Team coordination has been an area of interest for researchers in military, business, social, and cognitive psychology, while only relatively recently emerging as area of growing interest for researchers in sport psychology. Research on teams in sport traditionally has been focused on the social characteristics of the team, such as cohesion and leadership. Additionally, when the role of cognition in skilled performance in sport has been examined, the interest primarily has been in the cognitive processes at the individual level. As a response, Eccles and Tenenbaum (2004) proposed a socio-cognitive conceptualization of team coordination in sport that has been used to frame much of the extant research in sport. However, to date most research on team cognition and coordination in sport has been conducted using the individual as the unit of analysis. The present study is a response to the need for research that captures the experience of the team as a whole and in context, to further understanding of cognitive processes underlying skilled team performance. A study was conducted with a men's collegiate soccer team over the course of a competitive season. Cognitive field research was used to investigate how the team developed, modified, and executed coordinated action in a natural setting. This method was selected on the basis that it affords the opportunity to capture contextual and social factors that influence the cognitive processes underlying skilled team performance. The key themes to emerge from the research were the importance of team members' long-term shared knowledge, moment-to-moment shared knowledge, and challenges to team coordination. The findings presented support the conceptualization of team coordination as a socio-cognitive construct. Furthermore, the results indicate that social properties of, and social processes within, a team impact the cognitive processes mediating coordination in teams. As such, the study demonstrates that the traditional focus on the cognitive processes of the individual, removed from context, might provide an incomplete explanation of the cognitive processes underlying skilled team performance. The findings have implications for current understanding of team coordination and for practitioners seeking to enhance the functioning of sports teams. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sport Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 19, 2012. / Cognitive Field Research, Communication, Soccer, Sport Teams, Team Cognition, Team coordination / Includes bibliographical references. / David W. Eccles, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Charness, University Representative; Robert C. Eklund, Committee Member; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183156 |
| Contributors | Tran, Katy B. (authoraut), Eccles, David W. (professor directing dissertation), Charness, Neil (university representative), Eklund, Robert C. (committee member), Tenenbaum, Gershon (committee member), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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