Abstract:

Working Memory is widely discussed in competitive sports, especially in basketball, soccer and volleyball. The relationship between working memory and decision making, working memory and performance-inhibiting under pressure, and the affect of sport injury on working memory are discussed in this paper. The effect working memory work on decision making is investigated by decision making paradigm after grouping the participants by working memory capacity measurement, such as Automatic OSPAN and counting span task. Performance-inhibiting consequences of stereotype threat emerges for anxiety risen by negative social stereotype, which depletes limited cognitive resources and reduce the capacity of working memory. Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) is used to evaluate the cognitive changes while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) observe the vividness of different brain regions during n-back test after sport-related concussions. Future researchers should focus on the function of working memory in cognitive process and transfer and explore special paradigm and measurement for sport.

Key words: working memory, competitive sports, decision making, performance-inhibiting, sport related concussions