How the Experimental Setting Influences Representativeness: A Review of Gaze Behavior in Football Penalty Takers

Abstract

This article reviews research on the gaze behavior of penalty takers in football. It focuses on how artificial versus representative experimental conditions affect gaze behavior in this far-aiming task. Findings reveal that—irrespective of the representativeness of the experimental conditions—different instructions regarding the aiming strategy and different threat conditions lead to different gaze patterns. Results also reveal that the goal size and the distance to the goal did not affect the gaze behavior. Moreover, it is particularly run-up conditions that lead to differences. These can be either artificial or more natural. During a natural run-up, penalty takers direct their gaze mainly toward the ball. When there is no run-up, they do not direct their gaze toward the ball. Hence, in order to deliver generalizable results with which to interpret gaze strategies, it seems important to use a run-up with a minimum length that is comparable to that in a real-life situation.

Perception and Action under Different Stimulus Presentations: A Review of Eye-Tracking Studies with an Extended View on Possibilities of Virtual Reality

“…The limited perspective induces different visual perception than in situ settings [14]. In the in situ perspective, the gaze is more centralized due to test persons making head movements instead of saccades [16]. The main advantages of video clips for presenting a situation while tracking participants' eye movements are standardization, repeatability and safety [17].…”