\u27Reading the Play\u27 Situational Awareness and Performance of Australian Football League Players

Many high-performing Australian Football (AF) players appear to be better at \u27reading the play\u27 than other AF players. One cognitive capacity that appears to be similar in nature to \u27reading the play\u27, and that has been associated with the performance of elite pilots, is Situational Awareness (SA). The principal focus of this study was to examine the extent to which individual differences in an AF -specific measure of SA and the PC-based WOMBATTM test of SA were associated with individual differences in AF player performance, within the context of physiological and psychomotor capacities, using Multiple Regression Analysis. The results provide preliminary support for the notion that cognitive abilities such as SA are associated with individual differences in player performance in AF. There was a consistent association between the AF-specific measure of SA and performance in AF. However, the association between the PC-based measure of SA and performance in AF was less than clear. It would also appear that the association between SA and performance in AF should be considered within the context of individual differences in physiological and psychomotor capacities. While the research is still at an exploratory stage, the investigation of the relationship between SA and performance in AF has important implications for the understanding and assessment of cognitive processes in AF

Goal motivation, academic outcomes, and psychological distress of a group of Australian secondary students : scale refinement and an extension of the Ingledew, Wray, Markland, and Hardy (2005) model

Beliefs held about personal goals are termed goal dimensions. When applied to academic goals, goal dimensions represent a form of academic motivation. The purpose of this research was to examine if a model of goal dimensions developed by Ingledew, Wray, Markland, and Hardy (2005) in a business setting with adults could be applied to explain academic outcomes and psychological distress of two hundred and sixteen Australian final-year secondary students who were striving to gain a place at a university. Structural Regression (S-R) Analysis was used to examine the effect of the goal dimensions on psychological distress at Time 1 (April); psychological distress at Time 3 (September) while accounting for psychological distress at Time 1; and psychological distress at Time 3 as well as overall final academic performance, with consideration given to the effect of sense of goal progress and use of self-regulated learning strategies assessed at Time 2. Although not intended as a major part of the current research, several alternative models were developed for the scales that were used in the present study. Findings from the substantive analysis indicated that supportive beliefs about this personal goal were predictive of fewer symptoms of concurrently measured psychological distress. These findings were most clearly demonstrated when an S-R (of a substantially modified version of the Ingledew et al. model) rather than a Path Analysis was conducted. Supportive goal beliefs were also predictive of subsequent beliefs about goal progress and academic performance

A Student Inventory Simulation Evaluating Changing Demand Variation and Customer Service

This paper presents the pedagogy of an Excel student simulation that allows the user to change various costs and demand variation and experiment with the effects of those changes on a set of customer service levels. Unlike merely reading about inventory control and the importance of customer service, students can actually experience the results of experimenting with a variety of service levels and the effects on shortages. Track: Marketing Educatio

National security: A propositional study to develop resilience indicators as an aid to personnel vetting

Within the National Security domain there is a convergence of security responsibility across the national security agencies, law enforcement and private security sectors. The sensitivity of this environment requires individuals operating in the domain to be honest, trustworthy and loyal. Personnel vetting is a formal process used to determine an individual’s suitability for access to this domain. Notwithstanding this process, significant breaches of trust, security, and corruption still occur. In psychology, resilience is a well researched phenomenon that is considered a multidimensional construct where individual attributes, family aspects and social environment interact in aiding individuals to deal with vulnerability. There are many understandings and definitions of resilience based on theorists’ different perspectives; however, most agree that resilience is represented by a minimum of two aspects. The first is adversity and second, how the individual deals with adversity that demonstrates situational adaptation in a positive manner. The study is a work in progress and proposes the use of a recently developed Lifespan Resilience Scale. This scale will use resilience markers as an aid to National Security by providing vetting agencies with an additional tool for proactive intervention. The Lifespan Resilience Scale is currently undergoing reliability and validity testing within a student population. Once validated within this population, the scale will be adjusted and tested within the vetting environment using cross validated cohorts and expert opinion. Such a tool will assist National Security through better personnel risk management

Educational outcomes of adolescents participating in specialist sport programs in low SES areas of Western Australia: A mixed methods study

Specialist Sport Programs (SSPs) are an underexamined activity that combines the best features of two different contexts for adolescent development: a sporting program and a secondary school. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the influence of participation in SSPs on the educational outcomes of lower secondary students in Western Australia. The results demonstrated a significant improvement in specialist students\u27 mean grade for Mathematics over the course of a year, while their mean grade for all other subjects, and their level of engagement with school, remained stable over the same period of time. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with key stakeholders (e.g., specialist students and their parents, as well as teachers and graduates of the SSPs). Overall, the participants felt that SSPs had a positive influence on students\u27 engagement with school, and that this engagement had a positive impact on their academic achievement. Taken together, the results of this research suggest that there is a role for SSPs in promoting positive educational outcomes for lower secondary students attending public schools located in low SES areas

Hearing in the Juvenile Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas): A Comparison of Underwater and Aerial Hearing Using Auditory Evoked Potentials

Sea turtles spend much of their life in aquatic environments, but critical portions of their life cycle, such as nesting and hatching, occur in terrestrial environments, suggesting that it may be important for them to detect sounds in both air and water. In this study we compared underwater and aerial hearing sensitivities in five juvenile green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) by measuring auditory evoked potential responses to tone pip stimuli. Green sea turtles detected acoustic stimuli in both media, responding to underwater stimuli between 50 and 1600 Hz and aerial stimuli between 50 and 800 Hz, with maximum sensitivity between 200 and 400 Hz underwater and 300 and 400 Hz in air. When underwater and aerial hearing sensitivities were compared in terms of pressure, green sea turtle aerial sound pressure thresholds were lower than underwater thresholds, however they detected a wider range of frequencies underwater. When thresholds were compared in terms of sound intensity, green sea turtle sound intensity level thresholds were 2–39 dB lower underwater particularly at frequencies below 400 Hz. Acoustic stimuli may provide important environmental cues for sea turtles. Further research is needed to determine how sea turtles behaviorally and physiologically respond to sounds in their environment

The creation of goal scoring opportunities at the 2015 women’s world cup

Women’s international football is growing in terms of popularity, but to date there is limited published research in women’s football and even less that describes effective attacking strategies and the creation of goal scoring opportunities (GSO). The purpose of this research was to investigate and assess the factors related to the creation of GSO that led to a Top 4 position Canada Women’s World Cup 2015. Video footage of each match (n = 52) from the Women’s World Cup (Canada 2015) was analysed using SportsCode Software. The results revealed that the middle third of the pitch was the most effective area for gaining possession and creating GSO. The average time taken to create a GSO was under twelve seconds. The findings of the study can be used by coaches to design training sessions and interventions to successfully create GSO in women’s football. The data from the research may influence the tactical set up of women’s international football teams and help to evolve the game in the same way that research into the men’s game has

Crime prevention: The role of individual resilience within the family

Resilience is context dependent but for resilience to be present, two elements must co-occur: adversity (i.e., high-risk situation/threat) and successful adaptation/competence. An understanding of resilience is important for professionals dealing with at-risk families. This exploratory research investigated how individuals caring for a family member with a mental illness adapted to the role of carer or supporter. Fifteen participants mostly aged 50 years or more were interviewed. Content analysis was used to develop themes from the interview transcripts. Seven themes were elicited from the data. Three of these fit with existing knowledge about challenges faced by offenders’ families. The article concludes that strengthening families and improving family communication is not only important for good individual mental health and family functioning but may also play a role in crime prevention/reduction. Implications for those working in mental health settings are provided