Ball launch conditions for skilled golfers using drivers of different lengths in an indoor testing facility

The displacement of the golf ball struck by a driving club is affected by several player characteristics and equipment parameters and their interrelationships. Some modelling and simulation studies have shown a relationship between shaft length and clubhead speed, supported by a few experimental studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between driver length and ball launch conditions in an indoor test facility using a ball launch monitor. Nine males considered to be skilled golfers participated in the study. Four driving clubs of total length 117, 119, 124, and 132 cm were assembled from commercially available components and were used to strike golf shots while initial ball velocity, backspin rate, and launch angles were measured. Statistical analysis identified a significant difference in initial launch speed due to club length, a significant difference between participants, but no difference between the trials for a given golfer. A positive trend was noted between backspin and launch angle for all four clubs, and significant inverse associations between initial launch speed and backspin rate and launch angle. However, the combined launch conditions associated with increasing length were not considered optimal, with uncontrolled swingweight and moment of inertia effects considered to be limiting factors.     

Coordination of perspective by sixth graders and teacher trainees

Sixth grade students were compared by sex for their performance on two perspective coordination tasks. Responses were compared with understanding of the principle that still water remains invariantly horizontal. Forty-eight randomly selected sixth grade students (24 girls and 24 boys) and 12 college women were individually shown a standardized three-dimensional scene. While seated in a single position, subjects completed two tasks: (1) selecting from a set of 12 pictures (displayed together) the one which could be seen from each of eight positions marked on the displayed scene and (2) choosing the positions from which could be seen eight of the 12 pictures (shown one at a time). Four of the 12 pictures were mirror images which were impossible views. Males outperformed females on both of the coordination-of-perspective tasks. For both males and females, choosing the place was more difficult than choosing the picture. Strong relationships were found between understanding of horizontality and performance on the perspective tasks. Selection of mirror images (impossible views) indicated more understanding of perspective than other, less systematic errors. Finally, female teacher trainees performed only marginally better than sixth grade students, suggesting possible remediation needs.     

Kinematic analysis of hip and knee rotation and other contributors to ballet turnout

Turnout, or external rotation (ER) of the lower extremities, is essential in ballet. The purpose of this study was to utilise physical examination and a biomechanical method for obtaining functional kinematic data using hip and knee joint centres to identify the relative turnout contributions from hip rotation, femoral anteversion, knee rotation, tibial torsion, and other sources. Ten female dancers received a lower extremity alignment assessment, including passive hip rotation, femoral anteversion, tibial torsion, weightbearing foot alignment, and Beighton hypermobility score. Next, turnout was assessed using plantar pressure plots and three-dimensional motion analysis; participants performed turnout to ballet first position on both a plantar pressure mat and friction-reducing discs. A retro-reflective functional marker motion capture system mapped the lower extremities and hip and knee joint centres. Mean total turnout was 129±15.7° via plantar pressure plots and 135±17.8° via kinematics. Bilateral hip ER during turnout was 49±10.2° (36% of total turnout). Bilateral knee ER during turnout was 41±5.9° (32% of total turnout). Hip ER contribution to total turnout measured kinematically was less than expected compared to other studies, where hip ER was determined without functional kinematic data. Knee ER contributed substantially more turnout than expected or previously reported. This analysis method allows precise assessment of turnout contributors.     

New media environments’ comparative effects upon intercultural sensitivity: A five-dimensional analysis

An experimental 2 (channel) × 2 (gender) × 3 (time) mixed factorial design (N = 159) was applied to test and compare how individual dimensions of intercultural sensitivity might be affected by two channels: a virtual environment (i.e., Second Life^®) versus a Web environment. Using a modified version of Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), the study sought to identify which of the five ISS dimensions played the most influential role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes: interaction enjoyment, interaction engagement, interaction confidence, interaction attentiveness, or respect for cultural differences. Results showed that one's willingness and effort toward understanding an intercultural interaction – interaction attentiveness – played the greatest and most statistically significant role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes, and that this effect was greatest within the virtual environment channel. Gender effects were also found, in which men experienced greater enjoyment but women expressed more attentiveness.     

ROUSSEAU'S IMAGINARY FRIEND: CHILDHOOD,PLAY, AND SUSPICION OF THE IMAGINATION IN EMILE

In this essay Amy Shuffelton considers Jean‐Jacques Rousseau's suspicion of imagination, which is, paradoxically, offered in the context of an imaginative construction of a child's upbringing. First, Shuffelton articulates Rousseau's reasons for opposing children's development of imagination and their engagement in the sort of imaginative play that is nowadays considered a hallmark of early and middle childhood. Second, she weighs the merits of Rousseau's opposition, which runs against the consensus of contemporary social science research on childhood imaginative play. Ultimately, Shuffelton argues that Rousseau's work offers an important cautionary note to enthusiasts of children's imaginative play, due to the potentially disruptive influence of consumer capitalism, though she also notes that imagination may play a more redemptive role than Rousseau granted it.