This fourth issue of Coaching Science Abstracts reviews articles concerned with positive mental activity. It is not possible to talk on this general topic under one separate heading. This issue has been divided into five sections.

A. Basic Research is concerned with research articles not involving sport or physical activity but which have important principles and action guidelines that might be useful if applied or researched in sport settings.

B. Self-talk relates sport-specific research that assesses the effects and dynamics of athlete self-talk on performance. This topic suggests that coaches must pay attention to the type of mental dialogue in which athletes engage.

C. Coach's Influence reports on a number of studies which relate coaching behaviors to the covert dialogue of athletes. These show that a coach can affect the self-talk of athletes in an unintentional way purely by their behaviors and speech content.

D. Positive Thinking covers a variety of topics which embrace general categories of positive thinking. It is assumed that self-talk underlies most of the concepts considered but their interaction with sporting experiences will affect consequent behaviors. Each abstract should be considered and its implications for specific coaching behaviors noted and, hopefully, implemented.

E. Suggested Reading provides a reference for a sport-specific self-help manual that is designed to alter many of the skills and activities discussed in this issue. It is possible for coaches to require athletes to perform mental skills training exercises without an unreasonable investment of the coach's time.

The main impact of this issue should be the realization that positive mental activities, interpretations of sporting experiences, and the nature of external events can affect performance in a beneficial manner. Sources of negative impact have largely been ignored. Attention to the factors discussed in the following abstracts is an avenue for generating performance improvements.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A: BASIC RESEARCH

1. POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND ORIENTATION:

   Zastoney, T. R., Kirschenbaum, D. S., & Mag, A L. (1986). Coping skills training for children: Effects on distress before, during, and after hospitalization for surgery. Health Psychology, 5(3), 231-247.

2. POSITIVE SELF-STATEMENTS:

   Schumate, M., & Worthington, E. L. (1987). Effectiveness of components of self-verbalization training for control of cold pressor pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 31(3), 301-310.

3. SELF-TALK AND SELF-ESTEEM:

   Burnett, P. C. (1994). Self-talk in upper elementary school children: Its relationship with irrational beliefs, self-esteem, and depression. Journal of Rational and Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 12, 181-188.

4. NEGATIVE SELF-TALK INCREASES THE PHYSIOLOGICAL COST OF FUNCTIONING:

   Vera, M. N., Vila, J., & Godoy, J. F. (1994). Cardiovascular effects of traffic noise: The role of negative self-statements. Psychological Medicine, 24, 817-827.

5. SELF-TALK IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACADEMIC SUCCESS:

   Manning, B. H., While, C. S., & Daugherty, M. (1994). Young children's private speech as a precursor to metacognitive strategy use during task engagement. Discourse Processes, 17, 191-211.

6. SELF-TALK AND LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT:

   Kamann, M. P. & Wong, B. Y. (1993). Inducing adaptive coping self-statements in children with learning disabilities through self-instruction training. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26, 630-638.

7. SELF-TALK AND IMAGERY LEAD TO BETTER WORK STANDARDS:

   Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (1992). Thought self-leadership: The influence of self-talk and mental imagery on performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 681-699.

8. TEACHING STRATEGY USING POSITIVE SELF-TALK:

   Solley, B. A., & Payne, B. D. (1992). The use of self-talk to enhance children's writing. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 19, 205-213.

9. SELF-TALK MORE EFFECTIVE THAN IMAGERY:

   Oei, T. P., & Barber, C. (1989). Cognitive strategies used to rehearse positive self-statements. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 32, 203-210.
   B: SELF-TALK

10. POSITIVE SELF-STATEMENTS AS A COPING PROCEDURE

    Girodo, M., & Wood, D. (1979). Talking yourself out of pain: The importance of believing that you can. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 3, 23-33.

11. POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND ANXIETY

    Girodo, M., & Roehl, J. (1980). Cognitive preparation and coping self-talk: Anxiety management during the stress of flying. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 978-989.

12. POSITIVE SELF-TALK

    Weinberg, R. S., Smith, J., Jackson, A., & Gould, D. (1984). Effects of association, disassociation, and positive self-talk strategies on endurance performance. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Science, 9, 25-32.

13. NEGATIVE SELF-STATEMENTS AND IMAGERY INCREASE BASIC PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

    Schuele, J. G., & Wisenfeld, A. R. (1983). Autonomic response to self-critical thought. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 7, 189-194.

14. NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND TENNIS PERFORMANCE

    Van Raalte, J. L., Brewer, B. W., Rivera, P. M., & Petitpas, A. J. (1994). The relationship between observable self-talk and competitive junior tennis players' match performances. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 400-415.

15. DELIBERATE POSITIVE THINKING IMPROVES PERFORMANCE

    Rushall, B. S., Hall, M., Roux, L., Sasseville, J., & Rushall, A. C. (1988). Effects of three types of thought content instructions on skiing performance. The Sport Psychologist, 2, 283-297.

16. POSITIVE THINKING IMPROVES TRAINING PERFORMANCES

    Rushall, B. S., & Shewchuk, M. L. (1989). Effects of thought content instructions on swimming performance. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 29, 326-334.

17. MATURE ROWERS PERFORM BETTER WHEN THINKING POSITIVELY

    Rushall, B. S. (1990). An assessment of the effects of psychological support services on college varsity male rowers. Research report for US Rowing, Indianapolis, IN.

18. A MENTAL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT PACKAGE AND BASKETBALL GAME PERFORMANCE

    Kendall, G., Hrycaiko, D., Martin, G. L., & Kendall, T. (1990). The effects of an imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk package on basketball game performance. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12, 157-166.

19. SELF-TALK AND SKILL LEARNING

    Anderson, A. T. (1993). The effect of an instructional self-talk program on learning a motor skill: The overhand throw. Dissertation Abstracts International, 54(1), 82.

20. SELF-TALK IMPROVES SKILL PERFORMANCE

    Ming, S. (1993). A self-talk package for improving figure skating performance by young competitive figure skaters. Masters Abstracts International, 31(4), 1929.
    C: COACH'S INFLUENCE

21. COACH'S INFLUENCE ON SELF-CONCEPT

    Horn, T. S. (1985). Coaches' feedback and changes in children's perceptions of their physical competence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 174-186.

22. POSITIVE EXPERIENCES AND SELF-CONCEPT

    Smit, J. F., (1992). The role of the experience of success in sport as determinant to formation of self-concept. S. A. Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 14(2), 39-46.

23. COACHES' EXPECTANCIES AND ATHLETES' SELF-PERCEPTIONS

    Sinclair, D. A., & Vealey, R. S. (1989). Effects of coaches' expectations and feedback on the self-perceptions of athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 12(2), 77-91.
    D: POSITIVE THINKING

24. POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE THINKING

    Taylor, D. E. M. (1979). Human endurance - mind or muscle? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 12, 179-184.

25. POSITIVE THINKING AND SELF-EFFICACY

    Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.

26. ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATIONS

    Halvari, H. (1983). Relationships between motive to achieve success, motive to avoid failure, physical performance, and sport performance in wrestling. Scandinavian Journal of Sports Science, 5, 64-72.

27. PERFORMANCE EXPECTANCY

    Belciug, M. P. (1992). Effects of prior expectancy and performance outcome on attributions to stable factors in high-performance competitive athletics. S. A. Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 14(2), 1-8.

28. FEEDBACK AFFECTS SWIMMING PERFORMANCE

    Marsden, K., Garske, J. P., & Ogles, B. M. (1994). Effects of feedback, gender, and explanatory style on mood, and performance in collegiate swimmers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 26(5), Supplement abstract 1114.

29. GENERALIZATION OF SELF-EFFICACY

    Brody, E. B., Hatfield, B. D., & Spalding, T. W. (1988). Generalization of self-efficacy to a continuum of stressors upon mastery of a high-risk sport skill. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10, 32-44.

30. EFFICACY AND CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS

    Duncan, T., & McAuley, E. (1987). Efficacy expectations and perceptions of causality in motor performance. Journal of Sport Psychology, 9, 385-393.

31. SELF-EFFICACY, WORRY, AND GYMNASTIC SUCCESS IN YOUTHS

    Weiss, M. R., Wiese, D. M., & Klint, K. A. (1989). Head over heels with success: the relationship between self-efficacy and performance in competitive youth gymnastics. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11, 444-451.

32. EFFICACY IS RELATED TO SWIMMING PERFORMANCE

    Miller, M. (1993). Efficacy strength and performance in competitive swimmers of different skill levels. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, 284-296.

33. POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE APPROACH TO PERFORMANCE

    Weinberg, R., Gould, D., & Jackson, A. (1980). Relationship between self-efficacy and performance in a competitive setting. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Sport Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

34. SELF-CONFIDENCE AND PERFORMANCE

    Mahoney, M. J., & Avener, M. (1977). Psychology of the elite athlete: An exploratory study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1, 135-141.

35. SELF-CONFIDENCE AND SELF-EFFICACY

    Rushall Thoughts, 1974.

36. PRECOMPETITION NEGATIVE THOUGHT EFFECTS

    Dalton, J. E., Maier, R. A., & Posavac, E. J. (1977). A self-fulfilling prophecy in a competitive psychomotor task. Journal of Research in Personality, 11, 487-495.

37. PRECOMPETITION STATEMENTS DEVELOP ASSERTIVENESS

    Schwartz, R., & Gottman, J. (1974). A task analysis approach to clinical problems: A study of assertive behavior. Unpublished manuscript, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

38. EXPECTATIONS/BELIEFS ABOUT PERFORMANCE

    Nelson, L. R., & Furst, M. L. (1972). An objective study of the effects of expectation on competitive performance. Journal of Psychology, 81, 69-72.

39. SELF-EFFICACY AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE

    Rushall Thoughts, 1988.
    E: SUGGESTED READING

40. SUGGESTED READING

    Rushall, B. S. (1995). Mental skills training for sports (2nd ed.). Sport Science Associates, 4225 Orchard Drive, Spring Valley, CA 91977 (Cost: US$35.00).

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