Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning

Abstract The present study aimed at investigating the effect of rich environment at
home on the speed of acquisition progress in football dribbling skill of boys.
The statistical population included children aged between 6 and 13 in district
1, Tehran city. The present study was semi-experimental with pretestposttest
design. Based on the results of the distributed questionnaires, 30
subjects were selected as the sample and were divided into two groups: rich
and non-rich. Firstly, both groups participated in football dribbling test as the
pretest. Then, both rich and non-rich groups received training for 9 days and
one session per day. At the end of each training session, both groups
completed football dribbling test again. To compare the groups, the 2 × 9
mixed analysis of covariance was used, and dependent t test was applied to
examine intragroup changes. Wilks Lambda index indicated that the effect of
environment on the speed of learning progress was significant
(F(9&19)=3.27), P<0.014, correlation ratio=0.608). The rich group had a
higher speed of learning progress than the non-rich group. The comparison
of the training days of both groups showed that the rich group was
significantly better than the non-rich group for all days except for day 4. The
results of dependent t test showed a significant difference between pretest
and day 9 in rich (P<0.001) and non-rich (P<0.001) groups. Overall, these
results show that enriched home environment significantly improves the
speed of learning progress.

Abstract According to numerous studies in sport psychology, it is proved that optimal athletic performance relates to many psychological factors and personality and psychological characteristics influence athletic development. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare mindfulness, emotional intelligence and mental toughness in successful and unsuccessful karate athletes in Iran men’s karate super league. This research was casual-comparative and the population consisted of Iran men’s karate super league in Kumite section in 2015. 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 the data of the number of competitions and their results for each athlete were collected, the optimal performance of karate athletes was calculated and two successful and unsuccessful karate athletes groups were determined (each group 30 subjects). The form of content, the demographic questionnaire, Sport Mindfulness Scale, Schutte Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and Mental Toughness Questionnaire (48 items) were used. The normal distribution of data in both groups were examined using the K-S and Shapiro-Wilk tests. The results of independent t test showed that the difference in mindfulness was not statistically significant between successful and unsuccessful karate athletes, but the emotional intelligence and mental toughness between successful and unsuccessful athletes were significantly different. Overall, it can be stated that a major part of these findings emphasize the role of the psychological characteristics in the sport performance and success of the two groups of elite karate athletes who have the highest rank in Asia and world karate.

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of feed forward augmented information in model observation on learning mini basketball free throw skill in children. For this purpose, 45 children (10 years old) were selected as the sample by convenience sampling method and were divided into three groups: feed forward augmented information + observation, observation + KR feedback, and control (C). The research method was semi-experimental and research design was pretest-posttest and retention test. The task used in this study was mini basketball free throw skill. Firstly, the participants performed 15 trials in the pretest. The acquisition phase consisted of 6 blocks of 15 trials of observation followed by physical training. The retention test was performed 48 hours after the last training block in 15 trials. The data were analyzed by mixed analysis of variance, between-group analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test. The results showed that both at the acquisition and retention phases, feed forward augmented information + observation group who were knowledgeable about the quality of the model prior to the observation showed better performance than the other two groups (P<0.05). Generally, these results showed that knowledge of the model performance before observation can make learning of a throwing task more significant than the time when they were knowledgeable after the observation. Therefore, it is suggested that feed forward augmented information on the quality of the model before observation should be used to improve the performance of the subjects.

Abstract Neonatal growth indices are one of the important issues in the assessment
and care of pregnancy which have significant effects on the life after birth.
Therefore, it is important to recognize their related factors. The aim of this
study was to investigate the relationship between pregnant women's lifestyle
and physical growth indices in newborns. This descriptive-comparative
study was conducted on 412 pregnant women (mean age 28.1±5.6 years)
who referred to Mahdieh Hospital in Tehran by a cross-sectional and field
method. Subjects were selected by convenience sampling method. Data were
collected and recorded by Lifestyle Questionnaire (LSQ) and information
about the growth indices of newborns from their medical records in Tehran
Mahdieh Hospital. Then, growth indices were compared with NCHS
standard norm (P≤0.05). Independent and one-sample t tests and Pearson
correlation were used to analyze the data. According to the results, the
quality of lifestyle in pregnant women was reported to be moderate. Also, a
comparison of weight and height indices showed a significant difference in
the time intervals after birth in comparison with the NCHS norm (P≤0.05)
which indicated that this norm was lower than the global norm in Iranian
infants. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in the
head circumference (P=0.18). Considering the findings of this study on
lifestyle and moderate physical activity in pregnant women, mothers are
recommended to have more physical activity and to improve their nutritional
quality so that they can promote their lifestyle and thereby improve the
growth indices of newborns.

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a course of physical exercise on cognitive function and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This research was performed semi-experimental. Participants included 25 male students aged 7 to 10 years old referred to Ibn Sina Hospital in Mashhad, and randomly divided into two groups (control and experimental). The experimental group participated in an exercise program for 24 sessions, 75 minutes per session. The control group did not receive any intervention. All the participants performed Stroop Test and Go no go Test before and after the exercise. Also, blood samples were taken from these participants to measure serum BDNF before and after exercise. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA. The results demonstrated that cognitive function of the children in experimental group regarding Stroop and Go no go tsts showed significant difference compared with the control group, also Serum BDNF levels showed a significant increase (p<0.05). These results suggest that the organized exercise program helps to improve cognitive function and treat in children with ADHD.

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the positive effects of forced and
voluntary exercises as a non-pharmacological factor on modified behaviors
due to stress of separation from mother. In the present study, 48 male baby
rats were selected and separated from their mothers from day 2 to 14 for 180
minutes. On the 21st day, these rats were randomly divided into 4 groups.
The groups included maternal stress, control, treadmill, running wheel (RW).
The first group experienced stress of separation from their mothers from day
2 to 14 and the control group was kept from the beginning with their
mothers. The exercise groups also began to exercise since their 21st birth
day. Then, the groups conducted behavioral anxiety and rodent depression
tests including EPM, Splash, FST, and Open Field. The obtained data were
statistically analyzed by t and ANOVA methods at a significance level
(P<0.05). Behavioral tests showed that the stress of separation from the
mother caused depression behaviors. On the other hand, voluntary exercise
caused antidepressant effects compared with the stress group while no
significant changes were observed between the effect of forced exercise and
the stress group. The results showed that exercise, especially voluntary
exercise, reduces stress during adolescence, and reduces depression and
anxiety behaviors in adulthood.

Abstract Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is one of the common neurodevelopmental disorders in children, can produce several cognitive, social and educational difficulties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of fundamental motor skills (FMS) on cognitive impulsivity, motor impulsivity and sustained attention in primary school children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design. The study population consists of all elementary school students of Shiraz schools. The sample used for the study was 38 students with ADHD symptoms which was selected by multi-level sampling based on SNAP-IV and randomly divided in two groups, experiment (21 subjects) and control (17 subjects). The experimental group trained for ten sessions in the FMS program and the control group dealt its daily activities. Then one session before and after of interventions all of the two groups were measured with using of continuous performance, dexterity, porteus maze and passing test. Data were analyzed by mixed repeated measures ANOVA and indicate that FMS training can have a positive effect on children performance in motor impulsivity, but there was no evidence of the effect of mentioned interventions on Cognitive impulsivity and sustained attention. According to the findings of the study, can be concluded that short term FMS training can be useful in controlling movement and impulses in children with ADHD symptoms.

Abstract Children with intellectual disability experience many problems in their
everyday lives and educational issues. One of these important issues exists in
visual perception. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the
effect of sport vision training on visual perception of children with
intellectual disability in Isfahan city. 30 children were selected from
educable students with intellectual disability (7-11 years old) as the sample
and were randomly assigned to two groups (each group 15 subjects):
experimental and control. Before the training, children with intellectual
disability underwent Wechsler IQ test and educable children entered the
study. Also, before the training, the TVPS - II visual perception pretest was
administered. Then, experimental group had their training for 8 weeks, 3
sessions per week and 45 minutes each session. In the final stage, TVPS - II
visual perception pretest was conducted. Based on the results of the
MANCOVA analysis (with the control of pretest scores) sport vision
training had an effect on the mean of all visual perception components
except for form constancy test in the posttest (P<0.05). The results of this
study showed that sport vision training can improve the visual perception of
children with intellectual disability. Therefore, it is suggested that sport
vision training is also used to treat and rehabilitate these children in the
treatment process.