Joan N Vickers

University of Calgary · Faculty of Kinesiology

A research proposal is presented based on a unique quiet eye training (QET) program developed for a golfer who suffered from the YIPS. After receiving the QET program she overcame the YIPS and continued to perform on the LPGA tour. While positive results with one golfer is encouraging, a larger study is proposed involving YIPS sufferers in two grou...

Introduction The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport. Despite recognition that such performance depends on a range of cognitive factors, how common these factors are across performance domains remains unclear. The current study sought to int...

A case study is presented of a professional golfer (AB) who in her 13th LPGA season suffered from the psychological form of the YIPS. She had increased anxiety about her technique and eye movements that made focusing difficult. After a quiet eye (QE) training program she overcame the YIPS and had her 2nd best season. However, her improvement was te...

This paper reveals new insights that comes from comparing quiet eye (QE) studies within the motor accuracy and motor error paradigms. Motor accuracy is defined by the rules of the sport (e.g,. hits versus misses), while motor error is defined by a behavioral measure, such as how far a ball or other object lands from the target (e.g. radial error)....

The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport, and depends on a range of cognitive factors. How common these key performance factors are across application domains remains unclear. The current study sought to integrate existing knowledge in the pe...

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...

and Keywords Considerable debate has arisen about whether brain activity in elite athletes is characterized by an overall quieting, or neural efficiency in brain processes, or whether elite performance is characterized by activation of two simultaneous networks. One network exercises cognitive control using increased theta activation of premotor an...

Quiet Eye Solutions(QES) is a software program that isolates the quiet eye in any motor task. It automatically computes the QE location, onset, offset and duration, relative to a specific phase or phases of the movement. QES accepts gaze and motor videos already synchronized using an editing package. QES can also temporarily synchronize gaze video...

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. T...

The CONSORT checklist. (DOC)

The original study protocol taken from NHS ethics application. (DOCX)

Instructional videos. Summarising the instructions given to the QET and TT groups. (ZIP)

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 p...

A B S T R AC T The future of the QE is discussed in terms of its origin in the expertise paradigm, the urgent need for QE theory development, the potential of an ecological dynamics framework providing an interpretation of QE findings, and the success of QE training and its ability to facilitate emotional control and motor success. Important method...

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 tradi...

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 univer...

Quiet eye training (QET) may be a more effective method for teaching children to catch than traditional training (TT) methods, but it is unclear if the benefits accrued persist in the long term. Thirty children were randomly allocated into a QET or TT group and, while wearing a mobile eye tracker, underwent baseline testing, training and two retent...

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...

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 two groups and completed pretest, training, retention and transfer tests. Participants wore mobile eye tracker that...

Attitudes of seventh-grade, tenth-grade, and university male and female students (N = 264) were assessed, using a semantic differential technique, toward the concepts “male,” “female,” “male athlete,” and “female athlete.” Factor analysis of variance (nested design), with repeated measures over the four concepts of the evaluative dimension, reveale...

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 re...

Over 50 refereed publications have been published on the quiet eye (QE, Vickers, 1996) in a wide range of motor tasks. Mean quiet eye duration in the golf putt is longer for highly skilled golfers (handicap less than 4), averaging 2.5–3.0 s, compared with 1.0–1.5 s for those with lower skill levels. A long duration QE not only helps organize and su...

The human head is a heavy object, weighing between 3.5 and 5.5 kilograms and representing approximately 8% of the human body’s entire mass. Elite speed skaters have the daunting task of skating at speeds that represent the fastest that humans can achieve under their own power on a flat surface. World class speed skaters reach speeds of 49 kph, and...

N o N c a = .9 F t --VI-EXTERNAL SUBMISSION A fGme of quiet eye data recorded duringthe 6pid fring of shots using a CLock 40.The quiet eyelsmaLL cirte)is tocated on the ta€et even as there is interference fr flash. The brger circte indicatesthe eye tracker is functioning normally, as is evident in the photo of the shooters eye. For the past 25 year...

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 ass...

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...

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 inst...

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 im...

In this article the author discusses the development of new method of teaching the golf swing and how it can be incorporated to newer approaches in sports science and teaching. She talks about the neural and cognitive studies that show the inherent duality of human motor behavior in learning better swing and the external focus of attention and cont...

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 h...

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/nono...

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 expe...

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 oxyg...

Athletes must be able to make split-second decisions under the pressures of competition, but often this vital learning is left to chance. With Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Action, readers gain access to the research foundations behind an innovative decision-training system that has been used successfully for years...

It is still not known what underlies successful performance in goaltending. Some studies have reported that advanced cues from the shooter's body (hip, kicking leg or support leg) are most important (Savelsbergh, G. J. P., Williams, A. M., Van der Kamp, J., & Ward, P. (2002). Visual search, anticipation and expertise in soccer goalkeepers. Journal...

Speedskating is the fastest sport performed by humans without the aid of a machine or banking of the surface upon which the action occurs. Champion speedskaters reach speeds in excess of 49kph on a flat oval of ice where centrifugal forces continually work to throw the skater off the track. The gaze of elite speedskaters was recorded using a mobile...

In two experiments we explore the relationship of gaze control to quiet stance and lunge in elite ballet dancers, ACL-deficient and normal controls. In order to maintain postural stability, all direct their gaze straight ahead at appropriate moments in order to maintain alignment of the centre of gravity over the functional centre of pressure (CoP)...

The effects of a coaching intervention involving Bandwidth Feedback and Ques- tioning (BF-Q) on competitive swim times (cTIME), practice swim times (pTIME), and technique (TECH) were determined for competitive youth swimmers. The pre-post-transfer design spanned one short-course (25m) swim season. It was concluded that coaching in which feedback wa...

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) 3...

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 medicati...

This article examines cognitive control in motor expertise. Extensive research in sport domains has shown that adult experts exhibit superior response selection performance (tactical decision making) as well as superior motor skill execution. Two mechanisms that contribute to expert performance are problem representations and gaze behavior strategi...

Describes how The Quiet Eye separates good putters from the others. Explains the concept of The Quiet Eye and why it is essential that The Quiet Eye is developed. Describes the strategies good putters use.

Spatial-temporal gaze behaviour patterns were analysed as normal participants wearing a mobile eye tracker were required to step on 17 footprints, regularly or irregularly spaced over a 10-m distance, placed in their travel path. We examined the characteristics of two types of gaze fixation with respect to the participants' stepping patterns: footp...

Provides and overview into the coaching theory of decision training. The goal of this type of coaching is to increase the athlete's opportunities to make decisions in their own training that will parallel opportunities found in competition in order to build self-reliance, self-confidence and based upon self-reflection. Topics covered include: the r...

The ability to make effective decisions, especially under conditions of stress, is a characteristic sought by all performers. In no endeavour is this more valued than in sport, where time and competitive pressure invariably lead to a right or wrong decision in the final moments of a contest. Coaches have long sought effective means by which they ca...

Processing efficiency theory predicts that anxiety reduces the processing capacity of working memory and has detrimental effects on performance. When tasks place little demand on working memory, the negative effects of anxiety can be avoided by increasing effort. When tasks impose a heavy demand on working memory, however, anxiety leads to decremen...

The aim of this study was to determine the role of head, eye and arm movements during the execution of a table tennis forehand stroke. Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of line-of-gaze, arm and ball was used to describe visual and motor behaviour. Skilled and less skilled participants returned the ball to cued right or left target areas under th...

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of line of gaze, arm and ball was used to describe the visual and motor behaviour of male adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The ADHD participants were tested when both on (ADHD-On) and off (ADHD-Off) their medication and compared to age-matched normal controls in a modif...

In order to fully understand how vision is used to guide locomotion it is necessary to know what people look at as they move through the environment. This study provides information, hitherto lacking, regarding gaze behaviour associated with both maintaining and changing the direction of locomotion: activities that are essential for efficient navig...

L’entraînement à la prise de décision est un entraînement psychologique que l’entraîneur incorpore à l’effort physique qui est réalisé durant chacune des séances d’entraînement. L’intégration de cet entraînement psychologique se planifie en trois étapes avec l’aide de sept outils. Les étapes, les outils utiles à ce processus et des exemples sont dé...

Processing efficiency theory predicts that anxiety reduces the processing capacity of working memory and has detrimental effects on performance. When tasks place little demand on working memory, the negative effects of anxiety can be avoided by increasing effort. Although performance efficiency decreases, there is no change in performance effective...

University women's basketball players (Team A) received quiet eye (QE) training over two seasons of league play, compared to two control teams (Team B and Team C), who competed at the top of the same league but did not receive similar training. QE was defined as the player's final fixation on the hoop or backboard prior to the shooting action. In S...

Do elite ice hockey, soccer, and other team sport athlete move their eyes rapidly about the playing environment gaining critical information through rapid fixations of low duration, or alternately, do they exhibit an economy of fixation to fewer locations of longer duration? Research to date in a number of team sports has found conflicting results,...

Discover the secrets of master coaches and teachers in Instructional Design for Teaching Physical Activities. Unlike other method books, this text uses a unique "knowledge structures model" - The KS Model - developed specifically for those who teach and coach complex physical skills. The model describes how to construct a sport-specific curriculum...

An apparatus for assessing the Attention Deficit Disorder condition of a person by measuring the "quiet eye" characteristics of the person, and having, a mobile gaze tracker, means for tracking the orientation of the gaze tracker, a test object, means for detecting motion of the gaze of the person and of the test object, means for recording informa...

Gaze behaviour and arm movements of skilled dart players (N = 5) were recorded as they threw an equal number of hit and misses to the centre of a regulation dart board. Quiet eye (QE) was defined as final fixation on the target, with onset prior to the extension of the arm and offset when QE deviated off the target. Accuracy was affected by the tem...

Decision training is psychological training led by the coach within each and every practice This is accomplished through a three step decision training planning process (The 3 Step DT Process) and seven decision training tools (The 7 DT Tools). All are presented in this booklet with applied examples. The Decision Training Instru- ment, which helps...

Novice, intermediate and advanced baseball hitters followed a 7-week training programme, in which they received either behavioural training or decision training. Participants in the behavioural training group received simple-to-complex instruction, variable practice and an abundance of feedback throughout the acquisition period; the decision traini...

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contribution (% duration) of object and travel fixations (Patla & Vickers, 1997) during step success and failure in a locomotor task in which the participants stepped along a set of blocks within which a “trap” was imbedded. During travel fixations the gaze moves at the same speed as the gait...

Spatio-temporal gaze behaviour patterns were analysed as normal participants wearing a mobile eye tracker approached and stepped over obstacles of varying height in the travel path. We examined the frequency and duration of three types of gaze fixation with respect to the participants' stepping patterns: obstacle fixation (ObsFix); travel fixation...

The aim of this study was to determine the role of head, eye and arm movements during the execution of a table tennis forehand stroke. Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of line-of-gaze, arm and ball was used to describe visual and motor behaviour. Skilled and less skilled participants returned the ball to cued right or left target areas under th...

Apparatus for the analysis of eye movement, gaze and body movement of a subject, while the subject is involved in a motor activity has an eye video camera adapted to be supported on a subject's head, a scene video camera adapted to be supported on a subject's head, a mixer for mixing the video output of the eye and scene cameras such that in each f...

Gaze behavior of elite basketball athletes was determined as they performed 10 accurate and 10 inaccurate free throws (FTs) to a regulation basket wearing an eye tracker that permitted normal accuracy. Experts (mean FT = 78%) differed significantly from near experts (mean FT = 56%) in having a longer fixation on the target combined with an earlier...

Gaze behavior of elite basketball athletes was determined as they performed 10 accurate and 10 inaccurate free throws (FTs) to a regulation basket wearing an eye tracker that permitted normal accuracy. Experts (mean FT = 78%) differed significantly from near experts (mean FT = 56%) in having a longer fixation on the target combined with an earlier...