MOTOR BEHAVIOR (RESEARCH ON SPORT SCIENCE)
Year:2017 | Volume:8 | Issue:26 |Papers Count:10

The purpose of this study was to address the effect of task constraint on learning of movement pattern and parameter during observational learning. For this purpose 16 participants, all right-handed, were randomly divided into ball and no-ball groups. Both groups observed a point-light display of full body demonstration while one group had to throw a ball like the model (with task constraint) and the other had no information about the external goal of the task (without task constraint). Both groups performed 20 trials as acquisition, and one day later they completed 5 trials as retention. Movement kinematics were recorded to be compared with the model. Variability of intra-limb coordination and the peak wrist velocity difference in reference to the model were calculated. The results showed that in movement coordination the no-ball group performed more comparable to the model than ball group, but, in peak wrist velocity, the ball group was more comparable to the model. These results were observed both in acquisition and retention. A possible reason for these results could be the ball group’s ignoring of the movement pattern in order to achieve the external movement goal.

This study investigated the effect of audiovisual integration on perception and action and perception-to-action transfer. For this purpose, 30 subjects were selected and randomly divided to three groups: visual, visual-auditory (single-channel), visual-auditory (two-channel). Subjects in the visual group watched the pattern of a skilled basketball player, while the other groups were provided with the sonification of elbow angular velocity (one- channel group) and elbow and wrist angular velocity (two-channel group) in addition to watching the pattern. The pattern was presented to subjects five times and participants answered ten questions about different aspects of the pattern. Eventually, they participated in parameter recognition and pattern recongnition tests. For each elbow and wrist joints, four variables were identified: Maximum flexion angular velocity Error (Mfav E), Maximum extention angular velocity Error (MeavE), Maximum range Error of flexion (MrEf) and Total Parameter time (TPt). Results showed that on“percent confidence reply” and “reply to questions” there was significant difference between experimental groups. Results showed that in movement reproduction stage in variables (MeavE) and (TPt) for both elbow and wrist joints, there was significant difference between groups in favor of the audiovisual groups. This study supports the positive effect of visual-auditory integration on perception and reproduction. Moreover, positive perception-to-action transfer was confirmed for two sensory groups. The results are consistent with modality appropriateness hypothesis. The results indicate that due to certain temporal adjustments in basketball jump shot task, the modality that dominates the perception in the context of this task is auditory.

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of various cognitive-motor interventions on dynamic balance of elderly women. The research method was semi-experimental, with a pre-test/post-test design. Forty elderly women (aged 60–75 years) participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to four groups: mental practice, self-talk practice, mixed practices, and control group. Participants practiced 5 days per week for three weeks, according to defined protocol. The dynamic balance was assessed before and after the training using the Berg Balance Scale. Data was analyzed using one- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post-hoc tests. Findings showed that mental, self-talk, and mixed practices affected the dynamic balance (P<0.05), but the difference between groups was not significant (P>0.05). According to the results, applying the mental, self-talk, and mixed practices may affect balance performance by increasing neurocognitive functions as age-related decline in neurocognitive functions plays a role in falls in the elderly.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of external attentional focus instructions on learning tracking task under dual-task condition. Forty-two students of Kerman University (aged 19–25) were randomly devided into three groups (the distal external group, proximal external group and control group) after participating in the pre-test. Then, the participants practiced the tracking task in four blocks of four attempt. After 48 hours, they participated in delay retention test under dual-task condition (auditory). In order to measure the performance in tracking task, we used tow-hand coordination test of Vienna set, and the mean total duration in this task was calculated as related variable. Proximal external focus group received instructions about joysticks movements. Distal external focus group received instructions about red dot movement in different parts of track. Control group didn’t receive any instructions. Repeated measures ANOVA test was used in order to specify the difference in acquisition and retention phases. Result showed significant difference between different training blocks in acquisition phase (P=0.0001) and between attentional groups in retention stage of the test (P=0.0001). These findings express that increasing the distance of an external focus of attention improves tracking task learning, especially under secondary task; because secondary task condition will enhance attention resources and shift attentional focus to external resource.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sensorimotor training on dysgraphia of 9- to 11-year-old female students. Three qualified handwriting specialists examined 218 students' handwriting, and 40 students who were considered to have Persian script bad handwriting were selected. The participants were divided into two experimental and control groups. Experimental group was assigned to perform sensorimotor exercises for four months (two sessions per week, each session lasting 45 minutes). The control group did not receive any training. Following the intervention, posttest was administered. The results were analyzed by two-factor mixed model analysis of variance and a paired-samples t test with a significance level of 0.05. Results showed that, after 16 weeks of intervention, the experimental group’s handwriting scores improved significantly. It was concluded that sensorimotor training is an effective method in treating dysgraphia.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of sensorimotor integration therapy in improving motor skills in students with learning disabilities. In this study, 24 students with learning disabilities, who were referred to the center of Learning Disabilities of Yasouj city, were selected by convenience sampling and were divided randomly into two control and experimental groups. The Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development Scale test was administered before intervention on both groups. Then sensorimotor integration therapy was performed on experimental group for 10 sessions.Immediately after the training, The Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development Scale is administered again. Data was analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed significant difference in the scores of motor skills between two groups such that the experimental group outperformed on post-test. In general, it can be stated that sensorimotor integration therapy leads to improvements in motor skills of students with learning disabilities.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of analogy, explicit, and combination learning on acquisition, retention, and transfer of basketball free throw skill. For this purpose, 48 students, 15–17 years of age, were selected based on corrected flexed-arm hang test scores and were randomly divided into four equal groups of 12 people: explicit, analogy, analogy-explicit, and explicit-analogy learning. After two familiarization sessions and the pre-test, the participants practiced basketball free throw for 4 days. The explicit learning group was given a sheet of eight instructions and the analogy learning group was given "stick" analogy instruction. The other groups, i.e. analogy-explicit and explicit-analogy learning groups, practiced the skill in a combination mode. After acquisition stage, an acquisition test was administered, and a week later retention, transfer and verbal tests were performed. To analyze throw accuracy in acquisition phase, a mixed analysis of variance (4*4) (group*day) was used. Post training data were also analyzed using mixed analysis of variance (4*4) (group*test), with P£0.05 considered significant. The results showed that there were significant differences at different stages of learning between analogy and explicit groups and combined groups and analogy-explicit groups, explicit-analogy groups (P£0.05). Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of "wood stick" analogy and analogy-explicit training method leads to better learning of basketball free throw.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of functional training on the number of movement units of acceleration and deceleration phase of reaching to objects with different shapes (cylinder, cube, pyramid) and sizes (small, medium, large) in a 6-year-old girl with Down Syndrome.The present study is an experimental study following a single participant design.One subject with Down syndrome, who was not suffering from any severe physical or motor disorder, was introduced by the Down Syndrome Association (Gender: female; Age: 6 years old) to participate in the study.The pretest and posttest results of reaching to objects with different shapes and sizes were recorded using motion analysis device. The subject participated in 24 sessions of functional training program, each lasting about 60 minutes (5 days a week). Each session of training consisted of three intervals of 15 minutes interspersed with 5-minute breaks. The mean number of movement units of acceleration phase to reaching the medium cylinder was lower than the others (N=7.50) and the effect size was higher than the others (E=0.91). The mean number of movement units of deceleration phase to reaching the medium cylinder was lower than the others (N=5.83) and the effect size was higher than the others (E=0.93). The mean number of movement units in posttest showed that the subject had better performance than pretest. The results revealed that the functional training had decreased the number of movement units of acceleration and deceleration phases. These findings support previous findings that task-oriented training with respect to the principle of specificity of training promotes movement patterns in individuals with Down Syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factorial validity and reliability of Persian version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children (SIQ-C). For this purpose, a total of 235 teen athletes including 124 male (M=11.77, SD=1.59) and 111 female (M=12.02, SD=1.44) were selected by random cluster sampling and completed the Persian Version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children. Accuracy of translation was verified through back-translation method by three sport psychologists and three English teaching specialists. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) based on structural equations was used for assessing construct validity, and internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Also, temporal reliability of the items was evaluated with intra-class correlation coefficient using test-retest method with 2-week interval. The results showed that the Persian version of Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children had acceptable fit indices (RMSEA=0.043, CFI=0.95, TLI=0.96), total internal consistency (0.74) and total temporal reliability (0.76). Therefore, the Persian version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children has good reliability and validity and it can be characterized as a valid and reliable tool to study and evaluate the Sport Imagery of Iranian children.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of sensory modalities of mental imagery on learning lay-up shot in basketball. Accordingly, 40 female students (mean age: 23 ± 2.5 years) voluntarily participated in this study and completed the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised in order to determine their imagery ability. After preliminary instructions, a pretest of 10 trails was performed and then participants were assigned to four groups, including visual imagery, kinesthetic imagery, auditory imagery, and control group according to pretest scores. The acquisition phase included six sessions. Forty-eight hours after the acquisition test, retention and transfer tests were conducted. Mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures on test factor showed that group and test main effects and the interaction of two variables were significant. Findings of one-way ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA as post-hoc tests for interaction effect revealed that imagery groups had significantly better performance in acquisition, retention and transfer tests compared to control group, although there was no significant difference among three experimental groups. In addition, groups showed significant progress in acquisition and retention test compared to pretest. These findings suggest that sport coaches and teachers can facilitate basketball lay-up shot learning using visual, auditory and kinesthetic imagery modalities.