Increasing the Distance of an External Focus of Attention has Limited Effects on Standing Long Jump Performance

International Journal of Exercise Science 6(4) : 300-309, 2013. Several previous studied have demonstrated that adopting an external focus of attention (i.e., directing attention towards the result of the movement) improves the performance of a variety of motor skills. The objective of this study was to investigate if increasing the distance of an external focus of attention would further improve standing long jump performance. We hypothesized that as the distance of the external focus increased so would jumping distance. We also hypothesized that when subjects completed jumps in the external focus of attention conditions they would jump significantly further than jumps completed in the baseline condition. Using a within-participant design, college aged students (N = 46) completed two standing long jumps in each of the three experimental conditions. When participants were in the Baseline condition they were instructed to “Jump to the best of your ability.” When participants were in the External-3m and External-5m conditions they were instructed to “Jump as close to the cone as possible.” The cone was placed at a distance of three or five meters away, respectively. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that trials completed in both of the external focus of attention conditions were significantly further than trails completed in the Baseline condition. Additionally, the analysis revealed that the jump distances completed in the External-3m and the External-5m conditions were not significantly different. The findings of this study suggest that there were limited benefits for extending the distance of an external focus of attention

Practicing with gradual increases in contextual interference enhances visuomotor learning

The purpose of this study was to determine if practicing with gradual increases in contextual interference (CI) facilitated the learning of a continuous motor skill that required visuomotor tracking. We hypothesized the group that practiced with increasing amounts of CI would perform significantly better on a retention and transfer test compared to participants that practiced with blocked and random scheduling. A total of 78 participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups (i.e. Blocked, Increasing, Random). The level of CI was modified by varying the number of revolutions per minute (RPM) on a rotary pursuit tracker. Following the acquisition phase, participants returned after a 24-hour period and completed the 12-trial retention and transfer test. The results of statistical analysis indicated that all three groups improved their performance during practice. The posttest analysis indicated the Increasing group was better than the Blocked and Random groups on the retention and transfer test

Directing Attention Externally Enhances Agility Performance: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of the Efficacy of Using Verbal Instructions to Focus Attention

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate if focusing attention externally produced faster movement times compared to instructions that focused attention internally or a control set of instructions that did not explicitly focus attention when performing an agility task. A second purpose of the study was to measure participants’ focus of attention during practice by use of a questionnaire. Participants (N = 20) completed 15 trials of an agility “L” run following instructions designed to induce an external (EXT), internal (INT) attentional focus or a control (CON) set of instructions inducing no specific focus of attention. Analysis revealed when participants followed the EXT instructions they had significantly faster movement times compared to when they followed the INT and CON set of instructions; consistent with previous research the INT and CON movement times were not significantly different from each other. Qualitative data showed when participants were in the external condition they focused externally 67% of the time. When they were in the internal condition they focused internally 76% of the time, and when they were in the control condition they did not use an internal or external focus of attention 77% of the time. Qualitative data also revealed participants in the EXT, INT, and CON conditions switched their focus of attention at a frequency of 27, 35, and 51% respectively

Treniranje u uvjetima kontinuuma otežavajućega kontekstualnog utjecaja: usporedba triju različitih načina vježbanja na satovima tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture u osnovnim školama

Few studies have explored the contextual interference effect with children. The findings from these investigations have produced inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to investigate further how the contextual interference effect influenced children learning a fundamental motor skill in a physical education class. Elementary students (N=36) practiced overarm throwing following traditional blocked or random scheduling. They were compared to a third group of participants practicing the same tasks following a schedule with systematic increases in contextual interference. Analysis revealed that all three groups improved during practice. Post-test results revealed performance differences in favor of the group that practiced with systematic increases in contextual interference. The findings reported here extend the results of previous studies by demonstrating that children can learn a motor skill by practicing with systematic increases in contextual interference. Theoretical considerations are discussed, as well as the relevance of the findings for practitioners and avenues for future research.Premalo je istraživanja koja su ispitivala učinke kontekstualnog utjecaja na učenje motoričkih znanja u djece. Rezultati tih istraživanja bili su proturječni. Cilj ovog istraživanja bilo je daljnje istraživanje učinaka kontekstualnog utjecaja na djecu koja uče osnovna motorička znanja na nastavi tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture. Učenici osnovnih škola (N=36) vježbali su osnovno bacanja loptice jednom rukom iznad glave u uvjetima tradicionalne, blokirane ili nasumične strukture kontekstualnog utjecaja. Rezultati tih učenika uspoređeni su s rezultatima treće grupe ispitanika koji su izvodili/vježbali isti motorički zadatak u uvjetima sustavnog povećanja otežavajućega kontekstualnog utjecaja. Rezultati su pokazali da su sve tri grupe ispitanika napredovale tijekom vježbanja. Rezultati finalnog mjerenja pokazali su također da je veći napredak zabilježen u grupi koja je vježbala u uvjetima sustavnog povećanja otežavajućega kontekstualnog utjecaja. Rezultati ovog istraživanja proširuju spoznaje dosadašnjih znanstvenih istraživanja ukazivanjem na činjenicu da djeca mogu učiti motorička znanja u uvjetima sustavnog povećanja otežavajućega kontekstualnog utjecaja. U članku su raspravljene teorijske osnove eksperimenta i praktičan doprinos dobivenih znanstvenih spoznaja te su predstavljene preporuke za daljnja znanstvena istraživanja

Akutni učinci fokusa pažnje na izvedbu bacanja kugle kod vrhunskih sportaša

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of adopting an external, internal, and neutral focus of attention while executing an underhand and overhead shot put. Using a counterbalanced within-participant design, thirty highly skilled athletes (height 183±6 cm, body mass 78±7 kg, age 22.2±2.4 years) performed five underhand and five overhead shot puts. The results indicated that the shot put distances were greater (p<.05) when the participants were in the external condition compared to the internal and neutral conditions in both tests. Additionally, it was observed that the neutral condition provided better throwing results compared to the internal condition. These results support the constrained action hypothesis, and provide additional evidence that skilled athletes should adopt an external focus of attention when executing motor skills.Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrđivanje utjecaja usvajanja vanjskog, unutarnjeg ili neutralnog fokusa pažnje tijekom izvođenja bacanja kugle pothvatom naprijed te preko glave. Korištenjem eksperimentalnog nacrta s uravnoteženim ponovljenim mjerenjima unutar ispitanika 30 vrhunski obučenih sportaša (tjelesne visine 183±6 cm, tjelesne težine 78±7 kg u dobi od 22,2±2,4 godine) izvelo je pet izbačaja kugle pothvatom prema naprijed i pet izbačaja preko glave. Rezultati su pokazali je udaljenost bacanja bila veća (p<.05) prilikom primjene vanjskog fokusa pažnje u usporedbi sa unutrašnjim i neutralnim fokusom pažnje u oba testa. Nadalje, zamijećeno je da su rezultati bacanja bili bolji u uvjetima korištenja neutralnog fokusa pažnje u odnosu na unutrašnji fokus pažnje. Ovi rezultati potvrđuju hipotezu ograničene akcije, te nude dodatne dokaze da bi vrhunski sportaši trebali koristiti vanjski fokus pažnje prilikom izvođenja motoričkih zadataka

Interlaboratory Evaluation of Rodent Pulmonary Responses to Engineered Nanomaterials: The NIEHS Nano GO Consortium

Background: Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have potential benefits, but they also present safety concerns for human health. Interlaboratory studies in rodents using standardized protocols are needed to assess ENM toxicity. Methods: Four laboratories evaluated lung responses in C57BL/6 mice to ENMs delivered by oropharyngeal aspiration (OPA), and three labs evaluated Sprague-Dawley (SD) or Fisher 344 (F344) rats following intratracheal instillation (IT). ENMs tested included three forms of titanium dioxide (TiO2) [anatase/rutile spheres (TiO2-P25), anatase spheres (TiO2-A), and anatase nanobelts (TiO2-NBs)] and three forms of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) [original (O), purified (P), and carboxylic acid “functionalized� (F)]. One day after treatment, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was collected to determine differential cell counts, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and protein. Lungs were fixed for histopathology. Responses were also examined at 7 days (TiO2 forms) and 21 days (MWCNTs) after treatment. Results: TiO2-A, TiO2-P25, and TiO2-NB caused significant neutrophilia in mice at 1 day in three of four labs. TiO2-NB caused neutrophilia in rats at 1 day in two of three labs, and TiO2-P25 and TiO2-A had no significant effect in any of the labs. Inflammation induced by TiO2 in mice and rats resolved by day 7. All MWCNT types caused neutrophilia at 1 day in three of four mouse labs and in all rat labs. Three of four labs observed similar histopathology to O-MWCNTs and TiO2-NBs in mice. Conclusions: ENMs produced similar patterns of neutrophilia and pathology in rats and mice. Although interlaboratory variability was found in the degree of neutrophilia caused by the three types of TiO2 nanoparticles, similar findings of relative potency for the three types of MWCNTs were found across all laboratories, thus providing greater confidence in these interlaboratory comparisons

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying τ lepton

A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb -1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a τ lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, σtt-=186±13(stat.)±20(syst.)±7(lumi.) pb, is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction