Jean Whitehead

Bio: Jean Whitehead is an academic researcher from University of Brighton. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sport psychology & Athletes. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 18 publications receiving 386 citations.

Relationships among values, achievement orientations, and attitudes in youth sport

Abstract: This research examines the value-expressive function of attitudes and achievement goal theory in predicting moral attitudes. In Study 1, the Youth Sport Values Questionnaire (YSVQ; Lee, Whitehead, & Balchin, 2000) was modified to measure moral, competence, and status values. In Study 2, structural equation modeling on data from 549 competitors (317 males, 232 females) aged 12–15 years showed that moral and competence values predicted prosocial attitudes, whereas moral (negatively) and status values (positively) predicted antisocial attitudes. Competence and status values predicted task and ego orientation, respectively, and task and ego orientation partially mediated the effect of competence values on prosocial attitudes and of status values on antisocial attitudes, respectively. The role of sport values is discussed, and new research directions are proposed.

The Measurement of Values in Youth Sport: Development of the Youth Sport Values Questionnaire

Abstract: Values are criteria by which people select and evaluate behavior. They have been widely addressed in mainstream psychology but not in sport psychology. The purpose of this research was to develop the Youth Sports Values Questionnaire (YSVQ) and identify the value systems that guide the behavior of adolescent athletes in sport. Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to produce a 20-item questionnaire that was used to identify value priorities among 500 male and female participants aged between 12 and 16 years. Most important were enjoyment and personal achievement; least important was winning. Value rankings were consistent across subgroups based on gender, age, sport type, and level of performance. Limitations of structure and content are discussed, together with recommendations for future development.

Practice Variability and Transfer of a Racket Skill

Abstract: This study used a forehand hitting task to explore the effect of racket variability on 'out of range' transfer. 48 11-yr.-old girls were randomly assigned to four treatment groups of Random Variability, Blocked Variability, Specific, and Control. The experimental groups had 32 trials for 4 successive days after which all groups were tested on 4 transfer conditions. Retention tests were given after 1, 4, and 8 days and the data were examined for treatment, range, and occasion effects. Analysis showed the superiority of practice over no practice, variable over specific practice, and random over blocked variability for transfer with two 'out of range' dimensions. Accuracy decayed between the transfer tests. These results are consistent with schema theory, and it is recommended that physical education teachers should focus variable practice on task dimensions that are new to their classes.

Achievement goals in sport : The development and validation of the Perception of Success Questionnaire

Abstract: Recent research into motivation and achievement behaviour in sport has focused on achievement goal theory. This theory states that two goal orientations manifest themselves in achievement contexts ...

Personality Traits and Personal Values: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Personality traits and personal values are important psychological characteristics, serving as important predictors of many outcomes. Yet, they are frequently studied separately, leaving the field with a limited understanding of their relationships. We review existing perspectives regarding the nature of the relationships between traits and values and provide a conceptual underpinning for understanding the strength of these relationships. Using 60 studies, we present a meta-analysis of the relationships between the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits and the Schwartz values, and demonstrate consistent and theoretically meaningful relationships. However, these relationships were not generally large, demonstrating that traits and values are distinct constructs. We find support for our premise that more cognitively based traits are more strongly related to values and more emotionally based traits are less strongly related to values. Findings also suggest that controlling for personal scale-use tendencies in values is advisable.

Learning versus performance: an integrative review.

Abstract: The primary goal of instruction should be to facilitate long-term learning-that is, to create relatively permanent changes in comprehension, understanding, and skills of the types that will support long-term retention and transfer. During the instruction or training process, however, what we can observe and measure is performance, which is often an unreliable index of whether the relatively long-term changes that constitute learning have taken place. The time-honored distinction between learning and performance dates back decades, spurred by early animal and motor-skills research that revealed that learning can occur even when no discernible changes in performance are observed. More recently, the converse has also been shown-specifically, that improvements in performance can fail to yield significant learning-and, in fact, that certain manipulations can have opposite effects on learning and performance. We review the extant literature in the motor- and verbal-learning domains that necessitates the distinction between learning and performance. In addition, we examine research in metacognition that suggests that people often mistakenly interpret their performance during acquisition as a reliable guide to long-term learning. These and other considerations suggest that the learning-performance distinction is critical and has vast practical and theoretical implications.