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Reporting Executive Dysfunctions versus Measuring Executive Functions as Predictor of Cognitive Skills in Athletes

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.150

Keywords:

Executive Functions, Self reporting, Talent identification, Cognitive diagnostics

Abstract

Cognitive diagnostics, especially the measurement of executive functions (EFs) in the context of sports and talent diagnostics, is a popular research topic. However, research is lacking on the extent to which self-reports are sufficient to examine the EFs of athletes for performance diagnostics. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the relationships between neuropsychological tasks (3-back task, cued GoNoGo task, flanker task, and number-letter task) and a self-report for examining EFs (BRIEF-SB). Furthermore, it should be investigated whether it is possible to predict the outcome of EF tasks using a self-report inventory. Therefore, 68 young professional soccer players (Mage = 14.26 ±1.35 years) from a national youth academy were included in the study. The weak-to-moderate correlations (r[59] = .000, p = .999 to r[59] = -.442, p < .01) and the results of sensitivity analysis (0.125 to 0.538) do not suggest using a self-report of EFs for cognitive performance diagnostics. The inventory is only suitable for identifying executive dysfunctions in athletes recovering from head injuries or concussions.

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Author Biography

Florian Heilmann, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg

Dr. Florian Heilmann (born 1992) studied sports and sports science as well as health promotion and therapy (M.Sc.) from 2011-15. He is currently working as a research assistant at the Institute for Sports Science at the University of Halle-Wittenberg (Movement Science Lab). He received his PhD in 2019 at the intersection of biomechanics and motor skill research. He is currently researching the area of cognition in sport.

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2022-04-29