Are core executive functions predictive of decision-making in sport? A scoping review

Dynamic and interactive sports require athletes to make fast and appropriate decisions in a rapidly changing environment. Decision-making (DM) in interactive sports depends on a variety of factors, including athletes' skill level and experience. However, evidence from cognitive psychology suggests that stable cognitive characteristics also have a crucial impact on DM. Specifically, core executive functions (EFs) including working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and attention are attributed a key role. Despite its relevance, the relationship between EFs and DM in sport has not yet been systematically investigated and/or reviewed. Therefore, the present scoping review aimed at clarifying whether EFs predict sport-specific DM performance. A systematic literature search was conducted in five electronic databases. A total of 3,331 articles were identified and screened for eligibility, with 13 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The analysis revealed that core EFs do not predict DM performance in sport per se. Instead, the relationship rather depends on four different types of sport-specific DM that were identified. For instance, while superior inhibition is beneficial for tactical and reactive DM, it appears to be unrelated to DM under real-world conditions. We also revealed incomplete (e.g., no studies for the relationship between inhibition and creative DM) and inconsistent (between working memory and tactical DM) findings, illustrating a still fragmented picture of the relationship between EFs and sport-specific DM. We offer recommendations for future research on how to systematically address inconsistencies and identified research gaps.