What Makes an Orienteer an Expert? A Case Study of a Highly Elite Orienteer's Concerns in the Course of Competition
Résumé
This article reports on a highly elite orienteer’s cognitive activity over the course of two international competitions. We characterise the orienteer’s concerns in relation to the problems raised during the competitions. The participant wore a head-mounted video camera throughout performance to enable the capture of an events record from the participant’s perspective. During a post-performance self-confrontation interview, the participant was played the video and asked to describe his activity in relation to the events observed. The interview data were then used to identify the orienteer’s concerns at each point in time during the races. These “local” concerns were then compared and subsequently classified to characterise the typical concerns of the participant. Results showed three typical concerns: (a) find the controls faster than the opponents; (b) optimise running pace throughout the race; and (c) reflect on actions undertaken during performance. Results suggest the performer used a range of knowledge-driven strategies that enhanced the efficiency of task performance, and flexibly switched between strategies and decision-options in the face of presented changes in the task status. He also engaged in various reflective processes concurrent with performance that augmented the use of these strategies. In conclusion, this study provides insight into the cognitive processes underlying expert performance in sports characterised by decision-making under complexity, uncertainty, and time pressure.
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