Working Memory

Western University researchers reveal that brisk walks – as short as 20 minutes – are just as effective as caffeine in boosting working memory. Working memory is the ability to store and manipulate information in the moment, such as remembering items on a grocery list after you’ve driven to the store.

Finish… whatever it takes: Considering pain and pleasure in the Ironman Triathlon (a socio-cultural analysis)

Project Summary Stemming from my own involvement in Ironman triathlons, I became interested in ideas of pain and pleasure as social constructs. How might ideas about these things in the Ironman context relate to ideas about pain and pleasure circulating in the broader socio-cultural context? Furthermore, what might these relationships tell us about contemporary understandings…

Mental Performance for Officials

Officials have to make split second decisions that can affect the ultimate outcome of games. Strategies used by Canadian FIFA offical Marie-Soleil Beaudoin to prepare for games include a commitment to training, familiarizing herself with the teams., using keyword reminders to keep herself grounded, and disassociating the teams with the history and expectations they bring…

Phsychological skills and factors related to ice hockey officials’ coping and performance

Project Summary Research focusing on the development of psychological skills in sport, has been conducted primarily with athletes and coaches. However, we know little on how to assist officials to enhance their performance. Thus, the general objective of this research was to better understand ice hockey officials’ experiences in their sport and factors that influence…

Understanding adolescents’ positive and negative developmental experiences in sport

Project Summary Currently, there is considerable public concern about youths’ healthy physical and psychosocial development. As such, researchers in both developmental and sport psychology highlight a need to better understand how organized sporting activities may be contributing to youths’ positive or negative development. The purpose of this study was to gain understanding of adolescents’ positive…

Podium Performance Webinars

In partnership with CoachNB, CoachingNL and CoachingPEI, the Canadian Sport Institute Atlantic’s Podium Performance Webinars offer a virtual platform for coaches to connect and learn. The Coach Socialization Series consists of 3-4 sessions a week covering a variety of topics including mental performance, resilience, and a building a positive and competitive culture.

Managing Stress

“We may not have control over our circumstances, but we do have control over our minds.” The Harvard Business Review recommends mental skills and practices to help get us through this challenging time, including expressing gratitude, finding purpose, and using your breath to help with focus and anxiety reduction.

Status Momentum

A study of 117,000 professional tennis matches and 5 million observations in online amateur chess found that even when competitors are evenly matched, players perform worse against an opponent they know has been climbing in rank. Dubbed “status momentum,” a positive trend in an opponent’s ranking can be threatening for athletes, even for seasoned pros…

Understanding and coping among adolescent athletes

View the summary of this research here. Project summary Research Objectives: Participation in youth sport is associated with a variety of positive developmental outcomes among adolescents, however studies of recreational and competitive youth sport contexts have revealed stressors which include not having fun, an overemphasis on winning, conflicts with coaches or opponents, or parental pressures…

External Focus of Attention

Endurance athletes use a number of strategies to distract themselves and manage their performance. For example, athletes can manipulate their attention, focusing either internally (e.g. on the running movement, internal body signals) or externally (e.g. on the environment, music). Research reported in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Physiology measured running economy to confirm the…