To gain insight into whether debate judges actually do treat impromptu speaking as miniextemporaneous speaking, a study compared the comments judges wrote to extemporaneous speakers with those they wrote to impromptu speakers during the first two rounds of a forensic tournament. Approximately 1,000 comments from 152 ballots (102 impromptu and 50…

Previous laboratory research has found that people take more personal responsibility for their performance following success than failure. To extend these findings of a self-serving bias to real-world competitive settings, two field studies were conducted, one with 27 intramural basketball teams and one with 20 pairs of squash players. Players…

This book explains how to develop the positive outlook that turns "ordinary" competitors into winners whether they are on the playing field or off. With examples from real life, ways are pointed out to focus one's commitment, overcome obstacles to excellence, and achieve greater overall personal and professional satisfaction. Written by a former…

The purpose of this bibliography is to give coaches a better understanding of what determines competitive stress in athletes and of how this anxiety relates to performance. Research and studies pertaining to factors related to pregame and postgame competitive stress were investigated as well as the validity and reliability of tests used to measure…

Deci and Ryan's (1975, 1980) cognitive evaluation theory viewed intrinsic motivation as a function of perceived competence and personal causation. Deci and Ryan also proposed that people tend to perceive competitive situations as controlling. Gender differences were used by Deci and Olson (1989) to explain the findings by Ryan and Deci (1986) that…

The American Newspaper Association's 1986 compilation of 45 newspaper antitrust actions filed since 1980 revealed that the majority of antitrust actions during that period involved disputes over advertising practices. The federal government was virtually absent in its enforcement of antitrust laws against newspapers. About one-third of the…

Established in 1874, the Interstate Oratorical Association (IOA) represents the nation's oldest competitive collegiate speaking association. It is now composed of collegiate speaking associations in 19 states. Begun by three student members of the Adelphi Society at Knox College, the IOA held its first contest on February 27, 1874 at the Opera…

One of three related documents exploring the problems inherent to current high school forensic coaching, this paper argues that the present role of high school debate coaches falls short of the educational objectives of forensics. The paper discusses two coaching philosophies--the first being that of coaches who narrowly define their educational…

A study was conducted to discover why investigation of one of the most important trends in the newspaper industry during the past century, the decline of newspaper competition within a city, has produced conflicting results. The study reviewed existing literature to learn why this is so, and also to determine if direct daily newspaper competition…

In keeping with the efforts of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to promote and recognize excellence in writing in the schools, this booklet presents the rankings of winning entries in the third year of NCTE's Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines in the United States, Canada, and American schools abroad.…

A multidimensional inventory was developed to assess competitiveness as the desire to approach and strive for success in sport situations. A 32-item inventory was administered in two separate studies to samples of male and female students enrolled in competitive and non-competitive skills classes (n=237 in Study 1; n=218 in Study 2). Factor…

The mirror state counterplan is a straightforward form of negative refutation used in debate in which the negative team proposes that each state enact a miniature version of the affirmative plan that was to be adopted on the federal level. For example, the 1981-82 national debate proposition resolved that the federal government should…

To determine the extent of the involvement of undergraduates in speech tournament management, a survey was sent to 230 Directors of Forensics at schools with a Pi Kappa Delta affiliation. Most of the 102 respondents indicated that they use undergraduates when running a speech tournament but that concerns about utilizing undergraduates do exist.…

In April of 1984 the Aroostook (Maine) Computer Educators, in conjunction with the University of Maine at Presque Isle, conducted a computer programming contest for county students in grades 4-12. This document describes the structure of that contest, including grade level groupings (4-6, 7-9, and 10-12); rules for team membership; the schedule…

This statement by Alfred C. Sikes, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce, discusses the NTIA's role in insuring information access for American business, and its role in developing public information policy, especially in light of the Bell…