The Effect of Affect Arousal on the Consolidation of Motor Memory in Adolescents: Investigating the Role of Rest Intervals
Keywords:
Off-line Practice, Positive Affect, Negative Affect, AdolescentsAbstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of affect arousal on the consolidation of motor memory in adolescents: investigating the role of rest intervals.
Methods and Materials: The research employed a semi-experimental, applied design. The statistical population included semi-skilled male adolescent basketball players from clubs in Kurdistan province. A total of sixty participants, aged 14 to 16, were purposively selected based on inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to one of five groups: control, immediate positive Affect arousal, immediate negative Affect arousal, delayed positive Affect arousal, and delayed negative Affect arousal. Participants in each group performed 100 basketball free throws, with two-minute rest intervals after every twenty throws. Immediately following their final practice session, participants in the Affect arousal groups were shown a ten-minute film clip designed to evoke either positive or negative Affects. The Affect arousal stimuli were administered immediately or after a delay, according to the group assignment. Subsequently, participants completed a memory recall test, with ten free throws performed at two intervals: fifteen minutes and forty-eight hours’ post-acquisition.
Findings: The results of a repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that the mean scores in the fifth practice block were significantly higher than those in the first practice block (p=0.001). A significant interaction effect was observed between evaluation time (fifteen minutes and forty-eight hours’ post-acquisition) and group type (p=0.042). In the immediate Affect arousal groups (both positive and negative), participants scored higher on the memory recall test fifteen minutes’ post-acquisition compared to forty-eight hours’ post-acquisition. In contrast, in the delayed Affect arousal groups (both positive and negative), participants performed better in the memory recall test forty-eight hours’ post-acquisition compared to fifteen minutes’ post-acquisition.
Conclusion: The long-term effects of positive and negative Affect arousal increase over time, and the effects of positive and negative Affects decrease in individual performance after fifteen minutes.
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