The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Measurement of cognitive functions in experts and elite athletes: A meta‐analytic review
Abstract
Summary: An extraordinary physiological capacity combined with remarkable motor control, perception, and cognitive functioning is crucial for high performance in sports. Tests that assess the physical abilities are already well established. Moreover, a growing area of research evolved in the recent past that is particularly concerned with the basic cognitive functions by means of neurocognitive tests in experts and elite athletes. The aim of this meta‐analysis (k = 19) is to quantify differences among experts and nonexperts as well as elite athletes and non‐elite athletes. In addition, it aims to assemble and compare previous research and analyze possible differences in cognitive functions depending on age, skill level, and used cognitive tasks. Overall, the mean effect size was small to medium (r = 0.22), indicating superior cognitive functions in experts and elite athletes. The factor of skill definition significantly differentiates the cognition–expertise relationship. In contrast, differences in age groups and cognitive areas appeared but were not significant. Future research should prefer the elite rather than the expert definition and distinguish between high‐performance and amateur athletes. Furthermore, the findings suggest that it can be beneficial for coaches and sport clubs to integrate cognitive tests as an additional tool for scouting and for optimizing the athletic development of their players.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.1080/00401706.1989.10488618 · Cited by 99,167
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100 · Cited by 28,164
Duval, S., & Tweedie, R. (2000) · Biometrics · doi:10.1111/j.0006-341x.2000.00455.x · Cited by 14,099
Diamond, A. (2013) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750 · Cited by 13,268
The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.3.363 · Cited by 9,564
(2000) · Cited by 9,198
The Neuropsychological Assessment
Ogden, J. A. (2005) · Fractured Minds · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195171358.003.0002 · Cited by 4,364
Fitness Effects on the Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Study
Colcombe, S., & Kramer, A. F. (2003) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.t01-1-01430 · Cited by 3,782
Action video game modifies visual selective attention
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature01647 · Cited by 2,540
Ellis, P. D. (2010) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511761676 · Cited by 2,461
Cited by
Executive Function Strengths in Athletes: a Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Ren, S., Shi, P., Feng, X., Zhang, K., & Wang, W. (2025) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.70212 · Cited by 49
O’Connor, E. J., Crozier, A. J., Murphy, A., & Immink, M. A. (2022) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.1177/00315125221087523 · Cited by 12
Metadata
- Authors
- Scharfen, H., & Memmert, D.
- Venue
- Applied Cognitive Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-02-12
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 843-860
- ISSN
- 0888-4080 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0720
- OpenAlex
- W2911509440
- Cited by
- 257
- References
- 54
- FWCI
- 39.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Measurement of cognitive functions in experts and elite athletes: A meta‐analytic review. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1002/acp.3526
- The paper
- Scharfen, H., & Memmert, D. (2019). Measurement of cognitive functions in experts and elite athletes: A meta‐analytic review. Applied Cognitive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3526
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
