An Assist for Cognitive Diagnostics in Soccer: Two Valid Tasks Measuring Inhibition and Cognitive Flexibility in a Soccer-Specific Setting With a Soccer-Specific Motor Response

In professional soccer, players, coaches, and researchers alike recognize the importance of cognitive skills. Research addressing the relevance of cognitive skills has been based on the cognitive component skills approach (i.e., general cognitive processes) or the expert performance approach (i.e., sport-specific cognitive processes). Our project aimed to combine the strengths of both approaches to develop and validate cognitive tasks measuring inhibition and cognitive flexibility in a soccer-specific setting with a soccer-specific motor response. In the main study 77 elite youth soccer players completed a computerized version of the standard flanker and number–letter tasks as well as flanker and number–letter tasks requiring a soccer-specific motor response (i.e., pass) in a soccer-specific setting (i.e., the SoccerBot360). Results show good reliability for both tasks. For the SoccerBot360 number–letter task, switch effects for response times and accuracy and acceptable convergent validity were shown. A flanker effect for response time but not accuracy was apparent. Due to no acceptable convergent validity, the flanker task was revised (i.e., adaptation of stimuli) and 63 adult soccer players participated in a follow-up validation study in the SoccerBot100. The revised flanker task showed the flanker effect for response time, but not for accuracy. However, acceptable convergent validity for response time was present. Thus, the soccer-specific number–letter and to some extent the soccer-specific flanker task show potential to be used as a valid cognitive diagnostic tool by soccer clubs.Peer Reviewe

Embodied planning in climbing: how pre-planning informs motor execution

IntroductionThe aim of the study is to address embodied planning in climbing. Embodied planning was conceptualized as the interaction between perceptual-cognitive pre-planning and motor execution.MethodsIn an experimental study, 18 climbers were asked to pre-plan a climbing route and to perform the route afterward. During pre-planning, the visual search pattern of climbers was captured using a portable eye tracker. After previewing, they were invited to climb the wall.ResultsResults revealed that holds looked at during pre-planning were used twice as much during route execution than those not looked at. The duration of fixations was longer for holds used than those not used during route execution. The experience of climbers (training years) correlated with visual strategies and climbing performance, such that experienced participants climbed faster and fixated at the holds not used for a shorter time.DiscussionThe visual behaviors of climbers were influenced by their past sensorimotor experiences during route previewing, impacting subsequent climbing performance

Psychological Characteristics in Talented Soccer Players – Recommendations on How to Improve Coaches’ Assessment

Psychological characteristics, including personality traits and psychological skills, have been shown to be relevant predictors of soccer performance. In research, general and sport specific standardized self-report questionnaires have been applied in psychological diagnostics of sports talent. However, with regard to the assessment of psychological characteristics of talented soccer players, a gap between research and practice is apparent. While soccer clubs often ask their coaches to assess their players on self-designed, unevaluated scouting sheets, research widely neglects expert coaches’ and clubs’ perspectives on relevant performance characteristics. As we believe that expert coaches’ assessments could be a valid predictor of a player’s current performance and future success, we provide recommendations on how to improve coaches’ assessment of psychological characteristics. As the quality of the assessment of psychological characteristics is crucial, we provide recommendations on how to ensure the central diagnostic standards: objectivity, reliability, and validity in talent assessment. Further, we argue that assessing psychological characteristics should combine self ratings of players and external ratings of coaches in talent development. Sport psychologists should assist clubs and coaches in improving the diagnostics of psychological characteristics as well as in embedding psychological diagnostics and interventions in the talent development process

Linking self-efficacy and decision-making processes in developing soccer players

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Objectives: In sports, adults with high self-efficacy have been shown to select their first option as the final choice more often in a dynamic decision-making test. Addressing the link between self-efficacy and decision making early in age could benefit the developmental potential of athletes. In this study, we examined the link between developing players\u27 decision self-efficacy and their decision-making processes comprising option generation and selection. Further, we explored the effect of time pressure on developing athletes\u27 decision making. Design: Developing athletes (N = 97) of two different age groups were asked to report their self-efficacy and to perform a dynamic decision-making task, in which time pressure was experimentally manipulated. Method: 48 younger (Mage = 8.76, SD = 1.15) and 49 older (Mage = 12.18, SD = 0.87) soccer players participated. Participants were randomly presented with video scenes of soccer match play. At the point of temporal occlusion, participants generated options about the next move. After generation, participants selected among the generated options their best option and indicated their decision and motor confidence. Results: The self-efficacy of developing players was neither related negatively to dynamic inconsistency nor positively to option or decision quality, but self-efficacy was positively related to motor confidence in the best option. Further, time pressure improved option and decision quality. Conclusion: Decision-making processes have been scrutinized by showing that developing players\u27 self-efficacy links to their motor skills rather than to their cognitive evaluation and by specifying the adaptation to time pressure. Thereby, results extend current theorizing on decision making

The ecological rationality of children’s option generation and decision making

In everyday life, before deciding what to do, one has to think about what could be done. We investigate option generation from a developmental perspective, testing the predictions of the Take-The-First-heuristic (TTF). Moreover, we examine the influence of time limitation on decision-making processes. Using soccer as a testbed, 6- to 13-year-old children (N = 97) were tested in a video-based option-generation paradigm. Children’s performance was aligned with predictions of TTF: Children generated a mean of 2.21 options, did so in a meaningful way and selected the first as final option in 74%. With shorter time, children generated fewer and higher quality options, selected better options and more often the first option as final decision. Further, with age, an increase of the number of options generated and an increase in quality of the final decisions emerged. This age effect was more pronounced with shorter time. Implications for real-life decision-making are discussed

Data_Sheet_1_Embodied planning in climbing: how pre-planning informs motor execution.pdf

IntroductionThe aim of the study is to address embodied planning in climbing. Embodied planning was conceptualized as the interaction between perceptual-cognitive pre-planning and motor execution.MethodsIn an experimental study, 18 climbers were asked to pre-plan a climbing route and to perform the route afterward. During pre-planning, the visual search pattern of climbers was captured using a portable eye tracker. After previewing, they were invited to climb the wall.ResultsResults revealed that holds looked at during pre-planning were used twice as much during route execution than those not looked at. The duration of fixations was longer for holds used than those not used during route execution. The experience of climbers (training years) correlated with visual strategies and climbing performance, such that experienced participants climbed faster and fixated at the holds not used for a shorter time.DiscussionThe visual behaviors of climbers were influenced by their past sensorimotor experiences during route previewing, impacting subsequent climbing performance.</p

Video_1_Embodied planning in climbing: how pre-planning informs motor execution.MPG

IntroductionThe aim of the study is to address embodied planning in climbing. Embodied planning was conceptualized as the interaction between perceptual-cognitive pre-planning and motor execution.MethodsIn an experimental study, 18 climbers were asked to pre-plan a climbing route and to perform the route afterward. During pre-planning, the visual search pattern of climbers was captured using a portable eye tracker. After previewing, they were invited to climb the wall.ResultsResults revealed that holds looked at during pre-planning were used twice as much during route execution than those not looked at. The duration of fixations was longer for holds used than those not used during route execution. The experience of climbers (training years) correlated with visual strategies and climbing performance, such that experienced participants climbed faster and fixated at the holds not used for a shorter time.DiscussionThe visual behaviors of climbers were influenced by their past sensorimotor experiences during route previewing, impacting subsequent climbing performance.</p

The role of domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions and skills in sports performance : A meta-analysis

Cognition plays a key role in sports performance. This meta-analytic review synthesizes research that examined the relationship between cognitive functions, skills, and sports performance. We identified literature by searching Cochrane Library, APA PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science. We included studies conducted on competitive athletes, assessed cognitive prerequisites, and included performance measures related to the sport. Of the 9,433 screened records, 136 reports were included, containing 142 studies, 1,227 effect sizes, and 8,860 participants. Only 11 studies used a prospective study design. The risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies. The multilevel meta-analysis showed a medium effect size for the overall difference in cognitive functions and skills, with higher skilled athletes scoring better than lower skilled athletes (Hedges’ g = 0.59, 95% CI [0.49, 0.69]). The moderator analysis showed larger effect size for tests of cognitive decision-making skills (g = 0.77, 95% CI [0.6, 0.94]) compared to basic (g = 0.39, 95% CI [0.21, 0.56]) and higher cognitive functions (g = 0.44, 95% CI [0.26, 0.62]), as well as larger effect for sport-specific task stimuli compared to general ones. We report that higher skilled athletes perform better on cognitive function tests than lower skilled athletes. There was insufficient evidence to determine whether cognitive functions and skills can predict future sport performance. We found no evidence to support claims that tests of general cognitive functions, such as executive functioning, should be used by practitioners for talent identification or player selection.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Anton Kalén</p