The audience for television news interview programs

An experiment investigated if graphic censorship disclaimers affect memory or thought elaboration for television news stories of the 1991 Persian Gulf war. Viewer assessment of the credibility of censored news also was considered. Subjects listed their thoughts about each story, and their memory was tested as recognition latency. Subjects who rated the credibility of censored news as moderate scored highest on the memory task, but listed the fewest number of negative mentions about the government named as censor in the stories. Under some conditions, results show that the more viewers thought about the source of the censorship, the lesser they remembered images from the stories.     

Implementing electronic lab order entry management in hospitals: Incremental strategies lead to better productivity outcomes

This paper evaluates the impact of varying implementation of electronic lab order entry management (eLAB) system strategies on hospitals’ productivity in the short run. Using the American Hospital Association's Annual Surveys for 2005–2008, we developed hospital productivity measures to assess facilities’ relative performances upon implementing eLAB systems. The results indicate that different eLAB system implementation strategies were systematically related to changes in hospitals’ relative productivity levels over the years studied. Hospitals that partially implemented an eLAB system without completing the roll-out experienced negative impacts on productivity. The greatest loss in short-term productivity was experienced by facilities that moved from having no eLAB system to a complete implantation in one year—a strategy called the “Big Bang”. The hybrid approach of a limited introduction in one period followed by complete roll-out in the next year was the only eLAB system implementation strategy associated with significant productivity gains. Our findings support a very specific strategy for eLAB system implementation where facilities began with a one-year pilot program immediately followed by an organization-wide implementation effort in the next period.     

‘Putting up your Dukes’: Statues social memory and Duke Paoa Kahanamoku

Public statues that commemorate the lives and achievements of athletes are pervasive and influential forms of social memory in Western societies. Despite this important nexus between cultural practice and history making, there is a relative void of critical studies of statuary dedicated to athletes. This article will attempt to contribute to a broader understanding in this area by considering a bronze statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian Olympian, swimmer and surfer, at Waikīkī, Hawaii. This prominent monument demonstrates the processes of remembering and forgetting that are integral to acts of social memory. In this case, Kahanamoku's identity as a surfer is foregrounded over his legacy as a swimmer. The distillation and use of Kahanamoku's memory in this representation is enmeshed in deeper cultural forces about Hawaii's identity. Competing meanings of the statue's symbolism indicate its role as a ‘hollow icon’, and illustrate the way that apparently static objects representing the sporting past are in fact objects of the present.     

Pre-competition imagery,self-efficacy and performance in collegiate golfers

In this study, we examined the relationships between self-efficacy, pre-competition imagery use and performance. A modified version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire was used to assess both the motivational and cognitive functions of imagery used by 51 varsity golfers during the hour before a Provincial University Golf Championship. In line with Martin and co-workers' model of imagery use in sport, we hypothesized that self-efficacy would be positively related to motivational general-mastery imagery use and motivational generalmastery imagery use would be predictive of golf performance. Also, consistent with theorizing by Bandura, we hypothesized that self-efficacy would predict golf performance, but that the relationship between self-efficacy and performance would be mediated by imagery use. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that pre-competition motivational general-mastery imagery accounted for significant variance in both self-efficacy (adjusted R 2 = 0.26, P ? 0.01) and performance (adjusted R 2 = 0.31, P ? 0.01). The results also indicated that self-efficacy was predictive of golf performance and that motivational general-mastery imagery use mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and performance. The results are discussed in relation to athletes' pre-competition preparation and intervention.     

Carnosine and taurine contents in individual fibres of human vastus lateralis muscle

Analysis of ATPase characterized type I and type II fibres from biopsy samples of the vastus lateralis muscle of four male subjects showed a selective distribution of carnosine and free taurine similar to that observed in other species. The mean carnosine concentration was twice as high in type II compared with type I muscle fibres (23.2 +/- 17.8 and 10.5 +/- 7.6 mmol . kg -1 dry weight, respectively), while taurine was four times higher in type I compared with type II muscle fibres (39.2 +/- 17.8 and 9.6 +/- 2.6 mmol . kg -1 dw, respectively). Overlap in the concentration of carnosine or taurine between fibre types occurred only once in one subject. There was no overlap between fibre types in the ratio of carnosine to taurine. Higher carnosine concentrations in type II fibres will result in a greater contribution to the buffering of H+ arising from anaerobic metabolism. The contribution in a type II fibre with the highest carnosine content was estimated to equal 28% of that from other sources.     

An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport

Abstract

Coping strategies are important for performance in sport and individual differences may contribute to the coping strategies adopted by athletes. In this study, we explored the main and interactive effects of the big five personality dimensions on sport-related coping and compared personality profiles of discrete groups of athletes. Altogether, 253 athletes (mean age 21.1 years, s = 3.7) completed the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. Revised NEO personality inventory and NEO five-factor inventory: Professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]), and the Coping Function Questionnaire for Sport (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001 Kowalski, K. C. and Crocker, P. R. E. 2001. Development and validation of the Coping Function Questionnaire for adolescents in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23: 136–155. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results showed that extraverted athletes, who were also emotionally stable and open to new experiences (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of problem-focused coping strategies. Conscientious athletes (main effect), and athletes displaying high levels of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and athletes with low levels of openness, or high levels of neuroticism (main effects), reported a greater use of avoidance coping strategies. Different personality characteristics were observed between higher-level and lower-level athletes, between men and women athletes, and between individual and team sport athletes. These findings suggest that the five-factor model of personality can help distinguish various levels of athletic involvement and can help identify the coping strategies athletes are likely to adopt during participation.