Domain-specific adaptations in visual working memory: differentiated performance profiles between open- and...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Sports Science
• Human Performance

Background:

• Athletes exhibit distinct cognitive profiles based on sport type.
• Visual working memory (VWM) is crucial for athletic performance.
• Understanding sport-specific cognitive adaptations is key to performance optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the visual working memory (VWM) performance differences between open-skill and closed-skill athletes.
• To analyze the impact of environmental noise on response speed and memory precision in athletes.
• To explore the relationship between sport type, cognitive performance, and environmental factors.

Main Methods:

• A 2x2 mixed factorial design comparing open-skill and closed-skill athletes in quiet and noisy conditions.
• Utilized a color-wheel continuous report task to assess VWM.
• Measured response times (RTs) and mean absolute error (MAE) for memory precision.

Main Results:

• Closed-skill athletes demonstrated higher memory precision (lower MAE) than open-skill athletes.
• Open-skill athletes exhibited faster response times (shorter RTs) compared to closed-skill athletes.
• Moderate white noise reduced RTs but did not significantly affect MAE, with no interaction effect observed.

Conclusions:

• Open-skill and closed-skill athletes display distinct speed-precision trade-offs in VWM, supporting a configuration-based account.
• Cognitive adaptations appear to be task-specific rather than general.
• While noise affects reaction speed, it does not alter the fundamental sport-specific VWM profiles.