Effects of contextual interference and conditions of movement task on acquisition, retention, and transfer of motor skills by women.

This experiment was designed to investigate varying conditions of contextual interference within two different conditions of movement tasks during acquisition on the acquisition and retention of a computerized task and transfer to a functional skill. Performance of head movements was conducted under open- or closed-task conditions and with random or blocked schedules of practice. Analysis indicated that learning under the open-task condition resulted in better retention and transfer than the closed-task condition. It is suggested that increasing the within-trial variability in the open-task condition produced a contextual interference effect. In this regard, support for Battig's predictions is provided by the current findings in that the high variability present during the open-task condition was more beneficial for retention and transfer than the low variability present during the closed-task condition. Differences between random and blocked schedules of practice on the retention and transfer data were not statistically significant.

Mood states of professional female tennis players.

To develop a psychological profile of professional female athletes, specifically of elite tennis players, 16 professional female tennis players from five countries were given the Profile of Mood States to measure six mood states: tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. When age was controlled in the design, older female athletes exhibited the "iceberg profile," i.e., they scored higher on the vigor mood state and lower on all other mood states than college-age women. Younger athletes scored like college-age women. These results only partially support the 1987 work of Morgan, O'Connor, Sparling, and Pate.