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The study of judgment and decision-making in sports is at least as old as the anniversary of FEPSAC we celebrate with this special issue. It seems therefore appropriate to look into the past, present and future of this topic. Design: For the past , a focus of the review is relating the European perspective of the co-authors into a larger frame of areas in judgment and decision making within the last 50 years and beyond. For the present , scientific current developments will be structured as judgments from the most influential perspectives such as the economical, social cognition, ecological dynamics or cognitive approaches illustrating some milestones in research on judgment and decision-making in sports of today. For the future , potentials of the field will be structured based on theory, methodology and practical applications showcasing challenges for the next decades of research ahead of us. • Economical, social cognition, ecological dynamics and cognitive perspectives of judgment and decision making (JDM) in sports. • Citation-network description of the four perspectives are provided. • Future research proposals for JMD in sports are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives In sports, adults with high self-efficacy have been shown to select their first option as the final choice more often in a dynamic decision-making test. Addressing the link between self-efficacy and decision making early in age could benefit the developmental potential of athletes. In this study, we examined the link between developing players' decision self-efficacy and their decision-making processes comprising option generation and selection. Further, we explored the effect of time pressure on developing athletes' decision making. Design Developing athletes (N = 97) of two different age groups were asked to report their self-efficacy and to perform a dynamic decision-making task, in which time pressure was experimentally manipulated. Method 48 younger (M age = 8.76, SD = 1.15) and 49 older (M age = 12.18, SD = 0.87) soccer players participated. Participants were randomly presented with video scenes of soccer match play. At the point of temporal occlusion, participants generated options about the next move. After generation, participants selected among the generated options their best option and indicated their decision and motor confidence. Results The self-efficacy of developing players was neither related negatively to dynamic inconsistency nor positively to option or decision quality, but self-efficacy was positively related to motor confidence in the best option. Further, time pressure improved option and decision quality. Conclusion Decision-making processes have been scrutinized by showing that developing players' self-efficacy links to their motor skills rather than to their cognitive evaluation and by specifying the adaptation to time pressure. Thereby, results extend current theorizing on decision making. Highlights • Self-efficacy of developing players was related to their motor confidence. • Self-efficacy was not negatively related to dynamic inconsistency. • Among the developing players, older players generated better first options. • Time pressure fostered option and decision quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Understanding others' actions depends on the observer's individual characteristics and sensorimotor experience. Motor performance domains, such as sports and the performing arts, provide optimal situations to investigate the determinants of action perception. We investigated athletes' perceptual identification of expression intensity in body movements. Design A within-subjects design was used. Method Participants watched point-light displays (1000 ms long) depicting expressive and inexpressive dance movements. The task was to identify the dancer's intended expression intensity. Results The results indicate that expressive body movements can be reliably identified, with judgement accuracy correlating with self-report empathy indices, intuitive/deliberate decision-making preferences, and indices of sports training. Only years of sports training could predict perceptual identification accuracy. Conclusions We discuss the findings in relation to motor and cognitive–emotional contributions to action simulation. The potential of cross-domain transfer of motor expertise for boosting perceptual judgements and a hierarchical role of factors eliciting action simulation are also outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: This review article provides a summary of the main findings from empirical studies that used empathy measurements in the domains of sports, exercise, and the performing arts (i.e., music, dance, and theatrical acting). Method & results: The use of body movement is considered a common denominator across performance domains. Embodied accounts of cognition claim that the capacity to understand an individual's cognitive and affective states depend on the observer's sensorimotor experience and seek to identify the factors influencing this process. To describe the bidirectional links between empathy and performance domains, we divided the empirical studies into two categories: those that investigated factors influencing or inducing empathy, and those that investigated possible influences of empathic tendencies on neurocognitive functions and performance. Therefore, the review includes sections on (1) effects on empathy, including (a) gender, (b) learning and performance, and (c) prosocial contexts; and (2) the effects of empathy on (a) the brain and physiology, (b) perception–performance relations, and (c) prosocial behavior. This work has proven to be informative in unraveling the links between empathy and perceptual-motor processes across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup levels of analysis. Conclusions: The reported findings are examined in relation to embodied accounts of perceptual-motor performance. Issues related to interdisciplinary dialog, implications for research, and applied practice are also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This concluding chapter is written as an exercise in evaluative and formative outcome assessment for the workshop that produced the individual content chapters in this edited volume (entitled Mind and motion: the bidirectional link between thought and action; 29–31 May 2008; Bielefeld, Germany). We go beyond simply summarizing and reiterating the academic progress that was made in each group that is presented in the group reports. Rather, we focus on the obstacles that we encountered along the way in hopes of recognizing what may impede future progress in the study of motor-cognitive links. In particular, we identified three key challenges that arose during our workshop discussions: the limitations of a reductionist tendency, the myopia associated with disciplinary biases, and the threats to inferential validity when dealing with mental phenomena. We offer prescriptive advice about how to overcome these limitations and provide a template for future interaction by interdisciplinary researchers who want to continue scientific research in this domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In different scientific disciplines, decision making is studied by examining how options are perceived or generated in isolated situations. In this chapter we explore the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding option perception within human behavior. As a consequence of the contributions from different disciplines, we present a framework that describes the bidirectional links between decision making, perception, and action. We will argue that, given their interdependency, the study of decision making profits greatly from a more integrated view of the situations it studies. The framework also illustrates how constraints may influence these bidirectional links. Finally, we use this framework to convey new ideas for experimental paradigms, data interpretation, and applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This chapter examines the question of how people perceive and generate options. Although most current theoretical approaches explain option perception and option generation as requiring extensive and costly cognitive processes, we will argue that people perceive their possibilities for action and generate options without such elaborate means. Borrowing from the contributions of direct perception and bounded rationality, we present and analyze data from three sports tasks: the basketball jump shot, ball allocation in handball, and trampoline somersaulting. Data from kinematics, eye-tracking, and choice behavior experiments are presented and reanalyzed to draw the parallels and distinctions between the two approaches. In conclusion, integrating research on perception, action, and cognition provides a promising description of the bidirectional link between mind and motion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Cytokines influence the expression of adhesion molecules and hence, regulate the passage of leucocytes from the blood to the site of inflammation causing leucocyte accumulation and the modulation of the nature and progression of inflammatory responses. They form a complex communication network causing results which are not determined by the effects of a single cytokine but especially by the interaction of several cytokines. Method: For the determination of adhesion molecule expression on the surface of enzymatically detached endothelial cells, flow cytometry is applied. Fluorescence-conjugated mouse monoclonal antibodies directed against VCAM-1, ICAM-1, PECAM-1, CD34, E- and P-selectin are used. Results: We clearly demonstrate that ICAM-1, PECAM-1, P-selectin and CD34 are-in relation to an incubation cocktail containing solely TNF-α, IL-1β and IFN-γ-altered antagonistically by the supplementary addition of the inflammatory cytokines IL-2 and IL-6 as well as the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10, whereas VCAM-1 is synergistically enhanced under the same test conditions. Conclusion: The results of our in vitro investigations show that the effects of a single cytokine within a multi-component cytokine combination on endothelial adhesion molecule expression are strongly influenced by the nature of the other cytokines present in the combination tested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: This article systematically reviews the state of the art of the “hot hand” research in sports. The belief that successive attempts of an individual player are positively related, as well as the behavior influenced by such a belief, will be investigated. Method: The analysis of experiments, simulations, and archival data from actual sport competitions are structured in a way that evidence for or against the existence of the hot hand is presented. In addition, key issues that have been raised over this debate will be highlighted, including their merits and pitfalls. Results: The empirical evidence for the existence of the hot hand is considerably limited. Methodological advancements as well as some experimental results indicate a shift in the debate from the adaptiveness of a potentially faulty belief to an adaptive behavior based partly on the hot hand belief. Conclusions: The potential implications of this review for cognitive theories, empirical studies, and sport practice may provide a significant leverage point for future research and application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The comparison to other athletes and the resulting effects on emotion, motivation and effort investment are a natural and integral part of sports performance. The current study tested a bias toward upward comparison in athletes. Further it tested how comparison processes influence motivation (i.e., self-improvement motivation, coasting, disengagement), emotion (e.g. happiness and shame) and performance improvement as a behavioral measure of effort. Freshmen from an elite sport university volunteered to participate in an experience sampling study conducted over one semester (6 months). Contrary to our predictions, athletes did not generally compare more upward than downward, and only few subscales of the two sport-specific dispositional measures (sport-specific achievement motivation and sport orientation) predicted upward comparison. As hypothesized, upward comparison to moderately better standards was associated with greater motivation while extreme upward comparison was related to a drop in motivation and increased disengagement. Still, upward comparison during the semester significantly predicted performance at the end of the semester. Downward comparison was related to coasting motivation and lower levels of performance. Happiness decreased with upward and increased with downward comparison. The opposite was true for feelings of shame. This research emphasizes the role of the social environment in sports and how training partners depending on their inferiority or superiority can boost or hinder motivation and performance in athletes. • Experience Sampling over one semester to capture immediate motivational and emotional consequences after comparisons. • Greater subjective motivation after comparison but also reduced effort after comparing to a better performing athlete. • Relaxed effort and reduced motivation to improve but feelings of happiness after downward comparisons. • Student athletes do not generally compare more upwards than downwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aims of this study were to examine the influence of salivary cortisol on tennis serve performance in a controlled setting and to investigate if cortisol predicts unique variance in performance beyond a subjective anxiety measure (i.e., Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 [CSAI-2]). Twenty-three tennis players performed two series of second tennis serves separated by an anxiety induction (i.e., arithmetic task). Cortisol was assessed six times during the experiment. Results show that cortisol response and a drop in serving performance are positively correlated (r =.68, p <.001). Cortisol also explains unique variance in performance (i.e., 19%) beyond CSAI-2 measures. Thus, considering cortisol measurements seems warranted in future research aimed at understanding performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: Extensive searches for the “hot hand” have been performed in a variety of sports since the pioneering study of Gilovich, Vallone, and Tversky (1985), but empirical evidence for the existence of the effect is still fairly limited. The current review reconsiders the hot hand in sports using a meta-analytic approach. Design: Mean effect size and 95% confidence interval were determined using a random effects model. Heterogeneity of the mean effect size was examined applying Cochran''s Q test and the “75 percent rule”. Method: To be included in the meta-analysis, studies had to provide an empirical investigation of the hot hand phenomenon related to sport and exercise behavior. Approximately 250 papers were located, but the final dataset included only 22 publications that met inclusion criteria, with 30 studies and 56 independent effect sizes. The articles extended over a period of twenty-seven years from 1985 until 2012. Results: The analysis of the effects yielded a minor positive mean effect size of .02, p = .49, using a random effects model, which is sufficient evidence for arguing against the existence of the hot hand. Due to the limited sample of studies available, only a few candidate-variables could be extracted and further examined as potential moderator variables. However, none of the considered variables had the power to explain the heterogeneity of effect sizes. Conclusions: The present study provides additional support for Gilovich et al.''s claim that a general hot hand effect probably does not exist in sport. The scientific implications of this review for prospect advances in the field are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Emerging research on brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) requires the development of animal models for testing implantable BMI electrodes. New models are necessary in order to characterize and test newly constructed electrodes in an acute environment, and their properties and performance need to be evaluated in long-term, chronic implantations. Owing to their availability, small size and neuroanatomical similarity to the human brain, minipigs are frequently used for neurological studies. Despite this fact, there are still no standardized experimental and neurosurgical procedures available for recording of cortical potentials using implantable BMI electrodes in minipigs, and, until now, it was unclear whether these animals could also be used for long-term subdural electrode implantations. We have therefore evaluated the potential use of minipigs for acute and chronic implantation of micro-electrocorticogram (μECoG) electrodes we newly developed for BMI applications and we present a standardized neurosurgical approach to the minipig''s cerebral cortex. A neurophysiological setup is described which is suitable to perform recordings of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) with high spatial resolution – down to approx. 1-mm inter-electrode distance. Perioperative management, anesthesia and anatomical landmarks for electrode placement are discussed and common surgical pitfalls are described. While, due to their specific cranial anatomy, minipigs appear not optimally suited for chronic subdural implantations, the findings of the present study indicate that μECoG recording from the minipig cortex is a valuable new approach for acute in vivo characterization of subdural BMI electrode function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most studies on sport officials ignore the variance of the data in terms of individual differences. Here we highlight the need to focus on these differences in refereeing as the main point and goal of the current review. We argue that the study of individual differences is important for referee selection, development and performance evaluation. We present the available research on differences related to referee communication styles, types of interactions, and game management. We regard expertise and experience level as a key contributor to individual differences. Given the gap in research around the in-group variance, we discuss new directions for research and further recommendations for the field. We suggest that the areas in which more research and practice will inform our selection, training, and evaluation processes are communication and personal communication style, while having more flexibility in applying different refereeing styles to facilitate performance in different contexts. • Most studies on sport officials ignore the variance of the data in terms of individual differences. • Individual differences are important for referee selection, development and performance evaluations. • We review the differences in referee communication styles, interaction and game management. • New directions for research and recommendations for the field are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper puts forward the position that the cognitivist approach adopted in research on decision making in team sports leads to a disconnection from the actual environment of play. The argument is structured as a narrative review of 60 articles that were analyzed to identify the most recent concepts related to the following topics or combinations thereof: tactics and action in the play; decision making and associated cognitive mechanisms and skills; and the teaching–learning–training process. The results of the review led us to characterize decision making in the team sports context as being (a) "prereflected," (b) based on evaluation, (c) frugal, and (d) "generated," as opposed to being a process of choosing from alternatives. In addition to showing clear adjustments to the environment of play, the four characteristics imply that teaching, learning, and training to play should also be designed according to the restrictions imposed by the context and the actual lived experience of the play. We conclude that cognition should not be considered solely responsible for decisions, and thus both theoretical and pedagogical models of player development should take the ecological perspective of decision making into account. As a result, the methodologies employed to develop players from an early age could be elaborated on by taking into account the interaction between cognitive skills and the possibilities emerging in the play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]