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Adults (N = 54, 80.78 ± 6.08 years) who reported falling during the previous 12 months participated in a 12-week wobble board training program with internal focus or external focus (EF) instructions. Verbal manipulation checks were performed after training sessions as a self-report of the attentional foci used. The percentage of sessions in which participants reported using an EF (EF[subscript SR]) was subsequently calculated. Mean velocity and mean power frequency in the anterior-posterior (MVELO[subscript AP] and MPF[subscript AP]) and medial-lateral (MVELO[subscript ML] and MPF[subscript ML]) direction were assessed during a 35-s wobble board task at Weeks 0, 6, 12, 13, 16, and 20, with the latter three as retention tests. Piecewise linear growth models estimated treatment effects on individual growth trajectories of MVELO[subscript AP] and [subscript ML] and MPF[subscript AP] and [subscript ML] during intervention and retention periods. Regardless of condition, MVELOML significantly decreased ([pi] = -0.0019, p = 0.005) and MPF[subscript ML] increased ([pi] = 0.025, p < 0.02) during the intervention period. In analyses including interaction terms, participants in the EF group who reported greater EF[subscript SR] had superior progression of MPF[subscript AP] during the intervention ([pi] = 0.0013, p = 0.025). Verbal manipulation checks suggest a preference for and advantage of EF for facilitating postural control performance and automaticity.

This study examined whether associations exist between PA intensity, self-regulation, and indicators of school readiness, a proxy for academic achievement, in young children. Thirty young children completed assessments of physical activity, school readiness indicators, and self-regulation. Physical activity intensity was classified as light, moderate or vigorous. School readiness indicators were assessed using expressive and receptive subtests. There were no associations between light and moderate physical activity, school readiness indicators, and self-regulation. Additionally, there was no association between vigorous activity and the receptive subtest of the school readiness indicators. Correlations were significant between vigorous activity, self-regulation, and expressive subtest. School indicator expressive scores and self-regulation were significantly predicted by the level of vigorous activity. Results suggest the existence of an intensity threshold influencing the PA, self-regulation, and school readiness association.

Purpose: Golf coaches may recommend "blind" putting drills in which golfers close their eyes to improve their feel. Research on specificity of learning suggests, however, that adding or removing a source of sensory information after practicing under differing circumstances can cause performance decrements. Specificity of learning is also dependent upon specific task requirements. The purpose of this study was to examine whether golf putting, requiring body positioning and aiming an implement, would benefit from blind training. Method: Novice golfers (n = 24) in Vision Training (VT) & No-Vision Training (NVT) groups completed 108 trials of a 10-ft putt. After a 24-hr delay, both groups completed sighted- and blind-putting tests. Results: Acquisition results revealed Group × Block interactions in RE (p = 0.025) and y-VE (p = 0.032). Post hoc procedures revealed significant differences between the groups on Block 2 (p = 0.017), with the NVT group producing longer mean RE. During testing, RE and x-VE results revealed Group × Test interactions (p = 0.027 & 0.041), such that performance of the VT group suffered when transferred to blind putting, while performance of the NVT group did not differ when transferred. Conclusion: NVT did not confer any advantage for subsequent performance with vision. Moreover, results were not consistent with the specificity of learning hypothesis and suggest that putting does not rely on complete sensory integration to support subsequent performance. Presumably, task requirements related to body positioning provided adequate sensory cues for successful performance.

Self-control over factors involving task-related information (e.g., feedback) can enhance motor learning. It is unknown if these benefits extend to manipulations that do not directly affect such information. The purpose of this study was to determine if self-control over the amount of practice would also facilitate learning. Participants learned to throw a dart using their nonpreferred hand. The self-control (SC) group decided when to stop practice. The yoked group completed the same number of trials as their SC counterparts. Results revealed the SC group was more accurate during transfer and in recalling the number of trials completed. These findings indicate that self-control benefits extend to factors that do not directly alter task-related information. (Contains 4 figures, 1 table, and 4 notes.)

In this study, we examined the effects of interference and repeated retention tests by comparing groups that performed (a) one or two tests, or (b) two tests separated by interpolated tasks. The task involved pressing five keys in 925 ms. Constant error increased after Block 1 of the second test for the group completing the interpolated tasks. Variable error decreased across retention tests and was smaller for the two-test groups compared to the one-test control. Results differed from previous reports of degraded timing accuracy (Magnuson, Shea, & Fairbrother, 2004), suggesting the present results may have been related to highly accurate performance during the first retention test that reflected successful initial encoding of task information. (Contains 3 notes, 3 figures and 1 table.)

To understand how task switching affects human performance, there is a need to investigate how it influences the performance of tasks other than those involving bivalent stimulus categorization. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the effects of task switching on anticipation timing performance, which typically requires participants to track the apparent motion of a light along a series of lamps and press a button when the target lamp is illuminated. Participants were 36 university students who gave informed consent and participated voluntarily. Participants had no prior experience with the task and were naive to the purposes of the study. The switching effects observed in both constant error (CE) and absolute constant error (ACE) confirmed the prediction that switching between tasks resulted in degraded performance compared to conditions that repeated a single task. These findings verified that switching effects occur outside the stimulus categorization tasks used in most previous studies. Although switching effects have been previously attributed to inadequate preparation, either from a lack of time or response uncertainty, it was unlikely these contributed to the present results because of the relatively long intertrial intervals and a predictable schedule used in the alternating condition. Thus, the effects observed in the present study were consistent with the perspective that persisting activation causes interference when switching to a different task. (Contains 3 figures.)

Three experiments examined repeated retention testing effects in a contextual interference (CI) protocol. Retention was assessed at 10 min and 24 hr following acquisition or at just 24-hr for the one-test conditions. Experiments 1 and 2 used speeded-response key-pressing tasks. Dependent measures were total time and errors. Experiment 3 used sequential-timing tasks. Dependent measures were absolute error and absolute constant error. Results revealed CI effects in each experiment. Repeated retention testing effects were not found in Experiments 1 and 3. Experiment 2 revealed superior performance by the two-test condition compared to the one-test condition. This result was qualified by possible practice effects during the 10-min test. It was concluded that repeated retention testing does not present problems for most studies of CI. (Contains 6 figures.)

Two experiments investigated the effects of a single reminder trial on immediate and delayed retention. Experiment 1 determined if beneficial effects of a reminder mat were a function of task order. Immediate retention performance benefited only when the reminder trial was practiced in the first block of trials. Experiment 2 added a 24-hr delayed retention test to examine the long-term benefits of a reminder trial Retention performance was enhanced over both delay intervals. The long-term effect extended previous research (Shea & Titzer, 1993) that documented effects after 10 min. The use of a single reminder trial established that intertask comparisons between multiple reminder trials were not a precondition for the reminder trial effect as postulated by Shea and Titzer.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that administering an initial retention test would influence any subsequent retention tests administered to the same participants. Participants performed 40 practice trials of a four-segment key-pressing task with a movement time goal of 925 ms. Participants were then administered either two retention tests (Day 1--Day 1 group, 10 min and 20 min after practice; Day 1--Day 2 group, 10 min and 24 hr after practice; Day 2--Day 2 group, 23 hr 50 min and 24 hr after practice) or one retention test (Day 1--Control group, 20 min after practice; Day 2--Control group, 24 hr after practice). The first test had a deleterious effect on performing the second test for the Day 2--Day 2 group, which would be expected if the task representation was updated and re-encoded at the time of recall using diminished information. This finding suggests that researchers should be cautious about using repeated retention tests that are administered 1 day after practice. In addition, teachers and coaches should consider administering a test under game-like conditions following practice of a new technique. Otherwise, performance of the new technique may be degraded or perturbed at the time of later performances.

Falls in older adults are a public health challenge due to their influence on well-being and health-care costs. One way to address this challenge is to discover new methods to enhance postural control in older adults so they are better prepared to maintain an upright stance. Older and younger adults (N = 32) performed a static balance task on a force plate with no instructions, internal focus instructions, or external focus instructions. Center of pressure displacement time series were analyzed using sample entropy and standard deviation. Only the external focus condition significantly increased postural control entropy, which was observed across both age groups. This study showed that an external focus of attention can be used to increase postural control entropy within a single session of testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study described age-related changes in swim time as a function of top-ten finishing place for Masters swimmers. Previous research has documented increases in 50-m freestyle swim times for men beyond age 35 using aggregated topten times. The present study examined the relationship between age and swim time, taking into account the potential influence of finishing place in the top-ten. Data were retrieved from the United States Masters Swimming database for male top-ten finishers in the 50-m short course freestyle for the years from 1993 to 2002. Data from each year were analyzed using linear regression procedures with Age, Square of age, and Finishing place as predictor variables and Swim time as the dependent variable. Analysis indicated that, when Finishing place was considered, a more gradual increase in Swim time as a function of age was seen for finishing places closer to first place than for those closer to tenth place.

ABSTRACT. The effects of practice schedule and amount of practice on the development of the generalized motor program (GMP) and on parameter estimation were investigated. Participants (N = 108) practiced [...]

This study examined whether associations exist between PA intensity, self-regulation, and indicators of school readiness, a proxy for academic achievement, in young children. Thirty young children completed assessments of physical activity, school readiness indicators, and self-regulation. Physical activity intensity was classified as light, moderate or vigorous. School readiness indicators were assessed using expressive and receptive subtests. There were no associations between light and moderate physical activity, school readiness indicators, and self-regulation. Additionally, there was no association between vigorous activity and the receptive subtest of the school readiness indicators. Correlations were significant between vigorous activity, self-regulation, and expressive subtest. School indicator expressive scores and self-regulation were significantly predicted by the level of vigorous activity. Results suggest the existence of an intensity threshold influencing the PA, self-regulation, and school readiness association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Golf coaches may recommend "blind" putting drills in which golfers close their eyes to improve their feel. Research on specificity of learning suggests, however, that adding or removing a source of sensory information after practicing under differing circumstances can cause performance decrements. Specificity of learning is also dependent upon specific task requirements. The purpose of this study was to examine whether golf putting, requiring body positioning and aiming an implement, would benefit from blind training. Method: Novice golfers (n = 24) in Vision Training (VT) & No-Vision Training (NVT) groups completed 108 trials of a 10-ft putt. After a 24-hr delay, both groups completed sighted- and blind-putting tests. Results: Acquisition results revealed Group × Block interactions in RE (p = .025) and y-VE (p = .032). Post hoc procedures revealed significant differences between the groups on Block 2 (p = .017), with the NVT group producing longer mean RE. During testing, RE and x-VE results revealed Group × Test interactions (p = .027 & .041), such that performance of the VT group suffered when transferred to blind putting, while performance of the NVT group did not differ when transferred. Conclusion: NVT did not confer any advantage for subsequent performance with vision. Moreover, results were not consistent with the specificity of learning hypothesis and suggest that putting does not rely on complete sensory integration to support subsequent performance. Presumably, task requirements related to body positioning provided adequate sensory cues for successful performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allowing learners to control the number of practice trials has been shown to facilitate motor learning (Lessa & Chiviacowsky, 2015; Post et al., 2011; 2014). However, it is uncertain the extent to which prior findings were influenced by the combined effects of allowing participants to control both the pacing- and amount-of-practice. The present study examined the independent effects of self-controlled amount- and pacing-of-practice on learning a sequential timing task. Participants were assigned to a self-controlled-amount-of-practice (SCA), self-controlled-pacing-of-practice (SCP), yoked-amount-of-practice (YKA), or a yoked-pacing-of-practice (YKP) group. Participants completed acquisition, immediate retention/transfer and delayed retention/transfer. During acquisition, SCA controlled the number of acquisition blocks completed with a fixed inter-trial interval while SCP controlled the inter-trial interval with a fixed number of blocks. Yoked groups were matched to a self-control counterpart so the amount (YKA) and pacing (YKP) were equivalent. Self-control groups demonstrated lower absolute constant error during immediate-retention and lower absolute constant error and variable error during delayed retention (p <.05). For intrinsic motivation, SCA scored significantly higher than SCP for the subscale Interest/Enjoyment (p <.05). Findings indicated that self-control, regardless of type, facilitated motor learning. Further work is needed to continue to examine the relationship between controlling the amount and pacing of practice on skill acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that providing learners with self-control over some aspect of practice enhances motor learning (for a review see Wulf, 2007). One explanation for the self-control effect is that learners engage in deeper information processing when they are allowed to make choices during practice. Recent research has supported this line of thinking by showing that the self-control effect was eliminated for learners who engaged in a cognitive load task during the interval following completion of discrete task trials (Carter & Ste-Marie, 2017). The current study tested the effects of imposing a cognitive load task during the completion of continuous task trials. Participants (N = 48) were divided into self-control (SC), self-control with load (SCL), and two corresponding yoked (YK, YKL) groups. Participants learned a continuous tracing task and then performed 24-hour retention and transfer tests. Retention and transfer test movement times were significantly faster for SC compared to YK participants within the No Load condition but did not differ between these participants within the Load condition. Errors were similar among all groups in retention and transfer. These results provide support for the importance of information processing in regards to the self-controlled learning benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]