May 2003
Volume 16, Number 5
Robert N. Singer is professor in the department of exercise and sport sciences at the University of Florida. Singer received his PhD in 1964 from Ohio State University. His research interests are in understanding the role of cognitive processes in the acquisition of motor skill as well as in expertise, with implications for training them to facilitate achievement.
As a former collegiate basketball and baseball player, I have always held a deep love for sport and an appreciation for experiences associated with dedication and determination. Through the years, I have attempted to attain proficiency in many sports. My fascination and admiration for superb performers as well as those factors that contribute to excellence have shaped my career path in countless ways.
My first calling led me toward becoming a physical education teacher and coach. During my doctoral studies in physical education at Ohio State University, however, I became enthusiastic about psychology and the scientific study of behavior in addition to research, experimental methods, and statistics. I was able to create a minor in the psychology of learning and achievement area, and my personal challenge was not only to digest the contents of the psychology classes but to do it well.
In 1964, I was hired by the Department of Physical Education at Ohio State University. During my stay at OSU and through other experiences at Illinois State University and Michigan State University, I developed undergraduate and graduate motor learning courses. This knowledge, combined with my undergraduate class notes prompted me to write a textbook in 1968, entitled Motor Learning and Human Performance. It was recognized as one of the top 20 books in education that year.
I began a 17-year career at Florida State University in 1970, in what was then called physical education. I created undergraduate courses, as well as master's and doctoral programs, in sport psychology in 1972, perhaps the first or among the first in the United States, and completed the same work at the University of Florida shortly after I was hired there in 1987 as chair of the department of exercise and sport sciences. During my entire career, I have always had close relationships with colleagues of significant scientific and professional stature in psychology. We have collaborated in a variety of ways, such as sharing ideas for research and serving on advisory committees for doctoral students. I would not have been able to personally accomplish what I have, nor establish national and international graduate programs in motor learning and sport psychology, without the professional and research support of my university psychology colleagues.
My primary research interests are in understanding the role of cognitive processes in the acquisition of motor skill as well as in expertise, with implications for training them to facilitate achievement. The preparatory state for self-paced acts is crucial, considering control over emotions, cognitions, body mechanics, and performance consistency. I have developed the 5-Step Strategy, a preperformance routine, to enhance learning and performance, and it is being researched under various laboratory and field conditions (e.g., Singer, 2000, 2002). In contrast, externally-paced acts with tight time constraints and event uncertainty require early anticipation, adaptive decision-making, and timely effective actions. I have been studying sport experts and novices in regard to such factors, as well as visual search patterns, with implications for understanding successful performance (e.g., Singer et al., 1998). My research agenda, considering self-paced and externally-paced events, could be summarized as "Attentional and Cognitive Processes, Deliberate Conscious Activity versus Automaticity, and the Acquisition of Skill to Expertise."
I am also professionally involved in developing perspectives about the nature and direction of sport psychology, considering scholarly, curricula, ethical, and professional issues. Since the field is still not well-understood not clearly articulated, it is important to generate an identity and focus for sport psychology. The Handbook of Sport Psychology (Singer, Hausenblas, and Janelle, 2001) has made a major contribution in this regard.
Sport psychology can be viewed as one of a number of sport sciences or as one of many specializations in psychology. In a department like ours, termed Exercise and Sport Sciences at the University of Florida, or Kinesiology elsewhere (such as Pennsylvania State University), the interest is in research and education related to achieving in sport, exercise, and other movement domains. Generally speaking, psychologists are more interested in clinical and counseling services for athletes, although research is on the increase. Due to the typically different professional, educational, and research perspectives associated with sport psychology in departments of psychology and departments of exercise and sport sciences, this specialization has grown rapidly in depth and breadth in recent years because of the collaborative efforts on the part of many dedicated people.
My academic, scholarly, professional, and personal relationships bridge these two areas and doing so has enabled me to be constantly challenged, stimulated, productive, and enthusiastic about my work. I feel as excited now as I did when I began my career. Indeed, my path from my doctoral degree until now was totally non-charted and unexpected, as sport psychology was not recognized in the 1960s as a discipline worthy of study. I have been fortunate to feel fulfilled, and I am appreciative of my numerous and varied opportunities, which include serving as head of the Sport Psychology Division of the first Sports Medicine Committee of the United States Olympic Committee in 1978.
After all these years of studying the psychology of behavior and the cognitive/neuroscience literature, while attempting to contribute to the scientific body of knowledge, as well as have an impact in the "real world" in certain areas associated with sport psychology, I still feel a sense of frustration. I wish I could apply what I think I know to my "game." I would like to anticipate better in tennis, not lose my temper in golf, concentrate more effectively when I bowl, and endure more pain on the treadmill and in the swimming pool to improve cardiovascular fitness. But then again, where would the excitement be in this type of sport?
REFERENCES
Singer, R.N. (2002). Preperformance state, routines, and automaticity: What does it take to realize expertise in self-paced events? Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 24, 359-375.
Singer, R.N., & Burke, K.L. (2002). Sport and exercise psychology: A positive force in the new millennium. In J.L. Van Raelte & B.W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology 2nd edition (pp. 525-539). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Singer, R.N., Hausenblas, H.A., & Janelle, C.M. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of sport psychology, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Singer, R.N. (2000). Performance and human factors: Considerations about cognition and attention for self-paced and externally-paced events. Ergonomics, 10, 1661-1680.
Singer, R.N., Williams, A.M., Frehlich, S.G., Janelle, C.M., Radlo, S.J., Barba, D.A., & Bouchard, L.J. (1998). New frontiers in visual search: An exploratory study in live tennis situations. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 69(3), 290-296.
