Kinesiology Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2784
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Item "That Chart Ain't For Us": An Examination of Black Women's Understandings of BMI, Health, and Physical Activity(2019) Thompson, Tori; Jette, Shannon; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Significantly, black women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the United States, with 60% being classified as obese per the BMI (CDC, 2017). However, there is currently a lack of scholarship which examines black women’s perceptions of the BMI, and how/if those perceptions influence their attitudes toward health and physical activity. In this project, I take a Foucauldian approach to analyze data collected from eight semi-structured interviews with black women who self- identify as obese and who are physically active. Findings suggest that black women find the BMI to be irrelevant to their health and well-being, and do not attribute their engagement in physical activity to their BMI. Instead, their reasons for partaking in physical activity are due to their individual experiences understandings of health and black female identity. These results have the potential to inform healthcare policies, physician practice, and public health interventions that target communities of color.Item Consuming the (Postmodern) Self: Sneaker Customization and the Symbolic Creation of Meaning and Identity(2019) Wallace, Brandon Tyler; Andrews, David L; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)With regard to the centrality of symbolic cultural consumption in late capitalism (Jameson, 1991; Mandel, 1978), this thesis broadly details how consumers negotiate meaning and construct identity through engagement with cultural commodities. I examine this phenomenon through the athletic sneaker: a commodity that’s value largely derives from the cultural meanings it exhibits (Baudrillard, 1983; Miner, 2009; Turner, 2015). Specifically, I analyze sneaker customization, or the act of personal modification of traditional sneakers. Drawing from 15 in-depth interviews with individuals who have experience with sneaker customization, I explicate the various meanings that participants attach to sneaker customization, along with articulating its emergence, current position, implications and significance within its broader sociocultural contexts. This thesis contributes to understandings of how everyday individuals engage with popular cultural practices – such as sneaker customization – to create and define the means of their existence amidst the societal conditions with which they are confronted (Hall, 1996).Item THE PHYSICAL CULTURE OF DIVERSITY WORK: A CASE STUDY OF EMBODIED INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY(2019) Cork, Stephanie Joan; Jette, Shannon; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Considering recent incidents of white nationalism and racial violence on college campuses, the efficacy of diversity and inclusion work within this context has garnered increased attention. What received less attention, however, the embodied experiences of university employees, specifically “diversity workers,” who are tasked by their institution to combat equity issues. Previous research has shown that experiences of exclusion and discrimination can negatively impact work, educational, and health outcomes.This study explores how these impacts are experienced by the diversity workers themselves, many of whom inhabit intersectionally marginalized identities. In examining the physicality of the diversity worker, this project merges scholarship from the field of public health and the sociology of work to investigate occupational health and wellness through the lens of critical theory. It builds on a long tradition of studying the working body in the field of kinesiology through the lens of occupational health, and in doing so also fills a gap in the area of Physical Cultural Studies given that bodies at work (outside the sporting context) have received little attention in this subfield.The aims of this study are to explore the social, political, and economic context of the diversity worker in contemporary American post-secondary education, and how this impacts health, wellness, and job performance. This study uses a critical qualitative approach drawing from theories of embodiment, radical contextualism, and intersectionality. Data collection entailed a survey (n = 48) and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with diversity workers (n = 8) at an anonymized site referred to here as “public four-year university.” Using thematic analysis and the radical contextual method of articulation, the data was coded and synthesized to construct the three empirical chapters. Through centering the embodied experiences of diversity workers within the context of the contemporary American university, this study contributes to existing scholarship in a variety of disciplines. Study findings point to how we might better support diversity work and workers through a more supportive and healthier workplace environment.Item THE DATAFICATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE: CRITICALLY CONTEXTUALIZING THE “QUANTIFIED SELF” IN PHYSICAL CULTURE(2019) Esmonde, Katelyn Rebecca; Jette, Shannon; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The contemporary moment has been characterized as that of the “Quantified Self” (QS); a time in which the body is increasingly subjected to meticulous measurement in the service of generating data that will maximize individual potential through self-improvement. The QS is most readily associated with fitness tracking devices like the Fitbit that quantify various aspects of physical activity (i.e., steps taken, distance walked, heart rate, caloric intake/output). While these devices are often taken up as an individual fitness or health choice, institutions, through efforts such as workplace wellness programs, increasingly utilize them to survey and manage their workers’ health. Widespread use of these technologies is often positioned as a panacea for institutional and personal betterment. In this dissertation, I critically evaluate this assumption, by examining the emergence, nature, and influence of the QS, through a contextualization of the quantification of the physically (in)active body. This is an important undertaking given that the preoccupation with statistical measurement and metrics has seemingly de-emphasized the experiential and, often un-quantifiable, dimensions of physical activity. In light of these concerns, I seek to understand if these technologies are enhancing people’s lives and allowing them to become technologically self-actualized, if they are alienating people from their bodies and physical activity while subjecting them to even greater scrutiny from others, or both. This dissertation comprises three interrelated research studies, in which I draw on the theoretical tools of Foucauldian poststructuralism and sociomaterialisms. In the first study, I historically contextualize the QS, with a focus on how and why the physically (in)active body has been quantified. The second study is a sensory ethnographic study wherein I analyze women runners’ fitness tracking practices to explore how fitness tracking shapes their experiences of embodiment and emplacement. Finally, in the third study I interview key informants in the workplace wellness industry and study documents from workplace wellness programs and proponents. By examining the sociomaterial conditions of self-tracking, both historical and contemporary, this dissertation highlights the politics of self-tracking and the contingencies that are required to produce ‘self-evident’ and factual data about oneself.Item THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF VENTILATORY TRAINING ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY AND BRAIN DYNAMICS, DURING TRAINING AND CHALLENGE(2018) Lu, Calvin; Hatfield, Bradley D; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A Guided Ventilatory Maneuver (GVM) can lead to changes in the central and autonomic nervous systems. Chronic effects of GVM have been reported in the literature to enhance physical and mental health. Purpose: To investigate the immediate effects of GVM on cortical activity and cardiovascular activity. Method: Twenty healthy participants (age 18-30) were recruited. Eligibility for the study required no experience in any mindfulness training. Results: Measures of the study utilized electroencephalography and electrocardiogram to measure cortical and cardiovascular changes. The study provided support for acute effects of GVM on cortical dynamics and heart rate variability. Cortical activity exhibited an increase in cortical relaxation during GVM. And cardiovascular activity exhibited an increase in parasympathetic activity. Conclusion: The psychophysiological measures of this study provided evidence for GVM as a relaxation technique. Specifically, during GVM, participant’s cortical dynamics reflect an increase in relaxation.Item The Impact of Short-Term Sleep Extension on Cognitive and Motor Performance in College Tactical Athletes(2018) Ritland, Bradley Michael; Hatfield, Bradley D; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)U.S. service members are commonly referred to as “tactical athletes” because of the physical training they undergo to maintain and improve occupational performance. Because performance in the military can literally determine the outcome in ‘life and death’ situations, it is critical that tactical athletes are prepared to perform optimally, both physically and mentally. Accordingly, it is important for tactical athletes to focus on health behaviors, like sleep, known to impact both aspects of performance. Little is known about the sleep health of college tactical athletes enrolled in The Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC) and there have been no well-controlled studies on the immediate and residual effects of sleep extension on executive and cognitive motor performance. To address this knowledge gap, a randomized control trial (Sleep extension versus Control) was conducted to determine the immediate and residual effects of a four-night sleep extension intervention (10 hours time in bed) in this population. Consented participants wore a wrist actigraph for fifteen nights in order to measure sleep duration and a cognitive motor battery was conducted after seven nights of habitual sleep (Day 8 – pre-test), after the four nights of sleep extension intervention (Day 12 – post-test), and after the resumption of habitual sleep for four nights (Day 16 – follow-up). Between group comparisons of mean pre- to post-test score changes and mean pre-test to follow-up score changes were performed using independent sample t-tests. Results revealed that the sleep extension group significantly increased their mean sleep duration over the intervention period and that the four nights of sleep extension resulted in immediate benefits in alertness, psychomotor vigilance/attention, executive function performance, standing broad jump performance, and motivation levels. Benefits of sleep extension on broad jump performance and motivation level were still evident four days after resumption of habitual sleep schedules. These results suggest that sleep extension enhances both cognitive and motor performance in college tactical athletes, with some performance benefits lasting days after returning to habitual sleep patterns. Considering the performance improvements noted following sleep extension, a four-night intervention should be considered for training programs aiming to enhance overall performance.Item A NEW APPROACH TO ASSESS HIGH LEVEL PLANNING UNDERLYING COGNITIVE-MOTOR PERFORMANCE DURING COMPLEX ACTION SEQUENCES(2018) Hauge, Theresa Christine; Gentili, Rodolphe J; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)While much work has examined low-level sensorimotor planning, only limited efforts have studied high-level motor planning processes underlying the cognitive-motor performance of complex action sequences. Such sequences can generally be successfully executed in a flexible manner and typically involve few constraints. In particular, no past study has examined the concurrent changes of high-level motor plans along with those of mental workload and confidence during practice of a novel complex action sequence. To address this gap, first a computational approach providing markers capturing performance dynamics of action sequences during practice had to be developed since past relevant works only employed fairly rough metrics. Such an approach should provide concise performance markers (e.g., distances, scalar) while still capturing accurately the changes of structure of high-level motor plans during the acquisition of novel complex action sequences. Thus, by adapting the Levenshtein distance (LD) and its operators to the motor domain, a computational approach was first proposed to assess in detail action sequences during an imitation practice task executed by various performers (humans, a humanoid robot) and with flexible success criteria. The results revealed that this approach i) could support accurately comparing the high-level plans generated between performers; ii) provides performance markers (LD, insertion operator) able to differentiate optimal (using a minimum of actions) from suboptimal (using more than a minimum of actions but still reaching the task goal) sequences; and iii) gives evidenced that the deletion operator is a marker of action sequence failure. This computational approach was then deployed to examine during practice the concurrent changes in high-level motor plans underlying action sequence execution with modulation of mental workload and an individual’s confidence in performing the task. The results revealed that as individuals practiced, performance improved (reduction of LD, insertion/substitution and movement time) while the level of mental workload and confidence decreased and increased, respectively. Also, by late practice the sequences were still suboptimal while being executed faster, possibly suggesting different dynamics between the generation of high-level motor plans and their execution. Overall, this work complements prior efforts to assess complex action sequences executed by humans and humanoid robots in the context of cognitive-motor practice, and it has the potential to inform not only human cognitive-motor mechanisms, but also human-robots interactions.Item FITTING IN: (RADICALLY) CONTEXTUALIZING THE CROSSFIT PHENOMENON(2018) Edmonds, Shaun E; Andrews, David L; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)CrossFit is a global fitness and cultural phenomenon whose ascendance over the past two decades has made it a dominant physical cultural practice, and a powerful influence within contemporary society. Through a multi-site and multi-method contextualization of CrossFit, this dissertation aims to critically explicate the power and power relations operating in, and through, the institutional, discursive, subcultural, and experiential dimensions of the CrossFit assemblage. This dissertation is presented through a collection of four academic journal articles prepared for publication in specific refereed journals. Chapter 1 uses the theory/method of articulation to radically contextualize CrossFit in, and through, the contemporary moment. Chapter 2 performs a critical discourse analysis on three key themes within CrossFit to explore how, and in what ways, biopower is operationalized and CrossFit subjectivities are created in and through CrossFit’s intertextual assemblage. Chapter 3 uses spatial analysis, participant interviews, and narrative vignettes to elucidate the ways in which a nostalgic reimagining of place influences the development of community, lifestyle, and personal health within a CrossFit Box. Chapter 4 provides a Deleuzian autoethnographic narrative that explores the process by which I move from insider to outsider status within CrossFit, and how that experience is co-constituted with other members of the CrossFit Box. While each chapter takes different theoretical, methodological, and empirical emphases, by taking a holistic approach to the CrossFit phenomenon this dissertation develops a nuanced and grounded explication of the CrossFit brand, and its entanglement with broader political, social, cultural, and economic forces and relations which constitute the contemporary moment.Item Lower-Body Mechanical Perturbation of Gait to Identify Neural Control(2017) Rafiee, Shakiba; Kiemel, Tim; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Neural feedback plays a key role in maintaining locomotor stability in face of perturbations. In this study, we systematically identified properties of neural feedback that contribute to stabilizing human walking by examining how the nervous system responds to small kinematic deviations away from the desired gait pattern. We applied small continuous mechanical perturbation, forces at the ankles, as well as small continuous sensory perturbation, movement of a virtual visual scene, in order to compare how neural feedback responds to actual and illusory kinematic deviations. Computing phase-dependent impulse response functions (φIRFs) that describe kinematic and muscular responses to small brief perturbations (impulses), enabled us to identify critical phases of the gait cycle when the nervous system modulates muscle activity. In particular, our results suggest that an early-stance modulation of anterior leg-muscles is a general control mechanism that serves multiple functions, including controlling walking speed and compensating for errors in foot placement.Item THE IMPACT OF ACUTE EXERCISE AND SLEEP QUALITY ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION: THE POTENTIAL MEDIATING EFFECTS OF FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS(2017) Alfini, Alfonso J.; Smith, J. Carson; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: Although, improved longevity is a major public health accomplishment, the prevalence of chronic disease, including cognitive impairment, increases with age. Insufficient sleep and physical inactivity exacerbate chronic disease and may accelerate the onset of dementia. While a cure remains elusive, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that exercise training facilitates better sleep and enhanced cognition. Exercise-altered patterns of neural activity, including resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) and task-based functional activation, likely coincide with and may facilitate cognitive improvements in the aging brain. Purpose: This study sought to examine the joint impact of acute exercise and sleep quality on executive function in older adults. We also aimed to determine the degree to which exercise-induced changes in prefrontal rsFC influence the relationship between sleep and executive function performance/functional activation. Methods: Using a within subjects counter-balanced design, 21 participants (aged 55-85) underwent at least three days of objective sleep monitoring (actigraphy), followed by two experimental visits on separate days. During each visit, participants engaged in 30-minutes of rest or exercise followed immediately by resting state and task-based functional MRI. After the MRI scanning session, participants completed several executive function assessments. Neuroimaging and behavioral data were processed using AFNI (version 17.1.06) and SPSS (version 23), respectively. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA and multivariate linear regression revealed two significant voxel-wise interactions in the (L) precuneus. Our findings demonstrated that acute exercise increased prefrontal rsFC and functional activation in long sleepers (> 7.5 hours/night), while decreasing these parameters for individuals with less total sleep time. Moreover, these results correspond to behavioral data demonstrating that acute exercise and adequate sleep improved select aspects of executive function performance, while decreasing inhibitory control in short sleepers alone (< 7.5 hours). Conclusion: These findings suggest that the effects of acute exercise on prefrontal rsFC are similar, or even related, to the effects of acute exercise on conflict-dependent functional activation, and that this relationship may depend on sleep duration. Moreover, our results imply that although acute exercise elicited improved executive function for those with adequate sleep, it may weaken already vulnerable, and perhaps fatigued, executive function networks among short sleepers.