Rapid interceptive actions: Predictive or prospective control.

摘要

The current study used the task of ice hockey goaltending to determine whether a predictive control or prospective control strategy best described the interception of a rapidly moving object in a performance setting. In experiment 1, spatial occlusion was used to determine which sources of predictive information were used by a goaltender to make saves, how the absence of visual information affects performance as well as whether goaltenders are able to perform without predictive visual cues. In experiment 2, the puck's flight was altered by means of a deflection board as it approached the goaltender in an effort to determine whether late perturbations in an objects flight could be responded to using a prospective strategy. A unique feature of this study was the use of eye tracking technology to relate these control strategies to the motor behaviours of goaltenders. Results from both studies showed that saves were characterized by an early quiet eye (QE) onset and long QE duration, regardless of the manipulation used. In experiment 1, decrements in performance were observed in conditions where the puck/stick interface was occluded and this was characterized by a concomitant decrease in QE duration. Analysis of the gaze and motor behaviours of goaltenders showed that a predictive strategy was used on the majority of trials; however, prospective control could be used to accommodate for early errors if the goaltender was able to perceive the change early enough to initiate a corrective movement. In experiment 2, gaze behaviours were similar between deflection and 10 m conditions prior to the puck release; in the deflection condition, after the puck was released goaltenders quickly disengaged the gaze and made an anticipatory saccade to the point of deflection. It was also determined that goaltenders strictly used predictive control to cope with late perturbations in puck flight. The results are discussed within the context of current theoretical approaches to interceptive timing and possible alternative accounts.