Contextual Interference Effects in Learning Volleyball Skills

2007 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 995-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Zetou ◽  
Maria Michalopoulou ◽  
Katerina Giazitzi ◽  
Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou

The aim of this study was to examine the contextual interference effect on learning three volleyball skills. Participants were 26 novice female volleyball players ( M age = 12.4 yr., SD = 1.2). They were assigned into two groups, Low Interference ( n = 13) and High Interference ( n = 13). Two practice schedules were used: blocked (Low Interference) and random (High Interference). The training period lasted for 10 weeks and included 2 training sessions of 75 min. each per week. The pretest was performed before the first training session, the posttest was performed after the completion of the last training period, and the retention test was performed two weeks after the posttest. A 2 (Groups) × 3 (Measurement Periods) analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated significant improvement in performance between pre- and posttests for both High Interference and Low Interference groups for the three skills included in this study. There was no significant main effect of group or interaction effect of group and measure. These findings suggest that either blocked or random practice could be effectively used in learning of volleyball skills by unskilled children.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Murray ◽  
Michele Marenus ◽  
Ana Cahuas ◽  
Kathryn Friedman ◽  
Haley Ottensoser ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Depression and anxiety are growing issues for college students, with both aerobic-resistance training and mindfulness-yoga exercises known to be effective in reducing symptoms and severity. However, no known research is available comparing these two depression and anxiety interventions simultaneously and in a virtual environment. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the effects of a virtual aerobic-resistance exercise intervention (WeActive) and a virtual yoga-mindfulness mindfulness exercise intervention (WeMindful) on depression and anxiety symptoms in college students METHODS The participants were 78 college students who anonymously completed a Qualtrics survey including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) at baseline and the post-test. Participants were randomly assigned to either the WeActive or WeMindful group and underwent two 30-minute virtual aerobic-resistance exercise lessons or yoga-mindfulness lessons per week for eight weeks. RESULTS The results of ANCOVA with repeated measures indicated that, while not statistically significant, both groups showed a notable decrease in anxiety with a marginal significant main effect of time (F = 3.485, p = 0.066, η2 = 0.047) but no significant main effect of group and no significant interaction effect of time with group. The two intervention groups experienced a significant decrease in depression with the main effect of time (F = 3.892, p = 0.052, η2 = 0.052). There was no significant main effect of group or interaction effect of time with group for depression. CONCLUSIONS College students in both WeActive and WeMindful groups experienced a significant decrease in depression symptoms and a decrease, though not significant, in anxiety as well. The study suggests that virtual WeActive and WeMindful interventions are effective approaches to managing US college student depression and anxiety during a pandemic.


2002 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 999-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J.K. Smith

This investigation was designed to apply contextual interference to acquisition of snowboarding skills. 20 participants completed several acquisition stages lasting about 2 hours while either alternating the direction of the turn within each stage or completing the whole stage while attempting turns in one direction, then repeating the stage for the other direction of turn. Following acquisition, all participants returned 1 wk. later for a retention test. Alternating practice yielded better performance during acquisition and retention as measured by the arc and form attained within the turns. Because this differs from typical contextual interference effects, it is suggested that the relation between the skills may have affected the results. Negative transfer operating within blocked practice and increased between-task comparisons within alternating practice may be related to the similarity between the tasks.


1990 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. French ◽  
Judith E. Rink ◽  
Peter H. Werner

Previous research in motor learning has shown that random practice schedules facilitate retention and transfer of motor skills more than repetitive practice schedules. The purpose of this study was to investigate the generalizability of contextual interference effects. High school students (63 boys, 76 girls) from three physical education class periods were randomly assigned to one of three practice conditions, random, random-blocked, or blocked practice within a class period. Three teachers were randomly assigned to a practice group within a class period and taught a different practice condition each class period. There were nine groups with three practice groups per class period. Subjects practiced the volleyball forearm pass, set, or overhead serve for 30 trials every day for nine class periods. All subjects recorded scores for their practice trials each day during acquisition and were posttested after a 2-day retention interval. Analysis of variance indicated significant improvement in all groups but no significant effects of practice condition during acquisition or retention. These findings suggest that practice was long enough to produce change during acquisition. However, factors characteristic of physical education classes may reduce or mask contextual interference effects commonly observed in other settings.


Author(s):  
Barry P. Goettl

Research in motor skill and verbal memory suggests that random sequencing of trials results in retention and transfer that is superior to blocked presentation of trials. The contextual interference effect is based largely on relatively simple motor and verbal tasks. The present study explores the generalizability of the contextual interference effect to a complex flight simulator task. Subjects (66 males and 45 females) were assigned to three groups (i.e., whole-task, part-task blocked, and part-task sequenced) and trained on a desktop flight simulator. Part-task blocked subjects practiced 13 component tasks presented in blocks (low contextual interference), and part-task sequenced subjects practiced the same component tasks presented in a sequence that was repeated several times (high contextual interference). It was predicted that part-task sequenced subjects would show superior retention and transfer compared to blocked subjects. Results indicated that whole-task subjects showed the best retention and the two part-task groups did not differ. Additionally, all three groups showed equivalent performance on the transfer task. These results suggest that the contextual interference effect may not generalize to complex tasks.


2008 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic A. Simon ◽  
Timothy D. Lee ◽  
John D. Cullen

Learners ( n = 48) practiced three multisegment movements with distinct target movement times. Four practice groups were compared: blocked, random, and two groups who had a win-shift/lose-stay schedule (WSLS1 and WSLS2). For these latter groups switching between practice tasks was performance-contingent: within 5% of target time for 1 or 2 consecutive trials, respectively. During acquisition, blocked performance was more accurate than for both random and WSLS2 groups. The WSLS1 group performed between blocked and random groups, but did not differ from either. In a next-day retention test, the random group scored better than the blocked group. The WSLS1 group performed similarly to the random practice while the WSLS2 group's scores were similar to those of the blocked group. Results encourage further study of similar practice schedules.


2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic A. Simon

The present study was intended to test whether the standard contextual interference effect would be observed when only two patterns were practiced in blocked or random schedules of multisegment movement tasks rather than three patterns which is the norm. In line with the basic effect, Blocked learners' performance was closer to ideal during acquisition, but Random learners had smaller errors at 24-hr. retention. In addition, random learners had better recall of the details of the patterns they had practiced. Learners' predictions of retention performance did not match the group differences actually observed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Pollatou ◽  
E. Kioumourtzoglou ◽  
N. Agelousis ◽  
G. Mavromatis

The present study investigated the generalizability of contextual interference effects by extending previous laboratory and field research to novel movements controlled by different motor programs. 30 men and 33 women learned novel throwing and kicking tasks, practicing with blocked, serial, or random schedules. The subjects practiced the tasks four days a week for two weeks and then were given a postest. One week later subjects were given a retention test. Significant improvements in performance were found for all groups for both tasks; however, a significant effect for practice condition was found only for the throwing task during retention, for which the random practice schedule led to better learning than the blocked and the serial practice. These findings suggest that the blocked, serial, and random practice methods could be effectively used for tasks controlled by different motor programs but must be practiced in the same teaching session, without expecting one to be more effective in learning than any other.


2021 ◽  
pp. 073563312110107
Author(s):  
Cixiao Wang ◽  
Huixiao Le

In collaborative learning, the intuition “the more device, the merrier” is somehow widely acknowledged, but little research has investigated the relationship between device-student ratio and the learning outcome. This study aims to investigate not only the main effect of different device-student ratio, also to identify the moderators in the learning context including task complexity, external script availability and students’ familiarity to the collaboration settings. A three-round quasi-experiment was conducted in a primary school in mainland China, 130 fifth-grade students from four classes participated. Group worksheet including conceptual understanding and problem-solving tasks were used to collect participants’ inquiry performance. Repeated measures ANOVA was employed in data analysis. Findings indicate that 1:m device-student ratio could be beneficial, and external scripts, and prior collaboration experience could moderate such effect. The different effect of 1:m device-student ratio to 1:1 is only significant in the situation when students are faced with relatively simple task, and the effect size is larger when external script is present. When the task is more complicated, such effect of device-student ratio would only emerge after a period of collaboration. This finding challenged the intuition that one-to-one device-student ratio could be better. Related discussions and recommendations to teaching were made.


Author(s):  
Nuno Batalha ◽  
Jose A. Parraca ◽  
Daniel A. Marinho ◽  
Ana Conceição ◽  
Hugo Louro ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to analyze the acute effects of a standardized water training session on the shoulder rotators strength and balance in age group swimmers, in order to understand whether a muscle-strengthening workout immediately after the water training is appropriate. A repeated measures design was implemented with two measurements performed before and after a standardized swim session. 127 participants were assembled in male (n = 72; age: 16.28 ± 1.55 years, height: 174.15 ± 7.89 cm, weight: 63.97 ± 6.51 kg) and female (n = 55; age: 15.29 ± 1.28 years, height: 163.03 ± 7.19 cm, weight: 52.72 ± 5.48 kg) cohorts. The isometric torque of the shoulder internal (IR) and external (ER) rotators, as well as the ER/IR ratios, were assessed using a hand-held dynamometer. Paired sample t-tests and effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were used (p ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were found on the shoulder rotators strength or balance in males after training. Females exhibited unchanged strength values after practice, but there was a considerable decrease in the shoulder rotators balance of the non-dominant limb (p < 0.01 d = 0.366). This indicates that a single practice seems not to affect the shoulders strength and balance of adolescent swimmers, but this can be a gender specific phenomenon. While muscle-strengthening workout after the water session may be appropriate for males, it can be questionable regarding females. Swimming coaches should regularly assess shoulder strength levels in order to individually identify swimmers who may or may not be able to practice muscle strengthening after the water training.


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