360°-multiple object tracking in team sport athletes: Reliability and relationship to visuospatial cognitive functions

Introduction: In team sports, the ability to visually track the movements of teammates and opponents simultaneously is a critical aspect of success. In sports psychology, this ability can be examined with the help of the multiple object tracking paradigm. The current study investigated the relationship between task performance in a novel 360 degrees-multiple object tracking task and visuospatial cognitive functions as well as the reliability of the task. Methods: In a sample of 153 team sport athletes the relationships between performance in the 360 degrees-multiple object tracking task and performance in a spatial attention task, a spatial working memory task, and a fluid intelligence task at a first time of measurement were investigated. Additionally, at a second time of measurement the test-retest reliability of the 360 degrees-multiple object tracking task was measured over a six-week interval in a subsample of 65 athletes. Results: The expected significant correlations between the performance in the 360 degrees-multiple object tracking task and the tasks measuring spatial attention and working memory were observed. Test-retest reliability analysis indicated a good reliability of the procedure. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that the novel 360 degrees-multiple object tracking task allows the reliable assessment of visuospatial cognitive performance of athletes in a dynamic 360 degrees-environment.