Analysis of sport psychology consultancy at three Olympic Games: Facts and figures

Objectives Despite many reports on best practises regarding onsite psychological services, little research has attempted to systematically explore the frequency, issues, nature and client groups of onsite sport psychology consultancy at the Olympic Games. The present paper will fill this gap through a systematic analysis of the sport psychology consultancy of the Swiss team for the Olympic Games of 2006 in Turin, 2008 in Beijing and 2010 in Vancouver. Design Descriptive research design. Methods The day reports of the official sport psychologist were analysed. Intervention issues were labelled using categories derived from previous research and divided into the following four intervention-issue dimensions: “general performance”, “specific Olympic performance”, “organisational” and “personal” issues. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi square statistics and odds ratios. Results Across the Olympic Games, between 11% and 25% of the Swiss delegation used the sport psychology services. On average, the sport psychologist provided between 2.1 and 4.6 interventions per day. Around 50% of the interventions were informal interventions. Around 30% of the clients were coaches. The most commonly addressed issues were performance related. An association was observed between previous collaboration, intervention likelihood and intervention theme. Conclusions Sport psychologists working at the Olympic Games are fully engaged with daily interventions and should have developed ideally long-term relationships with clients to truly help athletes with general performance issues. Critical incidents, working with coaches, brief contact interventions and team conflicts are specific features of the onsite consultancy. Practitioners should be trained to deal with these sorts of challenges.

Klartraumtraining bei deutschen und japanischen Athleten: Eine Fragebogenstudie

Einleitung Eine eher unbekannte Art des Mentalen Trainings ist das Training im Klartraum (Erla-cher, Stumbrys & Schredl, 2011-12). Im Klartraum ist sich der Träumende bewusst, dass er träumt, und kann dadurch den fortlaufenden Trauminhalt kontrollieren. Frühere Stu-dien zeigten, dass es möglich ist, motorische Aufgaben im Klartraum zu üben, um dadurch eine verbesserte Leistung im Wachzustand zu erreichen (Erlacher & Schredl, 2010). Jedoch ist wenig über die Prävalenz von Klarträumern im Sport bekannt. Methode Die Stichprobe umfasste 840 deutsche (D: 483 m, 357 w) und 1323 japanische (J: 1000 m, 323 w) Athleten. Das Durchschnittsalter betrug 20,4 Jahre (D: 21,6 J: 19,7). Die Teil-nehmer wurden in verschiedenen Sportarten – von Mannschaftssportarten (z.B. Basket-ball) bis Einzelsportarten (z.B. Leichtathletik) – rekrutiert und füllten einen Fragebogen zum Thema Sport, Schlaf und Traum aus. Die Athleten waren durchschnittlich 9,1 Jahre (D: 11.1, J: 7,9) aktiv und trainierten etwa 14,4 Stunden (D: 11.1, J: 16,7) pro Woche. Der Fragebogen erfasste auf einer 8-stufigen Skala die Klartraumhäufigkeit (Plus Definition: Für ein klares Verständnis von Klarträumen); die Anwendung (z.B. Training) für den Sport und, wenn dies bestätigt wurde, ob sportliche Verbesserungen erlebten wurden. Ergebnisse 47% (D: 57%, J: 41%) der Athleten gaben an, mindesten einen Klartraum erlebt zu ha-ben, 20% (D: 24% J: 18%) sind häufige Klarträumer (mit einem oder mehrere Klarträume pro Monat) und 9% (D 9% , J: 9%) nutzen Klarträume für ihren Sport, davon berichtet die Mehrheit, dass das Klartraumtraining die sportliche Leistung im Wachzustand verbessert. Diskussion Etwa die Hälfte der Athleten kennt das Klarträumen aus eigener Erfahrung, ein Fünftel sind häufige Klarträumer und etwa jeder zehnte Athlet nutzt Klarträume für seinen Sport. Für die deutsche Stichprobe ist die Prävalenzrate der Athleten ähnlich wie in der Bevöl-kerung. Für die japanische Stichprobe liegen keine repräsentativen Bevölkerungsdaten vor, auf der Grundlage der hier vorgestellten Fragebogendaten scheint es jedoch, dass kulturellen Unterschiede eine untergeordnete Rolle spielen. Literatur Erlacher, D. & Schredl, M. (2010). Practicing a motor task in a lucid dream enhances subsequent perfor-mance: A pilot study. The Sport Psychologist, 24(2), 157-167. Erlacher, D., Stumbrys, T. & Schredl, M. (2011-2012). Frequency of lucid dreams and lucid dream practice in German athletes. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 31(3), 237-246.

Decision making in beach volleyball defense: Crucial factors derived from interviews with top-level experts

Objectives: In fast ball sports like beach volleyball, decision-making skills are a determining factor for excellent performance. The current investigation aimed to identify factors that influence the decisionmaking process in top-level beach volleyball defense in order to find relevant aspects for further research. For this reason, focused interviews with top players in international beach volleyball were conducted and analyzed with respect to decision-making characteristics. Design: Nineteen world-tour beach volleyball defense players, including seven Olympic or world champions, were interviewed, focusing on decision-making factors, gaze behavior, and interactions between the two. Methods: Verbal data were analyzed by inductive content analysis according to Mayring (2008). This approach allows categories to emerge from the interview material itself instead of forcing data into preset classifications and theoretical concepts. Results: The data analysis showed that, for top-level beach volleyball defense, decision making depends on opponent specifics, external context, situational context, opponent's movements, and intuition. Information on gaze patterns and visual cues revealed general tendencies indicating optimal gaze strategies that support excellent decision making. Furthermore, the analysis highlighted interactions between gaze behavior, visual information, and domain-specific knowledge. Conclusions: The present findings provide information on visual perception, domain-specific knowledge, and interactions between the two that are relevant for decision making in top-level beach volleyball defense. The results can be used to inform sports practice and to further untangle relevant mechanisms underlying decision making in complex game situations.

Simulation Games - A Creative Tool for Capacity Building: Experience from the Learning for Sustainability Approach

Games that simulate complex realities to be dealt with in teams are an effective tool for fostering interactive learning processes. they link different levels of decision-making in the household, community and societal contexts. Negotiation and harmonisation of different perceptions and interests, be it within or between different households, form the basis of a common strategy for sustainable development.

Detecting single-target changes in multiple object tracking: The case of peripheral vision.

In sports games, it is often necessary to perceive a large number of moving objects (e.g., the ball and players). In this context, the role of peripheral vision for processing motion information in the periphery is often discussed especially when motor responses are required. In an attempt to test the basal functionality of peripheral vision in those sports-games situations, a Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) task that requires to track a certain number of targets amidst distractors, was chosen. Participants’ primary task was to recall four targets (out of 10 rectangular stimuli) after six seconds of quasi-random motion. As a second task, a button had to be pressed if a target change occurred (Exp 1: stop vs. form change to a diamond for 0.5 s; Exp 2: stop vs. slowdown for 0.5 s). While eccentricities of changes (5-10° vs. 15-20°) were manipulated, decision accuracy (recall and button press correct), motor response time as well as saccadic reaction time were calculated as dependent variables. Results show that participants indeed used peripheral vision to detect changes, because either no or very late saccades to the changed target were executed in correct trials. Moreover, a saccade was more often executed when eccentricities were small. Response accuracies were higher and response times were lower in the stop conditions of both experiments while larger eccentricities led to higher response times in all conditions. Summing up, it could be shown that monitoring targets and detecting changes can be processed by peripheral vision only and that a monitoring strategy on the basis of peripheral vision may be the optimal one as saccades may be afflicted with certain costs. Further research is planned to address the question whether this functionality is also evident in sports tasks.

Detecting single-target changes in multiple object tracking: The case of peripheral vision

In sports games, it is often necessary to perceive a large number of moving objects (e.g., the ball and players). In this context, the role of peripheral vision for processing motion information in the periphery is often discussed especially when motor responses are required. In an attempt to test the capability of using peripheral vision in those sports-games situations, a Multiple-Object-Tracking task that requires to track a certain number of targets amidst distractors, was chosen to determine the sensitivity of detecting target changes with peripheral vision only. Participants’ primary task was to recall four targets (out of 10 rectangular stimuli) after six seconds of quasi-random motion. As a second task, a button had to be pressed if a target change occurred (Exp 1: stop vs. form change to a diamond for 0.5 s; Exp 2: stop vs. slowdown for 0.5 s). Eccentricities of changes (5-10° vs. 15-20°) were manipulated, decision accuracy (recall and button press correct), motor response time and saccadic reaction time (change onset to saccade onset) were calculated and eye-movements were recorded. Results show that participants indeed used peripheral vision to detect changes, because either no or very late saccades to the changed target were executed in correct trials. Moreover, a saccade was more often executed when eccentricities were small. Response accuracies were higher and response times were lower in the stop conditions of both experiments while larger eccentricities led to higher response times in all conditions. Summing up, it could be shown that monitoring targets and detecting changes can be processed by peripheral vision only and that a monitoring strategy on the basis of peripheral vision may be the optimal one as saccades may be afflicted with certain costs. Further research is planned to address the question whether this functionality is also evident in sports tasks.

Combining qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze serious games outcomes: A pilot study for a new cognitive screening tool

Computer games for a serious purpose - so called serious games can provide additional information for the screening and diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Moreover, they have the advantage of being an ecological tool by involving daily living tasks. However, there is a need for better comprehensive designs regarding the acceptance of this technology, as the target population is older adults that are not used to interact with novel technologies. Moreover given the complexity of the diagnosis and the need for precise assessment, an evaluation of the best approach to analyze the performance data is required. The present study examines the usability of a new screening tool and proposes several new outlines for data analysis.

Impairments of peripheral motion change detection during smooth pursuit eye movements

Introduction: In team sports the ability to use peripheral vision is essential to track a number of players and the ball. By using eye-tracking devices it was found that players either use fixations and saccades to process information on the pitch or use smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) to keep track of single objects (Schütz, Braun, & Gegenfurtner, 2011). However, it is assumed that peripheral vision can be used best when the gaze is stable while it is unknown whether motion changes can be equally well detected when SPEM are used especially because contrast sensitivity is reduced during SPEM (Schütz, Delipetkose, Braun, Kerzel, & Gegenfurtner, 2007). Therefore, peripheral motion change detection will be examined by contrasting a fixation condition with a SPEM condition. Methods: 13 participants (7 male, 6 female) were presented with a visual display consisting of 15 white and 1 red square. Participants were instructed to follow the red square with their eyes and press a button as soon as a white square begins to move. White square movements occurred either when the red square was still (fixation condition) or moving in a circular manner with 6 °/s (pursuit condition). The to-be-detected white square movements varied in eccentricity (4 °, 8 °, 16 °) and speed (1 °/s, 2 °/s, 4 °/s) while movement time of white squares was constant at 500 ms. 180 events should be detected in total. A Vicon-integrated eye-tracking system and a button press (1000 Hz) was used to control for eye-movements and measure detection rates and response times. Response times (ms) and missed detections (%) were measured as dependent variables and analysed with a 2 (manipulation) x 3 (eccentricity) x 3 (speed) ANOVA with repeated measures on all factors. Results: Significant response time effects were found for manipulation, F(1,12) = 224.31, p < .01, ηp2 = .95, eccentricity, F(2,24) = 56.43; p < .01, ηp2 = .83, and the interaction between the two factors, F(2,24) = 64.43; p < .01, ηp2 = .84. Response times increased as a function of eccentricity for SPEM only and were overall higher than in the fixation condition. Results further showed missed events effects for manipulation, F(1,12) = 37.14; p < .01, ηp2 = .76, eccentricity, F(2,24) = 44.90; p < .01, ηp2 = .79, the interaction between the two factors, F(2,24) = 39.52; p < .01, ηp2 = .77 and the three-way interaction manipulation x eccentricity x speed, F(2,24) = 3.01; p = .03, ηp2 = .20. While less than 2% of events were missed on average in the fixation condition as well as at 4° and 8° eccentricity in the SPEM condition, missed events increased for SPEM at 16 ° eccentricity with significantly more missed events in the 4 °/s speed condition (1 °/s: M = 34.69, SD = 20.52; 2 °/s: M = 33.34, SD = 19.40; 4 °/s: M = 39.67, SD = 19.40). Discussion: It could be shown that using SPEM impairs the ability to detect peripheral motion changes at the far periphery and that fixations not only help to detect these motion changes but also to respond faster. Due to high temporal constraints especially in team sports like soccer or basketball, fast reaction are necessary for successful anticipation and decision making. Thus, it is advised to anchor gaze at a specific location if peripheral changes (e.g. movements of other players) that require a motor response have to be detected. In contrast, SPEM should only be used if a single object, like the ball in cricket or baseball, is necessary for a successful motor response. References: Schütz, A. C., Braun, D. I., & Gegenfurtner, K. R. (2011). Eye movements and perception: A selective review. Journal of Vision, 11, 1-30. Schütz, A. C., Delipetkose, E., Braun, D. I., Kerzel, D., & Gegenfurtner, K. R. (2007). Temporal contrast sensitivity during smooth pursuit eye movements. Journal of Vision, 7, 1-15.

Effects of team Knowledge and ecological constraints on decisional processes in customized football game scenarios

Several theories assume that successful team coordination is partly based on knowledge that helps anticipating individual contributions necessary in a situational task. It has been argued that a more ecological perspective needs to be considered in contexts evolving dynamically and unpredictably. In football, defensive plays are usually coordinated according to strategic concepts spanning all members and large areas of the playfield. On the other hand, fewer people are involved in offensive plays as these are less projectable and strongly constrained by ecological characteristics. The aim of this study is to test the effects of ecological constraints and player knowledge on decision making in offensive game scenarios. It is hypothesized that both knowledge about team members and situational constraints will influence decisional processes. Effects of situational constraints are expected to be of higher magnitude. Two teams playing in the fourth league of the Swiss Football Federation participate in the study. Forty customized game scenarios were developed based on the coaches’ information about player positions and game strategies. Each player was shown in ball possession four times. Participants were asked to take the perspective of the player on the ball and to choose a passing destination and a recipient. Participants then rated domain specific strengths (e.g., technical skills, game intelligence) of each of their teammates. Multilevel models for categorical dependent variables (team members) will be specified. Player knowledge (rated skills) and ecological constraints (operationalized as each players’ proximity and availability for ball reception) are included as predictor variables. Data are currently being collected. Results will yield effects of parameters that are stable across situations as well as of variable parameters that are bound to situational context. These will enable insight into the degree to which ecological constraints and more enduring team knowledge are involved in decisional processes aimed at coordinating interpersonal action.