Award Date

5-2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Kinesiology

Department

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences

First Committee Member

Gabriel Wulf, Chair

Second Committee Member

Rebecca Lewthwaite

Third Committee Member

Richard Tandy

Fourth Committee Member

Janet Dufek

Graduate Faculty Representative

Eunsook Hong

Number of Pages

49

Abstract

The self invoking trigger hypothesis was recently proposed by Wulf and Lewthwaite (2010) as the mechanism underlying the robust effects of attentional focus on motor learning and performance. The hypothesis suggests that causing individuals to access their self schema will negatively impact their ability to learn and perform a motor skill. The purpose of the present study was to provide an initial test of this hypothesis by causing one group of participants to activate their self schema in a straightforward manner. Participants (N = 32) were assigned to either a self-activated or control condition and asked to practice a wiffleball hitting task 50 times on two separate days. Participants returned on a third day to perform a retention and transfer test without the self-activating manipulation. Results indicated that the self-activated group learned the hitting task less effectively than controls. The findings reported here provide initial support for the self-invoking trigger hypothesis and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords

Attention; Attentional focus; Baseball; Human performance; Motor ability; Motor learning; Movement; Psychology of; Practice; Self schema

Disciplines

Kinesiology | Psychology | Psychology of Movement | Sports Sciences

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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