Athletes' inclination to play through pain: a coping perspective

Previous studies have shown how social networks lead athletes to accept pain as a "part of the game," which generates pressure on athletes to continue competing despite being in pain. Little is known, however, about the potential coping strategies that are related to pain behavior in sport. This study of 205 combat athletes examined whether pain coping strategies, including distraction from pain, praying, reinterpreting pain sensations, ignoring pain, and pain catastrophizing, are related to athletes' inclination to play through pain. Results revealed that pain catastrophizing led athletes to reduce their physical involvement in their sport activity. Of particular interest was the moderating effect of ignoring pain such that ignoring pain significantly attenuated the negative effect of pain intensity on athletes' inclination to play through pain. Few studies have tested and supported the contribution of pain coping to the prediction of behavior in real sport situations. By identifying which coping strategies athletes could use to maintain their physical involvement despite being in (sometimes intense) pain, the current study makes an important contribution for tailoring pain management programs for this at-risk population.     

The hide-and-seek of retrospective revaluation: recovery from blocking is context dependent in human causal learning

In a typical blocking procedure, pairings of a compound consisting of 2 stimuli, A and X, with the outcome are preceded by pairings of only A with the outcome (i.e., A+ then AX+). This procedure is known to diminish responding to the target cue (X) relative to a control group that does not receive the preceding training with blocking cue A. We report 2 experiments that investigated the effect of extinguishing a blocking cue on responding to the target cue in a human causal learning paradigm (i.e., A+ and AX+ training followed by A- training). The results indicate that extinguishing a blocking cue increases conditioned responding to the target cue. Moreover, this increase appears to be context dependent, such that increased responding to the target is limited to the context in which extinction of the blocking cue took place. We discuss these findings in the light of associative and propositional learning theories.     

The memory of two great mental calculators: Charcot and Binet's neglected 1893 experiments

French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) and French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) are almost unknown as investigators who conducted original and fascinating studies in the area of memory. In a series of 1893 experiments, they compared the performance of two expert mental calculators, Jacques Inaudi and Périclès Diamandi, in tasks that consisted of recalling digits. Inspired by Ribot's psychological work (1881), they believed in the existence of not one type of memory but several partial, special, and local memories, each devoted to a particular domain. In all arithmetical prodigies, memory for digits is abnormally developed compared with other memories. Inaudi was considered to be an auditory memory-based mental calculator; when memorizing digits, he did not rely onthe appearance of the items or create visual imagery of any kind. Rather, he remembered digits principally by their sounds. Inaudi's methods of calculation and memorization were original and different from those used by Diamandi, who was a typical visual memory-based mental calculator. The experiments presented in the 1893 article were among the first scientific demonstrations of the importance to psychology of studying different types of memory. The present work gives a translation of this pioneering experimental article on expert calculators by Charcot and Binet, instructive for the comprehension of normal memory.     

Predictors of situational disengagement in the academic setting: The contribution of grades,perceived competence,and academic motivation

Background. Although psychological disengagement is a well‐documented phenomenon in the academic setting, the attempts to identify its predictors are scarce. In addition, existing research has mainly focused on chronic disengagement and less is known on the determinants of situational disengagement. Aims. The purpose of the present study was to identify the predictors of situational disengagement in a physical education (PE) setting. In line with the core postulate of psychological disengagement, it was hypothesized that grades contribute to discounting through a decrease in perceived competence. Drawing upon self‐determination theory, it was also expected that devaluing reflects the motivational orientations of individuals. Sample. A total of 120 students who were in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Method. Students were asked to report their motivation towards PE and their perceived competence at the beginning of a 10‐week cycle. Perceived competence in PE and psychological disengagement were assessed at the end of cycle, after grades were communicated individually to each student. Results. The results revealed that grades significantly predicted discounting, through perceived competence, but did not predict devaluing. Devaluing was negatively predicted by integrated and identified regulations, and positively predicted by amotivation, whereas no motivational variables were related to discounting. Conclusion. The present study extends the core postulate of psychological disengagement to situational disengagement. It revealed that students may temporarily disengage their self‐esteem from performance feedback through discounting, but are less inclined to devalue the academic domain when faced with negative feedback in a particular situation because of their motivational orientations.     

How useful are landmarks when learning a route in a virtual environment? Evidence from typical development and Williams syndrome

The ability to learn a route through a virtual environment was assessed in 19 older children and adults with Williams syndrome (WS) and 40 typically developing (TD) children aged 6-9 years. In addition to comparing route-learning ability across groups, we were interested in whether participants show an adult-like differentiation between "useful" and "less useful" landmarks when learning a route and the relative salience of landmark position versus landmark identity. Each virtual environment consisted of a brick wall maze with six junctions. There were 16 landmarks in the maze, half of which were on the correct path and half on incorrect paths. Results showed that both groups could learn each route to criterion (two successful completions of a route without error). During the learning phase, the WS group produced more errors than the TD group and took longer to reach criterion. This was predominantly due to the large number of perseverative errors (i.e., errors that were made at the same choice point on consecutive learning trials) made by the WS group relative to the TD children. We suggest that this reflects a difficulty in inhibiting erroneous responses in WS. During the test phase, the TD group showed stronger recall of landmarks adjacent to junctions (more useful landmarks) than of landmarks along path sections (less useful landmarks) independent of each individual's level of nonverbal ability. This pattern was also evident in the WS group but was related to level of nonverbal maturation; the differentiation between recall of junction and path landmarks increased as nonverbal ability increased across WS participants. Overall, the results demonstrate that individuals with WS can learn a route but that the development of this ability is atypical.     

The impact of processing time on the bizarreness and orthographic distinctiveness effects

The bizarreness effect and the orthographic distinctiveness effect (OD effect) are typical cases of secondary-distinctiveness-based effects. This study tested the simple attentional account or processing time hypothesis as a possible explanation of the bizarreness effect and the OD effect. In the bizarreness effect literature, this hypothesis gained support by some studies but was also discredited by other research. In light of these conflicting results, Experiment 1 was devised to test the processing time hypothesis in the bizarreness effect by using black-and-white concrete images and manipulating the time allotted for processing the stimuli (500 ms, 1000 ms, 3000 ms). Concerning the OD effect, no research has directly investigated the impact of processing time by examining the effect under varying amounts of study time. Experiment 2 was thus devised to investigate this same hypothesis in the OD effect and time allotted for processing the stimuli was manipulated (250 ms, 500 ms, 1000 ms, 3000 ms). Results did not support the processing time hypothesis since the magnitude of the bizarreness effect and of the OD effect was not modulated by the amount of time allotted for processing the stimuli. We refer to alternative explanations to account for these two secondary-distinctiveness-based effects.     

Physical self-concept and disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors in French athlete and non-athlete adolescent girls: direct and indirect relations

This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect associations between physical self-subdomains, physical self-worth, global self-worth, and disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors among French non-elite athlete and non-athlete adolescent girls. A sample of adolescent girls including 50 ballet dancers, 41 basketball players, and 47 non-athletes was used in this study. Data obtained from the ballet dancer and basketball player subsamples revealed significant, sample-specific as well as common, direct relations between global and physical self-perceptions and disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors, as well as significant indirect relations (via global self-worth and physical self-worth) between specific physical self-perceptions and disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors. In contrast, no association was found between global and physical self-perceptions in the sample of non-athlete adolescent girls.     

Cognitive Processes Underlying Observational Learning of Motor Skills

There is evidence indicating that an individual can learn a motor skill by observing a model practising it. In the present study we wanted to determine whether observation would permit one to learn the relative timing pattern required to perform a new motor skill. Also, we wanted to determine the joint effects of observation and of physical practice on the learning of that relative timing pattern. Finally, we were interested in finding whether there was an optimal type of model, advanced or beginner, which would lead better to observational learning. Data from two experiments indicated that observation of either a beginner or an advanced model resulted in modest learning of a constrained relative timing pattern. Observation also resulted in significant parameterization learning. However, a combination of observation followed by physical practice resulted in significant learning of the constrained relative timing pattern. These results suggest that observation engages one in cognitive processes similar to those occurring during physical practice.     

How Do Job Insecurity and Organizational Justice Relate to Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Difficulties: A Multilevel Study on Immediate and Prolonged Effects in Swedish Workers

Drawing on stress and justice literature, we argue that perceptions of job insecurity induce feelings of low procedural justice, which has immediate and prolonged negative effects on health (depressive symptoms, sleep difficulties). Moreover, we explore whether the strength of the job insecurity–justice relationship differs between individuals as a function of their average level of job insecurity over time. Finally, we explore whether the procedural justice–health relationship differs between individuals as a function of variability in justice perceptions over time. We analyzed Swedish panel data from permanent workers over four consecutive waves (with a two-year time lag between waves) using multilevel analysis, separating within- and between-person variance. Results showed that job insecurity associated negatively with procedural justice at the same time point for all waves. Prolonged effects were less stable. We found immediate (but not prolonged) indirect effects of job insecurity on health outcomes via procedural justice. Average levels in job insecurity over time moderated the within-person job insecurity–justice relationship. However, variability in procedural justice over time did not moderate the within-person justice–health relationship. In conclusion, disentangling within- and between-person variability of job insecurity and justice perceptions contributes to the understanding of health effects.     

Charting directions for a new research era: addressing gaps and advancing scholarship in the study of psychological contracts

ABSTRACT

The nature of work and the contexts in which firms operate have changed significantly in the many decades since the study of psychological contracts (PCs) at work began in earnest. These changes have altered the contours of the traditional employer-employee relationship and are key motivators of this Special Issue. We seek to chart new directions for PC research over the next decade by widening the theoretical and methodological lenses used to explore PC processes. In the introductory editorial we briefly outline the PC construct, overview the collected papers, and discuss the next exciting wave of PC research (exploring PC dynamics, PC counterparties, and the PC context) inspired by this collection.