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Which opponent player to sequentially serve to in beach volleyball is crucial given the advantage of the attacking team. The sequential choice theory was tested in three studies by analyzing allocation strategies based on the hot hand belief. Study 1 showed strong belief in the hot hand of national coaches. In Study 2, we analyzed Tokyo Olympics data to explore how base rates and sequential selection rates varied in an elite sample. When base rates of players differed by 0.25, low-performing players were frequently selected. In an experiment with elite athletes, Study 3A demonstrated accurate base-rate-difference recognition but low base-rate-change recognition. Study 3B found that the hot hand is believed to be important but is not often detected. We conclude that players and coaches follow predictions of the sequential choice theory and believe in the hot hand, but do not have a shared understanding of how to use it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embodied Cognition approaches suggest that movements influence the understanding of abstract concepts such as time. It follows that moving the arms as watch hands should boost children's learning to read the clock. In a school setting, we compared three learning conditions: an embodied (movement) condition, an interactive App condition, and a text condition. Age, self-reported enjoyment, and group size were controlled. In a clock-time-test, the embodied condition resulted in better performances than the mean of the other conditions in small, but not in large groups. This innovative, theory-informed approach may advance learning of abstract concepts in children.

The aim of this study was to explore when experts trust their intuition. The Take-The-First heuristic suggests that experts generate a few options based on option validity that match the current situation and probably pick the first one they generated. In chess, the rated quality of moves can be used to analyze fast and slow decisions. We provided players with strategic (long-term) and tactical (short-term) situations and asked for fast choices, further candidate moves, and the best choice. We divided the participants into three groups based on expertise. Results indicate that chess players at lower skill levels were more vulnerable in tactics than in strategy, especially under time pressure. Masters scored better than near-experts on intuitive and final decisions, and whereas near-experts profited from more time, the masters did not. This finding implies that Take-The-First is both boundedly and ecologically rational. Conclusions are made regarding trusting the intuitions of experts.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of predictability on dual-task performance by systematically manipulating predictability in either one of two tasks, as well as between tasks. According to capacity-sharing accounts of multitasking, assuming a general pool of resources two tasks can draw upon, predictability should reduce the need for resources and allow more resources to be used by the other task. However, it is currently not well understood what drives resource-allocation policy in dual tasks and which resource allocation policies participants pursue. We used a continuous tracking task together with an audiomotor task and manipulated advance visual information about the tracking path in the first experiment and a sound sequence in the second experiments (2a/b). Results show that performance predominantly improved in the predictable task but not in the unpredictable task, suggesting that participants did not invest more resources into the unpredictable task. One possible explanation was that the re-investment of resources into another task requires some relationship between the tasks. Therefore, in the third experiment, we covaried the two tasks by having sounds 250 ms before turning points in the tracking curve. This enabled participants to improve performance in both tasks, suggesting that resources were shared better between tasks.

Drawing on theories from the sociology of work and organizations, such as Leiter and Maslach's concept of burnout and Siegrist's model of effort–reward imbalance, this paper argues that burnout symptoms in elite sport are related to a mismatch of investment and gratification. Building on data from a sample of German elite athletes (N = 312), findings show that high time investments for training and competitions, the experience of time and role conflicts and negative emotions related to daily training are associated with more burnout symptoms, while sporting success, social support and training-related positive emotions are associated with lower burnout scores. Vulnerability to burnout is increased in situations that qualify as gratification crises, in which athletes perceive that high time commitment does not pay off in terms of sporting success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting to the ever‐changing demands of the environment requires a complex interplay between cognitive‐affective, neuronal, and autonomic processes. Vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) is positively associated with both cognitive‐affective functioning and prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity. Accordingly, the Neurovisceral Integration Model has posited a shared role of the PFC in the regulation of cognitive‐affective processes and autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. While there are numerous correlational findings in this regard, no study so far has investigated whether the manipulation of PFC activity induces changes in vmHRV and cognitive‐affective processing in an inter‐dependent manner. In a sample of 64 participants, we examined the effects of continuous (cTBS; n = 21) and intermittent theta‐burst stimulation (iTBS; n = 20) compared to sham stimulation (n = 23) over the left dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) on vmHRV and cognitive‐affective processing within an emotional stop‐signal task (ESST). Our results revealed that both resting vmHRV and vmHRV reactivity predicted cognitive‐affective processing. Furthermore, we found a dampening effect of cTBS on resting and on‐task vmHRV, as well as an enhancing effect of iTBS on ESST performance. Our results show no direct association between vmHRV changes and ESST performance alterations following stimulation. We interpret our results in the light of a hierarchical model of neurovisceral integration, suggesting a dynamical situation‐dependent recruitment of higher‐order cortical areas like the dlPFC in the regulation of the ANS. In conclusion, our results highlight the complex interplay between PFC activity, autonomic regulation, and cognitive‐affective processing, emphasizing the need for further research to understand the causal dynamics of the underlying neural mechanisms. Our study represents the first attempt to use repetitive transcranial magnet stimulation (rTMS) to test the relationship between prefrontal activity, vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) and cognitive‐affective processing, suggested by the Neurovisceral Integration Model. While we did not find hypothesized links between changes in vmHRV and cognitive‐affective processing induced by rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), our results indicate flexible recruitment of higher‐order cortical areas, such as the left dlPFC in autonomic regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In everyday life, before deciding what to do, one has to thinkabout what could be done. We investigate option generationfrom a developmental perspective, testing the predictions of theTake-The-First-heuristic (TTF). Moreover, we examine theinfluence of time limitation on decision-making processes.Using soccer as a testbed, 6- to 13-year-old children (N = 97)were tested in a video-based option-generation paradigm.Children’s performance was aligned with predictions of TTF:Children generated a mean of 2.21 options, did so in ameaningful way and selected the first as final option in 74%.With shorter time, children generated fewer and higher qualityoptions, selected better options and more often the first optionas final decision. Further, with age, an increase of the numberof options generated and an increase in quality of the finaldecisions emerged. This age effect was more pronounced withshorter time. Implications for real-life decision-making arediscussed.

Little is known about how children generate options for taking action in familiar situations or how they select which action option to actually perform. In this article, we explore the interplay between option generation and selection from a developmental perspective using sports as a testbed. In a longitudinal design with four measurement waves, we asked 6- to 13-year-old children (N = 73) to generate and select action options in a soccer-related task. Children generated and selected options in accordance with the predictions of the take-the-first heuristic, which served as a theoretical starting point: They generated only a few options in decreasing order of validity (i.e., better options were generated earlier) and selected the first options they had generated. Older children selected the first option generated more often than younger children and generated options faster. Longitudinal effects revealed that both age groups generated fewer options and faster across waves. Time limitation fostered fewer and higher quality options being generated and selected. Overall, our results highlight the importance of considering the predecisional process of option generation to deepen our understanding of developmental changes in decision-strategy use. Future research directions and implications for children's real-life decision making are discussed.

Purpose: The concepts of creativity and intuition have been well studied in isolation, but less is known about their distinctive contributions to option generation in decision making. Method: We examined the relation between creative and intuitive decision making in two studies--one involving coaches and one involving soccer players--using video footage of real soccer matches. Additionally, we analyzed whether this relation is culture generic or culture specific by conducting matched cross-cultural studies in a European and a South American country. Results: In Study 1, results indicate a conceptual overlap of creativity and intuition for Brazilian and German soccer coaches. Furthermore, coaches did not differ in their evaluation of creative and intuitive actions of players of both cultures. In Study 2, we found that for both subsamples the total number of generated options was positively correlated with the quality of the first and the final option and that the quality of players' first (intuitive) option was higher than that of options generated later. Moreover, results indicate a positive correlation between a player's creativity score and the quality of the first generated option for the whole sample. Conclusion: Overall, our findings provide meaningful information regarding athletes' and coaches' option-generation processes in decision making in complex team sports.