Showing papers by "Mohamed Jarraya published in 2019"

12 Weeks of Kindergarten-Based Yoga Practice Increases Visual Attention, Visual-Motor Precision and Decreases Behavior of Inattention and Hyperactivity in 5-Year-Old Children

Abstract: The present study assesses the impact of Kindergarten-based yoga on cognitive performance, visual-motor coordination and behavior of inattention and hyperactivity in 5-year-old children. In this randomized controlled trial, 45 children (28 female; 17 male; 5.2±0.4 yrs) participated. Over 12 weeks 15 children performed Hatha-yoga twice a week for 30 minutes, another 15 children performed generic physical education (PE) twice a week for 30 minutes, and 15 children performed no kind of physical activities, serving as control group (CG). Prior to (T0) and after twelve-weeks (T1), all participants completed Visual Attention and Visuomotor Precision subtests of Neuropsychological Evaluation Battery and teachers evaluated children’s behavior of inattention and hyperactivity with the ADHD Rating Scale-IV. At T0, no significant differences between groups appeared. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that following Bonferroni-Holm corrections yoga, in comparison to PE and CG, had a significant positive impact on the development on behavior of inattention and hyperactivity. Further, yoga has a significant positive impact on completion times in two visumotor precision tasks in comparison to PE. Finally, results indicate a significant positive effect of yoga on visual attention scores in comparison to control group. 12 weeks of Kindergarten-based yoga improves selected visual attention and visual-motor precision parameters and decreases behavior of inattention and hyperactivity in 5-year-old children. Consequently, yoga represents a sufficient and cost-benefit effective exercise which could enhance cognitive and behavioral factors relevant for learning and academic achievement among young children.

Which Presentation Speed Is Better for Learning Basketball Tactical Actions Through Video Modeling Examples? The Influence of Content Complexity.

Abstract: The present experiment examined the effect of content complexity on perceived cognitive load and game performance when learning basketball tactical actions from videos modeling examples displayed at different speeds. A 2 (presentation speed: slow vs. normal) × 3 (content complexity: low vs. medium vs. high) between subjects design was adopted in the experiment. One hundred and twenty secondary school students were quasi-randomly assigned to six experimental conditions and required to rate their perceived cognitive and to perform a game performance following the learning phase. Data analyses revealed that for low complexity content, both speeds of presentation have similar effects on learning. Conversely, for medium and high complexity contents, participants exposed to the slow-presentation speed learned more efficiently than those exposed to the normal-presentation speed. The findings recommend the use of slow-speed videos, when learning basketball tactical actions depicted, particularly, in playing systems with medium or high levels of complexity.