Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The Effect of Easy and Difficult Goal Setting on Acquisition and Retention of Basketball Free Throws in Children with Mental Retardation

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Authors

Mohadeseh Mohammadi 1
Ahmadreza Movahedi 2
Hamid Salehi 3
Shila Safavi Homami 3

1 MSc of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jmlm.2017.138388.1011
Abstract
Goal setting is a motivational item  that is usually used for enhancing sport skills learning. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of easy versus difficult goals on acquisition and retention of basketball free throws in educable children with mental retardation (AWMR). A total of twenty one AWMR educable students (aged between 8 and 13) were assigned to either a difficult or easy goals group. Participants exercised the task for nine sessions across acquisition phase. Both groups performed a pretest before the acquisition sessions. Acquisition tests were taken during acquisition phase, and immediate and delayed retention tests were also taken after 2 and 10 days of no practice respectively. We performed statistical analyses with a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and an independent t test. Results showed that easy goal setting group significantly improved their performance in acquisition and retention phases (P<0.05) while difficult goal setting group showed no improvement in their performance. These findings suggest that setting easy goals instead of difficult goals improves the performance of basketball free throws in children with mental retardation

Keywords

Acquisition
basketball free throw
difficult goal setting
easy goal setting
mental retardation
retention

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Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Volume 9, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
Autumn 2017
Pages 385-404

  • Receive Date 13 December 2015
  • Revise Date 18 September 2016
  • Accept Date 01 October 2016

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