Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of different Specialized Physical Education (SPE) teaching programs on the level of students’ physical abilities. Design/methodology/approach – In the Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies (ACPS), one of the teaching program goals is an improvement of student's physical abilities level. Since the establishment of ACPS, three SPE programs have been implemented differing in number of class hours. Five different tests were used: “Isometric dead lift,” “Hand grip,” the Long jump (LJ), the Sit-up test and the Cooper test. Findings – Multivariate analysis of variance results indicated a statistically significant difference between the programs in tests LJ, Sit-up and Cooper. The Bonferroni test showed differences between all three programs. The discriminant analysis showed that both discriminant factors are statistically significant. The greatest factor in the first function was the test LJ, while the greatest factor in the second discriminant function was the Sit-up test. Practical implications – The importance of research was the fact that by determining the changes of students’ physical abilities level, the authors can evaluate the effectiveness of various SPE programs. Results could be used in planning standards, selection and control of the achieved physical abilities level. Social implications – Changes could contribute to the positive effects of the educational process on improvement of students’ physical abilities. Originality/value – This is one of the few studies which examine the influence of quantitatively different teaching programs on the level of physical abilities within a period of 15 years.

Abstract:The purpose of this research was to examine possible relations between basic personality traits and cognitive abilities and basic physical functions in a sample of female candidates studying at Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies (ACPS) in Belgrade. Literature review has shown that this problem has not been sufficiently studied, so it would benefit to gain a deeper insight into understanding of psychophysical functioning. Further contribution would include a better understanding of the nature of mind-body influence. In pragmatic sense, this work should help improve professional orientation and selection tasks in Police education and different profiles of police forces in Serbia.Samples of 267 female candidates studying at ACPS, aged 18 to 19 were given different personality and cognitive tests. Basic motoric space was covered by seven representative tests.The data was subjected to correlational analysis. There were few small statistically significant correlation coefficients. Further analysis by canonical correlations analysis has not given statistically significant canonical correlations. There were most significant correlations between contraction and stretching test and psychological characteristics. Those findings lead authors to conclude that this very physical trait in a sample of women is sensitive to psychological influence in case of professional selection.

The aim of this research was to determine the differences between the levels of basic motor skills (BMS) at the entrance exam in relation to BMS in the semester exam in Special Physical Education 1 (SPE 1). The sample consisted of 119 students (39 girls and 80 boys) enrolled at the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies. Student's t-test was used to determine the differences between the observed variables, while the eta square (e2) was calculated to determine effect size. There was a statistically significant improvement for the maximum isometric force of the fingers of the dominant hand (t = -4.296; p <0.000), the repetitive strength of the forearm extensors (t = -4.218; p <0.000), the repetitive strength of the trunk flexors (t = -4.191; p <0.000) and general aerobic endurance (t = -2.473; p <0.018) in female students, as well as for the explosive strength of the leg extensors (t = -2.246; p <0.028), the repetitive strength of the trunk flexors (t = -5.152; p < 0.000), general aerobic endurance (t = -2.512; p <0.021) and maximum isometric force of the back (t = -14.283; p <0.000) among the students. The results of e2 demonstrated that the effect of SPE 1 classes on most observed motor skills in the students of both sexes was strong.