scholarly journals Attention in Skilled Behavior: an Argument for Pluralism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Dayer ◽  
Carolyn Dicey Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Peak Performance ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
The Third ◽  
Frequent Response ◽  
Human Excellence

AbstractPeak human performance—whether of Olympic athletes, Nobel prize winners, or you cooking the best dish you’ve ever made—depends on skill. Skill is at the heart of what it means to excel. Yet, the fixity of skilled behavior can sometimes make it seem a lower-level activity, more akin to the movements of an invertebrate or a machine. Peak performance in elite athletes is often described, for example, as “automatic” by those athletes: “The most frequent response from participants (eight athletes and one coach) when describing the execution of a peak performance was the automatic execution of performance” (Anderson et al. 2014). While the automaticity of skilled behavior is widely acknowledged, some worry that too much automaticity in skill would challenge its ability to exhibit human excellence. And so two camps have developed: those who focus on the automaticity of skilled behavior, the “habitualists,” and those who focus on the higher-level cognition behind peak performance, the “intellectualists.” We take a different tack. We argue that skilled behavior weaves together automaticity and higher-level cognition, which we call “pluralism.” That is, we argue that automaticity and higher-level cognition are both normal features of skilled behavior that benefit skilled behavior. This view is hinted at in other quotes about automaticity in skill—while expert gamers describe themselves as “playing with” automaticity (Taylor and Elam 2018), expert musicians are said to balance automaticity with creativity through performance cues: “Performance cues allow the musician to attend to some aspects of the performance while allowing others to be executed automatically” (Chaffin and Logan 2006). We describe in this paper three ways that higher-level cognition and automaticity are woven together. The first two, level pluralism and synchronic pluralism, are described in other papers, albeit under different cover. We take our contribution to be both distinguishing the three forms and contributing the third, diachronic pluralism. In fact, we find that diachronic pluralism presents the strongest case against habitualism and intellectualism, especially when considered through the example of strategic automaticity. In each case of pluralism, we use research on the presence or absence of attention (e.g., in mind wandering) to explore the presence or absence of higher-level cognition in skilled behavior.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Elite Athletes Training Management Efficiency Based on Multiple Criteria Measure of Conditioning Using Fewer Data

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandras Krylovas ◽  
Natalja Kosareva ◽  
Rūta Dadelienė ◽  
Stanislav Dadelo
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Training ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Weighted Least Squares ◽  
Peak Performance ◽  
Sports Industry ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Target Values ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Olympic Games

Innovative solutions and techniques in the sports industry are commonly used and tested in real conditions. Elite athletes have to achieve their peak performance before the main competition of the year, which is the World Championship, and every fourth year before the Olympic Games, when the main competition of athletes takes place. The present study aims to analyze and evaluate the ability of elite kayakers to achieve the best form at the right times, with the Olympic Games taking the greatest importance. Target values for multiple measures of conditioning are compared to target values set by experts. A weighted least squares metric with weights varied by time period is developed as a measure of fulfillment of the athletes’ conditioning plans. The novelty of the paper is the idea of using linear combination of polynomials and trigonometric functions for approximating the target functions and application of the proposed methodology for the optimization and evaluation of athletic training.

scholarly journals The Employability Process of Spanish Retired Elite Athletes: Gender and Sport Success Comparison

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina López de Subijana ◽  
Javier Ramos ◽  
Carlos Garcia ◽  
Jose L. Chamorro
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Classification Tree ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Gender Comparison ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Work Integration

The aims of the study were: (i) to describe the work integration after retirement in elite athletes, (ii) to compare the working integration of women and men, and Olympic and non-Olympic athletes, and (iii) to specify the factors that affect their employment status and current monthly income. A total of 476 former elite athletes were surveyed. Non-parametric statistics were applied to compare the differences between groups and a classification tree analysis was performed for the dependent variables. The former elite athlete’s unemployment rate was better than the general population. At the gender comparison, a wage gap appeared between women and men. At the comparison between Olympic and non-Olympic athletes, the link to first employment differed in both groups. In the prediction models, finishing higher education arose as a key factor of the working status and the monthly salary. Among those without higher education studies, planning arose as a factor determining their salary, while among those with high qualifications, gender was the key factor. This study supports the importance of a holistic view of athletic career development and it offers practical insights into the process of reaching first employment after retirement.

Reasons for Career Termination in Danish Elite Athletes: Investigating Gender Differences and the Time-point as Potential Correlates

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Moesch
Keyword(s):  
Female Athletes ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Peak Performance ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Being There ◽  
Career Termination ◽  
Time Point

Abstract Introduction: Career termination, an inevitable step in every athlete’s career, has received increased attention within sport psychological research. A career termination that results in psychological problems is of special concern for sport federations, organizations and clubs. Research has shown that it is crucial to consider an athlete’s the reason for career termination. There is evidence that the causes of an involuntary and unplanned career termination are disadvantageous for athletes’ well-being. There are many important aspects of career termination, such as cultural and social aspects, gender, and the time-point of the occurrence. The present study therefore aims at investigating the causes of career termination and possible correlates with gender and the time-point thereof among Danish elite athletes. Method: Data was gathered from 68 retired Danish elite athletes about their reasons for career termination and about its time-point. A qualitative analysis with the reasons mentioned by the athletes was performed. Moreover, t-tests and chi-square tests were conducted to analyze differences between males and females, and among athletes ending their career at different time-points in their career. Results: The results revealed 10 different reasons given for career termination with lack of motivation, injury or health problems and family related reasons being the top three. Female athletes mentioned that they ended their career due to family-related reasons more often than their male peers. More than a third of all athletes ended their career before their perceived achievement of peak performance. Financial reasons seemed to be of more importance for career termination for athletes ending their career before or at peaking, whereas family-related reasons were more often mentioned by athletes during or after their performance peak. Discussion and conclusion: The results of the study provide an overview of the career termination reasons of Danish elite athletes, which can provide practitioners and organizations with helpful insight when designing respective interventions. When planning such interventions it could be advantageous to deliver specific support for women to enable them to optimally combine family life with an elite sport career.

scholarly journals Performance trade-offs and ageing in the ‘world's greatest athletes’

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1860) ◽  
pp. 20171048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Careau ◽  
Robbie S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Physical Traits ◽  
A Current

The mechanistic foundations of performance trade-offs are clear: because body size and shape constrains movement, and muscles vary in strength and fibre type, certain physical traits should act in opposition with others (e.g. sprint versus endurance). Yet performance trade-offs are rarely detected, and traits are often positively correlated. A potential resolution to this conundrum is that within -individual performance trade-offs can be masked by among -individual variation in ‘quality’. Although there is a current debate on how to unambiguously define and account for quality, no previous studies have partitioned trait correlations at the within- and among-individual levels. Here, we evaluate performance trade-offs among and within 1369 elite athletes that performed in a total of 6418 combined-events competitions (decathlon and heptathlon). Controlling for age, experience and wind conditions, we detected strong trade-offs between groups of functionally similar events (throwing versus jumping versus running) occurring at the among-individual level. We further modelled individual (co)variation in age-related plasticity of performance and found previously unseen trade-offs in throwing versus running performance that manifest through ageing. Our results verify that human performance is limited by fundamental genetic, environmental and ageing constraints that preclude the simultaneous improvement of performance in multiple dimensions. Identifying these constraints is fundamental to understanding performance trade-offs and predicting the ageing of motor function.

Experiences of Peak Performance in Elite American Football

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34
Author(s):  
Andy Gillham ◽  
Craig Stone
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
American Football ◽  
Peak Performance ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Optimal Functioning ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
Physical Components ◽  
Flow States

Elite athletes strive for a superior state of psychological functioning to achieve peak performance, and peak performance is the central construct of this study. Peak performance as a phenomenon is a state of superior functioning allowing athletes to perform at their highest levels, attaining outstanding results. The purpose of this study was to understand the phenomenon of peak performance through semistructured interviews with 16 elite-level American football players. Four higher-order themes divided into mental, physical, emotional, and sensory elements. Those themes are supported by 18 lower-level categories. Findings were largely consistent with previous research despite this being the first study to include American football players. A specific noteworthy conclusion is the connection between mental and physical components that provides ample opportunities for both researchers and applied practitioners. In addition, the participant quotes prompted a return to the discussion of the connection between individual zones of optimal functioning, peak performance, and flow states.

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