Applying General Systems Performance Theory and the Elemental Resource Model to Gender-Related Issues in Physical Education and Sport

Abstract

Traditional human performance research methods have consisted of multiple regression statistical models based on data such as physical size parameters, reaction times, running speeds, and jumping power. Despite widespread use over many years, the success achieved with these methods has been poor to mediocre. Robust methods for prediction and discovery of insights into human performance remain illusive. The purpose of this paper is to introduce General Systems Performance Theory (GSPT) and the Elemental Resource Model (ERM) for human performance into the fields of physical education and sport. This theory and model collectively represent a new methodological approach with unique features that include: 1) modeling and measurement of all aspects of performance using resource constructs, 2) the use of cause-and-effect resource economic principles (i.e., the idea of threshold “costs” for achieving a given level of performance in any given high level task), and 3) the concept of monadology (i.e., the use of a set of “elements” to explain a complex phenomenon). Although the ERM is intended to encompass all attributes of performance of all human subsystems and to apply to any circumstance involving a human and task, we focus here on relevance and application to gender-related issues in physical activities. This is achieved, after presenting an overview of the ERM, by means of a description and discussion of a set of hypothetical experiments that may be used as a guide for conducting future research. Based on our preliminary investigations, we suggest that it may be appropriate to question the common practice of anticipating and seeking correlations between high level task performance and routinely acquired measures of more basic aspects of performance (e.g., the resources). In contrast to traditional statistical modeling methods, the new concepts and methods represent a cause-and-effect approach that is more similar to the process that an engineer uses to design a system capable of performing a specified task. We believe that the ERM and its associated methods offer a promising basis for a broad spectrum of research into often controversial, gender-related human performance issues and we encourage more widespread investigation, refinement, and implementation of the ERM and GSPT.