How you provide corrective feedback makes a difference: the motivating role of communicating in an autonomy-supporting way

We relied on self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) to investigate to what extent autonomy-supporting corrective feedback (i.e., feedback that coaches communicate to their athletes after poor performance or mistakes) is associated with athletes' optimal motivation and well-being. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a cross-sectional study with 337 (67.1% males) Greek adolescent athletes (age M = 15.59, SD = 2.37) from various sports. Aligned with SDT, we found through path analysis that an autonomy-supporting versus controlling communication style was positively related to future intentions to persist and well-being and negatively related to ill-being. These relations were partially mediated by the perceived legitimacy of the corrective feedback (i.e., the degree of acceptance of corrective feedback), and, in turn, by intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and external regulation for doing sports. Results indicate that autonomy-supporting feedback can be still motivating even in cases in which such feedback conveys messages of still too low competence.     

The motivating role of positive feedback in sport and physical education: evidence for a motivational model

Based on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), an experimental study with middle school students participating in a physical education task and a correlational study with highly talented sport students investigated the motivating role of positive competence feedback on participants' well-being, performance, and intention to participate. In Study 1, structural equation modeling favored the hypothesized motivational model, in which, after controlling for pretask perceived competence and competence valuation, feedback positively predicted competence satisfaction, which in turn predicted higher levels of vitality and greater intentions to participate, through the mediation of autonomous motivation. No effects on performance were found. Study 2 further showed that autonomous motivation mediated the relation between competence satisfaction and well-being, whereas a motivation mediated the negative relation between competence satisfaction and ill-being and rated performance. The discussion focuses on the motivational role of competence feedback in sports and physical education settings.     

Independent effects of step length and foot strike pattern on tibiofemoral joint forces during running

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of step length and foot strike pattern along with their interaction on tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) and medial compartment TFJ kinetics during running. Nineteen participants ran with a rear foot strike pattern at their preferred speed using a short (?10%), preferred, and long (+10%) step length. These step length conditions were then repeated using a forefoot strike pattern. Regardless of foot strike pattern, a 10% shorter step length resulted in decreased peak contact force, force impulse per step, force impulse per kilometre, and average loading rate at the TFJ and medial compartment, while a 10% increased step length had the opposite effects (all P < 0.05). A forefoot strike pattern significantly lowered TFJ and medial compartment TFJ average loading rates compared with a rear foot strike pattern (both <0.05) but did not change TFJ or medial compartment peak force, force impulse per step, or force impulse per km. The combination of a shorter step length and forefoot strike pattern produced the greatest reduction in peak medial compartment contact force (P < 0.05). Knowledge of these running modification effects may be relevant to the management or prevention of TFJ injury or pathology among runners.     

Placing Motivation and Future Time Perspective Theory in a Temporal Perspective

An overview of the conceptual development of future time perspective theory [Nuttin, J. R. (1984). Motivation, Planning and Action: A Relational Theory of Behavior, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ; Nuttin, J., and Lens, W. (1985). Future Time Perspective and Motivation: Theory and Research Method, Leuven University Press and Erlbaum, Leuven, Belgium and Hillsdale, NJ] is provided. It is demonstrated that having a deep future time perspective and increasing the instrumentality of one's present behavior are associated with enhanced motivation, deep conceptual learning, better performance, and more intensive persistence. Moreover, recent research indicates that it is important to consider the degree of specificity of the provided future goal, the content of the given future goal, and the context in which the instrumentality of the present behavior is made clear. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Reading and reading-related skills in children using cochlear implants: prospects for the influence of cued speech

We assessed the reading and reading-related skills (phonemic awareness and phonological short-term memory) of deaf children fitted with cochlear implants (CI), either exposed to cued speech early (before 2 years old) (CS+) or never (CS-). Their performance was compared to that of 2 hearing control groups, 1 matched for reading level (RL), and 1 matched for chronological age (CA). Phonemic awareness and phonological short-term memory were assessed respectively through a phonemic similarity judgment task and through a word span task measuring phonological similarity effects. To assess the use of sublexical and lexical reading procedures, children read pseudowords and irregular words aloud. Results showed that cued speech improved performance on both the phonemic awareness and the reading tasks but not on the phonological short-term memory task. In phonemic awareness and reading, CS+ children obtained accuracy and rapidity scores similar to CA controls, whereas CS- children obtained lower scores than hearing controls. Nevertheless, in phonological short-term memory task, the phonological similarity effect of both CI groups was similar. Overall, these results support the use of cued speech to improve phonemic awareness and reading skills in CI children.     

Functional impact of emotions on athletic performance: Comparing the IZOF model and the directional perception approach

A plausible explanation for the ancient long jump records from Greek antiquity is sought on the basis of pictorial and written sources, and corroborated with practical tests. Ancient sources report that athletes jumped more than 15?m with weights in their hands, which enabled them to jump further than without these weights. It is proposed that the ancient Greek long jump was a continuous succession of five standing broad jumps, in which the landing phase of one jump was also the countermovement for the next jump. Four trained athletes jumped further with (14.64?±?0.76?m, range 13.64?–?15.63?m) than without weights (13.88?±?0.70?m, range 12.60?–?14.75?m; P = 0.001). These results show that this technique is executable, fits with ancient written and pictorial sources, and allows trained modern athletes to jump distances well over 15?m. The extra distance jumped when using weights may be due to changes in the position of the jumper's centre of mass at take-off and at landing, and an increase in take-off velocity stemming from several biomechanical mechanisms.