The Influence Of Quiet Eye Training On Interceptive Aiming Task Performance

The quiet eye(QE),which is defined as the final fixation/tracking gaze toward a specific target within three degrees of visual angle for at least 100 ms,has been found to be related with sport performance in previous research,with longer QE duration being associated with better performance.Howerver,it remains unclear as to the causal relationship between the two variables and the underlying mechanism of QE in supporting interceptive performance.We are also interested in exploring the effect of QE training on interceptive performance,and how QE training would influence interceptive performance.Furthermore,we would like to investigate the effect of QE training on trap shooting,with the purpose of examing the ecological validity of the QE training study.A series of three studies(five experiments)were conducted.In study 1,we manipulated QE onset in experiment 1(twenty-two participants),and both QE onset and offset in experiments 2(twenty-one participants)by using visual masks in an interceptive aiming task.Repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data and we noticed and performance was undermined by the occlusion of either early or late information,and worst performance occurred when both the early and late trajectory of target were occluded.The results suggest that QE is not a by-product of performance but instead plays a causal role in supporting the interception of a moving target through a combination of pre-programming(major role)and online control(minor role)processes.In study 2,we examined the effect of QE training on interceptive performance by comparing to various attentional groups-technique and general attentional training groups in experiment 3(sisty-two participants),and distal-external,proximal-external,and internal attentional focus training groups in experiment 4(eighty-seven participants).Repeated measure ANCOVA revealed that the QE training group was superior to the technique,general attentional,internal focus,and proximal-external focus training groups in terms of longer QE duration and better performance,but was comparable with the distal-external focus training group.The QE training group also demonstrated longer QE-pre(the QE period prior to the initiation of the critical movement)than any other groups.Taken together,QE training appears to provide not only a distal external focus,but also specific visuomotor benefits(promoting the pre-programming process)to support interceptive skill acquisition/performance.However,we were not able to further our understanding of how QE training might protect against the effects of increased pressure,which therefore didn't support the goal-directed attentional control explanation of how QE training works.In study 3(experiment 5),we used single-case design to examine the effect of quiet training on trap shooting with five youth athletes,and noticed that three athletes demonstrated increased ratio of tracking gaze toward the clay target and hit ratio,one athlete had no change in both gaze and performance,and another one showed tremendously decreased ratio of tracking gaze and slightly declined performance from baseline to intervention.To conclude,the present research reveals that there is causal relationship between QE and interceptive performance – shorter QE duration caused by visual masking led to worse performance,while prolonging QE via QE training benefitted interceptive performance both in the lab and in the real sport field.The QE plays primarily a pre-programming role and also an online-control role in supporting interceptive performance.QE training promotes interceptive performance by enhancing the pre-programming process and providing a distal-external attentional focus.Theoretically the findings help to understand how QE supports interceptive performance,while in practice,we could provide an effective way of improving interceptive performance by extending the duration of QE.