John C. K. Wang

Teaching teachers to play and teach games

This study was designed to determine the extent to which a technical and a tactical approach to teaching a basketball unit to physical education teacher education (PETE) students would each affect their games playing abilities, perceived ability to teach, and approach preference for teaching the game. Pre- and post-unit data were collected through videotape of half-court games play, questionnaire and an eight-lesson planning assignment, submitted by the students at unit-end. Within-group adjusted multiple t tests revealed that the tactical group participants improved significantly in their overall games playing abilities (skill execution, decision-making and support). They also significantly improved on self-rated questionnaire items pertaining to their perceived abilities to teach tactics and strategies as well as to use their basketball skills in a games situation. The technical group participants did not improve significantly in their overall games playing abilities but did improve their overall perceived abilities to apply their basketball skills in games settings. Whereas 80% of the technical group (n = 15) chose the tactical approach, the tactical group (n = 15) unanimously applied a tactical approach in their lesson design.

Sport Ability Beliefs, 2 x 2 Achievement Goals, and Intrinsic Motivation: The Moderating Role of Perceived Competence in Sport and Exercise

We examined whether perceived competence moderated the relationships between implicit theories, 2 x 2 achievement goals, and intrinsic motivation for sports and physical activity. We placed 309 university students into high and moderate perceived competence groups. When perceived competence was high, entity beliefs did not predict the performance-avoidance goal; yet when perceived competence was moderately low, entity beliefs did predict this goal. The mastery-avoidance goal had no relationship with intrinsic motivation when perceived competence was high, but had a significant negative relationship when perceived competence was moderately low. Our findings highlight the importance of reexamining the role of perceived competence when studying implicit beliefs and the 2 x 2 achievement goals.

Development of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire for Sport

Abstract As sporting challenge at the elite level becomes ever harder, maximizing effectiveness of the talent development pathway is crucial. Reflecting this need, this paper describes the development of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire, which has been designed to facilitate the development of sporting potential to world-class standard. The questionnaire measures the experiences of developing athletes in relation to empirically identified “key features” of effective talent development environments. The first phase involved the generation of questionnaire items with clear content and face validity. The second phase explored the factor structure and reliability. This was carried out with 590 developing athletes through application of exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation, principal axis factoring extraction and cronbach alpha tests. This yielded a 59-item, seven-factor structure with good internal consistency (0.616–0.978). The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire appears to be a promising psychometric instrument that can potentially be useful for education and formative review in applied settings, and as a measurement tool in talent development research.

Chronic inhibition, self-control and eating behavior: Test of a 'resource depletion' model.

The current research tested the hypothesis that individuals engaged in long-term efforts to limit food intake (e.g., individuals with high eating restraint) would have reduced capacity to regulate eating when self-control resources are limited. In the current research, body mass index (BMI) was used as a proxy for eating restraint based on the assumption that individuals with high BMI would have elevated levels of chronic eating restraint. A preliminary study (Study 1) aimed to provide evidence for the assumed relationship between eating restraint and BMI. Participants (N = 72) categorized into high or normal-range BMI groups completed the eating restraint scale. Consistent with the hypothesis, results revealed significantly higher scores on the weight fluctuation and concern for dieting subscales of the restraint scale among participants in the high BMI group compared to the normal-range BMI group. The main study (Study 2) aimed to test the hypothesized interactive effect of BMI and diminished self-control resources on eating behavior. Participants (N = 83) classified as having high or normal-range BMI were randomly allocated to receive a challenging counting task that depleted self-control resources (ego-depletion condition) or a non-depleting control task (no depletion condition). Participants then engaged in a second task in which required tasting and rating tempting cookies and candies. Amount of food consumed during the taste-and-rate task constituted the behavioral dependent measure. Regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect of these variables on amount of food eaten in the taste-and-rate task. Individuals with high BMI had reduced capacity to regulate eating under conditions of self-control resource depletion as predicted. The interactive effects of BMI and self-control resource depletion on eating behavior were independent of trait self-control. Results extend knowledge of the role of self-control in regulating eating behavior and provide support for a limited-resource model of self-control.

Investigating the experience of outdoor and adventurous project work in an educational setting using a self-determination framework

The purpose of this study was to carry out a preliminary investigation to explore the use of outdoor and adventurous project work (PW) within an educational setting. Specifically, differences between the PW and normal academic school experiences were examined using a self-determination theory framework integrated with a goal orientation and psychological skills perspective. Additionally, an exploratory investigation was carried out to examine the extent to which key motivation constructs predicted skill development (i.e. problem solving, collaboration and communication) through the PW experience. Six questionnaires were adapted and utilised to collect the relevant data for both school and PW experiences (Basic Psychological Needs questionnaire; the Learning Climate Questionnaire; Intrinsic Motivation Inventory; the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire; 2 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire and perceived skills learned in PW questionnaire) from the 224 students (Mean age 13.2 ± 0.3 years) who participated in the 12-day PW. Results indicated that there were significant differences between school and PW experience (p < 0.01). Specifically, PW experience rated higher in autonomy supportive climate, autonomous motivation, perceived competence, and a greater emphasis on task approach goal orientation. Furthermore as a cohort, the students reported improvements in problem solving, collaboration and communication as a result of the PW experience. Finally, an exploratory hierarchical regression analysis revealed potential importance of perceived value, utilising meta-cognitive skills, and experiencing relatedness and autonomy in the prediction of skill development through PW experiences. The findings of this study present preliminary support the potential usefulness of outdoor and adventurous PW within a school context and provide implications for future research which are discussed further.

Evaluating the effects of implementation intention and self-concordance on behaviour

The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of implementation intentions on taking one multivitamin tablet, everyday, for 2 weeks, among individuals who endorsed self-concordant and self-discordant forms of motivation. A 2 (implementation intentions: yes, no) × 3 (motivation: self-concordance, self-discordance, control) experimental design was adopted with university students being exposed to manipulations of implementation intentions, self-concordance, and self-discordance (male = 110, female = 120, M age = 23.50 years, SD = 7.21). Results of the study indicated that while implementation intentions increased multivitamin intake for individuals who endorsed self-concordant and self-discordant forms of motivation, the combination of self-concordance and implementation intentions produced particularly enhanced levels of compliance on multivitamin intake. The implications of results of the present study to theory development and practice are discussed.

An Experimental Test of Cognitive Dissonance Theory in the Domain of Physical Exercise

The present study examined cognitive dissonance-related attitude change in the domain of exercise. Experimental participants made a decision to perform a boring exercise task (stepping on a bench/chair) under three different conditions: a free-choice condition (n = 33, Male = 17 female = 16, Age = 14.57), under a no-choice/control condition (n = 28, Male = 15, Female = 13, Age = 14.50), and under a condition that compelled participants to practice bench/chair stepping (forced-choice condition) (n = 31, Male = 15, Female = 16, Age = 14.61). Results showed that participants in the free-choice condition reported more positive attitudes than participants in the control condition and participants in the forced-choice condition. Ancillary analysis indicated that cognitive dissonance is experienced as an aversive state, and that the amount of frustration that participants experienced immediately after the free-choice paradigm predicted attitudes.

Developing and evaluating utility of school-based intervention programs in promoting leisure-time physical activity: An application of the theory of planned behavior

Motivational research over the past decade has provided ample evidence for the existence of two distinct motivational systems. Implicit motives are affect-based needs and have been found to predict spontaneous behavioral trends over time. Explicit motives in contrast represent cognitively based self-attributes and are preferably linked to choices. The present research examines the differentiating and predictive value of the implicit vs. explicit achievement motives for team sports performances. German students (N = 42) completed a measure of the implicit (Operant Motive Test) and the explicit achievement motive (Achievement Motive Scale-Sport). Choosing a goal distance is significantly predicted by the explicit achievement motive measure. By contrast, repeated performances in a team tournament are significantly predicted by the indirect measure. Results are in line with findings showing that implicit and explicit motive measures are associated with different classes of behavior.It has been argued that representative tasks are needed to understand the processes by which experts overcome their less skilled counterparts. Little is known, however, about the essential characteristics of these tasks. In this study we identified the degree to which a laboratory-based task of decision making in cricket batting represented in-situ performance. The in-situ task required skilled batters to play against a bowler across a range of delivery lengths. Skilled batsmen produced a transitional pattern of foot movements with front foot responses being dominant for balls landing 0 – 6m from the wicket and back foot responses for balls landing 8 – 14m from the wicket. In the laboratory-based task, the same batsmen viewed video footage of the same bowlers. Again, skilled batsmen responded with similar patterns of foot movement transitions. Novice batsmen produced a generic forward movement in response to all deliveries. We conclude that for decision making about delivery length, the laboratory-based task has a high degree of fidelity and reliability. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the importance of establishing the necessary degree of fidelity of representative task designs in order to study perception and action more accurately.In this study the specific foci were as follows: (1) to identify profiles of athletes in the junior-to-senior transition (JST) based on their personal characteristics (athletic identity, self-estee ...The present research sheds light on the importance of physical activity with regards to self-concept in Spanish adolescents and considers physical exercise, family and academic variables. An explanatory and relational study was conducted. A total of 2,134 teenagers aged between 15 and 18 years old participated in the study. A descriptive and relational analysis by means of the ANOVA Test was also undertaken. The results obtained are discussed here taking into account the relevant specialised literature. It was found that two thirds of the students sampled did exercise regularly, team sports being the most popular. These learners presented a high degree of self-concept, particularly for the social and family dimensions. It can also be concluded from this study that better physical condition and appearance are related to sport engagement, and that physical activity is related to improved self image and to fostering social and family relationships.Previous research has shown that skilled football goalkeepers effectively utilised individualised visual search patterns to gather anticipatory cues from a penalty taker. Deceptive cues employed by a penalty taker induced lower save rates. However, it is unclear if goalkeeper visual search (percentage viewing time of areas of interest) differed between deceptive and non-deceptive conditions. This study investigated the effectiveness of using fake visual cues by the penalty taker, and corresponding visual search behaviours. Nine skilled goalkeepers simulated saves of 15 deceptive and 15 non-deceptive 2000ms clips by moving their hands left or right. Deception involved kicker’s gaze direction and approach angle. Deceptive trials had a lower percentage save rate. When two deceptive cues were combined, performance was further impaired. Available data for four participants showed individualised visual search patterns. In conclusion, using deceptive cues by a penalty taker is effective and individualised visual search behaviour was present.

Discriminating factors between successful and unsuccessful teams: A case study in elite youth Olympic basketball games

Archival data was gathered from the FIBA33 games during the 1st inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore. Data collected from 70 basketball games played by boys from 20 participating countries were gathered for analysis. Analysis of game-related statistics and FIBA33 final rankings differentiated successful from unsuccessful teams. Ninety-five percent of the cases were correctly classified using discriminant analysis and in the cross-validation (leave-one-out method) the correct re-classification was 75 percent. Data triangulated from interviews and field notes were used to determine key factors contributing to team’s success in the FIBA33 games. Results of the present study showed that players from the top 10 successful teams could be differentiated from those in the bottom 10 unsuccessful teams. The determining factors were taller, had better shooting percentages, played aggressively (i.e., recorded more team fouls and the ability to draw fouls on opponents during games). Coaches can use these results to improve player’s recruitment process, reinforce the importance of fundamental skills such as shooting, individual offensive and defensive concepts under different game situations during trainings.Archival data was gathered from the FIBA33 games during the 1st inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore. Data collected from 70 basketball games played by boys from 20 participating countries were gathered for analysis. Analysis of game-related statistics and FIBA33 final rankings differentiated successful from unsuccessful teams. Ninety-five percent of the cases were correctly classified using discriminant analysis and in the cross-validation (leave-one-out method) the correct re-classification was 75 percent. Data triangulated from interviews and field notes were used to determine key factors contributing to teams success in the FIBA33 games. Results of the present study showed that players from the top 10 successful teams could be differentiated from those in the bottom 10 unsuccessful teams. The determining factors were taller, had better shooting percentages, played aggressively (i.e., recorded more team fouls and the ability to draw fouls on opponents during games). Coaches can use these results to improve players recruitment process, reinforce the importance of fundamental skills such as shooting, individual offensive and defensive concepts under different game situations during trainings.

Can Being Autonomy-Supportive in Teaching Improve Students’ Self-Regulation and Performance?

Studies have well-documented that autonomy-supportive environment supports individuals’ psychological needs by promoting a sense of volition. With the increasing concerns of students’ well-being and lifelong learning, autonomy-supportive environment has been of increasing importance. Promoting teachers to be autonomy-supportive will facilitate students’ psychological needs and autonomous learning behaviours. Grounded in self-determination theory, the aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of autonomy-supportive intervention in students’ perceived autonomy support, psychological needs, learning strategies and achievement. After the training programme, teachers implemented the 5-week autonomy-supportive intervention in their classes. Questionnaires were used to assess students’ perceptions of autonomy support, basic psychological needs, motivation orientation and use of learning strategies between autonomy-supportive teaching and control groups. Students’ academic achievement was assessed in terms of their grades in mathematics, science as well as design and technology. Results revealed that from pre- to post-intervention, students taught by autonomy-supportive teachers had significant positive changes in perceived autonomy support, needs, self-efficacy, self-regulated learning and grades. Students in the autonomy-supportive condition were also more self-efficacious and autonomous in learning than those in the control condition, as shown by increased achievement. Implications and limitations are discussed.