Hand preference patterns in expert basketball players: Interrelations between basketball-specific and everyday life behavior

In the present study we examined the interrelation of everyday life handedness and hand preference in basketball, as an area of expertise that requires individuals being proficient with both their nondominant and dominant hand. A secondary aim was to elucidate the link between basketball-specific practice, hand preference in basketball and everyday life handedness. Therefore, 176 expert basketball players self-reported their hand preference for activities of daily living and for basketball-specific behavior as well as details about their basketball-specific history via questionnaire. We found that compared to the general population the one-hand bias was significantly reduced for both everyday life and basketball-specific hand preference (i.e., a higher prevalence of mixed-handed individuals), and that both concepts were significantly related. Moreover, only preference scores for lay-up and dribbling skills were significantly related to measures of basketball-specific practice. Consequently, training-induced modulations of lateral preference seem to be very specific to only a few basketball-specific skills, and do not generalize to other skills within the domain of basketball nor do they extend into everyday life handedness. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance regarding theories of handedness and their practical implications for the sport of basketball.

Periphere Wahrnehmung beim Verfolgen mehrerer Objekte

Einleitung Beim Multiple-Object-Tracking m��ssen mehrere, sich bewegende Zielobjekte visuell ver-folgt werden. Dabei scheint es vorteilhaft zu sein, den Blick zwischen den Zielobjekten zu verankern, um Bewegungsinformationen peripher wahrzunehmen (Fehd & Seiffert, 2010). Nach Pr��fung dieser Annahme (Experiment 1) wurde getestet, wie gut und schnell auf Bewegungs- und Formver��nderungen der Zielobjekte reagiert werden kann (Experiment 2), um die Funktionalit��t der peripheren Wahrnehmung zu ��berpr��fen. Methode 14 Teilnehmer hatten die Aufgabe, zum Ende eines Einzelversuchs 4 aus 10 Vierecken wiederzuerkennen, die sich linear f��r 6 s in einem projizierten Quadrat bewegten. Dabei wurden 3 Geschwindigkeiten (6, 9 und 12��/s) in 9 Bl��cken �� 15 Versuchen pr��sentiert, um herauszufinden, bei welcher Geschwindigkeit der Blickpunkt die l��ngste Zeit auf dem Centroid der 4 Zielobjekte liegt und damit die Zielobjekte lange peripher wahrgenommen werden. In Experiment 2 sollten Teilnehmer bei dieser ���optimalen��� Geschwindigkeit auf das Anhalten der Vierecke oder deren Formver��nderung zur Raute (Manipulation:0.5 s) mit Knopfdruck reagieren, bei ausbleibender Ver��nderung hingegen die 4 Zielobjekte wiedererkennen (3 Bedingungen in 10 Bl��cken �� 12 Versuchen). Erwartet wurde, dass Bewegungsver��nderungen h��ufiger und schneller erkannt werden als Formver��nde-rungen. Ergebnisse Der Geschwindigkeitsvergleich in Experiment 1 ergab, dass der Blick bei 6��/s die l��ngste Zeit (46 %) auf den Centroid gerichtet ist, F(2,132) = 9.68, p < .01, ��p2 = .13 und die 4 Ziel-objekte bei dieser Geschwindigkeit signifikant h��ufiger wiedererkannt werden (59 %), F(2,132) = 37.62, p < .01, ��p2 = .36. In Experiment 2 wurde festgestellt, dass Bewegungs-ver��nderungen h��ufiger erkannt werden (83 %) als Formver��nderungen (59 %), F(1,78) = 65.52, p < .01, ��p2 = .46, wobei die Erkennungsleistung der 4 Zielobjekte mit Experiment 1 vergleichbar ist (58%). Diskussion Die periphere Wahrnehmung scheint immer dann funktional zu sein, wenn mehrere, f��r eine Aufgabe relevante Objekte gleichzeitig verfolgt werden m��ssen und wenn Ver��nde-rungen, besonders der Bewegung, schnell erkannt werden m��ssen. Weitere Untersu-chungen sollen zeigen, ob diese Funktionalit��t der peripheren Wahrnehmung auch im Sport (z.B. beim gleichzeitigen Verfolgen mehrerer Gegenspieler) erkannt werden kann. Literatur Fehd, H. M. & Seiffert, A. E. (2010). Looking at the center of the targets helps multiple object tracking. Journal of Vision, 10, 1���13.

Auditive und visuelle Perzeption bei Abseitsentscheidungen im Fussball

Einleitung Die hohe Quote von fehlerhaften Abseitsentscheidungen im Fu��ball (ca. 26%, Helsen et al., 2006) k��nnte dadurch erkl��rt werden, dass Schiedsrichterassistenten zum Zeitpunkt des Passes die Abseitslinie fixieren und den Moment des Passes nur peripher wahr-nehmen (Catteeuw et al., 2009). Diese Annahme wurde gepr��ft, indem in einem Virtual-Reality-Setting systematisch visuelle (Spielerpositionen) und akustische (Passger��usch) Informationen manipuliert wurden. Methode In Experiment 1 hatten 28 Teilnehmer die Aufgabe, Abseitsentscheidungen aus der Per-spektive des Schiedsrichterassistenten zu treffen. Dabei wurde das Passger��usch mani-puliert (Ger��usch bei Ballabgabe: 100 ms zu fr��h, 100 ms zu sp��t, ohne). Erwartet wurde, dass die Entscheidungsrichtigkeit bei asynchronen Ger��uschen sinkt. In Experiment 2 wurde in drei Gruppen die (1) Distanz zum Assistent, (2) Exzentrizit��t des Passgebers (Winkel zwischen Passgeber und Abseitslinie) oder (3) der zu fixierende Spieler (letzter Verteidiger oder Passgeber) manipuliert. Je Gruppe hatten 20 Teilnehmer die Aufgabe, den Moment des Passes per Knopfdruck anzugeben und Abseitsentscheidungen zu tref-fen. Zu fixierende Orte wurden instruiert und durch Eyetracking gepr��ft. Pr��diziert wurde, dass (1) gro��e Exzentrizit��ten und (2) gro��e Entfernungen des Passgebers die Pr��zision der Passwahrnehmung und die Entscheidungsrichtigkeit senken und (3) der Passmo-ment bei Fixation des Passgebers pr��ziser erkannt wird als bei Fixation des letzten Ver-teidigers. Ergebnisse Die bisher vorliegenden Ergebnisse aus Experiment 1 zeigen, dass die akustische Wahrnehmung des Passes die Entscheidungsrichtigkeit beeinflusst, F(2, 54)= 7.44, p = .01, ��p2 = .22, indem verz��gerte Ballger��usche die Zahl der ���Flag-Errors��� (f��lschlicher-weise auf Abseits entschieden) erh��ht und die der ���Non-Flag-Errors��� (Abseits nicht er-kannt) senkt. Experiment 2 wird zeigen, welche Rolle hierbei periphere visuelle Informa-tionen spielen. Diskussion Die vermutete R��ckf��hrung von fehlerhaften Abseitsentscheidungen auf periphere (vi-suelle) Wahrnehmungsaspekte konnte best��tigt werden. Der relative Einfluss auditiver und visueller Informationen auf die Fehlerquote gilt es weiter zu untersuchen. Literatur Catteeuw, P., Helsen, W., Gilis, B., Van Roie, E., & Wagemans, J. (2009). Visual scan patterns and decision-making skills of expert assistant referees in offside situations. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychol-ogy, 31, 786-797. Helsen, W., Gilis, B., & Weston, M. (2006). Errors in judging ���offside��� in association football: Test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 521���528.

Efficient Team actions

Team is a widely represented phenomenon in sport. Despite this fact, sport psychology has yet to answers the question why some teams deliver more successful Performance and produce higher interpersonal satisfaction among athletes than others. While group cohesion, defined as "a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs" (Carron, Brawley, & Widmeyer, 1997, p.��213) is considered to be one important factor contributing to performance, cognitive aspects of team performance depict a complementary view. More specifically, attitudes, efficacy beliefs, role understanding, common goals, and communication are present in any group of two or more people playing Sport together. The interactions between these cognitions and motivation, cohesion, performance, and satisfaction in teams sport is yet an under researched area in sport psychology. Reference Carron, A.V., Brawley, L.R., & Widmeyer, W.N. (1997). The measurement of cohesiveness in sport groups. In J.L. Duda (Ed.), Advances in sport and exercise psychology measurement (pp. 213-��226). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

Effects of overt self-��talk on team partners��� other-efficacy and performance in a golf putting task

Introduction According to Lent and Lopez��� (2002) tripartite view of efficacy beliefs, members of a team form beliefs about the efficacy of their team partners. This other-efficacy belief can influence individual performance as shown by Dunlop, Beatty, and Beauchamp (2011) in their experimental study using manipulated performance feedback to alter other-efficacy beliefs. Participants holding favorable other-efficacy beliefs outperformed those with lower other--���efficacy beliefs. Antecedents of such other-efficacy beliefs are amongst others perceptions regarding motivation and psychological factors of the partner (Jackson, Knapp, & Beauchamp, 2008). Overt self-talk could be interpreted as the manifestation of such motivational or psychological factors. In line with this assumption, in an experimental study using dubbed videos of the same segment of a tennis match, Van Raalte, Brewer, Cornelius, and Petitpas (2006) found that players were perceived more favorably (e.g., more concentrated, and of higher ability levels) when shown with dubbed positive self-talk as compared to dubbed negative or no dubbed self--���talk. Objectives The aim of the study was to examine the possible effects of a confederate���s overt self-talk on participants��� other-efficacy beliefs and performance in a team setting. Method In a laboratory experiment (between-subjects, pre-post-test design, matched by pretest performance) 89 undergraduate students (female = 35, M = 20.81 years, SD = 2.34) participated in a golf putting task together with a confederate (same gender groups). Depending on the experimental condition (positive, negative, or no self-talk), the confederate commented his or her putts according to a self-talk script. Bogus performance feedback assured that the performance of the confederate was held constant. Performance was measured as the distance to the center of the target, other-efficacy by a questionnaire. Results The data collection has just finished and the results of repeated measures analyses of variance will be presented and discussed at the congress. We expect to find higher other-efficacy beliefs and better individual performance in the positive self-talk condition. References Dunlop, W.L., Beatty, D.J., & Beauchamp, M.R. (2011). Examining the influence of other-efficacy and self-efficacy on personal performance. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33, 586-593. Jackson, B., Knapp, P., & Beauchamp, M.R. (2008). Origins and consequences of tripartite efficacy beliefs within elite athlete dyads. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30, 512-540. Lent, R.W., & Lopez, F.G. (2002). Cognitive ties that bind: A tripartite view of efficacy beliefs in growth--���promoting relationships. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 21, 256-286. Van Raalte, J.L., Brewer, B.W, Cornelius, A.E., & Petitpas, A.J. (2006). Self-presentational effects of self-talk on perceptions of tennis players. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 3, 134-149.

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.

���Knallt���s oder knallt���s nicht?" - Dynamik der Gewalteskalation am Beispiel des Fussballstadions

Dynamik der Gewalteskalation bei kritischen Situationen am Beispiel des Fu��ballstadions Alain Brechb��hl, Annemarie Schumacher-Dimech & Roland Seiler Institut f��r Sportwissenschaft, Universit��t Bern Schl��sselw��rter: Zuschauergewalt, Wahrnehmung, Fu��ball, Massenveranstaltungen, Fan Einleitung Zuschauergewalt bei Fu��ballspielen ist in der Schweiz ein aktuelles Thema, wie etwa politische Debatten um Ma��nahmen zur Pr��vention von Eskalationen zeigen. W��hrend in anderen L��ndern bereits verschiedene Studien durchgef��hrt wurden (bspw. Hylander & Granstr��m, 2010), existiert in der Schweiz kaum Forschung zur Dynamik und den m��glichen Faktoren, die den Unterschied zwischen einer Eskalation oder Nichteskalation ausmachen k��nnten. Insbesondere die Sicht beteiligter Personen ist dazu von entscheidender Bedeutung. Das vorliegende Projekt besch��ftigt sich mit der subjektiv wahrgenommenen Gewaltsituation und deren zentralen Faktoren und Ursachen im Kontext des Fu��balls. Methode Aufgrund der sp��rlichen Forschungslage in der Schweiz wurde eine explorative qualitative Studie mit involvierten und nichtinvolvierten Personen (Fu��ballfans, Sicherheitspersonal und die Polizei) durchgef��hrt, um Daten ��ber kritische Situationen bei Spielen der Raiffeisen Super League zu erheben. Die ausgew��hlten Personen wurden einzeln mit narrativen Interviews zu der erlebten Situation befragt um genauere Erkenntnisse zur Situation zu erhalten. Zu vier Situationen wurden 34 Interviews durchgef��hrt (12 mit Polizeiangeh��rigen, 11 mit Fans, 9 mit Fanarbeitern und 2 mit Sicherheitsarbeitern). Die Auswertung erfolgte mit der interpretativen ph��nomenologischen Analyse. Ergebnisse Es zeigten sich individuelle und gruppenspezifische Wahrnehmungen in kritischen Situationen. Bei den befragten Personen herrschte h��ufig eine Tendenz zur (negativen) Stereotypisierung der gegen��berstehenden Gruppenmitglieder. Schnelle und klare Kommunikation, gen��gend Distanz zwischen den Gruppen und das Entfernen von gruppenspezifisch bedrohlichen Hinweisreizen (bspw. Polizei-R��stungen) konnten als relevante Faktoren f��r gewaltfreie L��sungen festgestellt werden. Diskussion Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse sprechen f��r die Aufrechterhaltung einer differenzierten Betrachtungsweise und das Beiziehen von Vermittlungspersonen (von Fan- wie auch Polizeiseite) in kritischen Situationen, um Eskalationen vermeiden zu k��nnen. Es zeigen sich ��hnlichkeiten zu den Ergebnissen von Hylander & Granstr��m (2010). Es werden noch weitere kritische Situationen analysiert, um konkrete Praxisempfehlungen zu formulieren. Literatur Hylander, I., & Granstr��m, K. (2010). Organizing for a peaceful crowd: an example of a football match. Fo-rum Qualitative Social Research, 11 (2), Zugriff am 22.01.2014 unter http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1462/2969.

Individual group efficacy beliefs and performance motivation: A mediational approach

Introduction: According to the theoretical model of Cranach, Ochsenbein, and Valach (1986) understanding group actions needs consideration of aspects at both the group level and the level of individual members. For example individual action units constituting group actions are motivated at the individual level while potentially being affected by characteristics of the group. Theoretically, group efficacy beliefs could be a part of this motivational process as they are an individual���s cognitive contents about group-level abilities to perform well in a specific task. Positive relations between group level efficacy-beliefs and group performance have been reported and Bandura and Locke (2003) argue that this relationship is being mediated by motivational processes and goal setting. The aims of this study were a) to examine the effects of group characteristics on individual performance motivation and b) to test if those are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Methods: Forty-seven students (M=22.83 years, SD=2.83, 34% women) of the university of Berne participated in this scenario based experiment. Data were collected on two collection points. Subjects were provided information about fictive team members with whom they had to perform a group triathlon. Three values (low, medium, high) of the other team members��� abilities to perform in their parts of the triathlon (swimming and biking respectively) were combined in a 3x3 full factorial design (Anderson, 1982) yielding nine groups. Subjects were asked how confident they were that the teams would perform well in the task (individual group efficacy beliefs), and to provide information about their motivation to perform at their best in the respective group contexts (performance motivation). Multilevel modeling (Mplus) was used to estimate the effects of the factors swim and bike, and the context-varying covariate individual group efficacy beliefs on performance motivation. Further analyses were undertaken to test if the effects of group contexts on performance motivation are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Results: Significant effects were reported for both the group characteristics (��swim = 7.86; ��bike = 8.57; both p < .001) and the individual group efficacy beliefs (��igeb; .40, p < .001) on performance motivation. The subsequent mediation model indicated that the effects of group characteristics on performance motivation were partly mediated by the individual group efficacy beliefs of the subjects with significant mediation effects for both factors swim and bike. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of the study provide further support for the motivational character of efficacy beliefs and point out a mechanism by which team characteristics influence performance relevant factors at the level of individual team members. The study indicates that high team abilities lead to augmented performance motivation, adding a psychological advantage to teams already high on task relevant abilities. Future investigations will be aiming at possibilities to keep individual performance motivation high in groups with low task relevant abilities. One possibility could be the formulation of individual task goals. References: Anderson, N. H. (1982). Methods of information integration theory. New York: Academic Press. Bandura, A. & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 87-99. Cranach, M. von, Ochsenbein, G. & Valach, L. (1986). The group as a self-active system: Outline of a theory of group action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 16, 193-229.

Group abilities, individual group-efficacy beliefs and performance motivation: A mediation analysis

Introduction Research has shown that individuals infer their group-efficacy beliefs from the groups��� abilities to perform in specific tasks. Group abilities also seem to affect team members��� performance motivation adding a psychological advantage to teams already high on task relevant abilities. In a recent study we found the effect of group abilities on individual performance motivation to be partially mediated by the team members��� individual group-efficacy beliefs which is an example of how attributes on a group-level can be affecting individual-level parameters. Objectives The study aimed at testing the possibility to reduce the direct and mediated effects of low group abilities on performance motivation by augmenting the visibility of individual contributions to group performances via the inclusion of a separate ranking on individual performances. Method Forty-seven students (M=22.83 years, SD=2.83, 34% women) of the University of Bern participated in the study. At three collection points (t1-3) subjects were provided information about fictive team members with whom they had to imagine performing a group triathlon. Three values (low, medium, high) of the other team members��� abilities to perform in their parts of the triathlon (swimming and biking) were combined in a 3x3 full factorial design yielding nine groups with different ability profiles. At t1 subjects were asked to rate their confidence that the teams would perform well in the triathlon task, at t2 and t3 subjects were asked how motivated they were to perform at their best in the respective groups. At t3 the presence of an individual performance ranking was mentioned in the cover story. Mixed linear models (SPSS) and structural equation models for complex survey data (Mplus) were specified to estimate the effects of the individual performance rankings on the relationship between group-efficacy beliefs and performance motivation. Results A significant interaction effect for individual group-efficacy beliefs and the triathlon condition on performance motivation was found; the effect of group-efficacy beliefs on performance motivation being smaller with individual performance rankings available. The partial mediation of group attributes on performance motivation by group-efficacy beliefs disappeared with the announcement of individual performance rankings. Conclusion In teams low in task relevant abilities the disadvantageous effect of group-efficacy beliefs on performance motivation might be reduced by providing means of evaluating individual performances apart from a group���s overall performance. While it is believed that a common group goal is a core criterion for a well performing sport group future studies should also aim at the possible benefit of individualized goal setting in groups.