye duration during identification and dissection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve.

BACKGROUND: Long quiet eye (QE) duration is central to expertise in sports, while cognitive "slowing down" has been identified as a perceptual skill possessed by skilled surgeons. Eye-tracking evidence is lacking about the relationship of QE duration to slowing down in surgeons. The aim of this study was to examine QE duration, hand movement time (MT), fixation location, and fixation duration in highly experienced (HE) and less experienced (LE) surgeons. METHODS: A mobile eye tracker and camera recorded coupled gaze and hand movements. Performance was quantified by blinded review. RESULTS: HE surgeons were rated higher than LE surgeons but did not differ in operating time or MT. HE and LE surgeons differed in fixation duration on the ligament of Berry during phases 1 and 2 and QE duration on the recurrent laryngeal nerve in phase 2. CONCLUSIONS: Long-duration fixation on the ligament of Berry and long-duration QE on the recurrent laryngeal nerve combined with no significant differences in MT provide empirical evidence that HE surgeons cognitively slow down more than LE surgeons during critical phases of the operation.

Quiet eye distinguishes children of high and low motor coordination abilities.

PURPOSE: This is the first study to use the quiet eye (QE) as an objective measure of visuomotor control underpinning proficiency differences in children's motor coordination. METHODS: Fifty-seven, year 5 primary school children (9-10 yr old) completed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2), while wearing a gaze registration system. Participants were subsequently divided into one of three ability groups: high motor coordination (HMC), median motor coordination (MMC), and low motor coordination (LMC) based on these MABC-2 scores (mean % rank: HMC = 84%, MMC = 51%, LMC = 19%). QE analyses were performed for the fourth task of the MABC-2, which involved throwing a tennis ball against a wall and catching it on the return. RESULTS: The HMC group was more successful in the catching task than both other groups (catching percentage: HMC = 92%, MMC = 62%, LMC = 35%) and demonstrated superior visuomotor control throughout the throwing and catching phases of the task. Compared with the other groups, the HMC group demonstrated longer targeting QE fixations before the release of the ball (HMC = 500 ms, MMC = 410 ms, LMC = 260 ms) and longer tracking QE durations before catching (HMC = 260 ms, MMC = 200 ms, LMC = 150 ms). There were no significant differences in ball flight time between the groups. Mediation analyses revealed that only the duration of the tracking QE predicted group differences in catching ability. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that the ability to predict and calibrate movements based on sensory feedback may be impaired in children with movement coordination difficulties and have implications for how they are taught fundamental movement skills.

Performing under pressure: gaze control, decision making and shooting performance of elite and rookie police officers.

Gaze of elite (E) and rookie (R) officers were analyzed as they faced a potentially lethal encounter that required use of a handgun, or inhibition of the shot when a cell phone was drawn. The E shot more accurately than the R (E 74.60%; R 53.80%) and made fewer decisions errors in the cell condition when 18.50% of E and 61.50% of R fired at the assailant. E and R did not differ in duration of the draw/aim/fire phases, but the R's motor onsets were later, during the final second compared to the E's final 2.5 s. Across the final six fixations the E increased the percent of fixations on the assailant's weapon/cell to 71% and to 86% on hits, compared to a high of 34% for the R. Before firing, the R made a rapid saccade to their own weapon on 84% of trials leading to a failure to fixate the assailant on 50% of trials as they fired. Compared to the R, the E had a longer quiet eye duration on the assailant's weapon/cell prior to firing. The results provide new insights into officer weapon focus, firearms training and the role of optimal gaze control when under extreme pressure.

Mind over muscle: the role of gaze control, spatial cognition, and the quiet eye in motor expertise.

In the course of all motor behavior, the brain is limited in how much information it can process and act upon at a time. Performers must constantly decide where to look, what to attend to, and how to time fixated information with precisely controlled actions. The gaze can be directed to only one location at a time and information central to success must be selected from spatially complex environments, most often under severe time constraints. The coordination of these processes is explored in this Special issue in a number of motor tasks, including golf, soccer, law enforcement, and ballet. The papers describe the visual information and quiet eye characteristics that underlie the ability to make decisions under complex task conditions and the relationship between control of the gaze and task outcomes. With the attainment of motor expertise, measureable changes occur within the gaze, cognitive, and neural systems that are useful in training, rehabilitation, and the treatment of motor deficits.

The effect of fixation transitions on quiet eye duration and performance in the soccer penalty kick: instep versus inside kicks.

Male goalkeepers of intermediate skill level attempted to stop penalty kicks executed with the instep and inside foot, in situ. A mobile eye tracker and an external camera were used to collect the gaze and motor behaviors of the goalkeepers, as well as the penalty takers' motor behaviors and flight of the ball. Percent saves was greater during instep (28%) than inside foot kicks (12%), but we detected few differences in fixation frequency, location, duration, or transitions that could be attributed to the type of kick used. Fixation transitions (or the frequency of gaze shifts between locations) were significantly higher on goals than on saves. During the final phase of the kicking action, the quiet eye was located on the visual pivot and was longer during saves than goals. Furthermore, when the final fixation on the ball exceeded approximately 1,100 ms, then the likelihood of goals increased. The results are discussed in light of past studies in goaltending and the dual demands of motor tasks that require information be fixated both early and late at spatial locations that exceed the limits of focal vision.

Effect of narrowing the base of support on the gait, gaze and quiet eye of elite ballet dancers and controls.

We determined the gaze and stepping behaviours of elite ballet dancers and controls as they walked normally and along progressively narrower 3-m lines (l0.0, 2.5 cm). The ballet dancers delayed the first step and then stepped more quickly through the approach area and onto the lines, which they exited more slowly than the controls, which stepped immediately but then slowed their gait to navigate the line, which they exited faster. Contrary to predictions, the ballet group did not step more precisely, perhaps due to the unique anatomical requirements of ballet dance and/or due to releasing the degrees of freedom under their feet as they fixated ahead more than the controls. The ballet group used significantly fewer fixations of longer duration, and their final quiet eye (QE) duration prior to stepping on the line was significantly longer (2,353.39 ms) than the controls (1,327.64 ms). The control group favoured a proximal gaze strategy allocating 73.33% of their QE fixations to the line/off the line and 26.66% to the exit/visual straight ahead (VSA), while the ballet group favoured a 'look-ahead' strategy allocating 55.49% of their QE fixations to the exit/VSA and 44.51% on the line/off the line. The results are discussed in the light of the development of expertise and the enhanced role of fixations and visual attention when more tasks become more constrained.

Advances in coupling perception and action: the quiet eye as a bidirectional link between gaze, attention, and action.

One of the most elusive mysteries in psychology is perception-action coupling and the extent vision for perception is distinct from vision for action. In this chapter, I explore research on the control of the gaze during well-known sport tasks (vision for action) and the bidirectional link between perceptual and cognitive processes and optimal/nonoptimal motor performance. Considerable evidence now exists showing that specific gaze characteristics underlie higher levels of sport performance. The quiet eye has emerged as a characteristic of higher levels of performance and is the final fixation or tracking gaze that occurs prior to the final movement. Cognitive and ecological accounts of the quiet eye are presented and current controversies and future directions explored.

How are actions physically implemented?

This chapter focuses on the interdisciplinary discussion between cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists on how actions, the results of decision processes, are implemented. After surveying the approaches used in action implementation research, we analyze the contributions of these different approaches in more detail. Topics covered include expertise research in sports science, knowledge structures, neuroscientific research on motor imagery and decision making, computational models in motor control, robotics, and brain-machine interfaces. This forms the basis for discussing central issues for interdisciplinary research on action implementation from different viewpoints. In essence, most findings show the need to abandon serial frameworks of information processing suggesting a step-by-step pattern from perception, evaluation, and selection to execution. Instead, an outlook on new approaches is given, opening a route for future research in this field.

Using spatial occlusion to explore the control strategies used in rapid interceptive actions: Predictive or prospective control?

Interceptive actions require individuals to time their movements with an external event. To meet the intense spatial-temporal demands needed for successful interception, a tight coupling and coordination between perceptual and motor processes is required. The control strategy that underlies successful performance is a matter of debate. On the one hand, a predictive control strategy assumes that advanced information is used for response selection and the movement is carried out faithfully without modification. In contrast, a prospective control strategy assumes that the movement response is continuously specified through to the point of interception. Using the rapid interceptive timing task of ice hockey goaltending, we explored the effects of progressively removing predictive visual information from the shooter on the gaze behaviours and motor responses of elite goaltenders. Results showed that the goaltenders used a prospective reversal strategy on 18 of 79 glove trials (22.8% of glove saves; 4.5% of total shots). When a reversal was used, the goaltenders were more successful (saved 11/18 reversals). The gaze behaviour that corresponded to both of these strategies was the quiet eye, which was the final fixation before the onset of the saving motion. The optimal location and duration of the quiet eye was an important factor for successful interception of the puck.

Performing under pressure: the effects of physiological arousal, cognitive anxiety, and gaze control in biathlon.

The authors provide evidence that choking under pressure is associated with changes in visual attention. Ten elite biathlon shooters were tested under separate low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure (HP) conditions after exercising on a cycle ergometer at individually prescribed power output (PO) levels of 55%, 70%, 85%, and 100% of their maximum oxygen uptake. The authors determined difference scores by subtracting each athlete's score in the LP condition from his or her score in the HP condition for heart rate (d-HR), rate of perceived exertion (d-RPE), cognitive anxiety (d-CA), and cognitive worry (d-CW), and final fixation on the target or quiet eye gaze (d-QE). Using regression analysis, the authors determined predictors of accuracy for each HP PO level. At PO 55%, the authors found 3 predictors (d-HR, d-RPE, d-QE) that accounted for .62 of the adjusted R2 variance. Accuracy was higher when d-QE was lower and d-RPE and d-HR were higher than the values found in the LP condition. At PO 100%, however, an increase in d-QE and d-RPE accounted for .58 of the adjusted R2 variance. Accuracy was dependent on an increase in external focus (positive d-QE) independently of heart rate. At the highest PO level, directing visual attention externally to critical task information appeared to insulate the athletes from choking under HP.

Gaze characteristics of elite and near-elite athletes in ice hockey defensive tactics.

Traditional visual search experiments, where the researcher pre-selects video-based scenes for the participant to respond to, shows that elite players make more efficient decisions than non-elites, but disagree on how they temporally regulate their gaze. Using the vision-in-action [J.N. Vickers, J. Exp. Psychol.: Human Percept. Perform. 22 (1996) 342] approach, we tested whether the significant gaze that differentiates elite and non-elite athletes occurred either: early in the task and was of more rapid duration [A.M. Williams et al., Res. Quart. Exer. Sport 65 (1994) 127; A.M. Williams and K. Davids, Res. Quart. Exer. Sport 69 (1998) 111], or late in the task and was of longer duration [W. Helsen, J.M. Pauwels, A cognitive approach to visual search in sport, in: D. Brogan, K. Carr (Eds.), Visual Search, vol. II, Taylor and Francis, London, 1992], or whether a more complex gaze control strategy was used that consisted of both early and rapid fixations followed by a late fixation of long duration prior to the final execution. We tested this using a live defensive zone task in ice hockey. Results indicated that athletes temporally regulated their gaze using two different gaze control strategies. First, fixation/tracking (F/T) gaze early in the trial were significantly shorter than the final F/T and confirmed that the elite group fixated the tactical locations more rapidly than the non-elite on successful plays. And secondly, the final F/T prior to critical movement initiation (i.e. F/T-1) was significantly longer for both groups, averaging 30% of the final part of the phase and occurred as the athletes isolated a single object or location to end the play. The results imply that expertise in defensive tactics is defined by a cascade of F/T, which began with the athletes fixating or tracking specific locations for short durations at the beginning of the play, and concluded with a final gaze of long duration to a relatively stable target at the end. The results are discussed within the context of gaze research in open and closed skills, as well as theoretical models of long-term memory and decision making in sport.

Temporal judgments, hemispheric equivalence, and interhemispheric transfer in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This study investigated temporal processing abilities, hemispheric asymmetry, interhemispheric transfer, and stimulant medication effects in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pairs of light emitting diodes in a visual half-field display (i.e., bilateral and unilateral presentations) were presented to examine medication effects, temporal judgments, hemispheric asymmetry, and interhemispheric transfer in male adolescents with ADHD and matched controls on age and gender. Participants responded (YES/NO) whether pairs of spatially separated diodes were illuminated simultaneously. Stimulant medication did not have an affect on temporal judgments, hemispheric equivalence, or interhemispheric transfer. No group differences in temporal judgments in any of the paired conditions were revealed. Both the ADHD and control groups demonstrated hemispheric equivalence for temporal judgments. Unexpectedly, the ADHD group demonstrated significantly faster interhemispheric transfer times when compared to the control group. The overall findings indicate that the reported deficit in time perception among individuals with ADHD may be restricted to tasks that involve response inhibition, reaction time, and/or motor movements (e.g., replicate durations of stimuli by pressing a lever).