Astireh Hasani; Ali Heirani; Ayoob Sabaghi
Abstract
Introduction: Lifestyle changes and the increasing trend of children's developmental disorders, especially in the field of social interactions have made it necessary to conduct research in this field of study. So the present study aimed to investigate the action-specific perception in the different focus ...
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Introduction: Lifestyle changes and the increasing trend of children's developmental disorders, especially in the field of social interactions have made it necessary to conduct research in this field of study. So the present study aimed to investigate the action-specific perception in the different focus of attention conditions in autistic children.Methods: In a quasi-experimental study, 45 people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder were identified and randomly divided into three Internal Attention, External Attention, and Control groups (15 people in each group). The participant's task was to throw darts and estimate the target size. After the pre-test, the groups performed the dart-throwing task in 5 blocks of 10 trials. The focus of attention instructions - specific to the experimental groups- were given before each trial, and subjects were asked to estimate the target size before performing the tasks in each block. For this, participants used a circle shape in Microsoft PowerPoint to draw a circle the same size as the darts' target. The next day, retention and transfer tests were performed.Results: The results showed that the Internal Attention group was better than the External Attention and Control groups both in dart-throwing performance in acquisition, retention, and transfer stages and in action-specific perception (P≤0.05).Conclusion: In general, the findings showed that in children with autism spectrum disorder, internal attention leads to better performance and learning than external attention. Therefore coaches and physical education teachers who work with these children should emphasize on benefits of internal focus of attention when designing training sessions.
Elahe Siavashi; Ali Heyrani; Ehsan Zareian
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate The effect of skill level matching in cooperative dyadic interaction on learning of forehand table tennis skills in adolescent girls. Participants were selected convenience sampling form from 24 junior high school girls in Nahavand city and were randomly divided ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate The effect of skill level matching in cooperative dyadic interaction on learning of forehand table tennis skills in adolescent girls. Participants were selected convenience sampling form from 24 junior high school girls in Nahavand city and were randomly divided into two groups of Novice-Novice and Novice-Expert. Both groups performed five sessions of participatory dyad training with their respective arrangement (novice- novice, novice- expert) that each session consisted of 20 sets of 3-minute with a 1-minute rest time between sets. Using table tennis forehand shot accuracy test, the motor performance was measured in the pre-test, post-test, retention and transfer stages (Merely forehand performance with increasing throwing speed of ball thrower). The results showed that both Novice-Novice and Novice-Expert groups showed significant progress learning of forehand table tennis skills; Also, the Novice-Expert performed better in the post-test, retention and transfer stages than the Novice-Novice group. Therefore, Novice-Expert arrangement than Novice-Novice during participatory dyad training facilitates learning forehand table tennis skill.It revealed that novice-expert arrangement is more efficient in comparison to novice-novice arrangement as the former enjoys the benefits of using the optimal observational pattern (seeing a expert person), and offeres various challenges and strategies for the novice partner as a result of exercising with an expert partner. To conclude, novice-expert dyad practice promotes the speed of learning among table tennis learners.
Moslem Rahmani; Ali Heirani; Hadi Yaditabar
Abstract
Cognitive performance such as prediction and reaction time changes along with aging. It seems that regular lifetime physical activity depends on the delay of these factors. This study aimed at investigating the effect of Pilates training on the improvement of motor performance of sedentary elderly men ...
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Cognitive performance such as prediction and reaction time changes along with aging. It seems that regular lifetime physical activity depends on the delay of these factors. This study aimed at investigating the effect of Pilates training on the improvement of motor performance of sedentary elderly men in Kermanshah city. 40 sedentary elderly men (mean age 72.15 ± 6.54 years) were selected from the senior citizen centers in Kermanshah and were divided into two groups of experimental and control randomly. The experimental group performed Pilates protocol for 8 weeks. Both groups participated in the pretest and posttest of cognitive performance. The data obtained from the pretest and posttest were analyzed by paired samples t test and independent t test was used to compare the posttests of both groups. The results showed that Pilates group outperformed the control group significantly in their cognitive status and reaction time in the posttest (P˂0.05), but there was no significant difference in prediction between these two groups. The patterns of these results suggested that Pilates exercises could improve the elderly's cognitive performance.
Aioob Sabaghi; Naser Behpoor; Ali Heirani
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the effect of the type of feedback and practice on the acquisition of parameter index. For this purpose, 8 groups (each 12 subjects) were formed: constant practice group with self–controlled feedback, constant practice group with yoked feedback (yoked group), blocked ...
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This study aimed at investigating the effect of the type of feedback and practice on the acquisition of parameter index. For this purpose, 8 groups (each 12 subjects) were formed: constant practice group with self–controlled feedback, constant practice group with yoked feedback (yoked group), blocked practice group with self–controlled feedback, blocked practice group with yoked feedback, random practice group with self–controlled feedback, random practice group with yoked feedback, serial practice group with self–controlled feedback and serial practice group with yoked feedback. The subjects threw towards a circle drawn on the ground with closed eyes from a 3m distance with the score range from 10 to 100 (failing to throw in the circle meant no score). The data were analyzed using mixed factorial analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance (P<0.05). In the retention test, the self–controlled feedback prioritized the yoked feedback (P<0.05); however, the effect of practice type was not observed (P>0.05), that is, there was no difference between practice in contextual interference condition and practice in constant condition. The results observed in the transfer test were contrary to those observed in retention test, that is, the effect of feedback type was not observed (P>0.05). The results also showed that the children did not reach the final stage of self-regulation (i.e. generalization) while the effect of practice type was observed (P<0.05) and the practice groups in contextual interference condition were superior. Also, there was no statistically significant difference among practice groups in contextual interference condition (i.e. blocked, serial and random practice groups) in all acquisition stages. Overall, this study showed the beneficial effect of self–controlled feedback in the retention test and practice in contextual interference condition in the transfer test in children. As there was no difference among practice groups in contextual interference condition, the present results confirmed Magill and Hall's (1990) second hypothesis, because the effect of contextual interference was not observed in a similar motor program.