ABSTRACT
This chapter intends to forge an alliance between cognitive and sport psychology. It explains the terms cognition, cognitive psychology and cognitive science. The chapter examines the challenge which directs perception theory poses to cognitive accounts of motor skill learning. For many theorists, sport psychology is a branch of applied psychology which involves the application of the principles and findings of psychology to sport settings. The term cognitive science has become increasingly popular in recent years. Although this term has acquired many meanings, it can be defined most generally as an inter-disciplinary movement that is concerned with the study of human intelligence in all of its forms. This movement comprises cognitive psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, anthropology, linguistics and philosophy. It is clear that cognitive psychology has had a significant influence on many current propositions in sport psychology. But cognitive theory and research can also benefit from the study of certain topics in sport psychology.
