Using spatial occlusion to explore the control strategies used in rapid interceptive actions: Predictive or prospective control?

Interceptive actions require individuals to time their movements with an external event. To meet the intense spatial-temporal demands needed for successful interception, a tight coupling and coordination between perceptual and motor processes is required. The control strategy that underlies successful performance is a matter of debate. On the one hand, a predictive control strategy assumes that advanced information is used for response selection and the movement is carried out faithfully without modification. In contrast, a prospective control strategy assumes that the movement response is continuously specified through to the point of interception. Using the rapid interceptive timing task of ice hockey goaltending, we explored the effects of progressively removing predictive visual information from the shooter on the gaze behaviours and motor responses of elite goaltenders. Results showed that the goaltenders used a prospective reversal strategy on 18 of 79 glove trials (22.8% of glove saves; 4.5% of total shots). When a reversal was used, the goaltenders were more successful (saved 11/18 reversals). The gaze behaviour that corresponded to both of these strategies was the quiet eye, which was the final fixation before the onset of the saving motion. The optimal location and duration of the quiet eye was an important factor for successful interception of the puck.