ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Dance competitions, including Dancesport (international standard dance), involve subjective evaluations, and the competition outcome depends on the referee's (judge's) judgment. Visual information extraction in the judging process is a fundamental psychological component. This study focuses on the decision-making process of Dancesport judges, examining behavioral indicators such as reaction time and accuracy rate, as well as eye movement indicators like saccade distance and eye movement trajectory, across judges of different experience levels. The aim is to conduct a comprehensive study on the cognitive processing involved in Dancesport judging and to analyze and summarize the characteristics of mental processing in judges at various levels.The study investigates eye movement characteristics and judgment cognition in Dancesport judges, involving 45 participants divided into three groups: 15 experts (national/international-level judges with over 5 years of experience), 15 intermediates (national-level judges with over 2 years of experience), and 15 novices (sports dance students with over 2 years of training but no judging experience). Data collection methods included a literature review, expert interviews, and eye movement tracking using a Tobii Pro eye tracker with SPSS 17.0 for statistical analysis. Participants evaluated 22 images under varying task difficulties (time-constrained with auditory interference and relaxed with silent conditions) to assess their judgment accuracy, saccadic distance, fixation patterns, and decision-making efficiency. The study reveals significant performance and visual processing strategies differences among dancesport judges of varying expertise. Expert judges demonstrated faster, more accurate decision-making, efficient visual processing, and precise focus on critical technical points. However, novices exhibited slower responses, lower accuracy, and disorganized gaze patterns, especially under high-pressure conditions. Intermediate judges showed some improvements over novices but lacked the precision and efficiency of experts, emphasizing the importance of experience and training in developing effective visual strategies and cognitive resilience.
Adhanom, I. B., MacNeilage, P., & Folmer, E. (2023). Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality: A Broad Review of Applications and Challenges. Virtual Reality, 27(2), 1481–1505. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-022-00738-z
Anderlucci, L., Lubisco, A., & Mignani, S. (2021). Investigating the Judges Performance in a National Competition of Sport Dance. Social Indicators Research, 156(2–3), 783–799. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02256-z
Berkman, M. (2024). Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality. In Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games (pp. 681–688).
Carr, D. B., & Grover, P. (2020). The Role of Eye Tracking Technology in Assessing Older Driver Safety. Geriatrics, 5(2), 36. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics5020036
Coe, B. C., Huang, J., Brien, D. C., White, B. J., Yep, R., & Munoz, D. P. (2024). Automated Analysis Pipeline for Extracting Saccade, Pupil, and Blink Parameters Using Video-Based Eye Tracking. Vision, 8(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision8010014
Dai, S., Newman, J., Xue, H., & Du, J. (2022). The dancefloor is now open: A dispositional analysis of the glocalization and sportification of Chinese DanceSport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 57(4), 575–596.
Duan, Z. G., Monseau, J., He, Y., & Qiu, J. G. (2024). From Cultural Import to Flourishing Sport: A Comprehensive History of DanceSport in China (1864–2023). The International Journal of the History of Sport, 41(2–3), 185–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2024.2341829
Eysenck, M., & Keane, M. (2020). Cognitive psychology: A student’s handbook. Psychology Press.
Filho, E., & Tenenbaum, G. (2020). Methods in cognitive sport psychology. In D. Hackfort & R. Schinke (Eds.), The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology (1st ed., pp. 291–302). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315187259-22
Goettker, A., & Gegenfurtner, K. R. (2021). A change in perspective: The interaction of saccadic and pursuit eye movements in oculomotor control and perception. Vision Research, 188, 283–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2021.08.004
Guo, L., Liu, Y., & Kan, C. (2024). The effect of sports expertise on the performance of orienteering athletes’ real scene image recognition and their visual search characteristics. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 21498. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72251-z
Klaib, A. F., Alsrehin, N. O., Melhem, W. Y., Bashtawi, H. O., & Magableh, A. A. (2021). Eye tracking algorithms, techniques, tools, and applications with an emphasis on machine learning and Internet of Things technologies. Expert Systems with Applications, 166, 114037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2020.114037
Kosel, C., Holzberger, D., & Seidel, T. (2021). Identifying Expert and Novice Visual Scanpath Patterns and Their Relationship to Assessing Learning-Relevant Student Characteristics. Frontiers in Education, 5, 612175. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.612175
Kümmerer, M., & Bethge, M. (2023). Predicting Visual Fixations. Annual Review of Vision Science, 9(1), 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-vision-120822-072528
Li, J., Yang, J., Qin, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Expert and Novice Goalkeepers’ Perceptions of Changes During Open Play Soccer. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 128(6), 2725–2744. https://doi.org/10.1177/00315125211040750
Lieberei, T., Welter, V. D. E., Großmann, L., & Krell, M. (2023). Findings from the expert-novice paradigm on differential response behavior among multiple-choice items of a pedagogical content knowledge test – implications for test development. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1240120. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1240120
Lim, J. Z., Mountstephens, J., & Teo, J. (2020). Emotion Recognition Using Eye-Tracking: Taxonomy, Review and Current Challenges. Sensors, 20(8), 2384. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20082384
Liu, N., & Cao, S. (2024). The influence of visual elements in Chinese food labels on consumers’ visual perception: Insights from an eye-tracking study. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 75(7), 738–748. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637486.2024.2397711
Mahanama, B., Jayawardana, Y., Rengarajan, S., Jayawardena, G., Chukoskie, L., Snider, J., & Jayarathna, S. (2022). Eye Movement and Pupil Measures: A Review. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3, 733531. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.733531
Massey, H. S., Whitehead, A. E., Marchant, D., Polman, R. C., & Williams, E. L. (2020). An investigation of expertise in cycling: Eye tracking, Think Aloud and the influence of a competitor. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 49, 101681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101681
Milley, K. R., & Ouellette, G. P. (2021). Putting Attention on the Spot in Coaching: Shifting to an External Focus of Attention With Imagery Techniques to Improve Basketball Free-Throw Shooting Performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 645676. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645676
Mitchell, J., Maratos, F. A., Giles, D., Taylor, N., Butterworth, A., & Sheffield, D. (2020). The Visual Search Strategies Underpinning Effective Observational Analysis in the Coaching of Climbing Movement. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1025. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01025
Purcell, Z. A., Wastell, C. A., & Sweller, N. (2021). Domain-specific experience and dual-process thinking. Thinking & Reasoning, 27(2), 239–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2020.1793813
Rondora, M. E. S., Pirdavani, A., & Larocca, A. P. C. (2022). Driver Behavioral Classification on Curves Based on the Relationship between Speed, Trajectories, and Eye Movements: A Driving Simulator Study. Sustainability, 14(10), 6241. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106241
Seha, S. N. A., Hatzinakos, D., Zandi, A. S., & Comeau, F. J. E. (2021). Improving eye movement biometrics in low frame rate eye-tracking devices using periocular and eye blinking features. Image and Vision Computing, 108, 104124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imavis.2021.104124
Wu, Y., Yang, Z., Wang, R., Zeng, H., & Zhang, Q. (2024). A comparison of perceptual-cognitive skills in expert and non-expert sports officials: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1380281. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1380281
Zhu, L., & Lv, J. (2023). Review of Studies on User Research Based on EEG and Eye Tracking. Applied Sciences, 13(11), 6502. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116502
LyuYuanxin, & Saearani, M. F. T. (2025). A Study on the Cognitive Eye Movement Characteristics of Dancesport Judges. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 15(2), 733–745.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode