Department of Psychology - Full-time faculty - Steven Wininger

Dr. Steven Wininger

Co-Department Head and Professor

Office:  GRH 3016
Phone:  270-745-4421
Email:  steven.wininger@wku.edu
Website:  http://people.wku.edu/steven.wininger/

Research Interests

My research interests are primarily in motivation within the contexts of exercise, sport, and education.

Current Research

Most people do not exercise at recommended frequencies, durations, or intensities. Many athletes in non-scoring aerobic activities have difficulty with optimal pacing. My research aims to identify key factors for optimizing motivation and performance, especially for non-scoring aerobic activities (e.g., running, cycling, or swimming).

Variables of interest include…

IVs: attentional focus & cognitive processing (music, mathematical processing, biofeedback, goals, competition, working memory tasks, meditation, mindfulness)

DVs: intensity/pace, perceived effort, enjoyment/affect.

Moderators: anxiety, fitness, working memory, stage of change, experience/ability, value, self-efficacy, attributions, meta-cognition.

Key theories utilized are: Self-Regulation Model, Parallel Processing Theory, Working Memory, Attentional Control Theory, and Constrained Action Hypothesis.

Motivation Lab link: http://www.wku.edu/psychology/research/motivation/index.php

Consulting

My consulting experiences range from applied sport psychology to evaluation of educational programs. In the area of sport psychology I have worked with baseball, basketball, cross country, diving, shooting sports, swimming, tennis, track, and volleyball. I have worked with little league, middle school, high school, college, and Olympic athletes.

Courses I teach

• PSY 310 Educational Psychology
• PSY 340 Sport Psychology
• PSY 412 Psychology of Motivation & Emotion
• PSY 290/490 Research, Readings, or Special Projects in Psychology
• PSY 510 Advanced Educational Psychology

Research Supervision

Supervision of PSY 290, PSY 490, Clinical M.A. Theses, School Psychology Ed.S. Projects, & Psy.D. Dissertations

Vita