Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
amir dana; Mansour khalilzadeh Kouchameshki
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of motivational self-talk on endurance performance, with an emphasis on the role of self-determination.Methods: The participants included 18 physical education students with a history of regular exercise, with a mean age of 21.08±2.5 years, ...
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Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of motivational self-talk on endurance performance, with an emphasis on the role of self-determination.Methods: The participants included 18 physical education students with a history of regular exercise, with a mean age of 21.08±2.5 years, who voluntarily participated in the present study after being informed about the study's objectives and the application of its results. The research design was implemented as a within-group design, and reciprocal alignment was used to control the effect of novelty and the order of presentation of different levels of the independent variable. In three baseline conditions, autonomous motivational self-talk (self-determining), controlled motivational self-talk (coach determining), their endurance performance was measured within the group in the Bruce test based on the time to exhaustion and the perception of pressure with the Borg test.Results: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that self-talk in the self-determining condition led to a decrease in the perception of pressure and improved endurance performance compared to the determining coach condition. The results of the Bonferroni post hoc test showed that self-talk in the coach-determining and self-determining conditions led to improved endurance performance compared to the conditions without self-talk.Conclusion: It seems that the autonomous motivational climate in conditions where the athlete played the main role in selecting and using the type of self-talk phrases provided the basis for improving endurance performance and reducing the perception of pressure in athletes by satisfying the psychological needs of autonomy, relevance, and competence.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Ruhollah Mohammadi Mirzai; Majid Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Declining levels of physical activity among elementary school students have become a significant public health concern. The Daily Mile is an innovative physical activity intervention that has a positive impact on health markers. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a school-based ...
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Introduction: Declining levels of physical activity among elementary school students have become a significant public health concern. The Daily Mile is an innovative physical activity intervention that has a positive impact on health markers. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a school-based physical activity intervention (The Daily Mile) on the physical literacy and quality of life of elementary school boys.Methods: The statistical population included male students from Noorabad city aged 8 to 10 years, with a total of 200 participants (100 in the experimental group and 100 in the control group). Using cluster sampling, physical literacy was assessed using the CAPL-2 test, and quality of life was measured via the PedsQL questionnaire. Both assessments were conducted as pre-tests and post-tests. The experimental group participated in the Daily Mile program for two months, three sessions per week, while the control group continued their usual activities.Results: The results showed that the Daily Mile intervention had a significant positive effect on physical literacy, including daily physical activity, physical competence, motivation, and self-confidence, as well as knowledge and understanding of the participants (p = 0.001). Additionally, the intervention significantly improved quality of life and all its components—physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning (p = 0.001).Conclusion: Based on these findings, school-based interventions like The Daily Mile can help improve both physical literacy and quality of life in male elementary school students. These results support the integration of such activities into regular school programs. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of these interventions on a national scale.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Davoud Fazeli; Hossein Taghizadeh; Fatemeh Jabbari; Leila Ghohestani
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to directly manipulate feedback during physical execution and action observation to determine whether feedback acts as a mediating variable in the different effects of physical practice, observational practice, and motor imagery.Methods: Sixty right-handed students participated ...
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Introduction: This study aimed to directly manipulate feedback during physical execution and action observation to determine whether feedback acts as a mediating variable in the different effects of physical practice, observational practice, and motor imagery.Methods: Sixty right-handed students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to six groups: physical practice, observational practice, mental (motor imagery) practice, physical practice without feedback, observational practice without feedback, and a control group. Participants practiced golf putting for one day (9 blocks of 18 trials each). Each training group performed the task according to their assigned condition—physically, observationally, or through motor imagery. In the physical without feedback and observational without feedback conditions, participants were prevented from observing the ball's stopping point. Performance was measured using two variables: shot accuracy and the number of dynamic degrees of freedom.Results: In terms of movement accuracy, results showed that removing feedback in both physical and observational practice reduced performance to the level of mental imagery. However, regarding the number of dynamic degrees of freedom, motor imagery significantly differed from the no-feedback groups. Removing feedback in these two conditions did not bring their performance to the level of mental practice.Conclusion: These findings were interpreted based on underlying cognitive and perceptual mechanisms. It was argued that physical practice is perception-based, while motor imagery relies on memory representations and is therefore more cognitively driven. Observational practice, in contrast, appears to involve a bidirectional perceptual-cognitive process.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
ebrahim moteshareie; mahin aghdaei; zima Abdollahi
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to examine the effect of Mindfulness-Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) on mental toughness, flow state, and athletic performance in young volleyball players.Methodology: This research employed a semi-experimental design using a pretest-posttest control group format. ...
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Introduction: This study aimed to examine the effect of Mindfulness-Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) on mental toughness, flow state, and athletic performance in young volleyball players.Methodology: This research employed a semi-experimental design using a pretest-posttest control group format. A total of 24 young volleyball players were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Participants in the experimental group received the MSPE program, consisting of one-hour weekly sessions over six weeks. In contrast, the control group participated in a similarly structured discussion-based program that included reviews of volleyball history, rules, and basic game analysis. Flow state and mental toughness were measured using standardized questionnaires, and volleyball performance was assessed through a practical performance test during both the pretest and posttest phases. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVA.Results: The results of the mixed ANOVA indicated significant main effects of time, as well as significant group-by-time interaction effects, for all three variables: mental toughness, flow state, and performance (p<0.05). No significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups at the pretest stage (p>0.05). However, posttest comparisons revealed significant improvements in the experimental group compared to the control group across all measured variables (p<0.05).Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is recommended that mindfulness-based interventions be considered as a simple, cost-effective, accessible, and highly applicable method to enhance athletic performance, mental toughness, and flow state in young volleyball athletes.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
mohsen shirmohamadloo; Somayeh Namdar Tajari
Abstract
Introduction: The mechanisms underlying the acute effect of aerobic exercise on cognition and its neuroelectrical correlates are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of acute aerobic physical activity on evoked potentials during a flanker attention task by analyzing ...
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Introduction: The mechanisms underlying the acute effect of aerobic exercise on cognition and its neuroelectrical correlates are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of acute aerobic physical activity on evoked potentials during a flanker attention task by analyzing event-related potentials (ERP).Method: Fifteen adolescent boys with an average age of 14.07 ± 1.12 years participated in this study. Participants visited the laboratory on two separate days: once without running and once after 20 minutes of aerobic running. During both visits, they performed the flanker task while their ERP activity was recorded. Using the EEGLAB software, ERP components including P2, N2, and P3 were extracted from Fz and Pz electrode channels. To test the research hypotheses, non-parametric Wilcoxon tests were conducted using SPSS version 20.Results: The results showed that a single session of aerobic exercise significantly increased the amplitude of the P3 and N2 components at the Fz channel and reduced their latency (p < 0.05). These changes were not observed at the Pz channel. The amplitude of the P2 component did not change significantly after aerobic running (p > 0.05), but it appeared significantly earlier at the Pz channel (p < 0.05).Conclusion: These findings indicate that endogenous ERP components during the flanker attention task were significantly enhanced following acute aerobic exercise. The earlier onset of the P2 component may reflect improved perceptual processing in the parietal region. Therefore, engaging in aerobic physical activity is suggested as a strategy to enhance cognitive performance before tasks requiring high-level mental processing.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Ozra Narimisaei; Mohammadreza Doustan; Masoumeh Hosseinzadeh
Abstract
.Introduction: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of training with different musical rhythms on bimanual movement coupling.Methods: The participants were 48 students aged 15 to 17 years, randomly divided into three groups of 16 each. In the pre-test, they performed four ...
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.Introduction: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of training with different musical rhythms on bimanual movement coupling.Methods: The participants were 48 students aged 15 to 17 years, randomly divided into three groups of 16 each. In the pre-test, they performed four bimanual tasks of varying difficulty, including circle-line drawing. During the training phase, only one task was practiced: drawing a circle with the right hand and a horizontal line with the left hand. Three training sessions were conducted, each consisting of 4 blocks of 10 trials lasting 30 seconds. During training, the first group listened to music with a tempo of 120 beats per minute (BPM), the second group listened to music at 90 BPM, and the third group trained without music (control group). Participants completed an immediate post-test, followed by retention and transfer tests 48 hours later. Statistical analysis was performed using mixed ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS at a significance level of 0.05.Results: The results showed that training with music improved performance in the spatial pattern of the bimanual circle-line drawing task during the simple and moderate transfer and retention tests. However, in the difficult transfer test, training—especially with high-tempo music (120 BPM)—led to a decline in performance. Specifically, a decrease in the temporal pattern (i.e., number of circle-line cycles) was observed, indicating negative transfer.Conclusion: Overall, after training, strong bimanual coupling did not occur, possibly due to the simplicity of the task. Temporal coupling was found to be stronger than spatial coupling. Moreover, higher music tempo was associated with greater bimanual coupling.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Muthanna Kadhim Jasim Al-Graee; Farzaneh Davari; Mazin hadi kzar Altaie; Zohreh Meshkati
Abstract
Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has gained attention as a safe, non-invasive neuromodulation technique for enhancing motor and cognitive functions in older adults. Among various brain regions, cerebellar stimulation appears particularly effective in improving postural control ...
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Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has gained attention as a safe, non-invasive neuromodulation technique for enhancing motor and cognitive functions in older adults. Among various brain regions, cerebellar stimulation appears particularly effective in improving postural control and static balance. This study aimed to compare the effects of tDCS applied over the cerebellum and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on the static balance of elderly men.Methods: In this semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, 60 healthy elderly men aged 60 to 80 years from Ahvaz voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to four groups: cerebellar tDCS, left DLPFC tDCS, sham cerebellar tDCS, and sham DLPFC tDCS (15 participants each). Static balance was evaluated using a force plate device, during which participants completed three 30-second trials of quiet standing in both the pretest and posttest stages. The intervention consisted of 10 sessions over two weeks (five sessions per week), with each tDCS session lasting 20 minutes. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results: The findings indicated that both cerebellar and DLPFC tDCS significantly improved static balance by reducing center of pressure displacement in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions (p<0.05). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the effects of cerebellar and DLPFC stimulation (p>0.05).Conclusion: Based on these results, both cerebellar and DLPFC tDCS protocols can be considered effective interventions for enhancing static balance in elderly men. Health professionals and specialists are encouraged to include these approaches in balance rehabilitation programs for older adults.
