Looking from within: Comparing first-person approaches to studying experience

Documenting and analyzing pre-reflective self-consciousness underlying ongoing performance optimization in elite athletes: the theoretical and methodological approach of the course-of-experience framework

Traditional theories of motor learning emphasize the automaticity of skillful actions. However, recent research has emphasized the role of pre-reflective self-consciousness accompanying skillful action execution. In the present paper, we present the course-of-experience framework as a means of studying elite athletes' pre-reflective self-consciousness in the unfolding activity of performance optimization. We carried out a synthetic presentation of the ontological and epistemological foundation of this framework. Then we illustrated the methodology by an in-depth analysis of two elite windsurfers' courses of experience. The analysis of global and local characteristics of the riders' courses of experience reveal (a) the meaningful activities accompanying the experience of ongoing performance optimization; (b) the multidimensionality of attentional foci and the normativity of performance self-assessment; and (c) a micro-scale phenomenological description of continuous improvement. These results highlight the fruitfulness of the course-of-experience framework to describe the experience of being absorbed in an activity of performance optimization.

Reaching conceptual stability by re-articulating empirical and theoretical work on affordances

Theoretical developments on affordances have proliferated, resulting in a lack of conceptual stability and a potential compromise in scientific validity. However, affordances should not be discarded, given their centrality in post-cognitive theories and their widespread reuse across various research domains. Empirical research on affordances remains sparse, out of sync with theoretical advancements, and thus unable to contribute effectively to scientific progress due to its disarticulation with theoretical work. That is why re-articulating theoretical and empirical investigations on affordances is needed to pave a more fruitful path for the concept's advancement. To accomplish this objective, emphasis must be placed on empirical research, leveraging recent theoretical propositions and devising corresponding empirical methodologies. The proposed requirements and framework represent a step in this endeavor.

"My Scar": Posttraumatic Loneliness as a Source of Pain and Resource for Coping

Contemporary understanding of combat trauma's psychological effects emphasizes the interpersonal ways survivors process their experiences. Yet cases of incongruence between survivors who want to share their traumatic experience and close others who are not ready to take part in this challenging task are common. Hence, many trauma survivors are compelled to cope with the posttraumatic consequences mostly alone. The present study followed the interpretive phenomenological approach to examine the experience of loneliness, as described by 15 male combat veterans dealing with posttraumatic stress. Participants completed semistructured qualitative interviews in which they shared their knowledge regarding postservice distress, loneliness, coping, and growth. Two main themes emerged: "The Loneliness Complex," highlighting this phenomenon's multifaceted, layered, and cyclical nature; and "Emotional Growth after Loneliness," presenting the positive potential of loneliness. These findings emphasize the importance of interpersonal relations in trauma survivors' recovery process. Participants described how experiences with peers can serve as a pivotal point for coping with postservice distress and how internalization of positive interpersonal interactions seems to be a crucial psychological resource for further rehabilitation and growth. Being a multilayered and cyclical condition, loneliness might serve trauma survivors in their search of safety, while also bearing the potential to motivate them to act upon their condition and promote emotional growth. Clinicians should acknowledge the risks trauma survivors take by leaving their lonely yet safe place, as they are encouraged to process their traumatic experiences and share their inner world with others.