Development of the Coach Autonomy Support Beliefs Scale

Coaches’ autonomy support is one of the most meaningful influences on the satisfaction of athletes’ basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Mageau & Vallerand, 2003). Fostering these needs cultivates self-determined motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000), which has been found to positively affect individuals’ effort, persistence when faced with adversity, performance, performance-related anxiety, and well-being (Gillet, Berjot, & Gobance, 2009; Mack et al., 2011; Podlog & Dionigi, 2010; Vallerand & Losier, 1999). The reasoned action approach (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) suggests that coaches’ attitude, perceived behavioral control, and perceived norm toward autonomy support influences their use of autonomysupportive behaviors. However, prior to this study, no instrument has been developed that measured these behavioral antecedents. Consequently, the purpose of the current research was to develop a scale that assesses coaches’ attitude, perceived behavioral control, and perceived norm toward autonomy-supportive behaviors when working with student-athletes during practice. Exploratory Factor Analysis procedures with data from 497 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and II head coaches’ revealed adequate model fit for a two-factor solution (RMSEA = .042, 99% CI [.020; .063], p = .703; CFI = .99). The Autonomy Support Belief Scale (ASBS) is an eight item measure with two subscales: personal belief (five items) and social influence (three items). Subsequent correlation and regression analysis further validated the ASBS. Personal belief and social influence were both found to be statistically significant predictors for coaches’ behaviors, accounting for 25.9% and 20.3% of the total variance in participants’ use of autonomy-supportive behaviors respectively. The ASBS allows researchers, sport psychology professionals, and coach educators to gain insight into coaches’ beliefs about autonomy supportive behaviors and can help them shape interventions with coaches, evaluate the effectiveness of such programs, and ultimately impact coaches’ use of autonomy support

Fundamental Carrier-Envelope Phase Noise Limitations during Pulse Formation and Detection

The difference between the positions of the maximum peak of the carrier wave of a laser pulse and the maximum of its intensity envelope is termed carrier-envelope phase (CEP). In the last decades, the control and stabilization of this parameter has greatly improved, which enables many applications in research fields that rely on CEP-stable pulses such as attosecond science and optical frequency metrology. Further progress in these fields depends strongly on minimizing the CEP noise that restricts stabilization performance. While the CEP of most high repetition-rate low-energy laser oscillators has been stabilized to a remarkable precision, some types of oscillators show extensive noise that inhibits precise stabilization. The CEP stabilization performance of low repetition-rate high peak-power amplified laser systems also remains limited by noise, which is believed to stem mainly from the CEP detection process. In this thesis, the origins of the CEP noise within four oscillators as well as the noise induced by the measurement of the CEP of amplified pulses are investigated. In the first part, the properties of the CEP noise of one Ti:sapphire oscillator and three different fiber oscillators are extracted by analyzing the unstabilized CEP traces by means of time-resolved correlation analysis of carrier-envelope amplitude and phase noise as well as by methods that reveal the underlying statistical noise properties. In the second part, investigations into the origin of CEP noise induced by the measurement of the CEP of amplified pulses are conducted by comparing several different CEP detection designs that are based on f -2 f interferometry. These detection setups differ in the employed sources of spectral broadening as well as frequency doubling media, both necessary steps to measure the CEP. The results in both parts of this thesis show that white quantum noise dominates most CEP measurements. In one particular fiber oscillator, the strong white noise is found to be a result of a correlating mechanism within the employed SESAM. During amplifier CEP detection, the CEP noise is found to be originating only to a marginal degree from the number of photons that are detected during the measurement, which excludes shot noise as a limiting source. Instead, the analysis reveals that the origin of the observed strong white noise can be interpreted as a loss of coherence during detection. This type of coherence is termed here intra-pulse coherence and describes the phase transfer within f -2 f interferometry. Its degradation is a result of amplitude-to-phase coupling during the spectral broadening process that leads to pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of the phases at the edges of the extended spectrum. Numerical simulations support the concept of intra-pulse coherence degradation and show that the degradation is substantially stronger during plasma-driven spectral broadening as compared to self-phase modulation-dominated spectral broadening. This difference in degradation also explains the much stronger CEP noise typically observed in amplified systems as compared to oscillators, as the former typically rely on filamentation-based and hence plasma-dominated spectral broadening for CEP detection. The concept of intra-pulse coherence constitutes a novel measure to assess the suitability of a spectral broadening mechanism for application in active as well as in passive CEP stabilization schemes and provides new strategies to reduce the impact of the CEP detection on the overall stabilization performance of most lasers.Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Identifizierung und Minimierung fundamentaler Rauschquellen, die zu einer Limitierung des erreichbaren Carrier-Envelope Phasen (CEP) Jitters führen. Die Carrier-Envelope Phase beschreibt die Differenz zwischen dem Maximum der Trägerwelle und dem Scheitelpunkt der Intensitätseinhüllenden. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat sich die Kontrolle und Stabilisierung der CEP deutlich verbessert, was zu einem schnellen Fortschritt in Forschungsfeldern geführt hat, bei denen CEP-stabile Pulse notwendig sind. Diese Forschungsfelder umfassen die Attosekundenforschung und optische Frequenzmetrologie. Weitere Entwicklungen in diesen Feldern hängt stark von der Minimierung von CEP Rauschen ab, welches die CEP Stabilisierung stark beeinträchtigt. Obwohl die CEP der Pulse der meisten Laseroszillatoren mit hohen Repetitionsraten äußerst genau stabilisiert werden kann, existieren einige Laseroszillatoren bei denen starke Rauschquellen eine Stabilisierung verhindern oder stark einschränken. Des Weiteren zeigen vor Allem verstärkte System mit niedrigen Repetitionsraten und hohen Spitzenleistungen eine Beschränkung der CEP Stabilisierung aufgrund von Rauschen, dass vermutlich zum großen Teil durch den Detektionsprozess entsteht. In dieser Arbeit ist der Ursprung von CEP Rauschen in vier unterschiedlichen Laseroszillatoren sowie während der Detektion der CEP von verstärkten Systemen untersucht worden. Im ersten Teil wurden die Eigenschaften des CEP Rauschens eines Ti:Saphir-basierten Oszillators und drei verschiedener Faserlaser analysiert. Hierzu wurde das Rauschen unter anderem mittels zeitaufgelöster Korrelationsanalyse von Carrier-Envelope Amplituden- und Phasenrauschen sowie mittels Methoden, die die statistischen Eigenschaften des Rauschens offenlegen, analysiert. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurde das Rauschen untersucht, welches durch den Messprozess der CEP von verstärkten Pulsen mittels f -2 f Interferometrie entsteht. Experimentell wurden hierzu vier unterschiedliche Detektionsanordnungen verwendet, die sich durch die Nutzung unterschiedlicher nichtlinearer Prozesse zum Erzeugen der spektralen Verbreiterung sowie zur Erzeugung der zweiten Harmonischen unterscheiden. Die Ergebnisse in beiden Teilen der Arbeit zeigen dominierendes weißes Quantenrauschen in den meisten CEP Messungen. In einem bestimmten Faserlaser, in dem besonders starkes weißes Rauschen vorlag, konnte der Ursprung einerWechselwirkung innerhalb des verwendeten halbleiterbasierten sättigbaren Absorbers zugeordnet werden. Bei der Detektion der CEP bei verstärkten Systemen wurde hingegen gezeigt, dass niedrige Photonenzahlen und damit Schrotrauschen nur zum kleinen Teil für die starken weißen Rauschanteile verantwortlich gemacht werden kann. Stattdessen kann die Ursache des starken Rauschens einem Verlust von Kohärenz zugeordnet werden. Diese Art von Kohärenz ist hier mit intra-Puls Kohärenz bezeichnet und beschreibt den Phasentransfer innerhalb der Detektion mittels f -2 f Interferometrie. Der Verlust von intra-Puls Kohärenz ist eine Folge von Amplituden-zu-Phasen Koppelung während der spektralen Verbreiterung. Von Puls zu Puls führt dies zu Fluktuationen der Phase an beiden Rändern der erzeugten spektralen Verbreiterung. Numerische Simulationen unterstützen das Konzept der intra-Puls Kohärenz und zeigen auf, dass die Degradation bedeutend stärker bei plasmadominierten Prozessen ausfällt als im Vergleich zu spektraler Verbreiterung mittels Selbstphasenmodulation. Dieser unterschiedlich starke Verlust der intra-Puls Kohärenz erklärt das deutlich höhere Rauschniveau in verstärkten Systemen im Vergleich zu Oszillatoren, da verstärkte Systeme plasmadominierte Prozesse zur spektralen Verbreiterung nutzen. Das Konzept der intra-Puls Kohärenz stellt ein neues Maß zur Einschätzung einer Methode zur spektralen Verbreiterung für eine bestimmte Anwendung dar, die sowohl in aktiven sowie passiven CEP Stabilisierungen von Lasern eine Rolle spielt. Es ermöglicht somit neue Strategien, um den Einfluss der Detektion auf die CEP Stabilisierung der meisten Laser zu senken

Use of Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Investigation in NCAA Division I Football

Grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the coachathlete relationship model (Mageau & Vallerand, 2003) suggests that coaches can positively affect athletes’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and motivation through autonomy-supporting behavior. Yet, little research has explored coaches’ objective use of autonomy support or the personal and contextual demands associated with such interactions. The current study used a mixed-methods design to describe coaches’ utilization, perceived benefits of, and challenges to the provision of autonomy support during an NCAA football season. Participants were nine assistant coaches at a Division I university. Each coach was live-coded at one practice each week for the duration of the 12-game schedule. At midseason, participants received a report of the percentage of interactions in teaching, organization, cheering, autonomy support, and controlling behaviors, as well as recommendations for improvement. Coach-level RM-ANOVA results demonstrated a variety in the number and magnitude of statistically significant changes in four of the five behavior categories; effect sizes ranged from small to large. Postseason interviews suggested coaches were attuned to the results and suggestions of the report, but that both personal and social influences (e.g., knowledge of SDT, competition with other coaches) as well as contextual factors (e.g., time constraints of practice, competition results) were also important in influencing behavior change. Thus, autonomy support is a viable and valuable pursuit in the context of collegiate athletics, but further development of practical, effective strategies is needed

Measuring Party System Concentration Including the Cabinet Level

Accurate evaluation of electoral systems requires precise measurement of both the disproportionality and the concentration of party systems. While the measurement of disproportionality has been investigated systematically and clear guidance for measurement exists, such treatment is lacking for the concentration dimension. This paper clarifies the theoretical concept of concentration in focusing on the directness of the voter-government link and differences between types of coalitions. In light of this concept, a new measure is introduced, and the different measures are compared theoretically as well as empirically. In conclusion, the effective number of parties measure provides a fruitful framework, but should be applied to the cabinet instead of the parliament level in order to clearly identify substantial features of party system concentration

Coaches and Teammates as Social Agents for Collegiate Athletes’ Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction

Teammates and coaches might be considered two of the most significant sources of social interactions for athletes. Deci and Ryan’s (2000) self-determination theory offers a motivational framework that can be used to understand the quality of relationships within sport. Given the positive outcomes associated with fostering basic psychological need satisfaction (e.g., optimal social functioning, well-being, and self-development) researchers have been interested in understanding how athletes’ perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness can be nurtured. The purpose of the current study was to assess: (a) if there was a difference between participants’ perceptions of their coaches’ and teammates’ influence on their basic psychological need satisfaction, (b) potential differences between participants’ perceptions regarding the impact of coaches and teammates on their basic psychological need satisfaction in interactive and coactive sports, and (c) whether coaches’ and teammates’ influence on athletes’ basic psychological need fulfillment affected participants’ perception of, and satisfaction with, individual and team performance. 362 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes (226 female and 136 male; Mage = 19.36; SD = 2.65) from four different sports (i.e., track and field/cross country, soccer, basketball, and tennis) participated in the study. Results showed that while peers had a significantly more positive influence on individuals’ basic psychological need satisfaction than coaches, it was the need fulfillment from coaches that predicted athletes’ perceptions of, and satisfaction with, performance

Die sozialen Grundlagen journalistischer Praxis. Journalisten und ihr Handeln in der Sicht wissenschaftlicher Forschung

Journalismusforschung, die sich nicht auf die Beobachtung von Makroprozessen des Journalismus in der Gesellschaft beschränkt, sondern das Handeln von Journalisten analysieren möchte, braucht eine theoretisch begründete und empirisch brauchbare Vorstellung von den journalistischen Akteuren und ihrer Handlungspraxis. Dabei muss sie sich von der alltagsvernünftigen Denkfigur lösen, die ein an sich freies Denken und Handeln von Individuen den Strukturzwängen des Sozialen gegenüber- stellt, will sie zu einem adäquaten Verständnis des Zusammenhangs von Struktur und Handeln im Journalismus gelangen. Von Interesse sind dann neben den Normen und Regeln des Journalismus auch soziale Positionen, verfügbare Ressourcen und nicht zuletzt die spezifischen Dispositionen der journalistischen Akteure, bilden sie doch die sozialen Grundlagen ihrer Handlungspraxis. Produkte journalistischen Handeins erweisen sich als das Ergebnis des Aufeinandertreffens von zweierlei Strukturen in der sozialen Praxis des Journalismus: den Institution gewordenen Strukturen einerseits und den inkorporierten Strukturenjournalistischer Akteure andererseits, die deren Denken, Wahrnehmen und Handeln anleiten und bei der sinnhaften Erschließung der sozialen Welt eine zentrale Rolle spielen. Eine solche Perspektive ist nicht mehr auf eine Mikroebene individuellen Handeins und eine Makroebene sozialer Strukturen fixiert. Vielmehr kann nun auch das Verhältnis zwischen dem Journalismus als einer kulturellen Einrichtung der Gesellschaft, die uns deren aktuelles, öffentlich relevantes Geschehen auf ganz spezifische Weise sinnhaft erschließt, und den soziokulturellen Hintergründen ihrer Journalisten in den Aufmerksamkeitsfokus der Forschung geraten. EnglishJohannes Raabe: Social foundations of journalists- seen from the view- point of academic research If academic research on journalism will not restriet itself to observing the macroprocess but wants to analyse the way in which journalists act, it needs a theoretically sound and empirically useful image of the acting journalists and their way of reporting. In order to reach a proper understanding of the connection between the structure of journalism and the way of journalistic reporting, research must abandon the usual common viewpoint whicli faces free thinking and acting of individuals to the compulsion of structures. Besides the norms and rules of journalism, the social position will be of interest as weil as the social ressources and the specific disposition of joumalists. The products of joumalistic reporting are the result of the clash between two different structures in the social disposition of joumalists: on one side structures that became institutions, and on the other side the structures that are incorporated in the persons themselves determining their way of thinking, perceiving and reporting which is of central importance for the senseful discovery of the social world. Such a perspective is no Ionger fixed on a microlevel of individual acting and a macrolevel of social structures. It would rather lead the attention of research to the relationship between joumalism as a cultural institution of society disclosing in a specific way actual events of public interest, and the socio-cultural foundations of joumalists

Wahlsysteme und der Zielkonflikt zwischen Proportionalität und Konzentration: Vor- und Nachteile von Mischwahlsystemen

This thesis investigates the performance of electoral systems along the proportionality-concentration trade-off with a special focus on mixed electoral systems. It takes into account both the technical design of an electoral system as well as its design context.Diese Arbeit untersucht die Funktion von Wahlsystemen entlang des Zielkonfliktes zwischen Proportionalität und Konzentration mit einem besonderen Fokus auf Mischwahlsystemen. Dabei wird sowohl die technische Ausgestaltung als auch der Entstehungskontext eines Wahlsystems berücksichtigt

Teammate Influence on Collegiate Swimmers’ Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction: A Qualitative Perspective

To enhance student-athletes’ psychological welfare and motivation it is essential to foster positive relationships and interactions with those in their surroundings, especially when considering that others’ actions toward them can have a significant impact on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Vallerand & Losier, 1999). Deci and Ryan’s (2000) self-determination theory offers an ideal lens to understand social influences as it suggests that various social factors have a direct influence on individuals’ basic psychological need satisfaction (Vallerand, 1997), which in turn affects the development of self-determined forms of motivation and well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The purpose of the current research was to explore how teammates act as social factors for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I swimmers’ basic psychological need fulfillment. Eight NCAA Division I swimmers participated in semistructured interviews. Consensual qualitative research (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) procedures revealed three domains: (a) foundational components of a need-fulfilling team environment, (b) elements in practice that nurtured athletes’ perceptions of competence, and (c) teammate interactions outside the pool which impacted athletes’ perceptions of relatedness. Results showed that positive teammate interactions allowed athletes to create a team environment that fostered basic psychological need satisfaction and helped members to internalize their team’s values, goals, and behaviors

Need Fulfillment in Intercollegiate Student-Athletes’ Dual Roles: A Mixed-Methods, Person-Oriented Investigation

Individuals competing in varsity intercollegiate sport are tasked with managing the dual roles of athletes and students. The purpose of current study was to simultaneously explore student-athletes’ perceived satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness in sport and academics. A mixed-methods, person-oriented design was utilized. Quantitative data was collected with a sample of N = 238 student-athletes from various varsity intercollegiate sports. For sport, four clusters were revealed: ‘Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderately Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderate Relatedness,’ and ‘High Need Satisfaction.’ For academics, four clusters were revealed: ‘Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderate Relatedness,’ ‘Moderate Autonomy and Competence,’ and ‘High Need Satisfaction.’ Reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of n = 12 student-athletes representing all clusters revealed four themes: (a) global factors sensitized student-athletes to the experience of basic psychological needs, (b) contextual factors determined fluctuations in student-athletes’ need fulfillment, (c) student-athletes perceived interaction effects in the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs within the same domain, and (d) student-athletes’ sport participation had a cross-contextual influence on their need fulfillment in academics. Findings provide an understanding of student-athletes’ perceived basic psychological needs across the achievement domains of academics and sport

Unsecured Intracranial Aneurysms and Induced Hypertension in Cerebral Vasospasm: Is Induced Hypertension Safe?

Background: Induced hypertension is an established therapy to treat cerebral vasospasm (CVS) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to prevent delayed ischemic deficits. Currently, there is minimal evidence available assessing the risk of induced hypertension in the presence of unsecured aneurysms. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of induced hypertension on the rupturing of unsecured aneurysms in treating CVS. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis between 1999 and 2009. Patients with unsecured aneurysms treated with induced hypertension were identified and stratified as having (1) additional unruptured unsecured aneurysms or (2) ruptured unsecured aneurysms. Hemodynamic parameters were analyzed and any bleeding recorded. Results: Forty-five patients were included. Of those, 41 had 71 additional unruptured unsecured aneurysms and four patients had four ruptured unsecured aneurysms. The mean size of unsecured aneurysms was: 4.0±1.9mm (additional unruptured) and 5.3±2.2mm (ruptured), respectively. No aneurysm ruptured during therapy. Combining our data with previously published studies, there appears to be no increase of risk for aneurysm rupture by induced hypertension when compared to the natural history (0.5% for group 1, 2.9% for group 2). Conclusion: These data corroborate that induced hypertension may be a safe treatment option to prevent cerebral infarction in CVS, even in the presence of unsecured aneurysms. Our findings suggest that induced hypertension does not increase rupture of unsecured aneurysms. Given the high risk for cerebral infarction in severe CVS, we conclude that induced hypertension should not be omitted due to the presence of unsecured aneurysm