Intelligence,general knowledge and personality as predictors of creativity

This study sought to examine the contribution of fluid intelligence, general knowledge and Big Five personality traits in predicting four indices of creativity: Divergent Thinking (DT) fluency, Rated DT, Creative Achievement and Self-Rated creativity and a combined Total Creativity variable. When creativity was assessed by DT test, the consistent predictor was fluid intelligence. When creativity was assessed in terms of achievement or self-rating, personality variables were consistently predictive.     

Proofreading as an index of crystallised intelligence

This paper reports on four studies that were all concerned with cognitive and non‐cognitive correlates of proofreading (PR) ability. A new, five‐minute PR test was devised and piloted. In the first pilot study (N = 191) it was correlated with a verbal reasoning test. In the second study (N = 103) PR scores were regressed onto measures of personality: approach to learning, general and fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning) as well as a test of general knowledge. All three cognitive ability measures were significant predictors of PR but when entered together, general knowledge alone remained significant and accounted for a third of the variance. The third study (N = 95) was similar, except it also included a measure of typical intellectual engagement. Fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning) and openness were the only significant predictors of PR. In the fourth study (N = 249) participants completed four tests: PR, fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning), vocabulary and spelling. PR was consistently correlated with verbal reasoning but more strongly correlated with measures of crystallised intelligence, namely general knowledge and vocabulary. Implications and limitations are considered.     

Sex,sport and money: voice,choice and distributive justice in England,Scotland and Wales

The three British Sports Councils are instrumental in developing the policy landscape for sport and physical education (PE). They aspire to equality between the sexes in ‘sport and physical recreation’ (SPR), in keeping with their Royal Charters [Sport England. (1996/2009). Royal Charter of English Sports Council (Sport England). Retrieved from https://www.sportengland.org/media/10309/consolidated-royal-charter.pdf; Sport Scotland. (1996). The Royal Charter for the Scottish Sports Council. Retrieved from http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/sportscotland/Documents/Resources/sportscotlandRoyalCharter.pdf; Sport Wales. (1997). The Royal Charter of the Sports Council for Wales. Retrieved from http://sport.wales/media/128780/royal%20charter.doc] and the Equality Act [HM Government. (2010). Equality Act 2010. London: TSO. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/pdfs/ukpga_20100015_en.pdf]. As public bodies they are committed to eliminating direct and indirect discrimination in provision, and advancing equality. One of their main functions is the distribution of public money, and all collect participation data detailing the different SPR choices of the sexes. These are primary planning tools in the three home countries. This paper investigates whether equality in relation to sex is considered a ‘first-order’ question of distributive justice for the Councils. Therefore, the funding awarded to the top SPR preferences by sex for each Country is presented. Defining SPR determines eligibility for funding and the boundaries of the SPR infrastructure which influences and interfaces with sport, school sport and PE. Consequently, critical feminist political and economic theory is used to evaluate the Councils’ framing of SPR and equality in relation to sex. Male preferences are disproportionately grant-aided leaving those of females significantly under-funded. Although the remit of the Councils is ‘sport and physical recreation’ this is usually reframed by them as ‘sport’. Equality is generally considered a second-order question of justice, and outsourced to national governing bodies of sport. Further dance, one of the most popular female SPR activities for girls, has not, until 2016, been designated as SPR in England and has been ineligible for funding. These policies suggest indirect discrimination against women and girls who disproportionately prefer physical recreation and dance to competitive sport. Therefore, the Sports Councils and/or overarching government departments may not be fulfilling their legal requirements under the Equality Act.     

Book reviews

Clinical sports medicine, Robert C. Cantu, (ed.), The Collamore Press, Lexington, Massachusetts, Toronto, 1984. 219 pp, £19.95 (hb), ISBN 0 669 06842 X

Sports injuries, a self‐help guide, Vivian Grisogono, John Murray Ltd, London, 1984. 293 pp, £7.95 (hb), ISBN 0 7195 4111 5

Athletes’ guide to mental training, Robert N. Nideffer, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois (distributed in the UK by Eddington Hook & Co.) 1985. vii +156 pp, $9.95 (pb), ISBN 0 931250 96 X

Scientific foundations of coaching, R.R. Pate, B. McClenaghan and R. Rotella, Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, 1984. xii + 344 pp, £21.95(hb), ISBN 0 03 057961 9

Mathematics in sport, M. Stewart Townend, Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1984. 202 pp (hb), ISBN 0 85312 717 4

Frontiers of exercise biology, ’Big Ten Body of Knowledge’ symposium series, Vol. 13 K.T. Borer, D.W. Edington and T.P. White (eds), Human Kinetics Publishers Inc., Champaign, Illinois, (distributed in the UK by Edington Hook & Co.), 1983. vii + 295 pp, $31.95(hb), ISBN 0 931250 49 8

The knee, Philippe Segal and Marcel Jacob, Wolfe Medical Publications, Frome, Somerset, 1984. 143 pp (hb), £15, ISBN 2 224 00887 2

Psychological foundations of sport, J.M. Silva and R.S. Weinberg (eds), Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, (distributed in the UK by Eddington Hook & Co), 1984. xxiv + 528 pp, £22.50 (hb), ISBN 0 93 1250 59 5

Physical activity and the social sciences, W. Neil Widmeyer, Mouvement Publications Inc., Ithaca, 1983. 472 pp, £9.00 (pb), ISBN 0 932392 13 X     

A three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the long jump take-off

The long jump has been widely studied in recent years. Two models exist in the literature which define the relationship between selected variables that affect performance. Both models suggest that the critical phase of the long jump event is the touch-down to take-off phase, as it is in this phase that the necessary vertical velocity is generated. Many three dimensional studies of the long jump exist, but the only studies to have reported detailed data on this phase were two-dimensional in nature. In these, the poor relationships obtained between key variables and performance led to the suggestion that there may be some relevant information in data in the third dimension. The aims of this study were to conduct a three-dimensional analysis of the touch-down to take-off phase in the long jump and to explore the interrelationships between key variables. Fourteen male long jumpers were filmed using three-dimensional methods during the finals of the 1994 (n = 8) and 1995 (n = 6) UK National Championships. Various key variables for the long jump were used in a series of correlational and multiple regression analyses. The relationships between key variables when correlated directly one-to-one were generally poor. However, when analysed using a multiple regression approach, a series of variables was identified which supported the general principles outlined in the two models. These variables could be interpreted in terms of speed, technique and strength. We concluded that in the long jump, variables that are important to performance are interdependent and can only be identified by using appropriate statistical techniques. This has implications for a better understanding of the long jump event and it is likely that this finding can be generalized to other technical sports skills.     

The influence of Cardan rotation sequence on angular orientation data for the lower limb in the soccer kick

Abstract

The influence of the Cardan rotation sequence on the orientation angles for joints is well known but has not been explored for dynamic sports movements. The purpose of this study is to establish the influence of Cardan rotation sequence on the orientation angles of the ankle, knee, and hip of the support leg and pelvis during dynamic sports movements, typified by a maximal instep kick in soccer. We found that: (a) the X (flexion/extension) axis rotations provide data that are robust for any sequence used other than the YXZ sequence, although the Y (abduction/adduction) and Z (internal/external) axes rotations are variable in both shape and offset magnitude; (b) the preferred rotation sequence is either XYZ or XZY for dynamic sports movements, although for the soccer kick the XYZ rotation sequence has been widely used and so this is recommended as a standard; and (c) most uncertainties exist in the Y and Z axes and are most apparent at the beginning of the movement. Where uncertainty exists in identifying Y and Z axes orientations, the integrated angular velocity may be considered as an alternative to determine the relative changes in segment orientation.     

Implicit Association Tests of Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities

The authors assessed 3 of the currently available implicit association tests designed to measure attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The Revised Multiple Disability Implicit Association Test, the Implicit Association Test for Attitudes Toward Athletes With Disabilities, and the Disability Attitude Implicit Association Test were related to each other, demonstrating some consistency in measurement. They were mostly unrelated, however, to more traditional, explicit measures of attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, although the implicit association tests were not related to socially desirable responding, the most psychometrically sound explicit measure (The Interaction With Disabled Persons Scale) was related to socially desirable responding.     

Practising leadership in newly multi-ethnic schools: tensions in the field?

This paper explores the leadership practices of three principals following a period of intensive immigration in Ireland. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, it conceptualises schools as structured social spaces and of their leadership work as a form of practising. This practising is an outcome of the intersection between deeply embedded subjectivities operating in diverse fields of action that shape, constrain and transform each principal’s practices. Presenting an analytical model that highlights the circular and capillary-like dimension to such practising, the paper explores how principals’ recognition of immigrant children (their recognitive practices) as well as investment in supporting their learning (distributive practices) are shaped by the logics of practice across different fields, as well as by their own evolving habitus and struggle to be authentic in a period of rapid social change. Practising effective leadership in newly multi-ethnic schools must be conceived as layered and multiple but must be underpinned by an ethic of justice, if the minoritised status of ‘ethnic’ others is to be challenged and overcome.