Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 146 (2014) 169 – 174 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect 1877-0428 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Russian Psychological Society. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.075 Third Annual International Conference «Early Childhood Care and Education» The usage of eye-tracking technologies in rock-climbing Alyona I. Grushko*, Sergey V. Leonov Lomonosov Moscow State University, Mokhovaya st. 11/9, Moscow 125009, Russia Abstract The research describes the possibility of applying eye-tracking technologies in sport training. The subject of current study was to determine and describe the visual strategies in prospecting rock-climbing routes by young athletes. Twenty three young rock-climbers participated in the experiment in indoor climbing gym. Via eye- tracking system authors investigate that the most effective visual strategy for the route preview in climbing is a strategy named «sequence of blocks» cause it’s most connected with tactical component of training and anticipation phenomenon in sport. © 2013 The Authors.Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Russian Psychological Society. Keywords: eye-tracking; gaze-tracking; visual search strategies; sport psychology; psychology of rock-climbing, young athetes 1. Introduction Nowadays eye-tracking technologies become an inherent part of scientific researches [1]. Via eye-tracking systems scientists can detect eye movements and analyze human cognitive processing of visual information for interactive and diagnostic applications [2]. There is no doubt that performance in sport is linked to cognitive and perceptual skills as well as motor and physical abilities. Effects of cognitive training in sport fields (mental training, visualization etc.) are often discussed in sport psychology [3]. The possibilities of eye-movement registration have been described in researches of such sports, as: archery, football, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis and etc [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. Most researches deal with the following general gaze patterns: focus of attention and «zones of interest» (and ignored visual cues), scan path, number of saccades and fixations and its duration etc. Authors highlight the importance of applying eye-tracking technologies for diagnostic purposes in professional sport fields. The subject of current study was to determine and describe the visual strategies in * Corresponding author. Tel.: +7-985-433-1922 E-mail address: al-grushko@yandex.ru © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Russian Psychological Society.