Dénouement

Abstract

This chapter consolidates the insights and wisdom in this book.

Appendix

We concluded our paragraph about the four-year old children resisting their urge to eat the Oreo cookies with, “The resisters had higher measures of executive functions in cognitive tasks and especially the ability to allocate their attention efficiently.” Let us now analyze that sentence.

The field of cognitive neuroscience proposes that executive functions reside in a particular area of the brain named the prefrontal cortex. The basic executive functions include cognitive processes such as impulse control, use of working memory, attention control, resistance to interference and cognitive flexibility.

The first two of these functions develop in early childhood. Impulse control, also known as response inhibition, is an executive function that permits people to inhibit their impulses in order to select behaviors that are more likely to satisfy their goals. Use of working memory is an executive function that holds and processes information for a short time.

The last three of these functions develop later in life. Attention control is an executive function that allows people to allocate their attention, to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore. Attention control can be described as a person’s ability to concentrate or focus. Resistance to interference is an executive function that allows people to shutout stimuli that are irrelevant to the task at hand or to the mind’s current state. Cognitive flexibility is an executive function that allows people to switch between thinking about two different concepts and perhaps to control multiple tasks concurrently.

Multiple basic executive functions create high-order executive functions, which include planning, scheduling, negotiating, tradeoff studies and problem solving.

The executive functions that are most important for baseball players are arguably impulse control, use of working memory, attention control, resistance to interference and planning.

My conjecture is that children who can control their impulses and concentrate on the task at hand will probably become better baseball and softball players because they have and will develop their executive functions more fully. This will allow them to be good at deciding when to do what. The following poem is analogous to the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, with apologies to Pete Seeger.

Verse

Verse There is a season for everything, a time for every action under heaven: a time for thinking, and a time for reacting; a time for planning, and a time for executing plans; a time for exercising, and a time for relaxing; a time for dreaming, and a time for studying; a time for chitchat, and a time for negotiation; a time for playing, and a time for practice; a time for cheers, and a time for tears.

• A time for thinking, and a time for reacting.

It takes exceptional concentration for a batter to track a pitch and predict the ball’s position at the time of the collision. The batter must shutout distractions. On the other hand, the swing of the bat is merely a reaction. It is an over-practiced reaction with little variability.

• A time for planning, and a time for executing plans.

Before each pitch, every fielder plans what he or she will do for every contingency. For instance, assume that the game is tied in the bottom of the sixth inning. There are no balls, no strikes and no outs. There are runners on first and third. Each fielder must formulate a plan. For example, on a deep flyball, an outfielder will throw the ball to the cutoff man (the second baseman or the short stop depending on where the ball was hit). On a lazy flyball, if the runner on third is tagging, the outfielder will throw to home plate through the cutoff man. On a shallow hit, if the runner on third is advancing, then the outfielder will throw to the catcher; if not, then the fielder must throw to second base. All of these plans must be in the fielder’s working memory before the pitch. Because, when the ball is hit, there is no time for thinking: there is only time for executing the plan.

• A time for exercising, and a time for relaxing.

Athletes must be in good physical shape. Regular planned exercise can help achieve this. However, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

• A time for dreaming, and a time for studying.

There is no time for daydreaming during a game. Whereas, between games, there is plenty of time for study; to study the opposition, to read books like this one and to learn about the world around us.

• A time for chitchat, and a time for negotiation.

Talking about personal lives helps players understand how their teammates will react during a game. It is important that outfielders, for example, know each other very well. On a line drive between them, one runs in and one runs out: this prevents broken bones. In contrast, most players will not talk with their agents during the season because they do not want the distraction.

• A time for playing, and a time for practice.

When you are playing a game, your brain must be totally engaged in the game. In Chap. 4, we quoted Dave Baldwin as saying that if you lose a game, don’t blame the umpire or your teammates; just go home and practice harder.

• A time for cheers, and a time for tears.

After every win, all players cheer. However, when a team is eliminated from the championship tournament, many players cry.