Building a Transdisciplinary Expert Consensus on the Cognitive Drivers of Performance Under Pressure: An International Multi-panel Delphi Study

Abstract

The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport, and depends on a range of cognitive factors. How common these key performance factors are across application domains remains unclear. The current study sought to integrate existing knowledge in the performance field in the form of a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie performance under pressure. International experts were recruited from four performance domains (i. Defence; ii. Competitive Sport; iii. Civilian High-stakes; and iv. Performance Neuroscience). Experts rated constructs from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework (in addition to several expert-suggested constructs) across successive rounds, until all constructs reached consensus for inclusion or were eliminated. Finally, included constructs were ranked for their relative importance. Sixty-eight experts completed the first Delphi round, with 94% of experts retained by the end of the Delphi process. Seven of the ten constructs that reached transdisciplinary consensus came from the Cognitive Systems domain including: 1) Attention; 2) Cognitive Control—Goal Selection, Updating, Representation & Maintenance; 3) Cognitive Control—Performance Monitoring; 4) Cognitive Control—Response Selection & Inhibition/Suppression; 5) Working memory—Flexible Updating; 6) Working memory—Active Maintenance; and 7) Working memory—Interference Control. Other constructs that reached transdisciplinary consensus were Self-knowledge, Arousal, and Shifting (an expert-suggested construct). Our results identify a set of transdisciplinary neuroscience-informed constructs, validated through Delphi consensus. This expert consensus is critical to standardising cognitive assessment and informing mechanism-targeted interventions in the broader field of human performance optimisation.

An app-enhanced cognitive fitness training program for athletes: The rationale and validation protocol

“…A transdisciplinary Delphi study ( Albertella et al, 2022 ) examined the applicability of the model to the high-performance domain using the same methodology that was employed in the development of the original RDoC. We used a three-stage process to achieve this aim.…”

“…The Delphi study is described elsewhere ( Albertella et al, 2022 ) but its main findings are worth recapping here because they were used as input when designing the content of the app. The key question presented to the experts throughout the Delphi method was as follows: “How important do you think a construct (e.g., attention) is to optimal performance in dynamic and high-pressure environments?” This question and corresponding key term definitions were decided through discussion with the advisory group that included experts in military and sport psychology, as well as in high-stakes civilian applications such as paramedic and emergency services.…”

“…The key question presented to the experts throughout the Delphi method was as follows: “How important do you think a construct (e.g., attention) is to optimal performance in dynamic and high-pressure environments?” This question and corresponding key term definitions were decided through discussion with the advisory group that included experts in military and sport psychology, as well as in high-stakes civilian applications such as paramedic and emergency services. Specifically, Albertella et al (2022) defined optimal performance as performance that successfully achieves an individual’s goals, consistently (i.e., not by chance). Constructs could reflect preparation and recovery aspects of performance in so far as these could influence the likelihood of consistent, optimal performance, as well as the “in-the-moment” performance execution.…”

“…The Delphi study is described elsewhere (Albertella et al, 2022) but its main findings are worth recapping here because they were used as input when designing the content of the app. The key question presented to the experts throughout the Delphi method was as follows: "How important do you think a construct (e.g., attention) is to optimal performance in dynamic and high-pressure environments?"…”

“…In the present case, these constructs are contained in the CF2 model, which is itself based on the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework ( Morris and Cuthbert, 2012 ), an initiative of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) aimed at identifying the cognitive processes underlying both normal and abnormal functioning. Albertella et al (2022) have extended the RDoC framework to cover cognitive constructs involved in high performance. An app of this kind should also be backed by additional resources, preferably online, that instruct the user in the operation of the app and offer additional guidance on the constructs and techniques that may be unfamiliar to some users.…”