Caution in interpreting confirmatory factor analysis of the group environment questionnaire: a response to Sullivan, Short, and Cramer (2002)

Reasons for cautious interpretation of the confirmatory factor analysis of the Group Environment Questionnaire by Sullivan, Short, and Cramer (2002) are specified.     

Does the Need for Role Clarity Moderate the Relationship between Role Ambiguity and Athlete Satisfaction?

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the need for role clarity as a potential moderator of the role ambiguity–satisfaction relationship among interdependent sport athletes. Competitive “Junior B” ice hockey players (N = 112) representing eight teams completed the Role Ambiguity Scale, five subscales of the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a measure of need for role clarity at approximately the mid-point of their competitive season. Correlational findings indicated that greater role ambiguity was associated with lower athlete satisfaction. However, consistent with the moderator hypothesis, the relationships between role ambiguity and various manifestations of satisfaction were only evident for those athletes who had a higher need for role clarity. Implications of the results are discussed and several avenues for application and future research are suggested.     

The Effect of Fatigue on Learning and Performance of a Gross Motor Task

40 college males were sequentially assigned to 1 of 2 groups to examine the effects of induced physical fatigue upon the performance and learning of a gross motor task, the stabilometer. All Ss were given 32 practice trials over 3 practice sessions, with 48 hr. rest interpolated between sessions. Trials 1 and 2 were performed under control conditions (no fatigue) for both groups. The Experimental Group was then required to perform under conditions of physical fatigue during Trials 3-26. Trials 27-32 (Session 3) were performed under control conditions. The condition of fatigue was achieved on Trials 3-26 by having Ss pedal a bicycle ergometer until a heart rate of 180 beats/min was attained prior to each trial. The Control Group cancelled vowels. The results indicated that physical fatigue was detrimental to the performance and learning of the Experimental Group.     

Comparisons of personality for selected groups of fifteen-year-old males.

Cattell's High School Personality Questionnaire and Gough's Adjective Checklist were administered to 73 15-yr.-old boys to compare personality for groups selected on the basis of extreme scores on maturation (skeletal development, age at achievement of peak height velocity), body type (body somatotype, body skinfolds), performance (body reaction time), strength, physical fitness and socioeconomic status. Multiple discriminant analyses indicated that the only significant difference in personality between groups was for early versus late maturers (skeletal development) on Cattell's scale. The personality scores for the remaining extreme groups did not differ on either of the scales, Cattell's or Gough's.     

Motor performance and response consistency as a function of age

The specificity versus generality of motor performance and motor response consistency ws investigated as a function of age. 120 Ss, 30 each at age 7, 11, 15 and 19 yr., were given 120 practice trials (60 trials per session with 24 hr. interpolated between sessions) on both simple and choice RT tasks. For motor performance the reliability of individual differences were high in both tasks at all ages, while the amount of generality was moderately high in the two younger groups but diminished with age. The reliability coefficients for motor response consistency were low for both tasks but, with two exceptions, statistically significant. There was no evidences for generality in motor response consistency at any age.     

An Examination of the Selection of Criterion Scores for the Study of Motor Learning and Retention

150 Ss were given 50 practice trials on the stabilometer over a period of 4 days (20 trials on Day 1 followed by a 1-day rest, 10 trials on Day 2, followed by a 7-day rest, 10 trials on Day 3 followed by a 14-day rest, and 10 trials on Day 4). A series of learning scores reflecting improvement in performance over the 4 days and retention scores reflecting loss of performance between days were obtained. The reliability of individual differences in these scores were calculated using the odd-even method and by progressively increasing the number of trials included in the measure of initial and final performance level. On the basis of the findings obtained it was concluded that using 4 – 6 trials in initial and final ability levels results in a difference (criterion) score which combines relatively high reliability with a relatively high estimate of the amount of change in performance.     

Cortico-spinal inhibition reflects time but not event preparation: neural mechanisms of preparation dissociated by transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Changes in cortico-spinal excitability related to time and event preparation were investigated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex during the foreperiod of a movement-precuing task. Subjects performed a four alternative choice reaction time (RT) task involving a button-press with the index or middle finger (FI) of the left or right hand. Advance information about the to-be-signaled response was provided by a precue, which preceded the response signal by a 1 s foreperiod. The precue either indicated the hand (right or left) or FI (index or middle) with which the response would be executed or was uninformative. TMS was delivered to the left or right cortical hand area at one of five possible times during the foreperiod: -1000, -500, -333, -166 or 0 ms prior to the response signal. Surface EMG activity from a prime mover involved in flexion of the response FIs (Flexor digitorum superficialis) was used to measure the magnitude of the motor evoked potential (MEP) elicited by TMS. Cortico-spinal excitability--as assessed by the magnitude of the MEP evoked in the target muscle contralateral to the stimulated hemisphere--progressively decreased during the foreperiod. The identity of the precued responses, however, had no effect on MEP magnitude. These results suggest that preparation to respond at a particular time inhibited excitability of the cortico-spinal tract, while advance preparation to perform specific responses affected more central structures only.     

Reactions to "anxiety and motor behavior"

Martens has presented and excellent and provocative paper in an extremely interesting area. He has certainly outlined most of the complexities of anxiety, discussed the limitations and strengths of various theoretical approaches to its study, and has presented alternatives to existing methods. My approach has been to try to summarize what I have held to be the major problem ares or limiting factors in the study of state anxiety (stress) and motor performance and then incorporate these problem areas into the context of Marten's conclusions.