From Spirit-Murdering to Spirit-Healing: Addressing Anti-Black Aggressions and the Inhumane Discipline of Black Children

School is a hyperviolent space for Black students and in particular for Black girls. Black girls continue to be adultified, criminalized, and spirit-murdered by educators who enact racially discriminatory school disciplinary policies. Using literature from racial microaggressions and antiblackness, we introduce a model that we refer to as “antiblack aggressions” to examine the disciplinary experiences of two Black girls who were at the center of a violent assault by a White male School Resource Officer at Spring Valley High School. We provide an analysis of South Carolina's Disturbing Schools Law, and we discuss how an antiblack aggressions model can challenge traditional notions of peace, law, and justice for Black girls in school.     

Do the physical and environment PETTLEP elements predict sport imagery ability?

The present study aimed to examine whether physical and environment elements of PETTLEP imagery relate to the ability to image five types of sport imagery (i.e. skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery). Two hundred and ninety participants (152 males, 148 females; M_age?=?20.24 years, SD?=?4.36) from various sports completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and a set of items designed specifically for the study to assess how frequently participants incorporate physical (e.g. ‘I make small movements or gestures during the imagery’) and environment (e.g. ‘I image in the real training/competition environment’) elements of PETTLEP imagery. Structural equation modelling tested a hypothesised model in which imagery priming (i.e. the best fitting physical and environment elements) significantly and positively predicted imagery ability of the different imagery types (skill, β?=?0.38; strategy, β?=?0.23; goal, β?=?0.21; affect, β?=?0.25; mastery, β?=?0.22). The model was a good fit to the data: χ² (174)?=?263.87, p?<?.001, CFI?=?.96, TLI?=?.95, SRMR?=?.09, RMSEA?=?0.05 (90% CI?=?0.03–0.05). Findings displayed that priming imagery with physical and environment elements is associated with better skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery imagery ability. The findings extend models of imagery use by indicating that how athletes images may influence their imagery ability.     

The WISC-R and Woodcock-Johnson tests of cognitive ability: A comparative study

The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery has become a popular instrument for assessing students with learning problems. Previous research has indicated a possible discrepancy between overall scores on the WISC-R and the congnitive portion of the Woodcock-Johnson with samples of learning disabled (LD) students. The current study, conducted with samples of students not designated as LD, also found significant differences in the mean scores between the two measures. The hypothesis that the difference between measures is a function of grade level was not supported. Other findings of the current study, coupled with previous research, suggest that the congnitive portion of the Woodcock-Johnson may be loaded with verbal factors.     

Response Time Adjustment in the Stop Signal Task: Development in Children and Adolescents

Adjusting speed to maintain fast and accurate performance is critical to goal-directed behavior. This study examined development of response time adjustments in the stop signal task in 13,709 individuals aged 6–17 years (49.0% Caucasian) across four trial types: correct and incorrect go, successful (stop-inhibit), and failed (stop-respond) trials. People sped more after correct than incorrect go responses and slowed more after failed than successful stop trials. Greater slowing after stop-respond but less slowing after stop-inhibit trials was associated with better response inhibition. Response time adjustments were evident in children as young as age 6, developed throughout childhood, and plateaued by age 10. Results were consistent with the predictions of the error detection and shifting goal priority hypotheses for adjustments.     

Specificity of a Maximal Step Exercise Test

To adhere to the principle of “exercise specificity” exercise testing should be completed using the same physical activity that is performed during exercise training. The present study was designed to assess whether aerobic step exercisers have a greater maximal oxygen consumption (max VO₂) when tested using an activity specific, maximal step exercise test (SET; arms and legs) versus a maximal running test (legs only). Female aerobic step exercisers (N=18; 20.7 ± 1.5 years) performed three maximal graded exercise tests (GXTs): 2 SETs; 1 treadmill test (TMT). The SET consisted of six 3-min progressive stages of alternate lead, basic step, basic step with biceps curls, knee raise with pull-down, repeater knee with pull-down, lateral lunge with pull-down, and side squat with shoulder presses. Stepping rate was 32 steps· min^?1 on an 8-in (20.32 cm) step for stages 1–3, and a 10-in (25.4 cm) step for stages 4–6. Submaximal and maximal heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO₂) were recorded at the end of each stage. Test–retest reliability for the first five stages of the SET ranged from .91 to .97 for HR, and from .84 to .96 for VO₂. Maximal HR was significantly greater (p =.0001) for the SET (200 ± 6.2 beats·min^?1) as compared to the TMT (193 ± 7.9 beats·min^?1). No significant difference was found for max VO₂ (42.9 ± 8.5, 41.2 ± 5.9 ml·kg^?1·min^?1, p =.14). The SET was a valid and reliable protocol for assessing responses of these aerobic step exercisers; however, max VO₂ from a TMT did not differ significantly from the SET. Conversely, max HR obtained from the criterion TMT was 7 beats·min^?1 lower than from the SET. If a training HR for step exercise (arms and legs exercise) is prescribed based on the max HR from treadmill exercise (legs only), then the training HR should be calculated from a TMT max HR that has been increased by 7 beats·min^?1 to obtain an intensity of step exercise comparable to that of running.     

A three-dimensional examination of the planar nature of the golf swing

Previous planar models of the downswing in golf have suggested that upper limb segments (left shoulder girdle and left arm) move in a consistent fixed plane and that the clubhead also moves only in this plane. This study sought to examine these assumptions. Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of seven right-handed golfers of various abilities (handicap 0?–?15) was used to define a plane (named the left-arm plane) containing the 7th cervical vertebra, left shoulder and left wrist. We found that the angles of this plane to the reference horizontal z axis and target line axis (parallel to the reference x axis) were not consistent. The angle to the horizontal z axis varied from a mean of 133° (s = 1°) at the start of the downswing to 102° (s = 4°) at impact, suggesting a “steepening” of the left-arm plane. The angle of the plane to the target line changed from ??9° (s = 16°) to 5° (s = 15°) during the same period, showing anticlockwise (from above) rotation, although there was large inter-individual variation. The distance of the clubhead from the left-arm plane was 0.019?m (s = 0.280?m) at the start at the downswing and 0.291?m (s = 0.077?m) at impact, showing that the clubhead did not lie in the same plane as the body segments. We conclude that the left arm and shoulder girdle do not move in a consistent plane throughout the downswing, and that the clubhead does not move in this plane. Previous models of the downswing in golf may therefore be incorrect, and more complex (but realistic) simulations should be performed.     

Bilingual PA and its influence on biliteracy for Korean English as a foreign language learners

This study examines the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) in the two languages of Korean English as a foreign language learning children in relation to L1 characteristics and school experiences, and its predictive role in word decoding skills in each language. Seventy-two 5?C6-year-old Korean children who had attended English-medium preschools and kindergartens for at least 18?months were tested on a range of PA and emergent literacy skill measures in both Korean (L1) and English (L2). The findings indicate that the phonological representations of the participants reflect more of the L1, rather than school language, characteristics. In addition, L1 PA, syllable and phoneme awareness in particular, was predictive of L2 decoding abilities after accounting for L2 PA and emergent literacy skills. The results are discussed in terms of language-specific L1 phonological and orthographic characteristics, as well as their L2-learning contexts.