University:
California State University, Northridge
Course:
PSY 409 | Advanced Sport Psychology
Academic year:

2023
Views:

340

Pages:

1
Author:

JJIssac

COGNITIVE FACTORS IN SPORTS PERFORMANCE Today we're looking at how psychology and cognitive skills impact athleticperformance. Elite athletes rely on more than just physical talent! Anticipation Skills Researchers use the temporal occlusion technique to test anticipation bycutting off game footage. Experts demonstrate superior anticipation skills across sports - they can predict what will happen by identifying subtle cues. Experts focus visual attention on opponents , not just the ball, to anticipate effectively. Pattern Recognition Pattern recognition is tested using the Recall-Paradigm. Experts excel at recalling structured plays and game patterns. They recognize formations as chunks rather than separate details. This provides a performance advantage mostly in typical situations , less so in atypical ones. Differences exist even among elite players in pattern recognition. Transferability seen between sports with similar structures. Knowledge of Situation Probabilities Athletes assess risk levels of actions in video clips paused at key moments. Elite youth players show excellent situational understanding - they identify the most dangerous options. Skill differences visible even within same performance level. Executive Functions Elite youth athletes demonstrate cognitive advantages like inhibition control and flexibility. This holds true across cognitive assessments. Lower-level cognition doesn't differ consistently between elites and non-elites. The mental game is crucial! Anticipation, pattern recognition, situation analysis -these cognitive strengths maximize physical ability. Psychology and brainpowerdifferentiate athletic greatness.