Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the present study the psychological skills of professional and social basketball players were compared. A literature review has highlighted the need for domain specific and sport specific psychological skills research, from countries outside the United States of America. The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) was administered to professional (n=60) and social (n=67) basketball players. The ACSI-28 is a multidimensional scale that measures seven specific psychological skills and also yields a global psychological skills score. The results showed that professional basketball players rated their global psychological skills significantly higher than social basketball players. The results also showed that the professional basketball players scored significantly higher on five of the seven specific psychological skills namely: coping with adversity, peaking under pressure, goal setting, concentration and self-confidence. Cross-cultural differences were found between South African and Greek basketball players. The assumption that psychological skills is domain specific was not verified as baseball and basketball players from different countries showed remarkably similar ACSI-28 profiles. The results can be used to develop a psychological skills training programme which is relevant for elite and pre-elite basketball players in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sielkundige vaardighede van professionele- en sosiale basketbalspelers is in die huidige studie onderling vergelyk. 'n Literatuurstudie het die behoefte aan domeinspesifieke, sowel as sport-spesifieke sielkundige-vaardigheidsnavorsing beklemtoom, veral vir lande buite die Verenigde State van Amerika. Die Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) is toegepas op professionele (n=60) en sosiale (n=67) basketbalspelers. Die ACSI-28 is 'n multidimensionele skaal wat sewe spesifiek sielkundige vaardighede meet. Hierdie vaardighede kan gekombineer word om 'n globale sielkundige vaardigheidstelling te kry. Volgens die resultate het die professionele basketbalspelers hul globale sielkundige vaardighede beduidend hoër as sosiale basketbalspelers geëvalueer. Die professionele basketbalspelers het hoër tellings as sosiale basketbalspelers behaal op vyf van die sewe spesifiek sielkundige vaardighede naamlik: hantering van terugslae, prestasie onder druk, doelwitstelling, konsentrasie vermoë en self vertroue. Kruis-kulturele verskille is gevind tussen Suid-Afrikaanse en Griekse basketbalspelers. Die aanname, dat sielkundige vaardighede domein-spesifiek is, is nie ondersteun nie, aangesien bofbal en basketbalspelers van verskillende lande ooreenstemmende ACSI-28 profiele getoon het. Die resultate kan aangewend word om 'n sielkundige vaardigheidsopleidingsprogram te ontwikkel wat relevant vir elite and preelite basketbalspelers in Suid Afrika is.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

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The purposes of the study were to compare (1) the relationship between competitive A-trait and competitive A-state in Slo-Pitch softball and (2) the relationship between A-trait and performance in selected stressful situations in softball. The study also considered the ranking of players by a manager and overall performance. The Sport Competition Anxiety Test and a competitive short form of the State Anxiety Inventory were used to measure A-trait and A-state. Trait anxiety, state anxiety and performance were compared using the Pearson product moment correlation technique. Trait anxiety scores were found to be accurate predictors of pregame state anxiety, but not of performance. The manager's rating was a better predictor of performance than competitive A-trait in selected stress situations.

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of fictitious scoring updates on psychological momentum (PM) and athletic performance in a competitive basketball setting. The participants included in this study were 50 male undergraduate students who reported having played basketball previously and qualified by being able to make more than 24% (12 out of 50) of their 3-point shots in a pre-trial session. Participants were told that they were competing in a 50 shot, 3-point shooting competition against another individual, equal in ability. After every 10 shots, participants were given a fabricated score update and answered four questions used to measure PM. Results showed that the fictitious score updates significantly (p < .01) influenced participants’ PM scores, where those who were told they led had higher PM scores than those who were told they trailed. As for shooting performance, no significant differences (p = .76) were found between positive and negative PM states for participants who reported experiencing both during the competition. Together, these findings suggest that manufactured score updates can influence PM, but resultant performance differences may not exist. Results of this study lend support to the notion that PM is experienced by athletes. However, when examining basketball shooting performance, the momentum-performance relationship is statistically unsupported. Thus, although PM is thought of by many as a game-changing factor, this study would suggest that PM plays a negligible role in changes to individual performance.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 M54 / Master of Science / Physical Education, Dance, and Leisure Studies

This dissertation evaluates the veracity of Richard Scott’s three pillars of institutionalization: regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive. The test of his theory is whether the processes and practices within the environments of the three pillars can account for differences between academic performance and athletic performance in Miami-Dade County, Florida public schools. Scott’s model of institutionalization works better in predicting academic success than it does athletic success in the context of this study as evidenced by the majority of the findings coming from the scholastic realm. The primary methodological approach was to obtain publicly available measures of academic performance and resources for 31 high schools in Miami-Dade County, FL, and then evaluate relationships between these academic indicators and measures of 􀀃 􀀃school athletic performance. Pearson (parametric) and Spearman (non-parametric) correlation coefficients were calculated to estimate the strength of association between school characteristics and measures of academic and athletic performance. These analyses further informed the construction of stepwise multiple linear regression models that regressed the dependent variable (a measure of academic or athletic performance) with a range of possible independent variables all related to individual school characteristics. Improvement in the academic categories included in this dissertation (math, science, reading, and writing) has been the goal of a great deal of legislation that deals with education at the federal, state, and local level. The top indicator of a school’s academic performance was the number of highly qualified teachers within a school. Cultural-cognitive pillar indicators of socioeconomic status, including minority rate and percentage of students in a school who are eligible for free lunch, were negatively associated with academic performance. Thus, normative and cultural-cognitive processes can have a significant impact on whether laws and legislation have their intended effect. In the end, it is reasonable to conclude that all three pillars complement each other in interdependent ways within Scott’s institutional framework with different pillars taking prominence as time and circumstances change. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of different types of self-talk (i.e., group-oriented self-talk versus individual-oriented self-talk) upon self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and performance of a dart-throwing task in a group setting. The second object was to examine the interaction individuals' between individualistic or collectivistic orientations and self-talk on their perceptions of self-efficacy and collective efficacy. Participants were 80 university students (age, M = 22.25 years, SD = 4.41). A series of 3 (self-talk intervention levels) X 2 (individualism-collectivism levels) between-groups ANOVAs revealed that both self-efficacy and collective efficacy beliefs were significantly higher in the group-oriented self-talk condition than in the control condition. Consistent with efficacy beliefs, significant differences in performance improvement were found between the group-oriented-self-talk and the control condition. However, no interaction between self-talk and individualism-collectivism was found for self-efficacy or collective efficacy. The results suggest that in interdependent contexts, group-oriented self-talk strategies could be more effective in enhancing participants' confidence in their own abilities, their team's abilities, and performance than individual-oriented self-talk strategies. Limitations and implications for the future study of efficacy beliefs within a group performance setting are discussed.

Current research on sport motivation has focused primarily on goal perspective approaches in an attempt to understand behavior in achievement situations (Ames, 1984; Nicholls, 1984). According to Nicholls' (1984) theory, the achievement goal orientation an individual develops may be influenced by both individual differences and situational factors. Relative to situational factors, the team motivational climate may promote either a task-involved or an ego-involved orientation dependent upon which goal orientation is emphasized by the coach. In addition, Ames (1992a) argued that environmental structures influence the motivational climate which ultimately impact the athlete's achievement orientation. Educational research (Epstein, 1988) has identified specific environmental structures (TARGET structures) as being salient to the development of a mastery climate. Little research has been conducted on athletes' perceptions of their coaches' behavior, in regard to specific environmental structures, and how this may ultimately influence athletes' achievement goal orientation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among TARGET structures, team motivational climate, and achievement goal orientation. The subjects consisted of 186 high school softball players and 171 high school baseball players, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. The TEOSQ, PMCSQ, and TARGET questionnaires were administered to subjects at the beginning of a sport practice. LISREL8, a structural equation modeling program, was the statistical analysis employed. Results indicated that a positive linear relationship existed, linking task and reward/evaluation components of the TARGET structures to mastery climate to task orientation. These two structures may be the most salient structures within a sport setting. This finding suggests there is a positive association between coaches' promotion and employment of task-involved goals in their practices and athletes' perception of a mastery-oriented team motivational climate. Direct relationships linking three TARGET structures to performance climate to ego orientation were also reported. Grouping and authority components of the TARGET structures were found to have a significant inverse relationship with performance climate, while task structure and performance climate were positively related. Additionally, the results confirmed that there was a significant positive relationship between mastery climate and task orientation and between performance climate and ego orientation. / Graduation date: 1995

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