RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GENERAL ATTENTION AND MEMORY MEASURES AND ORIENTEERING-SPECIFIC COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN COMPETITIVE ORIENTEERS

Ivan Sirakov

Abstract


Cognitive abilities play an important role in orienteering, where athletes must interpret complex map information, select appropriate routes, and retain navigationally relevant features. However, the extent to which general cognitive abilities are associated with orienteering-specific performance remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between general attention and memory measures and orienteering-specific cognitive performance in competitive orienteers. The study included 60 adult orienteers aged 18–35 years (39 men and 21 women). Five general cognitive measures were assessed using the Bourdon Figure and Digit Tests, Intertwined Lines Test, Attention Span Test, and Ten-Word Memory Test. Orienteering-specific performance was evaluated through two map-based tasks assessing route-choice decision time and quality, as well as map-viewing time and route-memory accuracy. Spearman's rank-order correlations were calculated, with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction applied to 20 primary comparisons. The results revealed predominantly weak associations between general cognitive measures and orienteering-specific outcomes. Two correlations reached the unadjusted significance threshold: verbal memory and route-choice decision time (ρ = .281, p = .030), and figure-based attention and route-choice quality (ρ = −.256, p = .048). However, neither remained statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Exploratory analyses identified modest associations between decision time and route-choice quality (ρ = .286, p = .027), and between map-viewing time and route-memory accuracy (ρ = .344, p = .007). These findings suggest that general attention and memory measures do not consistently correspond to the selected orienteering-specific cognitive outcomes, highlighting the potential value of sport-specific assessments in evaluating navigational cognitive performance.

Keywords


orienteering; cognitive performance; attention; memory; route choice; navigational decision-making

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v13i7.7074

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