Cognitive Change, Learning, Spatial
Conditions
Keywords
stroke technique, psychophysiological body responses, visual perceptual skills, reaction time.
Brief summary
Developing movement capabilities and efficiently acquiring and assimilating movement information and knowledge in middle childhood stages is of great importance for performing complex movement structures in later stages of life. Our study is directed to researching the influence of active video games (AVG) on assessment of tennis motor skills and visual capabilities in middle childhood, as a part of two separate sub-researches.
Detailed description
In the first sub-research, which included a sample of 55 children aged between 7 and 9, the investigators measured the physiological responses of bodies after acute and chronic exposure to playing AVG. The investigators established a significant difference in skin conductance before beginning the intervention between the virtual and actual game. After the intervention, the experimental group had a significantly higher average value of heart rate frequency and breathing frequency while playing AVG in comparison to the control group. In the second sub-research the investigators measured progress in tennis technique (TRSC test), development of gross motor skills and change in reaction time on the same group of children. In the TRSC test, the control group improved in all sub-groups with both strokes. The experimental group made no improvements in sub-group 3d with the ''forehand'', 1d and 3d with the ''backhand''. In the gross motor skill development test the investigators have not established a significant interaction effect. In the analogue reaction time measurement test, the investigators recorded a significant interaction between time x group. The same goes for Simon's test with incongruent stimuli, with congruent the interaction was of no relevance. The investigators established that the use of AVG can represent a new strategy for combining movement/sports activities and cognitively directed tasks aiming at effective assessment of tennis skills.
Interventions
DEVICEActive video games
Participants played the active video game Virtua tennis 4 on a playstation kinect device
OTHERtennis training process
Participants were involved in a regular tennis training process, performed two times a week for one hour per lesson.
Sponsors
Science and Research Centre Koper
University of Primorska
Marusic
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 9 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age limit
Exclusion criteria
* excluded were players with injuries or long-term body impairments that prevented them from performing shots as they are usually instructed.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Psychophysiological body responses 1: skin conductance | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | Skin conductance measured in micro siemens |
| Psychophysiological body responses 2: skin temperature | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | Skin temperature measured in Celsius |
| Psychophysiological body responses 3: heart rate frequency | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | hear rate measured in beats per minute |
| Psychophysiological body responses 4: breathing frequency | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | breathing frequency measured in breaths per minute |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| TGMD-3 scale (Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition) | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | The TGMD-3 has two subtests. The first subtest, Locomotor, measures the gross motor skills that require fluid coordinated movements of the body as the child moves in one direction or another. The second subtest, Ball Skills, measure the gross motor skills that demonstrate efficient throwing, striking, and catching movements. The TGMD-3 provides an overall composite score (Gross Motor). The two subtest scaled scores are combined to form the Gross Motor composite. The Examiner's Manual discusses the test's theoretical and research-based foundation, item development, standardization, administration and scoring procedures, normative tables, and guidelines for using and interpreting the test's results. The TGMD-3 scale is used to measure the fundamental motor skills in 3-10 year-old children with typical development. The raw score for locomotor subtest is between 0 and 46, while the raw score for ball skills is between 0 and 54. The overall raw score for the test is between 0 and 100. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Simon task | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | Congruent and incongruent stimuli measured in milliseconds. |
| Manual/analog visuomotor reaction time task | change from baseline to 3-months intervention | The time needed to catch a suspended vertical shaft by hand closure, measured in centimeters and then calculated in milliseconds. |
Countries
Slovenia
Outcome results
None listed