Blog Archives

Getting too much of a good thing?! Young footballers showing signs of burnout.

Elite youth footballers are at risk of burnout before they leave school because of the perfectionist standards some feel coaches, parents and team members demand of them. Dr Hill Dr Andrew Hill, lecturer in sports and exercise science in the University of Leeds’ School

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Posted in Football, Science General, Sport Science

Diving in football: When and why cheating pays.

The findings of a human-based deception study fit perfectly with deception behaviours in the animal world, according to its authors. “They really are just a bunch of animals running around the sporting field – they have the same simple motivations of

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Posted in Ecological Psychology, Football, Science General, Sport Science

Yes, you can tell from his face what your dog is feeling

People can reliably read a dog’s facial expressions, suggesting humans are finely tuned to detect emotions even in other creatures. Behavioral scientists have long known that people can accurately read other humans’ emotions, but this study suggests our empathy extends

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Posted in Joint Action, Science General

An environmental approach to creativity

Where good ideas come from – and what happens when ideas have sex! What’s relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas, and how well they’re cooperating, not how clever the individuals are. Matt Ridley An idea is a

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Posted in Ecological Psychology, My own research, Science General

We all know how grip works, we do it every day

A scientific poster, presented at Mastery of Manual Skill, UMCG, April 2012.

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Posted in Ecological Psychology, Experimental Psychology, My own research

Sportsmyths: sex before a game – do or don’t?

“I think soccer player contracts should have a clause going something like: the player has to have sex on the day before a game and, if possible, on the day of the game. When I do it before a game

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Posted in My own research, Science General, Sport Science

Decision-making, problem-solving, learning and development. Let’s play!

With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow) shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing — solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos’ key to problem-solving and

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Posted in Science General