Empathic Accuracy,Meta-Perspective,and Satisfaction in the Coach-Athlete Relationship

This study investigated the empathic accuracy of sixty coach-athlete dyads, its antecedents (meta-perceptions of relationship) and consequences (perceptions of satisfaction). An adaptation of Ickes's (2001) unstructured dyadic interaction paradigm was used to assess empathic accuracy whereby coach-athlete dyads were filmed during training. A selection of video clips containing the dyads' interactions during a typical training session were shown to them. The dyad members were asked to report their recollected thoughts and/or feelings while making inferences about what their partners' thought and felt at specific points of interaction. Empathic accuracy was estimated by comparing the dyads' self-reports and inferences. The results of a structural equation model analysis indicated an association between members' meta-perceptions or judgments that their partner is positive about the athletic relationship and increased empathic accuracy. Increased empathic accuracy was in turn associated with higher levels of satisfaction. These results are discussed based on issues they raise for theory and measurement.     

Searching through the hierarchy: How level of target categorization affects visual search

Does the same basic-level advantage commonly observed in the categorization literature also hold for targets in a search task? We answered this question by first conducting a category verification task to define a set of categories showing a standard basic-level advantage, which we then used as stimuli in a search experiment. Participants were cued with a picture preview of the target or its category name at either superordinate, basic, or subordinate levels, then shown a target-present/absent search display. Although search guidance and target verification was best using pictorial cues, the effectiveness of the categorical cues depended on the hierarchical level. Search guidance was best for the specific subordinate-level cues, whereas target verification showed a standard basic-level advantage. These findings demonstrate different hierarchical advantages for guidance and verification in categorical search. We interpret these results as evidence for a common target representation underlying categorical search guidance and verification.     

A Review of Finn,Fischer, and Handler (Eds.), Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment: A Casebook and Guide

Abstract

Oscar N. Myer The Language of Handwriting. Reviewed by Rose Wolfson

Klara Roman Handwriting: a Key to Personality. Reviewed by Rose Wolfson

Frank Victor Handwriting: A Personality Projection. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, 1952. American Lecture Series Monograph No. 96. Reviewed by Gerald S. Blum, Ph.D.

Robert I. Watson The Clinical Method in Psychology. New York: Harper &; Bros. 1951. $4.50. Reviewed by Walter G. Klopfer, Ph.D.     

Preparing Psychologists in Academic Health Centers for the Rapidly Changing Health Care Environment

The Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APAHC) convened its 5th National APAHC Conference in Boston March 3–5 2011. The conference and its theme, “Preparing Psychologists for a Rapidly Changing Health Care Environment,” brought psychologists from academic health centers together to examine how psychology can adapt to and help lead health care efforts in the face of health care reform. This paper reports on the conference and introduces the special issue of JCPMS that is dedicated to the conference. The conference theme is framed in the historical context of the four national conferences that preceded it. In examining the focus and topics of the preceding conferences, recurrent themes are identified and progress in certain areas is highlighted.     

How to have a radically minimal ontology

In this paper I further elucidate and defend a metaontological position that allows you to have a minimal ontology without embracing an error-theory of ordinary talk. On this view ‘there are Fs’ can be strictly and literally true without bringing an ontological commitment to Fs. Instead of a sentence S committing you to the things that must be amongst the values of the variables if it is true, I argue that S commits you to the things that must exist as truthmakers for S if it is true. I rebut some recent objections that have been levelled against this metaontological view.     

Individual differences in event-based prospective memory: Evidence for multiple processes supporting cue detection

The multiprocess view proposes that different processes can be used to detect event-based prospective memory cues, depending in part on the specificity of the cue. According to this theory, attentional processes are not necessary to detect focal cues, whereas detection of nonfocal cues requires some form of controlled attention. This notion was tested using a design in which we compared performance on a focal and on a nonfocal prospective memory task by participants with high or low working memory capacity. An interaction was found, such that participants with high and low working memory performed equally well on the focal task, whereas the participants with high working memory performed significantly better on the nonfocal task than did their counterparts with low working memory. Thus, controlled attention was only necessary for detecting event-based prospective memory cues in the nonfocal task. These results have implications for theories of prospective memory, the processes necessary for cue detection, and the successful fulfillment of intentions.     

An adolescent perspective on injury recovery and the return to sport

ObjectivesThe purpose of this investigation was to examine adolescent athletes' injury recovery and return-to-sport experiences. Given previous research highlighting competence, autonomy, and relatedness concerns among returning athletes (Podlog & Eklund, 2006), we sought to examine the extent to which basic psychological needs theory (BPNT: Ryan & Deci, 2007) could be used as framework for interpreting the research findings.DesignA qualitative design was employed in the present investigation.MethodEleven Australian athletes (M age = 15.3) who had incurred a range of severe injuries (e.g., anterior cruciate ligament tears, shoulder dislocations) were interviewed on 2–3 occasions (n = 27 interviews) spanning an 11-month period.ResultsAnalysis of the data revealed the following four key themes: (a) injury stress, (b) coping strategies, (c) experiences with social support, and (d) recovery outcomes. Injury stress provides insights into a range of stressors and strain responses reported by the adolescents across the recovery phases, while the theme on coping highlights the specific strategies used to maintain motivation, reduce uncertainties associated with the injury experience, and to keep focused on future athletic attainment. The third theme, experiences with social support, considers the transactions the adolescents held with members of their social network throughout their recovery. The final theme, recovery outcomes, describes participant perceptions of a successful/unsuccessful recovery and stress-related growth.ConclusionsResults suggest that competence and relatedness issues highlighted in BPNT may be relevant in exploring adolescent athletes' injury experience. Somewhat less evidence for the autonomy dimension of BPNT was apparent in adolescent comments.