Pedro Delgado, Pedro Passos, Francisco Tavares, Hugo Alexandre Ferreira
{"title":"Electroencephalographic and Cognitive Task Analysis of Working Memory and Attention in Athletes: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Pedro Delgado, Pedro Passos, Francisco Tavares, Hugo Alexandre Ferreira","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102930","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to systematically review the current research on the cognitive ability of athletes, specifically, in working memory, attention, problem-solving and decision-making tasks. The objective was to examine the differences in cognitive abilities between athletes and non-athletes, and between athletes from different sports. To this end, a search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus for original articles published before November 28<sup>th</sup>, 2023, that used electroencephalography (EEG) in sports or with athletes engaged in at least moderate-intensity activities, evaluated healthy adults or children through case-control studies, and analyzed at least one of four cognitive tasks (working memory, attention, problem-solving and decision-making). The risk of bias and quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The following results were extracted from the included studies: population; publishing year; type of sport; type of controls (athletes or general population); cognitive task results; brain wave frequencies analyzed; and brain wave components analyzed. Following the review of 697 studies, 35 met the inclusion criteria. Most studies reported that athletes outperformed controls in cognitive tasks, both in terms of accuracy and reaction time. Individual sports showed better performances, and martial arts and boxing showed good reaction times but poor accuracies. Increased cortical activity was also observed in athletes when compared with controls. Despite some limitations - primarily the number of studies performing sport-specific tasks or comparing the athletes with less experienced counterparts - results indicate a clear over-performance in cognitive tasks by athletes compared to controls, as well as definitive cognitive differences between different sports.</p>","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102930"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Giving Voice to High-Performance Sports Coaches to Spotlight Their Perceptions of Psychological Well-Being.","authors":"Faye F Didymus, Alexandra J Potts","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102928","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102928","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High-performance sports coaches work in achievement-oriented environments that have the potential to enhance or undermine psychological well-being (PWB). Despite context-specific understanding of PWB being important, we know little about what PWB means to high-performance coaches and have minimal understanding of how to help coaches and governing bodies to nourish and protect PWB. Underpinned by our constructivist paradigm and our relativist and subjectivist onto-epistemological stance, we worked with eight high-performance sports coaches to: 1) qualitatively explore what PWB means to high-performance coaches to generate new understanding of the fundamentally important elements of their PWB and 2) build a clearer picture of factors that facilitate and or inhibit coaches' PWB. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we constructed six themes from data collected via semi-structured interviews: 1) from balance to self-awareness: PWB means something different to everyone; 2) curiosity fuels development of self and others, which builds PWB; 3) enjoyment of coaching and escapism from it sustain PWB; 4) being surrounded by good people and seeing them achieve are routes to happiness; 5) coaching can feel like being \"stuck in the trenches\" whilst waiting to be found out as a fraud; and 6) boundary management is a form of self-preservation that protects PWB. These findings give voice to high-performance sports coaches' understanding of PWB, help to develop an evidence base from which individualized interventions can be developed, and promote the need for systemic changes in sport that will help coaches to live well and be well.</p>","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102928"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144532169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is Video Assistant Referee (VAR) a handicap for the strong and a protection for the weak? The Case of Turkish Super League.","authors":"Umit Kuvvetli, Esin Firuzan, Ali Riza Firuzan","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102924","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is a technology that has been used in various national and international organizations since 2018 to minimize the effect of critical decisions made by referees during the match on outcome of the game. The main purpose of this system is to ensure justice, and this study aims to investigate the effect of VAR in matches played between strong teams and weak teams. For this purpose, the data of a total of 3,329 matches (pre-VAR, 4 seasons and 1,224 matches and after-VAR, 6 seasons, 2,105 matches) played in the Turkish Super League, where the teams called the Big 4 are in a very strong position (economic, media, number of fans, etc.) compared to other teams, were analyzed. The results of the study, in which various statistical comparison analyses, multiple ordinal regression and relative odds ratio values are used, show that the home advantage of the Big 4 decreased after VAR and contrary to the literature, the home advantage of the weaker teams increased. Moreover, it is found that the home advantage decreases more in derby matches compared to other matches. The results of the study clearly show that VAR has a different effect on matches with different characteristics. The results of the research can help to better understand the effect of VAR on professional football and may also help referees to optimize their refereeing strategy in matches between teams of different strengths.</p>","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102924"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ian M Taylor, Lara Drewes, Dani Fort, George Horne, Steven Quercia-Smale, Izzy G Wellings
{"title":"Corrigendum to \"Athletic identity and autonomous motivation as predictors of endurance performance during high intensity exercise\" [Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 80 (2025) 102872].","authors":"Ian M Taylor, Lara Drewes, Dani Fort, George Horne, Steven Quercia-Smale, Izzy G Wellings","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102894","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102894","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102894"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144188752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Roy F Baumeister, Nathalie André, Daniel Southwick
{"title":"Forward-looking questions regarding ego depletion and mental fatigue in sport psychology: Comment on Englert.","authors":"Roy F Baumeister, Nathalie André, Daniel Southwick","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102898","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102898","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research on ego depletion and mental fatigue (ED/MF) show that physical performance can be impaired by mental processes. Exciting directions for future research include mapping different effects of ED/MF on effort vs. skill aspects of sport, given that effort is directly controllable but skill relies on automatic, overlearned processes. Weakened attention control could contribute to both problems. Impairments of decision-making during competition could lead to indecision and status quo bias, selfish play rather than team play, and certain types of mistakes. Flow states and positive affect may counteract ED/MF. Physical training, self-control training, and mental practice may all help.</p>","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102898"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144180497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christopher Mesagno, Adwoah A Hammond, Matthew A Goodyear
{"title":"An Initial Investigation into the Mental Health Difficulties in Athletes who Experience Choking under Pressure.","authors":"Christopher Mesagno, Adwoah A Hammond, Matthew A Goodyear","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102663","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102663","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":"45 10","pages":"102663"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140975586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exercise as the sum of our choices between behavioral alternatives: The Decisional Preferences in Exercising (DPEX) test.","authors":"Sinika Timme, Ralf Brand","doi":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102509","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102509","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exercising can be theorized as the result of choosing one behavior over alternative behaviors. The Decisional Preferences in Exercising (DPEX) test is a computerized, easy-to-use, publicly available (open source Python code: https://osf.io/ahbjr/) and highly adaptive research tool based on this rationale. In the DPEX, participants are asked to choose between two images by pressing a key on the computer keyboard, one showing a physical exercise and the other showing a non-exercise behavioral alternative in a series of trials. Combinations are randomly assembled from two definable pools of stimuli trial-per-trial. The test can be scored either based on a crossed random effects model (facilitating the use of different stimulus material in different studies without compromising the comparability of test scores) or with a simple proportion score. Data from diverse study samples (N = 451) showed strong correlations of DPEX scores with past and future exercise behavior (r = 0.42 and 0.47 respectively) as well as with affective experiences with exercise (e.g., 'pleasure-displeasure': r = 0.47). DPEX test scores discriminated between exercisers and non-exercisers according to receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. The DPEX may be used to examine research questions derived from dual process theories, the effects of psychological states on behavioral choices can be tested, or the effects of behavior change interventions can be evaluated. The DPEX helps to avoid common method bias in the assessment of exercise behavior, for example, when psychological variables are measured with questionnaires.</p>","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":"102509"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48986442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Transtheoretical model's processes of change in the heart of a physical activity intervention: A series of n-of-1.","authors":"Josyanne Lapointe, P. Bernard, A. Romain","doi":"10.31234/osf.io/qxnsc","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/qxnsc","url":null,"abstract":"The objectives were a) to test whether a Processes of Change (POC)-personalized Transtheoretical model (TTM)-based intervention could increase physical activity (PA) among inactive adults, and b) to examine whether the intervention increased the level of TTM theoretical constructs. The following hypotheses were formulated: 1) PA levels will be significantly higher during and after the intervention in comparison to baseline measures; 2) the level of targeted POCs will increase during the intervention; 3) non targeted POCs will stay stable, and 4) self-efficacy and decisional balance levels will increase during the intervention. A series of N-of-1 with A (1 to 2-week)-B(10-week)-A'(2-week) design were conducted with 12 inactive adults. Behavioral counselors used behavior change techniques to target TTM constructs and supervise PA. Interventions were individualized based on the 5 POCs with the lowest pre-intervention level. Device-based and subjective PA along with TTM measures were collected weekly online. PA data were analyzed with piecewise linear models. A visual analysis was run to examine the TTM constructs. Device, self-reported and TTM data were available for five, seven and five participants, respectively. A significant self-reported PA increase for six participants was found during the phase B and A2. A significant device-measured PA increase was observed in two participants during the study. A substantial increase of targeted POC from baseline for all participants with available data was observed. This study provides the first evidence of behavioral and psychological effects of a POC-personalized TTM-based intervention in inactive adults.","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":"67 1","pages":"102430"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43653555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effects of an Authentic Coaching Intervention on Athlete Outcomes: A Pilot Randomised Control Trial","authors":"E. Malloy, M. Kavussanu","doi":"10.1016/J.PSYCHSPORT.2021.101957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PSYCHSPORT.2021.101957","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":"1 1","pages":"101957"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/J.PSYCHSPORT.2021.101957","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41420373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
William V. Massey, Alexandra Szarabajko, Janelle Thalken, Deanna Perez, S. Mullen
{"title":"Memories of School Recess Predict Physical Activity Enjoyment and Social-Emotional Well-being in Adults","authors":"William V. Massey, Alexandra Szarabajko, Janelle Thalken, Deanna Perez, S. Mullen","doi":"10.31234/osf.io/qfnhm","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/qfnhm","url":null,"abstract":"School recess can provide social, emotional, and physical benefits for children. Yet, not all children experience recess the same, as inequity in access to recess and variability in the quality of recess exist. Researchers have yet to understand the long-term implications of recess experiences on adult well-being and physical activity behaviors. The purpose of this study was to explore the inter-relationships between memories of recess, physical activity, and social-emotional well-being. A total of 514 adults between the ages of 19 and 79 (M = 45.56; SD = 15.62) were surveyed via Prolific, a web-based research platform. Participants were asked about their memories of recess enjoyment and recess exclusion, physical activity levels, physical activity enjoyment, social isolation, social role satisfaction, and sense of meaning and purpose. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that memories of recess enjoyment was associated with meaning and purpose (β = .140, p < .05) and PA enjoyment (β = .209, p < .05). Furthermore, recess exclusion predicted current social isolation (β = .300, p< .05) and was negatively associated with recess enjoyment (β = -.445, p< .05). Findings highlight the importance of childhood recess experiences and its impact on subsequent physical activity behaviors, social isolation, and meaning and purpose later in life. Consistent with other research, early positive activity experiences, in the form of recess, appears to provide more assurances that one will engage in healthier lifestyle behaviors and more favorable psycho-socio-emotional profiles in adulthood.","PeriodicalId":94181,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of sport and exercise","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42975556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}