Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. There are many legendary soccer players throughout history, like Pelé, to modern legends, like Messi. When looking at their careers, one may ask, how did they get there? Was it based on talent? Genetics? Dedication to the craft? Or a mix of all the above?
Many studies have been conducted to explore various aspects of sports and the brain's involvement. In the field of sports science, these studies have led to develop various theories. One theory in this field of study is the circumvention hypothesis. This hypothesis is based on the idea of disciplined practice. An athlete can greatly improve their decision-making skills during the game through practice. After practicing the same thing repeatedly, the technique becomes second nature. Once the technique becomes second nature, players can use it during the game instinctively, without needing to think about how to execute it.
The research done by Dr. Glavaš, presented in their 2023 research article The role of working memory capacity in soccer tactical decision making at different levels of expertise, underscores the importance of working memory capacity (WMC) in tactical decision-making in soccer, providing evidence that cognitive abilities contribute to excelling in sports. The study evaluated professional, amateur, and recreational soccer players. The findings show that while professionals exhibited superior speed and accuracy due to extensive practice, WMC independently predicted better decision-making across all expertise levels. Notably, WMC remained a significant factor even for professionals, contradicting the circumvention hypothesis. Using dynamic tasks with real-game video clips and auditory distractions, the researchers demonstrated that WMC enhances tactical adaptability and accuracy in different unpredictable scenarios. These findings strengthen the theory that deliberate practice alone cannot fully account for expert performance. Cognitive capabilities like WMC play an integral role, furthering the argument that expertise arises from the interplay of learned skills and inherent cognitive abilities.
In the research article, Controlling the Flow of Distracting Information in Working Memory, by Dr. Vogel and colleagues investigate how the visual working memory (WM) manages relevant verses irrelevant information. Vogel and colleagues looked at WM from the lens of the mechanism of attention capture and suppression. There are two parts of attention capture and suppression: spatial capture and item-based capture. Electroencephalography (EEG) were used on participants while doing working memory tasks that involved both task-relevant and task-irrelevant distractors. Analyzing EEG markers helped assess spatial attention and item-based representation were affected by the distractors in each task condition. From the two experiments performed the study resulted in a more specific understanding of the brain filters and prioritizes information in the WM. Based on the research done by Dr. Vogel, one can conclude that spatial capture is a crucial factor of athlete’s performance on the soccer field. While playing on the soccer field it is paramount to know where your teammates are and where the opposing team players are. Thus, being attentive to the player’s spatial surroundings informs the player in how to make the next best play. These factors are constantly changing and are being held within the players active WM. Consequently, WMC is essential and predictive of an athlete’s skill beyond how much they practice. Furthermore, for the athletes, it is learning how to ignore the auditory and visual distractions of the fans on the sidelines during the game is crucial. Thus, this is where the theory of item-based capture is important. That an athlete who can ignore the visuals of the fans, which can be distracting, will perform better than those who find it hard to ignore the visuals of the fans.
From these studies one can conclude the importance of knowing the mechanism of WM. Understanding WM and its components not only gives us more information about our own brains, but also how one can possibly work to improve their WM to be successful in what they want to accomplish.
Works Cited:
Glavaš, D., Pandžić, M., & Domijan, D. (2023). The role of working memory capacity in soccer tactical decision making at different levels of expertise. Cognitive research: principles and implications, 8(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-023-00473-2
Hakim, N., Feldmann-Wüstefeld, T., Awh, E., Vogel, E. (2021). Controlling the Flow of Distracting Information in Working Memory, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 31, Issue 7, July 2021, Pages 3323–3337. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab013
No comments:
Post a Comment