Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distance-regulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200–800 ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=10, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver–child interactions.     

Self-Regulated Learning of a Motor Skill Through Emulation and Self-Control Levels in a Physical Education Setting

This study examined the effectiveness of the second and third level of Zimmerman's (2000) model of self-regulated learning development. Participants were 72 (28 boys and 44 girls) fifth- and sixth-grade students who practiced the novel task of dart-throwing. Results showed that sixth-grade Greek students who proceeded sequentially from the emulation to the self-control level improved their dart-throwing performance more than students who missed one or both of these levels, but fifth-grade students benefited equally either from the sequential practice at the emulation and the self-control level or from the experience at one of these self-regulatory levels. No differences were found in self-efficacy, although sixth-grade students who practiced at the emulation level reported higher satisfaction, and sixth-grade students who practiced at the self-control level reported higher intrinsic motivation compared to control group students. These results attest to the effectiveness of learning at the emulation and self-control levels and are discussed with reference to the social cognitive model of self-regulation development.     

Congruence between social values and implicit motives: effects on life satisfaction across three cultures

This study examines the relationship between implicit motives for intimacy‐affiliation and power, explicit value orientations, and life satisfaction. The Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Schwartz Value Survey, and a bias‐free TAT‐type picture‐story‐test were administered to 319 adult participants in Cameroon, Costa Rica, and Germany. The stories were coded for motive imagery reflecting needs for intimacy‐affiliation and power. Based on motives associated with the domain intimacy‐affiliation, the results revealed that an alignment of implicit motives and self‐attributed values is associated with an enhanced life satisfaction across cultures. In contrast, no such relationship could be found for motives and values associated with the domain of power. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job security and job satisfaction among Greek fitness instructors

In analyzing the relation between job satisfaction and job security, a sample of 97 Greek fitness instructors, 18 to 42 years of age, showed statistically significant positive correlations between job security and job satisfaction (p<.002). Particularly, job security was correlated with pay .54, promotion .43, job itself .41, and the organization as a whole .43.     

The Relationships Between Athletes’ Perceptions of Coach-Created Motivational Climate,Self-Talk,and Self-Efficacy in Youth Soccer

The purpose of this study was to explore the mediating role of self-talk in the relationship between athletes’ perceptions of coach-created motivational climate and athletes’ self-efficacy. Two hundred eighty-nine youth soccer players (M = 11.63 years, SD = 1.55 years) completed the Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sport, the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire, and a self-efficacy measure for soccer. The results showed that only positive and not negative self-talk mediated the relationship between empowering motivational climate and self-efficacy, whereas no relationship emerged between disempowering climate and self-efficacy, highlighting the role of self-talk explaining this relationship.     

Reference,perception, and attention

I examine John Campbell’s claim that the determination of the reference of a perceptual demonstrative requires conscious visual object-based selective attention. I argue that although Campbell’s claim to the effect that, first, a complex binding parameter is needed to establish the referent of a perceptual demonstrative, and, second, that this referent is determined independently of, and before, the application of sortals is correct, this binding parameter does not require object-based attention for its construction. If object-based attention were indeed required then the determination of the referent would necessarily involve the application of sortal concepts, since object-based attention initiates top-down cognitive effects on visual processing. I also examine Mohan Matthen’s claim that reference to objects is established only through the visual processing in the dorsal visual stream and argue that although it is true that processing in the dorsal stream can determine reference, a thesis that goes against Campbell’s view that the determination of the referent requires conscious attention, processing along the ventral visual stream can also establish the reference of perceptual demonstratives. It also claim that Matthen’s account of dorsal processing underestimates the kind of information processed along the dorsal stream and this has some implications regarding perceptual demonstratives reference fixing.

Self-regulated learning in physical education: Examining the effects of emulative and self-control practice

Objective

This study examined the effectiveness of sequential practice from the emulation to the self-control level of the social cognitive model of self-regulated learning development. The model proposes that students who practice with social feedback at the emulation level first and then set goals and self-record their performance at the self-control level master sport skills effectively.

Design

The design included one between-subjects factor, the group with five levels and one within-subjects factor, time (pre-test, post-test).

Method

One hundred fifth and sixth grade students (40 boys and 60 girls) were assigned to four experimental and one control group and practiced the basketball dribble.

Results

The results showed that students of all experimental groups improved their dribbling performance from pre- to post-test. Students who received social feedback and observed repeated demonstrations at the emulation level and then set process or performance goals and self-recorded their performance at the self-control level improved their dribbling performance more than students who missed emulative practice. No improvement was found for control group students.

Conclusions

These results supported the effectiveness of the social cognitive model of self-regulated learning development, showing that this model can be used as an instructional approach for teaching sport skills in physical education.     

Achievement goals and self-talk in physical education: The moderating role of perceived competence

Self-talk plays a key role in performance and self-regulation. One of the antecedents that may influence individual’s self-talk are achievement goal orientations. Three studies of 628, 313 and 1,169 participants were conducted to examine the relationships between positive and negative self-talk, perceived competence and achievement goals using two theoretical models of achievement goals. The participants completed the Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sports, the Task and Ego Orientation in Physical Education, the physical self-perception profile, and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised. The results revealed additive and interactive effects of achievement goals and perceived competence on students’ positive and negative self-talk. Overall, the results stressed the potential role of achievement goals and perceived competence as personal factors that influence students’ self-talk.