Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Mahboubeh Ghayour; Mahmood Sheikh; Rasool Hemayattalab; Amirhossein Mmemari
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of selected spark exercises on balance and coordination in autistic children. This study was semi-experimental. 12 autistic children (mean age 5-12 years) participated in this study. The subjects performed the intervention for 3 months based ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of selected spark exercises on balance and coordination in autistic children. This study was semi-experimental. 12 autistic children (mean age 5-12 years) participated in this study. The subjects performed the intervention for 3 months based on selected spark exercises. The participants were evaluated in 3 stages (baseline, pretest and posttest) by Bruininks-Oseretsky test in terms of motor skills. Friedman test was used to analyze repeated measures of nonparametric data. The results showed that selected spark exercises significantly improved dynamic balance (P<0.001) and bilateral coordination (P<0.001). It can be generally stated that these selected spark exercises have a positive effect on the improvement of motor deficiencies in autistic children.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Ashkan Alizadeh; Mohammad Khabiri; Mohammadali Besharat; Abbasali Gaeini
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dimensions of competitive perfectionism and physiological responses of elite male fencers. This study was descriptive – correlation and the population consisted of male fencers. The data were collected from 46 fencers who ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dimensions of competitive perfectionism and physiological responses of elite male fencers. This study was descriptive – correlation and the population consisted of male fencers. The data were collected from 46 fencers who participated in national championships and selected by convenience sampling method. To assess dimensions of competitive perfectionism, the subjects were required to complete Competitive Perfectionism Scale of Besharat (2004). The physiological responses including saliva cortisol and immunoglobulin were measured by 96-test kits of cortisol and saliva immunoglobulin A manufactured by the Zell Bio Company. Results showed a significant positive relationship between negative competitive perfectionism and increased saliva cortisol and decreased saliva immunoglobulin before competition. Whereas there was no significant relationship between positive competitive perfectionism and any of physiological responses. Results also revealed that negative competitive perfectionism can predict the changes of saliva cortisol and saliva immunoglobulin in fencers.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Mohsen Afrouzeh; Mehdi Sohrabi; AliReza Saberi Kakhki; Sobhan Sobhani
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of equipment modification on acquisition and retention of basketball free throw skill in children aged between 9 and 10 with an emphasis on working memory capacity. 40malestudents were randomly selected and divided into 4 groups of modified and ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of equipment modification on acquisition and retention of basketball free throw skill in children aged between 9 and 10 with an emphasis on working memory capacity. 40malestudents were randomly selected and divided into 4 groups of modified and standard equipment with high and low working memory capacity based on the Memory for Digit Span assessment by Wechsler. Mini-basketball rules were used as a reference. The acquisition phase included 10 sessions, 4blocks each session and 15 attempts each block. Free throw basketball test (AAHPERD) was conducted as the pretest and acquisition and retention tests were conducted after a week. In the acquisition phase, 2x2x2 multivariate analysis of variance (eqipement×working memory×test) with repeated measures showed that interactive effect between working memory (high and low) and test (pretest and posttest) on performance was significant. Also, interactive effect between equipment (standard and modified) and test (pretest and posttest) on performance was significant while the interactive effect of working memory, equipment and test on performance was not significant. In retention phase, 2x2 multivariate analysis of variance (eqipement×working memory) showed that the main and interactive effect of working memory and equipment on performance was significant. The results showed that the effect of equipment employment in working memory levels on performance was similar in both pretest and posttest and also it seems that the effect of the modified equipment on performance in retention test was better in children with low working memory than children with high working memory.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Hasan Sepehri Bonab; Fatemeh Sadat Hosseini; Malek Ahmadi
Abstract
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) sometimes have difficulties in performing and learning motor skills. The aim of the present study was to investigate procedural motor acquisition and learning in DCD children. 12 children with developmental coordination disorder and 12 normal ...
Read More
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) sometimes have difficulties in performing and learning motor skills. The aim of the present study was to investigate procedural motor acquisition and learning in DCD children. 12 children with developmental coordination disorder and 12 normal children with matched IQ and chronological age were selected from 8-12-year-old male students of Tabriz city by purposive sampling method. A modified version of rotary pursuit task and variables of total time on target (TOT), consecutive time on target (CTT), distance from the target (DT), distance from the path (DP) and relative phase were used to assess procedural motor learning. After training in the acquisition phase, subjects participated in the immediate 10-minute retention test and the consolidation test after 24 hours of rest. Analysis of data by analysis of variance with repeated measures showed no significant differences between the two groups in TOT, DP, and relative phase in the acquisition phase, but there were significant differences in CTT and DT. There were significant differences in TOT, CTT, and DT in the retention phase, but there was no significant differences in DP and relative phase. Generally, the results suggested that despite the low performance of their procedural motor learning, DCD children were able to acquire motor coordination patterns.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Morteza Taheri; Fahimeh Noorian
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neurofeedback training on sleep quality and psychological skills of athletes with psychophysiological approach. The research method was semi-experimental and application with pretest and posttest design and a control group. 31 athletes who ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neurofeedback training on sleep quality and psychological skills of athletes with psychophysiological approach. The research method was semi-experimental and application with pretest and posttest design and a control group. 31 athletes who were members of a sport team gained the criteria to enter the study. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and the experimental group received neurofeedback treatment. The neurofeedback training lasted 3 sessions a week, 45 min. each session for 2 months. This protocol was performed in a bipolar manner at C4-CZ points. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to extract sleep quality profile and OMSAT-3 and Elisa method were used to assess psychophysiological stress of participants. Covariance analysis and dependent t test were used to analyze the data. The results suggested that neurofeedback training can influence to balance stress and to improve sleep quality of athletes which greatly affects their performance.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Sadegh Ranjbar; Hassan Gharayagh Zandi; Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi; Ali Fadakar
Abstract
Nowadays, numerous studies have shown that optimal athletic performance is related to many psychological factors. This paper aimed at comparing motivation and perfectionism of successful and unsuccessful karate athletes in Iran men’s karate super league. This study was casual-comparative ...
Read More
Nowadays, numerous studies have shown that optimal athletic performance is related to many psychological factors. This paper aimed at comparing motivation and perfectionism of successful and unsuccessful karate athletes in Iran men’s karate super league. This study was casual-comparative and the population consisted of karate athletes of Iran men’s karate super league in 2015 in Kumite section. Primary data were collected by convenience sampling method from 70 athletes of all participating teams (especially two high ranking teams and three low-ranking teams) in karate super league. After collecting the data of the number of competitions and their results for each athlete, the optimal performance of karate athletes was calculated and two successful and unsuccessful groups were determined (each group 30 subjects). The demographic questionnaire, the sport motivation scale, and the sport perfectionism scale were used in this study. The K-S and Shapiro-Wilk tests were used to investigate the natural distribution of data. The results of independent t test showed a statistically significant difference in adaptive perfectionism (positive) between successful and unsuccessful athletes. However, there was no significant difference in maladaptive perfectionism (negative) between the two groups. Furthermore, the Mann-Whitney U test results showed that the difference in all motivation subscales was not significant between successful and unsuccessful karate athletes. Finally, it can be stated that some findings emphasize the role of psychological characteristics in sport success and performance in the two groups which have in the highest rank of Asian and world karate.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Fereshteh Golestaneh
Abstract
During recent years, mindfulness interventions have shown significant effects on athletic performance; however, researches on the effectiveness of these interventions on important psychological characteristics such as motivation and burnout of athletes are limited. The aim of this study was to ...
Read More
During recent years, mindfulness interventions have shown significant effects on athletic performance; however, researches on the effectiveness of these interventions on important psychological characteristics such as motivation and burnout of athletes are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sports mindfulness intervention (MPSE) on motivation and burnout in athletes. For this purpose, 40 athletic students of Chabahar University were selected as the sample by convenience sampling method and were divided into intervention and control groups. Exercise Motivation Questionnaire (SMS-6) and Sports Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) were used to collect data. 6 weeks of sport mindfulness intervention were used for athletes. Questionnaires were distributed among athletes before and after the intervention and data from questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS software version 20 by means of descriptive and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance). The results showed that sport mindfulness intervention significantly decreased the burnout (P>0.05). These interventions also significantly increased intrinsic motivation and significantly decreased demotivation and extrinsic motivation of athletes (P<0.05). These results suggested that sport mindfulness interventions can be used as an appropriate instrument to increase the autonomy of sport motivation and to reduce the harmful effects of sport burnout.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Hamid Salehi; Zahra Zamanpour Boroujeni
Abstract
This study examined the effects of practice scheduling and attentional focus on learning a sport skill. 40 female high school students (mean age = 16.02 ± 0.88 years) practiced dart-throwing skill under either blocked or random practice schedules while their attention was directed ...
Read More
This study examined the effects of practice scheduling and attentional focus on learning a sport skill. 40 female high school students (mean age = 16.02 ± 0.88 years) practiced dart-throwing skill under either blocked or random practice schedules while their attention was directed to either the skill (dart scores) or an irrelevant cue (auditory tones) using dual-tasks. Analysis of variance were conducted at baseline, practice phase and a delayed transfer test. Results demonstrated a significant score improvement from baseline to delayed transfer test for all groups. Furthermore, the greatest improvement from baseline to delayed transfer test was observed in random-irrelevant condition compared with the other conditions. In conclusion, the current study provided new information about the interactive relationship between practice scheduling and attentional focus during learning a sport skill.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Elmira Nazari; Salar Faramarzi
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of play-based early intervention on psychomotor development of 4-6-year-old children suffering from autism spectrum disorder. The research design was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest and a control group. 30 qualified children (15 males and 15 females) ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of play-based early intervention on psychomotor development of 4-6-year-old children suffering from autism spectrum disorder. The research design was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest and a control group. 30 qualified children (15 males and 15 females) were randomly selected from 4-6-year-old children of Isfahan city in 2015 by convenience sampling method and assigned to experimental and control groups. Data were collected by Gesell Motor Developmental Scale (1940) completed by parents in pretest, posttest and follow-up. Then, experimental group received ten 90-minute treatment sessions once a week in which children participated in play-based early intervention. Control group received no treatment. Follow-up was conducted 30 days later. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with repeated measures. Results indicated a significant difference between experimental and control groups in psychomotor development. Moreover, intra-group differences, the interaction between two positions and changes in pretest, posttest and follow-up were significant in psychomotor development. Therefore, it can be concluded that play-based early interventions influence psychomotor development in children with autism spectrum disorder. Such interventions can be applied to improve and enhance these children’s skills.
Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Zahra Soori; Ali Heirani; Frozan Rafie; Zahra Falahi
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of perceptual-motor training on working memory in children with hearing disorders. For this purpose, 24 student with hearing loss (9-12 years old) in Kermanshah were selected and randomly divided to experimental and control groups. A working memory ...
Read More
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of perceptual-motor training on working memory in children with hearing disorders. For this purpose, 24 student with hearing loss (9-12 years old) in Kermanshah were selected and randomly divided to experimental and control groups. A working memory test by Wechsler memory software was used in this study. The experimental group performed a perceptual-motor training program (static and dynamic balance exercises, throw and receive the ball …) for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, 60 minutes each session. Finally, both groups conducted the posttest. Based on α=0.01 and normal distribution of data, mixed ANOVA test was used. The results showed that working memory was influenced by perceptual-motor training (P<0.05). Children in the experimental group showed a better significant performance in terms of counting on forward and visual memory span than control group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the countdown between the two groups (P˃0.05). The present findings suggest that perceptual-motor training can improve working memory in children with hearing loss.
