11/10

Course Administration and Assignments

Minutes of meeting number $5$ are due today by $11:59PM$ . Ensuring group presentation dates are confirmed on the signup sheet is critical, as some students were absent when their group members selected dates.

Lab Number $13$ (Functional Anxiety) is scheduled for completion in groups of at least two people. While members of the WISE group are suggested, any partner is acceptable. The assignment is due on the $24$ th of the month, which is the day before the Thanksgiving break. This lab covers material from Chapter $12$ and Chapter $13$ regarding Erikson’s stages of development.

Lab Number 13: Functional Anxiety Procedures

This lab requires a stopwatch (traditional, smartphone, or smartwatch) and a pen. It consists of the following components:

Trial Marking Test Part A: The test subject uses a pen to draw a line through numbers in sequence (e.g., $1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8$ ). A second person times the task, which typically takes only a few seconds.
Trial Marking Test Part B: This part is more complex, requiring the subject to alternate between numbers and letters in sequence (e.g., $1-A, 2-B, 3-C, 4-D$ ).
Maze Tasks: A subsequent page contains a high density of numbers, requiring the subject to navigate a maze with their pen while being timed.
Extended Trail Marking: Subjects must find scattered numbers and letters across a page (e.g., locating $1$ , then finding $A$ , then $2$ , then finding $B$ located at the top of the page).

Scoring and Anxiety Tallying

Questions in the lab assess levels of arousal and anxiety. The tallying is divided into three specific categories based on scores:

Category A (Somatic): Refers to physical bodily responses to anxiety.
Category B (Worry): Refers to the mental state and concerns of the individual.
Category C (Cognitive Disruption): Measures how much the level of arousal or anxiety interferes with the ability to perform or play.

Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Cognitive or intellectual development follows four distinct stages as theorized by Piaget:

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to $2$ years): Children use senses such as vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell to learn. By the end of this period, they achieve object permanence, understanding that objects exist even when out of sight.
Preoperational Stage ( $2$ to $7$ years): Children begin to think symbolically and develop language. Thought is largely self-centered (egocentric); children exhibit selfishness, a desire to be first, and a need to show parents or teachers their abilities. Peers are not yet the primary focus.
Concrete Operational Stage ( $7$ to $11$ years): Children learn to think logically and understand the Law of Conservation (e.g., realizing the amount of fluid remains the same regardless of container size).
Formal Operational Stage ( $11$ years and up): Developing capacity for hypothetical reasoning, problem-solving, and abstract mathematics (geometry). They can contemplate consequences, such as the result of not studying for an exam or committing a foul in sports.

Categories of Knowledge in Sport Expertise

Knowledge in sports is classified into three distinct types:

Declarative Knowledge: Knowing how to do a skill mentally. An individual understands the requirements and mechanics of a move (e.g., knowing how to snap a football or knowing a linebacker's assignment) even if they cannot physically execute it.
Procedural Knowledge: The actual physical skill and ability to execute the task (e.g., having the talent and technique to successfully tackle a ball carrier).
Metacognitive Knowledge: The ability to apply skills across various and changing situations. This involves anticipating opponent formations and adjusting behaviors based on external variables (e.g., a batter adjusting their swing between a fastball, a change-up, or a breaking ball).

Reaction Time: Simple vs. Choice

Simple Reaction Time: Occurs when there is only one stimulus and one responding movement. In track, a runner concentrates on the sound of the pistol to push out of the starting blocks. Concentrating on the signal rather than the movement leads to a faster response.
Choice Reaction Time: Occurs when there are multiple stimuli and multiple possible responses (e.g., a driver deciding whether to brake or accelerate when a green light turns yellow).
Comparison: Simple reaction time is significantly faster than choice reaction time.

Dimensions of Sport Expertise

Successful athletes possess expertise in four primary areas:

Physiological Expertise

This involves physical strength, power, and aerobic or anaerobic capacity. It is the belief of some coaches, such as Wayne Norfleet at Tennessee Wesleyan, that working harder than opponents (e.g., weight room sessions at $5:00AM$ ) allows smaller schools to defeat larger, more talented programs like the Vols at UT.

Technical Expertise

This relates to the fundamental mechanics of a sport. An example is the BEEF strategy for shooting a basketball:

B - Balance: Maintaining a balanced weight for consistency. At some home courts, a small nail is driven into the floor in front of the free-throw line to help players place their feet in the exact same spot every time.
E - Elbow: Pointing the elbow at the basket to keep movements in the sagittal plane, reducing lateral error.
E - Eye: Concentrating on the target (usually the front lip of the rim).
F - Follow-through: Creating backspin (gyroscopic action) to make the ball's flight more predictable compared to a knuckleball, which has no spin and follows an unpredictable path.

Cognitive Expertise

This involves understanding the strategy and the "why" behind actions. Effective coaches explain the reasoning for drills and tactics rather than demanding blind obedience.

Emotional and Psychological Expertise

This involves motivation and the ability to stay "keyed up" or focused. It includes self-regulation and self-motivation. In employment contexts, such as managing lifeguards at Link Hill Country Club, supervisors look for individuals who are diligent and will perform their duties (like watching children in shallow water) even when not being directly watched.

Sociology of Sport and Practice

Intentional Practice: Achieving expertise requires thousands of hours of intentional practice, which may not always be enjoyable. Successful athletes often spend summer months shooting hundreds of free throws or using batter's cages while others are idle.
Race and Talent: According to Jay Coakley at the University of Colorado, sport skills and talents are equally distributed among all races. Success is a product of expertise and training rather than skin color.
Sociology vs. Psychology: Psychology is the study of the individual mind, feelings, and internal motivations. Sociology is the study of human interaction and society. While unemployment is a social factor (sociology), it creates worry and stress for the individual (psychology).

Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development

According to Erikson, individuals face a psychosocial conflict at each stage. Resolving these conflicts leads to a healthy personality; failure leads to lasting difficulties. The first five stages are the focus for early life:

Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth to $1$ year): Infants learn if their basic needs will be met, developing hope. Reliable parents promote trust; unreliable parents promote mistrust.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Ages $1$ to $3$ ): Toddlers develop personal control and independence (e.g., through potty training). Success leads to the virtue of will. Support from parents builds self-confidence.
Initiative vs. Guilt (Ages $3$ to $5$ ): Children initiate activities and set goals. Aggression or sibling rivalry may occur. Harsh criticism of their independent actions can create guilt.
Industry vs. Inferiority (Ages $6$ to $12$ ): During elementary school, children develop pride in their accomplishments. They begin comparing themselves to peers.
Identity vs. Role Confusion (Ages $12$ to $20$ ): Adolescents face an identity crisis, grappling with social roles, career goals, and gender identity. Peer groups become the primary influence over adult influence.

Adult Stages of Development

Intimacy vs. Isolation: Young adults seek meaningful relationships and careers. Failure to connect leads to isolation.
Generativity vs. Stagnation (Approx. age $40$ ): Individuals strive to impact the next generation through parenting or community work. A lack of purpose leads to a midlife crisis.
Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood): Reflection on life. Sense of fulfillment allows an individual to face death with peace. Regret leads to bitterness.

Questions & Discussion

Question regarding PT school: What news was shared via text? Response: One of the senior students has just been accepted into Physical Therapy (PT) school, which is highly competitive as candidates must often beat out approximately $100$ other applicants for a single spot.

Question regarding trophies: Should athletics involve winners and losers, or should every child receive a trophy? Discussion: Some argue that without winners and losers, children do not learn discipline or the value of intentional practice. Others follow the philosophy that coaches should focus on personal improvement and self-comparison rather than comparing students to one another to avoid developing a negative self-image or a sense of inferiority. There is a concern that "participation trophies" might lead students to expect success with mediocre effort in the professional world.