Article archive / September 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 1. Source pages: 1, 6.
Dr. Rita Culross, LSU College of Education professor and licensed psychologist, spoke at the Oxford Roundtable at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, this past July. In an invited
address, “Talent Development and Talent Enhancement of the Olympic Athlete,” she explained the complex psychological patterns in talent development for Olympians.
Culross is the Ellen Levy Yates Endowed Professor of Gifted Education in the Department of Educational Theory, Policy & Practice at LSU, and teaches courses on the social and
psychological aspects of human talent development.
Drawing on her background as an expert in gifted and talented development, Culross described contributions of genetic, cognitive, and emotional traits in the athletes’ personal journey to the assembly of scholars, who were in part acknowledging the topics related to the London Summer Olympics.
Culross spoke about the psychosocial impacts of home, school, gender, community and culture, and also the principle of chance, for the athlete, describing the “Piirto Pyramid of Talent Development,” from the work of Dr. Jane Piirto, Ashland University, Ohio, author of Talented Children and Adults: Their Development and Education.
Historically talent has been confined to intelligence, Culross told the scholars, but today talent development includes many aspects of human performance including areas such as athletic, artistic, and even entrepreneurship abilities.
Drawing on the Piirto model, Culross explained that educators and psychologists see talent as specific to one domain, such as athletic performance, and relate it to the person, process, outcomes, and as influenced by environmental factors such as home, school, culture, and chance happenings.
She said that while genetic traits alone are not enough for individuals to excel to high-level performance such as the levels of Olympic athletes, these characteristics are very important and the benefits are clear. For example, Michael Phelps has a unique body type that provides a clear advantage. His “wingspan” is 80 inches, four inches more than his 76-inch height. While most people have a wingspan essentially equal to their height, Phelps’ longer arms can account for the tenth or even the hundredth of a second required to out touch other swimmers in competition. He is also double- jointed, she noted. Which, with his size 14 feet, and an extra bend of 15 degrees, turn his feet into “virtual flippers,” citing a Scientific American report.
But she explained that these assets are “only part of what is required for Olympic success.”
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, paired with visual learning, is also part of the talent repertoire for Olympic level athletes. The athletes must be able to acquire
skilled movements and make fine adjustments in their performance, she explained, describing the training activities of LSU’s and Olympic hurdler Lolo (Lori) Jones who, with her coaches, analyze videotapes with hundreds of images of her runs. This helps Jones and her coaches to help her with very precise corrections.
Elite athletes must manage an array of distractions and control their emotional responses, she noted. Techniques such as controlled breathing, concentration activities, and mental approaches to fears or emotions about past failures, are employed, Culross explained. Even though Olympic athletes are competitive, tough-minded, and demonstrate what is known as “adaptive perfectionism,” they must also learn to turn off their minds, Culross explained, quoting US Olympic Committee sport psychologist Karen Cogan.
She emphasized the social and environmental characteristics needed for talent development, which include support from parents, coaches, schools, teams, organizations. She said the culture of the United States is very supportive of organized sports.
And, chance plays a significant role, Culross told the audience, describing the story of Boyd Martin as told on Fox News.
“Boyd Martin, a member of the U.S. Olympic equestrian team and the son of an Australian father and an American mother, bought Neville Bardos, his mount, for $850, a pittance in a sport where horses may cost
several hundred thousand dollars. Neville Bardos was on his way to the slaughterhouse. His appeal to Martin? The horse, too, was half Australian, half American. In a freak fire last Memorial Day, Martin saved Neville Bardos’ life a second time when the stable in which he was housed caught on fire, killing all the other horses inside. A chance encounter and quick sale have led to one of the most successful partnerships in U.S. Olympic history.”
Culross outlined a number of techniques from sport psychology used to improve performance in athletes. She described visualization and how it is used to correct performance and for mental rehearsal prior to competition. Focus and motivation may also be enhanced by visualization. Culross noted how Serena Williams used the image of the Olympic gold medal to help motivate her to overcome health problems.
Culross outlined the technique of “goal-setting perfectionism” and how many elite athletes must set goals to beat their own time. But with this level of high motivation and goal-directedness, the athlete must also balance out negative arousal, and the techniques for relaxation are essential.
She described techniques for relaxation including breathing exercises, imagery, and self-talk. She also explained that there are personalized methods that may be helpful. Kayla Harrison, Olympic athlete in Judo, used these techniques, Culross noted, but also cries periodically to mentally prepare for competitions. The stress lowering benefits of crying are well known.
Olympic athletes often face challenges because of the
demands on them physically, socially, and psychologically, a topic she called, “Talent in Trouble.”
High-level, elite athletes can experience an array of difficulties, she explained, including eating disorders, problems with substance abuse, or problems with life/work balance. Problems with physical injuries are common. And, transitioning from Olympian to post- Olympic career can be very difficult psychologically.
The risk of eating disorders is more prevalent in female athletes, she said, because of focus on body image. The balancing of career demands, life, and financial demands can be a challenge, even though more sponsorships are available these days.
Finally, Culross explained that for elite athletes, who have often dedicated their entire lives to their sport, a psychological search for a new identity and sometimes an entirely new vocation, will come eventually when they retire.
This transition can be a time of critical adjustment demands. Culross noted that Rulon Gardner, US Olympic wrestler, who achieved a major accomplishment in Beijing by winning gold over the Russian champion, returned home, and was involved in a motorcycle accident, a snowmobile accident, and then an archery accident. He did not compete again, she told the group.
Dr. Culross closed her presentation by reminding the audience that performances in the 2012 London Summer Olympics represent a “lifetime of developing talent and overcoming challenges.”
And yet the rewards of this monumental effort might all take place in as little as 60 seconds, punctuating the psychological complexity that most of the rest of us may have some difficulty truly understanding.
Dr. Rita Culross is licensed in Louisiana and Texas, and presently serves on the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
She has served as Interim Director of the LSU Women’s and Gender Studies Program, as Fullbright Senior Specialist, and honored as an LSU Rainmaker.
She is author of Counseling the gifted: Developing the whole child, A handbook. And she is author of Counseling the gifted, in Directions in child and adolescent therapy: Volume 2.
Olympic runners in previous Olympic games.
© Pniesen
Olympic athletes from the US women’s track team in Athens.
© fstockfoto
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