Kinesiology Department, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USA.
Kinesiology Department, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX, USA.
Percept Mot Skills. 2019 Dec;126(6):1145-1157. doi: 10.1177/0031512519869090. Epub 2019 Aug 13.
Substantial research has demonstrated that an external (vs. internal) attentional focus enhances motor performance among various populations. Interest has recently grown in examining the effects of attentional focus among individuals with visual impairments (VI), and, to date, research results have been conflicting with some studies supporting a potential benefit to an external focus among adults with VI, while a study of children with severe VI was inconclusive regarding this benefit. The present investigation compared the effects of an internal versus an external attentional focus on a discrete throwing task among adolescents with severe VI. We recruited 13 participants with a visual acuity score of less than 6/60 and had them throw a Goalball (25 cm ball with bells often used in competitive sports designed for people with VI) as fast as possible for three familiarization trials, three internal focus trials, and three external focus trials. These participants threw the ball with significantly higher velocity when using an external focus than in other conditions, indicating a benefit from an external focus for this population when performing this discrete task.
大量研究表明，外部（相对于内部）注意力集中可以提高各种人群的运动表现。最近人们对视力障碍者（VI）的注意力集中的影响产生了兴趣，迄今为止，研究结果相互矛盾，一些研究支持外部注意力集中对成年 VI 患者有潜在益处，而一项针对严重 VI 儿童的研究在这方面的益处尚无定论。本研究比较了严重 VI 青少年在离散投掷任务中内部和外部注意力集中的效果。我们招募了 13 名视力评分低于 6/60 的参与者，让他们在三次熟悉试验、三次内部焦点试验和三次外部焦点试验中尽快地投掷一个 Goalball（一种 25 厘米的球，带有铃铛，常用于专为 VI 患者设计的竞技运动）。这些参与者在使用外部焦点时，球的速度明显提高，这表明在执行这项离散任务时，外部焦点对这一人群有好处。
