Abstract
This study explored the effect of long naps on handball-related performance and assessed the role of the cardiac autonomic nervous system in this process. Eleven male collegiate handball ...players performed a repeated sequential trial consisting of a 20-m consecutive turnaround run, 10-m run with a load, and shooting the ball into a target. Participants were allocated randomly and sequentially to have a short (20 minutes) nap, long (60 minutes) nap, or no nap. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess regular sleep quality. Subjective sleepiness before and after napping was measured using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Heart rate variability was recorded to assess cardiac autonomic nervous function during napping. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score was correlated with shot accuracy only after long naps (ρ=0.636, r=0.048). A negative correlation was observed between the root mean square of successive differences and average load run time (ρ=−0.929, p<0.001). Long napping was associated with a significant benefit on performance in athletes with poor sleep quality, implying a role of the autonomic nervous system in this regard. Our findings indicate the effect of sleep quality on the endurance and resistance of handball players.
Abstract
The aim of study was to assess infants’ behaviour during routine swimming
sessions using a naturalistic observation method. The study sample included 14
infants (13.7±7.5 months old) with ...previous aquatic experience. The
frequency of occurrences per unit of time (session) in the different dimensions
– infant’s motor behaviour and social-affective interaction
– was registered over the course of two sessions by two independent
experts. The behaviours most frequently observed were accompanied displacement
(61.1%) and interaction with others (41.6%). Submersions or
jumps represented only 8.4% of the session. Implementing a child-centred
methodology leads to positive behaviours during this type of sessions,
contributing to the child’s healthy development.
To provide practitioners with useful information about how to promote proenvironmental behavior (PEB), a meta-analysis was performed on 87 published reports containing 253 experimental treatments ...that measured an observed, not self-reported, behavioral outcome. Most studies combined multiple treatments, and this confounding precluded definitive conclusions about which individual treatments are most effective. Treatments that included cognitive dissonance, goal setting, social modeling, and prompts provided the overall largest effect sizes (Hedge’s g > 0.60). Further analyses indicated that different treatments have been more effective for certain behaviors. Although average effect sizes are based on small numbers of studies, effective combinations of treatments and behaviors are making it easy to recycle, setting goals for conserving gasoline, and modeling home energy conservation. The results also reveal several gaps in the literature that should guide further research, including both treatments and PEB that have not been tested.
Abstract
Poor physical fitness contributes to the early progression of cardiometabolic disease, yet the physiological and psychological factors underpinning poor fitness in at-risk adolescents are ...not well understood. In this study, we sought to determine the relationship of physical fitness with two developmental phenomena of adolescence, insulin resistance and depression/anxiety symptoms among at-risk youth. We conducted secondary data analyses of 241 overweight or obese adolescents (12–17 years), drawn from two study cohorts. Insulin sensitivity index was derived from oral glucose tolerance tests. Adolescents self-reported depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms on validated surveys. A walk/run test was administered to determine perceived exertion and physical fitness (distance traveled). Insulin sensitivity was positively associated with walk/run distance (
b
=0.16,
P<
0.01), even after accounting for all covariates. Anxiety symptoms were inversely related to perceived exertion (
b
=–0.11,
P<
0.05), adjusting for covariates. These findings suggest that insulin resistance and anxiety symptoms are associated with different dimensions of physical fitness in overweight or obese adolescents and could both potentially contribute to declining fitness and worsening metabolic outcomes in at-risk youth.
•We propose a conceptual frame accounting for a broad range of behavioral spillovers.•We review pervasive evidence of spillovers across a variety of fields and domains.•Economists informing policy ...should capture all ripples from a behavior to the next.
No behavior sits in a vacuum, and one behavior can greatly affect what happens next. We propose a conceptual frame within which a broad range of behavioral spillovers can be accounted for when applying behavioral science to policy challenges. We consider behaviors which take place sequentially and are linked, at a conscious or unconscious level, by some underlying motive. The first behavior leads to another behavior which can either work in the same direction as the first (promoting spillover), or push back against it (permitting or purging spillover). Looking through this conceptual lens at the existing evidence, we find pervasive evidence for all kinds of spillover effects across a variety of fields and domains. As a result, behavioral scientists, especially those seeking to inform policy, should try to capture all the ripples from one behavior to the next when a pebble of intervention is thrown in the pond, and not just at the immediate behavioral splash it makes.
Abstract
Motives for physical activity were compared between adults who either successfully or unsuccessfully maintained regular physical activity over the last 10 years. Adults age 28–45 (N=721) ...completed an online survey, reporting their current physical activity levels and self-determination theory (SDT) motives, as well as their physical activity levels at least 10 years prior. With participants’ current and retrospective reports of their physical activity, four sample subgroups were created, including maintainers, improvers, decliners, and sedentary. ANOVA analyses were used to examine differences in motives between physical activity maintenance groups. Those who successfully maintained regular physical activity (maintainers) reported higher intrinsic and extrinsic motives compared to those who were not regularly active (
P
<0.05). Interestingly, maintainers reported similar physical activity motives compared to those who reported increased physical activity over time. Among the current sample and consistent with theory, motives for physical activity significantly influenced participants’ long-term maintenance of regular physical activity. Future interventions should consider these constructs to promote sustained physical activity.
Research is required to monitor changes in the nature of neurobehavioral deficits in extremely preterm (EP) or extremely low birth weight (ELBW) survivors. This study examines cognitive, academic, ...and behavioral outcomes at age 8 years for a regional cohort of EP/ELBW children born in 1997.
The EP/ELBW cohort comprised all live births with a gestational age <28 weeks (EP) or birth weight <1000 g (ELBW) born in the state of Victoria, Australia, in 1997. Of 317 live births, 201 (63.4%) survived to 2 years of age.A term/normal birth weight (T/NBW) cohort was recruited comprising 199 infants with birthweights ≥2500 g or gestational age ≥37 weeks corrected. Measures of intellectual ability, educational achievement, and behavior were administered at age 8.
Retention was 94% for the EP/ELBW group and 87% for the T/NBW group. The EP/ELBW group performed poorer than the T/NBW group on measures of IQ, educational achievement, and certain behavioral domains, even after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and exclusion of children with neurosensory impairment. The rate of any neurobehavioral impairment was elevated in the EP/ELBW group (71% vs 42%), and one-half of subjects had multiple impairments. The outcomes for those with <750 g birth weight or <26 weeks' gestational age were similar to those with a birth weight of 750 to 999 g or a gestational age of 26 to 27 weeks, respectively.
Despite ongoing improvements in the management of EP/ELBW infants, the rate of neurobehavioral impairment at school-age remains too high relative to controls.
Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research Podsakoff, Philip M; MacKenzie, Scott B; Lee, Jeong-Yeon ...
Journal of applied psychology,
10/2003, Volume:
88, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them ...does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UL
Paleolithic archaeologists conceptualize the uniqueness of Homo sapiens in terms of "behavioral modernity," a quality often conflated with behavioral variability. The former is qualitative, ...essentialist, and a historical artifact of the European origins of Paleolithic research. The latter is a quantitative, statistically variable property of all human behavior, not just that of Ice Age Europeans. As an analytical construct, behavioral modernity is deeply flawed at all epistemological levels. This paper outlines the shortcomings of behavioral modernity and instead proposes a research agenda focused on the strategic sources of human behavioral variability. Using data from later Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites in East Africa, this paper tests and falsifies the core assumption of the behavioral-modernity concept--the belief that there were significant differences in behavioral variability between the oldest H. sapiens and populations younger than 50 kya. It concludes that behavioral modernity and allied concepts have no further value to human origins research. Research focused on the strategic underpinnings of human behavioral variability will move Paleolithic archaeology closer to a more productive integration with other behavioral sciences. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
PDF
