Influence of two attentional strategies on performance, quiet eye duration, and competitive anxiety in an underhand dart tossing task

The general purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of two different attentional strategies on visual attention and performance in a task under a competition condition as well as a non-competition condition. Specifically, the intent was to (1) investigate the influence of an external focus strategy and an internal focus strategy on quiet eye duration (QED, Vickers 1996a), which was defined as final fixation time on the target with onset prior to the final throw, as well as performance of an underhand dart tossing task, and (2) investigate the influence of competitive anxiety on quiet eye duration as well as performance.; To fulfill these purposes, two separate experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 42 university male students were randomly assigned to one of three strategy groups (external focus strategy, internal focus strategy, or control) and then they performed 64 trials at the task. In Experiment 2, the three groups performed 32 trials under either a competition condition or a non-competition condition. Participants who performed in the competition condition competed for a monetary reward. Performance was assessed by distance deviation from the center target on each toss by calculating mean radial error (MRE), subject-centroid radial error (SRE), and bivariate variable error (BVE) scores. QED, which refers to the portion of the final eye fixation from onset to the target to the first observable movement of the hands for the shooting action, was measured each toss in Experiments 1 and 2. The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory---2 (CSAI-2) was administered immediately prior to Experiment 1 and immediately prior to Experiment 2 to measure state anxiety level.; In Experiment 1, performance of the three groups improved over trials in terms of accuracy (MRE), consistency (SRE), and variability (BVE). However, there was no difference among the groups. The external focus strategy group demonstrated a longer QED than the internal focus and the control groups. However, there was no QED difference between the internal focus group and the control group.; In Experiment 2, the external and internal focus strategy groups demonstrated better dart performance in terms of less variability than the non-strategy (control) group. The external focus strategy group demonstrated a significantly longer QED than the internal focus strategy and control groups in the non-competition condition, and the difference between the external focus strategy group and the other groups was even greater in the competition condition. However, there was no performance difference between the external focus strategy group and the internal focus strategy group. Participants performing the task under the competition condition demonstrated an increase in anxiety level. However, those who performed the task under the non-competition condition demonstrated a decrease in anxiety level.; Generally, it appears that an increase in QED associated with an external focus strategy does not lead to enhanced performance in an underhand dart tossing task, contrary to expectations.