Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 3: Decision making under mental performance pressure in junior elite athletes

Parkin, B. and Walsh, V. 2017. Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 3: Decision making under mental performance pressure in junior elite athletes. in: Wilson, M., Walsh, V. and Parkin, B. (ed.) Sport and the Brain: The Science of Preparing, Enduring and Winning, Part B Elsevier. pp. 339-359

Chapter titleGunslingers, poker players, and chickens 3: Decision making under mental performance pressure in junior elite athletes
AuthorsParkin, B. and Walsh, V.
EditorsWilson, M., Walsh, V. and Parkin, B.
Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Having investigated the decision making of world class elite and subelite athletes (see Parkin and Walsh, 2017; Parkin et al., 2017), here the abilities of those at the earliest stage of entry to elite sport are examined. Junior elite athletes have undergone initial national selection and are younger than athletes examined previously (mean age 13 years). Decision making under mental pressure is explored in this sample. During performance an athlete encounters a wide array of mental pressures; these include the psychological impact of errors, negative feedback, and requirements for sustained attention in a dynamic environment (Anshel and Wells, 2000; Mellalieu et al., 2009). Such factors increase the cognitive demands of the athletes, inducing distracting anxiety-related thoughts known as rumination (Beilock and Gray, 2007). Mental pressure has been shown to reduce performance of decision-making tasks where reward and loss contingencies are explicit, with a shift toward increased risk taking (Pabst et al., 2013; Starcke et al., 2011). Mental pressure has been shown to be detrimental to decision-making speed in comparison to physical stress, highlighting the importance of considering a range of different pressures encountered by athletes (Hepler, 2015).

OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the influence of mental pressure on key indicators of decision making in junior elite athletes. This chapter concludes a wider project examining decision making across developmental stages in elite sport. The work further explores how psychological insights can be applied in an elite sporting environment and in particular tailored to the requirements of junior athletes.

METHODS:
Seventeen junior elite athletes (10 males, mean age: 13.80 years) enrolled on a national youth athletic development program participated in the study. Performance across three categories of decision making was assessed under conditions of low and high mental pressure. Decision making under risk was measured via the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT; Rogers et al., 1999), decision making under uncertainty via the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; Lejuez et al., 2002), and fast reactive responses to perceptual stimuli via the Visual Search Task (Treisman, 1982). Mental pressure was induced with the addition of a concurrent verbal memory task, used to increase cognitive load and mimic the distracting effects of anxiety-related rumination.

RESULTS:
In junior elite athletes, fast reactive responses to perceptual stimuli (on the Visual Search Task) were slower under conditions of mental pressure. For decision making under risk there was an interaction of mental pressure and gender on the amount of points gambled, under pressure there was a higher level of risk taking in male athletes compared to females. There was no influence of mental pressure on decision making under uncertainity. There were no significant correlations in the degree to which individual's responses changed under pressure across the three measures of decision making. When assessing the applicability of results based on group averages there were no junior elite athletes who showed an "average" response (within 1SD of the mean) to mental pressure across all the three decision-making tasks.

CONCLUSION:
Mental pressure affects decision making in a sample of junior elite athletes, with a slowing of response times, and modulations to performance of decision making under risk that have a high requirement for working memory. In relation to sport, these findings suggest that novel situations that place high cognitive demands on the athlete may be particularly influenced by mental pressure. The application of this work in junior elite athletes included the feedback of individual results and the implementation of a decision-making taxonomy.

KeywordsCognitive load; Decision making; Elite sport; Junior athletes; Mental pressure; Risk taking
Book titleSport and the Brain: The Science of Preparing, Enduring and Winning, Part B
Page range339-359
Year2017
PublisherElsevier
Publication dates
Published05 Oct 2017
ISBN9780128118252
ISSN0079-6123
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2017.08.011

Related outputs

Testing hypotheses about the harm that capitalism causes to the mind and brain: a theoretical framework for neuroscience research
Kokorikou, D., Sarigiannidis, I., Fiore, V.G., Parkin, B., Hopkins, A., El-Deredy, W., Dilley, L. and Moutoussis, M. 2023. Testing hypotheses about the harm that capitalism causes to the mind and brain: a theoretical framework for neuroscience research. Frontiers in Sociology. 8 1030115. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1030115

Menu design approaches to promote sustainable vegetarian food choices when dining out
Parkin, B. and Attwood, S. 2022. Menu design approaches to promote sustainable vegetarian food choices when dining out. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 79 101721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101721

Dissociable effects of age and Parkinson’s disease on instruction-based learning
Parkin, Beth L, Daws, Richard E, Das-Neves, Ines, Violante, Ines R, Soreq, Eyal, Faisal, A Aldo, Sandrone, Stefano, Lao-Kaim, N., Martin-Bastida, Antonio, Roussakis, A., Piccini, Paola and Hampshire, A. 2021. Dissociable effects of age and Parkinson’s disease on instruction-based learning. Brain Communications. 3 (3) fcab175. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcab175

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the Understanding of Behavior
Pitcher, David, Parkin, B. and Walsh, Vincent 2021. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the Understanding of Behavior. Annual Review of Psychology. 72, pp. 97-121. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-081120-013144

Menu engineering to encourage sustainable food choices when dining out: An online trial of priced-based decoys
Attwood, S., Chesworth, S. and Parkin, B. 2020. Menu engineering to encourage sustainable food choices when dining out: An online trial of priced-based decoys. Appetite. 149 104601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104601

The physiological effects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation do not apply to parameters commonly used in studies of Cognitive Neuromodulation
Parkin, B., Bhandari, M., Glen, J.C. and Walsh, V. 2019. The physiological effects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation do not apply to parameters commonly used in studies of Cognitive Neuromodulation. Neuropsychologia. 128, pp. 332-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.03.030

Preserved cognitive functions with age are determined by domain-dependent shifts in network responsivity
Samu, D., Campbell, K., Tsvetanov, K., Shafto, M., Cam-CAN Consortium, Tyler, L. and Parkin, B. 2017. Preserved cognitive functions with age are determined by domain-dependent shifts in network responsivity. Nature Communications . 8 14743. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14743

Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 2: Decision-making under physical performance pressure in subelite athletes.
Parkin, B. and Walsh, V. 2017. Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 2: Decision-making under physical performance pressure in subelite athletes. in: Wilson, M., Walsh, V. and Parkin, B. (ed.) Sport and the Brain: The Science of Preparing, Enduring and Winning, Part B Elsevier. pp. 317-338

Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 1: Decision making under physical performance pressure in elite athletes
Parkin, B., Warriner, K. and Walsh, V. 2017. Gunslingers, poker players, and chickens 1: Decision making under physical performance pressure in elite athletes. in: Wilson, M., Walsh, V. and Parkin, B. (ed.) Sport and the Brain: The Science of Preparing, Enduring and Winning, Part B Elsevier. pp. 291-316

Ageing increases reliance on sensorimotor prediction through structural and functional differences in frontostriatal circuits
Wolpe, N., Ingram, J., Tsvetanov, K., Geerligs, L., Kievit, R., Henson, R., Wolpert, D., Cam-CAN Consortium, Rowe, J. and Parkin, B. 2016. Ageing increases reliance on sensorimotor prediction through structural and functional differences in frontostriatal circuits. Nature Communications . 7 13034. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13034

Network mechanisms of intentional learning
Hampshire, A., Hellyer, P., Parkin, B., Hiebert, N., MacDonald, P., Owen, A.M., Leech, R. and Rowe, J. 2016. Network mechanisms of intentional learning. NeuroImage. 127, pp. 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.060

Dynamic Network Mechanisms of Relational Integration
Parkin, B., Hellyer, P., Leech, R. and Hampshire, A. 2015. Dynamic Network Mechanisms of Relational Integration. Journal of Neuroscience. 35 (20), pp. 7660-7673. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4956-14.2015

Non-Invasive Human Brain 
Stimulation in Cognitive Neuroscience: A Primer
Parkin, B., Leech, R. and Walsh, V. 2015. Non-Invasive Human Brain 
Stimulation in Cognitive Neuroscience: A Primer. Neuron. 87 (5), pp. 932-945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.07.032

Brief response to Ashton and colleagues regarding Fractionating Human Intelligence
Hampshire, A., Parkin, B., Highfield, R. and Owen, A.M. 2014. Brief response to Ashton and colleagues regarding Fractionating Human Intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences. 60, pp. 16-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.11.013

Assessing residual reasoning ability in overtly non-communicative patients using fMRI
Hampshire, A., Parkin, B., Cusack, R., Fernández Espejo, D., Allanson, J., Kamau, E., Pickard, J.D. and Owen, A.M. 2013. Assessing residual reasoning ability in overtly non-communicative patients using fMRI. Neuroimage: Clinical. 2, pp. 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2012.11.008

Fractionating Human Intelligence
Hampshire, A., Parkin, B., Highfield, R. and Owen, A.M. 2012. Fractionating Human Intelligence. Neuron. 76 (6), p. 1225–1237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.06.022

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q56y5/gunslingers-poker-players-and-chickens-3-decision-making-under-mental-performance-pressure-in-junior-elite-athletes


Share this

Usage statistics

182 total views
0 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.