Abstract
This study investigated the effect of goal specificity and goal difficulty upon skill acquisition of a selected shooting task Utilizing a two-stage sampling technique, nine classes (90 subjects) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: specific difficult goals, specific moderate goals, and generalized “do your best” goals. Following a pretest trial under a “do your best” condition, subjects performed five skill acquisition trials on a kneeling task under their assigned conditions. A 3×2×5 (Goal Groups × Sex × Trials) multivariate analysis of covariance with repeated measures on the last factor and pretest performance as the covariate indicated that the group with a specific difficult goal was significantly superior to the “do your best” group. There was also a significant main effect for trials, however, none of interactions were significant. The results are discussed as they relate to existing investigations in industrial, laboratory, and physical education situations.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have