Icot: Metacognition Presentations

MetacognitionIN SPORT

SYMPOSIUM June 22, 2011

Aidan Moran, tadhg macintyre, Craig Mahoney, ciaran kelly, derek dorris, Mark

Campbell, p.j. smyth, & David Foster

3, 2, 1..what do we know

1Wednesday 22 June 2011

Metacognition and action: the road less travelled

Tadhg macintyre, derek dorris, craig mahoney & aidan moran




3, 2, 1..what do we know !Metacognition

!IN SPORT! metacognition and action:

the road less travelled

“Thinking about thinking” - lies at the heart of the construct of metacognition (see Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009).

“Metacognition refers to “the scientific study of the mind’s ability to monitor and control itself or, in other words, the study of our ability to know about our knowing” (Van Overschelde, 2008).

Halpern (2003) defined it as “our knowledge of what we know” (p. 19) and also as “the use of this knowledge to direct further learning activities”

thinking about thinking-Ted Hughes

The road not taken-What is metacognition





In general, researchers distinguish between three types of metacognitive processes (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009, pp. 2-3).

(a) metacognitive knowledge - people’s declarative knowledge (“knowing that”) about cognition and beliefs about how their minds work.

(b) metacognitive monitoring - refers to people’s ability to assess or evaluate the ongoing progress or current state of a particular cognitive activity.

(c) metacognitive control - denotes regulating an ongoing activity – such as stopping the activity, deciding to continue it, or changing it in mid-stream.

Types of metacognition





1. Just as the link between cognition and action needs more research (see Adam’s, 1987, quote below), so too does that between metacognition and action

the investigation of action control is important because historically, cognitive psychology has been “preoccupied with disembodied perceptions … and indifferently concerned with translat ing perceptions and higher processes into ‘action” (Adam, 1987, p. 66).

Historically, metacog research has focused more on intellectual skills rather than perceptual-motor skills (see Augustyn & Rosenbaum, 2005, p. 911)

Why choose the road less travelled? Theoretical reasons





2. Can help us to understand expert-novice differences

• Experts have more insight into, and control over, their own mental processes (Moran, 2004).

• McPherson (2000) found that expert collegiate tennis players generated three times as many planning concepts as novices during “between point” periods in tennis matches.

• In 2009, Bransford and Schwartz argued that "it takes expertise to make expertise" (p. 432)






•2. Can help us to understand expert-novice differences

•Where they really excel is in finding ingenious ways around their limited cognitive system (Gobet et al., 2011, p.238).

•Ericsson’s research raises the intriguing possibility that continuous improvement is possible in skill-learning – even among people who have already achieved the proficiency level of experts.

• Ericsson’s theory is controversial because it suggests that “expert performance is not fully automated” (ibid., p. 39)






3. It can help us to understand naturalistic decision making under pressure

When team members have accurate and detai led representations of a problem they have developed shared mental models (Mascarenhas & Smith, 2011). Open skills within sport offer a fruitful arena in which to explore SMM, e.g., Barcelona effect-team-mates are able to anticipate one another’s movements and work fluidly together






PST is essentially an exercise in metacognitive instruction (Moran, 1996) – in order to help athletes to become independent thinkers, we need to know what they know and believe about how their own minds work

Metacognitive control processes are especially valuable because they allows people to change their behaviour strategically in accordance with task demands.

It aids problem solving

Why choose the road less travelled? Practical reasons


meta-memory




Taxonomy of Constructs

meta-learning

metacognition & PST

meta-arousal

Meta-imagery

Meta-attention

David FosterMark Campbell

Tadhg MacIntyre





Example 1-Meta-attention

when do you know to change your routine?

He says he is “looking for a nice key word to keep myself nice and smooth ... My key [word] isn’t working at the moment so we have to figure a way . . . everybody has their way of pulling the trigger and mine, focusing on the target, is very stale at the moment.”

• Metacognitive monitoring is a key element in the revision and adaptation of routines



!IN SPORT! meta-imagery:

beyond mental rotations

“In my head I can hit the ideal kick over and over again. In real life I probably can't but I reckon with the right preparation, understanding and conditions, like the ones in my mind, I could get damn close. Practising flawlessly in the mind without even venturing anywhere near a field can actually improve my physical skills and begin to close the gap between imagination and reality.”-Johnny Wilkinson

Example 1: Meta-Imagery

Value of mental practice





•Internal representations of experts are quantiatively different to non-experts (Ross et al., 2002).

•Ericsson et al., 1998) developed an model of the internal representations of expert golfers.

•Implication is that experts can rapidly identify their incorrect swings based on very early cues-well before the ball comes to a stop (Ericsson, 2001)

Meta-Learning & Experts Representationsimage of desired

ball trajectory

representation for how to execute the performance

goal

desired performance goal

representation for monitoring

one’s performance

execute desired

shot

comparison

between desired

and actual shot





Example 2: Meta-learning

redundant feedbackpositive intrinsic

feedback





• Expert performance approach (Williams & Ericsson, 2005)

• Develop consensus on taxonomy of metacognition in sport

• Move beyond focus on memory and retrospective reports to prospective focus and topics such as planning and imagery.

• Methodological triangulation from qualitative to laboratory.

• Bridge building between cognitive and sport psychology.

New Avenues

Catching your thoughts

...and fishing them up at will...

-Ted Hughes


Meta-attention in professional skills: beyond routines

Mark Campbell & PJ Smyth




3, 2, 1..what do we knowMetacognitionIN SPORT

Overview

• Meta-attention and metacognition

• Professional skills (sport)

• Routines and PPRs

• The role of reflection

• Visual attention; Eye tracking

& the ‘quiet eye’

• Cognitive science, psychology, and education



Historical perspective

• Everyone knows what attention is…

• ‘Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction’ (p. 404)

William James, 1890 The Principles of Psychology



The effects of attention

• ‘The immediate effects of attention are to make us

a) Percieve

b) Conceive

c) Distinguish

d) Remember

e) Shortens ‘reaction-time’’ (p. 426)

• ‘As concentrated attention accelerates perception, so, 19Wednesday 22 June 2011


Reflective thinking… meta-attention!

• Analysis and abstraction- reflective thought relies upon reasoning and is central to the problem solving process

• Thinking & reflection as important aspects of learning (Dewey, 1933)…phases of reflective thinking

• P.15- ‘The nature of the problem fixes the end of thought, and the end controls the process of thinking’



Meta-attention

• Defining Meta-attention?

• The ability of an individual to think about and consider carefully the persons own processes of thought (Sternberg, 1996)

• Refers to knowledge of factors or processes that influence ones attention

• Paying attention to your own mental state

• Self-regulation and self-awareness


From attention to meta-attention

Aristotle,Dewey, James,Kant,

Piaget,Vygotsky,Habermas Challenge

Self-doubt



Professional Skills in Sport

• To perform effectively sports performers are required to execute a complex set of skills in a (near) perfect way

• Achieving a psychological state appropriate for executing well learned skills is crucial

• The ability to self-regulate…arousal, confidence, attentional focus, emotions… may be as critical as executing the skills themselves (Singer, 2002)



Why not ask sportspeople about their routines?

• RITUAL or ROUTINE?

• The preparation stage prior to skill execution is crucial in determining whether the performer achieves a peak performance state (Bouthcher, 1990; Campbell & Moran, 2005; Campbell, 2006)



Pre-Performance Routines

• Moran (1996)- PPRs ‘a sequence of task-relevant thoughts and actions which an athlete engages in systematically prior to his or her performance of a specific sports skill’ (p. 177).

• Very popular…stemming from the belief that they enable players to concentrate effectively

• Implicit assumption that increasing the consistency of the routine will lead to enhanced performance (Jackson, 2003).



PPRs

• This assumption has not been consistenly substantiated

• In fact…all of the suggested functions are based on observed outcomes relating to performance

• Just 1 study to date has sought to explore the individuals understanding of what functions the PPRs fulfilled for them (Cotterill, Sanders & Collins, 2010)



PPRs

• Boutcher (1992)- 5 main benefits that PPRs provide

1. Improving concentration

2.Helping the golfer overcome a tendency to dwell on negatives

3.Allowing the golfer to select the appropriate motor schemata

4.Preventing ‘warm-up’ decrements

5.Preventing the golfer from devoting excessive attention to the mechanics of automatic skills



Rory Pre Shot Routine



Anxiety?



Ctd.



PPRs

• Exactly how do PPRs beneficially effect performance?

• Few studies examining golfers (& SPs) thought processes, what strategies they use, and how they believe the routine aids their performance

• Cotterill et al 2010…‘the dominant function of the PPR that emerged…in this study was the routines’ function in controlling the allocation of attentional resources and, as a result, manipulating and controlling each participant’s attentional focus’ (p.62)



The Role of Reflection

• Reflection… a socially mediated process much like Vygotskys notion of internal/ external speech

• Internal verbalisation is a reflective, metacognitive process aiding planning, strategy identification and application

• 3 crucial aspects of skills sporting or otherwise


Reflection ctd.


Modified expert-performance approach

Based on Williams & Ericsson, 2005



Visual Attention & Routines

• Green Reading (Campbell & Moran) QE & increasing our understanding of visual attention

• Visual attn and motor control

• Embodiment- perception and action are not discrete (the role of your body in shaping your everyday cognition is paramount)

• Perception is not something that specifically only occurs through specific sensory apparatus (vis system) but is a kinaesthetic activity that includes all aspects of the body in action (Gibbs, 2005)



Visual Attentional Control

• The Quiet Eye

• Depth of processing

• QE- A perception-action variable

• Knowledge of QE can lead to increased processing and subsequent improved performance



The Quiet Eye

QE- Vickers- a phenomenon whereby sport performers display a final prolonged steady visual fixation at the target of their aim before executing the relevant motor action.

• QE period- 300-2000 m/s depending on the sport.

• Thought to reflect the performers attempt to establish cognitive control of relevant visual parameters prior to skill execution.



What next?

• Think aloud protocols

• Greater focus on the (cogn) processes & preparation strategies

• Mixed methodologies- qualitative & methodological triangulation

• A taxonomy needed for metacognition



Think Aloud Protocols

In-depth Interviews:May lead to grounded theory, where researchers build a

conceptual model inductively from data yielded from participants rather than deductively

Think aloud verbal protocols:Required to talk about or give running commentary on their

thoughts and actions as they tackle a problemSome limitations:

Editing problem from sheer volume of dataProtocols limited to consciously attributable processes

People more self conscious / guarded?



•Thank you

•Any questions?

•Contact-

•[email protected]


meta-imagery: beyond mental rotationstadhg macintyre, ciaran kelly & Aidan

Moran







Mental imagery -the cognitive simulation process by which we can represent perceptual information in our minds in the absence of appropriate sensory input (Munzert et al., 2009)

Questions

for

You

Mental Imagery Defined

1. Is PP + MP > PP?

2. Is it better to imagine an action from your own-eyes view, than from a video-camera view?

3.Do we typically imagine movements in real time?





• History of imagery research

• The turning point

• What is meta-imagery

• New paradigms

• Meta-imagery findings

• Implications & New Horizons

The Big Picture

Over 200 studies have been conducted investigating the role of imagery in just sport settings alone.

-Short et al., (2006)





• Do you experience imagery across the senses? (Betts, 1909)

• Is your visual imagery vivid? (Marks, 1973)

• What do you use imagery for? (Hall et al., 1990)

• How easy is it to see/feel imagery of movement? (Hall & Martin, 1997)

•Do you use imagery for motivation and cognitive purposes? (Hall et al., 1998)

Century of Individual Differences Research

Imagery lets you swim in Winter...-William James (1890)



!IN SPORT!

meta-imagery:


• Early structuralist approach relied upon introspection of “experts”

• Behaviourist manifesto led to imagery being banished as a topic of study

• Cognitive revolution & IPP focused on measuring RT etc.

• Sport Psych: Mental Practice paradigm in sport

• Sport Psych: Imagery use (Who? When? Where?)

Paradigm Shifts

Behaviourism ultimately had a salutary effect on the study of imagery; it made it rigorous...the computer metaphor encouraged a kind of disembodied approach.

-Kosslyn & Rabin (2001)





• One criticism of the emergence of findings supporting the analogical account of imagery by Kosslyn (1980, 1994) was the tacit knowledge issue.

• Pylyshyn (1981, 2003) suggested that mental scanning & mental rotation findings were influence by the subjects explicit and implicit knowlege.

• Denis & Carfantan (1985) developed a post-experimental questionnaire to check if subjects could predict imagery effects.

The Imagery Debate

Tacit knowledge is the knowledge a participant has about how their perceptual systems work, which isn’t always consciously available-Denis & Carfantan (1985)





• Conflict in studies of MRT and de-briefing of subjects led to the possibility of different strategies being used.

• Kosslyn et al., (2001) in PET study asked participants to imagine the objects rotated by either an external source or by themselves.

• motor areas were activated even when participants mentally rotated non-body objects.

• seminal study in motor cognition as opened avenue to motor imagery

The Turning Points

Different mechanisms can be used in mental rotation

both Same





Individual differences in the use of imagery in cognition, besides encoding preferences and visuo-spatial skills,

depend on metacognition (Katz, 1983)

Antonietti (1999) suggested that sensitivity about knowing when imagery might be useful leads a person to succeed in representing and processing visually the problems which he or she face.

Subsequent discussion by Cornoldi et al. (1996), Moran (2002) and first study by Weinberg et al., (2003) were among the first researchers to explore athletes’ beliefs about the relationship between imagery use and imagery effectiveness.

History of Meta-Imagery





What is Meta-Imagery

Meta-imagery processes or athletes! knowledge of, and control over, their own mental imagery skills and experiences (Moran 2002)

(a) meta-imagery knowledge - includes understanding MP effect, mental travel.

(b) meta-imagery monitoring-refers to people’s awareness of their imagery and how if incorrect (e.g., missed putt) they can re-wind their image and re-edit the image.

(c) meta-imagery control-includes any strategy that enables the athlete to adapt their imagery e.g., recall a prior successful putt to block out the examples of a missed putt.





Visualising things is massively important. If you don!t visualise,then you allow other negative thoughts to enter your head. Notvisualising is almost like having a satellite navigation system inyour car, but not entering your destination into it. The machinerycan only work if you put everything in there.Golfer Darren Clarke (2005)

Meta-Imagery Example 1





I imagine a little hoop between the sticks, like a gymnasium hoop, and I picture the ball going through that.-Ronan O!Gara

Imaginary augments perception






Whether we're two points down, or we needthis kick to pull eight points ahead, I put the tee down, look at the posts andeventually, mentally, return to the training ground where I've done this thousands andthousands of times-Jonny Wilkinson

contextimagery






My perception is that a good image is everything, a bad image is nothing-Richard Fox

Meta-Imagery Example 4 & 5

I try to imagine that I’m in the closing stages of the marathon in London … I just visualize myself running up The Mall-Paula RadcliffeContext

ImageryFacilitative vs Debilitative





• Preponderence of pencil and paper measures (see Morris et al., 2005) and lack of conceptual clarity surrounding

metacognition has stymied test development.

• Morris et al. (2005) bemoaned the fact that "research has focused largely on studies using novice of beginner performers! (p. 316).

• Few qualitative investigations of imagery processes in athletes (see MacIntyre and Moran 2007a,b; Munroe et al., 2000; White & Hardy 1998).

•As a result, a great deal remains to be discovered about the complexity and flexibility of athletes! use of imagery.

Neglect of Meta-Imagery





Framework for Exploring Meta-Imagery

Converging methods approach with qualitative and quantitative measures employed (Kosslyn, 1994)

Motor cognition paradigm (Jeannerod, 2006) which aims to understand action rather than the traditional movement/motor control paradigms.

Research questions were bridge between cognitive neuroscience and sport psychology (Moran et al., 2011)

Expertise approach with pre-selected samples in order to access information rich expert accounts of meta-imagery





• Elite athletes are not just experts in movement execution but arguably are also experts in planning, metacognition and reflection.

• Sport samples selected on the basis of task demands of the activities.

• Typically semi-closed skills with high skill to effort ratio.

• Golf, place-kicking in rugby & canoe-slalom.

Natural Laboratory of Sport

Canoe slalom is chess on water





Mental-Imagery in Action





• Any strategy that a person uses in attempting to regulate and/or improve his or her imagery

• Athletes reported holding their implements (e.g., golf club) during imagery

•Moving physically during imagery

• Quasi movements (Nikulin et al., 2008)

• Tentative support for holding implements during imagery (Guillot et al., 2005)

Meta-imagery control

(a) asynchronous movements (b) synchronous movements

(a)

(b)





• Role of Imagery- “I always had a good first run and most people don’t have a good first run, because they are still missing the practice run and I don’t miss it, because I imagine it.

• Role of Kinaesthetic Imagery- “Feeling rather than actualmental images, or the typical imagery, you must feel the movement, my heart rate always goes up doing imagery.”that much because I imagine it.”

• Context images- “You see the course for the first time, you can start seeing different gate combinations, you can imagine what the bleachers are going to look like, what the set-up is, we try to imagine, how you've never been to Australia, what the surrounding are going to be like.”

Meta-Imagery knowledge





When athletes experience a debilitative image (e.g., a missed putt) they, by monitoring their imagery content, can choose to stop the imagery, rewind it, and attempt to imagine the desired action or outcome (i.e., a successful putt).

Athletes in our studies gave accounts of this process of ‘‘rewinding’’ their images if they experienced debilitative imagery.

Some deliberately engaged in imagery of undesirable outcomes (e.g., an errant drive in golf) to facilitate the generation of an appropriate response, a type of ‘‘what-if’’ imagery.

Meta-Imagery-monitoring & control





Meta-Imagery Model





Implications & Conclusions• Clarity of taxonomy of metacognition in sport

• Development of a valid test of meta-imagery

• Research with other expert samples

• definition of imagery expanded to include quasi-movements (practice swing?)

• Interdisciplinary research programme with sport & cognitive psychology

1. Is PP + MP > PP?

2. Is it better to imagine an action from your own-eyes view, than from a video-camera view?

3.Do we typically imagine movements in real time?

Yes

No

Yes





Resources



Metacognition in Psychological Skills Training within Sport

David Foster



After this session you should be able to reflect upon:

• The nature of metacognition

• The disparity between metacognitive research in education vs. sport

• What is Psychological Skills Training (PST)?

• Possible frameworks for applying metacognition to PST

• Engagement issues and PST: a metacognitive perspective.


What is metacognition?

Metacognition is…

• ‘Thinking about one’s own thoughts’ ! ! (Hacker et al, 1998, p. 3)

• ‘Having knowledge or awareness of one’s own ! cognitive processes’ (Statt, 1998, p. 57 )

• ‘Knowledge & cognitions about cognitive, ! affective,

perceptual and motor human !characteristics’ (Flavell, 1987, p. 21).


What is metacognition?

‘Meta’ and ‘object’ levels and suggested flow of information in metacognitive processes

Nelson & Nahrens (1990)


Metacognition and education

Karen is learning to use a computer. She spends a lot of time sitting at the machine. She reads the instructions for the program and uses trial and error to find her way through the procedure. When she makes a mistake, she repeats the sequence, and then repeats it with different input, testing alternative possibilities. No one has taught her this, but she is intrigued by the machine and is resolved to explore its operation. She is working thoughtfully and systematically according to a mental plan...

Taken from Nisbet & Shucksmith (1986, p. 5)


Metacognition and education

• Metacognition has been studied extensively in education. Areas include:

! -Problem solving! -Maths! -Reading! -Self-regulated learning! -Teaching

(c.f. Hacker et al, 1998; Hartman, 2002)


Metacognition and sport

Sally practiced three days a week to improve her golf skills. Over the next few weeks, Sally set daily goals and monitored her progress in all aspects of the game to see how she improved. When she needed help with her short game, Sally asked Lynne for help and took lessons. She began to watch LPGA tournaments on television with her mom, who also took Sally to the driving range and practice green to work on her skills. Sally watched her mom-a former collegiate player- practice her swing; then she tried to imitate many of her mom’s swing mechanics... Sally was motivated to learn more about the game of golf, and she looked forward to playing in future golf tournaments.

Taken from Petlichkoff, L.M. (2008, p. 269)


Metacognition and sport

• Athletic expertise depends on ‘the consistent successful use of self-regulated cognitive strategies’....where successful athletes are performers ‘who constantly monitor themselves from level of physical conditioning to mental preparation’ (Chen & Singer, 1996, p. 244)

• Very few studies of metacognition related to sport contexts

• Some studies have examined aspects of metacognition – e.g. awareness of sport specific knowledge (French & McPherson, 2003); self regulation (Kirschenbaum, 1984, 1987), etc.


Applying metacognition to Psychological Skills Training (PST) within Sport

What is Psychological Skills Training (PST)?

• Vealey, (1988) made the distinction between psychological skills and psychological methods

• Psychological skills are aptitudes which help performers in sport – e.g. confidence, optimal levels of arousal and attention, self-awareness, etc.

• Psychological methods are techniques often taught by sport psychologists as part of PST. These include: self-talk, goal setting, imagery and performance profiling (Hemmings & Holder, 2009).


Applying metacognition to PST

Frameworks for applying metacognition

• Schraw (2002) argues that there are two components to metacognition:

! (1) Metacognitive knowledge - is knowledge about own and other’s cognitions and include! - declarative knowledge (knowing “about” things)! - procedural knowledge (knowing “how” to do things)! - conditional knowledge (knowing the “why” and ! “when”

aspects of cognition).



Frameworks for applying metacognition continued

(2) Regulation of cognition – the activities that control cognitive enterprises. These include:

! - planning (selection of strategies and allocation of ! resources to a task)! - monitoring (real time awareness of task ! performance)! - evaluating (appraisal of aspects of task ! performance)

• Both metacognitive knowledge and regulation of cognition are related to each other (Schaw, 1994).


Applying metacognition to PST: Flavell’s notion of

Variable Definition Example

Person• Intraindividual

• Interindividual

• Universal

• Knowing yourself as a performer

• Comparing ability

between individuals

• Knowing a commonly held belief

about performance

• Knowing you are better at

tennis than football

• Knowing than Jill is better

than John at tennis

• Knowing that people with

strong hand-eye co-ordination

are likely to excel in hitting

games

Task • Knowing the characteristics,

constraints, parameters and

demands of a task

• Knowing that taking a penalty

requires a different type of

concentration to running a

marathon

Strategy • Knowing how to proceed to

perform a specific task

• Tactical awareness


Applying Flavell’s Framework

Sally practiced three days a week to improve her golf skills. Over the next few weeks, Sally set daily goals and monitored her progress in all aspects of the game to see how she improved. When she needed help with her short game, Sally asked Lynne for help and took lessons. She began to watch LPGA tournaments on television with her mom, who also took Sally to the driving range and practice green to work on her skills. Sally watched her mom-a former collegiate player- practice her swing; the she tried to imitate many of her mom’s swing mechanics... Sally was motivated to learn more about the game of golf, and she looked forward to playing in future golf tournaments.

Strategy variable

Task variable

Person variable



Cognitive regulation

• Many PST techniques involve the regulation of cognition in addition to increasing metacognitive knowledge

• Performance profiling (Butler & Hardy, 1992) involves athletes evaluating their strengths and weaknesses as a performer

• Goal setting (Locke & Latham, 1990) involves skills of both skills planning and monitoring.


Performance Profiling / Goal setting

Generation of concepts = metacognitive knowledge of person/task; scoring concepts = evaluation

Generation of goals = metacognitive knowledge of task/strategy; Goal maintainance = planning/monitoring.


Engagement issues and PST

Age-related issues

• It has been proposed that youngsters may not have the metacognitive apparatus to engage fully with PST (Foster & Weigand, 2008)

! - Luke & Hardy (1999) found little metacognitive ! ability shown in P.E. Lessons by 11-14yr. olds

• Possible link between Piaget’s Formal Operational stage of cognitive development and metacognitive ability.


Engagement issues and PST

Mature athletes

• Anecdotal evidence suggest that some mature athletes also struggle with PST

• Is this due to a lack of metacognitive knowledge? Or cognitive regulation? Or both?

• Possible role for sport psychologists to scaffold both youngsters and mature athletes in metacognitive aspects of psychological skills/methods

• Much scope for research in all these areas.


[email protected]

References available on request


Documents

Icot: Metacognition Presentations