Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Mohammad Ali Salianeh; Rasoul Hemayattalab; Mahmoud Sheikh; Naser Naghdi
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of forced physical exercise with moderate intensity on Alzheimer-induced amnesia in adult male rats. 48 male Wistar- Albino rats were randomly selected and assigned to 6 groups (n=8 per group): control, placebo (saline), drug-exercise, saline-exercise, ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of forced physical exercise with moderate intensity on Alzheimer-induced amnesia in adult male rats. 48 male Wistar- Albino rats were randomly selected and assigned to 6 groups (n=8 per group): control, placebo (saline), drug-exercise, saline-exercise, exercise and exercise-drug. In this study, Dicyclomine (16 mg/kg) was used to induce Alzheimer-like amnesia and moderate exercise (60 minutes per day × 30 days). The rats were trained and tested using Morris water maze. The findings showed that the group receiving Dicyclomine increased delay in reaching the platform in acquisition (P=0.044) and recall (P=0.031) compared with exercise, control and saline groups. But there were no significant differences between exercise and exercise-saline groups compared with exercise-Dicyclomine group. Also, a significant difference (delay in reaching the platform) was observed between Dicyclomine-exercise, saline-exercise compared with Dicyclomine in acquisition (P=0.005) and recall (P=0.002). In conclusion, this study showed that memory and learning in the acquisition and recall phases were destroyed by Dicyclomine and 30 sessions of moderate-intensity running (forced) could prevent memory corruption.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Mehrzad Kharestani; Mahdi Zarghami; Parvaneh Shafiniya
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mental imagery and physical practice on dynamic balance in male patients with multiple sclerosis. This study was semi-experimental and the statistical population included male patients with multiple sclerosis in Ahvaz city in 2012 (N=300). For sampling, ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mental imagery and physical practice on dynamic balance in male patients with multiple sclerosis. This study was semi-experimental and the statistical population included male patients with multiple sclerosis in Ahvaz city in 2012 (N=300). For sampling, Visual and Kinesthetic Imagery Questionnaire and EDSS scale were used. Finally, 33 patients with similar ability of imagery and moderate disorder in EDSS Scale were selected and randomly assigned to 3 groups: mental imagery-physical practice (n=11), mental imagery (n=11) and physical practice (as control group, n=11). The TUG test was used to assess dynamic balance in the pretest, posttest and retention test. The training protocol consisted of 3 sessions a week for 6 weeks. Posttest was performed 2 weeks after the last session of the training protocol. After investigating the data normality and variance equality, data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test. The results indicated a significant difference in posttest (P=0.02) and retention (P=0.003) phases among the groups, and combined group had a better performance than the other groups during both phases. According to these results, mental imagery can be used as a practical method for the better performance of dynamic balance in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Behrouz Abdoli; Nassour Ahmadi; Azam Ghazi
Abstract
According to specificity of practice hypothesis, availability of visual information during practice induces performance decrement in no-vision transfer test. One hypothesis is that full vision as a dominant source of information prevents the processing of other sensory sources, in which case, weakened ...
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According to specificity of practice hypothesis, availability of visual information during practice induces performance decrement in no-vision transfer test. One hypothesis is that full vision as a dominant source of information prevents the processing of other sensory sources, in which case, weakened vision may reduce dominance of vision over other sensory sources. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of different vision levels and amount of practice on dart throwing accuracy. 30 right-handed female students of Shahid Beheshti University (mean age 22.80±1.47) were voluntarily selected and randomly divided into three groups: full vision, no-vision and weakened vision. The acquisition phase consisted of two phases of low (45 trials) and high (300 trials) amount of practice. Mixed model ANOVA (2x3) showed that removing vision had no deteriorating effect at the beginning of the practice , but it had a deteriorating effect after extensive practice in the performance of full vision group (P=0.001). Moreover, removing vision did not affect the performance of weakened vision group which could indicate that weakened visual might not prevent the processing of other sources of sensory information. The results of this study supported specificity of practice hypothesis after 300 trials of practice with removing vision. But this hypothesis was not supported with adding vision and dominance of proprioceptive information was not observed. It was likely that dependence on dominant sources of information (vision) appeared sooner while dependence on secondary sources of information (proprioceptive) takes more time and appeared after more trials of practice.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Abas Akbari Varzaneh; Rokhsareh Badami; Mehdi Namazizadeh
Abstract
The main aim of the present study was to examine the effect of field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles on learning an aiming task in closed and open environments based on fuzzy and classic logics. 60 male students with an age range of 16-17 were assigned to four groups (each group 15 subjects): ...
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The main aim of the present study was to examine the effect of field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles on learning an aiming task in closed and open environments based on fuzzy and classic logics. 60 male students with an age range of 16-17 were assigned to four groups (each group 15 subjects): field-independent with classic approach, field-dependent with classic approach, field-independent with fuzzy approach and field-dependent with fuzzy approach. Participants in each group had basketball pass test in both open and closed environments. The acquisition phase consisted of six sessions and 60 trials in 6 blocks of 10 trials were performed in each session. The transfer test was conducted one day and retention test was carried out one week after the acquisition phase. The results of this study indicated a significant difference between field-independent and field-dependent with classic approach in both closed and open environments, and field-independent participants had a better performance during all stages of the test (acquisition, retention, and transfer). But, no significant differences were observed between field-independent and field-dependent with fuzzy approach. However, the comparison of means indicated that field-independent participants had better performance in closed environments, and, field-dependent participants had better performance in open environments.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Razieh Khanmohamadi; Hasan Khalaji; Reza Yousefi
Abstract
In recent years, researchers have become interested in examining the effect of PETTLEP imagery on motor performance and how PETTLEP imagery can improve the performance. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of PETTLEP imagery and balance practice on dynamic balance in the elderly. Participants ...
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In recent years, researchers have become interested in examining the effect of PETTLEP imagery on motor performance and how PETTLEP imagery can improve the performance. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of PETTLEP imagery and balance practice on dynamic balance in the elderly. Participants were 42 male elderly in Arak city. They were divided into 4 groups based on the scores of dynamic balance pretest. In order to measure dynamic balance, Bass and Star Balance tests were used. Homogeneous training groups included PETTLEP imagery, balance practice, mixed practice (balance practice and PETTLEP imagery practice) and control group. All groups except for the control group practiced 3 sessions (each session 45 min.) a week for 6 weeks. MANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze the data (P≤0.01). Results showed the mixed and balance practice groups significantly improved in Bass and Star dynamic balance (P=0.000, P=0.001, P=0.000, P=0.000). PETTLEP imagery and control groups showed no significant improvement in Bass and Star dynamic balance (P=0.24, P=0.53, P=0.36, P=0.28). Also, the mixed group had more improvement in Bass and Star dynamic balance than balance practice group (P=0.002, P=0.004). Overall, these results showed that PETTLEP imagery practice along with physical training improved dynamic balance in male elderly, but PETTLEP imagery alone did not affect the improvement of dynamic balance in the male elderly.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Farhang Yazdanparast; Hamid Salehi; Shahram Lenjannejadian
Abstract
Pressure refers to the feelings an athlete has about performing in a competitive situation. The primary aim of this study was to examine kinematic changes of tennis serves in increasing competitive pressure. 20 semi-professional right-handed male tennis players completed 120 serves under low (normal) ...
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Pressure refers to the feelings an athlete has about performing in a competitive situation. The primary aim of this study was to examine kinematic changes of tennis serves in increasing competitive pressure. 20 semi-professional right-handed male tennis players completed 120 serves under low (normal) and high competitive pressure phases. Pressure checks (heart rate and perceived competitive state anxiety) were administered before serves in the low and the high-pressure phases. Performance and kinematic parameters of the serves (two-dimensional motion analysis) were also measured. The pressure manipulation showed a significant increase in the heart rate and perceived pressure from the low pressure to the high pressure (P<0.001). Decreased performance showed that the choking effect under pressure was observed (P<0.001). Results showed that the height of serves significantly decreased under pressure (P<0.001), while the ball speed remained unchanged (P>0.05). This study explained performance changes under competitive pressure using kinematic factors.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Jalal Dehghanizade; Maryam Lotfi; Hasan Mohammadzade
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of physical training and working memory training on mental rotation ability. 45 non-athlete female students were purposively selected and randomly assigned to one of these groups: aerobic training, working memory training and control (each group ...
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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of physical training and working memory training on mental rotation ability. 45 non-athlete female students were purposively selected and randomly assigned to one of these groups: aerobic training, working memory training and control (each group 15 subjects). This study was quasi-experimental, which was a type of pretest-posttest with a control group. Mental rotation test was conducted for the sample. Physical training and working memory training groups participated respectively in aerobic training and working memory training for 30 minutes daily for two weeks. The control group performed their daily activities. Results of ANOVA with repeated measures showed that aerobic and working memory training affected mental rotation ability (P≤0.05). The findings suggested that cognitive abilities are facilitated by cognitive and motor interventions.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Ahmadreza Movahedi; Abbas Bahram; Sahar Bordbar
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different methods of self-talk (motivational, instructional, and combined) on acquisition and learning of a motor perceptional task (dart) and physical efficacy in female students aged between 13 and 18. 48 female students (mean age 15.46 ...
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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different methods of self-talk (motivational, instructional, and combined) on acquisition and learning of a motor perceptional task (dart) and physical efficacy in female students aged between 13 and 18. 48 female students (mean age 15.46 yr) who were novice at dart throwing voluntarily participated in this study. Participants were divided into 4 groups including motivational self-talk, instructional self-talk, motivational-instructional self-talk and physical practice (12 students in each group) following an initial instructional session and pretest. The intervention included 10 sessions of acquisition, 2 sessions of retention test and one session of transfer test. One-way ANOVA and ANOVA with repeated measures were used to analyze data. Results showed that combined (motivational-instructional) and the instructional self-talk groups improved dart throwing performance in acquisition, immediate and delayed retention sessions in 13-18-year-old students compared with the motivational self-talk and physical exercise groups. Instructional self-talk group showed the best performance in transfer test while the other three groups showed almost similar performances. The results also showed that different interventions had no significant effects on physical self-efficacy of the participants.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Hanieh Mohammadi; Shahzad Tahmasebi Boroujeni; Jamal Fazel Kalkhoran
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of contextual interference on balance of mentally retarded people. For this purpose, 40 educable and mentally retarded boys in Qazvin city (mean age 24.45 ± 3.120) were randomly divided into two groups: blocked and random practice. After ...
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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of contextual interference on balance of mentally retarded people. For this purpose, 40 educable and mentally retarded boys in Qazvin city (mean age 24.45 ± 3.120) were randomly divided into two groups: blocked and random practice. After the pretest, given their practice arrangement, subjects in each group performed their workout for 4 weeks (3 sessions per week) as the acquisition phase. Acquisition test was conducted in the last session, and then retention and transfer tests were performed after 48 hours. After Kolmogorov-Smirnov test verified normal data distribution and Leven test examined the homogeneity of variances, analysis of variance with repeated measures showed that the intervention was effective and the groups significantly improved (P=0.0005). The results of the independent t test (to compare two groups in static balance) showed that random practice group performed better in retention test (P=0.007) whereas no significant differences were observed between the groups in transfer test (P=0.061). In addition, dynamic balance results showed that random practice group performed better than the blocked practice group and it had a significant difference in retention and transfer tests (respectively P=0.001, P=0.002). So, mentally retarded people can use the beneficial effects of random practice.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Ghoobad Mehrabeyan; Ali Heirani; Mahmoud Gholipoor
Abstract
This study aimed at examining the effect of different focus of attention instructions and cognitive styles on the learning of dart throwing skill. 80 children were randomly selected and divided into four equal groups: a) field independent-external attention, b) field independent-internal attention, c) ...
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This study aimed at examining the effect of different focus of attention instructions and cognitive styles on the learning of dart throwing skill. 80 children were randomly selected and divided into four equal groups: a) field independent-external attention, b) field independent-internal attention, c) field dependent-external attention and d) field independent-internal attention based on their pretest scores (10 trials of dart throwing). Then, in acquisition phase, they practiced 6 blocks of 10 trials of dart throwing task with regard to their focus of attention and cognitive style. Retention test was conducted 24 hours after the acquisition phase similar to pretest. After ensuring data normality by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA 4*6 with repeated measures was conducted on block factor and one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test was applied in acquisition and retention phases respectively. Results showed significant differences in scores of all groups in all phases (P<0.05) and those with field independent style had better performance in external focus of attention than internal focus of attention and those with field dependent style had better performance in internal focus of attention than external focus of attention. In other words, cognitive styles must be noted during recruiting the focuses of attention.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Somayeh Gharakhanlo; Parivash Nourbakhsh; Hossein Sepasi
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of positive normative feedback on acquisition and retention of throwing skill. The method was quasi-experimental and the population consisted of the 5th grade elementary female students. 60 students were randomly selected from the population and were ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of positive normative feedback on acquisition and retention of throwing skill. The method was quasi-experimental and the population consisted of the 5th grade elementary female students. 60 students were randomly selected from the population and were randomly assigned to four different groups: normative task-orientation, non-normative task-orientation, normative self-orientation and non-normative self-orientation. In a pretest, all subjects attempted 10 throws receiving no feedback. Acquisition phase took 3 days in which each subject attempted a total of 60 throws (20 throws per day). All groups received feedback at this stage; however, only the positive normative group received 20% more feedback. After 48 hours, subjects responded to a retention test. The results showed no significant difference in feedback performance of groups in the acquisition phase. However, this difference was reported significant in retention phase. Tukey post hoc test revealed a significant difference in the mean scores of subjects between normative and non-normative self-orientation groups. No significant differences were observed between task-orientation and self-orientation subjects in their perceived merit
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Asie Zoqi; Masoumeh Shojaei; Abdollah Ghasemi
Abstract
Children's development is shaped based on a combination of environmental, organism, physiological and genetic factors. Recent researches on the development of children and toddlers convincingly show that the best growth level happens in a motivating environment and a powerful support. This study ...
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Children's development is shaped based on a combination of environmental, organism, physiological and genetic factors. Recent researches on the development of children and toddlers convincingly show that the best growth level happens in a motivating environment and a powerful support. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of an environment affordance intervention on social development of toddlers aged between 24 and 42 months. The sample included 46 healthy toddlers aged between 24 and 42 months in Ghoochan city who were randomly selected by multi-stage cluster sampling methods. The subjects were assigned to three groups: experimental (n=16), kindergarten (n=15) and control (n=15). The experimental group was placed in an afforded environment for 36 sessions (3 months). To examine toddlers' home environment and afforded environment of experimental group, the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development– (AHEMD) was used for motor development and Vineland Scale was applied for social development. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The findings showed no significant differences in social development among the groups (P=0.963). The results indicated that environment affordances had no effects on toddlers' social development in the experimental group. Therefore, the present study concluded that environment affordance did not influence toddlers' social development aged between 24 and 42 months.