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Perception, cognition and decision training: The quiet eye in action
Abstract
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 in training athletes.
Certain to become the definitive guide to decision making in sport, this text presents three innovations solidly based in research. The first is the vision- in-action method of recording what athletes actually see when they perform. The second is the quiet eye phenomenon that has attracted considerable media attention. The third innovation is decision training to identify not only how athletes make performance decisions but also how to facilitate visual perception and action to enhance performance. Author Joan Vickers—who discovered the quiet eye and developed the vision-in-action method—takes the next step by integrating all three innovations into a system for helping athletes improve. Together, these advances provide scientific evidence of the effectiveness of perception– action coupling in athletes’ training.
... The fixation has to be at least 100 ms long and it should not move more than 3 • , representing the minimum amount of time needed for a concrete action of motor control. According to this definition, QE is regarded as an important perceptive characteristic [16], as it may be considered a perception-action variable, with its start depending on the beginning of a motor action [17]. Therefore, QE is the period that starts during the preparation phase and ends when the fixation falls off of that location for more than 100 ms. ...
... It is important to consider the findings from Ziwerko et al. [46] involving experienced adult players, wherein the average fixation duration was 420.62 ms, which is closer to our U16 values, whereas Vickers [17] reported an average fixation duration of 586.83 ms, which is closer to the values of our group of professional players. This disparity in the results might be mainly due to different methodological procedures. ...
... This disparity in the results might be mainly due to different methodological procedures. For example, in Vickers [17], the jump shot was made from the free-throw position. In Zwierko et al. [46], the jump shot was made from shooting position 5 after an approximation run, reception and passing. ...
This work aimed to compare the visual patterns of under 16 (U16) athletes and professional basketball players. The sample was composed of 10 U16 (aged 15.2 ± 0.4 years; 7.1 ± 2.5 years of experience) and 10 professional (aged 27.6 ± 3.7 years; 18.4 ± 4.6 years of experience) basketball players. All athletes were males and right-handed. Each participant performed 50 jump shots from 10 different positions and 5 different angle shots (0°, 45°, 90°, 135° and 180°). Number of fixations, time of first and last fixation, total fixation duration and Quiet Eye (QE) time of all shots were analysed. Overall, results indicated that the U16 group showed greater within-group differences regarding shot positions, last fixation times, shot angles, and first and last fixation times. Additionally, the U16 group presented different visual strategies than those of professional players, with significant differences found for shooting positions and shot angles, particularly for shots performed on the left side of the field, and for QE times. In conclusion, our results add to the understanding that longer fixation times and longer QE time are associated with better jump-shot efficacy, and this relation is evident when comparing players of different age groups.
... Based on these exclusion criteria, we included 34 publications from the initial search (28 articles from the initial search and 6 articles from the updated search) and 1 from our own sources. Through examining reference lists and the literature that cited these articles, we identified 37 additional articles (out of which 19 articles belonged to the research area of Quiet Eye Training (Vickers, 2007) that was not originally included as search term and is to date not usually connected to the EMME literature). In total, our search resulted in 72 included articles. ...
... In this context, we noticed that several studies referred to the aim of training the particular gaze strategy of a "quiet eye" (QE). A QE is an (expert) gaze strategy that is characterized by a longer final fixation towards a relevant object before executing a movement (e.g., hitting a golf ball) and has been described as part of optimal visual attentional control (Vickers, 2007). Due to the unexpectedly large amount of literature on Quiet Eye Training (QET) interventions, we decided to specifically report whether the EMME was displayed with the aim of demonstrating this gaze strategy and discuss QET in more detail in the discussion. ...
... QET is often contrasted with a technical training in which no instructions regarding gaze are given. It usually includes a set of instructions (derived from expertise research for the specific task) combined with practice trials and feedback (Vickers, 2007;Wilson et al., 2015). In literature on QET, the EMME video is typically an aspect of the full training (i.e., not the main manipulation) aimed at modeling the expected gaze behavior to the novice and contrasting the quiet eye behavior of the novice and the expert (Wilson et al., 2015). ...
Eye movement modeling examples (EMMEs) are instructional videos (e.g., tutorials) that visualize another person’s gaze location while they demonstrate how to perform a task. This systematic literature review provides a detailed overview of studies on the effects of EMME to foster observers’ performance and learning and highlights their differences in EMME designs. Through a broad, systematic search on four relevant databases, we identified 72 EMME studies (78 experiments). First, we created an overview of the different study backgrounds. Studies most often taught tasks from the domains of sports/physical education, medicine, aviation, and STEM areas and had different rationales for displaying EMME. Next, we outlined how studies differed in terms of participant characteristics, task types, and the design of the EMME materials, which makes it hard to infer how these differences affect performance and learning. Third, we concluded that the vast majority of the experiments showed at least some positive effects of EMME during learning, on tests directly after learning, and tests after a delay. Finally, our results provide a first indication of which EMME characteristics may positively influence learning. Future research should start to more systematically examine the effects of specific EMME design choices for specific participant populations and task types.
... Competitive athletes must read the play scenario, considering information from their own movements as well as those of the opponent and their teammates. They identify the action capabilities of all parties and then attune their own actions to the information (Hacques et al., 2021;Vickers, 2007). For instance, in volleyball, the typical pattern of play on one side of the net is: pass, set, attack. ...
Optic flow, the pattern of light generated in the visual field by motion of objects and the observer's body, serves as information that underwrites perception of events, actions, and affordances. This visual pattern informs the observer about their own actions in relation to their surroundings, as well as those of others. This study explored the limits of action detection for others as well as the role of optic flow. First-person videos were created using camera recordings of the actor's perspective as they performed various movements (jumping jacks, jumping, squatting, sitting, etc.). In three experiments participants attempted to detect the action from first-person video footage using open ended responses (Experiment 1), forced-choice responses (Experiment 2), and a match-to-sample paradigm (Experiment 3). It was discovered that some actions are more difficult to detect than others. When the task was challenging (Experiment 1) athletes were more accurate, but this was not the case in Experiments 2 and 3. All actions were identified above chance level across viewpoints, suggesting that invariant information was detected and used to perform the task.
... Choking frequently occurs during discrete, time-pressured 'aiming' tasks, such as taking a penalty kick, making a golf-putt or throwing a basketball free-throw (Wilson et al., 2009). In such tasks, effective performance is consistently characterised by what is referred to as the 'quiet eye' (Vickers, 2007): a final task-relevant fixation lasting a minimum of 100 ms that directly precedes movement initiation. Research has demonstrated how anxiety can disrupt the quiet eye in a range of motor tasks (Vine et al., 2013), leading to reductions in performance. ...
Under the Predictive Processing Framework, perception is guided by internal models that map the probabilistic relationship between sensory states and their causes. Predictive processing has contributed to a new understanding of both emotional states and motor control but is yet to be fully applied to their interaction during the breakdown of motor movements under heightened anxiety or threat. We bring together literature on anxiety and motor control to propose that predictive processing provides a unifying principle for understanding motor breakdowns as a disruption to the neuromodulatory control mechanisms that regulate the interactions of top-down predictions and bottom-up sensory signals. We illustrate this account using examples from disrupted balance and gait in populations who are anxious/fearful of falling, as well as 'choking' in elite sport. This approach can explain both rigid and inflexible movement strategies, as well as highly variable and imprecise action and conscious movement processing, and may also unite the apparently opposing self-focus and distraction approaches to choking. We generate predictions to guide future work and propose practical recommendations.
... The steps used to implement a QET program have been explained elsewhere so they will be briefly described here 7,9,16 . The first step is to record the QE of the trainee using a mobile eye tracker synchronized to an external camera that records the putting movements. ...
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 groups, a QET group that received the program described herein, and a Control group undergoing traditional YIPS motor training. Both QE and electroencephalogram (EEG) data will be collected, with the goal to determine if the QET group established a neural network that differed from that of the Control group that contributed to a return of putting accuracy.
... During fixations, our eyes hold the central foveal vision in place to take in detailed information about what is being looked at. A fixation typically ranges from one to three degrees of visual angle for a minimum duration of 80-150 ms (see Panchuk et al., 2015;Vickers, 2007). Fixation can be quantified in the forms of fixation count (the number of fixations), fixation duration, and their variations. ...
Eye tracking data can serve as a unique metric for comparing expert-novice differences by providing insights into attentional processes, which can lead to timely intervention and better instruction. In this study, we used eye tracking technology to record and analyze the eye movements of experts and novices conducting a surgical procedure in a simulation environment. Specifically, we compared the differences in the eye movement pa- rameters (i.e., average fixation, saccade, and blink durations), the distribution of visual attention, and the shift of visual focus between experts and novices across three task phases. We found that experts had longer fixation durations, shorter saccade durations, and more gaze points on task-relevant areas. The visual attention of novices was more diffuse than experts. Moreover, task complexity was found to moderate the size of expert-novice differences in their eye movements. Findings from this study inform the assessment of professional compe- tency in the medicine domain. This study also helps to advance the use of eye tracking as a methodology for educational research.
... According to Vickers (2007), discovery learning can be promoted within a training situation through the targeted coach questioning related to meaningful action solutions. This promotes athletes to develop their own solutions independently and critically, without instructions from the coach. ...
The sustainable success of associations and clubs in sport is based on effective talent promotion. Based on definitions for fundamental concepts (talent, expertise, talent), approaches to and framework models for talent and expertise research are presented in this chapter. In the main part, sport psychological characteristics such as cognitive performance factors (e.g., decision-making skills) and personality-related factors (e.g., achievement motivation) are considered regarding the selection and development of talents. This justifies a greater involvement of psychological test procedures and intervention approaches in promoting talent. However, due to the limited effect sizes in the prognosis of future performance, sport psychological characteristics should not be used (solely) for talent selection. The value of sport psychology diagnostics lies in the monitoring of relevant characteristics to be able to identify funding potential and to substantiate measures for talent development.KeywordsAbilityAchievement motivationAthlete developmentDecision-making competenceDeliberate playDeliberate practiceDevelopment pathwaysDevelopmental tasksEnvironmental factorsExecutive functionsExpertiseIntrapersonal catalystsPerceptual-cognitive skillsPersonality developmentPrognostic relevanceSelectionSensitivityTalentTalent promotion
... The steps used to implement a QET program have been explained elsewhere so they will be briefly described here 7,9,16 . The first step is to record the QE of the trainee using a mobile eye tracker synchronized to an external camera that records the putting movements. ...
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 temporary for reasons that may have been due to how the treatment was delivered. Due to the pandemic, she was given a QE training program that used email, phone calls, videos showing the quiet eye of elite golfers, counseling, and research papers. Her QE and coupled stroke kinematics were not recorded, as normally occurs, thus the paper concludes with suggestions for a QE training program that may lead to permanent improvements in golf or other sports where this stressful disorder occurs.
... A witness can be honest and certain, but still mistaken. Not only can witness recall be influenced by their selective or global attention of an event (Vickers, 2007), but also by the presence of a bias or schema used to interpret any ambiguous information associated with the event (Tuckey & Brewer, 2003). ...
I would like to comment on Watson’s interesting paper in the Spring 2022 Journal of Scientific Exploration on the subject of the 1933 Hugh Gray Loch Ness photograph. Having a couple of Roland Watson’s books in my personal library (which I strongly recommend) and having corresponded with him for his opinion and thoughts in my own research, I can assure the reader that Watson has a significant knowledge of the history and current thought on the subject of the Loch Ness Monster (LNM) and other unidentified aquatic megafauna of the area. I would suggest this paper would benefit, and the proposals strengthened, with a greater and more consistent application and methodology (Heuvelmans, 1988) and a greater effort towards explanations of any imbalance.
Das Kapitel „Perzeptuelle Expertise im Sport“ stellt überblicksartig den Forschungsstand zur Wahrnehmung bei sportlichen Spitzenleistungen dar. Nach der Erläuterung des Expertiseansatzes werden verschiedene Forschungsideen, strukturiert nach der taktischen Situationskomplexität, vorgestellt. Zunächst wird die perzeptuelle Expertise in einer 1:0-Situation und anschließend in individual- und mannschaftstaktischen Aufgaben aufgezeigt. Zuletzt werden Umwelteinflüsse thematisiert. Abschließend werden weitere Forschungsfelder dargestellt. Dieser Beitrag ist Teil der Sektion Sportmotorik, herausgegeben von den Teilherausgebern Alfred Effenberg und Gerd Schmitz, innerhalb des Handbuchs Sport und Sportwissenschaft, herausgegeben von Arne Güllich und Michael Krüger.
The learning benefits of contextual interference have been frequently demonstrated in different settings using novice learners. The purpose of the present study was to test such effects with skilled athletic performers. Scheduling differences for biweekly additional (“extra”) batting-practice sessions of a collegiate baseball team were examined. 30 players (ns = 10) were blocked on skill and then randomly assigned to one of three groups. The random and blocked groups received 2 additional batting-practice sessions each week for 6 wk. (12 sessions), while the control group received no additional practice. The extra sessions consisted of 45 pitches, 15 fastballs, 15 curve-balls, and 15 change-up pitches. The random group received these pitches in a random order, while the blocked group received all 15 of one type, then 15 of the next type, and finally 15 of the last type of pitch in a blocked fashion. All subjects received a pretest of 45 randomly presented pitches of the three varieties. After 6 wk. of extra batting practice, all subjects received two transfer tests, each of 45 trials; one was presented randomly and one blocked. The transfer tests were counterbalanced across subjects. Pretest analysis showed no significant differences among groups. On both the random and blocked transfer tests, however, the random group performed with reliably higher scores than the blocked group, who performed better than the control group. When comparing the pretest to the random transfer test, the random group improved 56.7%, the blocked group 24.8%, and the control group only 6.2%. These findings demonstrate the contextual interference effect to be robust and beneficial even to skilled learners in a complex sport setting.