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Woman Wall Climbing


WIM
NOTEBAERT
RESEARCH
LAB

Cognitive Psychology and Decision Making in Sports

at Ghent University

Cognitive Sport Psychology: unlocking new potential

By focusing on recent advances in cognitive (neuro) psychology, there is vast potential to enrich sport psychology. For example, error monitoring is a central topic in contemporary cognitive psychology. Decades of research have explored how people adapt behaviour after making errors. A well-established finding is that errors tend to prompt a more cautious approach in subsequent actions. Translating these insights into sports contexts can enhance crucial in-game elements, such as shot selection and risk assessment. Compared to other established areas like motivational or educational sport psychology, cognitive sport psychology remains relatively undeveloped. This emerging field invites exploration into additional cognitive mechanisms that influence athletic performance. Recent theoretical models and frameworks from cognitive psychology can deepen our understanding of decision-making processes in sports, paving the way for future innovations.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERIES

Primary Areas of Interest

Basketball Court
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The Time
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HEAT MAPS BASKETBALL

 

After a missed shot professional basketball players are more careful (all shots from 1 NBA season). 

DECISION MAKING DURING PHYSICAL EXERCISE

Exploring the inverted U shape: low-intensity physical exercise increases decision making while high intensity training  interferes

TIME IS REWARDING

We demonstrated that time can be used as a reward signal. People are willing to invest some time in order to gain more!

Sport Tactics

DECISION MAKING INTERVENTION

TRAINING ELITE SPORTERS

On the basis of formal decision making models and neural networks we train elite athletes in gaining more control in the decision making process and ultimately in making better decisions. 

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