A Practice-Specificity-Based Model of Arousal for Achieving Peak Performance

Abstract

The authors propose a practice-specificity-based model of arousal for achieving peak performance. The study included 37 healthy male physical education students whom they randomly assigned to a high-arousal (n = 19) or low-arousal group (n = 18). To manipulate participants' level of arousal, the authors used motivational techniques. They used heart rate and the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (R. Martens, 1977) to measure the level of arousal that participants achieved. At the determined and given arousal state, the 2 groups performed the task (basketball free throws) for 18 sessions. Both groups performed a retention test at the 2 arousal levels immediately after the last exercise session, in the posttest, and after 10 days. Results showed that both groups learned the task similarly and achieved their peak performance at their experienced arousal level. When tested at an arousal level that differed from the one that they experienced throughout practice sessions, participants' performance had deteriorated significantly. Performance of the task seemed to have integrated with the arousal level of the participants during the task learning. The findings of this study suggest a practice-specificity-based explanation for achieving peak performance.

Pain Induced during Both the Acquisition and Retention Phases of Locomotor Adaptation Does Not Interfere with Improvements in Motor Performance

“…Manipulation of contextual characteristics not directly impacting the motor task can influence retention/transfer testing as well [15, 26, 37, 38]. For instance, it was shown that participants trained in various novel motor tasks (golf putting, wall climbing, or basketball free throw) in a low anxiety generating environment performed worse when tested in a high anxiety generating environment than participants who trained with anxiety.…”

“…For instance, it was shown that participants trained in various novel motor tasks (golf putting, wall climbing, or basketball free throw) in a low anxiety generating environment performed worse when tested in a high anxiety generating environment than participants who trained with anxiety. Conversely, participants who trained with anxiety had lower performance when subsequently tested without anxiety [37, 38]. This suggests that the variability between contexts where a skill is trained versus retested (or used in everyday life) might have a more deleterious effect on retention (or transfer) than a negative context in itself (e.g., pain, anxiety).…”

Benefits of a Guided Motor-Mental Preperformance Routine on Learning the Basketball Free Throw

“…To quantify participants' performance on the basketball free throw test, we awarded successful throws 2 points, unsuccessful throws that hit the basketball rim 1 point, and unsuccessful throws that did not hit the rim 0 points. This test and its scoring method have been used in previous studies and it has been found to have acceptable validity and reliability (Moradi et al, 2014;Movahedi, Sheikh, Bagherzadeh, Hemayattalab, & Ashayeri, 2007;Pojskic´, Š eparovic´, & Uzˇicˇanin, 2011). Pojskic´et al (2011) showed good internal consistency for this test with Cronbach's a ¼ .92.…”

The Effects of Sensory Manipulations on Motor Behavior: From Basic Science to Clinical Rehabilitation

“…However, we speculate that manipulation of olfactory information may be particularly interesting because it can be easily combined with motor tasks and because it induces relatively strong emotional responses (Herz & Cupchik, 1995; Herz, et al, 2004; Royet et al, 2000; Willander & Larsson, 2007). As internal states such as arousal and emotion (induced by non-olfactory stimuli) have also been linked with motor performance (Coombes, Janelle, & Duley, 2005; Hordacre, Immink, Ridding, & Hillier, 2016; Horslen & Carpenter, 2011; Movahedi, Sheikh, Bagherzadeh, Hemayattalab, & Ashayeri, 2007; Noteboom, Fleshner, & Enoka, 2001), one potential way that olfactory cues may also affect motor performance is by one’s altering emotional state—although, this remains to be researched. Overall, we believe that the manipulation of olfactory/taste information during motor learning may represent a viable new area of exploration for affecting motor performance and enhancing motor learning and rehabilitation.…”