The current study aimed to test the predictions of processing efficiency theory (PET) (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992) in an ecologically valid, team sport competition. Eighteen, elite female hockey players taking part in an international competition were categorised as either high or low trait anxious (HTA, LTA). Games were categorised as being either of high or low criticality, and players’ individual performance was assessed independently by two senior international coaches. Cognitive state anxiety, as indexed by the frequency of ‘performance worry’ cognitive intrusions, and subsequent mental effort expenditure were assessed using the Thought Occurrence Questionnaire for Sport (Hatzigeorgiadis & Biddle, 2000). While anxiety (p <.001) and effort (p <.001) were significantly greater in high criticality games, there was no significant change in performance (p >.05). As predicted by PET, performance was maintained at the expense of processing efficiency, and this effect was more marked in HTA individuals.

This study examined the effectiveness of two approaches for basketball instruction, the Invasion Games Competence Model (IGCM) and the Traditional Approach (TRAD) on the actual game performance of primary school children (10-11 yrs). Data were collected by means of video-analysis of 3 on 3 and 3 on 1 game play conditions. Actual game performance of two groups of 13 participants was assessed by coding cognitive decision-making (DM), motor skill execution efficiency (MSEfficiency), and motor skill execution efficacy (MSEfficacy). All three components improved in both groups, but the learning profile was different, with the IGCM group showing a major increase in game performance from pre-test to post-test, while the traditional group caught up at the retention test. Game performance was always better in the 3 on 1 condition compared to the 3 on 3 condition. This study shows the beneficial short-term effects of the IGCM instructional method on actual game performance.

Boys and girls of secondary school level aged 14 to 19 (N = 1214) who took part in sport and physical activity in addition to their compulsory physical education classes were asked to complete the Participation Motivation Inventory (PMI; Gill, Gross, & Huddleston, 1983), the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ; Duda & Nicholls, 1992), and the Perceived Physical Ability (PA) subscale of the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (PSES; Ryckman, Robbins, Thornton, & Cantrell, 1982). Factor analysis with varimax rotation of the PMI items produced seven motive structures similar to those obtained by Gill et al. (1983). Multivariate and univariate ANOVA techniques produced significant sport motive differences among four goal profiles resulting from a cluster analysis (moderate task-moderate ego, high task-high ego, low task-high ego, and high task-low ego) in youths. The high taskhigh ego group in general subscribed to both the intrinsic- and extrinsic-typed sport motives more strongly than the other groups and exhibited the strongest motive strengths. Sport motive differences varied as a function of PA, gender and participation level. However, the relationship between goal profiles and sport motives was not moderated by PA, gender or participation level. We conclude that it is the combination of task and ego orientations, rather than the level of PA, that is important for the adoption of participation motives in youth.

Using the mental chronometry paradigm we examined the effects of age on active and imagined durations of a walking task across 7 distances in three groups of older women (57 to 69 years, n = 13, M = 63.5; SD = 3.43; 70 to 79 years, n=10, M = 73.9; SD = 3.11; =80 years, n=12, M = 86.4; SD = 3.15) and 12 younger women aged 19 to 29 years (M = 23.0; SD = 3.5). Results showed almost identical durations for all shorter distances (7 to 19m) between 57- to 80-year-olds and students. Durations for active walking were on average of 45% longer in the old-old adults (80+), but this effect was not found in imagined walking. Age-related changes in the gait pattern seemed not to be reflected in the mental simulation especially in the old-old group. Further studies combining mental chronometry, testing of cognitive abilities and physical function should help elucidate the link between motor imagery and the integrity of neurocognitive networks in older adults.

The present study tests a limit of the voluntarily maintained bimanual coordination (180° of relative phase). In particular we emphasized a vanishing of the volitional influence as a function of time on task. The manipulation of oscillation frequency and trial duration was expected to increase the overall variability of the system because of a progressive depletion of the positive intentional influence. Eighteen participants, divided in three groups according to the performance duration (30 s, 150 s and 300 s), performed an anti-phase bimanual coordination pattern at three frequencies according to their own critical frequency. They were instructed to maintain a maximal level of intentional effort. The results revealed an increase in the number of cycles out of a local stationary solution (180°), indexing a decrease in coordination stability as a function of time and oscillation frequency. The data revealed a possible implication of trial duration in the HKB model (Haken, Kelso, & Bunz, 1985) and its extended “intentional” version (Schöner & Kelso, 1988).