Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on the Perception of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction among Special Education Students

Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have been increasingly implemented in schools to foster better emotional regulation skills for students with special education needs such as learning disabilities (LDs). This pilot study aimed to evaluate the impact of a MBI on the need satisfaction of elementary students with severe LDs. A prospective quasi-experimental design involving one group and two time points was employed. A sample of 14 elementary school students from a severe LDs special education class participated in this project. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted and revealed a significant reduction in need satisfaction, with a large effect size (η² = .35). Contrary to our hypothesis, the MBI appeared to be negatively related to need satisfaction among participants. These results indicate that MBIs could be linked with better self-evaluation skills in students with severe LDs, which, in turn, may change (or increase the accuracy of) the perception that children have of their own need satisfaction.     

The effects of outcome imagery on golf-putting performance

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of positive and negative outcome imagery on golf-putting performance. Players of both high and low ability performed a golf-putting task in three imagery conditions: (a) a positive outcome imagery condition, (b) a negative outcome imagery condition and (c) a no-imagery control condition. The task was conducted in a competitive setting, reducing the possibility of demand characteristics. We found that negative outcome imagery was detrimental to putting performance; however, performance in the positive outcome imagery condition was no better than performance in the control condition. There was also evidence to suggest that outcome imagery operated through the mechanism of confidence, as negative outcome imagery was detrimental to both confidence and performance. The results of the present study suggest that golfers should avoid visualizing negative images, as this could damage both confidence and performance.     

Aerobic Capacity in Black Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Our purpose was to determine the aerobic capacities (VO₂max) of a group of black female adolescents (age = 11.4 ? 15.8 years) randomly chosen from a single urban school. Of 91 girls selected, 64 performed an incremental treadmill running test to volitional exhaustion and achieved VO₂max as determined from expired gas measures. Other measures included height (m), weight (kg), and calf and triceps skinfolds (for % fat estimates). Girls were also asked whether they had achieved menarche. VO₂max averaged 37.3 ± 6.2 ml·kg^?1 ·min^?1 and was significantly correlated (r[62]) with height (?.32, p < .01), body mass index (?.63, p < .001), and % fat (?.65, p < .001) but not with age (?.16, p > .10). Postmenarchal girls were significantly taller and older than premenarchal girls. Contrary to previous studies, the girls' VO₂max values were not related to biological age. Our subjects' aerobic capacity values averaged 14% less than those of nonblack U.S. female adolescents previously reported in the literature. This difference in VO₂max was primarily a function of body weight. Study implications support the possibility that overweight in adult black women may originate prior to or during early adolescence. Future longitudinal studies should be designed to investigate the effects of aerobic fitness on cardiovascular risk factor reduction in black adolescent girls.     

The effect of glycaemic index of high carbohydrate diets consumed over 5 days on exercise energy metabolism and running capacity in males

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether rates of total fat and carbohydrate oxidation and endurance capacity during running conducted in the fasted state are influenced by the glycaemic index (GI) of high carbohydrate diets consumed over 5 days. Nine healthy males performed three treadmill runs to exhaustion at 65% of maximum oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2max): after a habitual diet (control trial), after 5 days on a high carbohydrate/high glycaemic index diet, and after 5 days on a high carbohydrate/low glycaemic index diet in randomized counterbalanced order. No significant differences in rates of fat and carbohydrate oxidation, concentrations of plasma insulin, glucose, non-esterified fatty acids and glycerol, or time to exhaustion were observed between the high carbohydrate/high glycaemic index and high carbohydrate/low glycaemic index trials. Compared with the control trial, the concentration of plasma glycerol and rate of fat oxidation were lower (P < 0.05) and the rate of carbohydrate oxidation higher (P < 0.05) in both the high carbohydrate/high glycaemic index diet and high carbohydrate/low glycaemic index trials during the run to exhaustion. In conclusion, the extent by which a high carbohydrate diet consumed over 5 days reduces rate of fat oxidation during subsequent running exercise in the fasted state is not influenced by the glycaemic index of the diet.     

Notes: Evaluation of Physical Education in North Carolina High Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in learning to perform a novel motor task between two equated groups: one group was subjected to learning the task immediately following a heavy physical work bout on a bicycle ergometer; the other group was subjected to learning the task with no imposed physical exercise. It was found that the subjects who practiced the stabilometer exercise in a fatigued state performed significantly better than subjects in the control group except for test 4. The experimental group also performed significantly better than the control group during the 5th test which was performed without any fatiguing task. It appears from this study that the fatigue state of the learner had a favorable influence on both performance and learning of certain novel motor skills.     

“The fish becomes aware of the water in which it swims”: revealing the power of culture in shaping teaching identity

“The fish becomes aware of the water in which it swims” is a metaphor that represents Yuli’s revelatory journey about the hidden power of culture in her personal identity and professional teaching practice. While engaging in a critical auto/ethnographic inquiry into her lived experience as a science teacher in Indonesian and Australian schools, she came to understand the powerful role of culture in shaping her teaching identity. Yuli realised that she is a product of cultural hybridity resulting from interactions of very different cultures—Javanese, Bimanese, Indonesian and Australian. Traditionally, Javanese and Indonesian cultures do not permit direct criticism of others. This influenced strongly the way she had learned to interact with students and caused her to be very sensitive to others. During this inquiry she learned the value of engaging students in open discourse and overt caring, and came to realise that teachers bringing their own cultures to the classroom can be both a source of power and a problem. In this journey, Yuli came to understand the hegemonic power of culture in her teaching identity, and envisioned how to empower herself as a good teacher educator of pre-service science teachers.