Tim Buszard *, Damian Farrow */**, Frank F. Zhu and Rich S.w. Masters ***
(*) College of Sport and Exercise Science /Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
(**) Australian Institute of Sport, Belconnen ACT, Australia
(***) Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Jockey, Building for Interdisciplinary Research, Hong Kong
Citation
Buszard, T., Farrow, D., F. Zhu, F., S.w. Masters, R. (2013). Examining movement specific reinvestment and working memory capacity in adults and children. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 44(4), 351-366. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2013.44.351
Abstract
Two studies were conducted to explore the relationship between verbal and visual working memory capacity, the propensity for conscious monitoring and control of movement, and performance of a novel tennis hitting task. In children (Study 1), verbal working memory capacity was positively associated with the score on a validated psychometric measure of the propensity for conscious monitoring and control of motor performance (the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale). A similar relationship was evident in Study 2 for adults. Additionally, Study 2 showed that performance of a novel tennis hitting task improved during a pressured condition following an unpressured condition. Verbal working memory capacity predicted the amount of improvement in performance, with lower capacity performers displaying greater improvements than higher capacity participants. The findings are discussed in the context of cognitive demands of problem solving and hypothesis testing during early skill acquisition and implicit motor learning theory.
Keywords: Conscious control, Early learning, Hypothesis Testing strategies, Implicit motor learning