ABSTRACT

The investigation of Executive Functions (EF) has become a trending topic of investigation in sport science. This critical review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the underlying theory and the typical methodology (and problems with the methodology) in the interdisciplinary study of EFs as it relates to the two most researched questions within the sports literature: (1) if the engagement in sports and exercise can enhance EFs; and (2) if and how EFs contribute to superior performance/expertise in sports. A critical evaluation on theoretical and methodological work on EF shows numerous problems on how to conceptualize and measure the EF construct. These problems within the basic research on EF seem to be widely overlooked in the sport literature and have contributed to ambiguous empirical evidence on the question if sport and physical exercise can be used to train EF. Similarly, the second question ‘if EF contribute to superior performance in (some) sports’ has also received inconclusive empirical support. We conclude by pointing out avenues for future theoretical and empirical work regarding the important topic of EF in sport and exercise.

摘要

执行功能（EF）的研究已成为运动科学研究的热门话题。这篇批判性评论对 EF 跨学科研究的基础理论和典型方法（以及方法中的问题）进行了全面综合，因为它涉及体育文献中研究最多的两个问题：（1）如果参与体育运动运动可以增强EF；(2) EF 是否以及如何有助于提高运动表现/专业知识。对 EF 理论和方法论工作的批判性评估表明，在如何概念化和衡量 EF 构造方面存在许多问题。EF 基础研究中的这些问题似乎在体育文献中被广泛忽视，并且导致关于运动和体育锻炼是否可以用于训练 EF 的问题的经验证据不明确。同样，第二个问题“EF 是否有助于（某些）运动中的卓越表现”也得到了不确定的实证支持。最后，我们指出了关于运动和锻炼中 EF 重要主题的未来理论和实证工作的途径。