The present investigation examined the Köhler motivation gain effect in a health game using an absent partner, presented virtually. The Köhler effect occurs when an inferior team member performs a difficult task better in a team or coaction situation than one would expect from knowledge of his or her individual performance. The effect has been strongest in conjunctive task conditions in which the group's potential productivity is equal to the productivity of its least capable member. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (individual control, coaction, additive, and conjunctive) in a 4 (conditions) • 2 (gender) factorial design and performed a series of isometric plank exercises within an exercise game. They performed the first series of five exercises alone holding each position for as long as they could, and, after a rest period, those in the partner conditions were told they would do remaining trials with a same-sex virtual partner whom they could observe during their performance. The partner's performance was manipulated to be always superior to the participant's. Results showed that task persistence was significantly greater in all experimental conditions than in the individual control condition. The conjunctive condition was no more motivating than either the additive or coactive conditions. Results suggest that working out with virtually present, superior partners can improve persistence motivation on exercise game tasks.

Individuals who experience loss of their physical abilities often face the challenges of adapting to a new way of life. Past research has shown that sport participation can assist the physical and psychological adaptation to acquired physical disabilities. The purposes of our study were to examine the following: (a) the resilience process of sport participants with acquired spinal cord injury, and (b) the role of sport participation in the resilience process. We conducted semistructured phenomenological interviews with 12 male quadriplegic wheelchair rugby players. Results show that the development of resilience is a multifactorial process involving pre-existing factors and pre-adversity experiences, disturbance/disturbing emotions, various types and sources of social support, special opportunities and experiences, various behavioral and cognitive coping strategies, motivation to adapt to changes, and learned attributes or gains from the resilience process. We discuss implications for future research and practice.

Background: A key barrier to achieving recommended intensity and duration of physical

Two investigations aimed to document motivation gains and losses (the Köhler effect and social-loafing effects) in real-life group work. Specifically, using archival data, motivation changes were analyzed from individual to additive group competition in collegiate swim, and high school track and field relays. Results showed that inferior group members had significantly greater motivation gains than noninferior teammates in preliminary and final swim races. Motivation gains also were significantly higher in the final compared to the preliminary race. Similar results were replicated with the track and field athletes with the weakest member of the team showing larger difference scores from individual to group competition compared to middle-ranked and higher-ranked teammates. On the whole, both studies provide ecological support for the Köhler effect, and that inferior team members showed the greatest motivation gains. No significant differences were found to support social-loafing effects within the same groups, but performances of superior group members tended to be slower.

Virtually presented partners who are moderately more capable than participants are the most effective at improving persistence in exergame tasks.