Astrobiology,The Way Forward

Science & Education -     

Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific decision-making skill

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer-specific decision-making. Twelve well-trained male soccer players performed a soccer-specific decision-making task on two occasions, separated by at least 72 h. The decision-making task was preceded in a randomised order by 30 min of the Stroop task (mental fatigue) or 30 min of reading from magazines (control). Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were measured before and after treatment, and mental effort (referring to treatment) and motivation (referring to the decision-making task) were measured after treatment. Performance on the soccer-specific decision-making task was assessed using response accuracy and time. Visual search behaviour was also assessed throughout the decision-making task. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were almost certainly higher following the Stroop task compared to the magazines. Motivation for the upcoming decision-making task was possibly higher following the Stroop task. Decision-making accuracy was very likely lower and response time likely higher in the mental fatigue condition. Mental fatigue had unclear effects on most visual search behaviour variables. The results suggest that mental fatigue impairs accuracy and speed of soccer-specific decision-making. These impairments are not likely related to changes in visual search behaviour.     

An experimental,video-based investigation into the motivating impact of choice and positive feedback among students with different motor competence levels

ABSTRACT

Background: Research stemming from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) shows that physical education (PE) teachers who endorse an autonomy-supportive and structuring motivating style positively affect students’ motivation, engagement and learning. Choice provision and positive feedback are two concrete strategies that are part of an autonomy-supportive and structuring style, respectively. While the benefits of choice provision and positive feedback have been shown in contexts other than PE, evidence in the specific context of PE is much scarcer. Grounded in SDT and relying on experimental design, the present study sought to examine the effects of choice provision and positive feedback on students’ motivational experiences in PE, and whether these effects were moderated by students’ actual motor competence (AMC).

Method: A sample of 277 students (41% boys, Mage?=?12.78 years) was randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions (2?×?2 design). Prior to the experimental manipulation, participants’ AMC was measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development second edition. Participants then watched a videotaped PE lesson, in which the provision of choice (choice – no choice) and type of feedback (corrective feedback – positive and corrective feedback) were manipulated. Participants were asked to imagine how they would feel being a student in the displayed lessons. After watching the video, they completed validated questionnaires on their (1) anticipated need satisfaction and frustration and (2) autonomous and controlled motivation. MANOVAs were conducted to investigate the differences between the experimental groups in terms of anticipated need satisfaction, need frustration and motivation. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the potential moderating role of AMC.

Findings and conclusions: The benefits of choice provision were clearly shown with students in the choice condition anticipating significantly more autonomy, competence and relatedness satisfaction and autonomous motivation, while they anticipated significantly less autonomy and relatedness frustration when compared to students in the no choice condition. Similarly, the addition of positive feedback to corrective feedback yielded clear benefits, with lower averages in anticipated need frustration found among students who watched the videos in which positive feedback was added to corrective feedback. No support was provided for a synergetic motivational effect between choice and positive feedback. Overall, the present findings show the importance of offering choice and providing positive feedback to motivate students in PE, with positive effects being present for all students independent of their initial AMC levels. Although few interaction effects were found, lowly motor competent students benefited even more from receiving positive feedback than highly motor competent students. The findings of this study are important to take into account in PE teacher education programs and professional training programs for PE teachers about how to teach in a (more) motivating way.     

Confocal XRF depth profiling non-destructively reveals the original blue pigments in a Renaissance painting by Caroto

Recent restoration of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Giovanni Francesco Caroto, from the Louvre collections, included a technical examination of the Virgin's blue robe that aimed to characterize the original materials and later additions. The painting was examined using light microscopy and ultraviolet and infrared imaging, and one cross section was taken. None of these methods showed a clear distinction between the layers that were artist applied or modifications made by another hand. To gain information about the paint stratigraphy without taking additional samples, non-invasive confocal X-ray fluorescence (CXRF) analysis was carried out to examine several areas of the Virgin's robe. Using this technique, it was possible to identify the pigments and order of application of paint by the artist. All the pigments identified were considered to be artist applied, and on this basis no further cleaning was carried out and conservation proceeded with retouching of minor areas of loss or damage. This study highlights the advantages of CXRF analysis for the technical study of paintings, used in combination with classical methods for making informed conservation treatment decisions.     

A teacher-implemented intervention program to promote finger use in numerical tasks

European Journal of Psychology of Education - What constitutes effective teaching of arithmetical skills in early school years is still uncertain. Finger use could play a crucial role in this...     

Educational goals and motives as possible mediators in the relationship between social support and academic achievement

Perceived social support has been widely recognized as having beneficial effects on a person’s development, and adolescence is no exception. The objective of this article is to go beyond this “stereotypical” vision of friendship by showing that social support does not always have a positive and direct effect on adolescents’ academic achievement. We sought to understand whether this relationship is mediated by the educational goals and motives that student value and pursue. If these values do not coincide with the expectations and values that the academic institution seeks to transmit, the influence of social support can become harmful, especially with regard to the students’ academic achievement. Data were collected by means of questionnaires from 676 junior high school students in 9th grade from contrasting academic institutions. We chose to observe each participant’s subjective point of view of three dimensions: social support, academic achievement, and educational goals and motives. The results showed that the relationship between social support and attention and involvement in class was negative and mediated by students’ goals. The adolescents with a high level of social support mainly pursued social goals and neglected achievement and future goals. Consequently, these students were less attentive and involved in class. The results also showed that social support was predictive of students’ investment and interest in personal work and success, but only when the students pursued achievement and future goals.     

Biomechanical mechanisms of jumping performance in youth elite female soccer players

ABSTRACT

We aimed to determine key biomechanical parameters explaining age-related jumping performance differences in youth elite female soccer players. Multiple biomechanical parameters from countermovement (CMJ) squat (SJ) and drop (DJ) jump testing of elite female soccer players (n = 60) within the same national training centre were analysed across ages 9-11y, 12-14y and 15-19y. Effects of age group and jump type on jump height were found, with the older jumping higher than the younger groups in all jumps (P < 0.05). For DJ, higher reactive strength index was found for older, compared to each younger group (P < 0.001). For CMJ and SJ, peak power was the most decisive characteristic, with significant differences between each group for absolute peak power (P < 0.0001) and body-weight-normalised peak power in CMJ (57 ± 7W/kg, 50 ± 7W/kg, 44.7 ± 5.5W/kg; P < 0.05) and between the older and each younger group in SJ (56.7 ± 7.1W/kg, 48.9 ± 7.1W/kg, 44.6 ± 6W/kg; P < 0.01). Age-related differences in jumping performance in youth elite female soccer players appear to be due to power production during standing jumps and by the ability to jump with shorter ground contact times during reactive jumps.     

ICT Inclusion and Gender: Tensions in Narratives of Network Engineer Training

Government, major information and communications technology (ICT) companies, and educational institutions in the United Kingdom currently claim that ICT skills training offers inclusion into the new economy. We focus on a private-public training initiative and its impact on the socially excluded, specifically lone women parents. Narrative data from four United Kingdom educational sites participating in this computer network engineer training program highlight a systemic paradox: that ICT skills development initiatives designed to support lone women parents are simultaneously working in opposition to broader policy goals such as work-life balance and ironically serve to reproduce the participants' classification as socially excluded. The assumptions underpinning the model of social inclusion driving the ICT skills training course are analyzed critically using the concepts of community of practice, classificatory systems, and marginalization. Our findings suggest that ICT training courses and initiatives should be accompanied by changes in pedagogic practice that accommodate the more wide-ranging needs of those targeted for inclusion, as well as changes in employment settings. We conclude by exploring the implications of this for government policy formation, business vendor qualifications, the design of ICT skills training initiatives, and our understanding of the role of ICT skills in overcoming the digital divide.     

Contribution of temporal processing skills to reading comprehension in 8-year-olds: evidence for a mediation effect of phonological awareness

This study tested whether the association between temporal processing (TP) and reading is mediated by phonological awareness (PA) in a normative sample of 615 eight-year-olds. TP was measured with auditory and bimodal (visual-auditory) temporal order judgment tasks and PA with a phoneme deletion task. PA partially mediated the association between both auditory and bimodal TP and reading, above nonverbal abilities, vocabulary, and processing speed. PA explained a larger proportion of the association between auditory TP and reading (56% vs. 39% for bimodal TP), and most of the association between bimodal TP and reading was direct. This finding is consistent with a dual-phonological and visual-pathway model of the association between TP and reading in normative reading skills.