The effects of attentional strategies on dart throwing and gaze behavior indexes in novices: The moderating effect of anxiety

Aghakhani Masoud, Marjan; Hejazi Dinan, Parisa; Khalaji, Maryam

doi:10.22059/sshr.2025.388189.1177

The effects of attentional strategies on dart throwing and gaze behavior indexes in novices: The moderating effect of anxiety

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Sport Science and Health, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/sshr.2025.388189.1177

Abstract

Background: Researchers have always been interested in the focus of attention and the quiet eye. However, the effect of distance of attentional strategy in different anxiety conditions has remained unclear.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of attentional strategies on gaze behavior and the performance of dart throwing in novices under anxiety conditions.
Materials and Methods: The participants were 42 female, Alzahra University students, aged 18-35 years. Participants with high trait anxiety (score higher than 24) were excluded using the Sports Competition Anxiety Test through a state anxiety questionnaire. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of high and low-trait anxiety. They performed the dart-throwing task counterbalanced in four different attention strategies (distal external attention, proximal external attention, internal attention, and control). The participants in the high-anxiety group were told that if they performed each throw correctly, they would receive a cash prize, and the low-anxiety group performed the throwing without anxiety and any instruction. At the same time as dart throwing, gaze behavior data was recorded with an eye tracker device. After the anxiety manipulation, the individual's anxiety was measured with Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2.
Results: The results showed that the low-anxiety group performed better than the high-anxiety group (P=0.01). Also, external attention had a lower radial error in both high and low-anxiety groups. No significant difference was found in the average duration and number of fixations between different attentional strategies and groups. The comparison of the mean showed that in the low anxiety group, the fixation duration in the external attention strategy was longer, and in the high anxiety group, the fixation duration in the external attention and control strategies was longer than other strategies.
Conclusion: The present study supported the preplanning hypothesis, attentional control theory, and inhibition hypothesis, but was inconsistent with the restricted action hypothesis. These results showed the importance of the effect of anxiety on gaze behavior and performance in directing future research.

Keywords

References

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[9] Niźnikowski T, Łuba-Arnista W, Arnista P, Porter JM, Makaruk H, Sadowski J. "An external focus of attention enhances table tennis backhand stroke accuracy in low-skilled players". Plos one. 2022; 17(12): e0274717. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274717 .

[10] Banks S, Sproule J, Higgins P, Wulf G. "Forward thinking: When a distal external focus makes you faster". Human Movement Science. 2020; 74: 102708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2020.102708 .

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[20] Moghadsin D, Dibajnia P. "Validation and validation of Connors Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (CAARS–S: SV)". Clinical Psychology and Personality. 2020; 18(1): 177-99. https://sid.ir/paper/1043624/en. [in Persian]

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[31] Wulf G. "Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 15 years". International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2013; 6(1): 77-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2012.723728.

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[39] Williams AM, Singer RN, Frehlich SG. "Quiet eye duration, expertise, and task complexity in near and far aiming tasks". J Mot Behav. 2002; 34(2): 197-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222890209601941 .

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[41] Wulf G, Lewthwaite R. "Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning". Psychon Bull Rev. 2016; 23: 1382-414. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-015-0999-9.

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The effects of attentional strategies on dart throwing and gaze behavior indexes in novices: The moderating effect of anxiety

References

1] Hasanah U, Refanthira N. (eds.). "Human problems: competitive anxiety in sports performers and various treatments to reduce it". 5th ASEAN Conference on Psychology, Counselling, and Humanities (ACPCH 2019). 2020: Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200120.031.

[2] Jarvis M. Sport Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Routledge. 2006.

[3] Xia Y, Shimomura YJE. "Relationship between anxiety and monotonous task performance in response to local cooling: An experimental study in healthy young men". Ergonomics journal. 2023; 66(3): 366-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2022.208790.

[4] Eysenck MW, Calvo MG. "Anxiety and Performance: The Processing Efficiency Theory". Cognition and Emotion. 1992; 6(6): 409-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939208409696.

[5] Eysenck MW, Moser JS, Derakshan N, Hepsomali P, Allen PJC. "A neurocognitive account of attentional control theory: how does trait anxiety affect the brain’s attentional networks?". Cognition & Emotion. 2023; 37(2): 220-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2022.2159936.

[6] Chen TT, Mak TC, Ng SS, Wong TWL. "Attentional focus strategies to improve motor performance in older adults: A systematic review". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(5): 4047. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054047.

[7] Kal E, Van der Kamp J, Houdijk H. "External attentional focus enhances movement automatization: A comprehensive test of the constrained action hypothesis". Human Movement Science. 2013; 32(4): 527-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2013.04.001.

[8] Asadi A, Aiken CA, Heidari S, Kochackpour F. "The effect of attentional instructions during modeling on gaze behavior and throwing accuracy in 7 to 10 year-old children". Human Movement Science. 2021; 78: 102825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2021.102825 .

[9] Niźnikowski T, Łuba-Arnista W, Arnista P, Porter JM, Makaruk H, Sadowski J. "An external focus of attention enhances table tennis backhand stroke accuracy in low-skilled players". Plos one. 2022; 17(12): e0274717. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274717 .

[10] Banks S, Sproule J, Higgins P, Wulf G. "Forward thinking: When a distal external focus makes you faster". Human Movement Science. 2020; 74: 102708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2020.102708 .

[11] Klostermann A, Kredel R, Hossner, EJ. "On the interaction of attentional focus and gaze: The quiet eye inhibits focus-related performance decrements". Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2014; 36(4): 392-400. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1123/jsep.2013-0273.

[12] Vickers JN. "Quiet eye studies in sport within the motor accuracy and motor error paradigms". Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior. 2021; 15(5): 372-90. https://doi.org/10.20338/bjmb.v15i5.267.

[13] Asadi A, Farsi A, Abdoli B, Saemi E, Porter JM. "Development. Directing attention externally and self-controlled practice have similar effects on motor skill performance". Journal of Motor Learning and Development. 2019; 7(1): 141-51. https://doi.org/10.1123/jmld.2017-0027.

[14] Lebeau JC, Liu S, Sáenz-Moncaleano C, Sanduvete-Chaves S, Chacón-Moscoso S, Becker BJ, Tenenbaum G. "Quiet eye and performance in sport: A meta-analysis". Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2016; 38(5): 441-57. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0123.

[16] Querfurth S, Schücker L, De Lussanet MH, Zentgraf K. "An internal focus leads to longer quiet eye durations in novice dart players". 2016; 7: 633. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00633.

[17] Behan M, Wilson MR. "State anxiety and visual attention: The role of the quiet eye period in aiming to a far target". Journal of Sport Sciences. 2008; 26(2): 207-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640410701446919.

[18] Eysenck M, Wilson MR. Sport Performance, Pressure and Cognition; Introducing Attentional Control Theory: Sport. London: Rotlege. 2016.

[19] Simpson T, Ellison P, Marchant D, Carnegie E. "Effects of attentional strategies on novice dart throwing, quiet eye duration and pupillary responses". Journal of Motor Behavior. 2022; 54(1): 1-13. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/00222895.2020.1869681.

[20] Moghadsin D, Dibajnia P. "Validation and validation of Connors Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (CAARS–S: SV)". Clinical Psychology and Personality. 2020; 18(1): 177-99. https://sid.ir/paper/1043624/en. [in Persian]

[21] Martens R, Burton D, Vealey RS, Bump LA, Smith DE. "Development and validation of the competitive state anxiety inventory-2". In Martens R, Vealey RS, Burton D. (Eds.). Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Human Kinetics, Chapaign 1990.

[22] Cox RH, Matthew P, Martens P, Russell WD. "Measuring anxiety in athletics: The revised competitive state anxiety inventory–2". Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2003; 25(4): 519-33. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.25.4.519.

[23] Mostafayi Far E. "Psychometric properties of persian version of the revised competitive state anxiety inventory-2". Sport Psychology Studies. 2016; 5(16): 35-54. https://doi.org/10.22089/spsyj.2016.733. [in Persian]

[24] Martens R. Sport Competition Anxiety Test. Human Kinetics Publishers. 1977.

[27] McKay B, Lewthwaite R, Wulf G. "Enhanced expectancies improve performance under pressure". frontiers in Psychology. 2012; 3: 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00008.

[28] McKay B, Wulf G, Lewthwaite R, Nordin A. "The self: Your own worst enemy? A test of the self-invoking trigger hypothesis". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2015; 68(9): 1910-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.997765.

[29] Raisbeck L, Yamada M, Diekfuss J, Kuznetsov NA. "The effects of attentional focus instructions and task difficulty in a paced fine motor skill". Journal of Motor Behavior. 2020; 52(3): 262-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222895.2019.1614900.

[30] Chua LK, Jimenez-Diaz J, Lewthwaite R, Kim T, Wulf G. "Superiority of external attentional focus for motor performance and learning: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses". Psychological Bulletin. 2021; 147(6): 618. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000335.

[31] Wulf G. "Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 15 years". International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2013; 6(1): 77-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2012.723728.

[32] Memarmoghaddam M, Ali Asghari Toyeh M, Mohammadi M. "The effect of attention on quiet eye behavior and accuracy of execution on a targeting task". J Research in Sport Management and Motor Behavior. 2022; 12(23): 107-21. https://doi.org/10.52547/jrsm.12.23.107 . [in Persian]

[33] Wulf G, McNevin N, Shea CH. "The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus". The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2001; 54(4): 1143-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/713756012.

[35] Law JC, Wong T. "Internal focus instruction increases psychological stress with conscious motor processing and deteriorates motor performance in dart throwing". Cognitive Processing. 2021; 22(1): 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-00991-7.

[36] Asadi A, Sheikh M, Hoomanian D, Rafiei S. "The effect of attentional focus on gaze behavior and accuracy of dart throwing: the attentional task demands problem". Research in Sport Management & Motor Behavior. 2020; 10(20). 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.29252/JRSM.10.20.1. [in Persian]

[37] Nabizade S, Hosseini F. "Spectator’s effect on action-specific perception and performance in distal and proximal external focus condition". Journal of Sport Management and Motor Behavior. 2022; 18(36): 229-15. https://doi.org/10.22080/jsmb.2021.16256.3110. [in Persian]

[38] Eysenck MW, Derakshan N, Santos R, Calvo MG. "Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory". Emotion. 2007; 7: 336-53. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336 .

[39] Williams AM, Singer RN, Frehlich SG. "Quiet eye duration, expertise, and task complexity in near and far aiming tasks". J Mot Behav. 2002; 34(2): 197-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222890209601941 .

[40] Wulf G, Prinz WJPb. "Directing attention to movement effects enhances learning: A review". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 2001; 8(4): 648-60. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03196201.

[41] Wulf G, Lewthwaite R. "Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning". Psychon Bull Rev. 2016; 23: 1382-414. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-015-0999-9.

Volume 17, Issue 1January 2025Pages 121-136

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Volume 17, Issue 1
January 2025
Pages 121-136