ABSTRACT
The Theory of Critical Moments (TCM) and Athlete’s Profile were conceptualized in response to provocative data emanating from my doctoral dissertation research. In addition to establishing a clear profile of relative brain hemispheric activation in athletes, or an Athlete’s Profile of cortical functioning, this research, encompassing a large sample of athletes from various sports, provides new insight into how relationships between psychological predictor and performance outcome criterion measures vary significantly as a function of the selected performance statistic. The results also support the TCM proposition that hypnotic ability/absorption, neuroticism, and repressive coping function as primary higher order (PHO) psychological factors in mediating performance.
