these studies use a multicomponent intervention, they often assess novel component combinations or apply an intervention to a scarcely studied or unstudied sport or target behavior.A recent poll found that three quarters of adults in the United States played sports when they were younger, and one quarter of adults continue to play sports throughout their lives, with more than 50 different sports included (Sports and Health in America, 2015). Additionally, participating in sports has numerous physical and social benefits to the athlete. Furthermore, it is reported that 63% of people in the United States describe themselves as sports fans (Carroll, 2005). This demonstrates the significance of sports within society and indicates the importance of a continued focus on the research of sports-related behavior.Perhaps as a result of the prevalence of professional sports and the widespread participation in sports across countries, there has been a proliferation of sports research in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) over the past several decades. Recent publications (e.g., Luiselli & Reed, 2015;Martin, 2015) describe how behavior analytic techniques have been utilized to address a wide range of behaviors across multiple sports and populations.This research is based on principles and procedures of behavioral science established over the past 80 or more years with single-subject designs. Thus, there is not a current review comparing and contrasting the various behavioral procedures that have been used to enhance sports performance and the different sports targeted with a behavioral intervention. The purpose of this paper is to review the research applying behavior analytic procedures to performance enhancement across sports.
| METHOD
| Inclusion and exclusion criteriaTwo inclusion criteria were used to identify studies for review. First, a behavioral intervention had to be implemented in each study. A behavior intervention includes using any form of an intervention that might alter an observable behavior. Second, the target behavior was sport performance consisting of the measurement of an athlete's observable behavior. Regarding performance enhancement, a sports intervention can target the behavior of the individual playing the sport, or it can target the behavior of the individual coaching the players. Studies were excluded if the focus was solely on physical activity (i.e., exercise promotion) rather than sports performance. Although increasing physical activity can be part of sport performance enhancement, the purpose of such research is generally on health outcomes as opposed to performance enhancement. Additional sports-related studies were excluded if the focus was therapeutic instead of performance based (e.g., using a sports activity to decrease anxiety), the focus was not on performance of a skill related to an organized sport (e.g., throwing a ball), and if the study was not written in English. SCHENK AND MILTENBERGER 249