The interaction between practice and performance pressure on the planning and control of fast target directed movement

Pressure to perform often results in decrements to both outcome accuracy and the kinematics of motor skills. Furthermore, this pressure-performance relationship is moderated by the amount of accumulated practice or the experience of the performer. However, the interactive effects of performance pressure and practice on the underlying processes of motor skills are far from clear. Movement execution involves both an offline pre-planning process and an online control process. The present experiment aimed to investigate the interaction between pressure and practice on these two motor control processes. Two groups of participants (control and pressure; N = 12 and 12, respectively) practiced a video aiming amplitude task and were transferred to either a non-pressure (control group) or a pressure condition (pressure group) both early and late in practice. Results revealed similar accuracy and movement kinematics between the control and pressure groups at early transfer. However, at late transfer, the introduction of pressure was associated with increased performance compared to control conditions. Analysis of kinematic variability throughout the movement suggested that the performance increase was due to participants adopting strategies to improve movement planning in response to pressure reducing the effectiveness of the online control system

Reinvestment, task complexity and decision making under pressure in basketball

The aims of this study were to investigate choking susceptibility in a perceptual judgment task and to examine the predictive validity of the Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). A computer-based, choice response time basketball passing task was performed under low and high pressure conditions. Complexity was manipulated by depicting 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scenarios. Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed performance decrements under pressure with regard to response accuracy, moderated by task complexity, and a general speeding of performance over successive blocks. The DSRS was a significant predictor of poorer response accuracy under pressure in the high-complex task. Examination of the DSRS subscales revealed rumination as the only significant factor, predicting changes in response time and accuracy in the low- and high-complex versions of the task, respectively. Findings support the predictive validity of the DSRS, and highlight the importance of avoiding ruminative thoughts when making complex decisions under pressure

Effects of psychological and psychosocial interventions on sport performance:a meta-analysis

Background: Psychologists are increasingly supporting the quest for performance enhancement in sport and there is a need to evaluate the evidence base underpinning their work. Objectives: To synthesize the most rigorous available research that has evaluated psychological, social, and psychosocial interventions with sport performers on variables relating to their athletic performance, and to address some of the perplexing issues in the sport psychology intervention literature (e.g., do interventions have a lasting effect on sport performance?). Methods: Randomized controlled trials were identified through electronic databases, hand-searching volumes of pertinent journals, scrutinizing reference lists of previous reviews, and contacting experts in the evaluation of interventions in this field. Included studies were required to evaluate the effects of psychological, social, or psychosocial interventions on sport performance in athletes when compared to a no-treatment or placebo-controlled treatment comparison group. A random effects meta-analysis calculating the standardized mean difference (Hedges’ g), meta-regressions, and trim and fill analyses were conducted. Data were analyzed at post-test and follow-up (ranging from 1 to 4 weeks after the intervention finished) assessments. Results: Psychological and psychosocial interventions were shown to enhance sport performance at post-test (k = 35, n = 997, Hedges’ g = 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.22–0.92) and follow-up assessments (k = 8, n = 189, Hedges’ g = 1.16, 95 % CI = 0.25–2.08); no social interventions were included or evaluated. Larger effects were found for psychosocial interventions and there was some evidence that effects were greatest in coach-delivered interventions and in samples with a greater proportion of male participants. Conclusions: Psychological and psychosocial interventions have a moderate positive effect on sport performance, and this effect may last at least a month following the end of the intervention. Future research would benefit from following guidelines for intervention reporting

A phenomenological exploration of coping responses associated with choking in sport

The likelihood of choking in sport is moderated by the athlete’s choice of coping strategy. Yet a lack of consensus exists with regards to which strategies encourage or prevent the choke. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to explore, through qualitative methods, the coping responses perceived to be associated with choking episodes. Semi-structured interviews were completed with six elite golfers who had experienced both choking and clutch performances under pressure. It was revealed that avoidance coping strategies (e.g. rushing and denial) were considered to precede and/or accompany their choking episodes, whilst approach coping strategies (e.g. pre- and post-shot routines, cognitive restructuring and simulated practice) were associated with their clutch performances. Such findings are discussed within the context of the extant choking literature, and used to inform recommendations for practitioners working with choking-susceptible performers

Social anxiety mediates the relationship between social connectedness and test anxiety: an exploratory investigation

This preliminary study explored the relationships and mediation structure among social anxiety, social connectedness, and test anxiety, among Australian higher education students (N = 189). Results indicated that students who experienced higher social connectedness were less socially anxious and more inclined to experience higher test anxiety. Additionally, social anxiety was positively related to test anxiety. Exploratory mediation analyses revealed that social anxiety mediated between social connectedness and test anxiety. Social connectedness did not mediate between social anxiety and test anxiety. It is concluded that social connectedness protects against threats of relational devaluation and decreases social anxiety. However, due to the social component of test anxiety, these threats may persist when the examination has potential for relational devaluation to occur. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Imagery training for reactive agility: performance improvements for decision time but not overall reactive agility

This study investigated the effects of imagery training on reactive agility and whether reacting to unpredictable stimuli could be improved using imagery. Forty-seven female athletes (Mage = 21.51, SD = 2.32) were randomly assigned to either a three-week physical training, imagery training, or control condition. Physical training condition involved physically rehearsing the reactive agility task, whereas the imagery training condition involved imagining the presenting stimulus and performing the reactive agility task. The control condition did no reactive agility training. A 3 (training conditions) x 7 (reactive agility performance components) mixed-model MANOVA was conducted to examine changes in reactive agility performance from the training interventions. Physical training improved decision time components and overall reactive agility performance. Imagery training improved Stimulus-Decision Time and Stimulus-Foot performance, but not overall reactive agility performance. No performance improvements occurred for the control condition. Findings support imagery use for the decision time variables associated with lightstimulus reactive agility performance. The lack of overall reactive performance improvement may indicate that imagery training is not effective for all components of perceptual-motor performance. Performance change inconsistencies appear to indicate that participants may not have generated unpredictable stimuli during imagery. Future investigation as to whether imagery improvements translate to sport-specific reactive tasks is needed