No abstract

Swimmers' attendance at training and work rates were described by their coaches as being poor and irregular. Reinforcement contingencies were developed to remedy these unsatisfactory conditions. Two experiments were conducted. A multiple baseline design verified the effects of publicly marking attendance at practice as a sufficient solution for reducing absenteeism, tardiness, and leaving early. Follow-up analyses showed this contingency to have lasting effects. In the second experiment, a reversal design was used to assess the effects of employing program boards as a means of increasing work output during practice. Work rates in eight selected swimmers were elevated by an average of 27.1% when the boards were instituted. Follow-up evaluations showed that the use of the program boards had lasting effects. Publicly checking the completion of each training unit of work changed the nature of the swimming environment to produce a more productive use of time. The role of the coach was subsequently changed as less time was spent in directing and supervising behaviors.The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of the application of applied psychology techniques in a sporting environment. At a more practical level, the related studies were concerned with determining the effects of behavior modification procedures on several problem behaviors exhibited in a competitive swimming training environment.Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of the application of reinforcement theory, it has been neglected in the literature and by the practitioners of physical education (McKenzie and Rushall, 1973 their team's attendance and work rates as poor and irregular. The immediate concern was the implementation of contingencies of reinforcement that would remedy these unsatisfactory conditions. All behavioral applications were conducted in the on-going environment by the coaches themselves.Attendance at training was poor and irregular. Apart from not attending, swimmers sometimes arrived late and left early and in some instances did not enter the water. These behaviors reduced the individuals' swimming time, disrupted the practice sessions, and interfered with coaching procedures. The coaches had attempted to enforce rules of attendance and participation in training. These were implemented by simply stating the rule conditions. Consequences were not made contingent upon the following or breaking of the rules. These attempts failed to improve swim-practice attendance.The coaches were also concerned with the effect and amount of swimming being done in practices where traditional coaching methods were employed. For the most part, swimmers followed identical programs of work and were 199 1974, 73,[199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206] NUMBER 2 (SUMMER 1974)

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of instructions—to think particular types of thoughts—on the cross-country skiing performances of elite skiers. Eighteen members of the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team served as subjects. Instructions were given to plan and think particular types of thoughts while skiing, namely task-relevant statements, mood words, and positive self-statements. Performances on a standard test track under thought control conditions were compared to similar efforts under “normal” (control) thinking. Thirteen subjects also recorded heart rates at the completion of each trial. A balanced order design of two replications of each condition was employed in each of the three experiments. Sixteen subjects improved in all conditions whereas two subjects improved in only one condition. Heart rates were marginally higher and statistically significant in each experimental condition compared to the control condition. Performance improvements of more than 3% were registered under each thought content condition, even though all subjects reported that they were not aware of any effort differential. That performance improvements of this magnitude could be achieved in athletes of such a caliber indicates the value of attempts to use the particular forms of thoughts employed in this study for improving cross-country skiing performance.

No abstract

Experimental procedures were implemented in a competitive swimming training situation in order to change the repertoire, quality, and quantity of several behavior categories in a coach. A multiple baseline design was used for scientific verification. Self-recording techniques were instituted for rewarding, providing feedback, and providing feedback after first having rewarded a swimmer. The repertoire of behaviors in these categories was increased through the provision of discriminative stimuli on self-recording sheets. Fading schedules were successfully used to reduce the subject's reliance on the prompt sheets. Rates of occurrence of the target behaviors served as a reinforcing procedure for increasing the emission frequencies. A leaning of reinforcement produced a persistent change in the scope and quantity of the behaviors. Pre- and postexperimental behavior analyses using the Coach Observation Schedule indicated that the affected changes also produced concomitant changes in other behavioral categories.