Effects of a motivational climate inntervention for coaches on young athletes' sport performance anxiety

The mastery approach to coaching is a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to promote a mastery-involving motivational climate, shown in previous research to be related to lower anxiety in athletes. We tested the effects of this intervention on motivational climate and on changes in male and female athletes'cognitive and somatic performance anxiety over the course of a basketball season. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that the athletes in the intervention condition perceived their coaches as being more mastery-involving on the Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sports when compared to athletes in an untreated control condition. Relative to athletes who played for untrained coaches, those who played for the trained coaches exhibited decreases on all subscales of the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 and on total anxiety score from preseason to late season. Control group athletes reported increases in anxiety over the season. The intervention had equally positive effects on boys and girls teams.     

A comparison of self-focus versus attentional explanations of choking

This study examined attentional processes underlying skilled motor performance in threatening situations. Twenty-four trained participants performed a simulated rally driving task under conditions designed either to direct the focus of attention toward the explicit monitoring of driving or a distracting secondary task. Performance (lap time) was compared with a "driving only" control condition. Each condition was completed under nonevaluative and evaluative instructional sets designed to manipulate anxiety. Mental effort was indexed by self-report and dual-task performance measures. The results showed little change in performance in the high-threat explicit monitoring task condition, compared with either the low-threat or the high-threat distraction conditions. Mental effort increased, however, in all high- as opposed to low-threat conditions. Performance effectiveness was therefore maintained under threat although this was at the expense of reduced processing efficiency. The results provide stronger support for the predictions of processing efficiency theory than self-focus theories of choking.     

Carbohydrate and carbohydrate + protein for cycling time-trial performance

Carbohydrate intake during endurance exercise delays the onset of fatigue and improves performance. Two recent cycling studies have reported increased time to exhaustion when protein is ingested together with carbohydrate. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that ingestion of a carbohydrate + protein beverage will lead to significant improvements in cycling time-trial performance relative to placebo and carbohydrate alone. Thirteen cyclists completed 120 min of constant-load ergometer cycling. Thereafter, participants performed a time-trial in which they completed a set amount of work (7 kJ kg(-1)) as quickly as possible. Participants completed four experimental trials, the first for familiarization and then three randomized, double-blind treatments consisting of a placebo, carbohydrate, and carbohydrate + protein. Participants received 250 ml of beverage every 15 min during the constant-load ride. Time-trial performance for carbohydrate (37.1 min, s = 3.8) was significantly (P < 0.05) faster than placebo (39.7 min, s = 4.6). Time-trial performance for carbohydrate + protein (38.8 min, s = 5.5) was not significantly different from either placebo or carbohydrate. Ingestion of a carbohydrate beverage during two hours of constant-load cycling significantly enhanced subsequent time-trial performance compared with placebo. The carbohydrate + protein beverage provided no additional performance benefit.     

Read-Think-Aloud Protocols: A New Data-Source for Formative Evaluation

Traditional approaches to formative evaluation include one-to-one trials which provide some information about revisions that are needed in instructional materials, but typically fail to provide sufficient information about the learner's cognitive processing problems while studying the materials. Read-think-aloud methods are a viable alternative to traditional one-to-ones and provide valuable information about the learner's cognitive processing while reading instructional text. In this paper we describe the read-think-aloud method of formative evaluation and offer suggestions for its use.     

Relationships between scores on Stanford-Binet IV and Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence

A kindergarten class of 9 boys and 11 girls took the 1986 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Fourth Edition) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Of 6 correlations of total scores and subtest pairs, only the correlation of total scores was statistically significant (p<.01).     

Performing Bandung: China’s dance diplomacy with India,Indonesia, and Burma, 1953–1962

While dance was a common element of international diplomacy activities around the world during the 1950s and early 1960s, scholars have only recently begun to focus attention on this topic, especially as it concerns relationships forged beyond those of the Cold War superpowers. Using previously unexamined historical materials such as rare photographs and performance programs, dancer biographies, autobiographies and personal interviews, unpublished institutional histories, and contemporary periodicals, this article demonstrates not only that dance was an integral part of China’s inter-Asian cultural exchange between 1953 and 1962, but also that the PRC developed a distinct approach to dance diplomacy. Through a series of exchanges with India, Indonesia and Burma, China’s foreign ministers and dancers developed and refined a method of dance diplomacy in which the primary goal was to learn from, rather than export to, these neighboring countries. This approach harnessed the affective power of embodied aesthetic culture to literally “perform” Bandung ideals, namely, cooperation and mutual respect among Asian nations and an anti-imperialist cultural stance. Through the establishment in 1962 of the Oriental Song and Dance Ensemble, the PRC institutionalized this model of dance diplomacy, expanding it to include the entire Third World. Bandung-era dance diplomacy initiatives of the 1950s and early 1960s not only supported important new international alliances and political movements, but also asserted China’s self-identity as part of the East in the way that challenged Eurocentric ideals previously entrenched in China’s domestic dance field.     

Linking corporate social responsibility in sport with community development: an added source of community value

This paper investigates the attributes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes in sport and their potential for sustainable community development. The gap between sport-related CSR and community development needs to be filled by shifting attention to the capacity building of communities. While the neoliberal foundations of CSR are recognized, it is essential to understand the ideological varieties driving CSR that can enable inclusiveness and collaboration in fostering community benefits of CSR programmes. The paper contributes to the literature on CSR in sport advancing the discourse, and sets the stage for a community-based framework for research: (1) related to sport as a tool for social change; (2) exploring the relationship of organizational motives, stakeholder engagement and CSR programme design/implementation; and (3) evaluating the perceived benefits of CSR programmes, and the extent to which these can help achieve sustainable community development.     

Further investigation of the correlations among the WISC-R,PIAT, and DAM

The authors replicated a study (White, 1979) in which high correlations were obtained among the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT), and the Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Man (DAM), and conclusions were drawn that all these instruments might not be necessary in the same test battery. The present study involved a larger sample (360 children). Much lower correlations among the instruments were obtained, although the pattern of correlation was similar. It was concluded that results of the White study may have overestimated the relationships between the variables because of factors unique to the sample. Test specificity appeared using the larger, normally distributed sample, suggesting a legitimate use of all three tests in a single battery.