The Role of the Quiet-eye Period and the Bereitschaftspotential in Arousal Regulation and Motor Preparation for Performance of a Self-paced Motor Skill

Résumé du livre

ABSTRACT: Given the robust empirical support for and practical implications of the quiet-eye (QE) period, it was my objective to assess the role of the QE period in emotion regulation and motor preparation. The concurrent exploration of the BP and QE period under varying levels of anxiety was designed to assess the principal mechanisms responsible for the psychomotor differences between expert and near-expert performers. Twenty golfers were classified by their USGA handicap rating as either a high handicap (HH; near-expert) or low handicap (LH; expert) to permit skill-based inferences. Participants completed 45 trials in both low and high anxiety conditions during which cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, heart rate, QE duration, BP activity, and putting performance were recorded. Results indicated that the LH golfers are more accurate and less variable in their performance than the HH group, as revealed by measures of radial error, bivariate variable error, and group centroid radial error. Systematic differences in QE duration and BP were also observed, with experts exhibiting a prolonged quiet eye period and greater cortical activation in the right-central region compared to non-experts. A significant association between cortical activation and QE duration was also noted. Despite performing under high and low anxiety conditions, QE duration and cortical activation did not fluctuate across conditions. Taken together, the results of this investigation lend primary support to the motor programming/motor preparation function of the QE period. Practical and theoretical implications are presented and suggestions for empirical work provided.