Competition as cooperation

Games have a complex, and seemingly paradoxical structure: they are both competitive and cooperative, and the competitive element is required for the cooperative element to work out. They are mechanisms for transforming competition into cooperation. Several contemporary philosophers of sport have located the primary mechanism of conversion in the mental attitudes of the players. I argue that these views cannot capture the phenomenological complexity of game-play, nor the difficulty and moral complexity of achieving cooperation through game-play. In this paper, I present a different account of the relationship between competition and cooperation. My view is a distributed view of the conversion: success depends on a large number of features. First, the players must achieve the right motivational state: playing for the sake of the struggle, rather than to win. Second, successful transformation depends on a large number of extra-mental features, including good game design, and social and institutional features.     

Validity and Reliability of Three Self-Report Instruments for Assessing Attainment of Physical Activity Guidelines in University Students

The purpose of this study was to compare the validity and reliability of three short physical activity self-report instruments to determine their potential for use with university student populations. The participants (N = 155; 44.5% male; 22.9 ± 5.13 years) wore an accelerometer for 9 consecutive days and completed a single-item measure, the a brief two item measure and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form questionnaires on day 1 and 9. Correlations between self-reported and accelerometer derived moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels were moderate for the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form, while poor for the single-item measure and the a brief two item measure. The agreement level was high with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form (77.4%) and moderate for both the single-item measure (45.2 %) and a brief two item measure (44.5 %). The intraclass correlations between the two administrations were moderate to strong across all measures (0.52–0.70) in 133 participants. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form is the most suitable of these three self-report instruments for use with this population due to higher correlations and levels of agreement with accelerometry.     

Psychometric Properties of a Parental Questionnaire for Assessing Correlates of Toddlers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

This study examined the psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed with the guidance of the socialization model of child behaviour to understand modifiable correlates of toddlers’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Findings are based on 118 parents (33.7 ± 4.9 years; 86% female) of toddlers (19.3 ± 2.7 months; 48% female) from Edmonton, Canada in The Parents’ Role in Establishing healthy Physical activity and Sedentary behaviour habits study (PREPS). The PREPS questionnaire encompassed 21 variables across the constructs of the socialization model of child behaviour. Of the nine variables assessed for internal consistency reliability, eight had good (α ≥ 0.70) reliability. Of the 15 continuous variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, 10 had moderate (intra-class correlation = 0.50–0.74) and 5 had good (intra-class correlation ≥ 0.75) reliability. Of the six categorical variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, two had fair (К = 0.21–0.40), one had moderate (К = 0.41–0.60), one had substantial (К = 0.61–0.80), and two had almost perfect (К = 0.81–1.00) reliability. Of the 12 sedentary behaviour variables assessed for convergent validity, 7 were significantly correlated with children’s screen time, of which three were small (r ≤ 0.29), two were medium (r = 0.30–0.49), and two were large (r ≥ 0.50) effect sizes.     

Development and Initial Validation of the Volition in Exercise Questionnaire (VEQ)

The present study describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure volition in the exercise context. Volition describes an individual’s self-regulatory mental processes that are responsible for taking and maintaining a desirable action (e.g., exercising regularly). The scale structure was developed in an exploratory factor analysis which resulted in a reliable structure of the following six factors: Volitional Inhibition—Reasons, Volitional Inhibition—Postponing Training, Volitional Facilitation—Self-Confidence, Volitional Inhibition—Unrelated Thoughts, Volitional Inhibition—Approval From Others, and Volitional Facilitation—Coping with Failure. A sound theoretical explanation for these six factors is based on the Personal System Interaction Theory. This six-factor structure was also confirmed in a new sample in a confirmatory factor analysis, delivering an 18-item questionnaire with strong model fit and good internal consistency. In addition, the Volition in Exercise Questionnaire showed convergent validity because it was able to predict exercise participation. It showed incremental validity by explaining additional variance to the Sport Motivation Scale’s well-established predictors of exercise participation.     

Skating start propulsion: three-dimensional kinematic analysis of elite male and female ice hockey players

The forward skating start is a fundamental skill for male and female ice hockey players. However, performance differences by athlete’s sex cannot be fully explained by physiological variables; hence, other factors such as skating technique warrant examination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the body movement kinematics of ice hockey skating starts between elite male and female ice hockey participants. Male (n = 9) and female (n = 10) elite ice hockey players performed five forward skating start accelerations. An 18-camera motion capture system placed on the arena ice surface captured full-body kinematics during the first seven skating start steps within 15 meters. Males’ maximum skating speeds were greater than females. Skating technique sex differences were noted: in particular, females presented ~10° lower hip abduction throughout skating stance as well as ~10° greater knee extension at initial ice stance contact, conspicuously followed by a brief cessation in knee extension at the moment of ice contact, not evident in male skaters. Further study is warranted to explain why these skating technique differences exist in relation to factors such as differences in training, equipment, performance level, and anthropometrics.     

Intercultural education in physical education: results of a quasi-experimental intervention study with secondary school students

Background: Due to migration processes, cultural diversity and strangeness are becoming characteristics of modern society. The competence to handle this heterogeneity – the so-called intercultural competence – is a key competence for all children and youths. Sports and physical education (PE) are often considered as a particular field for enhancing intercultural competence. However, until now there is no theory-based empirical study that proves this assumption. Purpose: This study was designed to examine the effects of a standardised, theoretically driven programme in PE on the development of underlying cognitive concepts of intercultural competence: acculturation attitudes and attitudes towards cultural diversity. Research design: The research design consists of a quasi-experimental design with four measurement points. The intervention group (N?=?69; mean age?=?11.6 years (SD?=?0.60)) followed standardised and theory-driven intervention lessons following the didactical guidelines of the concept of ‘Intercultural Movement Education’ (IME). The developed games tend to trigger ‘crises’ with the aim to insecure students. These experienced insecurities were afterwards reflected upon with the students. The internal control group (N?=?63; mean age?=?11.8 years (SD?=?0.62)) and external control group (N?=?93; mean age?=?10.8 years (SD?=?0.69)) were taught in a unspecific manner. The impact of the intervention study programme was tested with a reliable and valid questionnaire. Results: A significant time by group interaction effect for the subscale ‘assimilation/segregation’ of acculturation attitudes was found in boys and in girls. The attitudes increased significantly after the intervention. For the girls, the intervention group showed also a significant decrease of the attitude ‘integration’. No significant impact of the intervention study on the attitudes towards cultural diversity could be identified either with boys or girls. Discussion: The effects of the study are ambivalent. The significantly increased assimilative attitudes can be interpreted as a need for a sense of security. This is also underlined by the decrease of the integration attitude that values the maintenance of cultural integrity. It must be critically discussed whether the ‘crises’ were too intense and not adapted to the children’s skills to overcome them. Second, we have to critically analyse whether the discussions with the students about their experiences were sufficiently focused to debrief the students. Summary for practitioners: The competence to handle heterogeneity – the so-called intercultural competence – is a key competence for children and youths. Sports and PE are often considered as a particular field for enhancing intercultural competence. However, until now there has been no theory-based empirical study that proves this assumption. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of an intervention programme on intercultural learning in PE along the didactic guidelines of IME. This programme tries to trigger ‘crises’ that stimulate the students to react and think about their self- and world relations. The statistical analyses show that the ‘crises’ were probably too intense as the students’ scores in assimilation attitudes increased. This lead to the didactical reflection of the implementation of intercultural learning processes in PE.