Cognitive Skills
Background to the Research Field
Before we act, our brain continuously processes information. It organizes, interprets and evaluates incoming stimuli to guide behavior as effectively as possible. These internal processes are referred to as cognition. They can occur consciously and deliberately, but also unconsciously and automatically.
Athletes, particularly in strategic team sports, must make rapid decisions in constantly changing situations. To do so, they process large amounts of information, such as the positions and movements of teammates and opponents, anticipate how situations may develop, and decide whether and how to respond. Previous research suggests that cognitive abilities are closely linked to athletic performance, with elite athletes often demonstrating greater cognitive abilities than, for example, amateurs. Consequently, cognitive testing has become an important tool in both research and applied high-performance environments to better understand, predict, and support athletic performance and development.
A particular focus has been placed on executive functions. These higher-order cognitive processes enable goal-oriented, flexible, and adaptive behavior and have been considered fundamental to what is commonly referred to as game intelligence.
Projects within the Research Field
We investigate the role of executive functions and other cognitive abilities in high-performance sports using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, group comparisons, predictive modeling, and machine learning, with a particular focus on their development over time and their relationship to performance and learning.
A first project examined executive functions in high-level players to better understand their development and relevance in soccer. The developmental trajectories of youth soccer players’ executive functions appear to mirror those of the general population, despite long-term exposure to soccer-specific training and competition. Regarding the level of executive functioning required, we assume that extremely high scores are not necessary for successful performance; rather, a certain minimum threshold needs to be met.
Subsequent research has focused on the association between executive functions and performance measures. Previous studies have shown that elite soccer players tend to outperform amateur athletes on tests of executive functioning. Building on this, we examined direct links between executive functions and various performance indicators. However, on-field performance, performance in the Footbonaut, and even total playing time across different leagues do not seem to be substantially related to the degree of executive functioning.
For this reason, we are now opening up a new line of research. We assume that the very characteristics that may limit the usefulness of executive abilities during real-time performance, namely their deliberate, slow, and effortful nature, are likely to be advantageous for learning and skill acquisition, which typically require reflection, error monitoring, and the controlled adaptation of behavior. Therefore, we are currently investigating the relationship between cognitive abilities and learning capacity in youth players.
