An early review of stroboscopic visual training: insights,challenges and accomplishments to guide future studies

ABSTRACT

Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) is a form of training in which an individual practices a task under intermittent visual conditions with the intention of enhancing subsequent performance under normal visual conditions. Training with stroboscopic devices is theorized to improve important visual, perceptual, and cognitive skills, which in turn transfers to enhanced sporting performance. Indeed, while there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence suggesting benefits of strobe training, empirical evidence is rarer and less conclusive. This lack of clarity is due, in part, to the challenging methodological issues faced when conducting experimental vision training studies in applied contexts. The present paper is an early review of the research to date with a focus on the key methodological decisions, such as the training and testing protocols employed, participant samples and control groups used, and practical considerations that enable such training in applied settings. Whilst still at an early stage, the existing studies point to SVT enhancing some aspects of foveal visual sensitivity and visual motor control, with notable benefits for some athletic tasks. Such improvements could have implications not just in sport, but in domains such as rehabilitation, education, and motor vehicle safety.     

Development of perfectionism in junior athletes: Examination of actual and perceived parental perfectionism

ABSTRACT

Initial research suggests that parental perfectionism is central to the development of athlete perfectionism. However, it is unclear whether perceived or actual parental perfectionism is most important. The present study aimed to address this issue in two ways. First, we re-examined the predictive ability of actual versus perceived parental perfectionism on athlete perfectionism. Second, for the first time, we tested whether perceived parental perfectionism mediated the relationship between actual parental perfectionism and athlete perfectionism. A sample of 150 junior athletes and their parents completed measures of perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns). Junior athletes completed two measures, one of their own perfectionism and one of perceptions of their parents’ perfectionism. Parents completed one measure of their own perfectionism. Regression analyses showed that perceived parental perfectionism predicted athlete perfectionism over and above actual parental perfectionism. Mediation analyses provided support for our proposed model. Overall, the findings suggest that both actual and perceived parental perfectionism are important in the development of perfectionism in junior athletes.     

Assessing coping in children and adolescents: Research and practice

Although standardized and psychometrically-sound instruments for assessing children's coping are essential to both clinical practice and theory development, there have been few systematic efforts to design such measures. This review of assessment instruments compatible with the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) formulation of coping reveals a limited number of instruments but great diversity in the types of techniques employed to assess the coping of children and adolescents. Types of measures critiqued include projective techniques, interviews, questionnaires, and behavioral observation scales. A comprehensive assessment procedure is proposed and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Pastors of profit: Marketplace Ministries and the rhetorical acquisition of affective allegiance

This essay explores neoliberal capital accumulation by analyzing the workplace chaplaincy service Marketplace Ministries. By extending the value of traditional chaplains to the modern workplace, Marketplace Ministries discourse illuminates a discursive pattern that secular client-companies can employ to acquire the affective allegiance of their front-line employees. For these client-companies, affective allegiance activates a set of internal motivational strategies organized around the secularization of Michel Foucault’s pastoral power by penetrating the intimate domestic spheres of the workforce to shape subjectivity and promote new forms of obedience. Implications for our present milieu are considered including possible sites of contestation and resistance.     

Comprehension and content: planning literacy in low socioeconomic and culturally diverse schools

This article defines comprehension as a pragmatic social and intellectual practice. It reviews literature on current approaches to reading instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse and low socioeconomic students, noting the current policy emphasis on the teaching of comprehension as autonomous skills and strategies. The Four Resources model (Freebody and Luke 1990) is used to frame comprehension instruction with an emphasis on student cultural and community knowledge, and substantive intellectual and sociocultural content in elementary and middle school curricula. Illustrations are drawn from research underway on the teaching of literacy in low socioeconomic schools.     

Engaging students in environmental research projects: Perceptions of fluency with innovative technologies and levels of scientific inquiry abilities

The purpose of this mixed‐method study was to investigate the changes in high school students' perceptions of fluency with innovative technologies (IT) and the levels of students' scientific inquiry abilities as a result of engaging students in long‐term scientific research projects focusing on community‐based environmental issues. Over a span of 3 years, a total of 125 ninth‐ through twelfth‐grade students participated in this study. A project‐specific Likert‐scale survey consisting of three parts (fluency with All Technologies, GPS/GIS, and CBL2/EasyData) was administered to all students as a pre‐ and post‐test. At the end of the study, 45 students were randomly interviewed and asked to elaborate on the changes in their perceptions of fluency with IT. The results indicated statistically significant increases (p < 0.001) in students' perceptions of their fluency with IT. Qualitative analysis of students' interview results corroborated the statistical findings of students' changes in perceptions of their fluency with IT. Students' research papers based on the environmental studies conducted at the interface of classroom and community were analyzed using the Scientific Inquiry Rubrics, which consist of 11 criteria developed by the researchers. Results indicated the students' abilities to conduct scientific inquiry for 7 out of 11 criteria were at the proficient level. This study clearly points to the correlation between the development of IT fluency and ability levels to engage in scientific inquiry based on respective competencies. Ultimately, this research study recommends that students' IT fluency ought to be developed and assessed concurrently with an emphasis on contemporary higher order scientific inquiry abilities. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 94–116, 2011     

Antecedents and outcomes of joint trajectories of mother-son conflict and warmth during middle childhood and adolescence

This study investigated the development of mother-son relationship quality from ages 5 to 15 in a sample of 265 low-income families. Nonparametric random effects modeling was utilized to uncover distinct and homogeneous developmental trajectories of conflict and warmth; antecedents and outcomes of the trajectory groups also were examined. Four conflict trajectory groups and 3 warmth trajectory groups were identified. Difficult temperament in early childhood discriminated both conflict and warmth trajectory group membership (TGM), and adult relationship quality in early childhood was related to warmth trajectories. In addition, conflict TGM differentiated youth antisocial behavior during adolescence, and warmth trajectories predicted adolescent peer relationship quality and youth moral disengagement. Implications for socialization processes are discussed.     

Beyond Science: Implications of the LSIE Report for Art Museum Education

Abstract The Learning Science in Informal Environments report holds great potential for creating change among those who work in the field of science education. But to what extent can it inform other sectors of the informal education world? This article explores how the LSIE report might influence research and practice in art museums. By comparing the report to a recent study in art education, the authors point out areas of overlap and divergence relative to content and skills, identity, and communities of practice. We suggest several implications for how art museums and science museums might learn from one another. A call to action is made for further research and discussion about common learning goals and outcomes for the art museum experience.