Cognitive representations and cognitive processing of team-specific tactics in soccer

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 25;10(2):e0118219. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118219. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Two core elements for the coordination of different actions in sport are tactical information and knowledge about tactical situations. The current study describes two experiments to learn about the memory structure and the cognitive processing of tactical information. Experiment 1 investigated the storage and structuring of team-specific tactics in humans' long-term memory with regard to different expertise levels. Experiment 2 investigated tactical decision-making skills and the corresponding gaze behavior, in presenting participants the identical match situations in a reaction time task. The results showed that more experienced soccer players, in contrast to less experienced soccer players, possess a functionally organized cognitive representation of team-specific tactics in soccer. Moreover, the more experienced soccer players reacted faster in tactical decisions, because they needed less fixations of similar duration as compared to less experienced soccer players. Combined, these experiments offer evidence that a functionally organized memory structure leads to a reaction time and a perceptual advantage in tactical decision-making in soccer. The discussion emphasizes theoretical and applied implications of the current results of the study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cognition*
  • Decision Making
  • Humans
  • Memory*
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Soccer / psychology*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This work gratefully acknowledges the financial support from Honda Research Institute Europe. In addition, we acknowledge support for the Article Processing Charge by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Open Access Publication Funds of Bielefeld University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.