Motor Proficiency Traits of Deaf Children

Abstract

This study examined the physical, psychological and perceptual/visual variables related to elite archers' shooting performance. Complete data on 62 variables were obtained on male (n = 44) and female (n = 35) archers, who were tested during the years 1982-1984. In order to reduce the number of variables, only those that correlated significantly with performance (r > .25, p < .005) were retained. This yielded seven variables. These variables were then combined into an overall hierarchical regression model. The overall model was significant (p <.001, adjusted R² = .53). This analysis indicated that relative leg strength, reaction time, depth perception, endomorphy, imagery usage, confidence, and focus on past mistakes were variables associated with archery performance. Finally, the total sample was classified into two groups on the basis of the shooting scores. Discriminant function analysis indicated that 81% of the archers were classified correctly on the basis of these significant predictors.     

The impact of a team's aggressive reputation on the decisions of association football referees

It has been suggested that individuals may use heuristic methods of reasoning and rely on schemata when a quick decision is necessary. Accordingly, it is possible that decisions made by sport officials may be influenced by prior knowledge they have about teams they are officiating. The aim of the present study was to determine whether sport officials are more likely to penalize individuals who participate in a team with an aggressive reputation. In a balanced design, 38 football referees were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group and were presented with the same 50 video clips of incidents from football games, all involving a team in a blue strip ('blue team'). The incidents were categorized before the study by five experienced referees into fouls committed both by, and against, the blue team, where all participants agreed that a foul had been committed (certain incidents), disagreed it was a foul (uncertain incidents) or agreed that there was no foul (innocuous incidents). Both groups received written instructions before the task; in addition, the experimental group was informed that the blue team present in all of the clips had a reputation for foul and aggressive play. For each incident, the participants were required to indicate what action they would engage in if refereeing the game. Although there was no difference in the number of decisions made, the experimental group awarded significantly more red and yellow cards against the blue team both overall and for the 'certain' incidents. It is suggested that prior knowledge may impact referees' behaviour in a laboratory setting, although future research should explore whether a similar effect is observed in the behaviour of referees during football matches.     

Choice of School at the First City Technology College

This paper reports some results of an interview and questionnaire study of pupils at the City Technology College, Kingshurst. It examines the school choice process and shows that the pupil's role in choosing a school is worthy of greater study. It is also shown that, in contrast to Department of Education and Science expectations, greater technological emphasis was not, in itself, the major reason why these children chose this City Technology College.     

Differential generalization of habituation across contexts as a function of stimulus significance

Orienting to one of two levels of stimulus significance (a distress squeal or a simulated mimic squeal) in female hooded rats was measured by suppression of ongoing drinking. Subsequent generalization tests with the same stimulus presented in different contexts showed that generalization of habituation across contexts was a function of stimulus significance: Habituation to the distress squeal was restricted to the context in which it first had been presented, whereas habituation to the mimic squeal generalized across the different contexts.