Quiet Eye and Performance in Sport: A Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Sport Science
• Motor Control
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• The "quiet eye" (QE) is a critical period of visual fixation preceding a motor action.
• Previous research suggests a link between QE and performance, but systematic synthesis is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and synthesize existing literature on the relationship between the quiet eye period and subsequent performance.
• To differentiate findings from non-intervention and intervention studies.

Main Methods:

• Two meta-analyses were conducted: Synthesis 1 (non-intervention studies) and Synthesis 2 (intervention studies).
• Synthesis 1 included 27 studies with 38 effect sizes, comparing expert vs. novice QE and successful vs. unsuccessful performances.
• Synthesis 2 analyzed 9 articles focusing on intervention effects on QE and performance.

Main Results:

• A large effect size (d = 1.04) was found for expert-novice QE differences, and a moderate effect size (d = 0.58) for successful-unsuccessful performance comparisons.
• Studies using QE duration as a percentage of total time showed larger effects than those using absolute duration.
• Intervention studies revealed very large effect sizes for both QE duration (d = 1.53) and performance (d = 0.84).

Conclusions:

• The quiet eye period is strongly linked to expert performance across various domains.
• Training interventions targeting the quiet eye can significantly improve performance.
• Quiet eye duration is a reliable predictor of performance outcomes.