George Grouios

Perceived Constraints on Recreational Sport Participation: Investigating Their Relationship with Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation and Amotivation

This study aimed to investigate the influence of constraint dimensions on intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. The self-determination theory and the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivationwere used as the theoretical framework. Two hundred and fifty seven (N = 257) adult individuals (residents of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece), who reported participation in some type of sport and physical activity, completed the Sport Motivation Scale and the leisure constraints questionnaire. The results indicated that intrapersonal constraints accounted for 38% of the variance in amotivation, and 15% of the variance in intrinsic motivation. No relationships were revealed between interpersonal and structural constraints and motivation, and between constraint dimensions and extrinsic motivation. These results suggest that intrapersonal constraints act as de-motivating forces for individuals. They support elements of the hierarchical model of leisure constraints, and further clarify the role of motivation in the model. Finally, they suggest that future research should focus on the conceptualization of intrapersonal constraints, and their relations with other social and psychological mediators of motivation that have been proposed in the literature.

An empirical investigation of the relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction and psychological commitment in a health club context

This study aimed to test the applicability of a simplified version of the service quality model, proposed by Brady & Cronin (2001) in the context of a health club, and test the degree to which service quality perceptions and customer satisfaction predict psychological commitment and word‐of‐mouth communications. One hundred and seventy five members of a private health club in Greece participated in the study, and completed: a) a service quality scale (measuring interaction quality, physical environment quality, and outcome quality); b) the Sport Commitment Scale (Scanlan et al., 1993); c) an adjusted version of Olivers (1997) customer satisfaction scale; and d) a three‐item scale measuring word‐of‐mouth communications. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support for the factorial validity of the three primary dimensions. The psychometric properties of all the scales were satisfactory. The results also revealed an adequate fit of the structural model, which accounted for 29% of the variance. The physical environment and outcome dimensions significantly influenced satisfaction, which, in turn, had a stronger influence on word‐of‐mouth communications than on psychological commitment.

Effect of intensive neurodevelopmental treatment in gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy

This study examined the effect of neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) and differences in its intensity on gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were 34 children (12 females, 22 males; mean age 7y 3mo [SD 3y 6mo], age range 3 to 14y) with mild to moderate spasticity and hemiplegia (n=10), diplegia (n=12), and tetraplegia (n=12). Gross Motor Function Classification System levels were: I (n=10), II (n=10), and III (n=14). The paired sample, which was obtained by ratio stratification and matching by sex, age, and distribution of impairment from a total of 114 children with CP, was assigned randomly to two groups: group A underwent NDT twice a week and group B five times a week for 16 weeks. The outcome measure used was the Gross Motor Function Measure, which assessed the performance of the children before and after intervention. The paired-sample t-test revealed that gross motor function of children from both groups improved significantly after intervention (p<0.05). Children in group B performed better and showed significantly greater improvement than those in group A (p<0.05). Results support the effectiveness of NDT and underline the need for intensive application of the treatment.

The assessment of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and amotivation: Validity and reliability of the Greek version of the Academic Motivation Scale

Self‐determination theory provides an integrated conception of school‐ and academic motivation. The theory proposes a continuum comprising three types of motivation: intrinsic motivation (IM), extrinsic motivation (EM), and amotivation (AM), characterised by seven dimensions (IM = to know, to accomplish and to experience stimulation, EM = external regulation, introjection and identification, and Amotivation). The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) with Greek high school students. Two studies were conducted to examine the factorial, construct, concurrent and predictive validity of the scale along with its reliability properties. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed seven‐factor structure. The scale showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency and temporal stability. Additionally, indices of the scale’s construct, concurrent, and predictive validity were in the desired direction. These findings support the use of the Greek version of the AMS for the assessment of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation.

Do Left-Handed Competitors Have an Innate Superiority in Sports?:

This study assessed handedness distributions among (a) sporting competitors (n = 1,112) and nonsporting university students (n = 1,112), (b) sporting competitors engaging in interactive (n = 576) and in noninteractive sports (n = 536), and (c) sporting competitors engaging in direct interactive (n = 219) and indirect interactive (n = 357) sports. Chi-squared showed that there were statistically significant differences in proportions of left-handed persons in (a) sporting competitors and nonsporting university students, (b) sporting competitors engaging in interactive and noninteractive sports, (c) sporting competitors engaging in interactive sports and nonsporting university students, and (d) sporting competitors engaging in direct interactive and indirect interactive sports. It appears that left-handers are more common among those who engage in competitive manual activities. This superiority of the left-handers may be fully explained by a consideration of tactical or strategic factors associated with handedness during sporting interactions. The results with important implications for the measurement and evaluation of handedness are discussed in the light of the current findings on laterality.

Linguistic profile of individuals with Down syndrome: comparing the linguistic performance of three developmental disorders.

An increasing number of studies, addressing the linguistic abilities of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) suggest that they exhibit strengths and weaknesses within the linguistic domain. This article critically reviews the literature on the linguistic profile of individuals with DS, with particular emphasis on the expression and reception of vocabulary and grammar, including nonverbal linguistic expression during infant development. In doing so, attention is given to recent comparative studies of the linguistic abilities of individuals with DS, Specific Language Impairment (SLI), and Williams syndrome (WS). The possibility that deficits in one cognitive system may have consequences in another cognitive system, and that these consequences may define the nature of the impairment in each clinical syndrome is further discussed with suggestions for future research.

Motoric dominance and sporting excellence: Training versus heredity

In the past two decades, laterality in sports has become clearly established. In particular, the concept of motoric dominance in sports has been a fertile area for laterality research. The literature is consistent with the view that in certain sporting skills, sporting competitors with specific motoric-dominance patterns enjoy an advantage over other competitors and are overrepresented in some sports. Two theoretical interpretations have been offered to explain this imbalance of motoric-dominance distribution among sporting individuals: hypotheses of “innate superiority” and “strategic advantage.” This paper presents an overview the two hypotheses, along with relevant work so far reported and identifies directions for further empirical research. The theoretical and practical implications of research on laterality in human motor performance are discussed.

Investigating the stabilising and mobilising features of footedness

This study investigated lower limb laterality for stabilising and mobilising actions in 10 right- and 10 mixed-footed participants by determining, via the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire – Revised (WFQ-R), the preferred foot in carrying out a range of stabilising and mobilising activities and by recording foot performance on standing balance and ball juggling. The log odds ratio (λ score) was used to quantify the degree of laterality in task performance. Differences between the stability and mobility scores and the two groups were analyzed using a 2 (Group)×2 (Task) ANOVA model with repeated measures on Task. Right- and mixed-footed participants differed significantly in the stability but not in the mobility items of the WFQ-R. No significant between-group differences were noted in either ball-juggling or standing balance performance. Mixed-footed participants had a significant right–left foot difference in standing balance, whereas both groups had a significant right–left foot difference in ball juggling. It is concluded that preference is not a steady attribute across the mobility and stability items of the WFQ-R and appears to be dependent on the behavioural context of a particular task. Results further indicated a lack of concordance between questionnaire and performance-based measures suggesting that these two methods of measuring laterality may be indicators of different underlying factors.

THE SPORT MOTIVATION SCALE FOR CHILDREN: PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES ','

This study was done to test the psychometric properties of the modified version of the Sport Motivation Scale adapted for children in physical education. Participants were elementary school students (N = 452, Mage = 13.9 ± 1.04) who responded to the Sport Motivation Scale for Children. The scale assesses three types of motivation at the contextual level, namely, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, and Amotivation. Results supported the construct validity (CFI = .95), and internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach α>.65). Correlations indicated Sport Motivation Scale for Children simplex pattern exhibiting higher correlations among adjacent subscales than subscales farther apart. The concurrent validity, examined through correlations with scores on the Physical Self-description Questionnaire was satisfactory. Sex differences were examined to assess the discriminant validity. Boys were more intrinsically motivated than girls. Overall, the scale seems a useful one for assessment of motivation in physical education.

Understanding of relational time terms before and after in Parkinsonian patients

The role of the relational time terms before and after in language comprehension was investigated using patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) and normal controls (NC) in Greek. Results lead to the following four conclusions: (a) Comprehension by PD patients of before and after constructions displaying syntactic, semantic, and cognitive constraints equivalent to those of English is significantly different from that of NC matched on chronological age, sex, education, and socioeconomic status. (b) Before is better understood than after. (c) Syntactic variables, when semantic effects are partialed out, do not affect performance. The same is true of semantic effects when syntactic variables are partialed out. (d) Order of mention of events is a predominant source of errors when syntax and semantics are controlled. The data are discussed in relation both to findings with aphasics and to developmental results on the same time terms.