Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning

Abstract Introduction: External attentional focus has been shown to enhance motor performance compared to internal attentional focus. Recently, studies have suggested that this effect may depend on the type of task-relevant instructions provided. The present study aimed to compare the effects of task-relevant attentional focus instructions on dart-throwing skill performance.
Methods: This study employed a pretest, retention, and transfer test design. A total of 114 male high school students were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 38 each): external focus, form/technique external focus, and form/technique internal focus. On the first day, all participants completed 27 practice throws followed by a pretest. Over three training sessions (108 throws per session), the participants practiced under their assigned attentional focus instructions. Retention and transfer tests were conducted 24 hours after the final session. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey's post-hoc test.
Results: The results indicated significant differences across the pretest, retention, and transfer phases in all three groups. In the form/technique external focus group, a significant improvement was observed from the pretest to the retention test, but not from the pretest to the transfer test. When comparing transfer scores among the three groups, the form/technique internal focus group outperformed both other groups (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Based on the findings, form/technique instructions with an internal attentional focus may be beneficial for improving motor skill performance; however, confirming these results requires further research.

Abstract Introduction: The present study was conducted with the purpose of identifying the solutions and consequences of preventing Students' Hate and Leaving of Sport.
Methods: The purpose of the research was applied and the research method was qualitative. For this purpose, theoretical saturation was achieved with 21 experts in a purposeful judgment and using in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The data was collected using an exploratory approach through the identification process and its analysis using the qualitative software MaxQD. Also the retest reliability of the test was used.
Results: In the current research, 104 indicators in the form of 14 concepts (use of knowledge and practice science, attention to personality-psychological characteristics, development of public sports, elimination of inappropriate habits in sports environments, advertising and promotion, economic, facilitating access, role of government and officials, Increasing participation, increasing awareness, improving the physical-psychological condition of society, changing beliefs, professional development, educational development) were identified.
Conclusion: The current research emphasizes on the factors of motivational strategies, culture building, structural strategies, acculturation of sports in the society, increase of public health and development of sports infrastructures in preventing students from hating and practicing sports. In this context, paying attention to factors such as the construction and location of sports facilities in the school environment, increasing the hours of physical education in schools, preparation of sports programs on radio and television, holding morning sport programs, invite famous sport figures and offer discounts to teenagers in order to prevent students from hating and leaving of sport it is suggested.

Abstract Introduction: Sport is an important part of students' life. The social development of athletes could be different based on their gender and type of sport. The present study aimed to compare the social development of athletes (team and individual sports disciplines) and non-athlete students of Farhangian University.
Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional survey research, 2000 male and female students of Farhangian University of Mazandaran province were recruited as a statistical population. 300 students were selected using the cluster random sampling method. Witsman's Social Development Questionnaire (1990) was used as the research instrument.  To analyze the data, a two-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test were used.
Results: Based on the results of the two-way analysis of variance, significant results were found for the main effect of gender and group variables. However, the interaction effect of group and gender was not significant. The social development of female students was higher compared with male students. Based on the results of Tukey's post hoc test, athletes had significantly higher social development than non-athletes. Although the social development of athletes in individual sport discipline had a higher mean than the team athletes, the difference was not significant.
Conclusion: Considering the higher social development of athletes compared with non-athletes and also, almost identical social development scores for both groups of athletes (team and individual sports disciplines), it is suggested that coaches foster a supportive environment by emphasizing the importance of equality of each athlete to provide the basis for social development among all people.

Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of educational and motivational self-talk on dart throwing performance with different difficulties. A total of 60 beginners and right-handers with an age range of 22 to 28 years were randomly selected and randomly divided into three groups of educational self-talk, motivation and control. The study groups performed 5 groups of 12 attempts according to their instructions. All throws were performed at low difficulty level at a distance of 1.80 m, at medium difficulty level at a distance of 2.37 m and at high difficulty level at a distance of 2.87 m from the dartboard. The performance measurement index was evaluated based on the amount of radial error (distance of the dart from the center). The statistical method of two factor analysis of variance analysis was used with repeated measurements in the difficulty level factor for testing hypotheses. The results showed that educational and motivational self-talk led to significant improvement in the dart throw performance. Also, the effect of difficulty was significant, and finally, the interactive effect of self-talk and difficulty on the performance of the dart throwing was significant. In simple tasks, due to the nature of the skill, educational self-talk based on related cues seems to improve the skill well, but at a moderate difficulty level, the role of motivational self-talk seems to become more prominent because the situation requires more effort for success, and this is consistent with the relationship between task difficulty and performance.

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of self-movement on distance perception. The method of the present study is quasi-experimental. The statistical population of the present study was the students of Urmia University who were randomly selected as a sample of 60 students who were eligible to participate in the study and were randomly divided into three groups of 20 people including static group, dynamic group with treadmill speed 4 Km/h and the dynamic group were divided at a speed of 8 km/h. The test of walking blindfolded in a straight line to a previously observed target was used to measure distance perception. The results of analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the perception of estimating the distance between groups, while there was a significant difference in the perception of distance with closed eyes between groups and also in perception scores. There is no significant difference in distance with closed eyes between the movement group with treadmill speeds 4 and 8, but the difference between these two groups with the group without movement is significant and Finally, the results showed that although self-motion affects the perception of distance with the eyes closed, but the speed of movement does not affect this perception. Therefore, movement can affect the perception of the surrounding environment.

Abstract It is the basis of every human being's progress in learning, which is in fact one of the most difficult concepts to define. In a successful educational system, students' learning style is always considered as one of the factors affecting academic achievement. Knowledge of students' learning style helps teachers to make optimal use of various learning styles and adopt appropriate teaching methods.

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between learning styles and cognitive styles among male and female students with the moderating effect of academic levels and gender. For this purpose, 350 undergraduate and graduate students were selected by cluster random sampling method and completed questionnaires of Kolbe's learning styles (1985) and Whitkin's cognitive styles (1971). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, independent t-test and multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed that there is no significant correlation between cognitive styles and variables related to learning styles. Also, there was no significant correlation between age and cognitive styles and variables of learning styles, except in active experiments. However, there was a significant correlation between learning styles. The results of group differences showed that undergraduate students tend to be more dependent on the cognitive style than those of masters and boys. There was no statistically significant difference between educational levels and gender in learning styles. Undergraduate students are more inclined toward contextual cognitive styles than graduate students and boys than girls, and style and gender seem to interact with preferences.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of perceptual-motor activities on the academic performance of female students in the first grade and the sixth grade.The students of each grade (50students in the first grade and50 students in the sixth grade) took part in the Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development test for assessing perceptual-motor function and Raven intelligence test for assessing cognitive function. Teacher assessments of math and Persian as an indication of their academic progress were also considered.
Based on the results , the students of each grade were divided into two groups of experimental and control (n = 25). The experimental group participated in an eight-week training course including a variety of exercises and perceptual-motor activities. The training course consisted of 45 to 60 minutes sessions three times a week. After this period, students in both groups were reevaluated by assessing their academic performance. The results obtained from t-test analyses showed that, unlike the six graders, perceptual-motor activities had a positive impact on academic performance of first grade students.
Keywords: Academic performance, Concrete operational stage, Perceptual-motor exercise, Preoperational stage.

Abstract The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of different combinations of music and rhythmic movements on behavioral problems of children with mild mental retardation. A total of 40 children with mild mental retardation were randomly divided into 4 variations of practice including: rhythmic movement with major scale music, rhythmic movement with minor scale music, rhythmic movement with no music, and no rhythmic movement-no music (control group). Rutter inventory (Parent version) was used to evaluate behavioral problems. Pretest was taken before the intervention and post-test was taken after 12 weeks of practice (36 sessions). For data analysis, one-way analysis of variance and Tuki follow up tests were used. Results showed that behavioral problems of rhythmic movement with major scale music group were significantly decreased. It was also shown that the rhythmic movement with minor scale music and rhythmic movement with no music showed no significant decrease on behavioral problems of mentally retarded children. No considerable change was found in behavioral problems of the participants of the control group.

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate national jump roping plan on static and dynamic balance of students. In this study, pretest and posttest were used with two experimental and control groups for male students of fourth grade of elementary school in 2011-2012 in Baharestan city (a region in Robat Karim, Tehran). For this purpose, 60 students were selected from students of fourth grade of elementary schools in Baharestan city using multistage sampling method and were equally divided into two groups. Experimental group implemented the selected jump roping program 3 sessions a week (each session 50 min.) for 10 weeks. K–S test was used to check data normality. Independent and dependent t tests were used to analyze the data (P˂0.05). The results indicated a significant improvement in the experimental group for both static (P=0.019) and dynamic (P=0.005) balance tests. Also, the mean score of dynamic balance posttest was significantly more in the experimental group than control group (P=0.041) but such difference was not observed in the result of static balance test between the two groups (P=0.225). Based on these results, jump roping plan improved the balance of students. So this study considered the jump roping plan to be useful at schools.

Abstract There are evidences in both animal and human studies which show that exercise has beneficial effects on the central nervous system and cognition. So, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of resistance exercise on memory and probable mechanisms of this effect (i.e. neurotrophic factors) in sedentary students. 30 sedentary students (mean age, 23.8±1.6 yr) were randomly divided into two groups: control and resistance. After blood sampling and memory test, they continued their exercises for 5 weeks based on the resistance training protocol. In the end, at least 48 hours after the last training session, the memory test and blood samples were collected in order to eliminate the temporary effects of exercises. For analysis of the data, Covariance test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used (P≥0.05). Results showed that resistance exercises significantly increased memory score (P<0.05). Although BDNF significantly increased after the exercises, the exercises did not influence the expression of any neurotrophic factors (P˂0.05). Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between variations of memory scores and variations of expression of neurotrophic factors (P˂0.05). The findings indicated that exercise can improve memory.  

Abstract Psychological findings show that a lower IQ score than the normal level is not
enough to recognize someone as mentally retarded. In addition they have visible
and specific difficulties in their adaptive behaviors. Research on adaptive
behaviors is useful for those with specific needs and if mentally retarded children
want to adapt themselves to social life, they should improve their adaptive
behaviors. The current study aimed at determining the effect of a period of regular
exercise activity on the improvement of adaptive behavior in 9-15-year-old
educable mentally retarded students in Lordegan city. From 156 educable mentally
retarded students, 28 students were selected randomly and divided into two groups
of experimental (7 boys and 7 girls) and control (7 boys and 7 girls). Vinland
adaptive behavior Scale (1965) was used as the pretest. Then, the experimental
group took part in a period of exercise activity as an intervention program for 2
months, 3 sessions every week, 45 minutes per session. The data were analyzed by
covariance using SPSS software (P˂0.05). The results showed a significant
difference between the performance of the two groups in adaptive behavior and
sub-skills of socialization, communication, locomotion, dressing self-help, general
self-help and eating self-help (P<0.05) while there was no significant difference in
sub-skills of occupation and self-direction which showed that a period of regular
exercise activity had an effect on the improvement of some sub-skills of adaptive
behavior in experimental group. This approach can be used in rehabilitation and
instruction of mentally retarded children.

Abstract The current study aimed to examine the effect of a period of regular exercise on
the aggression of educable mentally retarded students aged between 9 and 15 in
Lordegan city. For this purpose, 28 students were selected randomly and divided
into two groups: 7 boys and 7 girls in experimental group and 7 boys and 7 girls in
control group. Ghezelseflu et al. (1387) aggression scale was used as a pretest for
both groups. A period of exercise program as an intervention program was run for
2 months, every week, 3 sessions (45 minutes) per week on the experimental group.
After intervention program, aggression scale was run again. The data were
analyzed by covariance using spss software. The results showed that a significant
difference between control and experimental groups' performance (P<0.001) in
aggression which showed that a period of exercise program reduced the
aggression and its subscales in the experimental group. It was concluded that
regular exercise program reduced the aggression of educable mentally retarded
students.

Abstract Coordination, body and limb designs are related to the environmental objects and events. The aim of this study was to investigate the necessity to implement rope jumping program in Iran schools and since one of the major problems in learning how to write is eye–hand coordination, the effect of a rope jumping training course on eye–hand coordination was investigated in the fourth grade elementary students. In this case, 60 male students from fourth grade of elementary schools in Baharestan city of Tehran (in 1390-91) were selected by stage sampling method and were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group performed the selected rope jumping program three sessions a week for 10 weeks. To evaluate the eye–hand coordination skill, the Vienna test was used in pretest and posttest. After the normality of data was tested by K-S test, they were analyzed using independent and dependent t tests at P˂0.05. Results indicated significant improvements in the experimental group (P=0.44 for the right hand and P=0.009 for the left hand). Also, there was a significant difference in the posttest mean scores of eye–hand coordination between the experimental and control groups (P=0.0009). The results showed that the rope jumping exercise program enhanced eye-hand coordination. So this research necessitated the implementation of the rope jumping program in Iran schools.