Functional Mental Representation of Volleyball Routines in German Youth Female National Players

The purpose of this study was to examine the overhand volleyball service routines of the German Youth Female National Team. Mental representations of this movement were reconstructed using the Structure Dimensional Analysis-Motoric method. The Routine Questionnaire was administered to collect self-report data. Results indicated that the mental representations of routines are organized in a hierarchical, tree-like structure. The movement mental representations of players not selected to the national team were organized in a less hierarchical manner. The coach's performance ranking was significantly correlated to the athlete's mental representation invariance values (structure quality), indicating a close relationship between mental representation and performance.     

Sub‐threshold autism traits: The role of trait emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility

Theory and research suggests that features of autism are not restricted to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and that autism‐like traits vary throughout the general population at lower severities. The present research first investigated the relationship of autism traits with trait emotional intelligence and empathy in a sample of 163 adults aged between 18 and 51 years (44% male). It then examined performance on a set of tasks assessing social cognition and cognitive flexibility in 69 participants with either high or low scores on ASD traits. Results confirm that there is pronounced variation within the general population relating to ASD traits, which reflect similar (though less severe) social‐cognitive and emotional features to those observed in ASDs.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Sport Organizational Effectiveness Scale

The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of the 5-factor model of sport organizational effectiveness developed by Papadimitriou and Taylor. This questionnaire has 33 items which assess five composite effectiveness dimensions pertinent to the operation of sport organizations: calibre of the board and external liaisons, interest in athletes, internal procedures, long term planning, and sport science support. The multiple constituency approach was used as a theoretical framework for developing this scale. Data were obtained from respondents affiliated with 20 Greek national sport organizations with a questionnaire. Analysis indicated that the 5-factor model of effectiveness is workable in assessing the organizational performance of nonprofit sport organizations. The application of the multiple constituency approach in studying sport organizational effectiveness was also suggested.     

Discrimination of young women athletes and nonathletes based on anthropometric jumping and muscular strength measures

The goal was to identify the anthropometric, jumping ability, and muscular strength measures which contributed most to discrimination among young women in track-and-field jumping (n = 20, Jumping group), volleyball (n = 20, Volleyball group), and girls in no activity (n=20, Control group). Using analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis the Jumping group, as compared to the Volleyball group, had smaller elbow breadth, knee breadth, upper arm circumference, proximal-, mid-, and distal-thigh circumferences, sum of skinfolds, and mesomorphy rating, and Jumping athletes showed larger jump height and muscular strength than the Volleyball group. Measures which contributed most to the discrimination between these groups were the distal-thigh circumference and jump height. Results could, to some extent, help training orientation of young women athletes by identifying whatever factors affect the measures indicated here as the most sensitive discriminators.     

Self-determination in sport commitment

The study tested utility of self-determination and sport commitment theories to understanding young athletes' sport commitment. 343 young athletes (M= 13.5 yr., SD= +/- 1.1) from soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball, and water polo teams volunteered to participate. All completed the Sport Motivation Scale and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire. Pearson correlations showed a strong relationship between commitment and intrinsic motivation scores. In contrast, extrinsic motivation scores were not significantly correlated to commitment, whereas amotivation scores showed a negative correlation to commitment. Path analysis resulted in strong positive association of intrinsic motivation and commitment. Amotivation had small negative relation to commitment. According to the model tested, social constraints and involvement opportunities were not significant contributors to sport commitment. An alternative model supported the mediating role of enjoyment to psychological commitment. The results showed that high self-determination is supportive of sport commitment, whereas low self-determination reduces sport commitment.     

Common Brain Structural Alterations Associated with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Alzheimer’s Dementia: Future Directions and Implications

Neuropsychology Review - Recent reports suggest declines in the age-specific risk of Alzheimer’s dementia in higher income Western countries. At the same time, investigators believe that...     

A self-determination theory account of self-authorship: Implications for law and public policy

Self-authorship has been established as the basis of an influential liberal principle of legislation and public policy. Being the author of one’s own life is a significant component of one’s own well-being, and therefore is better understood from the viewpoint of the person whose life it is. However, most philosophical accounts, including Raz’s conception of self-authorship, rely on general and abstract principles rather than specific, individual psychological properties of the person whose life it is. We elaborate on the principles of self-authorship on the basis of self-determination theory, an empirically based psychological theory that has been at the forefront of the study of autonomy and self-authorship for more than 45 years. Our account transcends distinctions between positive and negative freedom and attempts to pinpoint the exact properties of self-authorship within the psychological processes of intrinsic motivation and internalization. If a primary objective of public policy is to support self-authorship, then it should be devised on the basis of how intrinsic motivation and internalization can be properly supported. Self-determination theory identifies three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The satisfaction of these needs is associated with the support and growth of intrinsic tendencies and the advancement of well-being. Through this analysis, we can properly evaluate the significance of rationality, basic goods, and the availability of options to self-authorship. Implications for law and policy are discussed with an emphasis on legal paternalism and what many theorists call “liberal perfectionism,” that is, the non-coercive support and promotion of the good life.     

The influence of attention on value integration

People often have to make decisions based on many pieces of information. Previous work has found that people are able to integrate values presented in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream to make informed judgements on the overall stream value (Tsetsos et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(24), 9659–9664, 2012). It is also well known that attentional mechanisms influence how people process information. However, it is unknown how attentional factors impact value judgements of integrated material. The current study is the first of its kind to investigate whether value judgements are influenced by attentional processes when assimilating information. Experiments 1–3 examined whether the attentional salience of an item within an RSVP stream affected judgements of overall stream value. The results showed that the presence of an irrelevant high or low value salient item biased people to judge the stream as having a higher or lower overall mean value, respectively. Experiments 4–7 directly tested Tsetsos et al.’s (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(24), 9659–9664, 2012) theory examining whether extreme values in an RSVP stream become over-weighted, thereby capturing attention more than other values in the stream. The results showed that the presence of both a high (Experiments 4, 6 and 7) and a low (Experiment 5) value outlier captures attention leading to less accurate report of subsequent items in the stream. Taken together, the results showed that valuations can be influenced by attentional processes, and can lead to less accurate subjective judgements.