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In this brief autobiography, I reflect on how my childhood and adolescent experiences influenced my decision to study the psychology of sport and physical activity. I describe how my research evolved over time, my contributions to the field, and the people who were influential in my career. Finally, I offer some suggestions for how the field of kinesiology, as a whole, might engage in the future.

This investigation contrasted path analysis models for 40 males and 40 females based on the predictions of Feltz's (1982) respecification model of Ban-dura' s (1977) self-efficacy theory in the approach/avoidance of two trials of a modified back dive. The hypothesized (respecified) model proposed that previous related experiences, self-efficacy, and heart rate predicted initial back-diving performance and that previous performance and self-efficacy predicted subsequent performance. The hypothesized model also proposed that self-efficacy mediates the influence of autonomic perception of arousal on performance. Results indicated that males had lower state anxiety and autonomic perception scores than females on the first trial. No differences occurred for back-diving performance, self-efficacy, or heart rate. Path analysis results indicated that the hypothesized model fit the data better for females than for males, though it left much unexplained variance for both males and females. Females showed a reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and performance, whereas males showed a reciprocal relationship between autonomic perception and heart rate. Previous performance and self-efficacy were strong predictors of subsequent performance for both males and females.

This study examined the effectiveness of mental practice techniques for improving figure skating performance, self-efficacy, and self-confidence for competition. Two interventions, paper freestyle drawing (PFD) and walk through on floor (WTF), were compared to a stretching control group. Participants (n = 27), ages 10 to 18 years, were members of the United States Figure Skating Association and were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The study included procedural reliability checks such as pre- and post-manipulation checks; structured seminars; and homework workbooks. Results indicated that the two mental practice groups significantly improved their performance ratings in jumps and spins, and their competition confidence compared to the stretching control group. Results also indicated that the WTF mental practice group increased their spinning self-efficacy beliefs compared to the PFD mental practice treatment and the stretching control group.

Although sport psychologists utilize numerous interventions and techniques intended to enhance the performance of athletes in competition, the selection of those interventions has not always been based on research for which adequate validity has been established. In an attempt to provide sport psychologists with a working body of accurate knowledge and suggestions for future intervention research, an analysis and synthesis of research is presented that addresses the efficacy of different psychological interventions with athletes performing in competitive situations in the sport in which they regularly compete. From information reported in 19 published studies, covering 23 interventions, it was concluded that educational relaxation-based interventions and remedial cognitive restructuring interventions with individual athletes are, in general, effective.

This study examined the effect of participation in a coaching education program compared to a control group on coaches’ perceived coaching efficacy. The program consisted of two 6-hour sessions. The Coaching Efficacy Scale was used to determine the impact of the program on perceived coaching efficacy. Forty-six Michigan high school coaches and 14 coaching preparation students were recruited for the experimental (n = 36) and control groups (n = 24) for this study. The participants were asked to respond to pretest and posttest CES questionnaires that examined how confident they were in influencing the learning and performance of their athletes in four dimensions of coaching: character building, motivation, strategy, and technique. Results showed a significant effect for a coaching education program on the perceived efficacy levels of the trained coaches compared to control coaches.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of stereotyped visual images (pictures) on the friendship status ranking of females in “gender-appropriate” and “gender-inappropriate” sports. The study employed a 2×2×3 (sex × sport × image) ANOVA between subjects design, with tennis and basketball being the “appropriate” and “inappropriate” sports chosen respectively. The visual image was manipulated by having a picture of a stereotypical feminine female versus a stereotypical androgynous female. The control group did not have a visual image. We hypothesized that image would interact with sport appropriateness such that the feminine image would enhance the friendship status of the hypothetical basketball player; whereas the androgynous image would lower the hypothetical tennis player’s status. A “sex-byimage” interaction as well as a “sex-by-sport” trend supported the hypothesis for males; males used the perceived femininity/androgyny stereotype to influence their decision about friendship status.

Over the last two decades, women’s active involvement in sport has increased. For example, since the 1972 passage of Title IX, participation has increased by over 600% for girls in interscholastic school programs (Boutilier & SanGiovanni, 1983). Despite an increase in the sport opportunities available to women, stereotypes about what is socially appropriate influence how females in sport are perceived. Gender-role stereotypes have been identified as some of the influencing factors in the perception of appropriate sports for males and females (Metheny, 1965) and in one’s social status (Coleman, 1961). Avariable which may enhance the perception of appropriate sports for males and females is the addition of a visual image. Duncan & Sayaovong (1990) have suggested that visual images have the ability to reinforce or contradict gender-role stereotypes. The purpose of this study was to determine how visual images may affect the perceived status of female high school athletes in “gender-appropriate” and “gender-inappropriate” sports.

A longstanding research question in the sport psychology literature has been whether a given amount of mental practice prior to performing a motor skill will enhance one's subsequent performance. The research literature, however, has not provided any clear-cut answers to this question and this has prompted the present, more comprehensive review of existing research using the meta-analytic strategy proposed by Glass (1977). From the 60 studies yielding 146 effect sizes the overall average effect size was .48, which suggests, as did Richardson (1967a), that mentally practicing a motor skill influences performance somewhat better than no practice at all. Effect sizes were also compared on a number of variables thought to moderate the effects of mental practice. Results from these comparisons indicated that studies employing cognitive tasks had larger average effect sizes than motor or strength tasks and that published studies had larger average effect sizes than unpublished studies. These findings are discussed in relation to several existing explanations for mental practice and four theoretical propositions are advanced.

The present investigation was designed to replicate and extend the Feltz (1982) study of the causal elements in Bandura's (1977) theory of self-efficacy. Path analysis techniques were employed to investigate the predictions based on Bandura's model of self-efficacy, along with the additional influence of autonomic perception on the approach/avoidance behavior of female college students (N = 80) attempting a modified-back dive. The Bandura model predicted a reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and back-diving performance, and between self-efficacy and physiological arousal (heart rate). It was also predicted that autonomic perception was a better predictor of self-efficacy than was physiological arousal, but not better than previous back-diving performance. Additionally, self-efficacy was hypothesized to be the mediator of past performance accomplishments, physiological arousal, and autonomic perception on back-diving performance. Bandura's model was tested against a “full” model that included performance, autonomic perception, and actual physiological arousal, along with self-efficacy as direct causal influences of back-diving performance. Results provided greater support for the full model. Although one's self-efficacy was the major predictor of performance on Trial 1, subjects' heart rates also significantly predicted performance on Trial 1. After Trial 1, back-diving performance on a previous trial was the major predictor of performance on the next trial. Furthermore, one's perception of autonomic arousal was a significant influence on self-efficacy but not on performance. Previous back-diving performance, however, was a better predictor of self-efficacy than autonomic perception. No reciprocal relationship was found between self-efficacy and physiological arousal. Moreover, the full model explained more performance variance than did the Bandura model.

Harter's (1979) perceived competence subscale was modified to specifically apply to soccer in order to compare young soccer players' general self-esteem, perceived physical competence, and perceived soccer competence scores in predicting players' actual soccer ability. Young soccer players (N = 217), 8 to 13 years of age, were tested on five soccer skill tests. Players also completed Harter's (1979) Perceived Competence Scale for Children and our perceived soccer competence subscale. We hypothesized that perceived soccer competence would have high internal consistency and would be a better predictor of soccer ability than either perceived physical competence or general self-esteem. Results indicated that the perceived soccer competence subscale had the highest internal consistency reliability coefficient, and that it was also slightly more predictive of soccer ability than perceived physical competence as indicated by multivariate multiple regression analysis and canonical correlation analysis. Future studies investigating perceived competence as a motivational variable in specific youth sports may find the sport-specific perceived competence measure to provide additional information to Harter's questionnaire.

The Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) was developed as an objective measure by which an individual's attentional predisposition could be identified and used to predict performance on a variety of tasks. The present study had three purposes: (a) to construct a baseball/softball batting (B-TAIS) version of each TAIS attentional subscale, (b) to compare TAIS and B-TAIS reliability, and (c) to compare TAIS and B-TAIS validity. Both instruments were administered to 29 intercollegiate baseball and softball players. The B-TAIS demonstrated slightly higher test-restest reliability on five of the six attentional subscales and was higher than the TAIS in internal consistency on all subscales. Batting performance was positively related to all B-TAIS subscales assessing effective attentional deployment and negatively related to all subscales assessing ineffective attention. Significant positive correlations also existed between B-TAIS ineffective subscale scores and competitive trait anxiety. However, these relationships were not found with the general TAIS.