Gal Ziv

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Lithuanian Sports University

Background The role of attentional focus is a well-explored topic in exercise sciences. Studies generally indicate that external focus (EF) enhances motor performance and learning compared with internal focus (IF). However, most studies only included one or two experimental days which limits participants’ exposure to the focus conditions. This rais...

In the dynamic sport of racecar driving, split-second decisions and rapid execution are imperative. Such an environment requires a tight functional coupling of perception and action. This paper introduces an approach for training racecar drivers rooted in ecological and embodied perspectives. It discusses three pivotal affordances of racecar drivin...

The purpose of this online study was to examine the effectiveness of concurrent positive and negative visual feedback on the performance of a rotary-pursuit task. One hundred and nine physical education students were randomly assigned to three groups: a positive feedback group (n = 37), a negative feedback group (n = 35), and a control group (no fe...

Differences in expectations between experimental and control groups can influence the outcomes of exercise interventions, emphasizing the need to match expectations across study groups. This online study examined whether the expectations to improve the performance of different cognitive tasks differ between various activities commonly used in resea...

This study sought to enhance current dog training practices by determining whether a finding from human motor skill learning research, the contextual interference (CI) effect, could be replicated in a trick-training paradigm with companion dogs. In humans, research shows that practicing skills in random order, as compared with blocked order, improv...

Racecar driving is a fast-paced sport that presents the driver-athlete with many perception-action coupling and decision-making challenges. One question that arises is how racecar drivers deal with the influx of perceptual information and manage to perform successfully in such high speeds and, as a result, very limited time to make decisions and ac...

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) holds promise for revealing and understanding neurodegenerative processes associated with cognitive and functional impairments in aging. In the present study, we examined the neurometabolic correlates of balance performance in 42 cognitively intact older adults (healthy controls - HC) and 26 older ind...

Background Viewing cute images of puppies or kittens can improve the performance of various motor tasks due to increased behavioral carefulness. It is possible, however, that this effect can be moderated by the affinity of individuals towards specific cute stimuli. The purpose of this pre-registered study was to examine whether dog ownership modera...

Background Given the extensive evidence on improvements in cognitive inhibition immediately following exercise, and the literature indicating that cognitive and motor inhibitory functions are mediated by overlapping brain networks, the aim of this study was to assess, for the first time, the effect of moderate intensity acute aerobic exercise on mu...

Referees in sport are required to have specific perceptual-cognitive skills in order to make correct and consistent decisions. The current article explores those skills and describes the literature regarding perceptual-cognitive skills and decision making of referees in association football. First, we describe the importance of perceptual-cognitive...

The purpose of this study was to explore whether asking middle-aged gamers and non-gamers about their video games habits will affect their performance of cognitive-motor tasks. One-hundred and twenty-one participants were randomly assigned to four groups: (a) gamers who were asked about their playing habits prior to the study, (b) gamers who were a...

Background Autonomy or choice can lead to improved learning in various educational domains. The purpose of this online study was to examine whether giving participants a choice regarding the frequency of their received feedback (either after each individual trial or after a block of trials) in a computerized alternate task-switching task, will affe...

The purpose of this pre-registered study was to examine whether asking gamers and non-gamers about their video game playing habits before or after they performed computerized cognitive-motor tasks affects their performance of those tasks. We recruited 187 participants from an online participants’ recruitment platform. Out of those participants, 131...

Humans are emotionally affected by cute or infantile appearances, typical of baby animals and humans, which in turn often leads to careful and cautious behavior. The purpose of this pre-registered study was to examine whether looking at cute images of baby pets improves performance of computerized cognitive-motor tasks. Ninety-eight participants we...

The performance of motor skills is linked with paying attention to the task at hand and/or to relevant cues associated with the environment where the individual/team is performing. This chapter focuses on two major concepts of attention that have been studied extensively in the literature of sport and exercise psychology: attentional instructions (...

The majority of the studies on attentional focus have shown that participants who were instructed to focus externally performed better than those who were taught to focus internally. However, in most of these studies the participants performed complex motor tasks. Due to the scarcity of data on the effects of attentional focus specifically on simpl...

The purpose of the current study was threefold: (a) to examine the effects of participants having the autonomy to choose the practice order of two reaction time (RT) tasks-a choice-RT task and a Simon task-on performance, (b) to examine whether one order of practice is better than the other, and (c) to examine whether participants might choose a pr...

Purpose: Published reports suggest that nonoptimal visual search behavior is associated with false negatives in chest x-ray interpretation. Eye movement modeling example (EMME)-based training interventions, that is, interventions showing models of visual search to trainees, have been shown to improve visual search as well as task accuracy. Approach...

This review summarizes behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of inhibitory control affected by a single bout of cardiovascular exercise. The review also examines the effect of a single bout of cardiovascular exercise on these processes in young adults with a focus on the functioning of prefrontal pathways (including the left dorsolateral prefro...

This study examined how providing criteria for success of different levels of difficulty affected perceived expectations to succeed, performance, and learning in a golf-putting task. Twenty-nine physical education students were divided into three experimental groups: (a) a large-circle (LC) group that practiced 10 blocks of five putts, each with a...

The purpose of this review was to examine the literature on gaze behavior in referees. A literature search found only 12 relevant studies. Five of those studies were conducted on referees in association football (soccer), three on judges in gymnastics, one on softball umpires, and one each on referees in team handball, rugby, and ice hockey. Seven...

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether a wide bandwidth knowledge of results (WBWKR) would result in better throwing accuracy and consistency compared to a narrow bandwidth knowledge of results (NBWKR) among goalball players with visual impairments. Elite goalball players (n=14) were randomly assigned to one of two groups-a WBWKR o...

In radiology, 60% to 80% of diagnostic errors are perceptual. The use of more efficient visual search behaviors is expected to reduce these errors. We collected eye-tracking data from participants with different levels of experience when interpreting chest X-rays during the completion of a pathology-detection task. Eye-tracking measures were assess...

The number of aviation accidents has declined in the past decades but there are still, unfortunately, fatal accidents, many of which are caused by pilot error. Risk factors for these accidents include failures in perception and situation awareness and failure in monitoring flight parameters. These risk factors can be reduced by maintaining optimal...

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of providing autonomy to learners and the phenomenon of preference-performance dissociation on a closed, self-paced motor task – putting in golf, when using different placements of a visual aid (a large circle) around a golf hole. Seventy-six participants were assigned to four experi...

Background: Randomization provides an equal chance for participants to be allocated to intervention groups, in order to create an equal distribution of all variables at baseline in all groups. However, this is not guaranteed, particularly if the groups are too small, or if the researched groups consist of older adults. The aims of this commentary...

This project aimed to evaluate effects of ambient lighting during practice and performance of simulated helicopter escape sequences. Participants were randomized to one of the following groups to practice a standard helicopter underwater escape sequence: Light (with room lights on), Dark (with room lights off), or Graduated (in the light for the fi...

Gaze behavior in general, and the quiet eye (QE) in particular, are integral to the performance of closed, self-paced motor tasks. This review examines the relationship between the QE (and a number of other gaze properties) and golf-putting performance. An analysis of 26 studies revealed conflicting results. For example, while some studies showed t...

Perceptual-cognitive skills enable an individual to integrate environmental information with existing knowledge to be able to process stimuli and execute appropriate responses on complex tasks. Various underlying processes could explain how perceptual-cognitive skills impact on expert performance, as articulated in three theoretical accounts: (a) t...

One important concept of experimental design is the random assignment of participants to experimental groups. This randomization process is used to prevent selection bias, as well as to provide a strong basis for a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent variable/s and the dependent variable/s. In small sample sizes, simple randomizat...

The performance of motor tasks can be improved by enhanced performance expectancies. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether providing relatively easy performance criteria to golfers improves their golf-putting accuracy. More specifically, our aim was not only to replicate a previous study (Ziv, G., Ochayon, M., & Lidor, R. 2019. En...

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between expertise, performance, and gaze behavior in a complex error-detection cockpit task. Twenty-four pilots and 26 non-pilots viewed video-clips from a pilot’s viewpoint and were asked to detect malfunctions in the cockpit instrument panel. Compared to non-pilots, pilots detected...

Objective: To examine whether performance expectancies enhance or diminish the learning of a putting task in golf. More specifically, our aim was to replicate a previous study (Palmer, Chiviacowsky, & Wulf, 2016), but to add a control group, in order to more accurately assess whether a large circle around the target enhances putting performance and...

Professionals involved in training programs aimed at improving the ability of handball players—coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, athletic trainers, and sport physicians—should have access to information on the physical aspects of the handball players, so that they can use this information when planning short- and long-te...

The decline in cognitive and motor functions with age affects the performance of the aging healthy population in many daily life activities. Physical activity appears to mitigate this decline or even improve motor and cognitive abilities in older adults. The current systematic review will focus mainly on behavioral studies that look into the dual e...

The purpose of this paper is to review a series of studies (N= 17) regarding the effects of using various methods when training dogs. The reviewed studies examined the differences between training methods (e.g., methods based on positive reinforcement, positive punishment, escape/avoidance, etc.) on a dog’s physiology, welfare, and behavior towards...

Closed, self-paced tasks are typically performed in a stable environment, but some features of the environment may vary (e.g., quiet/noisy conditions) or may negatively influence the outcome of performance. Optimal gaze behavior, and specifcally long quiet eye (QE) durations, has been found to be associated with improved performance of closed, self-...

Introduction: The Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire 2 (VMIQ-2) assesses individuals' ability to imagine themselves performing 12 simple motor tasks, from three perspectives: internal visual imagery, external visual imagery and kinesthetic imagery. The purpose of the current study was twofold: (a) to describe the translation process of th...

Gaze behavior can play an important role in the safety of both older drivers and older pedestrians, and therefore evidence-based knowledge related to gaze behavior in the older population should be communicated to those professionals who regularly work with this group. A review of 25 studies examining the effect of age on gaze behavior in drivers a...

ABSTRACT: Inspired by the pioneering work of Joan Vickers, Quiet Eye (QE) research has gained increased attention from researchers in disciplines ranging from Sports Science to Neuroscience. A recent target article by Vickers (2016) provides an overview of QE research relating to expert performance, oculomotor control, attention, anxiety, and child...

For FULL TEXT go here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/iEjtuZKEhMnPceI5GmwV/full Objective: The objective of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 50) regarding gaze behavior and performance when piloting an aircraft. Background: Optimal gaze behavior can lead to improved flying performance under both normal and stressful condition...

The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of the distance of a wall located behind the hole in performing a putt in golf. Our assumption was that a performance condition where the wall is located a short distance behind the hole would help novices minimize any left/right directional bias. Novice golfers performed a putting task...

Deliberate practice (DP), an activity aimed at enhancing an individual's performance, has been reported to be crucial for achieving a state of expertise in various domains, such as education, music, and sport. In this article, the relationships between DP and the process of athletic performance adaptation are explored by elaborating on the main pri...

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to profile physical characteristics and physiological attributes of football goalkeepers (GKs) who were divided into three age groups – under 16 years, 16-19, and over 19, and (b) to examine the intra-individual variability among the GKs in each age group on all physical and physiological measurements perf...

During the past two decades, research has shown that an external focus (EF) of attention is superior to an internal focus (IF) of attention when performing a variety of motor skills. However, most of the studies on the use of EF and IF instructions for motor skill acquisition were conducted on young and healthy adults. The purpose of the current ar...

A review of 16 studies examining on-field performances of rugby union players was conducted. Based on this review, we discuss a number of methodological and measurement concerns, and provide practical implications for practitioners who develop training programs for rugby players. Among the main findings that emerged from our review were (a) rugby i...

The main purpose of this study was to review a series of studies (N = 23) on on-field performances of female and male field hockey players. Studies were selected from a computerized search in electronic databases (SPORTDiscus, Google Scholar), as well as from a manual search. Among the main findings that emerged from the studies on female players w...

The purpose of the current study was twofold: (a) to profile the abilities and skills of seventh and eighth grade female basketball players, based on achievements assessed by a number of physical, motor, and skill tests as well as on their coaches' assessment, of seven aspects related to their general playing ability, and (b) to examine which asses...

The purpose of this exploratory study was twofold: (a) to examine the effectiveness of internal (INT; focusing on the swinging motion of the arms) and external (EXT; focusing on the pendulum motion of the club head) focus of attention instructions on the performance of a golf-putting task under non-distracted and distracted (noisy) conditions, and...

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to profile physical characteristics and motor abilities of three age groups of soccer players - under 14 years, 14-17, and over 17, playing different positions - goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards; and (b) to examine the inter-individual variability among the players in each age group in al...

The main purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n=30) on anthropometrics, physical characteristics, physiological attributes, and sport-specific skills in athletes under the age of 14 involved in early phases of talent development. Among the main findings of this review were that (a) young athletes have favorable anthropometric...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of external and internal focus of attention instructions on running economy at a submaximal velocity. Twenty-four male physical education students ran on a treadmill at a velocity of 9.6 km·hr-1 in two 10-minute counterbalanced conditions: external focus (watching a video of running from th...

This study examined the effectiveness of external and internal focusing attention instructions on the performance of three throwing tasks under both quiet and distracted conditions. The main finding was that during acquisition, the external focus of attention led to improved performance when compared to internal focus of attention and control, but...

The purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 18) on psychological preparation of competitive judokas. These studies were grouped according to the type of study performed - observational, experimental, and case studies. In addition, five psychological categories were identified: (a) imagery, (b) motivation, (c) stress, anxiety,...

The purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 16) on psychological and instructional aspects of serving in two racquet sports - tennis and badminton. The main findings of this review were that (a) imagery and self-talk can help players improve their serves in tennis and badminton; (b) task-pertinent learning strategies which ar...

The purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 34) on psychological preparation in free-throw (FT) shots in basketball. The main finding of this review was that FT performances can be enhanced by the use of psychological techniques, such as quite eye (QE), focusing attention, pre-performance routines, verbal feedback, and modeli...

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of external focus of attention and internal focus of attention instructions on physiological responses in experienced adolescent basketball players (n = 17; mean age = 15.1±0.6 years). After a 10-min warm-up at a running velocity equal to 60% of the heart rate reserve, participants ran on a tre...

In this article we reviewed a series of studies (n = 18) on psychological preparation of the goalkeeper (GK) for the 11-m penalty kick in soccer. The main findings of this review were that deception strategies (e.g., standing slightly off-center) can increase the chances of the kick being directed to a desired direction, and that individual differe...

Introduction The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to profile physical characteristics and physiological attributes of adolescent and adult Greek female volleyball players (n=61) who were members of the A (the best league for female volleyball players) and B (the second- best league for female volleyball players) Series clubs in Greece, and (b...

The soccer goalkeeper (GK) is required to perform strenuous actions during practice sessions and actual games. One of the objectives of those professionals who work with GKs is to obtain relevant information on physical characteristics and physiological attributes of GKs, and to use it effectively when planning training programs for them. This arti...

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to profile physical characteristics and physiological attributes of adolescent and adult Greek female volleyball players (n = 61) who were members of the A (the best league for female volleyball players) and B (the second-best league for female volleyball players) Series clubs in Greece and (b) to examine...

The main purpose of this article is to review a series of studies (N = 18) on the physical characteristics, physiological attributes, throwing velocity and accuracy ,and on-court performances of female team handball players. Studies were selected from a computerized search in electronic databases (PubMed, SPORT Discus) as well as from a manual sear...

The purpose of this study was to review a series of studies (n = 20) examining the effects of adding music to exercise programs in clinical populations and in the elderly. We found that the addition of music can (a) improve exercise capacity and increase patients’ motivation to participate in cardiac and pulmonary exercise rehabilitation programs;...

Statistics on on-court performances (e.g. free-throw shots, 2-point shots, defensive and offensive rebounds, and assists) of basketball players during actual games are typically used by basketball coaches and sport journalists not only to assess the game performance of individual players and the entire team, but also to predict future success (i.e....

The main objective of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 31) on physical attributes, physiological attributes, and on-court performances of female volleyball players. Empirical and practical knowledge emerging from studies on training-related issues in volleyball, such as body mass, fat-free mass, aerobic profile, strength, and agi...

The main purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n=32; 24 observational and eight experimental) examining vertical jump (VJ) performances in female and male volleyball players. The main findings of this review are (a) players of better performing teams have higher VJ values; (b) strength and conditioning programs that emphasize p...

The purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n = 31) on physical characteristics, physiological attributes, and volleyball skills of female and male adolescent volleyball players. Among the main findings were (a) that male national players were taller and heavier than state and novice players, while female national players showed...

The main purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n=23) on physical characteristics, physiological attributes, throwing velocity and accuracy, and on-court performances of male handball players – amateur players, experienced players, professional players, and players on the national team. Five main findings emerged from our review...

This article reviews a series of studies (n = 51) examining physical attributes, physiological characteristics, on-court performances and nutritional strategies of female and male elite basketball players. These studies included relevant information on physical and physiological variables, such as height, weight, somatotype, relative size, aerobic...

The main purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n=26; 15 observational and 11 experimental) examining vertical jump (VJ) performances in female and male basketball players. Information on the tests used in these studies and their specific protocols, and the training programs conducted to improve VJ ability in elite basketball pl...

The preferred transition speed (PTS) at which humans change their gait from walking to running was found to be lower than their energetically optimal transition speed (EOTS). This phenomenon has not been examined in racewalkers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the PTS and the EOTS in racewalkers compared with controls. Eleven racewalkers...