Daniel M. Landers

The Arousal-Performance Relationship Revisited

Abstract William P. Morgan reviews the arguments associated with trait psychology, in particular in the field of sport psychology. He describes the existing research including several models and their ability to predict behavior, emphasizing the viability of a mental health model. In addition, Morgan discusses a role of perception and cognition in sports and physical activity. Finally, trait theory is placed in a realistic perspective, to be applied in a multidimensional framework in studying prediction of behavior. The article by Daniel M. Landers involves a reexamination of the arousal-performance relationship. The role of attention in performing most sports skills is discussed, with particular emphasis on the attentional narrowing phenomenon. In addition, Landers discusses the measurement of anxiety, recommending that it be viewed as a multidimensional construct consisting of physical, behavioral, and cognitive components.

Team Performance Outcome and the Cohesiveness of Competitive Coacting Groups

A question often plaguing investigators is why some competitive teams achieve consistently successful -performance outcomes and. why others do not. Obviously, the resources, in terms of skills and abilities, that group members bring to the contest are extremely important. This perceived importance has often led to a neglect of other important determinants of team performance outcome, namely group structure and task demands.

IRIS Pigmentation and Reactive Motor Performance

Worthys (1974) hypothesis that brown-eyed subjects respond faster than blue-eyed subjects on reactive motor tasks was tested. Experiment 1 compared dark-brown and blue-eyed subjects on rotary pursuit and choice response time tasks. There was a tendency for the predicted effect, but it was only evident for choice responding where speed was the principal performance criterion. In Experiment 2 iris pigmentation effects were found to be limited to the reaction-time component, but not the movement time component, of a simple motor response. Differences in the filtering of lightwaves and in CNS neuro-pigmentation are mechanisms commonly used to explain these findings. Iris pigmentation effects were found for both auditory and visual stimuli, thus supporting the neuro-pigmentation explanation.

Socialization via Interscholastic Athletics: Its Effects on Educational Attainment

Abstract The present study was designed to assess the influence of athletics on educational attainment. It tested Spadys (1970) contention that high school athletes were deficit in the academic skills necessary for later success in college because athletics were their only form of extracurricular involvement. A 1975 Maryland sample (N = 239) and a 1977 Pennsylvania sample (N = 403) of male and female high school students were categorized into athlete-only and athlete-service groups and then compared on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Comparisons were also made to the national average for males and females. Results from both samples supported Spadys contention for males, but not for females. Athlete-only males were significantly lower (p ≤ .01) than the 1975 and 1977 male national averages. By contrast, athlete-service males were significantly higher than the 1975 male national average. The findings are discussed in terms of the influence exerted by significant others (e.g., parents, coaches) to e...

Iris Pigmentation and Fractionated Reaction and Reflex Time.

Recent investigations indicate that an iris pigmentation-motor behavior exists, but may be limited to the reaction time component of a motor task. The absence of differences in peripheral nervous conduction (Wolf and Landers, 1978) suggests that a central nervous system mechanism may be operating, possibly dependent on the characteristics of neuromelanin or catecholamine turnover. Experiment 1 tested this notion by fractionating simple reaction time into the premotor and motor components by electromyography. ANOVA revealed that dark-eyed subjects had faster total reaction times and premotor times, but only the premotor time component approached significance (p < 0.07). Experiment 2 fractionated patellar reflex time of light-eyed and dark-eyed subjects into reflex lagency and motor components. There were no eye color differences for any of the reflex time measures. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 support a central nervous system explanation for the iris pigmentation-reaction time phenomenon.

Informational-motivational components of a model's demonstration.

Abstract The effects of the informational and motivational components of a models demonstration on motor performance were investigated. A secondary aim was to examine the effects of observer sex on observational learning. Male and female fifth- and sixth-grade students (N = 80) were compared under four conditions comprising the presence or absence of informational and/or motivational cues using the Bachman ladder-balance task. Access to informational cues was manipulated by means of a model demonstration. Motivational cues consisted of a model providing subjects with verbal knowledge of results (KR) of models prior task performance. Results of the Sex × Informational Cues × Motivational Cues (2 × 2 × 2) ANOVA indicated that males had higher average performance scores than females. These differences, however, did not appear to be due to greater modeling by males. Subjects receiving a model demonstration had higher performance scores than subjects not given a model demonstration. The results were interpre...

Observer Expectancy Effects Upon Appraisal of Gross Motor Performance.

Abstract The effects of observer bias on appraisal of performance were investigated. Male physical education majors (N = 45) rated stabilometer performances of both an endomorphic and a mesomorphic individual. One group of observers was informed that it was evaluating superior performers (positive expectancy), another group was told that it was observing inferior performers (negative expectancy), and the control group was given no expectancy. In reality, all of the performances of the experimental accomplices (performers) over the 6 trials were nearly identical. Results of the ANOVA indicated that observers given positive expectancy assessed greater time-on-balance (p < .05) and fewer performance errors (p < .05) than the negative-expectancy group. A postexperimental manipulation check revealed that the induced bias had been attained. The results were interpreted as providing evidence for the existence of an observer bias in motor-skill appraisal. No performance effects were found for bias due to the perf...