Psychology of Movement and Sport
Studies in the Psychology of Movement and Sport focus on one or both sides of the reciprocal relationship between psychological factors and human performance in either the broad context of movement or the specific context of sport. The faculty in this area draw from many specialty areas of psychology, including clinical, cognitive, developmental, experimental, psychophysiological, and social psychology.
Particular themes of research include the role of various psychological processes (attention, mental imagery, motivation) in the performance of movement skills, behavioral and psychophysiological indices of motor learning, the phylogenetic and ontogenetic constraints on physical growth and motor development, the influence of movement and exercise on the psychological well-being and brain functions of individuals over the life-span, and interpersonal processes in movement settings associated with human development.
Facilities
Facilities in the Psychology of Movement and Sport area include well-equipped research laboratories for examining brain-behavior relationships in a variety of contexts. Systems include recording equipment for whole-body and various segment movement kinematics and forces, and an electrophysiological setup for examining brain electrical activity (EEG) during cognitive-motor tasks. A host of special purpose computer programs are available for computer simulation of visualization of movement dynamics. Facilities exist for computer editing and analysis of behavioral observation data videotaped in the field or in the lab's performance enhancement consulting room. Transcription equipment and software for analysis of qualitative data also are available. Clinical facilities consist of an interview room for consultation, a stress-testing room, an exercise room, and other miscellaneous supplies needed to conduct quality research protocols.
Faculty
To learn more about individual faculty and their research, please click on the links below.
Faculty who mentor students in this area
- David E. Conroy, Associate Professor of Kinesiology
- Danielle Symons Downs, Associate Professor of Kinesiology
- Steriani Elavsky, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
- Semyon M. Slobounov, Professor of Kinesiology
Additional faculty who have an interest in this area
- R. Scott Kretchmar, Professor of Exercise & Sport Science
- Dagmar Sternad, Professor of Kinesiology