Abstract
Key decision-makers among experts in a given field can sometimes be identified based on their role and responsibilities. The aim of the study is to compare perceptual-cognitive skills of experts with decisional responsibilities (setters in volleyball) with that of other volleyball experts. Eighty-two participants (26 setters, 36 other players and 20 controls) viewed 50 volleyball video sequences. Sequences stopped 120 ms before ball contact and participants, whose eye movements were recorded, had to predict the ball direction. Generalized Estimating Equations analysis revealed that setters and controls made more but shorter fixations than other players. However, both expert groups made better predictions than controls. Dynamics analyses of eye movements over time show that, right before ball contact, opposing players’ upper body is a most relevant attentional cue in all game situations. Results are discussed in terms of decision-making responsibilities to identify key decision-makers in volleyball and in general. They point towards specific perceptual-cognitive abilities found in setters and support the idea that they constitute a subgroup of experts, but that they are not “better” than other players in anticipating the game.
Highlights
Key decision-makers among experts in a given field can sometimes be identified based on their role and responsibilities
In eye-tracking, ocular fixation can correspond to information processing[8], but it is not always the case, as research in peripheral vision showed that what athletes fixate does not always correspond to the direction of their a ttention[9]
Expert setters in volleyball were compared with expert players from other positions and controls on eye movements and anticipation efficacy when facing video sequences of all types of ball contact found in a typical game
Summary
Key decision-makers among experts in a given field can sometimes be identified based on their role and responsibilities. Results are discussed in terms of decision-making responsibilities to identify key decisionmakers in volleyball and in general They point towards specific perceptual-cognitive abilities found in setters and support the idea that they constitute a subgroup of experts, but that they are not “better” than other players in anticipating the game. The first attentional pattern found using eye-tracking showed that when athletes watch brief video sequences of their sport of expertise, they differ from novices as they pay attention to less visual cues, but fixate for a longer p eriod[6,12,13] They anticipate better what is coming n ext[14]. Dicks and his colleagues[18] observed that soccer goalkeepers fixate at the penalty kick taker’s movements and at the ball trajectory when they try to stop the ball, whereas they mostly looked at the penalty taker’s movements in all other response conditions
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