The role of peripheral vision during decision-making in dynamic viewing sequences

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Cognitive Psychology
• Human Factors

Background:

• Team sports decision-making requires processing information from multiple players at varying distances (viewing eccentricities).
• Peripheral visual processing is often impaired by anxiety and stimuli at larger eccentricities, yet this is understudied in dynamic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of performance pressure and viewing eccentricities on decision-making and visual behavior in basketball defense.
• To test hypotheses regarding information processing limitations in dynamic, multi-performer environments.

Main Methods:

• Experienced basketball players performed 4v4 defensive scenarios using a head-mounted display, responding to threats from different eccentricities under low and high pressure.
• A backward counting task was used to tax working memory concurrently.
• Decision-making accuracy, response time, and gaze behavior (fixations) were recorded.

Main Results:

• Players responded slower and less accurately to opponents at larger eccentricities.
• Fixations were primarily on the ball-carrier, but over half were on peripheral players, suggesting a 'pivot strategy' for updating peripheral information.
• Under pressure, participants showed increased mental effort and improved secondary task performance, but their gaze behavior and defensive decision-making remained largely unaffected.

Conclusions:

• Basketball players prioritize quicker responses to proximal opponents, potentially at the expense of processing information from those in the periphery.
• While pressure increases cognitive load and effort, it does not significantly alter core decision-making or visual strategies in this specific defensive task.
• Findings highlight a trade-off between speed and accuracy influenced by eccentricity, with a reliance on a dynamic visual strategy to manage peripheral information.