Utilizing the ImPACT Test to Predict Performance in College Baseball Hitters

• Main Author: Nussbaum, Ryan
• Other Authors: Glisky, Elizabeth
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/297717

The ImPACT test represents one of the main tools used by clinicians to assess the presence and severity of a student athlete's concussion (ImPACT Applications, Inc., 2011). Although past research has verified the utility of the ImPACT test for assessing cognitive status after concussion, no research has examined the ImPACT test's potential for predicting athletic performance in non-concussed athletes (ImPACT Applications, Inc., 2011). This study investigated whether particular composite scores on the ImPACT test can predict athletic performance. The composite scores on the ImPACT test include Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, and Impulse Control. Previous literature showed that broad cognitive domains such as impulse control correlated with athletic performance (Kida & Matsumura, 2005). University of Arizona baseball players' freshman ImPACT test scores were correlated with their freshman year batting statistics, including batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, strikeouts, and walks. The results showed no significant association between measures from the ImPACT test and the batting statistics. Therefore, the study suggests that the ImPACT test may possess no predictive ability for athletic performance in a non-concussed population.