Judo

Twenty male judo players (10 black belt; 10 novice) executed the major outer leg reap, osoto‐gari, with maximal effort. Each throw was recorded within the two‐dimensional sagittal plane using a 60 Hz video camera. Kinematic data that best described the power of the ‘tori's’ (thrower's) sweeping leg and the velocity of the ‘uke's’ (recipient's) falling body were analysed using a Peak Performance Technologies Inc. Motus system. Data from black belt and novice groups were statistically analysed using a one‐way MANOVA (p = .05). Statistical analysis found only two variables for the ‘tori’ (peak angular velocity of the trunk; TTRK, and peak angular velocity of the ankle; TANK) to be significantly different. Large TTRK values for the black belt group indicated a proficient ability to create large momentum on the upper body of the ‘uke’. Significantly larger differences in trunk rotation velocities of the ‘uke’ by the black belt group reinforced this notion. These differences were attributed to good upper body to upper body contact or impact, which is considered an important aspect of the ‘osoto‐gari’. Significant differences in TANK values stressed the importance of executing plantar flexion near sweep contact. The results emphasised the importance of using the sweeping leg in a sequential kinetic link motion rather than as a single rigid segment.     

The within-participant correlation between perception of effort and heart rate-based estimations of training load in elite soccer players

ABSTRACT

The measurement of relative physiological stress during training is important because this is the stimulus for the long-term adaptive response. Measurements of perceived exertion (RPE) have been reported to correlate with the heart rate during field-based training sessions. Nevertheless, there are few studies on how well RPE tracks with the heart rate over repeated training sessions in elite soccer players. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the within-participant correlations between variability in session-RPE (sRPE) and the heart rate in elite male soccer players, and to determine whether the playing position moderated these correlations. The field-based training of four central defenders, four wide defenders, six central midfielders, two wide midfielders and three attackers from an elite English Premier League squad were monitored over an entire in-season competitive period, giving a total of 1010 individual training sessions for study. Correlations between session-RPE and heart rates were quantified using a within-participant model. The correlation between changes in sRPE and heart rates was r = 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71–0.78). This correlation remained high across the various player positions (wide-defender, r = 0.81; central-defender, r = 0.74; wide midfielder, r = 0.70; central midfielder, r = 0.70; attacker, r = 0.84; P < 0.001). The correlation between changes in RPE and heart rates, measured during a season-long period of field-based training, is high in a sample of elite soccer players.     

Using silent motion pictures to teach complex syntax to adult deaf readers

This research tested whether silent motion pictures could be a source of contexts that fostered comprehension of relative clause and passive voice sentences during reading. These two syntactic structures are chronically difficult for some deaf readers. According to the instructional strategy, while subjects watched silent comedy stories, the video display intermittently focused attention on short segments of action and then called for a decision regarding which of two sentences printed in a workbook described the action segment. After this, a display on the video screen provided feedback on the accuracy of the decision. If successful here, this approach might be applied to other areas of competence in order to elevate the generally low level of reading performance by many deaf students. The study applied a single subject design in order to measure sentence comprehension accuracy before and following use of the materials. The computerized testing procedure also measured sentence reading time, an index of attention use. Thus, these data allowed an examination of whether any increases in comprehension were associated with slower, more laborious rates of reading. The instructional approach was an indirect one sharing multiple aspects of whole language methodology, and the sample included deaf subjects at a variety of reading ability levels. This permitted examination of whether an indirect instructional approach could be successful with readers demonstrating relatively low reading ability. The central research question of the study was the following 'Can this instructional method be effective with deaf readers?'.     

From the Margins to the Mainstream: Potential Impact of Early Colleges on Traditional High Schools

Early colleges are one alternative to the traditional comprehensive high school. This article describes the establishment of an early college in partnership with a university, including the experiences for students, the challenges for teachers, and the difficulties in bridging higher and kindergarten through Grade-12 educations. The article considers the potential for these new, small high schools to impact the traditional high school.     

Dissociation of the effect of reinforcer type and response strength on the force of a conditioned response

A dissociation between the effect of reinforcer type and response strength on the force of the pigeon’s keypeck response was shown in three experiments. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained to peck two conditioned stimuli, one paired with water and another paired with grain. The pigeons made more forceful pecks for grain than for water and also showed a tendency, albeit an unreliable one, to respond on a higher percentage of food trials than water trials. In Experiment 2, the pigeons from Experiment 1 were satiated with either food or water and were then presented with the two conditioned stimuli in an extinction test. It was found that, regardless of the drive state, the pigeons made more forceful pecks to the stimulus that predicted food than to the stimulus that predicted water. In the thirsty group, however, this difference in force was not accompanied by a difference in the percentage of trials with a response. In Experiment 3, pigeons trained with a single reinforcer pecked more often on instrumentally reinforced trials than on Pavlovian conditioning trials, but there was no difference in the force of the pecks. Taken together, these results imply that differences in response strength cannot account for the difference between the force of food- and water-reinforced pecks. Instead, stimulus-substitution theory may provide the best account of the topography of the two types of pecks.