The Effects of Manipulating Task Difficulty and Feedback Frequency on Children's Dart Throwing Accuracy and Consistency.
In the present study we investigated the effects of manipulating task difficulty (constant vs. progressive difficulty) and frequency of knowledge of results (KR) on the accuracy and consistency of children's performance of a novel fine motor coordination task (dart throwing). We assigned 69 right-ha...
| Published in: | Perceptual & Motor Skills Vol. 128; no. 6; pp. 2787 - 2805 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Dec2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=154098933&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 154098933 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00315125 PSK jtl: Perceptual & Motor Skills issn: 00315125 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Dec2021 vid: 128 iid: 6 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 154098933 10.1177/00315125211039341 ppf: 2787 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: The Effects of Manipulating Task Difficulty and Feedback Frequency on Children's Dart Throwing Accuracy and Consistency. aug: au: Bahri, Fatma Elghoul, Yousri Masmoudi, Liwa Clark, Cain C. T. Glenn, Jordan M. Souissi, Nizar affil: Education, Motor Skills, Sports and Health (EM2S), LR19JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia Warwickshire Institute for Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism (WISDEM), University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, Coventry, United Kingdom Exercise Science Research Center, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States Physical Activity: Sport and Health, UR18JS01, National Sport Observatory, Tunis, Tunisia su: Task performance Training School children Motor ability Basketball shooting Throwing (Sports) Psychology of movement Physical education sug: subj: Task performance Training School children Motor ability Sports and Recreation Instruction Basketball shooting Throwing (Sports) Psychology of movement Physical education keyword: difficulty level feedback frequency fine motor coordination task motor learning time pressure difficulty level feedback frequency fine motor coordination task motor learning time pressure ab: In the present study we investigated the effects of manipulating task difficulty (constant vs. progressive difficulty) and frequency of knowledge of results (KR) on the accuracy and consistency of children's performance of a novel fine motor coordination task (dart throwing). We assigned 69 right-handed physical education (PE) students (M age = 10.73, SD = 0.89 years) to progressive (PDG) or constant difficulty (CDG) groups. PDG and CDG were each split into three subgroups who received varying KR frequency (100%KR, 50%KR, and 33%KR), creating a total of six groups. We increased difficulty in the PDG by manipulating the distance to the target (2 m, 2.37 m, and 3.56 m), while distance to the target was constant for CDG throughout the experiment (2.37 m). We conducted performance assessments during familiarization (pre-test), acquisition (post-test), and retention (retention testing) learning phases under both normal condition (NC) and a time pressure condition (TPC). Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of difficulty manipulation on skill learning under both NC and TPC. Further analyses revealed that skill learning was enhanced by progressive difficulty manipulation. However, learning was not affected by KR frequency changes. Progressive difficulty practice enhanced both accuracy and consistency, specifically at retention testing. These results suggest that motor learning in children may be enhanced by practicing with progressive increases in difficulty. PE teachers are encouraged to gradually introduce difficulty levels in motor learning tasks that require high accuracy. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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