Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Year:2016 | Volume:7 | Issue:4|Papers Count:15

The aim of this research was to investigate the ability of arousal control in male and female athletes using mental imagery and biofeedback methods. Participants were 30 male and female athlete students of Tehran University (mean aged 23) who were assigned into two homogeneous groups based on Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire 2. Participants were given acoustic biofeedback during three stages of pretest, posttest, and follow-up test while their scores in arousal indexes such as heart rate, body temperature, and galvanic skin response were recorded. In posttest, they were asked to mentally imagine their performance under competition circumstance and in follow-up test they had to attempt to lower their arousal level using deep breathing and acoustic biofeedback technique. Results of analysis of variance with repeated measures and independent t test indicated that there is a significant difference between groups mean scores in follow-up test in three indexes of heart rate, body temperature, and galvanic skin response (p£0.05). This finding suggests that male students have higher ability in arousal control compared with female students.

the purpose of this research was the effect of visual concurrent feedback on balance ability in 7-13 years old girls. Hence, for this purpose, thirty-four girls student (ranging 7-12 years old) were participated in this study. The students were divided to three group randomly, control, closed eyes and mirror visual concurrent feedback groups, after stork balance test pre-test. Then, groups under interventions completed related trainings. In the present study used paired t-test for comparison of intra-group and one- way ANOVA for inter group (p£0.05). The result of ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between pre-test (p³0.05). But, there was significant improvement in mirror group compared to control group (p=0.001) and closed eyes group (p=0.001). In addition to, the result of paired t-test indicated that only the mirror group has significant progress (p=0.007) in balance and the other groups have significant decrements. Therefore, concurrent feedback in children by use of a mirror to show them self can be improve their balance ability to maintain balance.

Fundamental motor skills are key components of motor development and are divided into two main sub groups including fine and gross motor skills. The main purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of balance training with Swiss ball (BTWSB) on gross motor skill of Children with Attention Deficit – Hyperactivity Disorder. Participants of the present study were three 6 to 8 years old children with Combined type of Attention Deficit – Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD-C). This study was a single-subject study with multiple baseline design. Participants were required to exercise BTWSB for 9 weeks. Change in the gross motor skill of participants was assessed at one-week intervals using multiple baseline method. We administered Conners Parent Rating Scale (2003) and Broininks – Oseretsky Test Of Motor Proficiency (1978) to assess each outcome variable. The results of the data chart analysis based on descriptive statistics and visual analysis showed that BTWSB improved gross motor skill of all three participants (PND=100% for all three participants). The results of this study indicate a positive effect of BTWSB on improving gross motor skill of Children with Attention Deficit – Hyperactivity Disorder.

The purpose of present study was to determine the effect of different levels of balance task difficulty and visual feedback on balance in elderly women. Fourteen healthy elderly women (mean age 65.57 yr) were selected voluntarily. Participants were asked to stand still on a stability platform under each of two conditions (with visual feedback and without visual feedback) in three levels of difficulty (6, 8, 10). Stability index scores (Overall, Anterior- Posterior and Medial- Lateral) were calculated by Biodex Balance System. Duration of each test was 20 seconds and rest times were 20 seconds. Results showed that with increasing task difficulty, score of Medial- Lateral balance (p=0.02) increased significantly. In addition, There was a significant reduction in the scores of Overall balance (p=0.001), anterior - posterior balance (p=0.01) and medial - lateral balance (p=0.01) in visual feedback condition compared with without feedback condition. Overall, the results of this study showed that increasing task difficulty increases postural sway and availability of visual feedback can improve balance and reduce the postural sway.

This study aimed at investigating the effect of blocked, incremental systematic and random contextual interferences on acquisition, retention and transfer of volleyball skills based on changes in a generalized motor program. In fact, this study was conducted to answer this question that whether regular increment of contextual interference level is more effective on learning volleyball service skill than blocked or random practice schedules.30 students (mean age 23±4 yr, 3 groups and each 10 subjects) participated in this study. The groups were different in practices of the three services. Subjects performed simple, overhead and single arm skills from a distance (9 m from the volleyball net) with different practices. Each participant practiced 108 trials of each service, totally 324 trials during 9 sessions (each session 36 trials). The results indicated that incremental practice resulted in a better performance in retention and transfer tests than blocked and random practices (P˂0.05). In general, it was suggested that the practice should be scheduled so that it can start from low interference and gradually and systematically continues towards high interference in order to facilitate learning of several generalized motor skills.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of focus of attention on learning dart throwing in mentally retarded children.In this quasi-experimental study, 22 mentally retarded boys (age 10-12 years old) were randomly selected according to IQ (50-70) and were assigned to two homogenous attention (internal, external) groups after the pretest and a training session according to the obtained scores, age and IQ. The subjects practiced in 5 blocks and each block 8 throws. Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures and ANOVA were used to analyze data. In retention phase, both groups increased accuracy in their throwing (P=0.044). Variability (P=0.044) and throwing accuracy (P=0.047) decreased due to the training. In transfer phase, internal focus group could not transfer skill to new conditions while variable group succeeded to transfer their skill to new conditions. Also, external focus group had lower variability (P=0.049) and higher accuracy (P=0.048) than internal focus group. According to the findings, external focus group was able to retain and transfer skills to new situations which confirmed constrained action hypothesis (Wulf et al., 2001) in mentally retarded individuals.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of handedness and two practice types (explicit vs. implicit) on motor sequence learning.60 girls (age range of 14 – 17 years old) were randomly assigned to four groups according to their handedness: right–handed-explicit, right–handed–implicit, left–handed-explicit, and left–handed-implicit. Participants’ task was accuracy and time of sequential reaction. Acquisition phase consisted of 800 practice trials. Participants in explicit practice groups were aware of the arrangement included in stimuli while implicit practice groups were not informed about this arrangement. The day after the acquisition phase, retention and transfer tests were taken. Multiple ANOVA showed that regardless of handedness, implicit practice had more effects on learning reaction time in all three phases of acquisition, retention, and transfer than explicit practice. Regardless of practice type, comparison of right–handed and left–handed subjects was significant in response accuracy in acquisition phase as left–handed subjects were more accurate. The counter effect of handedness and practice type on reaction time and response accuracy was not significant, that is to say right–handed and left–handed subjects had no significant differences in explicit and implicit practice.