Article

Perceptual and Motor Skills

Effect of Implicit 2016, Vol. 123(1) 300–323

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DOI: 10.1177/0031512516656816
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Decision-Making Skills
and Underpinning
Gaze Behavior in
Combat Athletes

Nicolas Milazzo
French Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance, Paris, France

Damian Farrow
Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; Australian Institute
of Sport, Canberra, Australia

Jean F. Fournier
Université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense, Nanterre, France

Abstract
This study investigated the effect of a 12-session, implicit perceptual-motor training
program on decision-making skills and visual search behavior of highly skilled junior
female karate fighters (M age ¼ 15.7 years, SD ¼ 1.2). Eighteen participants were
required to make (physical or verbal) reaction decisions to various attacks within
different fighting scenarios. Fighters’ performance and eye movements were assessed
before and after the intervention, and during acquisition through the use of video-
based and on-mat decision-making tests. The video-based test revealed that following
training, only the implicit perceptual-motor group (n ¼ 6) improved their decision-
making accuracy significantly compared to a matched motor training (placebo, n ¼ 6)
group and a control group (n ¼ 6). Further, the implicit training group significantly
changed their visual search behavior by focusing on fewer locations for longer dur-
ations. In addition, the session-by-session analysis showed no significant improve-
ment in decision accuracy between training session 1 and all the other sessions,

Corresponding Author:
Nicolas Milazzo, French Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance, Paris, France.
Email: milazzo.nicolas@gmail.com
Milazzo et al. 301

except the last one. Coaches should devote more practice time to implicit learning
approaches during perceptual-motor training program to achieve significant decision-
making improvements and more efficient visual search strategy with elite athletes.

Keywords
expertise, implicit learning, perceptual learning, anticipation, visual perception

Introduction
Decision-making skills are an important aspect of sport performance (Starkes &
Ericsson, 2003). In combat sports, these skills are highly valued, as experts are
required to read their opponents’ intentions to avoid being hit, as the time
required for a defender to execute a move is short, once an opponent has
initiated an attack (Fontani, Lodi, Felici, Migliorini, & Corradeschi, 2006).
Consequently, anticipation is vital—as highlighted in the extant literature inves-
tigating time-sensitive interceptive actions (Roi & Bianchedi, 2008). In karate,
Mori, Ohtani, and Imanaka (2002) investigated the decision-making perform-
ance of both expert and novice athletes using videotaped scenes of opponent’s
offensive actions, which simulated the athletes’ view in real situations. The par-
ticipants were asked to decide, as soon and as accurately as possible, whether the
offensive action would come to the upper or the middle level of their bodies.
Expert fighters were more accurate than their less skilled counterparts in pre-
dicting the direction of opponents’ offensive action. In addition, results high-
lighted the capacity of experts to predict the level of the attack at the onset of the
move. This asset of combat experts has also been confirmed in French boxing
(Ripoll, Kerlirzin, Stein, & Reine, 1995) and taekwondo (Milazzo, Rosnet, &
Fournier, 2015).
The superiority of the experts in making quick and accurate decisions can be
explained by their capacity to pick up earlier-occurring kinematic information
from their opponents that forecasts the ensuing movement (for a review, see
Abernethy, Farrow, Gorman, & Mann, 2012). In a meta-analysis, Mann,
Williams, Ward, and Janelle (2007) found that experts use a more efficient
visual search strategy involving fewer fixations of longer duration to less dispar-
ate areas of a display. Some exploratory studies have supported the existence of
expert–novice differences in visual search behavior in combat sports such as
karate (Williams & Elliott, 1999) and taekwondo (Lee, Kim, & Younghoon,
2010). For example, Ripoll et al. (1995) noted the use of a “visual pivot”
among expert French boxers in order to diffuse attention according to the
requirements of the task. Specifically, experts tended to maintain foveal vision
on central regions of the opponent’s body, while simultaneously using peripheral
vision to pick up information from the hand or foot regarding the initiation of
an attack.
302 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

Over the last decade, a growing number of studies have shown that anticipa-
tory skill can be improved by perceptual-motor training programs based on
video simulation (see Farrow, 2014 for a review). The effectiveness of percep-
tual-motor training to improve decision time and/or decision accuracy has been
shown across a large range of individual and collective sports (see Farrow,
Chivers, Hardingham, & Sachse, 1998; Gorman & Farrow, 2009; Hopwood,
Mann, Farrow, & Nielsen, 2011). Despite the interest from both coaches and
researchers, only a small body of empirical work has examined whether the
benefits of perceptual-motor training can be transferred to on-field sporting
success (Hopwood et al., 2011). Moreover, the bulk of perceptual-motor litera-
ture has focused on lesser skilled performers with little consideration given to
whether skilled performers can also benefit (e.g., Williams, Ward, & Chapman,
2002). An exception is Hopwood et al. (2011), who reported that on-field train-
ing combined with video-based interventions leads to improved decision-making
performance of skilled cricketers in field-based tests compared to on-field train-
ing alone. Recently, Lorains, Ball, and MacMahon (2013a) also confirmed the
successful transfer of learning from video-based training to real game perform-
ance with elite Australian football players.
A range of studies has compared the effectiveness of different methods of
instruction used in perceptual-motor training in order to optimize the learner’s
experience. That is why an implicit learning approach has been suggested to
avoid the negative consequences of learning with instruction techniques (i.e.,
explicit learning), which leads to a form of “paralysis by analysis.” Specifically,
researchers suggested that explicit learning leads to a reinvestment of effort
toward more explicitly acquired knowledge under stressful conditions
(Masters, 1992; Maxwell, Masters, & Eves, 1999; Smeeton, Williams,
Hodges, & Ward, 2005). During video-based perceptual training, in order to
encourage an explicit learning mode, the video sequence (i.e., the game
sequence) is typically shown a second time. The full game sequence is therefore
replayed so that the learner can judge the accuracy of his decision. In addition
to this, between each video sequence, the coach can help the athlete make a
connection between the information gleaned from observation of the action
and the result of that action. For example, the coach can indicate to the player
the positions of teammates on the screen or the different postures or positions
of an opponent and thus lead him to associate with each position, a game
sequence or “if-then” rules. The goal of this type of training sequence is to
increase the quantity of declarative knowledge (i.e., knowing “what to do,” see
McPherson, 1994) of the learners so that they can more readily understand the
meaning of information picked up from the environment. Results show that
explicit instructions favor rapid acquisition of conscious and verbalizable
knowledge (see Smeeton et al., 2005).
In contrast, implicit motor learning is “the acquisition of a motor skill
without the concurrent acquisition of explicit knowledge about the
Milazzo et al. 303

performance of that skill” (Maxwell, Masters, & Eves, 2000, p. 111). The goal
of this approach is to minimize the accumulation of explicit knowledge and
also the propensity of participants to reinvest knowledge during performance
which could upset the automatic execution of decisions. During video-based
perceptual training, to encourage an implicit learning mode, researchers have
removed verbal instructions and just encourage participants to focus their
attention on potential areas of interest that may anticipate the outcome of
situations. For example, Smeeton et al. (2005) found that decision-making
performance was more robust under anxiety-provoking conditions when par-
ticipants used implicit perceptual training, compared to an explicit learning
approach. In European handball, Abernethy, Schorer, Jackson, and
Hagemann (2012) compared the efficiency of different perceptual training
approaches for the improvement of anticipation using a goalkeeping task.
Authors confirmed the superiority of decision-making performance in an impli-
cit learning group under the stress situation to predict the direction of the shot
in comparison to explicit and verbal cuing groups. In this sense, the implicit
approach could be particularly recommended with skilled athletes who are
frequently subjected to high pressure situations.
During learning, explicit processes use working memory to identify and
correct errors during the learning process so as to only store relevant informa-
tion (Baddeley & Wilson, 1994). Typically, learners conceive and test hypoth-
eses in a strategic, trial-and-error fashion. Masters and Poolton (2012) argued
that implicit processes allow the encoding of new information without the
involvement of verbal working memory. One method proposed by the authors
to develop implicit learning is by removing outcome feedback (i.e., knowledge
of results). Here, learners would be unable to test the relevance of decisions and
the concomitant increase of explicit knowledge would be minimal. In this way,
working memory is not involved, and the acquired knowledge remains uncon-
scious and non-verbalizable (Kellogg, 1982). In combat sports, Milazzo,
Fournier, and Farrow (2014) have shown significant improvements in percep-
tual skills with elite male karate fighters after a perceptual-motor training pro-
gram without outcome feedback during learning. In that study, participants
completed six video-based training sessions where they reacted to temporally
occluded video footage of typical combat situations during which they had to
mime, as rapidly and as accurately as possible, the action which they would
have carried out in the observed situation. Results showed that participants
who received “no-feedback” video-based perceptual training significantly
enhanced their decision making relative to both control and motor training
groups. Another method recommended by researchers to prevent the partici-
pant from consciously engaging in error-checking is the use of a secondary task
(Masters & Poolton, 2012). For example, Masters (1992) successfully created
implicit learning conditions by asking golf players to generate random letters
during the execution of the putt. With the same success, Gorman and Farrow
304 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

(2009) required basketball players to identify a high-pitched tone randomly

inserted between several low-pitched tones during a video-based decision-
making task.
Overall, to date, the effectiveness of implicit perceptual training to improve
perceptual skills has been somewhat equivocal (e.g., Abernethy et al., 2012;
Farrow & Abernethy, 2002; Gorman & Farrow, 2009; Jackson, 2003; Poulter,
Jackson, Wann, & Berry, 2005). For example, Gorman and Farrow (2009)
showed a statistically equivalent increase in decision accuracy for both explicit
and implicit groups from pre- to post-test with skilled basketball players after a
video-based training program. In football, Poulter et al. (2005) revealed a non-
significant improvement in the implicit group during the very early stages of
learning the perceptual-motor anticipation task of predicting ball direction of
penalty kicks. Also, in a reanalysis of the data from Farrow and Abernethy’s
(2002) study of implicit perceptual training, Jackson (2003) concluded that
Farrow and Abernethy’s study provides no evidence that an implicit perceptual
training paradigm improves anticipatory performance more than either an expli-
cit learning paradigm or, indeed, an intervention involving mere observation of
tennis matches. The lack of consensus should encourage researchers to continue
investigating the effect of implicit learning during the acquisition of cognitive,
perceptual, and motor skills. This is a key issue to be addressed in the current
study.
In order to explain the demonstrated improvement of perceptual skills, it is
assumed that after a perceptual-motor training program, players become more
able to identify important postural cues using salient information from the rela-
tive motions of the body (Abernethy, Zawi, & Jackson, 2008). However, few
studies have measured the effect of perceptual-motor training on visual search
behavior. In one exception, Poulter et al. (2005) examined the effect of explicit
and implicit instruction approaches on point-of-gaze in novice goalkeepers
facing penalty kicks. Participants in the explicit learning group were given
instructions about the relationship between postural cues and subsequent pen-
alty kick direction, accompanied by still images to highlight key regions, whereas
participants in the implicit learning group were given feedback after each trial in
the form of knowledge of results. In addition, participants in the implicit group
were told to estimate how fast the ball would travel after it had been kicked,
based on information provided by the player prior to the occlusion point, thus
ensuring that players did not generate hypotheses related to kick direction. From
a theoretical perspective, the use of concurrent secondary tasks is supposed to
prevent the accumulation of accessible task-relevant knowledge by overloading
the working memory capacity (Masters, 1992). Findings showed that only the
explicit perceptual-motor training program resulted in changes in eye move-
ment, with novice football players spending a greater proportion of time looking
in the direction of information-rich areas that corresponded to the instructions
given to them during the acquisition phase (e.g., the legs). In contrast, Lorains,
Milazzo et al. 305

Panchuck, Ball, and MacMahon (2014) showed that an implicit learning inter-
vention resulted in changes in eye movement behavior of expert football players.
Specifically, it was demonstrated that, following a five-week video decision-
making training program, the visual fixation duration of athletes became
longer compared to those who had no video training. The differences of protocol
designed in these studies, such as the mode of responses (oral vs. press button) or
the level of expertise (novice vs. expert), could explain the differences in findings.
Unfortunately, because of the use of simplistic responses, such as button
pressing (see Lorains et al., 2014) and verbal responses (see Poulter et al.,
2005), both these studies failed to replicate closely the actions in the training
environment to those in the performance environment (Broadbent, Causer,
Williams, & Ford, 2015). However, to date, researchers highlighted the necessity
to develop training protocols based on the same athletes’ response (i.e., fidelity of
response) to those in a competitive situation to improve the transfer of learning
from training to competition performance (see Broadbent et al., 2015; Pinder,
Davids, Renshaw, & Araujo, 2011; Pluijms, Canal-Bruland, Kats, &
Savelsbergh, 2013). Indeed, according to Gibson (1979), perception and action
are functionally interdependent, and any experimental approach that manipu-
lates one, may unintentionally alter the other. For example, Farrow and
Abernethy (2003) showed that experts are more accurate in predicting the dir-
ection of an opponent’s service in situ under coupled (i.e., motor) rather than
uncoupled (i.e., verbal) response-mode conditions. A recent meta-analysis of
perceptual-cognitive skills studies showed that the closer the action completed
in a simulated environment is to the current action required in a sport, the better
are the advantages of the expert over the novice (see Travassos et al., 2013).
However, in contrast, some researchers have found no difference between
coupled and uncoupled responses in perceptual-cognitive skill studies
(Ranganathan & Carlton, 2007; Williams, Janelle, & Davids, 2004).
The present study sought to determine the effect of implicit perceptual-motor
training on the decision-making skills and underlying gaze behavior of junior
skilled female karate fighters. During video-based tests, participants either made
physical (perception-action coupled responses) or verbal decisions (uncoupled
responses) about various attacks in different fighting scenarios to determine
the influence of perception-action coupling during implicit learning. It was
first hypothesized that the implicit perceptual-motor training group would
show equivalent or superior improvement in decision-making performance in
post-test video testing compared with a motor training group (placebo) and
control group. It was also hypothesized that there would be a significant
improvement in decision accuracy for the implicit group only in the on-mat
test, where it was predicted that participants would experience increased stress
relative to the video-based tasks. Relatedly, if perceptual training was implicit in
nature, the number of explicit rules accumulated during the training would not
significantly increase over the intervention period. Based on the perceptual skills
306 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

literature, it was hypothesized that a sufficient period of perceptual-motor train-

ing would result in changes in gaze behavior, highlighted by improvements in
visual search strategy. These improvements would be supported by an increase
in the mean of fixation duration and a decrease in the mean number of fixations.

Method
Participants
Eighteen highly skilled junior female athletes practicing karate who were part of
the same training group in a national center volunteered to participate (implicit
perceptual-motor training group: n ¼ 6; motor training group: n ¼ 6; control
group: n ¼ 6). Participants’ ages ranged from 14 to 18 years (M ¼ 15.7,
SD ¼ 1.2) and all had fought at the international junior level. All athletes prac-
ticed karate for an average of 15 hours per week and competed for an average of
eight years. The current research was a part of a larger training intervention
during the regular season. Informed consent was obtained from the child and
her guardian prior to participation; institutional ethical approval was also
received.

Test and training film construction and presentation

The footage used during the video-based test and video-based training sessions
presented sequences of international competitions filmed at fighter’s eye level, at
a distance of 5 m from the center of the mat. This perspective provided vision of
the two fighters at the same time. The film sequences were edited to produce 60
sequences for video-based decision-making tests and 360 sequences for video-
based training sessions. Footage chosen for the respective test and training films
was different to control for familiarity effects. All video sequences were edited by
a national coach with customized video editing software (React). Each sequence
was then submitted for the approval of two other international level coaches
through the use of a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 3 (one point for each
criteria: perspective, time of occlusion, and clarity of situation). Only those
sequences that were rated above 2 by both coaches were included in the test
or training films. Both testing and training sessions consisted of 30 sequences
each separated by a 5-s inter-trial interval producing a total session time of
8 minutes. In the video sequences, the participant was required to place herself
in the role of one of the two fighters. To avoid difficulties related to the identi-
fication of the participant with her persona (red or blue uniform), only the
footage in which her persona was seen from behind or in profile was shown.
Furthermore, the color associated with the participant’s persona was stated at
the beginning of the sequence and did not change throughout the test or the
training session. Then a fight sequence, which lasted between 4 seconds and
Milazzo et al. 307

Figure 1. Schematic representation of a video sequence during video-based test and train-
ing session.

10 seconds, was played to the participant. The footage was then interrupted by a
white frame at the moment the expert coach considered it appropriate for a
decision to be made (Figure 1). This occlusion corresponded to one of the
three following situations which were randomized in each test and training ses-
sion: (1) after the beginning of an attack by the opponent, at the moment of the
translation of the center of mass of the opponent forward, (2) during a move, at
the moment when the opponent no longer has support from the floor when she is
crossing her legs or at the moment of the second leaning of the forward leg on
the floor, or (3) after a fake movement. To provide appropriate context, several
actions were performed by both fighters on the screen just before the occlusion.
In order to prevent the athletes from consciously verifying their decision accur-
acy, the result of an action sequence was not reported.

Test apparatus and procedure

Video-based decision-making test. Film was shown to the participants with a Sony
KP44 PX2 video projector on a 3  2 m wall in order to recreate real viewing
conditions as accurately as possible. Participants were positioned 2.50 m from
the wall in a fighting stance (a ready-to-hit position) and hopping (on both legs)
as is customary in shadow fighting—on which the test and training scenarios
were based.
To examine the effect of perception-action coupling on the athletes’ decision-
making skills, both coupled and uncoupled response conditions were used. The
coupled condition required the athlete to mime the action, in as little time as
possible, similar to the action she would have taken had she been in the fight
situation shown at the moment of occlusion. In the uncoupled condition, par-
ticipants had to say out loud, as soon as possible, the name of the action they
would have chosen in the fight as soon as the screen was occluded. All partici-
pants watched a total of 60 sequences of fight in their test session (30 sequences
in the coupled condition and 30 in the uncoupled condition). Each fighter com-
pleted all required trials for each response condition. Response conditions
308 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

(coupled or uncoupled) were therefore blocked for each athlete but the order of
presentation of the response conditions was counterbalanced across athletes.
Due to the sensitivity of the mobile eye-tracking system, the gaze behavior of
participants was recorded only during the uncoupled condition. Before begin-
ning, participants were given a brief introduction concerning the eye-tracking
system (Mobile Eye, ASL, Bedford, MA), which they positioned on their heads.
The Mobile Eye system is a head-mounted display which computes point-of-
gaze and indicates the point-of-gaze by superimposing a positional crosshair on
the video scene. This information is calculated with regard to a pre-calibrated
nine-point grid overlaid onto the screen. Participants were asked to keep their
heads stable and to move only their eyes during calibration, after which calibra-
tion accuracy was checked by asking the participants to fix their gaze on differ-
ent objects in the task environment. Each session was filmed by a camera to
record both the video projection of the fight situations and each of the partici-
pants’ responses.

On-mat test. In this task, participants were required to make decisions and react
to various attacks within different fight scenarios against a standardized expert
opponent (National Coach and former international competitor). As is the case
in karate competitions, the participants were required to “touch” their opponent
quickly as possible without being hit. This test condition was included for two
reasons. First, to provide a measure of transfer and second, to ascertain the
influence of increased stress due to the possibility of being hit relative to
the video-based testing conditions. It is argued that skills learned implicitly
are more stress resistant (Masters, 1992). The sequences were the same as
those shown during the training and the video test. Ten fight situations which
consisted of two different moves by the opponent (i.e., a move on the right and a
move on the left), two fake movements (i.e., a body feint and a kick feint), and
six attacks based on six different karate techniques either aimed at the partici-
pant’s body or face, were chosen beforehand and known by the standardized
expert opponent. Specifically, the six attacks were made of three punches, two of
which were aimed at the body and one of which was aimed at the head; also
three kicks, one of which was aimed at the body and two of which were aimed at
the head. The fight situations were carried out in the same order and were the
same for all participants. During the on-mat test, the two fighters came back to
the same mat position between each sequence and stood face-to-face without
moving for a few seconds at a distance of 2 m. Then, the experimenter issued a
verbal command to inform the fighters of the beginning of the new fight
sequence. The test was filmed on each occasion in order to analyze the decision
times and the accuracy of each of the 10 decisions.

Verbalizable rules questionnaire. This task required participants to describe the key
factors they considered when they made a decision during a fight.
Milazzo et al. 309

Specifically, verbalizable rules questionnaire consisted of pen-and-paper

responses to the sole question, “Where do you focus your attention when
making decisions during a fight?” With no time limit to answer, participants
were asked to report explicit rules in the form of if-then statements. Examples of
explicit rules reported included: “If my opponent attacks with the open side,
then I defend with this move.”
Statements not referring to anticipatory cues or pattern-recognition principles
of decision making in a fight were excluded, as, for instance: “I try to surprise my
opponent to see how she reacts.” The questionnaire answers were scored by a
specialist researcher in combat sport, by summing up the number of rules
described by each participant (Masters, 1992). This method was used in the
past to measure the success of an implicit learning intervention (Lam,
Maxwell, & Masters, 2009; Poolton, Masters, & Maxwell, 2006). A large reper-
toire of verbalizable rules was taken as evidence of explicit knowledge develop-
ment (Gorman, & Farrow, 2009).

Measures. Participants performed the same battery of tests twice, prior to a

three-week training intervention (pre-test) and 24 hours after the completion
of the training intervention (post-test). During pre- and post-test, participants
performed the four tasks randomly: a video-based decision-making test in the
coupled condition, a video-based decision-making test in the uncoupled condi-
tion, the on-mat test, and then the verbalizable rules questionnaire. Following
the pre-test, participants were randomly divided into three groups—an implicit
perceptual-motor training group, a motor training group, and a control group.
No significant difference between the groups for each dependent variable was
found at the start of the experiment (p < .05).

Training procedures
At the moment of this study, all athletes trained together in a national training
center. As a consequence, all of them completed the same on-mat training pro-
gram with the same national coach during the experimental intervention. Most
of the time, the implicit perceptual-motor training and the motor training took
place at the same time just before the second and last on-mat session of the day.
Then, fighters from each group (i.e., control group included) completed the same
on-mat training session.

Implicit perceptual-motor training group

Training was conducted over three weeks, at four sessions a week. In total, each
athlete watched 360 sequences, that is to say, 95 minutes of video simulation or
approximately 8 minutes per training session. The perceptual training sessions
were similar to the video-based testing sessions but only in the coupled condition.
310 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

So, fighters had to mime their decisions. To create implicit learning processes, no
instruction about where participants should direct their attention was given
during or after the training sessions. In addition, participants were required to
respond to a concurrent secondary task by counting forward out aloud in two’s
starting from zero (i.e., 0, 2, 4, 6. . . ). Each training session was filmed so as to
allow the analysis of the decision accuracy in each scenario.

Motor training group

Participants were required to hit a dummy equipped with luminous targets
(stimuli) placed on the head and on the chest. During the training, the aim
was to hit the one or several targets illuminating randomly every 2 seconds, as
quickly as possible. Each training session was completed individually and lasted
for about 8 minutes. As it was the case in the implicit perceptual-motor training,
the program consisted of 12 sessions of 30 sequences, conducted over three
weeks, at four sessions per week. Participants were given information
about the expected positive effects of this instrument on decision-making
performance.

Control group
The control group completed each of the tests, and the same regular on-mat
training program as experimental groups in order for all participants included in
the study to have an equivalent amount of physical practice. The main goal of
this group was to ascertain if any improvements in implicit perceptual-motor
training may have arisen as a result of test familiarity.

Dependent measures
Decision accuracy. For video-based tests and on-mat tests, two national coaches
selected the most appropriate decision for a participant in response to each fight
situation. Decision-making accuracy was defined as whether or not the partici-
pant decided on the action selected by the coaches as most appropriate for that
trial. A correct decision was awarded a score of one. A decision that was incor-
rect was awarded a score of zero. An overall percentage for decision making was
then calculated and used for data analysis.

Gaze behavior. The mean number of visual fixations per sequence, the mean fix-
ation duration per sequence, the total number of fixation locations per sequence,
and the percentage viewing time on areas in the display were collected at a rate
of 25 frames per second and subjected to a frame-by-frame analysis. As in pre-
vious research (e.g., Williams & Davids, 1998), a visual fixation was defined as
the period of time (>100 ms) measured when the eye remains stationary within
Milazzo et al. 311

1.5 of movement tolerance. Randomly selected trials (n ¼ 30) were reanalyzed

by the same experimenter and a second researcher, to assess the reliability of the
pattern of gaze data. A high interclass correlation was found for intra- (r ¼ .94)
and inter- (r ¼ .92) observer agreement (see Thomas, Nelson, & Silverman,
2005).
Mean fixation duration (ms) was the average of all the fixations that occurred
during the test. Percentage viewing time was the percentage of time spent fixat-
ing any of the defined 17 fixation locations identified on the participant’s oppon-
ent. These locations included: front shoulder, rear shoulder, front arm, rear arm,
front forearm, rear forearm, front hand, rear hand, trunk, pelvis, front thigh,
rear thigh, front calf, rear calf, front foot, and rear foot. A category entitled
“herself” was added to assess the visual fixations of the participant on the fighter
who corresponded to her persona on screen. A further “unclassified” category
was included to account for the fixations that did not fall within any of the areas
already referred to.

Statistical analysis
Six athletes participated in 12 implicit video-based training sessions. However,
due to injuries, one player did not complete the 12th perceptual training session.
Therefore, this last training session was removed from all analyses. For the same
reason, two participants failed to complete the on-mat post-test in both the
implicit and motor training groups. Therefore, since these athletes were injured,
they were removed from the on-mat test analyses.
Decision accuracy of the video-based decision-making tests was analyzed
using a 3  2  2 (Group  Test  Response condition) factorial analysis of vari-
ance (ANOVA) with repeated measures on the last two factors. Relevant sig-
nificant interactions were followed up by a series of fully repeated-measures
2  2 (Test  Response condition) analyses of variance conducted separately
for each group. The results of the verbal rules questionnaire were assessed to
determine the number of rules reported by each participant. A 3  2
(Group  Test) mixed-design ANOVA with repeated measures on the last
factor was used to analyze the results. Separate 3  2 (Group  Test)
ANOVAs with repeated measures on the last factor were conducted on the
mean number of visual fixations, the mean fixation duration, the total number
of fixation locations per trial, and the percentage viewing time on each areas pre-
selected. Finally, decision accuracy of the video-based training sessions were
analyzed separately only for the implicit perceptual-motor training group
using 1  11 (Group  Test) mixed-design ANOVA tests with repeated measures
on the last factor. For all analyses, significance was achieved when p  .05 and
effect sizes stated as partial eta squared. Any significant results were followed up
with post-hoc analyses, adjusted where appropriate using the Bonferroni correc-
tion factor.
312 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

Results
Video-based performance
Results from the 3  2  2 (Group  Test  Response condition) factorial
ANOVA showed a significant effect of time of testing, F(1, 60) ¼ 15.25,
p < .01, Z2 ¼ 0.20, and a significant Group  Test interaction, F(2, 60) ¼ 5.48,
p < .01, Z2 ¼ 0.15. A post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction highlighted a sig-
nificant improvement in the decision accuracy for implicit perceptual-motor
training group in both coupled and uncoupled response conditions, compared
to the motor training group and control group.
No main effect or interaction was found when the response condition was
considered (p > .05). However, results showed higher decision accuracy in the
coupled responses compared to the uncoupled responses in both pre-test
(M coupled responses ¼ 45%, SD ¼ 17.5%; M uncoupled responses ¼ 40%,
SD ¼ 19.1%) and post-test (M coupled responses ¼ 61.7%, SD ¼ 15.4%; M
uncoupled responses ¼ 53.3%, SD ¼ 16.8%) (Table 1).

Gaze behavior data

Mean fixation duration. A significant effect of test on the mean fixation duration
per trial, F(1, 15) ¼ 10.80, p < .05, Z2 ¼ 0.42, was found. A post-hoc test with
Bonferroni correction highlighted a significant increase in mean fixation dur-
ation per trial for the implicit perceptual-motor training group between the pre-
test (M ¼ 587.2 ms, SD ¼ 161.1) and the post-test (M ¼ 1099.7 ms, SD ¼ 515.2)
compared to the motor training group (M pre-test ¼ 567.8 ms, SD ¼ 324.9; M
post-test ¼ 732.5 ms, SD ¼ 413.1) and control group (M pre-test ¼ 606.8 ms,
SD ¼ 106.5; M post-test ¼ 685.5 ms, SD ¼ 124.7) (Table 2).

Mean number of fixations. A significant effect of test was found, F(1, 15) ¼ 10.95;
p < .05, Z2 ¼ 0.42. A post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction showed a signifi-
cant decrease in the mean number of fixations per trial for implicit perceptual-

Table 1. Mean decision accuracy (%; with SD) on video-based tests per group across
times of testing and mode of response conditions.

Coupled response Uncoupled response

Pre Post Pre Post

Group M SD M SD M SD M SD

Implicit 45 13.8 75 10.5 33.3 28.0 66.7 8.2

Placebo 40 27.6 60 16.4 40 17.9 45 20.7
Control 50 6.3 45 8.9 46.7 5.2 48.3 11.7
Milazzo et al. 313

Table 2. Fixation duration (with SD), number of fixations, and number of fixation locations
and (SD) per group across time of testing.

Fixation duration (ms) Number of fixations Number of fixation locations

Group Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post

Implicit M 587.2 1099.7 12.6 7.4 4.8 3.8

SD 161.1 515.2 3.4 1.3 1.1 0.4

Placebo M 567.8 732.5 12.7 11.2 5.3 4.7

SD 324.9 413.1 3.1 3.6 1.0 0.5

Control M 606.8 685.5 12.3 11.6 5.1 4.9

SD 106.5 124.7 2.9 3.1 0.7 0.6

motor training group, between the pre-test (M ¼ 12.6, SD ¼ 3.4) and the post-
test (M ¼ 7.4, SD ¼ 1.3) compared to the motor training group (M pre-
test ¼ 12.7, SD ¼ 3.1; M post-test ¼ 11.2, SD ¼ 3.6) and control group (M pre-
test ¼ 12.3, SD ¼ 2.9; M post-test ¼ 11.6, SD ¼ 3.1) (Table 2).

Mean number of fixation locations. Despite the biggest decrease in the number of
fixation locations for the implicit training group from pre-test (M ¼ 4.8,
SD ¼ 1.1) to post-test (M ¼ 3.8, SD ¼ 0.4) compared to the motor training
group (M pre-test ¼ 5.3, SD ¼ 1.0; M post-test ¼ 4.7, SD ¼ 0.5) and the control
group (M pre-test ¼ 5.1, SD ¼ 0.7; M post-test ¼ 4.9, SD ¼ 0.6), results from
ANOVA showed no significant main effects or interactions for the mean
number of fixation locations (p < .05) (Table 2).

Percentage viewing time. There was no significant main effect of group, test, or
Group  Test interaction for any of the 18 selected viewing locations (p < .05).
Analysis of viewing time showed that participants of each group focused for
longer on the same four information sources in both the pre- and post-tests.
These information sources were “unclassified” areas (M groups on both
tests ¼ 42.5%, SD ¼ 5.2%), “herself” (M groups on both tests ¼ 24.8%,
SD ¼ 3.1%), the torso (M groups on both tests ¼ 10.7%, SD ¼ 2.3%), and the
pelvis (M groups on both tests ¼ 8%, SD ¼ 2.4%). In addition, it was observed
that all areas in the periphery or down at the feet (M groups on both tests < 1%),
hands (M groups on both tests < 1%), or calf (M groups on both tests < 1%)
were less represented (Table 3). Moreover, it is interesting to note that results of
a one-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference (p < .05) on the average of
percentage viewing time between information picked up on the front part of the
body (front shoulder, front arm, front forearm, front hand, front thigh, front
calf, and front foot) and information picked up on the back of the body (rear
shoulder, rear arm, rear forearm, rear hand, rear thigh, rear calf, and rear foot).
314 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

Table 3. Mean percentage of viewing time on each area in the display per group across
time of testing.

Group Test time U Hs T P H Far Frt Frs ReT Ffo Others

Implicit Pre 33 26 13 11 6 3 3 2 1 1 1<

Post 42 23 13 10 4 6 5 1< 1< 1< 1<

Placebo Pre 44 24 7 7 2 4 5 1 1< 6 1<

Post 48 26 10 5 1 1 5 0 1< 3 1<

Control Pre 42 28 10 6 4 4 3 2 1< 1< 1<

Post 46 26 11 9 3 2 3 1 1< 1< 1<
Note. U: unclassified; Hs: herself; T: torso; P: pelvis; H: Head; Far: Front Arm; FrT: Front thigh; FrS: Front
shoulder; ReT: Rear thigh; Ffo, Front forearm.

Table 4. Decision accuracy (%, with SD) on on-mat test per group
across time of testing.

Decision accuracy (%)

Pre Post

Group M SD M SD

Implicit 45 18.2 45 16.7

Placebo 45 15.1 55 17.9
Control 45 18.7 50 13.4

On-mat performance
ANOVA on decision accuracy data revealed no significant effects of group,
F(2, 11) ¼ 0.2, p ¼ .98, Z2 < 0.01; test, F(1, 11) ¼ 0.87, p ¼ .37, Z2 ¼ 0.05; or the
Group  Test interaction, F(2, 11) ¼ 0.30, p ¼ .75, Z2 ¼ .05. The mean perform-
ance scores are highlighted in Table 4.

Verbalizable rules test

Results of a one-way ANOVA indicated no significant group differences in the
pre-test mean number of rules, F(2, 15) ¼ 0.16, p ¼ .85, Z2 ¼ 0.02. There was no
significant main effect of group, F(2, 15) ¼ 0.23, p ¼ .80, Z2 ¼ 0.03; test,
F(1, 15) ¼ 1.15, p ¼ .30, Z2 ¼ .07; or Group  Test interaction, F(2, 16) ¼ 0.60,
p ¼ .56, Z2 ¼ 0.07. These results demonstrated that there was no significant
increase in explicit rules over the course of the intervention (Table 5).
Milazzo et al. 315

Table 5. Mean number of action rules (with SD) per group across time
of testing.

Action rules

Pre Post

Group M SD M SD

Implicit 3.7 2.3 3 1.3

Placebo 3.2 1.1 3.2 0.8
Control 4 1.4 3.8 1.2

Figure 2. Mean decision accuracy performance expressed in % error per video training
session for perceptual-motor training group.

Training session performance

Analysis of decision accuracy for the implicit perceptual-motor training group
from the first to the last training session revealed a significant main effect on
training outcomes, F(10, 50) ¼ 2.03, p < .05, Z2 ¼ 0.29. This showed that a gen-
eral improvement in decision-making performance occurred for the experimen-
tal group from the 1st to the 11th training session during the intervention period
(Figure 2). Bonferroni corrected post-hoc analyses demonstrated no significant
improvements in decision accuracy (p > .05) between the 1st training session and
each other session before the last one.
316 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

Discussion
The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an implicit
video-based perceptual training program compared to a motor training program
to enhance the decision-making skills of highly skilled junior female karate
fighters. The study also assessed the relative effects of 12 implicit video-based
training sessions on gaze behavior. It was hypothesized that the implementation
of the implicit perceptual-motor training program would improve decision-
making performance as shown by an increase in decision accuracy without
explicit information accrual during video-based training and video and on-
mat testing situations. Finally, it was predicted that a sufficient period of prac-
tice in video-based simulation would result in strategic changes in gaze behavior.
The data from the video-based training showed that the accuracy of the
implicit group significantly increased after three weeks of training. In addition,
results demonstrated that there were no significant differences in the total ver-
balizable knowledge articulated by the participants between the beginning and
the end of the training intervention, suggesting that improvement of perform-
ance was a case of implicit learning. These findings are consistent with other
perceptual training studies (e.g., Farrow & Abernethy, 2002; Smeeton et al.,
2005). This suggests that the acquisition of implicit task-specific knowledge
during training enabled participants in the perceptual training group to identify
and interpret environmental cues to better understand the situations presented.
The improvement of performance during training is likely to be mediated by the
high level of expertise of participants in the current study (see also Smeeton
et al., 2005). Indeed, expert fighters would possess a degree of structured declara-
tive knowledge that might act to support further knowledge acquisition, without
the need for explicit instruction (Chase & Ericsson, 1982; Smeeton et al., 2005).
According to Ericsson and Kintsch (1995), experts appear to be able to increase
storage capacity and efficacy of information processing in short-term working
memory through the establishment of retrieval structures in a specific memory
structure, the so-called long-term working memory. We can assume that during
the perceptual-motor training program, the high frequency use of implicit task-
specific knowledge enabled the development of retrieval structures in long-term
working memory promoting effective responses to familiar situations and to deal
with new situations (Zoudji, Thon, & Debû, 2010). In addition, similar to the
mechanisms involved in short-term priming repetition protocol, it is possible
that the first fight situations presented in video clips were stored and tagged in
Long Term Memory and then were efficiently retrieved, thanks to retrieval
structures when the same type of situation presents itself anew (Ericsson,
2004; Zoudji et al., 2010).
The session-by-session analysis of decision accuracy is a relatively unique con-
tribution to extant literature in perceptual-motor training. The present results
indicated no significant improvement between the first training session and
Milazzo et al. 317

subsequent sessions (except the last session). These results suggest that when using
an implicit training approach, sufficient time is necessary (the observation of 330
fight sequences in the current study) before a significant improvement can be
observed. Indeed, implicit training leads athletes to find solutions to problems
by themselves, which explains why the progression in performance may be slower
but also why implicit learning may show greatest resistance to performance loss
over the extended retention period (Abernethy et al., 2012). The progressive
change in performance measured during the perceptual training program suggests
that this is a meaningful improvement rather than a result of increased test famil-
iarity or habituation, as it is supported by the observation of rapid improvements
in first trials with implicit reaction time protocols. This result could also be
explained by the use of concurrent secondary tasks which tend to limit perform-
ance enhancement with regard to the primary task (Poulter et al., 2005).
Consistent with previous work (e.g., Smeeton et al., 2005), analysis of video-
based decision accuracy from pre- to post-intervention revealed a significant
increase for the implicit perceptual-motor training group only. In addition, it
is important to note that means were higher in the coupled condition relative to
the uncoupled condition. This is consistent with previous research (see Farrow &
Abernethy, 2003; Farrow, Abernethy, & Jackson, 2005). According to Fitts and
Posner model (1967), experts acquired through extensive practice and more
proceduralized and automated skills (autonomous phase). As a result, the
nature of the verbalized response condition may disrupt the automated func-
tioning of decisions (Farrow & Abernethy, 2003). Interestingly, there was an
unexpected increase in the decision accuracy of the motor training group from
pre-test to the post-test in the coupled response mode. This improvement can be
explained by the use of interactive motor training as a placebo task, which may
have created a level of expectancy that is commensurate with that experienced by
the implicit perceptual-motor group.
Analyses of gaze behavior demonstrated that there was a significant change in
the mean fixation duration and number of fixations for the implicit group from
the pre- to post-test while percentage viewing time did not reveal any significant
effects. It appears that participants in the implicit perceptual-motor training
group used fewer fixations of longer duration than the athletes in both the
motor training and control groups. This is consistent with previous research
demonstrating that expert fighters have less exhaustive visual search strategies
relative to novices (Ripoll et al., 1995; Piras, Pierantozzi, & Squatrito, 2014).
These findings suggested that perceptual-motor training can increase the visual
search efficiency. Further, the results highlight that improvements in decision
accuracy are likely to be a result of a more refined ability in perceptual-motor
training group to pick up subtle postural cues and to ignore irrelevant sources of
information (Goldstone, 1998). As suggested by Williams and Elliott (1999),
reduced search rate appears to be an effective strategy for making decisions
because the saccadic eye movements that separate each visual fixation, which
318 Perceptual and Motor Skills 123(1)

are inactive periods of information processing, are less numerous. Recently,

Lorains et al. (2014) have confirmed the modification of point-of-gaze with
elite football players after the implementation of a video-based training program
without the use of explicit instructions. However, the present results contrast
with those of Poulter et al. (2005) who did not find any changes in gaze behavior
after an implicit perceptual-motor training of only 96 trials. This difference may
be due to the respective length of the interventions.
In general, it appears that participants in all groups were rarely focused on
peripheral areas such as the feet, the hands, or the calves. On the contrary, the
majority of visual fixations were directed to central areas of the opponent’s
body such as the torso and the pelvis. The torso-pelvis region is an important
information cue for it indicates the opponent’s intention. As reported for
experts in karate (Williams & Elliott, 1999) and French boxing (Ripoll
et al., 1995), all athletes in this study appeared to use an effective “visual
pivot” strategy to maintain point-of-gaze on upper central body regions
while simultaneously scanning front peripheral cues such as the front shoulder
and the front thigh. In addition, in line with previous research in fencing
(Hagemann, Schorer, Canal-Bruland, Lotz, & Strauss, 2010), participants
spent long periods fixating on “unclassified” areas on screen, which corres-
ponded, in general, to fixations which were near the opponent’s body.
These data highlight the use of a second “visual pivot” by experts and confirm
the combined use of foveal vision to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the
situation, and of peripheral vision to pick up the relative movement pattern
(Williams et al., 2004). For elite athletes, it may be that each specific informa-
tion source is less important than the relative motions between these areas
(Abernethy, Gill, Parks, & Packer, 2001; Savelsbergh, Williams, Van der
Kamp, & Ward, 2002; Ward, Williams, & Bennett, 2002). It is also interesting
to note that participants in both groups spent at least 40% of total fixation
time looking at the participant who corresponded to her persona on screen.
This result could explain the improvement of decision accuracy in the current
study in light of observational learning framework (Bandura, 1969). Indeed,
according to Bandura (1969), an individual acquires information about that
situation and about the consequences of specific actions in that situation
through observation of another’s behavior in a particular situation. In the
present experiment, several actions performed by both fighters were presented
in each video sequence just before the occlusion. So, it is possible that partici-
pants have reproduced relevant decisions made by their persona on screen
before the occlusion in previous sequences during later presentations of the
same type of fight sequences at the moment of occlusion.
The present experiment demonstrated the efficacy of implicit perceptual-
motor training to enhance the perceptual skills and decision-making perform-
ance of skilled karate fighters. The results suggest that skilled fighters used more
effective visual strategies (reduced search rate) to make accurate decisions after a
Milazzo et al. 319

period of implicit training. Coaches should devote more practice time to implicit
learning approaches to achieve significant improvements. However, the lack of
significant differences between the implicit perceptual-motor, the motor, and the
control groups in the on-mat test highlighted some limitations in the current
study. First, because of some demonstrations of transfer success in perceptual
training situations, it is possible that a larger sample size would yield further
performance differences in transfer test, although additional statistical analysis
did not show the presence of outliers (see Gabbett, Rubinoff, Thorburn, &
Farrow, 2007; Williams et al., 2002). Second, it is possible that we did not
provide enough perceptual learning re-coupled with the action to transfer the
anticipatory skills acquired during training back to the field to ensure the sig-
nificant improvements of performance. For example, it is essential for fighters to
keep a proper distance from an opponent, to prevent the opponent from making
attacks, and to score during a match (Mori et al., 2002). However, the viewing
perspective chosen for the video simulation sequences provided at least visual
information about the distance between both fighters on the screen.
In future research, it would be worthwhile to study the influence of the fight-
ing distance on the participants’ visual search strategies and determine whether
foveal or peripheral vision is used more heavily depending on whether the
opponent is far or near (see also Hristovski, Davids, Araujo, & Button, 2006).
It should be noted that the on-mat situation puts at stake the fighters’ physical
well-being. Thus, the fear of getting hurt in this kind of test may have influenced
the results obtained. We assume that the development of notational analysis
methods in real game situations, such as the works of Lorains, Ball, and
MacMahon (2013b) will be a good way to improve the effectiveness of assessing
decision-making performance.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publica-
tion of this article.

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Author Biographies
Nicolas Milazzo is a karate coach and physical education teacher for 10 years. In
2015, he completed his PhD in Perceptual-Motor Expertise at the University of
Paris-Saclay and the French Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance. His
research has focused on the development of decision-making expertise in sport in
light of cognitive and perceptual skills. Nicolas is also a personal coach in mental
training. He has worked with elite athletes in olympic sports such as taekwondo,
football, swimming, and horse jumping.

Damian Farrow is a professor of Sports Science with the Institute of Sport,

Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL). Professor Farrow holds a joint appoint-
ment within the College of Sport & Exercise Science, ISEAL, and the Australian
Institute of Sport (AIS). In 2002 he was appointed the inaugural AIS Skill
Acquisition Specialist, then became the Discipline Head of Psychology and
Skill Acquisition in 2009. In this position he was responsible for research and
support of coaches seeking to develop the skills of Australian athletes. He has
worked with a range of AIS and National sports programs including the AFL,
Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, Netball Australia, Surfing Australia, the
Australian Rugby Union and is currently National Lead of Skill Acquisition
for Swimming Australia. Damian publishes and presents extensively on his
research interests, centered on understanding the factors critical to the develop-
ment of talent and sport expertise, with a specific focus on perceptual and
decision-making skill and practice methodology.

Jean F. Fournier is an associate professor at the University of Paris West. He has

consulted in mental training with Olympic athletes and coaches at the French
Institute of Sports (INSEP – Paris – France), and with the French Golf
Federation. He has served as the director of sport sciences at the National
Institute of Sport in Montréal, Canada. His research has focused on the effects of
mental training on performance, on imagery, attention, and mindfulness. He served
as the co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Psychology for 10 years.
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