Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The effect of decision-making exercises on the working memory of skilled and semi-skilled volleyball players

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

Authors

Mahta Eskandarnejad 1
Zahra Hoseinzadeh 2

1 Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Motor Behavior Department, Faculty of Physical Education, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran .

https://doi.org/10.22059/jsmdl.2022.346836.1667
Abstract
Introduction: Athletes in team sports must make many decisions when perceiving and interpreting available environmental information regarding the position of the ball,teammates, and opposing players while taking appropriate actions. Considering the nature of volleyball and the need to pay attention to multiple stimuli during training and matches, a high capacity for cognitive abilities such as working memory seems essential. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of spatial and numerical working memory of skilled and semi-skilled volleyball players following decision-making exercises.
Methods: sixty female volleyball players, 30 of them for the semi-skilled group (15 people for each of the training and control groups) and 30 for the skilled group (15 people for each of the training and control groups) with the age range of 19-25 years were selected according to purposive sampling method. The protocol of decision-making exercises was carried out for 18 sessions and three blocks of 20-trial exercises were performed according to the training instructions for each group. The working memory capacity test was used to evaluate working memory. To test the hypothesis, due to the normal distribution of the data, the between- and within-groups factorial analysis of variance (mixed model) was used.
Results: The results of the analysis at the significance level of α = 0.05 showed that there is a significant difference between the training groups, and the decision-making group got the highest score. The decision-making exercises at the semi-skilled level of proficiency compared to the skill level has a significant improvement in the spatial working memory variable.
Conclusion: The result shows that exercises with high cognitive load can be a necessity to ncrease spatial working memory in semi-skilled female volleyball players.

Keywords

Decision exercises
Working memory
Volleyball
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Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Volume 14, Issue 3
Autumn 2022
Pages 83-98

  • Receive Date 11 October 2022
  • Revise Date 19 November 2022
  • Accept Date 28 November 2022

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