Influências do sexo na atenção e na aprendizagem de habilidades motoras

Abstract

RESUMOO estudo investigou a influência do foco de atenção na aprendizagem de crianças, em uma tarefa de equilíbrio dinâmico. Setenta e quatro crianças (38 meninas e 36 meninos) com média de idade de 8,03 anos participaram do estudo. A tarefa consistia no deslocamento do Pedalo ® em um percurso de 7 metros, sem apoios. Os participantes foram divididos em três grupos, para cada sexo, em relação a instrução: Foco Externo Próximo (FP); Foco Externo Distante (FD); Controle (C). Os resultados mostraram que na aquisição, os meninos desempenharam melhor a tarefa (p=0,022). Nas fases de transferências, apenas a fase T2 apresentou diferença significativa (p=0,014), com desempenho melhor dos meninos e, em relação ao foco de atenção, o foco externo distante mostrou-se superior do que o grupo controle, em ambas as fases de transferência (p=0,034; p=0,018). Conclui-se que direcionar a atenção a certa distância do corpo, os meninos potencializam sua aprendizagem. Palavras-chave: Atenção. Crianças. Equilíbrio postural. ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to investigate the influence of focus of attention in learning of boys and girls, in a balance task. Seventy-four children (38 girls and 36 boys) with a mean age of 8,03 years participated in the study. The task involved participants to ride a Pedalo, without support. The participants were divided in six groups, three for each sex, in relation to the instruction: Proximal External Focus (FP); Distal External Focus (FD); Control (C). The results showed that, in acquisition phase, boys outperformed girls (p=0,022). In transfers tests, only T2 showed a significant difference (p=0,014), with better performance of boys and, for the focus of attention, the distant external focus was higher than the control group in both transfers tests (p=0,034; p=0,018). Thus, directing the focus of attention externally, at a greater distance from the body, can enhance learning of boys.

An external focusing strategy was beneficial in experienced children but not in novices: The effect of external focus, internal focus, and holistic attention strategies

“…Albeit relatively few, the attentional focus effect on children has been investigated: Generally, children also perform better with an external focus. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Interestingly, however, some showed no difference between external and internal focus 36,37 or even the benefit of an internal focus (in the transfer test). 38 These studies may indicate that the attentional focus effect on children is less clear than findings in adults and may potentially have a different mechanism.…”

A Systematic Review of Attentional Focus Strategies in Weightlifting

“…No studies exclusively used female participants. Although sex does not typically moderate attentional focus effects (but for examples see Becker and Smith, 2013;Flôres et al, 2016;Emad et al, 2017), it is still an important empirical question on whether sex differences exist for weightlifting. It is thus recommended that future research include both sexes in research when possible to ensure generalisability of findings and that analyses are conducted to check for sex differences.…”

Cross-cultural comparisons of motor competence in southern Brazilian and Portuguese schoolchildren

“…Good levels of MC contribute to enhanced learning of new skills (i.e., faster acquisition of higher performance levels) and a higher motor proficiency on novel motor tasks throughout the lifespan 6 . MC can be developed by situation-specific motor demands 7 , it has been shown to have a sex influence 6,8,9 , and it is expected to be retained in the long term. There is a current growing interest of the scientific community on the role of MC, which has been positively associated with health-related fitness, health, and developmental outcomes 10,11 .…”