Effects of focus of attention on baseball batting performance in players of differing skill levels

This study addressed the question, what should baseball players focus their attention on while batting? Less-skilled and highly skilled (college) baseball players participated in four dual-task conditions in a baseball batting simulation: two that directed attention to skill execution (skill/internal [movement of the hands] and skill/external [movement of the bat]) and two that directed attention to the environment (environmental/irrelevant [auditory tones] and environmental/external [the ball leaving the bat]). Batting performance for highly skilled players was best in the environmental/external condition and worst in the skill/internal condition. Performance of less-skilled batters was significantly better in the two skill conditions than in either of the two environmental conditions. We conclude that the optimal focus of attention for highly skilled batters is one that does not disrupt proceduralized knowledge and permits attention to the perceptual effect of the action, whereas the optimal focus of attention for less-skilled batters is one that allows attention to the step-by-step execution of the swing.     

Grassroots Football Development in Japan

Abstract

The history and issues surrounding elite football in Japan have been addressed by a number of scholars. However, grassroots football, although fundamental to the development of the code, has rarely been explored in the academic literature. In Japan, the importance of grassroots football has received heightened attention by the Japanese Football Association (JFA) since 2003, with 20% growth in the number of registered players under 12 years old from 2003 (262,956 players) to 2014 (315,178 players) a result of the JFA’s initiatives in this area. Japan is currently one of the most successful countries in Asia in terms of grassroots football development and the JFA won the Asian Football Confederation’s award, namely ‘The Best Member Association of the Year 2013 for Grassroots Football’. This paper explores the key driver behind the development of grassroots football development, namely the 47 Prefectural Football Associations, which provide programmes and technical, physical and promotional services which include activities to increase opportunities, facilities, coach education, elite pathways, and competitions for grassroots football. The paper concludes that the factors which have resulted in the success of Japan’s grassroots football revolve around governance of Prefectural Football Associations, coach education programmes, increased opportunities by clubs, leagues and schools, and collaboration with stakeholders within and outside of Prefectural Football Associations.     

The Acute Exercise-Induced Inflammatory Response: A Comparison of Young-Adult Smokers and Nonsmokers

Purpose: This study examined postexercise inflammatory and leukocyte responses in smokers and nonsmokers, as well as the effects of cigarette smoking on the acute postexercise inflammatory and leukocyte response in habitual smokers. Method: Eleven recreationally active male smokers and 11 nonsmokers matched for age and aerobic fitness were familiarized and underwent baseline fitness testing. Participants then completed 40 min of cycling at 50% peak aerobic workload. Smokers performed 2 randomized exercise sessions, including an acute postexercise smoking condition (2 cigarettes in 15 min of 12 mg tar and 1 mg nicotine) and a no-smoking condition, while nonsmokers performed 1 exercise session without smoking. Venous blood was obtained preexercise and postexercise for analysis of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and c-reactive protein (CRP). Results: No differences existed between groups for resting CRP (d = 0.25–0.46; p = .374–.617). Despite no baseline difference (d = 0.03–0.07; p = .141–.70), exercise-induced increases were observed for IL-1 ra in smokers (d = 0.50; p = .024–.033), which was not observed in the never-smoker group. No between-group difference was observed for IL-6 across all points (d = 0.09–0.5; p = .102–.728); however, all groups observed significant within-group change (d = 0.27–1.09; p = .001–.042). Further, TNF-α for smokers smoking was elevated above both smokers not smoking and nonsmokers at baseline and across the protocol (d = 1.20–1.80; d = 0.20–1.0; p = .001–.035). Additionally, a marked postexercise increase in leukocyte and neutrophil concentrations was evident in smokers smoking compared with nonsmokers and smokers not smoking as indicated by a moderate-to-large effect size (d = 0.72; d = 0.78). Conclusion: Consequently, male smokers exhibit an altered postexercise proinflammatory profile compared with age- and fitness-matched nonsmokers.     

Indigenous Digital Art as Politics in Australia

This essay contributes to discussions about Indigenous politics and debates about contemporary democracy. It uses a case study of video art produced by young indigenous people and a community development organisation in the Pilbara, Australia. Those involved in the project use digital media under the auspices of the Big hART Yijala Yala Project to produce an interactive comic series. The essay addresses the following questions: Do contemporary community development projects play a conservatising role serving the interests of a neoliberal polity? Given the long-standing practice of representing modern media as a vehicle for western domination what, if anything, do these projects imply about the political relations between Aboriginal and non-indigenous Australians? Are Indigenous media and cultural work inherently political? What conceptions of the political are at stake in such arguments? We focus on how certain groups of young people use new media, and how their activities are political. The argument is that Indigenous media like these are ‘inherently political’ because they are about efforts to reclaim the images of indigenous peoples for themselves.     

Collaboration in a Virtual World: Support for Conceptual Learning?

Immersive and semi-immersive Virtual Reality (VR) systems have been used for training in the execution of procedures, in exploring (often static) 3D structures such as architectural designs or geographical features, and in designing buildings or constructing molecules. In a separate line of technological development, the availability of distributed computing capabilities has led to VR systems that provide facilities for groups of students that are geographically separated to learn together in a collaborative manner. However, relatively little work has been done to investigate the advantages of such Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) for learning the underlying conceptual content.A pilot study is described which features several worlds designed as part of the Distributed Extensible Virtual Reality Laboratory (DEVRL). The basic results are presented along with a discussion as to how the research could be moved forward to provide improved support for conceptua l learning. The discussion also raises the issues of how the interfaces design affects conceptual learning; of navigation and conceptual learning; of the role of collaboration in learning; and of the difficulties associated with constructing dynamic VR worlds. © IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Assessing Anonymous Communication on the Internet: Policy Deliberations

Anonymous communication on the Internet offers new opportunities but has ill-understood risks. This article helps to ground the policy debates by examining some fundamental aspects of anonymous social behavior and current controversies over anonymous communications. It is a companion to the article in this issue, "Anonymous Communication Policies for the Internet: Results and Recommendations of the AAAS Conference." It examines the social character of anonymous communication and the ways that anonymous communication has played important roles for professionals such as journalists and the police. It also explains some of the new technological supports for anonymous communication on the Internet. The openness, decentralization, and transnational character of the Internet challenge the efficacy of traditional control mechanisms and have raised issues related to accountability, law enforcement, security and privacy, governmental empowerment, and e-commerce. Yet, to ban or restrict all anonymous communication online because of the harms it could bring would deny its benefits to those people who may legitimately gain from it. This article helps to understand how to balance these positions.     

Anonymous Communication Policies for the Internet: Results and Recommendations of the AAAS Conference

The Internet offers new opportunities for anonymous and pseudonymous communications. Users can, for example, engage in political advocacy, receive counseling, and perform commercial transactions without disclosing their identities. The cloak of anonymity can also facilitate socially unacceptable or criminal activities because of the difficulty in holding anonymous users accountable. This article reports the results of a conference on anonymous communication organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Among the findings were that online anonymous communication is morally neutral; that it should be considered a strong human and constitutional right; that online communities should be allowed to set their own policies on the use of anonymous communication; and that individuals should be informed about the extent to which their identity is disclosed online. The article discusses how anonymous communications can be shaped by the law, education, and public awareness, and highlights the importance of involving all affected interests in policy development.     

Post-16 Education,Semi-dependent Youth and the Privatisation of Inter-age Transfers: Re-theorising youth transition

This paper critically reviews historical and contemporary debates around the study of youth transitions and social change in the sociology of education and elsewhere. It argues that current accounts of recent social change of the 'post' variety tend to both over state and simplify the character of these changes. The paper suggests that it is more appropriate to think of change in terms of the reconfiguration of relationships between 'inflexibility' and 'flexibility', independence and dependency, and the public and the private. Substantively, these things can be studied through the 'intergenerational transfer' of 'assets' of various kinds within kin networks. On this basis, the paper argues for a shift away from a narrower focus upon parents that has been the basis for some recent useful and relevant work on educational decision-making in sociology of education in the UK. These issues about decision-making are related to the developing debate around Rational Action Theory and culturalist vs structural approaches. It is suggested that recent work in the areas of stratification and class formation theory would prove of value to these, and other, concerns in the sociology of education.     

Classroom studies into cognitive style in mathematics for pupils with dyslexia in special education in the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK

The project reported here was designed to explore the cognitive style used by pupils with dyslexia when answering a range of mathematical questions. The research involved 132 pupils aged between 9 and 13 years, including 66 pupils in mainstream and 66 pupils in specialist schools, in three countries in Europe.
Detailed studies of the methods used by pupils attempting the given questions on a test of cognitive style suggested that they fell into two main categories. These pupils were observed when completing the test and their responses were categorised accordingly. The resulting numerical data were then analysed for differences between pupils within each country and between their non-dyslexic counterparts.
The results showed significant differences in the balance of cognitive styles employed by pupils with dyslexia as opposed to their non-dyslexic counterparts. Also there were interesting differences occurring between the pupils with dyslexia within the three countries on initial testing. Further differences were established after a six-month intervention period, suggesting that the characteristics of different curriculum models do have an impact upon pupils' flexibility as learners.