Shared and coordinated cognition in competitive and dynamic task environments: An information‐processing perspective for team sports

Abstract

From a groups‐as‐information‐processors perspective, the notion of shared cognition is crucial to the understanding of team performance. This approach is used to comprehend the effectiveness of sports teams. Typically, sports teams are placed in a dynamic environment in which tasks are highly interdependent. Individual actions have to be coordinated with regard to the team objectives and with regard to the opponent team's actions. Although sports are considered behavioral tasks by their nature, performance may be strongly affected by cognitive processes. We review studies and give examples that demonstrate that the degree to which cognitions are shared and coordinated among the members of such teams influences the extent to which the individual actions are coordinated. The sharing and coordinating of cognitions pertain to the attention, information‐processing, and action phases of the decision making and behavior process. We also discuss how feedback and coaching can affect information processing in teams such that coordination of actions is more likely to arise