Garry Kuan

Effects of music on arousal during imagery in elite shooters: A pilot study

Beneficial effects of music on several performance-related aspects of sport have been reported, but the processes involved are not well understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of relaxing and arousing classical music on physiological indicators and subjective perceptions of arousal during imagery of a sport task. First, appropriate music excerpts were selected. Then, 12 skilled shooters performed shooting imagery while listening to the three preselected music excerpts in randomized order. Participants’ galvanic skin response, peripheral temperature, and electromyography were monitored during music played concurrently with imagery. Subjective music ratings and physiological measures showed, as hypothesized, that unfamiliar relaxing music was the most relaxing and unfamiliar arousing music was the most arousing. Researchers should examine the impact of unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music played during imagery on subsequent performance in diverse sports. Practitioners can apply unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music with imagery to manipulate arousal level.

The Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale: A confirmatory study of the Malay language version

The aim of this study is to validate a Malay language version of the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS) using a confirmatory approach. Data collection was conducted in Kelantan, Malaysia. Participants were 634 university undergraduate students (female 63%, male 37%), mean age of 21 years. Motivation for physical activity was assessed using the 40-item PALMS, which measures eight motives. PALMS was first translated into Malay using standard forward and backward translation procedures. Participants then completed the PALMS-Malay (PALMS-M). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, using Mplus 7.3 software, on the 8-motive PALMS-M model. The hypothesised model consisted of 40 observed items, and 8 latent variables. Employing CFA, this model did not result in a good fit to the data. Further examination of CFA results suggested modifications to the path model to improve fit indices. This modification included deleting two problematic items (items 10 and 18) and co-varying the error terms for items 19 and 31. This resulted in improved fit indices (RMSEA = .041 (90% CI: .038, .044), CIfitRMSEA = 1.000, CFI = .911, TLI = .901, SRMR = .052). The final measurement model consisted of 38 items. The majority of the items were retained and were considered acceptable for the present sample.

The Heat Is On: Effects of Synchronous Music on Psychophysiological Parameters and Running Performance in Hot and Humid Conditions

Running in high heat and humidity increases psychophysiological strain, which typically impairs running performance. Listening to synchronous music has been shown to provide psychophysiological benefits, which may enhance running performance. The present randomized, crossover study examined effects of listening to synchronous music on psychophysiological parameters and running performance in hot and humid conditions. Twelve male runners (21.7 ± 2.2 y; 166.17 ± 7.18 cm; 60.32 ± 9.52 kg; 59.29 ± 5.95 ml kg−1 min−1) completed two running trials in simulated conditions (31°C and 70% humidity) with and without synchronous music. Participants ran on a treadmill inside a climatic chamber for 60 min at 60% V˙O2max and continued to run to exhaustion at 80% V˙O2max. Time-to-exhaustion under the synchronous music condition was 66.59% longer (mean = 376.5 s vs. 226.0 s, p = 0.02, d = 0.63) compared to the no music condition. Ratings of perceived exertion were significantly lower for the synchronous music condition at each time point (15, 30, 45, and 60 min) of the steady state portion of the running trials. Small differences in heart rate were detected between conditions. No significant between-condition differences were found in urine specific gravity, percentage of body weight loss, thermal comfort, and blood lactate. Findings suggest that listening to synchronous music is beneficial to running performance and perceived exertion in hot and humid conditions.

Effects of relaxing and arousing music during imagery training on dart-throwing performance, physiological arousal indices, and competitive state anxiety

Music that is carefully selected to match the requirements of activities and the characteristics of individuals has been shown to produce significant impacts on performance enhancement (Priest et al., 2004). There is also evidence that music can enhance imagery (Grocke and Wigram, 2007), although few studies have investigated the effects of music on imagery in the context of sport skills. In the present study, the effects of relaxing and arousing music during imagery on dart-throwing performance, physiological arousal indices, and competitive state anxiety, were investigated among 63 novice dart throwers. Participants had moderate-to-high imagery ability and were randomly assigned to unfamiliar relaxing music (URM), unfamiliar arousing music (UAM), or no music (NM) groups. Performance was assessed by 40 dart throws at a concentric circles dartboard before and after 12 imagery sessions over 4 weeks. Measures of galvanic skin response (GSR), peripheral temperature (PT), and heart rate (HR) were taken during imagery sessions 1 and 12, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R) was administered prior to the pre- and post-intervention performance task. Dart-throwing gain scores were significantly higher for URM than for UAM and NM, with no significant difference between UAM and NM (URM = 37.24 ± 5.66, UAM = 17.57 ± 5.30, and NM = 13.19 ± 6.14, F2,62 = 5.03, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.14). GSR, PT, and HR reflected lower arousal for URM than for UAM or NM. Significant decreases in somatic anxiety were evident for URM and UAM but not NM. Significant decreases in cognitive anxiety were evident for URM and NM but not UAM. Significant increases in self-confidence were evident for URM but not UAM or NM. Performance improved in all three conditions but URM was associated with the largest performance gain, the lowest physiological indices of arousal, and the most positive CSAI-2R profiles. Listening to relaxing music during imagery may have benefits for performance in other fine motor skills.

Cross-cultural validation of mood profile clusters in a sport and exercise context

Mood profiling has a long history in the field of sport and exercise. Several novel mood profile clusters were identified and described in the literature recently (Parsons-Smith et al., 2017). In the present study, we investigated whether the same clusters were evident in an Italian-language, sport and exercise context. The Italian Mood Scale (ITAMS; Quartiroli et al., 2017) was administered to 950 Italian-speaking sport participants (659 females, 284 males, 7 unspecified; age range = 16–63 year, M = 25.03, SD = 7.62) and seeded k-means clustering methodology applied to the responses. Six distinct mood profiles were identified, termed the iceberg, inverse iceberg, inverse Everest, shark fin, surface, and submerged profiles, which closely resembled those reported among English-speaking participants (Parsons-Smith et al., 2017). Significant differences were found in the distribution of specific mood profiles across gender and age groups. Findings supported the cross-cultural generalizability of the six mood profiles and offer new research avenues into their antecedents, correlates and behavioral consequences in Italian-language contexts.

Testing Measurement and Factor Structure Invariance of the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale for Youth Across Gender

Measurement equivalence is often assumed across comparison groups, a pervasive problem related to many self-report instruments. Measurement equivalence, also known as measurement invariance, implies that a measure has the same meaning across different groups of people. In this study, we aimed to examine the measurement and structural invariance among gender of the Malay version of the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale for Youth (PALMS-Y-M). Seven-hundred-and-eighty-three secondary school students (female = 57.3%, male = 42.7%) with mean age 14.5 years (standard deviation = 1.25) from Kota Bharu, Malaysia, volunteered to participate in this study and completed the PALMS-Y-M, consisting of 28 items with seven subscales. We conducted the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and invariance tests on the seven motives of the PALMS-Y-M model. The hypothesized model consisted of 28 observed items and seven latent variables. We used estimator robust to maximum likelihood, MLR to examine the hypothesized measurement and structural invariance. Measurement invariance was tested for three different levels. We first established the configural invariance model, then we compared the metric invariance model and the scalar invariance model with the less restrictive model. Then structural invariance was tested for factor variance, covariance, and means. Findings provided evidence for full measurement and structural invariance of the PALMS-Y-M in males and females. The final CFA model fit the data well for males [comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.922, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.048, standardized root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.050] and females (CFI = 0.922, RMSEA = 0.047, SRMR = 0.053). When invariance of both factor loadings and item intercepts holds in PALMS-Y-M, underlying factors consisting of different motives for participating in PA can be meaningfully compared across gender. Accurate and valid measurement of PALMS-Y-M across comparison groups is crucial for future research that involves examining motives to physical activity in different genders and other socio-cultural variables.