A shared mental model is when a group of people in a team understand what their teammates are going to do during a game or performance (Eccles & Tenenbaum, 2004). This helps them work together better. When someone works alone, they take whatever action they want (Eccles, 2010). However in a team, everyone needs to work together. To do that, they all need to know what the other people on the team are going to do. They can get this information from things they’ve talked about before the game or from planning and practicing together (this is sometimes called “prior shared knowledge”). They can also communicate during the game to make sure they’re all on the same page (Eccles & Tenenbaum, 2004). When they have a shared mental model, they can work together more effectively.
Eccles, D. W. (2010). The coordination of labour in sports teams. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3, 154170.
Eccles, D. W., & Tenenbaum, G. (2004). Why an expert team is more than a team of experts: A social-cognitive conceptu- alization of team coordination and communication in sport. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 26, 542560.
