Abstract
The ability to produce creative solutions is a key part of expert performance. The aim of this study was to identify the visual search behaviors that underpin superior creative performance of skilled soccer players during simulated 11-a-side match play. Players (N = 44) were required to interact with a representative life-size video-based simulation of attacking situations whilst in possession of the ball. Clips were occluded at a key moment and they were required to play the ball in response to each situation presented. Moreover, they were required to name other additional actions they could execute for each situation. Creative performance on the task was measured using the three criteria of originality, flexibility, and fluency of decisions. Visual search behaviors were examined using a portable eye-movement registration system. Players were classified as most- (n = 11) or least-creative (n = 11) based on their performance on the representative task. The most-creative players produced more appropriate, original, flexible, and fluid decisions compared to least-creative players. The creativity-based differences in judgment were underpinned by differences in visual search strategy. Most-creative players employed a broader attentional focus including more fixations of shorter duration and towards more informative locations of the display compared with least-creative players. Moreover, most-creative players detected teammates in threatening positions earlier in the attacking play. Creative performance is underpinned by different underlying visual processes when compared to less-creative performance, which appears to be crucial in facilitating more creative solutions.
Highlights
The ability to produce creative solutions is key to expert performance in sport
We expected that the most-creative players would employ a search strategy involving more fixations of shorter duration and towards more informative locations of the display compared with least-creative players, indicating a broader attentional focus
We expected that the most-creative group would employ a search pattern involving more fixations of shorter duration and towards more informative locations of the display compared with least-creative players, indicating a broader breadth of attention
Summary
The ability to produce creative solutions is key to expert performance in sport. For example, an attribute of high-performance players is the ability to be novel and surprising in their decision-making processes under time constraints, thereby allowing them to be more effective in unique performance situations and make it more difficult for opponents to predict what they do next. Creativity and visual search situational contexts [1]. These creative behaviors are assumed to be more important as players reach higher levels of performance where athletes/teams become more homogenous regarding their physical and physiological characteristics [2]. Creative decision making is a key component of expertise, little is still known about the underlying perceptual-cognitive processes that mediate creative performance in the sporting domain (for a review, see [3])
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