Visuospatial attention and motor skills in kung fu athletes.
The present study compared the performance of a group of sixteen kung fu athletes with that of a control group of fourteen nonathletes on a speeded visuospatial task and a hand-tapping motor task. In the visuospatial task the results showed that athletes were faster than the control participants when stimuli were presented at the periphery of the visual field at a middle and high presentation speed with short interstimulus intervals. Athletes were also significantly faster than nonathlete participants when performing motor actions such as hand-tapping with their dominant hand but groups did not differ with the nondominant hand. These results support the view that athletes perform some speeded visuospatial and motor tasks faster than nonathletes under certain conditions. The findings suggest that, after several years of practice, kung fu athletes develop certain skills that allow them to perform motor speed maneuvers under time pressure conditions.
Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
Mónica
M
Muiños
Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Soledad
S
Ballesteros
D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis