Hypercorrection of high confidence errors in children

Three experiments investigated whether the hypercorrection effect – the finding that errors committed with high confidence are easier, rather than more difficult, to correct than are errors committed with low confidence – occurs in grade school children as it does in young adults. All three experiments showed that Grade 3–6 children hypercorrected high confidence errors and the children also claimed that they ‘knew those answers all along.’ Experiment 2 included two second-guess tasks following error commission, one in which the children attempted to choose the correct answer from six options and the other in which they tried to generate a correct second response. Neither provided evidence that children actually knew high confidence corrections all along. Experiment 3, however, showed that the children had some preferential partial knowledge insofar as they needed fewer hints to guess the correct answers to high confidence than to low confidence errors.     

Prevalence and correlates of physical fitness testing in U.S. schools--2000

Because of the perceived lack of youth physical fitness and/or concerns for increased obesity, physical education teachers are interested in youth fitness and physical activity levels. Statewide mandates are being developed that require school-based teachers to complete physical fitness testing. Data from the nationally representative School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 were analyzed to investigate the prevalence of fitness testing and the professional characteristics of fitness test users. Data were collected with teachers of either randomly selected classes in elementary schools and randomly selected required physical education courses in middle/junior high and senior high schools (N = 1,564). The prevalence of fitness test use is 65% across all school levels. Variables associated with physical fitness test usage were professionally oriented. Results showed that teachers in secondary schools (odds ratio [OR] = 2.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] = I.18-4.27), those with degrees in physical education/kinesiology-related disciplines (OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.11-3.63), and those who had completed staff development on physical fitness testing (OR = 3.22, 95% CI = 1.86-5.60) were more likely than respondents without these characteristics to engage in physical fitness testing. Results changed little when separate analyses were conducted for classes/courses in districts requiring versus not requiring fitness testing. Financial variables, including fitness-oriented facilities available, metropolitan location, and discretionary expenditures per student, were not associated with fitness test use. Results provided national prevalence of school-based physical fitness testing use in the U. S. and conveyed information about those who currently use physical fitness tests.     

Examining relative age effects on performance achievement and participation rates in Masters athletes

Although the relative age effect has been widely observed in youth sports (Musch & Grondin, 2001), it is unclear whether it generalizes across the lifespan. The purpose of this study was to examine the relative age effect among a population of Masters athletes using archived data. Two successive studies examined the frequency of record-setting achievements (Study 1) and the frequency of participation entries (Study 2) at the US Masters track-and-field and swimming championships as a function of an individual's constituent year within any 5-year age category. Results of Study 1 indicated that the probability of setting a record increased if Masters athletes were in the first year, and decreased if they were in the third, fourth or fifth year, of an age category. Results of Study 2 indicated that the likelihood of participating in the National championships increased if Masters athletes were in the first or second year, and decreased if they were in the fourth or fifth year, of an age category. We highlight and discuss potential advantages afforded to Masters athletes who are relatively younger than their peers in the same 5-year age category.