Effects of Perceptual-Cognitive Training on Anticipation and Decision-Making Skills in Team Sports: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Team sports require athletes' exceptional perceptual-cognitive skills, such as anticipation and decision-making. Perceptual-cognitive training in laboratories aims to enhance these abilities. However, its effectiveness in real-game performance remains controversial, necessitating a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine optimal training methods. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched databases (e.g., PubMed, WOS, Scopus, and EBSCO) for relevant studies published before November 2023, assessed study quality, extracted important characteristics, and conducted a meta-analysis using Stata 15.1. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023494324). A total of 22 quantitative studies involving 45 effect sizes were included. Perceptual-cognitive training positively influenced elite athletes' anticipation and decision-making. However, its transfer effect on real-game performance improvement (ES = 0.65) was inferior to laboratory performance improvement (ES = 1.51). Sub-group analyses indicated that the effects of training interventions varied based on stimulus presentation and intervention duration. Based on our findings, we concluded that while perceptual-cognitive training improved on-court performance, its transfer effects were limited. To maximize effectiveness, future interventions should use virtual reality to present training stimuli and incorporate participants' sport-specific responses to reflect real-game scenarios.

Keywords: decision-making and anticipation; meta-analysis; on-court transfer effect; optimal training methods; perceptual-cognitive training.

Figure 1

Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) graphs of the RCT studies. Notes: “+”, low risk of biase, “?”, unclear risk of bias, “-“, high risk of bias [7,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36].

Figure A1

The Funnel Plots for Task RA and RT as well as Transfer RA and RT.

Figure A2

Sensitivity Analysis of Meta-Analysis [7,17,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43].

Figure 2

The PRISMA flow chart. Notes: RA, response accuracy; RT, response time; M, mean; standard deviation, SD.

Figure 3

Forest plots depicting the total effect size (ES) of interventions on four outcomes. Notes: RA, response accuracy; RT, response time; CI, confidence interval [7,17,24,25,26,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43].

Figure 4

Sub-group analyses testing the different transfer effects of intervention among different stimuli types or response types. Notes: RA, response accuracy; RT, response time; CI, confidence interval [7,17,24,25,26,33,34,35,36,37,38,42,43].

Figure 5

Sub-group analyses testing the different effects among different durations of whole training periods (left side), frequency of intervention (middle section), and each session duration (right side). Notes: RA, response accuracy; RT, response time; CI, confidence interval. [7,17,24,25,26,33,34,35,36,37,38,42,43].