The investigation of visual search strategies allows researchers to further understand expertise in sport. This research measured the visual search strategies of six elite Australian Football athletes during the course of a five-week speeded video decision-making training intervention. There were two athletes in each intervention group; normal speed and above real time video, and two athletes in the control group. Athletes were asked to watch a series of video clips of match-day footage and click on the screen where they would place the ball if in possession. Eye movements were collected at the pre-test, third training session, post-test and retention test. Results revealed that following training, regardless of video speed, the fixation duration became longer compared to those who had no video training. This significant finding falls in line with previous research. Furthermore, the above real time training group spent a longer duration fixating on the best option after the retention test, compared to other groups. These results provide a solid base for future research in sport to track changes in eye movements throughout training and learning.
AbernethyB.BakerJ.CôtéJ., Transfer of Pattern Recall Skills May Contribute to the Development of Sport Expertise, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2005, 19(6), 705–718.
2.
BakerJ.CôtéJ.AbernethyB., Sport-Specific Practice and the Development of Expert Decision-Making in Team Ball Sports, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2003, 15, 12–25.
3.
JohnsonJ.RaabM., Take the First: Option-Generation and Resulting Choices, Organizational Behaviour And Human Decision Processes, 2003, 91(2), 215–229.
4.
LorainsM.MacmahonC., Adapting The Functional Overreaching Principle to Cognitive Skills: Expertise Differences Using Speed Manipulations an a Video-Based Decision-Making Task, Proceedings of The 12th World Congress Of Sport Psychology (ISSP), 2009, Marrakesh, Morocco.
5.
LorainsM.BallK.MacMahonC., Expertise Differences in a Video Decision-Making Task: Speed Influences on Performance, Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2013a, 14, 293–297.
6.
StarkesJ. L.LindleyS., Can We Hasten Expertise By Video Simulation?, Quest, 1994, 46, 211–222.
7.
WilliamsA. M.EricssonK. A., Perceptual-Cognitive Expertise in Sport: Some Considerations When Applying the Expert Performance Approach, Human Movement Science, 2005, 24, 283–307.
8.
WardP.FarrowD.HarrisK.WilliamsM.EcclesD.EricssonK.A., Training Perceptual-Cognitive Skills: Can Sport Psychology Research Inform Military Decision Training?, Military Psychology, 2008, 20(1), 71–102.
9.
GuckenbergerD.UlianoK.LaneN., Training High Performance Skills Using Above Real-Time Training (Report For National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Dryden Flight Research Facility), 1993.
10.
KolfJ., Documentation of A Simulator Study of an Altered Time Base. Unpublished Manuscript, NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA, 1973.
11.
LorainsM.BallK.MacMahonC., An Above Real Time Training Intervention for Sport Decision Making, Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2013b, 14, 670–674.
12.
DicksM.ButtonC.DavidsK., Examination of Gaze Behaviours Under In Situ and Video Simulation Task Constraints Reveals Differences in Information Pickup for Perception and Action, Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 2010, 72(3), 706–720.
13.
RocaA.FordP.McRobertA.WilliamsA., Identifying the Processes Underpinning Anticipation and Decision-Making in a Dynamic Time-Constrained Task, Cognitive Process, 2011, 12, 301–310.
14.
VaeyensR.LenoirM.WilliamsA.M.PhilippaertsR.M., Mechanisms Underpinning Successful Decision Making in Skilled Youth Soccer Players: An Analysis of Visual Search Behaviours, Journal of Motor Behaviour, 2007, 39(50), 395–408.
15.
HendersonJ., Eye Movements And Scene Perception, in: LiversedgeS.GilchristI.EverlingS. eds., The Oxford Handbook of Eye Movements, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011.
16.
RaynorK., Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124, 372–422.
17.
HelsenW.F.StarkesJ.L., A Multidimensional Approach to Skilled Perception and Performance in Sport, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 1999, 13, 1–27.
18.
HelsenW.PauwelsJ.M., A Cognitive Approach to Visual Search in Sport, in: BroganD.CarrsK. eds., Visual Search, Taylor and Francis, London, 1992.
19.
SavelsberghG.J.P.WilliamsA.M.Van Der KampJ.WardP., Visual Search, Anticipation and Expertise in Soccer Goalkeepers, Journal of Sports Sciences, 2002, 20(3), 279–287.
20.
NorthJ.WilliamsA.HodgesN.WardP.EricssonK., Perceiving Patterns in Dynamic Action Sequences: Underpinning Stimulus Recognition and Anticipation Skill, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2009, 23, 878–894.
21.
WilliamsA.M.DavidsK.BurwitzL.WilliamsJ.G., Visual Search Strategies of Experienced and Inexperienced Soccer Players, Research Quarterly of Exercise in Sport, 1994, 65, 127–135.
22.
PhillipsM.EdelmanJ., The Dependence of Visual Scanning Performance on Search Direction and Difficulty. Vision Research, 2008, 48(21), 2184–2192.
23.
McPhersonS.VickersJ., Cognitive Control in Motor Expertise, International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2004, 2(3), 274–300.
24.
RaabM.JohnsonJ.G., Expertise-Based Differences in Search and Option-Generation Strategies. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2007, 13(3), 158–170.
25.
WilliamsA.M.DavidsK.WilliamsJ.G., Visual Perception and Action in Sport, E and FN Spon, New York, 1999.
26.
SailerU.FlanaganJ.R.JohanssonR., Eye-Hand Coordination During Learning of a Novel Visuomotor Task, The Journal of Neuroscience, 2005, 25(39), 8833–8842.
VickersJ., Perception, Cognition and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Action, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2007.
29.
LandisJ.KochG., The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data, Biometrics, 1977, 33, 159–174.
30.
PanchukD.VickersJ., Using Spatial Occlusion to Explore the Control Strategies Used in Rapid Interceptive Actions. Predictive or Prospective Control?, Journal of Sports Sciences, 2009, 27(12), 1249–1260.
