Ecological cognition: expert decision-making behaviour in sport

TLDR

Decision‑making in sport is framed as the selection of action modes in response to perceived affordances, with action viewed as the embodied realization of cognition under environmental constraints. The authors aim to review evidence on the perceptual‑cognitive basis of expertise and to clarify how decision‑making can be investigated within sport. They evaluate sport‑psychology literature, argue for a central role of action in decision‑making, present ecological‑dynamics assumptions that link behaviour to continuous performer‑environment interactions, and discuss the influence of knowledge and consciousness. The study concludes by suggesting practical applications for sport‑psychology coaching and outlining future research directions.

Abstract

Expert decision-making can be directly assessed, if sport action is understood as an expression of embedded and embodied cognition. Here, we discuss evidence for this claim, starting with a critical review of research literature on the perceptual-cognitive basis for expertise. In reviewing how performance and underlying processes are conceived and captured in extant sport psychology, we evaluate arguments in favour of a key role for actions in decision-making, situated in a performance environment. Key assumptions of an ecological dynamics perspective are also presented, highlighting how behaviours emerge from the continuous interactions in the performer-environment system. Perception is of affordances; and action, as an expression of cognition, is the realisation of an affordance and emerges under constraints. We also discuss the role of knowledge and consciousness in decision-making behaviour. Finally, we elaborate on the specificities of investigating and understanding decision-making in sport. Specifically, decision-making concerns the choice of action modes when perceiving an affordance during a course of action, as well as the selection of a particular affordance, amongst many that exist in a landscape in a sport performance environment. We conclude by pointing to some applications for the practice of sport psychology and coaching and identifying avenues for future research.