Dynamics of visual feedback in a laboratory simulation of a penalty kick

Sport scientists have devoted relatively little attention to soccer penalty kicks, despite their decisive role in important competitions such as the World Cup. Two possible kicker strategies have been described: ignoring the goalkeeper action (open loop) or trying to react to the goalkeeper action (closed loop). We used a paradigm simulating a penalty kick in the laboratory to investigate the dynamics of the closed-loop strategy in these controlled conditions. The probability of correctly responding to the simulated goalkeeper motion as a function of time available followed a logistic curve. Kickers on average reached perfect performance only if the goalkeeper committed him or herself to one side about 400 ms before ball contact and showed chance performance if the goalkeeper motion occurred less than 150 ms before ball contact. Interestingly, coincidence judgement?-?another aspect of the laboratory responses?-?appeared to be affected for a much longer time (>500 ms) than was needed to correctly determine laterality. The present study is meant as groundwork for experiments in more ecological conditions applicable to kickers and goalkeepers.     

Engaging Preservice School Counselors and Principals in Dialogue and Collaboration

School counselors should be prepared to address student concerns and school problems in collaborative ways and to work cooperatively with school principals. The authors describe an innovative seminar designed to help students in school counseling and in school administration to develop a greater appreciation of the roles, responsibilities, and perspectives of each other in their respective professions.     

ANALYSIS OF “CHUNKED” TEST ITEMS AS MEASURES OF READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION1

A new type of test item was developed which required Ss to recognize groups of words, i.e., chunks, whose meaning had been changed from that in the original reading or listening passage. In one study involving 52 Ss and 20 test variables, individual differences on the chunked reading test were found to correlate .68 with a multiple-choice alternate form. In another study, the decrease in listening comprehension due to increased speech rate as measured by the chunked items was roughly parallel to the decrease as measured by the multiple-choice questions. These data were interpreted as providing evidence for the validity of the chunked items as measures of comprehension. However, other results suggested that the chunked items may be less dependent upon grammatical and vocabulary knowledge and more sensitive to within individual changes in comprehension as compared to the traditional multiple-choice question.