OJS - Uni Innsbruck
Not a member yet
243 research outputs found
Sort by
Innate Talent in Sport: Beware of an organismic asymmetry – comment on Baker & Wattie
Full text linkOf fundamental, theoretical and practical, relevance to sport science is the conceptualisation of talent, skill and expertise. Revisiting the question of innate talent is timely, given current pressure on young children selected to specialise in sport at an early age. Here, we re-iterate the conceptualisation of talent, skill and expertise in sport as an increasingly functional relationship between an athlete and a specific performance environment, developed over the macro-timescale of years and decades. This ecological dynamics rationale avoids an organismic asymmetry, the bias towards explanations of human behaviour which over-emphasise the role of inherent properties and qualities, identifiable through early selection. An ecological dynamics rationale, eschewing the organismic asymmetry of innate talent, in favour of exploiting and developing individual functionality in specific performance environments, challenges coaches and sport scientists to collaborate in new models for developing talent, skill and expertise
Lello Savonardo: Pop music, media e culture giovanili. Dalla Beat Revolution alla Bit Generation. Milano: Egea, 2017. ISBN 978-88-238-2190-3. 144 pagine.
Full text linkRelationship between stability and variability of the core in dynamic reaching tasks
Full text linkCore stability is important to many functional and athletic tasks. Motion variability has been proposed as a measure to characterize core stability. Based on motor learning theories, the current study hypothesized that variability and stability of core movements show a U-shaped relationship and further investigated whether functional range of motion (“mobility”) or speed of motion affect this relationship. Twenty-four healthy subjects performed 20 cycles of two different unilateral hand reaching tasks for both the left and right hand under stable and unstable conditions. Reach targets were positioned to trigger large core movements. Specifically, the anterior target was positioned midsagittal at arm length´s distance and hip height. Two posterior targets (60 degrees posterior to neutral stance frontal plane) on both the left and right side were high (at arm length distance and height with accrued 10 cm) and low (arm length distance at hip height). Kinematic data were recorded and three-dimensional angles between pelvis and thorax (core) were calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients and paired T-tests were calculated to assess variability, mobility and speed of the core movements. A parabolic function was fitted to the variability data and the quality of the fit was assessed by calculating adjusted R-squared values. In the sagittal plane, variability could be modeled with a U-shaped distribution; in the other planes of motion this was the case in 2 of 4 reaching tests. In two tests, movement speed changed between the stable and unstable conditions. Mobility did not appear to affect variability in the stable condition, but some correlations were observed in the unstable condition. The relationship between mobility and variability, and the change in variability were task-specific
The talent quest – comment on Baker & Wattie
Full text linkExplaining exceptional human performance remains problematic. Baker & Wattie (2018) explored the value of innate talent as underlying cause for excellence in sports. Although the absence of the influence of biological genetic influences cannot be confirmed or rejected, it is recommended to discuss this topic while taking into account the time-depending sport-specific context. Moreover, if, as Baker & Wattie (2018) concluded, the concept of talent has limited utility to the world of sport, the use of the predicate ‘talent’ might better be reconsidered in practice
Changes in motor competence over four decades in 10 to 14-year-old Austrian boys
Full text linkBackground: Data on secular trends in motor competence in children and adolescents has been equivocal. While several studies have shown a decline in motor competence over the last several decades there is also research that showed no change or even an increase in motor competence in youth.Methods: Motor competence was assessed via 6 test items in 10- to 14-year-old Austrian boys in the years 1972, 1987 and 2015. At each measurement time participants performed 20m sprint, 800m run, sit ups, jump and reach, one-leg stand and stand and reach tests in the school gymnasium during regular school time. Data across measurement times was compared using weighted means across 5 age groups with pooled standard deviations.Results: Average performance on the 20m sprint, jump and reach test and one leg stand improved significantly (p<0.05) from 1972 to 2015 by 0.3 seconds, 3.9 cm and 3.5 seconds, respectively. Time for the 800m run increased significantly by 15% (p<0.01), indicating a decline in endurance. Flexibility, measured by the stand and reach test, also declined significantly (p=0.02) from 1972 to 2015. There was no significant difference in the number of sit ups performed at the 3 measurement times. Conclusion: Results of the present study do not show a general decline in motor competence in male middle-school students over the last 4 decades. Rather, secular trends differ by specific components contributing to overall motor competence with declines in flexibility and endurance but increases in power, speed and balance
Les bruits de Marseille
Full text linkThis study focuses on two songs dedicated to Marseilles; their large chronological span testifies to the evolution of the popular genre called “chanson”. Each song combines an individual and a collective story related to Marseilles. The vibrant city features in the varied and forceful auditory sensations (whether melodious or cacophonic) it provides to its inhabitants, who can either be delighted or infuriated by them but cannot escape them. Both songs also highlight the continuous and intriguing connection between Marseilles and the art of singing, a polysemiotic art. Marseilles, which is both a port and a city, is perceived as a space filled with sounds so that its depiction opens up to metatextuallevel: the subject of the song mirrors the song itself in an ambiguous and symbolic way which challenges a purely mimetic approach. The din of the city and the notorious volubility of its inhabitants (called tchatche by the natives) are intertwined, caught in an enthralling urban and musical trap
Beyond nature vs. nurture in expertise research – comment on Baker & Wattie
Full text linkThe field of expertise is mired in a nature vs. nurture debate. Despite what we now know from behavioral genetics research about the underpinnings of human behavior, some expertise theorists continue to deny or downplay the importance of genetic factors (“innate talent”) in expert performance. In this commentary, we argue that this viewpoint is neither defensible nor productive. Our argument is based on two observations. First, there are always limits on human performance, even among individuals who have engaged in long periods of intensive training. Second, grounded in a neurobiological system that has evolved through natural selection, variation across people in phenotypes reflecting these limits will have a genetic component. We comment on directions for future research to advance the field of expertise