Jörg Schorer *, Rouwen Cañal-Bruland ** and Steve Cobley ***
(*) Department of Sport Psychology, University of Münster, Germany
(**) Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(***) Carnegie Faculty of Sport & Education, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
In motor learning the examination of knowledge of results frequency is a well studied subject. However, to our best knowledge, no video-based perceptual training study has tested the influence of knowledge of results frequency on learning and long-term retention. Therefore, in this study we examined the influence of four knowledge of result frequency schedules on perceptual learning and retention in an anticipation task in Handball. Results did not reveal a significant interaction between learning or retention and knowledge of result conditions. However, even after a 7 month retention interval, participants showed better performances than in pre-test conditions. Based on our results we conclude that concurrent visual information cues seems more important than knowledge of results in perceptual learning of the handball task. To test this assumption in the future spatial and temporal occlusion paradigms are proposed.
Keywords: Anticipation, Feedback, Handball, Perceptual learning, Retention
Olaf Binsch *, Raôul R. D. Oudejans *, Frank C. Bakker *, Marco J. M. Hoozemans */** and Geert J. P. Savelsbergh */**
(*) Research institute MOVE, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(**) Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Bakker et al. (2006) showed that following a negative instruction not to shoot near the keeper in a penalty shooting task, gaze and shots were ironically more often directed to the keeper. Here we examined whether the negative formulation in the instruction (“not”) or mentioning the to-be-avoided area (“keeper”) was responsible for ironic effects. Thirty-two male football players performed an indoor penalty-kick task following negatively (not-keeper) and positively (pass-keeper) worded instructions. There was no significant difference between instructions concerning the number of participants who showed ironic effects. Furthermore, regression analyses showed that both instructions affected shooting distance from the keeper to a similar degree and that duration of fixations on the keeper mediated the ironic relationships between both the negative and the positive instructions and performance (ps < .01). It is concluded that in the perceptual-motor domainmentioning what should be avoided and not necessarily the negative wording is responsible for ironic effects and that these effects are mediated by gaze behavior.
Keywords: Football, Gaze behavior, Mediation, Negative instruction, Positive instruction
Yael Netz
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Israel
Based on the energetics theory, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether changes in feeling states reflecting energetic resources mediate the facilitative effect of acute exercise on cognitive flexibility. Participants (N = 58, age 50-64) were randomly assigned to moderate exercise (60% of heart rate reserve), moderately-intense exercise (70%of heart rate reserve), and a movie-watching control group after performing a maximal exercise test. Cognitive flexibility and feeling states were assessed individually immediately before and after one session. Enhancement of feeling states as well as of cognitive flexibility was found in both exercise groups; however, the enhanced feelings were disassociated from the improvement in cognitive flexibility. The difficulties in assessing hypothetical constructs such as arousal and fatigue were pointed out. Assuming that the positive immediate effects of acute exercise may serve as a catalyst for adhering to a continuous exercise routine, it was recommended to further explore the link between cognition and energy resources following acute exercise.
Keywords: Avanced age, Arousal, Cognition enhancement, Energetics theory, Single bout of exercise
Joseph Baker */**, Stephen Cobley **, William J. Montelpare ***, Nick Wattie **, Brent E. Faught **** and The Ontario Hockey Research Group *****
(*) Lifespan Health and Performance Laboratory, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Canada
(**) Carnegie Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK
(***) School of Kinesiology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada
(****) Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
(*****) The Ontario Hockey Research Group
One consistently reported influence on athlete development is relative age (i.e., one’s age compared to others in a cohort). Relative age effects are grounded in the notion that sport selection systems choose athletes based on maturational characteristics and that once chosen, these athletes are placed in superior developmental environments. The purpose of this study was to confirm a relative age effect in a sample of 211 representative male ice-hockey players and determine whether participants in the different age quartiles were distinguishable by two factors thought to be responsible for perpetuating relative age effects in sport: their level of physical maturation (reflected by height and weight values) and/or in-game exposure (as reflected by actual playing time measured at a representative sample of games). Results indicated that a significantly greater proportion of players were selected from early in the year but, there was little variability among participants for the other dependent variables. These results suggest that elite youth sport coaches may select athletes who do not differ in body type and that once selected for the elite representative team athletes have comparable experiences.
Keywords: Development, Talent identification, Youth sport
Wim Van Lier */**, John Van Der Kamp */*** and Geert J.p. Savelsbergh */**/****
(*) Research Institute Move, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(**) Academy for Physical Education, University of Professional Education, Amsterdam
(***) Institute of Human Performance, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
(****) Research Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
We introduced a sideward slope to the putting surface (i.e., 0 %, 1% and 2% slopes) to examine the effects of task complexity on visual search behaviour during golf putting. Seventeen high-skilled golf players were divided into two groups on the basis of their overall putting performance. Slope did not affect the number of holed putts, but it did significantly influence the type of miss. A significantly higher proportion of balls were missed at the low side than at the high side of the hole, the effect being more pronounced for the group of less successful participants. With respect to gaze, it was found that increasing the steepness of the slope resulted in more fixations to the high side of the hole. Furthermore, the participants also spent less time viewing the ball for the steeper slopes. The final fixation durations were not affected by steepness of slope. It is argued that in dealing with a sloped green, the prime adjustment in gaze is in the spatial domain rather than in the temporal domain.
Keywords: Action, Gaze, Golf putting, Task complexity, Slope, Visual search
Peter R E Crocker and Lina Augaitis
School of Human Kinetics,University of British Columbia, Canada
This study examined the predictive validity and gender differences in the Sport Commitment Model (SCM; Scanlan, Carpenter, Schmidt et al., 1993 ) in adult triathletes. Age class triathletes (females, n = 75; males =69; ages 19-72) completed a questionnaire assessing the model (sport commitment, personal investment, involvement alternatives, involvement opportunities, social constraints, social support and enjoyment). Both social constraints and enjoyment variables had poor measurement properties (lack of variance) and were dropped from the analysis. Hierarchical moderator regression indicated that involvement opportunities, personal investment, and attractive alternatives were significant predictors in the SCM (R2 = .56). There was no evidence that gender moderated any of the relationships between predictors and sport commitment. The finding indicates the SCM is applicable to adult age class triathletes populations, although antecedent variables need careful conceptual and empirical clarification. The findings are discussed in terms of measurement and conceptual issues related to constructs in the model.
Keywords: Athletes, Measurement issue, Motivation, sport participation
Makoto Yamaguchi
University of Tokyo, Japan
In 2007 a very surprising report appeared. Nelson and Simmons reported that peoples’ initials negatively affect their various performances. As their first data set is publicly available, reanalysis was conducted. Their first data set was Major League Baseball statistics. They claimed that players with the 1st or last initial K (which means strikeout) strike out more than those with other initials. Their data included 6397 players in total, and the difference was statistically highly significant (p = .002). Their results were also reported on popular media. However, some researchers may be skeptical about it, and laypeople also expressed skepticism. Inconceivable as it sounds, however, given its very small p value, one should not deny it outright. The first thing that comes to the mind of researchers is the problem of multiple comparisons. There are dozens of baseball statistics, and strikeout is only one of them. But many of them, like HR (homeruns), are not a single letter, so only several major statistics remain, such as H (hits), E (errors), and W (win). Even considering unreported multiple comparisons, the small p value remains mysterious.
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