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. 2012 Sep 1;11(3):542-50.
eCollection 2012.

Field of vision influences sensory-motor control of skilled and less-skilled dart players

Rebecca Rienhoff  1 , Joseph Baker, Lennart Fischer, Bernd Strauss, Jörg Schorer
Affiliations

Field of vision influences sensory-motor control of skilled and less-skilled dart players

Rebecca Rienhoff et al. J Sports Sci Med. .

Abstract

One characteristic of perceptual expertise in sport and other domains is known as 'the quiet eye', which assumes that fixated information is processed during gaze stability and insufficient spatial information leads to a decrease in performance. The aims of this study were a) replicating inter- and intra-group variability and b) investigating the extent to which quiet eye supports information pick-up of varying fields of vision (i.e., central versus peripheral) using a specific eye-tracking paradigm to compare different skill levels in a dart throwing task. Differences between skill levels were replicated at baseline, but no significant differences in throwing performance were revealed among the visual occlusion conditions. Findings are generally in line with the association between quiet eye duration and aiming performance, but raise questions regarding the relevance of central vision information pick-up for the quiet eye. Key pointsInvestigation of throwing performance and quiet eye duration in dart throwing under several vision conditionsFirst investigation using a dynamic occlusion paradigm, manipulating field of vision in situReplication of previous findings concerning throwing performance and quiet eye durationNew insights about the role of central (and peripheral) vision concerning the quiet eye phenomena.

Keywords: Perception; expertise; eye-tracking.; information-processing.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Aerial perspective of the experimental setup.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Throwing performance, presented as (a) throwing accuracy (in cm) and (b) throwing consistency (in cm), and eye-movement behavior, presented as (c) quiet eye duration (in ms) and (d) quiet eye location (in pixel) for skilled (n = 13) and less-skilled (n = 16) dart players for different viewing conditions illustrated in (e) (baseline, central, and peripheral vision). Error bars indicate standard deviations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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