Nurturing our future through effective mentoring: Developing roots as well as wings aaasp 1993 presidential address

Abstract

According to Scanlan, sport psychology is not for the faint hearted. She advises prospective sport psychologists to seriously assess the strength of their “pioneering spirit.” Sport psychologists, Scanlan continues, often have to travel uncharted routes, and they should make sure that they can handle the challenges, risks, and ambiguities. (Straub & Hinman, 1992, p. 307)     

Effects of performance anxiety on effort and performance in rock climbing: A test of processing efficiency theory

Abstract

Three studies examined the effort and performance of rock climbers in the context of processing efficiency theory. Anxiety was manipulated by different means in the three studies. In each study, the effort due only to the physical exertion of climbing was controlled for. Anxiety, effort, and performance were measured via self-report, an integrated heart rate measure, and belayer observation. Consistent with processing efficiency theory, the results showed that higher levels of anxiety were usually associated with higher levels of effort and commensurately higher levels of performance. However, the results also suggested that cognitive anxiety may not be the prime determinant of the effort and performance changes observed. Finally, the results suggested that other individual difference variables may play an important part in determining the extent to which individuals may be able to make use of anxiety-induced effort.     

Disorientation inhibits landmark use in 12-18-month-old infants

Recent research has indicated that, particularly under conditions of inertial disorientation, mammals may be sensitive to landmark configuration geometry at the expense of individual featural information when locating hidden goals. The current study sought to establish whether landmark use could be demonstrated in 12-18-month-old infants with and without a disorientation procedure, and with geometrically ambiguous landmark configurations. A peekaboo paradigm was employed in which infants learned to anticipate a peekaboo event after a cue from two locations within a circular arena, followed by a test trial from a novel position in which no peekaboo occurred after the cue. In all conditions, an isosceles triangle arrangement of landmarks was used, with peekaboo occurring between the landmarks of one of the two equal "sides", thus being geometrically ambiguous. In two conditions, the landmarks were distinctive, and in two further conditions, they were identical. In one of the distinctive conditions and one of the identical landmark conditions, infants underwent a disorientation procedure in between training and test trials. Only oriented infants with distinctive landmarks were successful in test trials, thus suggesting that infants are able to use the individual features of landmarks to locate a goal, but can only do so if oriented.     

Spatial dependence of color assimilation by the watercolor effect

Color assimilation with bichromatic contours was quantified for spatial extents ranging from von Bezold-type color assimilation to the watercolor effect. The magnitude and direction of assimilative hue change was measured as a function of the width of a rectangular stimulus. Assimilation was quantified by hue cancellation. Large hue shifts were required to null the color of stimuli < or = 9.3 min of arc in width, with an exponential decrease for stimuli increasing up to 7.4 deg. When stimuli were viewed through an achromatizing lens, the magnitude of the assimilation effect was reduced for narrow stimuli, but not for wide ones. These results demonstrate that chromatic aberration may account, in part, for color assimilation over small, but not large, surface areas.     

Convergent validity of the Agnew Relationship Measure and the Working Alliance Inventory

The convergent validity of the Agnew Relationship Measure (ARM) and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) was assessed in samples drawn from 2 comparative clinical trials of time-limited psychotherapies for depression. In 1 sample, clients (n = 18) and therapists (n = 4) completed self-report versions of both measures after every session (n = 198). In the other sample, clients (n = 39) and therapists (n = 6) completed the ARM, and observers subsequently rated selected audiotaped sessions (n = 78) using the WAI. In both samples, the ARM's core alliance scales (Bond, Partnership, and Confidence) were correlated with the WAI's scales (Bond, Tasks, and Goals) strongly when assessed within client and therapist perspectives and, with some qualifications, moderately when assessed between client, therapist, and observer perspectives, supporting the assumption that the ARM and the WAI measure some of the same core constructs.     

Use of cue configuration geometry for spatial orientation in human infants (Homo sapiens)

Research with both rats and human infants has found that after inertial disorientation, the geometry of an enclosed environment is used in preference over distinctive featural information during goal localization. Infants (Homo sapiens, 18-24 months) were presented with a toy search task involving inertial disorientation in 1 of 2 conditions. In the identical condition, 4 identical hiding boxes in a rectangular formation were set within a circular enclosure. In the distinctive condition, 4 distinctive hiding boxes were used. Infants searched the goal box and its rotational equivalent significantly more than would be expected by chance in the identical condition, showing that they were sensitive to the geometric configuration of the array of boxes. Unlike the results of studies using a rectangular enclosure, however, in the distinctive condition, infants searched at the correct location significantly more than at other locations.     

Cynical hostility and vulnerability to disease: social support, life stress, and physiological response to conflict

Previous research has indicated that high scores on the Cook and Medley Hostility (Ho) scale are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and other illness. Our study attempts to clarify this relationship by providing additional evidence concerning the construct assessed by the Ho scale, examining the level of physiological reactivity during interpersonal conflict in high- and low-Ho groups, and assessing the psychosocial profile associated with this characteristic. Extremely high and low Ho groups were selected from a pool of male undergraduates. Consistent with previous findings, high-Ho participants reported greater anger proneness and a more cynical, disparaging view of others than did low-Ho participants. The high-Ho group also tended to be more hostile and less friendly during role-played interactions involving high and low levels of interpersonal conflict, respectively. High-Ho persons also displayed greater diastolic blood pressure reactivity during interpersonal conflict. Finally, the high-Ho group reported less social support and more negative life events and daily irritants then did the low-Ho group. These results support the interpretation of the Ho scale as a measure of cynical hostility and are consistent with the hypothesis that it is related to disease by way of excessive physiological reactivity and a generally stressful, unsupportive social network.     

Marriage and family therapy education: Emerging trends and issues

The field of marriage and family therapy has enjoyed unparalleled growth during the last decade. This rapid growth has been the catalyst for several emerging educational trends that warrant close attention. This paper examines nine emerging trends in MFT education with attention devoted to a number of critical issues.