Article Education Psychology

Creating a scale for measuring non-cognitive abilities developed through sports for elementary school students

The purpose of this study was to create a scale to measure non-cognitive skills that can be developed through sport. To begin, a draft of a non-cognitive ability measurement scale was developed based on previous research. A preliminary survey of 346 elementary school students (318 males and 28 females, mean age 8.90 ± 1.76 years) was conducted, and a preliminary scale was created using exploratory factor analysis. A subsequent main survey was conducted with 1171 elementary school students (1025 males and 146 females, mean age 8.77 ± 1.73). In the present study, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability testing using cronbach's alpha, and structural validity of the entire scale were examined using structural analysis of covariance. Furthermore, theoretical interpretations were also taken into account, and finally, a non-cognitive ability measurement scale that can be developed through sports for elementary school students was created, consisting of 50 items with 5 factors: "self-management," "problem-solving," "cooperativeness," "leadership," and "greetings/polite".

View more >>

Report Education Others Psychology

Development of Japanese women professional soccer athletes’ second career training

The purpose of this study was to describe, explain, and recommend how women’s professional soccer players and clubs could prepare for second career transitions in a way that minimizes psychosocial crises upon retirement. The Japan Women’s Empowerment Professional Football League (called the WE league) was founded with a mission to contribute towards building a sustainable society through promoting female social participation and enhancing diversity and choice. This study suggested training strategies that could foster second career development in the WE league. These strategies are (a) including theoretical frameworks in second career pathways, (b) the necessity of dual education pathways for Japanese women’s professional athletes, (c) promoting virtual internship experiences for Japanese women’s professional athletes, and (d) recommendations of second career training workshops for professional athletes in the WE League. The WE League and teams should allow professional athletes to improve meaningful skills and knowledge development, multiple experiential learning opportunities, and applicable training on second career development. Due to the paucity of research in this area, it is essential for scholars to further explore potential education and internships opportunities to ease transitions to second careers upon retirement.

View more >>

Article Psychology

The effects of interactive fitness video games on stress and cognitive function

Exercise that stimulates perceptual and cognitive aspects and simultaneously enhances neuromuscular coordination has both cognitive and psychological effects. We examined the effects of an interactive fitness video game in 18 healthy participants (8 males and 10 females). The participants performed under 1) TETRIS, 2) Radio Gymnastics, or 3) FITRIS (interactive fitness video game) conditions on different days. In this experiment, first there was a 4-minute rest period during which the mean heart rate was measured, followed by a cognitive task. The heart rate was measured to confirm the intensity of the exercise. Then either the TETRIS, Radio Gymnastics, or FITRIS condition was initiated, while the mean heart rate was measured again. Then there was another cognitive task, followed by another 4 minute rest and mean heart rate measurement period. Saliva samples were collected after each period where the heart rate was measured. All of the participants completed evaluations of cognitive tasks (executive functions; inhibitory control and working memory) before and after each condition. The results showed that salivary cortisol decreased in all conditions, and both the FITRIS and Radio gymnastics conditions had a positive effect on executive function (inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility). In particular, it was shown that FITRIS had an increased effect on cognitive flexibility.

View more >>

Technical Article Business & Management Economics Education Psychology

A fundamental examination of the attentional function in the rhythm game

This study aimed to clarify the effect of the rhythm game "Osu!" on attentional function and its factors. Participants wore an electroencephalograph and played "Osu!” for 10 minutes (four games), and the Trail Making Test was performed before and after the games. As a result of the analysis focused on the frequency of the games, only the "high frequency group" showed an effect on attentional function. From the results, it can be inferred that rhythm games can improve attentional function and can function as a training tool for game users. The results also suggest that rhythm games can be used as a health-promoting tool owing to their ability to improve attentional function.

View more >>

Article Education Psychology

The relationship of Mobile Phone Addiction and Irrational Procrastination in College Students: Mediating Effect of Perceived Stress

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between mobile phone addiction and irrational procrastination. Recent studies have shown that mobile phone addiction can cause or aggravate irrational procrastination. 6220 Chinese college students completed the questionnaires about their information of demographic, mobile phone addiction, perceived stress and irrational procrastination (response rate of 91.6%). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0 and PROCESS 3.5. The mediation model was tested using Model 4 in Hayes' Process and the percentile Bootstrap algorithm with deviation correction, repeat sampling 5000 times and calculate the 95% confidence interval. The results show that mobile phone addiction of college students has a significant positive predictive effect on irrational procrastination after controlling for age, tobacco and alcohol use. In addition, mediation analysis indicated significant mediation of perceived stress in the relationship between mobile phone addiction and irrational procrastination in both male and female students.

View more >>

Article Psychology

Examining the effects of digital gameplay of the racing genre on mood and heart rate

This study aimed to determine racing esport games’ effects on the physiological and psychological indices using psychological scales and heart rate monitors. The participants were 10 male university students who did not play games diurnally (mean age ± 20.10, SD = 1.10). Participants wore a wristwatch heart rate monitor, and their resting heart rate was measured for 2 min. The duration of the game play was set to 30 min, and their heart rates were continuously measured during play. The changes in the psychological state before and after the game play were then examined using a two-dimensional mood scale-short term. The results showed that the average heart rate significantly increased during gameplay compared to the resting state. As for participants’ psychological state before and after the gameplay, the vitality, pleasure, and arousal levels increased while the stability level decreased. These results indicate that gameplay in the racing genre can induce a lively mood and increase the heart rate.

View more >>

Article Business & Management Economics Education Others Psychology

Impact on evaluation of Viewpoints to assess the positioning on half-court defense in the basketball

While there are some desirable and some not-so-desirable half-court positions in basketball, the "desirable positioning" may not always be clearly determined due to the values of the coach or manager. The most important factor in this is the "point of view". Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives that influence the evaluation of positioning in half-court defense for university teams be-longing to the first and second divisions of the Basketball Federation. A total of 192 players (110 male players and 82 female players) from university teams in the first and second divisions of the K-Student Basketball Federation were included in the study. As a result, the perspectives of the reasons for the decisions obtained in the descriptive form have been classified into the following categories: "Weak-side defensive position," "Strong-side defensive position," "Ball man defensive position," "General defensive position," "Defensive position related to play selection," "Defensive position related to coordination," and "Defensive position related to situational judgment. "The defensive positions were classified into seven categories: defensive positions related to situational viewpoints.

View more >>

Secondary Publication Education Psychology

Effect of Multiple Object Tracking Training on Visual Search Strategies

This study aimed to understand changes in visual search strategies before and after intervention, in addition to examining the training effect of multiple object tracking (MOT) skills. Twenty-nine male university baseball players were divided into two groups: a experiment group (EXP, n = 19) and a control group (CON, n = 10). The three-week intervention comprised MOT tasks. Because of the intervention, a significant interaction was observed between the groups, and before and after intervention. EXP Group showed a significant increase in scores on the MOT tasks after intervention compared to those before the intervention. Subsequently, we examined the changes in visual search strategies among six participants with a large training effect (LTE group) and six participants with a small training effect (STE group). Consequently, the gaze travel distance of the post-intervention in the LTE group was short, and the eye’s angular speed between gaze points was large – moderate effect size without a significant difference. These results suggest that MOT skills can be acquired through training for baseball players. Furthermore, we did not observe any clear change in visual search strategies brought about by MOT skill training.

View more >>

Article Education Environmental Sciences Psychology

Effect of positive and negative ions in esports performance and arousal levels

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological effects of arousal levels in esports players during a racing-game under positive and negative ion environments. Participants (10 male) who belonged to the collegiate esports team were recruited. The influences of positive and negative ions were evaluated in a randomized, crossover, and placebo-controlled double-blind design. Each participant completed two experiments within a 4-week interval. Two experimental environments were used: positive and negative ions filled up the atmosphere (PNI), and a control (CON) condition. For the performance task, a car-racing game was adopted. Arousal state was measured by the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale (TDMS) and an electroencephalogram (EEG). Results indicated that the EEG level was significantly higher in PNI than CON condition. Also, the PNI had a significantly higher performance on the gaming task than the CON condition. The present study demonstrated the beneficial effects of positive and negative ion environments on esports players.

View more >>

Secondary Publication Education Psychology

An attempt to verify the positive effects of esports

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between cognitive skill and concentration, based on brain waves measured before and after esports activity. Participants were twenty male collegiate students belonging to an esports club (Mean Age ± 21.40, SD = 1.65). At first, participants were put on a simple electroencephalograph (EEG) and their psychological state at baseline was measured for two minutes. After that, Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT) was conducted to measure their cognitive skill (execution function) before the esports task. In addition, after the esports task, SCWT was conducted again. To examine the degree of concentration during esports task, this study adopted a simple band-type EEG that only measures the Fp1 point as defined by the international 10-20 systems. As a result, this study indicated that cognitive skill (executive function) might be improved before and after esports task, and concentration might appear during esports play.

View more >>