David W. Eccles

The effect of manipulating context-specific information on perceptual–cognitive processes during a simulated anticipation task.

We manipulated contextual information in order to examine the perceptual-cognitive processes that support anticipation using a simulated cricket-batting task. Skilled (N= 10) and less skilled (N= 10) cricket batters responded to video simulations of opponents bowling a cricket ball under high and low contextual information conditions. Skilled batters were more accurate, demonstrated more effective search behaviours, and provided more detailed verbal reports of thinking. Moreover, when they viewed their opponent multiple times (high context), they reduced their mean fixation time. All batters improved performance and altered thought processes when in the high context, compared to when they responded to their opponent without previously seeing them bowl (low context). Findings illustrate how context influences performance and the search for relevant information when engaging in a dynamic, time-constrained task.

Training perceptual-cognitive skills: Can sport psychology research inform military decision training?

In military and sports tasks, individuals are often required to perform in a complex and dynamic environment and obtain a tactical advantage over an opponent even when only partial or incomplete information is available. Successful performance in both domains is typically dependent upon the ability to work both independently and as a team in an effective manner by combining perceptual, cognitive, motor, and social skills, often under stressful circumstances. Despite these similarities, and the extensive literature bases amassed on training in each field, there has been little, if any, cross-fertilization or collaboration. We offer a synopsis of perceptual-cognitive and decision skills training research from the fields of sport psychology, expert performance, human factors, and Military Psychology with a view toward highlighting commonalities and differences in approach to training. Attention is drawn to the experimental designs and interventions employed, as well as methodological shortcomings and how these have been addressed. In addition, we highlight the differences in how training recommendations have been derived, discuss questions that have been raised in developing and validating training programs, and, in particular, emphasize the need for evidence-based practice. Our aim is to offer conclusions from the sport psychology literature that can inform the design, structure, content, and implementation of future military decision training.

Tracing the process of expertise in a simulated anticipation task

Skilled perceptual-cognitive performance is assumed to require superior anticipation, yet few researchers have explored how individual differences in processing measures mediate superior performance, particularly when characteristics of the task are systematically changed from trial to trial. This study examined how advance cue information influences anticipation using a simulated cricket batting task. Skilled (n = 10) and less skilled (n = 10) batters moved in response to life-size video images of 36 deliveries by fast and spin bowlers. Skilled participants (mean 37.3, SD 2.8 mm) were significantly more accurate at anticipating ball position as it passed through the strike zone than less skilled batters (mean 48.9, SD 5.9 mm, p < 0.05). Skilled batters fixated on central areas of the body and searched more locations (p < 0.05). Batters used fixations of longer duration and focused more on the ball and hand when viewing spin compared to fast bowlers (both p < 0.05). Visual behaviour is constrained by the task parameters and participant skill level. An analysis of immediate retrospective reports and eye fixations indicated that skilled batters search and encode scenes at a richer and more sophisticated level than less skilled players.

Skill-based differences in option generation in a complex task: a verbal protocol analysis

In recent models of decision-making, cognitive scientists have examined the relationship between option generation and successful performance. These models suggest that those who are successful at decision-making generate few courses of action and typically choose the first, often best, option. Scientists working in the area of expert performance, on the other hand, have demonstrated that the ability to generate and prioritize task-relevant options during situation assessment is associated with successful performance. In the current study, we measured law enforcement officers’ performance and thinking in a simulated task environment to examine the option generation strategies used during decision-making in a complex domain. The number of options generated during assessment (i.e., making decisions about events in the environment) and intervention (i.e., making decisions about personal courses of action) phases of decision-making interact to produce a successful outcome. The data are explained with respect to the development of a situational representation and long-term working memory skills capable of supporting both option generation processes.

The coordination of labour in sports teams

Understanding how the actions of members of sports teams are organised and coordinated is a key challenge for sport psychology and, until recently, extant theory within sport psychology has allowed few insights into this topic. This article considers how the labour in sports teams is organised, why the organisational structure of sports teams introduces an acute need for team coordination, and why coordination in teams is difficult to achieve. It also considers the team-level social-cognitive states and processes required to achieve coordination. Implications of the conceptual framework outlined here are presented for current theory and future research on team functioning within sport psychology as well as for applied practitioners working with sports teams.

A commentary on "team cognition and expert teams: emerging insights into performance for exceptional teams".

Abstract This article offers a critical evaluation of the team cognition and performance literature and, in particular, the concepts, ideas, and research discussed by the authors contributing to this special issue. We begin by examining how some of the terms introduced have been defined previously and assess the appropriateness of and theoretical rationale for their use. Next, the concept of “sharedness” is considered. We specifically focus on the role of planning or plan sharing in becoming an “expert team.” Following this, we discuss the relationship between those concepts introduced and performance. We pay particular attention to the underlying mechanisms responsible for superior performance, at both the individual and team level, with a special consideration given to understanding if and why this relationship is important. Finally, we consider the added value of adopting this approach and how the research on teams might be used in improving the approaches, methods, and paradigms currently adopted in sports science and beyond. Although we play devils advocate throughout this commentary—primarily to offer a constructive introduction of this research to the sport science community and to provide the best feedback to the I/O community from the perspective of researchers from sport psychology and motor behavior—we assert that each field can benefit enormously from research collaborations and constructive debate on research topics held in common

Emotions, Coping Strategies, and Performance: A Conceptual Framework for Defining Affect-Related Performance Zones

This article presents the crisis theory (Bar Eli & Tenenbaum, 1989) and its related approach for determining individual affect-related performance zones (IAPZ: Kamata, Tenenbaum, & Hanin, 2002). The theory and methodology delineate the uniqueness of each individuals ability to appraise stressful conditions and perceive them as functional or dysfunctional to his performance. In addition, the theory and methodology allow incorporating self-regulatory behaviors and coping strategies used during the encounter with situations, which vary in stress appraisal. The article also describes coping mechanisms used to energize (i.e., activate) and relax persons facing situations that vary in cognitive, physical, and affective demands. In particular, the use of imagery and self-talk as coping strategies in stressful situations are presented in more details. Since performance of military personnel involves substantially stressful circumstances (Wallenius, Larsson, & Johansson, 2004), the article advises how sport psychology theories, methodology, and findings can be used in the military environment.

Thinking outside of the box: The role of environmental adaptation in the acquisition of skilled and expert performance

Abstract According to current theories of expert performance, experts gain an advantage by acquiring through practice cognitive skills and strategies that increase the efficiency with which information specific to their domain is processed. Consequently, experts are able to circumvent natural processing limitations. In this study, a description is provided of how experts make use of strategies that involve adapting physical elements of their domain environment to reduce cognitive workload during performance. Telephone interviews were conducted with 15 expert orienteers and six coaches of national orienteering squads about how expert orienteers carry and arrange their navigational equipment while orienteering. A content analysis of the interview data revealed that expert orienteers adapt their navigational equipment to reduce the cognitive and, more specifically, attentional workload during performance. A theory of how experts circumvent natural processing limitations requires consideration of the role of such strategies.

Intrateam Communication and Performance in Doubles Tennis

Verbal and nonverbal communication is a critical mediator of performance in team sports and yet there is little extant research in sports that involves direct measures of communication. Our study explored communication within NCAA Division I female tennis doubles teams. Video and audio recordings of players during doubles tennis matches captured the communications that took place between and during points. These recordings were coded and sequential analysis computed using the Discussion Analysis Tool software (Jeong, 2003). Results indicated that most communications were emotional (i.e., > 50%) or action statements (i.e., > 25%). Winning teams exhibited significantly different communication sequences than losing teams. In particular, winning teams had a more homogeneous model of communication, which perhaps makes message interpretation more reliable. Finally, winning teams exchanged twice as many messages as losing teams.

The relationship between knowledge and clinical performance in novice and experienced critical care nurses.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to measure directly the knowledge and performance of novice and experienced critical care nurses in a simulated task environment. METHODS Nurses were required to control the physiologic deterioration of patients with respiratory compromise in 4 scenarios and were also tested on their knowledge of the constructs present in the scenarios. RESULTS The results indicate that experienced nurses possessed highly superior knowledge when compared with novice nurses (P < .001). The results further demonstrated a lack of reliable differences in actual clinical performance when nurses were considered solely on the basis of their term of experience. Group differences in performance were demonstrated only when nurses who had achieved board certification in critical care nursing were compared with the remaining participants. CONCLUSION The results demonstrate the lack of linkage between knowledge and clinical performance, which calls into question the supposition by many in nursing that knowledge and performance are inextricably linked.