This study investigated two video presentation modes of simulated scenes for analyzing expert perception and decision making in sport. The external presentation mode is the broadcast point of view, whereas the internal point of view is from the athlete’s perspective. Groups of experienced and novice soccer players were required to make a forced-choice decision to pass or not to pass in response to various soccer game scenarios simulated in either the external or the internal presentation mode. In addition, we used the masked prime paradigm in order to examine which parts of the scenes play a critical role in the perception process. Target scenes were preceded by briefly presented masked primes formed by removing different elements from the target stimulus or by the full display of it. The results show faster decisions by experienced soccer players, faster and more accurate decisions to internal simulations, and priming effects on decision latencies. Prime type interacted with level of experience and situation.

The interpersonal dynamics of the parent/coach-child/athlete relationship were explored in the context of family change as this pertains to the athlete’s transition into and through adolescence. A single dyad participated in the study whose parent/ coach-child/athlete relationship commenced approximately at the onset of the athlete’s adolescence and experienced performance success during a period of seven years of partnership. Data were collected utilising two parallel interview schedules and analysed employing a combination of content and narrative analyses. The dyad described both the coach-athlete relationship and the parent-child relationship in positive terms. However, analysis revealed that the dyad experienced difficulties in co-ordinating their dual roles and expressed a sense of dislike toward each other’s behaviours. The child/athlete reported conflict more often than her parent/coach. The results of this study are discussed considering relevant theory and research on parent-child relationships during adolescence.

Based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) the effects of psychological interventions on exercise behaviour and TTM constructs were tested within 12-week exercise programmes for exercise adopters. A quasi-experimental study with pre-, post-test and follow-up was conducted. Participants were 113 sedentary adults (age range 27-63 years, mean = 46) most of whom were in contemplation or preparation stage at T1. A cognitive-affective and a behavioural exercise-enhancing intervention was derived from the TTM processes of change. Participants were enrolled in aerobic exercise groups which were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control group with no psychological intervention; three experimental conditions with either cognitive-affective, behavioural or both interventions. Dependent measures were assessed with standardised questionnaires at T1 before, T2 immediately after and T3 (follow-up) 12 weeks after the intervention, and included cognitive-affective and behavioural processes of change, action and coping self-efficacy, pros and cons. The TTM interventions did not have an impact on TTM constructs. However, TTM constructs changed in the expected way over time. We found an increase in the use of cognitive-affective processes, behavioural processes and a decrease in cons. Changes were also associated with stage transition. Progression into the action stage was linked with an increase in cognitive-affective and behavioural processes as well as action self-efficacy, whereas participants remaining in pre-action stages did not change in these aspects. Future studies should develop and evaluate further exercise enhancing interventions implemented into supervised exercise programmes. More true experiments with long-term follow-ups seem warranted.

The purpose of this study was to apply a programme of mentoring through reflection to elite setters of the Spanish National Volleyball team in an effort to analyse its influence on procedural knowledge, decision making and performance during competitive game play. The study sample was made up of two female setters from the national team. The programme was developed over eight reflective sessions, led by the team coach, in each of which four set actions of the games were analysed. The intervention touched on procedural knowledge and decision making of the setters, the coach establishing what aspects to focus on in the analysis. The results showed the feasibility of using this programme with elite players, and the complementarity of this activity with routine on-court training, an improvement being seen in all three variables considered in the study.

The main purpose of this work is to obtain a French validation of the Gotwals and al.’s (2003) Sport – State Self-Esteem Scale (S-SSES) which is a modified version of the State Self-Esteem Scale developed by Heatherton and Polivy (1991). Three studies were conducted with 336 subjects (183 men and 153 women; Mage = 24.93, SD = 3.94). All participants were engaged in competition in various sports (e.g., track and field, football, tennis,…). After constructing a preliminary version (Study 1), a confirmatory factor analysis using Lisrel 8.30, was conducted to demonstrate the good psychometric properties of the two correlated factors structure of the original instrument (called respectively “Perceived Athletic Competence” and “Satisfaction with Current Sport Performance”) (Study 2). Finally, the external validity of the new instrument called “Échelle de l’Estime de Soi Etat adaptée au Sport” (EESES) was tested. Firstly, one correlational analysis (Study 3) showed satisfactory correlations with other instruments (i.e., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale). The last study (Study 4) showed that state self-esteem was affected by the results of a competition. The “winning” athletes demonstrated an increasing score of their state self-esteem, while the state self-esteem score of the “losing” athletes decreased. In the three last studies, the global EESES and its two subscales showed satisfactory reliability. Taken as a whole, these results support an acceptable internal and external validity of the EESES that measure sport state self-esteem.