Homework/Assignments

Thursday, October 22, 2009

1. Read Chapter 12 in the text – the entire chapter (no exclusions) as we will be using the Inverted-U, Drive and the three other Arousal-Performance models for our next film analysis, “The Replacements”.
2. Read Martin’s (2005) article on PST for disabled as it is official course content.
3. Here is the assignment for Murderball – but as agreed today, you will not have to actually submit a paper (it can be one of your papers if you want – just let me know):  Murderball.assignment.2009.  As agreed, you will now be evaluated on seven papers plus one oral (instead of 8 + 1).
4. Watch the film “Murderball”.
5. Whitney will be presenting from 12:15 -1:00 next Tuesday, right before our class.  You are all invited to attend (not obligatory) – maybe bring a “brown bag lunch”.
6. Looking ahead to next Thursday, Meredith will be presenting the Replacements – Meredith do the readings ASAP and I will send you the assignment on Sunday evening for you to look over.  Bring any questions to class on Tuesday.
7. Megan – we will give SKYPE a dry run test on Tuesday to make sure everything is working for Thursday!

Monday, October 5, 2009

1. Too bad about Mountain Day – oh well:)
2. I have updated syllabus on our site’s home page (host names for movies, make-up of two classes I will miss, moving of Wikispaces editing class) – please DESTROY any copies of old version and download the new.  The overall result is that the course will flow more smoothly as we have almost 100% a) lecture Tues. b) present Thurs. c) paper due following Tues.
3. Important change for this week – I will lecture on Leadership tomorrow and Ashani will present Titans on Thursday (I will send her any readings over and above text tonite).
4. My absence for ITF Conference in Valencia:  have adjusted travel so I only miss Thurs. Oct. 29th and Tues. Nov. 3rd.  Megan will coordinate SKYPE-ing of Thurs. Oct. 29th class (or videotape it for my review if we cannot) so I can attend virtually from Valencia; Merefith will present as usual that day; on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd Ashley will coordinate group work on Wiki – everyone will bring their laptop to class and edit the papers that will have been posted – you will receive an interim grade  for this class that goes towards your Wiki grade (i.e., compulsory attendance/participation).
5. Finally – group feedback on Miracle papers:

• I have used highlighting in individual feedback to indicate where you need to direct your attention to improve.  Red means “wrong” – typo, spelling, grammar, or nonsensical writing.  Yellow means – “needs improvement” : confusing or fuzzy wording, repetitiveness, or unnecessary.
• In your Introductions – no need to “fully” explain every part of the models we are studying – you can just use 1-2 sentences to allude to it and then get to the point in your paper.
• Keep a separate file or document with my feedback so that you do not repeat the same errors in future papers – ideally turn it into a checklist to use when you review your paper a final time before submission.
• Several people did not include an outline, and several people still did not double-space title page – get into the habit of turning the assignment description into a point form checklist to avoid these careless errors.
• Do not use first names (e.g., Bruce Tuckman) in academic psychology writing (waste of space) unless you are actually writing a paper about that person (e.g., biography).
• Do not use right “justification” (very difficult to read compared to ragged edge) and make sure you use APA 1″ margins (all around), and do not exceed 5-page max. (exclusive of title page, reference page, and use the frickin’ word “References” for your References page!  You do not have to use a running head but must number pages.  All this is in the link I provided.
• These were the best organized papers I have seen for this course (last 8 years?) – it might be because you were obligated to use and submit an outline – or perhaps you are all “special”:)

Sunday, September 27th

1. I have gone through your Best-Ever and Happy Program papers – I will return one of them to you with at least one comment – please open your Word document to make sure you can read my comment(s) as this is how I will give you individual feedback.
2. General comments:

- great Happy assessments/programs – interesting as well

- despite reminder still getting a few .docx – second reminder that:  “If you REGULARLY send or share files with someone who uses Office 2003 for Windows or Office 2004 for Mac, you should change the default “Save” format for all the documents you create in Office 2007. Here’s the procedure for Word 2007:”

- similarly still a couple of files without surnames.

- similarly – a few of you did not double-space everything (esp. title page) in your “Best” paper (100 sit-ups for offenders on Miracle paper – “again”)

- do not use contractions in academic writing

- cudos for having spell/grammar-checkers on – HOWEVER, a few of you still had some grammatically related items to improve – highly suggest you have a buddy quickly give your paper a read, highlighting any awkward turn of phrases, obvious typos not picked up by spell-checker, etc. (I always do this with my work – usually my mummy).

- for the first time ever none of you used an overly flowery prose style or big words – both unsuited for academic, psychology writing – way to go!  keep it simple.

- Hosting:  Windows (non-Mac) users – make sure you verify with me you have a method of showing clips.

- we have video adapters for both types of Mac laptops now (admin. asst. hid them in her office ^&&$#^*(#*^&) – the basic PC adaptor is “hardwired”

- here are hosting assignments again:

Tuesday, September 22

1. Assignment #1 description and readings are here.
2. We will take up the exercise contained in the handout I gave out today (.pdf contained in link above).
3. I will send out the film hosting duties tomorrow morning.
4. I will give you feedback on your writing samples (Best Ever/Happy Program mini-papers) so that you will have “ungraded” feedback prior to your first graded assignment (tomorrow a.m.)
5. Remember to use the “Comments” section on the above page to pose any questions concerning the assignment or readings.
6. For posterity here is the “Excellence” 4-page article:  Excellence.SF.1986

Thursday, September 17

1. The short, abridged Orlick & Partington (1986) article I showed you in class still needs to be re-scanned (external hard disk failure).  You may wait until tomorrow at 1 pm for it to be posted here – OR – if you are perfectionistic you may read the 14-page journal article (a classic) upon which it is based:  Mental Links to Exclellence.  You may also download a copy of the article on Terry Orlick’s site Zone of Excellence which has other very readable, “free” articles on mental training and life.  Notice how we are subtlely punishing perfectionists and contributing to the extinguishing of this trait through this cunning offering of a chance to do something early (but at a great personal cost).
2. Nora will be hosting “Miracle”.  She can get a headstart by rewatching the film (might be unecessary as it is her favorite), and doing the readings from the text ahead of others in the class.  Here are some links to Tuckman’s model, which we will be using to analyze the film – I will intro it in class on Tuesday – but Nora may want to familiarize herself with them ahead of time:  link 1, link 2, link 3.
3. Reminder that you will briefly present your assessment and program for Happy Gilmore at the start of class.  Hold onto your Best-Ever descriptions as we will use them again when we get to the Flow model.
4. I will send out the list of movies/hosts tomorrow afternoon.

Bruce Tuckman, Ph.D.

Tuesday, September 15

1. Develop a “competitive phase” simulation exercise for an athlete/team in your sport. The exercise should involve duplicating important or rarely seen conditions (e.g., bad weather), or a particular tactic to use against a specific opponent.  Present orally (one minute)  – no hand-in.
2. Develop five mental training exercises to improve Happy Gilmore’s golf performance in tournament play (one exercise of each of the five skill groups).  The exercises can be basic, golf-specific, or simulation exercises.  Submit a one-page paper composed of a) an assessment of Happy’s mental game; and b) a brief summary of the five mental training exercises.
3. E-mail Tim (ASAP) your choice of film (three picks – first, second, third choices) to host.  If necessary we will do a lottery on Thursday.

Thursday, Sept. 10

1. You do not have to watch the entire film “Happy Gilmore” – you do have to watch the ten clips on Hulu.com . Your ungraded assignment in this first module is to develop a mental training program to improve Happy’s golf performance.  So as you watch the clips you may want to take note of his mental strengths and weaknesses, use (or lack of use) of psychological skills – and of course you want to come up with some sort of “diagnosis”.  At this point you do not need to submit any formal written work.
2. Complete this assessment for your own mental skills – insight into your own use of mental skills will aid you in analyzing the use of PST by the characters in the films we watch (i.e., you need to become familiar with the terms and their meanings): Athletic Coping Skills Inventory . You do not have to turn this in, although I may ask you for info about your scores (highest, lowest, etc.).
3. Read my wondrous article on how to plan PST programs:  Bacon, 1989.  This article will help you detect the use of psychological skills during the films.

Tuesday, September 8

1. Write a one-page double-spaced description of your best-ever performance in sport, focussing on your emotions and feelings (i.e., how you felt while you were performing).  Put a Title page on your one-page paper (also double-spaced – title of paper, class, date, your name).  Your description will be used by other(s) in the class for an in-class exercise.
2. After completing #1 above, read this article:  Loehr (1983).   This is the best, most concise summary of the “best-ever” state ever published (read my review of article here).  Complete the rating form in Table 2 for your best-ever (retype or photocopy ignoring numbers already there.
3. Visit the AASP website to find out basic info about the field of sport psychology (spend 8.3 minutes perusing the site).