Perceptual and motor skills
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Comparative Study
Color preference and familiarity in performance on brand logo recall.
Two experiments assessed effects of color preference and brand-logo familiarity on recall performance. Exp. 1 explored the color preferences, using a forced-choice technique, of 189 women and 63 men, Taiwanese college students ages 18 to 20 years (M = 19.4, SD = 1.5). The sequence of the three most preferred colors was white, light blue, and black and of the three least preferred colors was light orange, dark violet, and dark brown. ⋯ Results showed no significant effects of brand-logo familiarity or sex on accuracy. In addition, the interactive effect of color preference and brand-logo familiarity on accuracy was significant. These results have implications for the design of brand logos to create and sustain memory of brand images.
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Sex difference in 2D:46 digit ratio was studied in 386 right-handed students. The lengths of index (2D) and ring (4D) fingers were measured using a caliper. Height and weight of participants were recorded. ⋯ Males had a significantly lower 2D:4D ratio than females. After controlling for height, sex differences in right- and left-hand digit ratios completely disappeared. The results suggest that height of adults reflecting prenatal hormone status may play a role in differences between men and women in 2D:4D digit ratio for right-handers.
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Comparative Study
Quantifying continuous exercise using the ratio of work completed to endurance limit associated with exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness.
This study quantified training load of various exercises using a novel method developed by the authors and based on the ratio of work completed: endurance limit, associated with exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness. Exercises were also quantified using the Training Impulse method. 8 runners performed a marathon and a 60-min. run at marathon velocity, and 9 rowers performed two maximal exercises (500 m and 2000 m) on a rowing ergometer. To examine the validity of the two methods, the relationships between the training loads provided by the Training Impulse and the Authors' methods, the direct comparison of the tasks performed, and the usability of the Authors' method components in regular training were assessed. ⋯ In the Authors' method, the delayed-onset muscle soreness component discriminates the marathon from the other tasks whereas the ration of work completed: endurance limit differentiates the 60-min. run from the 2000-m row. The duration component of the Training Impulse method could lead to overestimation of the training load of prolonged exercises compared with high intensity exercise. The relationship between the Training Impulse and the Authors' methods for prolonged exercises, the training load provided for each task, and the components of the Authors' method supported the validity of this new tool to describe exercise-induced fatigue.
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Relations of changes in Body Mass Index and voluntary physical activity, with sex, were assessed in children participating in the Youth Fit For Life after-school care program. Consistent with previous reviews and meta-analyses on children, the present physical activity effect sizes for improvements in Body Mass Index and voluntary moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were greater for girls (n = 75) than for boys (n = 60; overall M(age) = 9.8 yr., SD = 0.8). ⋯ When scores at baseline were controlled, correlations for sex with changes in the preceding measures over 12 wk. were not significant (r(12.3) = .06 and .15, respectively). Further study of the implications of children's sex in the health behavior-change process was suggested.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Imagery intervention in open and closed tennis motor skill performance.
To assess use of imagery intervention in performance of two tennis motor skills the quasi-experimental design included a pre- and posttest and a control group. The tennis service shot and service receiving skill were selected as representative of open and closed skills, respectively. 48 subjects, male tennis players, whose ages ranged from 16 to 18 yr. (M = 17.2), were divided into two groups: (1) Technical practice only which was used as control group and (2) Imagery group who received both imagery and technical practice. Analysis of covariance showed a significant main effect for the imagery intervention on the closed skill (p = .002). Findings suggest that imaging a positive outcome may be more powerful in improving performance of closed skill movements than of open skill movements.