There are different types of cognitive content. Table 1 contains a list of commonly used categories of cognitive content. Unfortunately, there is no standardized, generally accepted system of categories for cognitive content. Most, like those found in Table 1, are redundant, incomplete, and lack validity. Nonetheless, the categories can be useful. The cognitive content of the baseball players described previously might be categorized as locus of control (“I’ll have to get lucky here), emotional stability (increased anxiety and tightening up), sport knowledge (pattern of pitches thrown in the game) and problem solving (estimate of types of pitches).
Table 1 - Example of categories of cognitive content
Knowledge
Computer science
Philosophy and religion
Social sciences
Languages
Science and mathematics
Technology and applied science
Arts and recreation
Literature
History and geography
Leadership and management skills
Strategic thinking
Innovation
Business acumen
Negotiating
Problem solving
Decision making
Time management
Oral and written communication
Social-cognitive personal attributes
Self-efficacy
Locus of control
Goal orientation
Goal setting
Self-monitoring
Trait-based personal attributes
Honesty
Emotional stability
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Self-confidence
Intellectual skills
Reading comprehension
Verbal ability
Spatial reasoning
Inductive and deductive reasoning
In summary, peak performers are good at defining the drivers or causes of success. That is, they understand and identify two things, (1) the tasks and sub-tasks that must be performed expertly to achieve peak performance and (2) the cognitive content required to perform the tasks and sub-tasks successfully. While their understanding may be imperfect they achieve a sufficiently comprehensive and accurate understanding of task and cognitive analysis to enable them to proceed successfully to the next step in achieving peak performance.
For most peak performers, the drivers of success that guide their actions is tacit knowledge, that is, it is difficult or impossible to share. However, thanks to the efforts of psychologists in the past fifteen years, progress has been made in understanding and identifying the causes of success and the process to discover it – task and cognitive analysis. It is now possible to make explicit and to measure and teach what has in the past been largely implicit, unmeasured-able, and unteachable.
A New Understanding of Peak Performance Part 3
A task and cognitive analysis are performed by first identifying the critical tasks and then the cognitive requirements needed to achieve peak performance on the critical tasks. A task analysis identifies which specific tasks need to be performed and a cognitive analysis identifies what specific actions, knowledge, skills, thoughts, and images a person must possess to perform at peak levels. In other words, the task analysis analyzes the performance requirements and the cognitive analysis analyzes the person.
The tasks are easier to identify than the cognitive requirements because they are observable. For example, the tasks a baseball player must perform expertly include hitting, fielding, throwing, pitching, and running the bases, to name a few. The tasks a computer programmer must perform expertly include defining user requirements, writing technical specifications, writing code, performing software tests on the code, etc. Tasks are usually defined at a more granular or detailed level than these examples. Achieving very high levels of peak performance requires defining tasks at a very granular level in order to measure, practice, and master very specific tasks and sub-tasks and their associated cognitive content requirements. However, for many endeavors, identification of the tasks and cognitive requirements at even a moderately granular level and using that information for measuring, teaching, and coaching results in significant improvements in performance.
As stated previously, cognitive analysis is more challenging than task analysis. Cognitive analysis requires the researcher to get “inside the head” of the peak performer and understand the specific knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions that differentiate the peak performer from the non- peak performer during the execution of each of the critical tasks identified by the task analysis. While this seems daunting, it may be comforting to know that (1) some of these cognitive requirements are obvious, for example, a tax accountant must know the tax code, (2) significant improvement in performance can be achieved without identifying, measuring, and coaching every last one of the behaviors, knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions for every task and sub-task, and (3) many of the behaviors, knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions required for one task are required for other tasks as well.
For example, when a baseball player comes to bat with a runner on second base and no outs, a “non- peak performer” in this situation might have thoughts such as, “I have to get a hit” or “the umpire has been making bad calls today, I’ll have to get lucky here” or some other thought that interferes with concentration on the process of getting a hit. The “non- peak performer” might picture his teammate striking out earlier in the game on a bad call by the umpire. As a result of these thoughts and images, the non- peak performer’s anxiety will increase making him tighten up and less likely to perform well. A peak performer focuses on the process of hitting (tasks and sub-tasks and facilitating cognitive content) in this situation. A peak performer knows he doesn’t have to get a hit. He knows that hitting the ball to the right side of the in-field will advance the runner, so he focuses his thoughts on that objective. He knows the pitcher’s strengths and pattern of pitches during the game (e.g., curve balls on the outer edge of the plate). He makes a good estimate of what types of pitches he’ll get and how to hit these pitches to the right side of the in-field. He recalls images of himself successfully hitting curve balls that are on the outside edge of the plate to the right side of the in-field. He takes a relaxing deep breath and confidently steps to the plate.
The cognitive analysis captures the content of a person’s thinking – their self-talk, their stream of consciousness – while they are performing critical tasks. The cognitive content for the critical tasks comprises a very important part of the mental skills of success.
The tasks are easier to identify than the cognitive requirements because they are observable. For example, the tasks a baseball player must perform expertly include hitting, fielding, throwing, pitching, and running the bases, to name a few. The tasks a computer programmer must perform expertly include defining user requirements, writing technical specifications, writing code, performing software tests on the code, etc. Tasks are usually defined at a more granular or detailed level than these examples. Achieving very high levels of peak performance requires defining tasks at a very granular level in order to measure, practice, and master very specific tasks and sub-tasks and their associated cognitive content requirements. However, for many endeavors, identification of the tasks and cognitive requirements at even a moderately granular level and using that information for measuring, teaching, and coaching results in significant improvements in performance.
As stated previously, cognitive analysis is more challenging than task analysis. Cognitive analysis requires the researcher to get “inside the head” of the peak performer and understand the specific knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions that differentiate the peak performer from the non- peak performer during the execution of each of the critical tasks identified by the task analysis. While this seems daunting, it may be comforting to know that (1) some of these cognitive requirements are obvious, for example, a tax accountant must know the tax code, (2) significant improvement in performance can be achieved without identifying, measuring, and coaching every last one of the behaviors, knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions for every task and sub-task, and (3) many of the behaviors, knowledge, skills, thoughts, images, and emotions required for one task are required for other tasks as well.
For example, when a baseball player comes to bat with a runner on second base and no outs, a “non- peak performer” in this situation might have thoughts such as, “I have to get a hit” or “the umpire has been making bad calls today, I’ll have to get lucky here” or some other thought that interferes with concentration on the process of getting a hit. The “non- peak performer” might picture his teammate striking out earlier in the game on a bad call by the umpire. As a result of these thoughts and images, the non- peak performer’s anxiety will increase making him tighten up and less likely to perform well. A peak performer focuses on the process of hitting (tasks and sub-tasks and facilitating cognitive content) in this situation. A peak performer knows he doesn’t have to get a hit. He knows that hitting the ball to the right side of the in-field will advance the runner, so he focuses his thoughts on that objective. He knows the pitcher’s strengths and pattern of pitches during the game (e.g., curve balls on the outer edge of the plate). He makes a good estimate of what types of pitches he’ll get and how to hit these pitches to the right side of the in-field. He recalls images of himself successfully hitting curve balls that are on the outside edge of the plate to the right side of the in-field. He takes a relaxing deep breath and confidently steps to the plate.
The cognitive analysis captures the content of a person’s thinking – their self-talk, their stream of consciousness – while they are performing critical tasks. The cognitive content for the critical tasks comprises a very important part of the mental skills of success.
A New Understanding of Peak Performance
Too often when we observe peak performers we are so impressed by their accomplishments that we attribute their performance to special innate abilities and talents. For many years psychological researchers thought this way too. But today many psychologists have a different view. They hold that peak performance is very little or not at all attributable to innate abilities and talents. They hold the view that, while not everyone can become a Michael Jordan, Johnny Depp, or Mariah Carey, nearly everyone can improve their performance substantially – many can perform at peak levels – if they understand and follow the actions that lead to peak performance.
Four Steps of Peak Performance
There are several sets of findings in psychology that, when taken together, provide guidelines to understand peak performance and the mental skills needed for success and how to describe, measure, and teach these mental skills of peak performance. These actions can be summarized into four steps which are (1) task and cognitive analysis, (2) measurement and on-going feedback, (3) goal setting, and (4) coaching and practice.
1. Task and cognitive analysis
Researchers have carefully observed, interviewed, and analyzed peak performers while they practice and perform at peak levels. The actions peak performers take, the knowledge and skills they possess, the thoughts and images they hold about themselves and the specific situations in which they perform, and the emotions they experience differ from those found among non-peak performers. In short, peak and non-peak performers differ with regard to their behaviors (knowledge and skills), images, thoughts, and emotions – their BITEs. These BITE differences between peak and non-peak performers reflect mental skills differences. The mental skills of success, once understood, form the basis for measurement, coaching, and teaching. The identification of the mental skills of success is accomplished through a process called task and cognitive analysis.
Four Steps of Peak Performance
There are several sets of findings in psychology that, when taken together, provide guidelines to understand peak performance and the mental skills needed for success and how to describe, measure, and teach these mental skills of peak performance. These actions can be summarized into four steps which are (1) task and cognitive analysis, (2) measurement and on-going feedback, (3) goal setting, and (4) coaching and practice.
1. Task and cognitive analysis
Researchers have carefully observed, interviewed, and analyzed peak performers while they practice and perform at peak levels. The actions peak performers take, the knowledge and skills they possess, the thoughts and images they hold about themselves and the specific situations in which they perform, and the emotions they experience differ from those found among non-peak performers. In short, peak and non-peak performers differ with regard to their behaviors (knowledge and skills), images, thoughts, and emotions – their BITEs. These BITE differences between peak and non-peak performers reflect mental skills differences. The mental skills of success, once understood, form the basis for measurement, coaching, and teaching. The identification of the mental skills of success is accomplished through a process called task and cognitive analysis.
Peak Performance
A New Understanding of Peak Performance
This is the first of a multi-part series on peak performance. Watch for the upcoming parts during the next month.
The definition of peak performance cannot be found in the dictionary or in an encyclopedia or in wikipedia. But we all know that it means winning consistently, regularly performing better than all or most of the others, setting records, and being ranked as one of the top performers. We’ve all watched people like Michael Jordan play basketball, Johnny Depp act, or Mariah Carey sing consistently at peak performance levels. However, defining peak performance in terms of outstanding performances results is a definition that focuses on outcomes. These performances are the result of a series of actions that peak performers follow and carefully planned practice that creates the outstanding outcomes. The results – the sunk basketball shot, the line delivered perfectly, the high note held impossibly long - don’t explain anything about how peak performance is achieved. In order to be useful for measuring, teaching, and coaching, we need a much deeper understanding of peak performance that explains the series of actions that lead to achieving peak performance – what peak performers do, think, and practice - to perform consistently at peak levels.
This is the first of a multi-part series on peak performance. Watch for the upcoming parts during the next month.
The definition of peak performance cannot be found in the dictionary or in an encyclopedia or in wikipedia. But we all know that it means winning consistently, regularly performing better than all or most of the others, setting records, and being ranked as one of the top performers. We’ve all watched people like Michael Jordan play basketball, Johnny Depp act, or Mariah Carey sing consistently at peak performance levels. However, defining peak performance in terms of outstanding performances results is a definition that focuses on outcomes. These performances are the result of a series of actions that peak performers follow and carefully planned practice that creates the outstanding outcomes. The results – the sunk basketball shot, the line delivered perfectly, the high note held impossibly long - don’t explain anything about how peak performance is achieved. In order to be useful for measuring, teaching, and coaching, we need a much deeper understanding of peak performance that explains the series of actions that lead to achieving peak performance – what peak performers do, think, and practice - to perform consistently at peak levels.
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