Biomedical subjects

D K McBride

Publications and source records attributed to D K McBride.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Provision of enabling technology in professional sports.

Multiple-round golf tournaments are designed intentionally to separate individuals' scores as play proceeds. Variance analyses and consideration of individual differences (vs group mean effects) for a sample of professional events confirm that 3-, 4-, and 5-round tournaments show significantly increased variability (though stable means) from first to last rounds. It is argued here that the dispersion of scores increases as play proceeds because the more physically or mentally fit players emerge and continue to perform best. Furthermore, a marginal income analysis indicates that the average gain in earnings from a one-shot improvement in score is approximately $8,000. An interpretation based on fatigue, competition, and stress supports the Professional Golf Association's claim that provision of enabling devices, like a golf cart for disabled players, is also an enhancement and is thus unfair.

Achievement↗

PubMed1998

Individual differences in the performance of highly learned skill.

Examination of individual differences (intertrial correlations) of highly skilled performance by professional golfers demonstrated that individuals respond to conditions in dissimilar ways, despite having strong central tendency. Behavioral scientists may benefit extraordinarily by heeding the advice of Cronbach and Jones to combine differential and experimental techniques.

Female↗

PubMed1985

Performance and physiological effects of acceleration-induced (+ Gz) loss of consciousness.

Loss of consciousness (LOC) was intentionally induced by exposing eight volunteers to individually-titrated levels of head-to-foot acceleration (+ Gz) using 2- and 4-s onset rates (mean = 6.1 + Gz required to induce LOC) and a gradual, .067 G X s-1 onset rate (mean = 7.2 Gz required). Subjects were trained over a prior 2-week period on a multitask battery comprising three simultaneously executed tasks representative of those required in piloting, and then centrifuged to LOC at each of the three onset rates on alternate days. Performance was assessed for 5 min prior and 7 min after each LOC. Primary results indicated: a) significant and substantial impairment in the two discrete response secondary tasks (choice reaction time and arithmetic computation), with mean recovery to pre-LOC levels within 3 min on each task, b) no group mean impairment for the primary, compensatory tracking task, c) substantial individual variation in physiologically and behaviorally defined recovery from LOC, d) a negative influence of aerobic fitness on G tolerance and LOC recoverability, and e) that recovery effects were not generally dependent upon onset rate. Mean absolute incapacitation (head dropped) for the rapid onset rates was 12.1 s. For the gradual onset rate, mean absolute incapacitation was 16.6 s. Mean relative incapacitation (head erect, no voluntary task engagement) for the rapid onset rates was 11.6 s; for the gradual onset rates, mean relative incapacitation was 15.7 s. Evidence for retrograde amnesia effects was equivocal.

Acceleration↗

PubMed1980

The sex difference in rotary pursuit performance: aptitude or inhibition?

This study examined the hypothesis that male dominance in the acquisition and performance of rotary pursuit skill reflects a lower male proclivity for the generation and accumulation of reactive inhibition rather than some innately superior ability to profit from practice. On this hypothesis, the magnitude of male dominance should decline as the length of the intertrial interval increases. The experimental sample consisted of 120 Caucasian subjects (60 of each sex) who were given sixty 30-sec trials on rotary pursuit with intertrial intervals ranging from 0 to 40 sec. The principal finding was that the magnitude of the sex difference depended significantly upon the length of the intertrial interval, as hypothesized. When the interval was 10 sec or longer, performance levels of the sexes were essentially equal. The sex variance was reduced to insignificance even on the first trial when allowance was made for the inhibitory effect of practice. Thus, male dominance in rotary pursuit skill appears to be a procedural effect mediated by and inhibitory mechanism rather than a consequence of differential endowments of learning ability.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1979

Psychomotor reminiscence as a function of sex and length of rest period.

Sex differences in psychomotor reminiscence were examined as a function of the length of the rest period. Five groups of Caucasian subjects, each group consisting of 12 males and 12 females, practiced continuously for 3 min on a mirror-tracking task, then rested for 0,1, 2, 4, or 8 min before resuming continuous practice. Reminiscence in both sexes increased as negatively accelerated functions of the amount of rest. The asymptotic level of reminiscence was higher for females than for males, but the quadratic slopes of the two functions were essentially alike. Analyses of prerest trial gains supported a conclusion that females reminisced more because they accumulated more reactive inhibition prior to rest.

Journal Article↗