Confirmatory factor analysis of the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) among adolescent athletes

The aim of the present study was to examine the factorial validity of the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS; Thomas et al., 1999) among adolescent athletes using confirmatory factor analysis. The TOPS was designed to assess eight psychological strategies used in competition (i.e. activation, automaticity, emotional control, goal-setting, imagery, negative thinking, relaxation and self-talk,) and eight used in practice (the same strategies except negative thinking is replaced by attentional control). National-level athletes (n = 584) completed the 64-item TOPS during training camps. Fit indices provided partial support for the overall measurement model for the competition items (robust comparative fit index = 0.92, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.88, root mean square error of approximation = 0.05) but minimal support for the training items (robust comparative fit index = 0.86, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.81, root mean square error of approximation = 0.06). For the competition items, the automaticity, goal-setting, relaxation and self-talk scales showed good fit, whereas the activation, emotional control, imagery and negative thinking scales did not. For the practice items, the attentional control, emotional control, goal-setting, imagery and self-talk scales showed good fit, whereas the activation, automaticity and relaxation scales did not. Overall, it appears that the factorial validity of the TOPS for use with adolescents is questionable at present and further development is required.     

Analysis of postural stability in collegiate soccer players before and after an acute bout of heading multiple soccer balls

The aim of our study was to determine if any immediate changes in balance were discernable in college soccer players after a specially designed heading session. Eight male and two female skilled collegiate soccer players had a baseline balance pre-test using the Balance Master, followed by heading 20 balls kicked consecutively by a teammate from the touchline to a point near the goal, which was followed by a post-test using the same testing technique. Paired t-tests were used to compare balance ability between pre- and post-test conditions. There was no difference in balance pre- to post-test (85.3% and 86.2% respectively). No significant difference was noted from pre- to post-test in the mean equilibrium scores for conditions three through six on the Sensory Organization Test, with the exception of condition four, which revealed a significant increase from pre- to post-test. We concluded that an acute session of heading soccer balls may not result in balance changes in collegiate soccer players.     

Understanding others Kellyian theory,methodology and applicationComprendre les autres la théorie de Kelly: methodologie et applicationEntendimiemto de los otros la teoría de Kelly: metodología y applicación

This article discusses Kelly's theory of personal constructs and its Repertory grid technique as means of revealing the nature of cultural differences and similarities. It shows how Kelly's theory relates to cognitive theory, implicit personality theory and subjective culture theory. According to Kelly, people and groups are best understood in terms of the ways they anticipate events. People are all psychologists since they employ constructs. These bases of discrimination are bipolar in nature and open to revision. A group's culture is summarized by its members' shared superordinate constructs. Kelly's Commonality Corollary explains that members of a group are similar because they use the same constructs to order events. Kelly's Sociality Corollary states that, in order to enter into a relationship with others, people need first to subsume the others' personal constructs. His custom-built Repertory grid elicits constructs by having a person decide how in a matrix other people, for example, are similar and different. In the rated grid form, each person or element is rated from most to least on the positive pole of each construct. Either principal components or cluster analysis or multidimensional scaling can reveal the interviewed person's superordinate dimensions of appraisal. As an emic technique, the grid is contrasted with the semantic differential and other fixed-format tests. A review of the personal construct literature shows that many individuals and cultural groups have been explained in their own terms. In this research, difference is construed as interesting and others are understood by construing their construction processes as a first step towards approval.