Pieter Hugo's Emeku.onu Enugu by Taylor Gwaltney

Robert/Fingerprints Analyzation

Unit 3 Project

Unit 3 Project

Mending Stockings - Ackland Art - Unit 3

Willem De Kooning

"The Farm House"

Alexander Calder's Cirque Calder

Feeder 3.2: Cindy Sherman's Artwork: Untitled #205

24 Hour Psycho by Douglas Gordon

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder is a prominent American artist, who is famous for making sculpture and jewelry. He is also the inventor of the mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture constructed to take advantages of the principle of equilibrium. In Patrick Benesh Liu’s article,” Alexander Calder: The Art of Perpetual Motion”, the author introduces Alexander Calder to us. According to Patrick, Alexander is inspired by people in different parts of the world; he uses unconventional methods and materials to make his jewelries and sculptures;his lack of fear for beginning over again leads to his creativity and prolific work.

Alexander Calder takes benefit from the development in the communication in modern world. The accessibility of world travelling enables people to exchange ideas in a larger scale. It was through this development that the Modernist movement was founded and flourished. Inspired by people from different places in the world, Alexander Calder also found his artistic birth in this atmosphere. When Calder was introduced to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, he was impressed by them and said, “ It wasn’t the daringness of the performers, nor the tricks or gimmicks; it was the fantastic balance in motion that the performers exhibited.” He then decided to produced something that could move, and made the Cirque Calder, which was a circus made by wire, wood, etc. When Alexander Calder travelled to Paris, he met with a toymaker and was encouraged into toy production. It was in Paris that Alexander Calder made his first kinetic objects, which laid a great foundation for his success in producing the mobile. Without this two inspirations, Calder may not be able to invent the mobiles.

Calder’s piece has an innocent and playful nature. We can see the spontaneity and boldness in his work. In many cases, the artisans’ imagination is bounded by the practicality of the work. In order to make a living, the artisans often have to consider about the needs of their customers and make something that people would buy. Calder, however, is famous for his independence of this tendency; he only produces what he likes. Sometimes, he even produces pieces that completely different from what his clients request.

Calder does not use the traditional materials to make the jewelry. He used metal instead of gem; the author suggests that this may be Calder’s reaction against the high-cost components in making jewelries. Calder may want to make personal adornment viable to the public at large. Even though most of Calder’s pieces are made by metal, people would never feel boring about his work. Calder is concerned about the form and shape of his pieces and his work has great variety in forms. However, sometimes the form and shape of the jewelry make it hard for people to wear.

Calder is a prolific artist, which according to the author, is partly the result of Calder’s willingness to ignore the fear of failure. Calder produced over eighteen hundred jewelries and several thousand mobiles. He is willing to try different kinds of style and is not afraid about failure. He does not want to repeat himself. In several cases, he refuses to replicate a popular design, despite of its large demand.

From the descriptions of Calder in the article, we find that Alexander Calder is an independent thinker. He does not care about what others think about him, nor does he follows the majority. He only products artwork that he likes and is not afraid about failure; maybe this is the reason why he becomes such a successful artist.


http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.43

Joan Miro's Drawing Collage

Postcards are thought to be used as a cheap way to remember a family vacation or new excursion, but according to Joan Miro; postcards have endless possibilities to portray the past and the present through art. Joan Miro is recognized for producing over a dozen Drawing-Collages. Miro’s work can be found in major collections and are even included in multiple exhibitions. These mass-produced images cut from advertisements and engravings connected by crayon lines on simple white, green or dark brown paper are easily dismissed. The author states that the Drawing-Collages are not given the respect and significance to the artist or the artist history that they should be given. Before times changed contemporary historians and critics had misconceptions of Miro’s work and failed to understand the turn of the century element, and the nostalgia that the postcards revealed. With the support of other artists and the argumentative feedback of historian’s critiques, Miro’s Drawing-Collages were finally respected and the beauty of his art form was amplified and made popular.

How could someone not enjoy a visual display that is portrayed as a “uniquely constructed world within a frame?” The author argues for Miro’s efforts; the playful and innocent work of Miro shows connection to the world of art especially in Paris and Barcelona. Even before the Drawing-Collages were widely distributed, critics in France and Spain were discrediting Miro’s art. Miro’s work began being judged in every way; its purpose, its form and its style. The artist Zervos didn’t take into account the importance of the given subject in the artist’s materials; therefore not understanding the significance or emotional appeal of each collage. Font, another critic also pronounced the flaws he found, stating the collages were “vague forms of dawn lines as stars, bones, insects, larvae, and embryo.” Along with these critics, the list continued; Greenberg and Jacques Dupin not only condemned the materials that Miro used to create his collages but that he didn’t understand the aesthetic purpose of Miro’s own work. Not only was this degrading for Miro, but frustrating for they could not look to find the meaning behind his art. They believed that Miro was obsessed with the decorative and in doing so hid the truth of terrors, and wrongdoings in the world.

Art can be completely subjective and misunderstood, but with explanation critiques of art can change. One of the main critics to Miro’s art Dupin experienced a change of heart. Instead of looking for the complexity of the collages he focused on the clarity and simple nature of them. He now views the works as “…casual and masterful, poetic and graceful…” where before Zervos had called the collages automatic and unemotional. At this point the author believed that Miro was starting to see the respect he deserved. In the summer, Miro was able to escape the discipline he had on himself for his paintings and began the Collage-drawings where his freedom was much greater. The critic’s harsh words were erased because they realized that it was important to understand the significance of what Miro thought of the postcards in order to examine the collages as a whole.

Because postcards were a key aspect of Miro’s collages it was an epiphany that the critics finally understood the cultural meaning behind them. The artist’s collages focused on the concerns and debates of the Barcelona art scene. Gasch, a great supporter of Miro worked to further his credibility by writing on “The Postcard Style”. He agreed with everything Miro spoke of about postcards, where he got them and how he used them. Gasch was able to contrast the opinions of the surrealists with the connections of the places and identities of the cards. The postcard was finally given the credit to cross class, geographic and gender borders that was embraced by Surrealism. The work of Gasch and Miro together began to be published and emphasized among the Surrealist artists.

Gasch reminisced on the favorite cards of himself and Miro’s; music hall singer and dancers. This was Miro’s passion, and through his collages he could show the rhythm of the dancers with lines and bring them together with texture. The sensory qualities of his art were displayed through everyday materials such as sandpaper. The Drawing-Collage was becoming a way to bring about the world of mass culture while capturing more artists to become interested in this way of expression.

As well as culture and showing a way of expression, Miro also showed a sense of nostalgia through his art, whether it be for recent history, experiences, or previous works. Others became seemingly more interested in Miro’s work and the possibilities that postcards could be used for. Carlos Sindreu, a prominent poet explained that behind the words of a postcard there isn’t much meaning, but the potential that the picture on the front of the postcard is extremely powerful. This related directly to the postcards that Miro uses for his Drawing-Collages, he could show “…family, courtship, spectacle and leisure…” through the picture on the card.

The author believed that at one point Miro didn’t get the credit for his Drawing-Collages that he should have earned. Through the change in critic’s perspectives, the epiphany of the extravagant nature in a postcard and the influence he had on other great artists granted him the respect he deserved. The postcards now are known to display the significance of the turns of the century with the political, economic, and artistic pieces of history in this world.

Frey, Joan G. "Joan Miro's Drawing-Collages, August 8, 1933: The Intelletual Obscentities of Postcards." College Art Association (1936). Print.

Where Are We Going

In the late 1950’s Wilem de Kooning created a collection of paintings that are referred to as “the highway paintings”. During this time he lived in New York. Kooning’s surroundings and lifestyle influenced his painting as he traveling by car between Manhattan and eastern Long Island during the late 1950s and early 1960s, before permanently settling in the Hamptons in 1963. Kooning’s canvases have been paralleled to the rapid expanding American Highway system. His paintings helped him become known as one of the top modern artist. John J Curley is an Assistant Professor of Art History Department at Wake Forest University, with a Ph.d from Yale in 2007. In “Running on empty” Curley states that previous critiques and "sensations" associated with driving of the “highway” paintings have been accurate but fail to probe a deeper meaning. Curley says “I believe that these paintings are not merely illustrative of an American culture in transition, but rather are deeply engaged with its anxieties, triumphs, and contradictions.” In this article I will be summarizing Curley’s article along with providing a perspective as to why this is relevant to the young adult age group of Americans.

Curley uses one of Konning’s phrases, "going to the city or coming from it", to discuss a transit biased interpretation and does a good job of correlating that between the urban and suburban settings of Kooning’s highway paintings. Curley does this well by explaining as Kooning’s paintings shift from urban settings to the open air highways, it is simultaneous middle-class abandonment of the inner city spurred on by new construction that aids this transformation and can be seen in his paintings. To support his reasoning Curley also uses the writings of other colleges such as Marla Prather (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1994), Thomas Hess (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1968), and Stephen Polcari (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) to support parts of his reasoning then discussing how his prob deeper into the disparate spheres of "action painting" and driving.

Curley breaks up the article with four major categories where in each he relates back to the American culture in transition engaged with its anxieties, triumphs, and contradictions. The four categories Curley broke the highway paintings up consisted of Action Painting and Driving, Standardization and Franchises: Highway/Paintings, Semiotic Signs to Nowhere, Interchange: Doom and Progress. For each group there were paintings listed and each had a reasoning or example to how it related to the change at that time. For example in Standardization and Franchises: Highway/Paintings Curley writes “The new interstate system fundamentally restructured society; for one, it reproduced its own bureaucratic structures in the areas surrounding interchanges, according to Keller Easterling.25 Such logic helped to create one of the most influential business practices of the last 50 years: franchising.” He believes that these ideas can be taken from Kooning’s paintings. By understanding these events in time Curley try’s to express that through images and relations in Kooning’s paintings.

Kooning’s paintings certainly have meaning beyond just the canvas and the images viewed, as you can relate the events happening at the time to subtle details in the paintings. What is there to learn from these paintings and Curley’s interpretation on how they relate to the changing American landscape? What I think is also important is other relations Kooning is trying to make is that of the past and present. Curley also makes references along those lines. With the roads being pathways to and from places it could represent that you need to know where you’re coming from to get where you want to go. For young adults, understanding what is behind you is the best way to succeed in the future. These paintings have more meaning than just the simple images that are portrayed, looking deeper and probing into history behind ideas is a clear way to help guide you to where you would like to go, represented by the roads in the highway paintings.

John J. Curley "Running on Empty: Willem de Kooning in the Late 1950s"

Modernism/modernity, Volume 17, Number 1, January 2010, pp. 61-86 (Article)

DOI: 10.1353/mod.0.0186

Behavior Modification- Results Non Dominate Hand Experiment

Behavior Modification- Non Dominate Hand Experiment

Writing on the Wall

In verse five of the Book of Daniel, it discussed the hand of God writing on the wall in King Belshazaar’s palace. Also in the history of Rome, the omnipresence of the legend SPQR and Lord Elgin’s plan for the Parthenon deal with inscriptions in art. These are prime examples of the use of text in art throughout history. Artists use text to inform the onlooker of the meaning or description of the piece and to invoke feelings, such as awe. This style was adopted powerfully by American architects and artists. During the late 1960s, a movement erupted in which landscapes were much less interesting than art with vocabulary from the streets, cinemas, and city. In 1991, artist Douglas Gordon began sending a series of Letters to various figures in the art world. This was only the beginning of his career as an artist most-known for his work with “writing on the wall” art. An article recently appeared in Sculpture Journal discussing the use of text in Gordon’s work. Gill Hedley, the author of this article, asserts that the use of text in different forms of art acknowledge the power and emotion of the piece.

Douglas is a native of Scotland, but currently resides and works in New York. Gordon’s work is in the fields of video, photography, and art, and through this, he addresses the universal dualities of life and death plus good and evil. Gordon attended the Slade School of Art, where he had his first degree show for which he painted a text in the rim of the aperture of the university library titled Meaning and Location. This text read, “Truly I say unto you, today, you will be with me in Paradise,” which is a passage from Luke’s gospel. The author argues that this piece is most powerful in the way it lays. The viewer must look up to see the circling painting, but then his gaze is directed beyond the aperture and into the library. The author believes Gordon chose to use a Biblical text because the library is one of philosophy, art, and science; therefore, using a text such as this illustrates the hundreds of different belief systems outlined in the books of the library. This is one of Gordon’s more classical pieces of art, but he also focused on other dualities by working with the more contemporary style.

One such contemporary piece was Gordon’s work Empire, which was commissioned for the Merchant City Civic Society in Glasgow. This work spells the word “EMPIRE” on a green neon sign with the letters outlined in white. The word is reflected in a strip of metal steel, so it reads in reverse. To the average person, this work may be viewing as nothing more than “street furniture;” however its outdated, American appearance and unlikeliness to be found on a Brunswick street raise new ideas. The author argues that it is a lament for a lost empire or possibly the loss of Glasgow’s Empire Theater. Obviously, this piece has many different interpretations.

Gordon has received much recognition for his art such as the Turner Prize, the Premio, and the Hugo Boss Prize. This author believes that Gordon’s art had made a great contribution to the field of public art. He asserts that by addressing various dualities, Gordon’s work provokes curiosity from extravagant landscapes to works with minute local details of a shared image of the contemporary world. The author refers to the great artist Douglas Gordon as “an heir to Pop Art.”

Gill Hedley, “Writing on the wall: the use of text in the work of Douglas Gordon, Simon Patterson and Langsland and Bell.” Sculpture Journal. Liverpool University Press: UK, 2004.

3.1 Function of Play in Cindy Sherman's work

Function of Play in the Art of Cindy Sherman

The very talented, Cindy Sherman, has made a successful career of making photographs of herself, based out of New York. She is one of our top contemporary artists of today. Danielle Knafo, an art psychoanalyst from Long Island University, acknowledges that art historians have analyzed Cindy Sherman’s work in three ways: from a feministic point of view, a narcissistic view, and a fiction view. In this article however, Knafo wishes to offer another perspective, that which is play. Danielle Knafo believes child play has many features similar to adult’s artwork, especially Sherman’s artwork. Knafo writes, “I hope to demonstrate that Sherman's art represents an arena, much like Winnicott's potential space, a location existing between mother and child, external and internal reality, in which [End Page 139] conditions are created for the growth of authentic agency through play” (Knafo). In this essay, I will summarize Knafo’s article and her perspective of Sherman’s artwork, along with explaining why this information is important to young people growing up today, viewing her photographs.


Knafo begins her article by comparing play and creativity, from a writer or an artist. She explains that art work, like child’s play, is geared towards satisfaction and accomplishment. Knafo successfully makes this connection and appears reliable by quoting two very famous psychologists, Freud and Winnicott, and using their research to demonstrate her thesis effectively. She concludes that both men would agree with Winnicott’s theory, “"It is in playing and only in playing that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self” (Knafo). Danielle Knafo then gives the readers her examples from Sherman’s work and her reasoning for connecting Sherman’s artwork with idea of children’s play.


Knafo explains Sherman’s work in five chronological phases: Dressing Up (1977-1980), Masquerade (1980-1985), A Grim Fairy Tale (1985-1989), Playing House (1988-1990), and Doll Play (1992-1995). She lists countless pieces of Cindy Sherman’s artwork for each phase and supports why she believes they represent that certain aspect of child play. For example, for phase IV: Playing House, Knafo uses Sherman’s “History Portraits” series to reveal her evidence. In this series, Knafo notes that Sherman uses acting, makeup, and costume brilliantly, along with representing pictures with mother and child. Sherman also takes on male appearances in this phase, which according to Knafo, symbolizes her use of “fantasy and reality in the child's relationship to the parents through her multiple and shifting identifications” (Knafo). By using different identities, Sherman is “playing house.” The question is however, why is the correlation between child’s play and Sherman’s art work, important to us?


Cindy Sherman has made her name known, that goes without question. She is a very gifted artist of our time, who many of us admire. But what can we learn from her masterpieces and also, Knafo’s interpretation of Sherman’s work? First, I think it is important to realize that our creativity now does in fact show a relationship with our play of childhood. In both, we escape and deny reality and instead turn towards a fantasy. We want to think about and create fantasies so we can be whoever we want to be (man, women, doctor etc.). Through art and play, we can experience this fulfillment that we virtually can’t in society, or at least can’t without the fear of being discriminated against or shunned by others in our communities. Sherman reveals this empowering thought to her viewers, of taking on the unthinkable and unknown. Knafo writes, “Using her body as a way to express and work through her deepest fears, she [Sherman] demonstrates the discomfort we all feel within our own and the struggle to become comfortable living within one's body skin (Smith 1990). No matter where we turn, we confront our own reflection; it is sometimes distorted, and often frightening, but always familiar.” (Knafo).


Knafo, D. 1996. “Dressing Up and Other Games of Make-believe:
The Function of Play in the Art of Cindy Sherman.” American Imago 53.2 (1996) 139-164
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_imago/v053/53.2knafo.html


Smith, R. 1990. "A Course in Portraiture by an Individualist with a Camera." The New York Times. January 5, C19.

Results of the Not Eating After 6pm Experiment

Results of Experiment Gatorade

Results of Drinking Water

Results of Behavior Modification: Name-Face Recognition

Why drink water?

Experiment Gatorade Podcast

Behavior Modification: Name-Face Recognition

Not Eating after 6pm

Experiential Avoidance

What in the world is experiential avoidance? The attempt to suppress any unwanted internal experiences, such as emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations is termed experiential avoidance (EA). Researchers and psychologist are currently studying the effects of experiential avoidance. Martine Fledderus, Ernst T. Bohlmeijer, and Marcel E. Pieterse have come together to experiment whether experiential avoidance mediates the relationship between maladaptive
coping styles and psychopathology and mental health. This essay will explain the important aspects of Fledderus, Bohlmeijer, and Pieterse’s study and conclusion from their article, “Does Experiential Avoidance Mediate the Effects of Maladaptive Coping Styles on Psychopathology and Mental Health?” posted in Behavior Modification and the importance of this information to young adults.

Fledderus, Bohlmeijer, and Pieterse give their readers some introductory information that is essential to this particular study and research. They tell of different previous studies that have been conducted over the years and explain that various findings have been reported. Experiential avoidance has been related to certain coping styles which have also been found to be related
to negative psychological outcomes in some experiments and related to positive psychological outcomes in others. It is important to note, as the authors have, that “experiential avoidance is more focused on the function and context of behavior, whereas coping styles are focused on the frequency and content of behavior” (Fledderus). In this study, however, the authors examine three coping styles: palliative, avoidance, and passive coping. Palliative coping is known as seeking distraction or good company to associate with on a regular basis. Avoidance coping is shunning situations or problems and “letting go” (Fledderus). Passive coping is known as being besieged by troubles, such as ruminating about the past (Fledderus). Let’s us examine how the authors used these three coping styles in determining whether or not EA mediates their effects on mental health and psychopathology?

Ninety three people were subjects in this experiment, mostly Dutch women, of eighteen years or older with mild to moderate depression or anxiety symptoms. These ninety three were participants who previously signed up for a group intervention, developed by the University of Twente, based on commitment and acceptance therapy (Fledderus). This study is measured by many forms, starting with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). AAQ-II is a 10-item measure of EA. The AAQ-II assesses on a 7-point like-type scale ranging from 1 = never true to 7 = always true that the subject’s unwillingness to be in contact with negative private events, the need to control these events, and the effect of controlling their negative private experiences on their lives (Fledderus). The higher the total end score, the higher acceptance and therefore lower experiential avoidance. This study was also measured by the Utrecht coping list (UCL). The UCL measures the three different coping styles people use in various unpleasant situations or problems (Fledderus). The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is a 20-item questionnaire that measures depressive symptoms in the general population, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale—Anxiety Subscale (HADS-A) is a 7-item questionnaire that assesses the presence and severity of anxious symptoms were both used as measures. Alcohol and Mental Health Continuum (which measures emotional, social, and psychological well-being) were also added to the study to use as measures.

The results indicate that acceptance scores are lower (M = 36.76, SD = 10.07) than was found in a general Dutch population (M = 52.03, SD = 9.30), which means the subjects score high on EA (Fledderus). Now regarding the coping styles, the participants scored average on the palliative coping, high on avoidance coping, and very high on passive coping, in comparison with a random sample of the Dutch population. Of the participants, 72.0% scored above the cut-off score of anxiety and 78.5% of the participants scored above the cut-off score for depressive syndromes (Fledderus). For those participants whose alcohol consumption is considerably unsafe, they scored lower in emotional, social, and psychological well-being compared to general Dutch population. What does all this information translate to? Only one of the three coping styles, passive coping, was (strongly) correlated with experiential avoidance. This indicates that people with high levels of EA tend to become easily beleaguered or overwhelmed by their problems and horrible situations, agonize about the past, feel incapable of doing something, or flee into an unrealistic world. “Both passive coping and EA showed a moderately strong relationship with increased depression and anxiety, which corroborates the results of earlier studies” (Fledderus).

This study and the information it reveals is vitally important to everyone, but especially young adults. Teenagers and young adults are prone to hide emotions and bury them away, thinking they can start new. This is a good outlook to have, to move on with our lives after a tragic event or whatnot, however, it is not good suppress feelings that will only come back to cause more damage in the future. These authors have successfully proven this point, anxiety and depression, among other problems, can develop and we must be extra cautious.


http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/34/6/503.full.pdf+html
Fledderus.Behavior Modification. Nov. 2010

Too Much Tube Time?

The American Academy of Pediatrics is the source of the growing public health announcement “Take the TV out of the bedroom.” Many studies show that preschool children with a bedroom television are 31% more likely to be overweight, spend more time watching television, and sleep less at night. This produces an interesting question: With the knowledge of various negative effects of television viewing time, why is there so much emphasis put on children, but little to none on adults? It is known that the average American watches thirty-five hours of TV per week! The exact effects of excess television viewing are largely unknown, but a recent study was conducted in attempt to answer some of these questions. “Removing the Bedroom Television Set: A Possible Method for Decreasing Television Viewing Time in Overweight and Obese Adults” is an experiment that describes the effects of excess television viewing in adults and was recently published in Behavior Modification. This article suggests that taking the TV out of the bedroom may help to reduce the probability of becoming overweight or obese and also can help decrease TV viewing time.

Watching television for more than three hours per day is associated with increased risk of obesity; therefore the participants of this study are those adults who watch three to eight hours of television per day. Participants were aged between 21-65 years with a BMI range of 25-50. The experiment lasted three weeks during which time participants functioned (i.e. slept, watched TV, etc…) as they usually would. The amount of television viewing was determined using electronic monitors on the bedroom televisions only that recorded “screen time;” each member of the household was assigned a four digit viewing code that was used to turn on the television. This showed how much time each family member spent watching TV rather than the entire household. Sleep time was calculated by paper sleep logs and included not only night-time sleep, but also naps. These data were the key points in determining the relationship between bedroom television viewing and increased risk of obesity.

The results surprisingly showed no significant relationship between bedroom television viewing time and BMI or sleep time. However the data showed that those with a bedroom TV set watched significantly more TV (5.4 hours per day) than did those without a TV in the bedroom (3.6 hours per day). This is an extra 12.2 hours per week! The larger randomized control trial found that an intervention to reduce TV viewing time in overweight and obese adults produced a significant average increase in energy expenditure (119 kcal/day). From these results it can be concluded that by taking the TV out of the bedroom in order to reduce TV viewing time, people can achieve beneficial changes in energy balance and reverse their sedentary lifestyles.

This is the first study that has been conducted on observing the effects of television viewing time on adults, so there is much room for additional studies. This study suggests that bedroom TV viewing is associated with greater TV viewing outside of the bedroom. More studies on this particular type of behavior modification need to be conducted to determine whether removing the bedroom television set will truly affect the BMI of overweight and obese adults. If these results are conclusive, the public health message to remove the bedroom television set that was originally intended for children only could become a simple message and practical method for all Americans seeking to watch less television and potentially become healthier.

The Effect of Sport Psychology

When we are predicting the performance of an athlete, we normally tend to look at their physiological composition or genetics. However, let us think about the 100-m finals at the Olympic Games. In the cases where there is very little difference between the absolute potential between competitors, the athlete’s ability to handle their stress and anxiety becomes an important factor to determine his performance in the game. Sports psychology can help the athletes handle their stress and improve their performance. In Chris J. Gee’s article, “How Does Sport Psychology Actually Improve Athletic Performance? A Framework to Facilitate Athlete’s and Coaches’ Understanding”, the author introduces the sport psychology to us by providing an simplified framework. Despite of its effectiveness, many athletes and coaches are reluctant to use the sport psychology because of their misunderstanding about the sport psychology; the role of sport psychology is to provide athletes with necessary tools to minimize the negative impact of psychological factors.

The author first discusses the reason why the athletes do not seek the treatment from sport psychology more often. The most important reason is that the coaches, athletes, and sporting administrators do not have enough understanding about the sport psychology. They view the sport psychology as something similar to those clinically based psychological session. This misconception makes them believe that only athletes with problems seek help from the sport psychologist. Many athletes avoid the service from sport psychology for this reason. This lack of understanding also leads to the lack of confidence in the effect of sport psychology. Therefore, the author argues that, “ the most effective strategies for moving sport psychology further into the athletic domain involve helping athletes and coaches better understand how these services can help all athletes improve their overall performance.”

To help us understand the effect of sport psychology, the author first introduces the concepts of absolute performance and relative performance. The absolute performance is “an individual’s theoretical optimal performance (i.e., 100% perfect performance) in a given athletic endeavor. It is directly related to an athlete’s physiological composition, which is heavily influenced by genetics. Proper training could also enhance an athlete’s absolute performance. However, if two person with different levels of physiological composition engage in the same training protocol, the one with better genetics would receive better result from the training.

On the other hand, an athlete’s day-to-day performance is referred as his or her relative performance, which can be represented in proportional terms, such as 75% of the athlete’s absolute potential. The absolute performance only exists in ideal world; in the real world, some performance inhibitors would hinder the athletes from performing in the perfect state.The author groups the performance inhibitors into the external ones and the internal ones. Game officials, opponents, and crown influences are examples of the external performance inhibitors. The internal inhibitors include both the physiological and psychological ones. It is the psychological inhibitors that the sport psychology is dealing with.

Our attitudes and emotions are directly related to our physiological level and and sport performance. Precompetitive anxiety is one of the most frequent psychological issues associated with athletes. It directly causes some physiological changes that may affect an athlete’s performance. The anxiety reduces an person’s ability to shift attention, impairs the decision-making abilities, and causes muscles to become more tense. All of these effect negatively influence an athlete’s performance. However, unlike the environmental impediments such as the wind, the psychological impediments can be minimized with the help of sport psychology.

The author then summarizes how sport psychology helps the athletes reduce their anxiety. The rational emotive therapy (RET) is used to deal with cognitive anxiety, the negative thoughts and subsequent self-doubt that athletes experience. The RET helps the athletes understand the competitive situation from a more rational point. For example, the athletes should realize that they will not lose everything they have just by losing one game. The sport psychologist use other ways to reduce somatic anxiety (cold hands, fast shallow breathing). For example, they would teach athletes identify when they are experiencing heightened arousal to help the athletes control those anxiety.

The athletes and coaches should have a better understanding about the sport psychology and use it more often. If they have more faith on the effect on the sport psychology, it will help the athletes have better performance on the game.

http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/34/5/386.full.pdf+html

Absolute vs. Relative Performance

In today’s world, the research and new knowledge of athlete’s body’s have lead to continued record breaking performances. Athletes in today’s games are bigger, faster, and stronger than they have ever been. The physical research out there can be applied to the “absolute performance.” (gee) Are athletes underachieving in the mental department? In Gee’s articles he debates the general view of sports psychology in the competitive sports world is misunderstood and has the potential to increase competitive athlete’s performances significantly.

With so much attention directed on the “absolute performance” Glee is under the impression that the mental side of an athlete is being undervalued. As a result he believes it is coaches that don’t put enough emphasis on mental framework. As the test shows between athlete A and B with superior genetics going to athlete A, biased of physical training he will always hold the advantage. Glee explains how athlete B’s best advantage is in “relative performance” and discusses that performing at 100% of your ability has greater means then being able to physically outperform someone “on paper”. Glee states that performance inhibitors can be a factor in this effect. Inhibitors can exist internal and external and range from crowds, officials, opponents, headwinds, weather conditions, precompetitive anxiety are just to name a few. Glee thinks these situations can be much improved by sports psychology if treated correctly and a different outlook from the competitive sports world existed.

The article talks about how the mind and body is connected and that is something the author has us assume and doesn’t really explain why on a scientific front. He does do it in a way connecting the mind and body through sports activities but on a different level. In relating these concepts one of the problem Glee feels particularly needs addressing is anxiety. Glee expresses it as Heightened Precompetitive Anxiety. This anxiety can cause athletes to perform below their potential ability. There are two general categories of anxiety, cognitive and somatic. Simply cognitive is negative thoughts and self-doubt. Somatic is when someone has autonomic arousal response or in other words has extra muscle tension that negatively affects the performance caused by their mindset.

All factors discussed by Glee he argues can be limited by sporty psychology. In an effect to gain more recognignation of the field he tries to lay out the article in a way that bridges the gap that currently exist between athletes and coaches idea verses what takes place in the sports psychology field. He also tries to present a working framework how his field can directly affect.

William Parker

http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/34/5/386.full.pdf+html

The Effects of a Bedroom Television

The ideal way to decrease childhood obesity is thought to be proper exercise along with a healthy diet. But one of the main distractions that lead both children and adults to a more sedentary lifestyle is the amount of television viewed. We don’t realize how much energy we put into sitting in front of the television to watch the newest episode of our favorite show at such an inconvenient time. Time spent watching television could be anchored into more productive ways such as potential exercise, or educational purposes. The average US adult watches television for five hours during the day. A study was done to take in account body max index, and the amount of sleep with bedroom television viewing. Having a television in one’s bedroom can make things more comforting and convenient. Time spent getting ready, going to bed and relaxing can be prolonged with the accessibility of a television.

Spending time in front of the television for more than three hours a day can be credited to an increase risk of obesity (Tucker and Bagwell, 1991; Tucker and Friedman, 1989). The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between time spent watching television in the bedroom, our body mass index, sleep time, and the television watched outside the bedroom. Participants of the study were between the ages of twenty-one and sixty-five and had a range of BMI’s from 25 to 50 kg/m^2. The data for the study was collected over a three week period with the participants watching their normal amount of television. To maintain the validity of the analysis, an electronic monitor recorded the amount of screen time for each participant. Location of the television and cumulative minutes watched was accounted for by the monitor. Amount of sleep was recorded by paper logs.

Looking at the results, there was no noteworthy difference in the baseline results of BMI and television time between those with bedroom TV’s and those without. Those with a television in their bedroom were found to have watched significantly more TV than those who didn’t have one. The most significant finding of the study was the obvious suggestion that obese and overweight people with a bedroom television spend more time in front of the TV than those without. While these results don’t prove much new material, it does lead to another point. Adolescents with bedroom TV’s are more likely to watch more TV than those without a bedroom television. Most people would agree that an immense amount of television cannot positively affect a child so the easy answer is to eliminate televisions in the bedroom so that parents can easily manage TV time. For quantitative results, adolescents with a bedroom TV watch about 8.4 hours of TV a week. In adults that have bedroom TV’s usually watch about 37.8 hours a week compared to 25.2 hours a week without a bedroom TV. Especially as adults, time is of value. Without a television in the bedroom not only could they have the possibility of maintaining a healthy lifestyle but give them an ample amount of time to do more productive things.

Relating this study to children, it’s been discovered that having a television in a child’s bedroom increases the risk of their BMI to reach over the 85th percentile and a higher chance of becoming overweight. Many families have more than one TV in their home; why take the health risks and put a TV in the child’s room? Limitations such as a small sample size, and an exclusive population of obese and overweight adults confines the results of the study. There were also several strengths in the study. In analyzing a small population, the accuracy of measuring screen time for results is extremely important. By using an electric monitor measure the amount of screen time the results were accurate and presentable. Because children are usually the ones studied to determine potential obesity, this was the first study that looked at obese adults. This could be something that will be researched more heavily in the future. If this is continued to be studied, there could be an easy life change to decrease the possibility of weight gain. So even though this study didn’t produce the particular results that researchers would have liked it did serve as an eye opener for other potential exploration.

If anything is taken away from this study, this research did serve for a practical reason. “Take the TV out of the bedroom” is a American health movement that deals with the issue of television and the corruption it can bring to time spend on healthy habits and exercise. Why not take the initiative when the likelihoods could of health and weight can only be positive? With more research and affirmative results that watching television in the bedroom increases overall amount of television viewed than people might then just decide to stop watching it there. This would bring the opportunity for more time leading to the chance for a healthier lifestyle.

"Sign In — Behav Modif." Behavior Modification. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. .

Diabetes Reports - Feeder 1.2

Approximately 23.6 million Americans struggle with diabetes and from that number 90-95% have Type 2 diabetes. The toll diabetes takes on the population each year is enough to make it the sixth leading cause of death. In this article, the researchers explain and run test on ways to come up with more convincing and consistent instruments or measures to relate to ones diabetes level.  More importantly they think that the study, if it’s a success, can improve the self-management steps and become a more effective way to improve glycaemic control which in return controls most problems associated with diabetes. 

In the new ideas of creating or refining the scales which diabetes is now tested with, there are 3 basic methods that need monitoring, self-care agency, self-efficacy, and self-management. This can not be done unless they also provide a valid reliability scale that the American Diabetes Association will acknowledge. As of right now, theses researchers reason the current instruments or methods can be improved and that there is a need for that improvement.

With the backgrounds and ideas already in place the researchers focused on the methods of the study. To complete what they set out to do their first task was the composition of new scales. Basically they took Hurley’s (1988) Insulin Management Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale and Insulin Management Diabetes Self-Care Scale and updated items on the scales. Along with this new items were also added to increase the complexity and detail of the scales.

The results section seemed to pivot around the word “clarity” and “validity”. I cant say I have read enough academic reports to say if this is common among most articles like this but it seemed uncommonly frequent in this report. What the study did not include but did post was wanting to research is how these scales should be adjusted for non-English speaking individuals as well as individuals around that suffer from Type 2 Diabetes.

The researchers concluded the study was successful as the study constructed three new diabetes specific content validated scales of measure. The new scales are also consistent with the modern ADA standards. This test is not the completion of diabetes work it is more of the groundwork for clinical practice to improve performance of handling diabetes.

http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&hid=116&sid=4d8e2c9c-2dd4-48788ae9-64b53b4f5cb2%40sessionmgr114