Accountability—try fishing!

STOPPING OUT by Judi R. Kesselman. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc., 1976. viii + 218 pp. Appendix, bibliography, index. $8.95.

LIBRARIES FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW by Virginia H. Mathews. Garden City, New York: Doubleday &; Company, Inc., 1976. xii + 228 pp. $3.95.

EVALUATION AND REFORM: THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965/Title 1 by Milbery Wallin McLaughlin. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger Publishing Co., 1975. xiii + 139 pp. $7.95.

ADVENTURE, MYSTERY, AND ROMANCE by John G. Cawelti. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976. viii + 336 pp. $15.00     

ADULTHOOD AND REMINISCENCE: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Although reminiscence is a behavior common to all ages, research to date has been conducted only with older adults. This study sought to explore the phenomenon with adults of various ages with the anticipation that comparative information would lead to a better conceptualization of the behavior and its functions. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference in what adults reminisced about, why they reminisced, or how they reminisced with respect to age, sex, education, or socioeconomic status. A sample of 309 adults ranging in age from 18 to 90 were asked to complete a survey exploring various aspects of reminiscence. Analysis of variance and chi‐square were used to assess differences in reminiscent behavior across age, sex, education, and social class. There were no systematic differences with regard to education or social class. On several dimensions sex emerged as a more important variable than age, suggesting that age may not be as important a consideration in simple reminiscence as has been previously assumed.     

An early review of stroboscopic visual training: insights,challenges and accomplishments to guide future studies

ABSTRACT

Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) is a form of training in which an individual practices a task under intermittent visual conditions with the intention of enhancing subsequent performance under normal visual conditions. Training with stroboscopic devices is theorized to improve important visual, perceptual, and cognitive skills, which in turn transfers to enhanced sporting performance. Indeed, while there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence suggesting benefits of strobe training, empirical evidence is rarer and less conclusive. This lack of clarity is due, in part, to the challenging methodological issues faced when conducting experimental vision training studies in applied contexts. The present paper is an early review of the research to date with a focus on the key methodological decisions, such as the training and testing protocols employed, participant samples and control groups used, and practical considerations that enable such training in applied settings. Whilst still at an early stage, the existing studies point to SVT enhancing some aspects of foveal visual sensitivity and visual motor control, with notable benefits for some athletic tasks. Such improvements could have implications not just in sport, but in domains such as rehabilitation, education, and motor vehicle safety.     

The biomechanical effect of warm-up stretching strategies on landing mechanics in female volleyball athletes

ABSTRACT

Female volleyball athletes incorporate dynamic and static stretching into a warm-up, with evidence generally supporting dynamic stretching to improve performance. However, the effects of these stretching practices on injury risk during subsequent volleyball manoeuvres have yet to be fully elucidated in the warm-up literature. Three-dimensional kinematic data associated with non-contact, lower extremity injury were recorded on 12 female collegiate club volleyball athletes during unilateral landing tasks on the dominant and non-dominant limb. Participants performed landings as part of a volleyball-simulated manoeuvre prior to and post-dynamic (DWU) and combined dynamic-static (CDS) warm-ups. A significant reduction in non-dominant hip adduction angle was found at 15 min post CDS warm-up (p = 0.016; d = 0.38), however, no other warm-up differences were detected. The non-dominant limb demonstrated greater knee abduction (p = 0.006; d = 0.69) and internal rotation angle (p = 0.004; d = 0.88), suggesting that this limb demonstrates more risky landing patterns that are potentially due to altered trunk positioning upon landing. The results show that the majority of selected landing kinematics are unaffected by additional static stretching to a dynamic warm-up and that the non-dominant limb may be at a higher injury risk in female volleyball athletes.