Time to start training: A review of cognitive research in sport and proposal for bridging the gap from academia to the field

Research demonstrates the importance of perceptual-cognitive skills, such as pattern matching, anticipation, and decision making in numerous sports, including badminton (Abernethy & Russell, 1987), baseball (Burroughs, 1984), basketball (Allard, Graham, & Paarsalu, 1980), handball (Johnson & Raab, 2003), rugby (Lorains, Ball, & MacMahon, 2013), soccer (Ward & Williams, 2003), squash (Abernethy, 1990), tennis (Haskins, 1965), and volleyball (Borgeaud & Abernethy, 1987). While other factors may be important (e.g., visual search patterns), the accuracy and/or speed with which athletes anticipate their opponent’s intentions and/or decide on an appropriate course of action, as assessed in domain-specific tests designed to simulate and represent real-world sporting demands have been shown to be the best and most reliable predictors of skilled performance in the field (see Mann, Williams, Ward, & Janelle, 2007). Moreover, several studies indicate that when training is based on expert models of superior performance, these skills can be improved and transfer to the field (e.g., Fadde, 2009; Ward, Suss, & Basevitch, 2009). In most elite and everyday sports training contexts, expensive research technology (such as eye-tracking equipment) is not always available to practitioners that would help us better understand the cognitive basis of, and ecological constraints of anticipation and decision-making in a way that could be leveraged to tailor training to improve individual and team performance. However, other technologies are now becoming more readily available to support the development of perceptual-cognitive skills. This is particularly timely, because although there is a growing body of research demonstrating the trainability of perceptual-cognitive skills in sport and their transfer to the field, few researchers have attempted to translate this research into accessible and useful training tools for everyday coaches and athletes (for an example, see Belling, Suss, & Ward, 2014). Moreover, research on the validation of such perceptual-cognitive or decision-making skill training tools is startlingly absent from the literature, not just from research on human factors in sport, but in human factors more broadly. In this research, we review what has worked in the past, what can be leveraged by simple and effective tools for accessible devices (e.g., personal computer, tablet), and how powerful these tools can be by reviewing changes in real world performance following their implementation. An NCAA Division 1 baseball team was given access to Axon Sports Cognitive Training for hitting in baseball for the 2013 season. Batting statistics are compared from the 2012 season, without training present, and 2013 season, with training present. The results suggest that batting improved during the season when cognitive training was available to the players. Implications for future research and application are discussed

When the music's over: does music skill transfer to children's and young adolescents' cognitive and academic skills? A meta-analysis

Music training has been recently claimed to enhance children and young adolescents' cognitive and academic skills. However, substantive research on transfer of skills suggests that far-transfer - i.e., the transfer of skills between two areas only loosely related to each other - occurs rarely. In this meta-analysis, we examined the available experimental evidence regarding the impact of music training on children and young adolescents' cognitive and academic skills. The results of the random-effects models showed (a) a small overall effect size (d¯=0.16); (b) slightly greater effect sizes with regard to intelligence (d¯=0.35) and memory-related outcomes (d¯=0.34); and (c) an inverse relation between the size of the effects and the methodological quality of the study design. These results suggest that music training does not reliably enhance children and young adolescents' cognitive or academic skills, and that previous positive findings were probably due to confounding variables

Instructional Control of Cognitive Load in the Design of Complex Learning Environments

Kester, L., Paas, F., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2010). Instructional control of cognitive load in the design of complex learning environments. In J. L. Plass, R. Moreno, & Roland Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive Load Theory (pp. 109-130). New York: Cambridge University Press.Instructional design theories focus more and more on authentic learning tasks that are based on complex real-life experiences as the driving force for learning. The general assumption of these theories is that providing learners with authentic ‘whole’ tasks helps them to integrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for effective task performance, gives them the opportunity to learn to coordinate qualitatively different constituent skills that make up this performance, and eventually enables them to transfer what is learned to their daily life or work settings. However, these complex tasks pose such a high load on the learner’s cognitive system, that it may interfere with efficient learning if the instructional design is not properly aligned with the cognitive architecture. This chapter uses a cognitive load theory oriented perspective to describe the implications of focusing on complex tasks in instructional design for chosing effective instructional methods. First, the importance of inducing germane load for fostering transfer is outlined. Second, instructional methods that aim at balancing the intrinsic and germane load during complex learning are discussed. Finally, the implications of these methods for instructional design theories are clarified on the basis of three instructional design models that aim at complex learning

Working memory training does not enhance older adults' cognitive skills: A comprehensive meta-analysis

© 2019 The Authors In the last two decades, considerable efforts have been devoted to finding a way to enhance cognitive function by cognitive training. To date, the attempt to boost broad cognitive functions in the general population has failed. However, it is still possible that some cognitive training regimens exert a positive influence on specific populations, such as older adults. In this meta-analytic review, we investigated the effects of working memory (WM) training on older adults' cognitive skills. Three robust-variance-estimation meta-analyses (N = 2140, m = 43, and k = 698) were run to analyze the effects of the intervention on (a) the trained tasks, (b) near-transfer measures, and (c) far-transfer measures. While large effects were found for the trained tasks (g¯ = 0.877), only modest (g¯ = 0.274) and near-zero (g¯ = 0.121) effects were obtained in the near-transfer and far-transfer meta-analyses, respectively. Publication-bias analysis provided adjusted estimates that were slightly lower. Moreover, when active control groups were implemented, the far-transfer effects were null (g¯ = −0.008). Finally, the effects were highly consistent across studies (i.e., low or null true heterogeneity), especially in the near- and far-transfer models. While confirming the difficulty in obtaining transfer effects with cognitive training, these results corroborate recent empirical evidence suggesting that WM is not isomorphic with other fundamental cognitive skills such as fluid intelligence

Once Upon a Time There Was Far Transfer

The last two decades have seen the rise of cognitive-training research. Strong claims have been made. Roaring refutations have been published. Then again counter-evidence supporting the effectiveness of cognitive training has been produced. Definite conclusions are far from being drawn. Undoubtedly, due to the potential theoretical and practical implications, the idea of enhancing cognitive function and, hence, a broad range of other real-life skills by training is appealing. However, this idea is at variance with substantial research into the psychology of expertise showing that performance in specific tasks relies massively on perceptual information. In fact, such information is hardly transferable across different domains. To solve these discrepancies, I ran a series of meta-analytic models to examine the effects of several types of cognitive training (i.e., chess, music, working memory, video-game, and exergame training) on cognitive and academic skills in different types of populations. None of the five types of cognitive training exerted any meaningful effect on any non-trained skill. While confirming the previous findings of the research on expertise, these results convincingly reject the cognitive-training hypothesis. The lack of generalization across different domains of skills acquired by training appears to be a constant in human cognition. The program of research of cognitive training has failed. Transfer of skills across loosely related domains remains a chimera

Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment with Deep Transfer Learning Approach using CWT based Scalogram Images

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a condition that can occur as a person gets older, and faces problems like recognition, memory, and language skills. Early detection of MCI is crucial, as it can progress to more severe conditions like Alzheimer's disease. This study proposes a method to use Scalogram images, obtained by applying Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) to EEG signals and pre-trained models like ResNet50, VGG16, InceptionV3, Inception_ResNetV2 through transfer learning to classify MCI and Healthy Control (HC). Fine-tuning of the models is also used to improve the results, and various performance metrics are employed for classification. The study concludes that Inception_ResNetV2 transfer learning yielded good results, while ResNet50 and InceptionV3 transfer learning with fine-tuning resulted in higher accuracy using a low learning rate

Magnetization transfer ratio relates to cognitive impairment in normal elderly

Magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) can detect microstructural brain tissue changes and may be helpful in determining age-related cerebral damage. We investigated the association between the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) in gray and white matter (WM) and cognitive functioning in 355 participants of the Austrian stroke prevention family study (ASPS-Fam) aged 38-86 years. MTR maps were generated for the neocortex, deep gray matter structures, WM hyperintensities, and normal appearing WM (NAWM). Adjusted mixed models determined whole brain and lobar cortical MTR to be directly and significantly related to performance on tests of memory, executive function, and motor skills. There existed an almost linear dose-effect relationship. MTR of deep gray matter structures and NAWM correlated to executive functioning. All associations were independent of demographics, vascular risk factors, focal brain lesions, and cortex volume. Further research is needed to understand the basis of this association at the tissue level, and to determine the role of MTR in predicting cognitive decline and dementia

Essays on Child Development

abstract: This dissertation comprises three chapters. In chapter one, using a rich dataset for the United States, I estimate a series of models to document the birth order effects on cognitive outcomes, non-cognitive outcomes, and parental investments. I estimate a model that allows for heterogeneous birth order effects by unobservables to examine how birth order effects varies across households. I find that first-born children score 0.2 of a standard deviation higher on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes than their later-born siblings. They also receive 10\% more in parental time, which accounts for more than half of the differences in outcomes. I document that birth order effects vary between 0.1 and 0.4 of a standard deviation across households with the effects being smaller in households with certain characteristics such as a high income. In chapter two, I build a model of intra-household resource allocation that endogenously generates the decreasing birth order effects in household income with the aim of using the model for counterfactual policy experiments. The model has a life-cycle framework in which a household with two children confronts a sequence of time constraints and a lifetime monetary constraint, and divides the available time and monetary resources between consumption and investment. The counterfactual experiment shows that an annual income transfer of 10,000 USD to low-income households decreases the birth order effects on cognitive and non-cognitive skills by one-sixth, which is five times bigger than the effect in high-income household. In chapter three, with Francesco Agostinelli and Matthew Wiswall, we examine the relative importance of investments at home and at school during an important transition for many children, entering formal schooling at kindergarten. Moreover, our framework allows for complementarities between children's skills and investments from schools. We find that investments from schools are an important determinant of children's skills at the end of kindergarten, whereas parental investments, although strongly correlated with end-of-kindergarten outcomes, have smaller effects. In addition, we document a negative complementarity between children's skills at kindergarten entry and investments from schools, implying that low-skill children benefit the most from an increase in the quality of schools.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Economics 201

Do Programs Designed To Train Working Memory, Other Executive Functions, And Attention Benefit Children With Adhd? A Meta-analytic Review Of Cognitive, Academic, And Behavioral Outcomes

Children with ADHD are characterized frequently as possessing underdeveloped executive functions and sustained attentional abilities, and recent commercial claims suggest that computer-based cognitive training can remediate these impairments and provide significant and lasting improvement in their attention, impulse control, social functioning, academic performance, and complex reasoning skills. The present review critically evaluates these claims through meta-analysis of 25 studies of facilitative intervention training (i.e., cognitive training) for children with ADHD. Random effects models corrected for publication bias and sampling error revealed that studies training short-term memory alone resulted in moderate magnitude improvements in short-term memory (d= 0.63), whereas training attention did not significantly improve attention and training mixed executive functions did not significantly improve the targeted executive functions (both nonsignificant: 95% confidence intervals include 0.0). Far transfer effects of cognitive training on academic functioning, blinded ratings of behavior (both nonsignificant), and cognitive tests (d= 0.14) were nonsignificant or negligible. Unblinded raters (d= 0.48) reported significantly larger benefits relative to blinded raters and objective tests (both p \u3c .05), indicating the likelihood of Hawthorne effects. Critical examination of training targets revealed incongruence with empirical evidence regarding the specific executive functions that are (a) most impaired in ADHD, and (b) functionally related to the behavioral and academic outcomes these training programs are intended to ameliorate. Collectively, meta-analytic results indicate that claims regarding the academic, behavioral, and cognitive benefits associated with extant cognitive training programs are unsupported in ADHD. The methodological limitations of the current evidence base, however, leaves open the possibility that cognitive training techniques iv designed to improve empirically documented executive function deficits may benefit children with ADHD