Pre-Performance Routines, Panda Camouflage, Baby Sign Language
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 963 Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2022
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about pre-performance routines; how panda fur works as camouflage; and how babies are enriched from sign language.
A pre-performance routine makes athletes like Michael Jordan and Rafael Nadal perform better, regardless of what it is by Steffie Drucker
- Athletes with a pre-performance routine perform better. (2021, November 11). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/934597
- The effectiveness of pre-performance routines in sports: a meta-analysis. (2021). International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1750984X.2021.1944271
- Grace Lisa Scott. (2017, July 10). Rafael Nadal’s Rituals Have a Psychological Benefit. Inverse; Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/article/33718-rafael-nadal-and-the-psychology-of-sports-rituals
- Khanna, V. (2020, March). Rafael Nadal’s Rituals: The Mechanism Behind the Rhythm. EssentiallySports. https://www.essentiallysports.com/rafael-nadals-rituals-the-mechanism-behind-the-rhythm-atp-tennis-news/
- Sommer, S. (2013, December 30). 10 Athletes’ Odd Pregame Rituals. Business Insider; Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/athletes-odd-pregame-rituals-2013-12
Believe it or not, a panda's distinctive markings work as camouflage by Cameron Duke
- Giant pandas’ distinctive black and white markings provide effective camouflage, study finds. (2021, October 28). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/932725
- Nokelainen, O., Scott-Samuel, N. E., Nie, Y., Wei, F., & Caro, T. (2021). The giant panda is cryptic. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00742-4
For babies, sign language is just as cognitively enriching as spoken language by Steffie Drucker
- To baby brains, language is language, whether signed or spoken. (2021, October 26). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/932704
- Goodwin, C., Carrigan, E., Walker, K., & Coppola, M. (2021). Language not auditory experience is related to parent‐reported executive functioning in preschool‐aged deaf and hard‐of‐hearing children. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13677
- American Sign Language. (2021, October 29). NIDCD. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language#1
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm Cody Gough. |
| 0:07.0 | And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.0 | Today you learn about how a pre-performance routine makes athletes perform better, |
| 0:12.0 | how a panda's distinctive markings actually work as |
| 0:14.9 | camouflage, and how babies are just as enriched from sign language as they are from spoken language. |
| 0:20.9 | Let's satisfy some curiosity. How do elite athletes perform under all that pressure on their sports greatest stage? |
| 0:30.3 | Obviously practice, physical training and talent play into it. |
| 0:34.0 | But according to a new study, so does a healthy dose of ritual. |
| 0:39.0 | Michael Jordan, for instance, always took a certain stance and executed a designated number of dribbles and |
| 0:45.4 | spins before shooting a free throw. |
| 0:47.9 | Tennis champ Raphael Nidal has a complex set of game day rituals for on and off the court, ranging from the placement of his water bottle to how he prepares to serve. |
| 0:57.0 | And if you're wondering, he tucks his hair behind his ear, pulls on his nose, and adjusts his shorts. |
| 1:02.0 | Some suspect that Nidal has obsessed adjusts his shorts. |
| 1:03.0 | Some suspect that Nidal has obsessive compulsive disorder, |
| 1:06.0 | while others believe he's attempting to psych out his opponents. |
| 1:10.0 | He says it's for his psychological benefit, |
| 1:12.0 | and the science backs him up. |
| 1:14.8 | A pre-performance routine, as scientists call it, can have multiple elements. |
| 1:19.7 | It may involve a physical action, like dribbling before a free throw or tapping the stick before a penalty shot in hockey. |
| 1:25.5 | It could be mental like when a gymnast visualizes themselves executing a challenging skill before they do it. |
| 1:31.5 | Or it could be as simple as taking a few deep breaths. |
... |
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