Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study

• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1017675
• Publication Date: 2023-01-18T12:30:55Z
• Authors: Lucy Albertella; Rebecca Kirkham; Amy B. Adler; John Crampton; Sean P. A. Drummond; Gerard J. Fogarty; James J. Gross; Leonard Zaichkowsky; Judith P. Andersen; Paul T. Bartone; Danny Boga; Jeffrey W. Bond; Tad T. Brunyé; Mark J. Campbell; Liliana G. Ciobanu; Scott R. Clark; Monique F. Crane; Arne Dietrich; Tracy J. Doty; James E. Driskell; Ivar Fahsing; Stephen M. Fiore; Rhona Flin; Joachim Funke; Justine M. Gatt; P. A. Hancock; Craig Harper; Andrew Heathcote; Kristin J. Heaton; Werner F. Helsen; Erika K. Hussey; Robin C. Jackson; Sangeet Khemlani; William D. S. Kil...; Sabina Kleitman; Andrew M. Lane; Shayne Loft; Clare MacMahon; Samuele M. Marcora; Frank P. McKenna; Carla Meijen; Vanessa Moulton; Gene M. Moyle; Eugene Nalivaiko; Donna O'Connor; Dorothea O’Conor; Debra Patton; Mark D. Piccolo; Coleman Ruiz; Linda Schücker; Ron A. Smith; Sarah J. R. Smith; Chava Sobrino; Melba Stetz; Damien Stewart; Paul Taylor; Andrew J. Tucker; Haike van Stralen; Joan N. Vickers; Troy A. W Visser; Rohan Walker; Mark W. Wiggins; Andrew Mark Williams; Leonard Wong; Eugene Aidman; Murat Yücel
• Keywords: Delphi Method; Delphi

Introduction The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport. Despite recognition that such performance depends on a range of cognitive factors, how common these factors are domains remains unclear. current study sought integrate existing knowledge in field form transdisciplinary expert consensus mechanisms underlie pressure. Methods International experts were recruited from four [(i) Defense; (ii) Competitive Sport; (iii) Civilian High-stakes; (iv) Performance Neuroscience]. Experts rated constructs Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework (and several expert-suggested constructs) successive rounds, until all reached for inclusion or eliminated. Finally, included ranked their relative importance. Results Sixty-eight completed Delphi round, with 94% retained by end process. following 10 panels (in order overall ranking): (1) Attention; (2) Cognitive Control—Performance Monitoring; (3) Arousal Regulatory Systems—Arousal; (4) Control—Goal Selection, Updating, Representation, Maintenance; (5) Control—Response Selection Inhibition/Suppression; (6) Working memory—Flexible Updating; (7) memory—Active (8) Perception Understanding Self—Self-knowledge; (9) memory—Interference Control, (10) Expert-suggested—Shifting. Discussion Our results identify set neuroscience-informed constructs, validated through consensus. This standardizing assessment informing mechanism-targeted interventions broader human optimization.